More ways to spend Diamonds in game & help Inno with Revenue?

[Darielle]

Just wondering ... IS there such a thing as "housewives" anymore?

 

[Deleted User - 1178646]

@CrazyWizard ,
I agree , I have always thought getting 5$ from 100k ppl is better than 25$ from 10k ppl...
but this also assumes that those 5$ purchases actually do some good....

when you look @ what you can buy with the smaller purchases its almost worthless....
The prices seem so high now, that anything less than like 50$ won't do much good.
If the MA is used as you say, then I see the slippery slope ending with every item crafted
having a diamond component.....

I see many other possible "charged for" items/upgrades, that also will end up in every
possible addon/feature/item/upgrade having a diamond component.
As much as pretty cities ( custom skins ) might sell well for a nominal cost, functionality items,
such as an early collect button on a 24 hr bldg would sell well prolly, as long as its not grossly
overpriced.

I agree, revenue as a whole, not in/of itself ....
BrinD

There will always be a group thats the bulk of your sales.
You just have to make sure that "bulk" does not become almost your only revenue stream.
Because if you somehow offend this group you could potentially commit suicide.
If you have a well balanced revenue stream you mighty loose a lot of income m but you can then survive on the remainder to evolde and improve.

At some point in time they started only to cater the "bulk" at that time, just to "improve" sales.
This works on a short term. the problem is that in the past 4 years they never looked outside that box, they never even tried to adress the "other" potential in the market.
As a result elvenar currently lives at the hand of a very few select people who just buy anything you throw at them, but they are now also the only "real" source of income.

 

[Iyapo1]

This works on a short term. the problem is that in the past 4 years they never looked outside that box

?
This comment struck me as funny. Maybe because I left and came back. In the last 4 years they added the FAs, MA crafting, and the Spire to name a few.

Those things, the spire particularly, are all outside the box.

 

[ajqtrz]

The thing is, if you don't like the 2% who dominate the attention of the devs, help make it 3% by spending. If you think about it as part of your total "entertainment" budget for the month the hours and hours you spend here are probably the least expensive entertainment thing you do each month. You go to a movie (or you used to go to a movie) and drop $20 for two hours. You spend 2 hours a day for 30 days and for that 60 hours of enteratinment you spend ??? Nothing? The "whales" probably don't spend that $10/hr of a movie either, but they do spend enough to keep the rest of us going. And if we all spend a little every month we might not become whales but we will certainly become big fish. So let's "pet the whales" by letting them have the top ranks and wink, wink, to ourselves. That too might be considered entertainment.

 

[BrinDarby]

What does a Whale thats finished all the Chapters, spend $$$ on anyway ?
Other than..... whew I did it.... what then is there for them really to do ???

 

[Deleted User - 1178646]

?
This comment struck me as funny. Maybe because I left and came back. In the last 4 years they added the FAs, MA crafting, and the Spire to name a few.

Those things, the spire particularly, are all outside the box.

Each of these create customer retention, but they do not create new income models at different pricepoints.
Which was the point of the discussion.

I know people who for example spend money on crafting to be competitive in the tournaments., and guess which group does that
Also it's a source of "free diamonds"
Similar with spire,
And in some cases people do spend money on FSA, butt guess what? which group would that be? especially at those prices they dare to ask.

Just some examples:
You started last year and want a brown bear in this event: estimated cost $100-150
Black friday deal 3 artefacts $75,-

Again where are the options that target people that want to spend at a single time max $5,10,15,20,25 ect.

Just look at Large RL corporations, apple and samsung have a plethora in offerings from low budget smartphones starting at $100 to 1400 for samsung, and 500-1400 for apple.
Graphics cards makers like nVidea and Radeon and there boardpartners, which have like the insane $5-10 pricepoint differences from like $220-1500 with a different graphic card at every few dollars
Just to target whales with expensive halo product, mