When I buy crowns it's usually a spur of the moment thing at Wal-Mart. A month or two ago I sold a fairly large job and rewarded myself with 60,000 crowns of which I have spent 40,000 on henchmen trying to get through dungeons that no one wants to help with. (After 10 mins of waiting I buy a henchman).
So "crowns" event held little meaning to me. After all the bro-ha-ha I've seen on the boards and various social media, I looked into the particulars of this event. 550,000 crowns to get a mount? Really? That's anywhere between $550 and $700 (depending on what kind of crowns sale you get). That's 5 - 7 months of membership and internet (both of which I need to play the game).
At best KI has a serious public relations problem with the fan backlash.
At worst Wizards101 has run its course and KI is trying to make a last quick buck before letting the game die.
Either way, with the rushed development of Empyrea 2 and this public relations debacle, KI has lost a lot of good will amongst the fan base. And make no mistake, the fan base is what keeps this game running.
I love playing Wizards. I pay the monthly membership (because I've never had the lump sum in spare funds to pay for a year). I will continue to play as long as the game is available.
I'm worried that this ship has hit an ice berg and all the promises of W101's future are nothing more than the band playing as the boat sinks beneath them.
Just my two cents
Steven Ghoststalker 128
ON-TOPIC: My post got lost somewhere in the consolidation of threads...but I think KI are getting the picture that we're not very happy with the implementation of these 'rewards' and Sparck has let us know they're looking into how to improve it. I didn't participate, bit I sincerely hope KI will make sure that anyone who did participate in this one isn't left feeling ripped off when it becomes accessible for less...please make sure they get something extra as a bonus, especially if they hit the top tiers!
OFF-TOPIC to Alien At 40k on henchmen in a few months, you might like to consider getting a second account on a year membership ($60) to have a perm companion to duel box with! Just a thought! Also, if you'd like to connect in game I'm happy to chum you through dungeons
Hello, mate 40k on henchmen lol that alone sent me on the floor. However, I do see where you're coming from. I started playing wizard101 October 1st, 2018 am now level 100. KI should of reward people for the time players are investing in their game, rather than how much money people are spending and collectively calling it average.
Yeah, I realize that it's probably more than the average. However that is over the course of several months and covers Khrysalis into Empyrea. If more people would stop to help on the smaller, not-worth-farming, increasingly prevalent dungeons in the higher worlds, it wouldn't have been that high.
My point was that it was one time purchase on my part as a reward for completing the job to the client's satisfaction.
Aside from the occasional $10 card from Wal-Mart this is only time I've EVER had that many crowns and now this event is "rewarding" us for spending ten times that amount.
Yeah I don't have $500 - $700 sitting around that I can spend on in game, virtual items.
Hi all! Thanks for the great questions and expressing your concerns. I wanted to let you all know that we are closely monitoring community feedback and are looking at what we can do here to improve the offers moving forward.
To address the 550,000 Crowns concern, I think we need to adjust how it's visually presented, as it is indeed a bit deceptive. It's NOT 550,000 Crowns for the mount, but instead that's just the top reward after spending that amount.
If you spend 550,000 Crowns, you get ALL of the other tiered rewards as well, and of course the items that you spent the Crowns on originally.
I hope that clarifications that particular question. I'll keep responding here to any others that we can answer!
Completely missing the point there.
Problem is: if you want that mount, you need to spend 700$ on it Problem 2 is: ALL of the rewards together don't measure up to 700$ if you buy them individually. Problem 3 is: There is NO accounting for any rewards one might already possess. Problem 4 is: The time-limit (as well as no roll-over for other events)
I have seen MANY a gatcha game do these same mistakes. Also, as a software developer I have seen many projects make these same mistakes.
Here's are the two immediate solutions to resolve this 'problem':
A: Remove the time limit, keep the tracker going indefinitively over the entire gameplay-time while ADDING Items to it over time on every tier and make it so that you they can be redeemed over ALL WIZARDS of a single account as often as you want (one per item and wizard). (basically rewarding playing the game over and over by giving us a form of New Game +) You can even add timed/seasonal/unavailable items to it over time that can't be gotten any other way, such as Items from the Dragonrider pack. That way newcomers will not be discouraged by Items they may really want being unavailable to them... they will get them eventually, if they keep playing. (I also suggest factoring in subscription time into the tally since it offers crown rewards... like... 80k for a year.)
Or B: DRASTICALLY reducing the number of crowns needed to be spend PER event down to 100$ (80k) for approximately every 3 Months the game is out. So approximately 15k for halloween, 5k for thanksgiving, 40k for Christmas, 20K for new-years, 40k for spring equinox/easter, 40k for valentine's day, 40k for summer vacation, 40k for Japanese new-years. Roughly... I would need to take a look at a calendar for more events.
Hey Sparck and other forum mods, I'd like to say that I think the concept of a Crown Event is great, but it was poorly executed.
Here are some ways to make it better!
1) Get rid of the time.
I get that y'all need money to keep making stuff for the game, right? But limiting players to a weekend makes it seem like a competition which you explicitly stated was not the purpose. I think that member rewards weekends fit this model. Call of Duty does something similar with extra XP for weapons, tiers, etc. Spending what equates to anywhere between $550 to $700 in a weekend is not practical nor preferred.
Instead, extend the time to a year or longer. This way, you can run multiple at once. You can have one going on for the release of the new world (like I figure you are now) or maybe one for a special event. You can even have them over the course of a month or two (i.e. a Holiday Crown Event covering Halloween through New Years, a Summer Crown Event covering May through August). A player can choose an active crown event, so if they spend crowns, the amount they spend will be contributed to that event. To do that, though you'd need to...
2) Lower the Crown Limit
550,000 in a weekend is a large feat for most people. However, you can lower the amount a ratio of say, 100,000 per month, so it's still profitable for you folks, but still attainable for your players. For example, a 300,000 crown event would be more palatable for players if it takes place over the course of three months. Of course, to get people to spend that much, you'd have to...
3) Come up with some really cool items
This one is enough said. Really shoot for the stars with this one. Make sure there are some really rare, unique mid-tier prizes so folks who go out and spend a lot, but not the max amount can still feel satisfied with their prizes.
Thanks for reading! I hope I've given everyone some good feedback/ideas.
I think this whole thing needs to go back to the drawing board. A lot of the "member" benefits are stuff that are just time savers- double pet exp, free fishing? And only cost you ten dollars if you get a monthly membership to participate in. But this is purely a money grab. What makes it worse it the amount of money. For starters the amounts are really off the target on a family game. To get the top tier, for one family member, that is more than half my monthly income.
If you want to reward crown spenders just keep adding cool stuff to your crown shop and have special sales as your event. Everyone spends money on crowns now and then, but the crown shop has needed additions and things fixed (like the hair style colors) for a long long time.
If you want to have these new items only available during an event, then let people buy it (at the normal prices that type of item sells for already) over the crown weekend instead of if you spend so much dollars. You will see a lot more people buy it if you did that. That's the only way you are doing to reward all crown spending players.
Another thought.... if it takes just ten dollars to get a months membership, and that month you can participate in all the member benefits. It really should be more inline with that price.
ON-TOPIC: My post got lost somewhere in the consolidation of threads...but I think KI are getting the picture that we're not very happy with the implementation of these 'rewards' and Sparck has let us know they're looking into how to improve it. I didn't participate, bit I sincerely hope KI will make sure that anyone who did participate in this one isn't left feeling ripped off when it becomes accessible for less...please make sure they get something extra as a bonus, especially if they hit the top tiers!
OFF-TOPIC to Alien At 40k on henchmen in a few months, you might like to consider getting a second account on a year membership ($60) to have a perm companion to duel box with! Just a thought! Also, if you'd like to connect in game I'm happy to chum you through dungeons
I may have gone a little over board with the henchmen.
Quite honestly, I splurged with the crowns purchase and realized there wasn't much in the crowns shop that interested me after I bought some seed vaults and a jewel vault. So I spent the crowns on henchmen.
What did I realize? 1: when the funds are available, I am too quick to buy a henchman. 2: I have probably bought a henchman a time or two when it WASN'T necessary 3: There are some dungeons where henchmen are of 0 help because they are AI and you can not coordinate attacks.
You mean there are lots of people that think that getting a free mana elixir is basically useless?
I would like to point out that these already existing crowns/promotions like the Gear-a-Palooza and the Best of the Best Sale that just went live today are in my opinion SUBSTANTIALLY better than this weird Crowns Rewards event.
Sorry to be so sour, but I do hope that this Knight Night fiasco goes to sleep permanently.
To end on a positive note though, perhaps it's a hint of a World to come?
I may have gone a little over board with the henchmen.
Quite honestly, I splurged with the crowns purchase and realized there wasn't much in the crowns shop that interested me after I bought some seed vaults and a jewel vault. So I spent the crowns on henchmen.
What did I realize? 1: when the funds are available, I am too quick to buy a henchman. 2: I have probably bought a henchman a time or two when it WASN'T necessary 3: There are some dungeons where henchmen are of 0 help because they are AI and you can not coordinate attacks.
@Victoria, sure I'd love to connect in game.
Steven Ghoststalker 129
Woohoo! I'd love to connect in game I always enjoy your posts and love your humour! I make a terrible questing buddy but I'm almost always able to come and help with dungeons LMK a time and place to catch you in game - I'll bring Melissa Stormheart since I'm on her most
As a crowns player, I felt completely shamed by the event. I understand that Sparck has constantly mentioned how even though the Mount doesn't necessarily cost 550,000 crowns, as it includes all the other things in the list, just the fair amount of having to spend 550,000 crowns in 4 days is absolutely ridiculous. KI has to keep in mind that children and adults alike constantly play this game, and just slapping them in the face with a price tag of 600 dollars is insane. I considered buying crowns since this event does indeed draw my attention, but after looking BOTH at the rewards and the price I knew it was not even remotely worth it to spend not 1 dollar in it.
I heavily consider this feature has to be REDONE from the bottom all the way to the top and correct the deep errors that were done. I also understand that this feature was done with good intention, but the way that it was organized and set up was handled incorrectly, and I know there is room for improvement. Kingsisle knows the amount of crowns people spend per day, and they know the amount we spend for memberships etc, therefore the price tag of 600$ or 550,000 crowns is unfit for its promotion.
Lastly, I urge the developers of this new feature to reconsider what the community is saying as the voice remains the same, no one is going to spend that much money. I highly doubt ONE person afforded the price tag that was implemented. If for the next crowns event KI does not put into the picture the exigences of the community, then indeed they have backstabbed the loyal players that have been playing this game for a decade.
I'm sorry, I just had to let this out, because it was outrageous to not comment on this issue, especially when it directly impacts me.
I see your point as you are getting all of the other rewards as well as the mount if you spend the 550,000 crowns. Can you get the mount in any other place? If not, then you are indeed charging 550,000 crowns for the mount.
My experience: I bought $100 worth of crowns because I wanted to. I saw the event and thought of it as a bonus. I got the things I wanted, extra bag space things like that. Then I looked at how much I would have to spend to get the bathrobe... I was like ok a sort of hitchhikers guide to the galaxy theme or I could give him the tin-foil hat and sparkler wand and make a trash wizard.
I could buy booster packs! there are bound to be things I could use in those! Except I often buy boosters so i have many mounts I don't use. They wander my houses aimlessly. Same for pets. I already have booster pack equipment and quickly realized the Professor's horde had the best equipment for my play style, I quickly got all that I wanted, even for my other wizards. Housing items? I have 3 overdecorated large houses as it is.
I started buying mega snack packs because they cost more, then realized those go on sale frequently and if I had waited for a sale I could buy twice as many of those.
I did get the dragon bathrobe, (smoking jacket?) because I was fairly close after my spending spree, but it felt kinda hollow. I could have waited for sales and gotten more things, or I could have waited for new packs to come out and bought new stuff. This just isn't the kind of event I am going to actively participate in again. The next time I get crowns I am going to save them for the regular sales, or spend them on new content booster packs. If the event had coincided with a new booster release, or a sale I would have participated by default.
I feel this event was aimed at the wealthy players who like exclusivity. The price to reach the upper tiers certainly guarantees exclusivity. I have seen this sort of thing done in mobile games, with the reward tiers set similar to this event.
Honestly even with all the items you get, it won't add up to 550k crowns, it's cheaper to buy them separately. It wouldn't hurt if you gave us better rewards such as crafting items, tc's, rare reagents and such.
Ultimately, it will depend upon how many people actually qualified for the mount, the weapon, the shoes, the coat, or just the hat. I got the coat (bathrobe?) how many others went that far? KI knows exactly how many players were willing to spend that many crowns. The threads on this topic got consolidated and even then we only have a few player opinions. Including the charms added to the posts, that's like twenty players? Over a thousand players viewed the thread, but only a handful even clicked to agree with a post in the thread. The sales data is going to show KI exactly how many people participated in the event, and they will go from there. In this event the crown shop was the poll, and crowns were the votes. Telling KI what the players think of this event is somewhat redundant, they have the evidence already.
Telling each other how we feel about the event is more reasonable since we don't have access to that data.
Ultimately, it will depend upon how many people actually qualified for the mount, the weapon, the shoes, the coat, or just the hat. I got the coat (bathrobe?) how many others went that far? KI knows exactly how many players were willing to spend that many crowns. The threads on this topic got consolidated and even then we only have a few player opinions. Including the charms added to the posts, that's like twenty players? Over a thousand players viewed the thread, but only a handful even clicked to agree with a post in the thread. The sales data is going to show KI exactly how many people participated in the event, and they will go from there. In this event the crown shop was the poll, and crowns were the votes. Telling KI what the players think of this event is somewhat redundant, they have the evidence already.
Telling each other how we feel about the event is more reasonable since we don't have access to that data.
You're right in that it will depend somewhat on the data what KI does next but the data doesn't show everything. The threads got consolidated because they were all on the same topic so it made since to have one thread instead of several it wasn't to somehow supress what people were saying. And yes I'm aware you didn't say that but the way you stated that fact implies that they were consolidated because somehow the opinions in the threads weren't important to KI which I don't think was their intention at all.
Just the fact that that many people even took the time to view the thread sends a big message that this event was important even if many of them didn't express agreement with opinions in it by liking it. The sales data may show who used crowns during the event but it certainly won't show exactly how many people DIDN"T use any crowns at all in protest by what looked like a major cash grab. It might show a drop in sales but honestly I think knowing an actual number not just sales dropped by this percent would probably drive home just how upset people were by this event. Sadly there's no way to reflect that in the data but I think KI is smart enough to figure that out.
Telling KI what we think is NEVER redundant either. We may only be a small percentage but any person who speaks up about their opinion means we are one step closer to having our voices be heard and these threads are specifically for being able to tell KI what we think as well as discuss with other players.
Data is not everything actually voicing what you think is every bit as important. After all why would they even bother responding to our posts and questions at all if they weren't at least paying attention to them? I think you'll find that KI actually listens to those who post on these threads as well as even other websites because they want to know what our opinions are so that they can make the game better and encourage more people to come play.
Ultimately, it will depend upon how many people actually qualified for the mount, the weapon, the shoes, the coat, or just the hat. I got the coat (bathrobe?) how many others went that far? KI knows exactly how many players were willing to spend that many crowns. The threads on this topic got consolidated and even then we only have a few player opinions. Including the charms added to the posts, that's like twenty players? Over a thousand players viewed the thread, but only a handful even clicked to agree with a post in the thread. The sales data is going to show KI exactly how many people participated in the event, and they will go from there. In this event the crown shop was the poll, and crowns were the votes. Telling KI what the players think of this event is somewhat redundant, they have the evidence already.
Telling each other how we feel about the event is more reasonable since we don't have access to that data.
People can only click charm or respond if they have membership or made a purchase within the last 30 days. The number of views probably doesn't refer to independent views (eg separate individuals) as anyone reading this thread or checking back each time it's updated is likely adding views each time. The number of views doesn't refer to the number of different players and we can't assume a lack of post/charm indicates a specific opinion, especially an opinion of disagreement since that is a prime motivator for someone to set up a forum name and make sure their view is represented.
I'm yet to hear anyone anywhere online or in game voice a positive opinion about the event and how it was implemented. It seems to have really alienated players and caused a lot of concern and speculation about the direction the game is going in.
The main saving grace is that the event was completely optional, but it's like KI temporarily forgot their own USP of being kid friendly, family fun. Players are hoping for reassurance KI isn't headed down this controversial path because they want to put this in the past, forget about it and get back to telling everyone about how great W101 and KI are!
As to the consolidation of the threads: I meant that after the total number of threads were placed together I wasn't impressed by the number of voices raised in protest. Perhaps KI was concerned, but I was thinking about the shear number of threads that are made by people complaining about their Life wizards, their storm wizards, ect. Far more players want to complain about how the schools are balanced. (they don't seem to know what asymmetric balance is.) If This event were a major concern I would expect at least as much forum activity about the event as there has been about school balancing. KI actually knows how many active players there are. They do know how many people, out of the active player base, did not spend enough crowns to qualify. They can certainly find out how many didn't spend any crowns at all, or were logged out for only those four days. A noticeable lack of sales is also sales data. Add the number of people who deliberately spent to the number who didn't spend at all then subtract the total from the number of active players and you get the number of players who didn't care one way or the other. Indifference is also a kind of void. In this case it would mean that the event didn't excite enough players, and they may want to scrap the event altogether. There is no point in paying someone to design things that only 2% of the player base is going to use, best to use those designs elsewhere. KI does listen to the player base, but I would rather have them listening to suggestions about world building and game mechanics. I mean unless you think an employee is trying to sabotage the company? I speculate that KI wanted to see if an event common to mobile games could be used in their mmo. I mean if they had used it in their mobile game this event would probably have worked there.
As to the consolidation of the threads: I meant that after the total number of threads were placed together I wasn't impressed by the number of voices raised in protest. Perhaps KI was concerned, but I was thinking about the shear number of threads that are made by people complaining about their Life wizards, their storm wizards, ect. Far more players want to complain about how the schools are balanced. (they don't seem to know what asymmetric balance is.) If This event were a major concern I would expect at least as much forum activity about the event as there has been about school balancing. KI actually knows how many active players there are. They do know how many people, out of the active player base, did not spend enough crowns to qualify. They can certainly find out how many didn't spend any crowns at all, or were logged out for only those four days. A noticeable lack of sales is also sales data. Add the number of people who deliberately spent to the number who didn't spend at all then subtract the total from the number of active players and you get the number of players who didn't care one way or the other. Indifference is also a kind of void. In this case it would mean that the event didn't excite enough players, and they may want to scrap the event altogether. There is no point in paying someone to design things that only 2% of the player base is going to use, best to use those designs elsewhere. KI does listen to the player base, but I would rather have them listening to suggestions about world building and game mechanics. I mean unless you think an employee is trying to sabotage the company? I speculate that KI wanted to see if an event common to mobile games could be used in their mmo. I mean if they had used it in their mobile game this event would probably have worked there.
Like I said in my first post I know you didn't say anything was not important that's just the way it came across with how you phrased it. As for not being impressed with the number well I don't think you're making a fair comparison there. For starters this particular section is for what's currently going on in game. Most of the threads where people complain about the balance of powers between schools tend to be in forums about pvp, or the Dorms forum. I'm not saying it's never posted under the commons but it's not as well, common.
Plus balance between schools affects the whole game whether you spend crowns or not (doesn't mean complaints about this event aren't important but I think we all can agree balance of powers is more important) and has been a complaint for years not just a couple of days which is about how old these threads were when consolidated if even that. So of course there's going to be more activity for something like that. It truly affects everyone not just people who are willing to buy crowns which is who this event is targeted at. Again still doesn't mean it's an unimportant topic after all the people who buy crowns make KI quite a bit of money on top of the memberships they have.
As for sabotage I don't think so lol I just don't think this event was not very well thought through when it came to their online players and what the game is supposed to stand for which is being family and kid friendly. The amount of money you had to spend to unlock higher tiers and the suggested 400K which still makes $500 is just not achievable for most people or kids.
If you want to see threads for world building and mechanics then just check other message boards. What's currently going on in the game really isn't a place to see very much of that unless it's for the most current world from what I've seen. And even then I see more suggestions for things like that on the Dorms message board since it specifically says "Talk about ideas you have to improve the game".
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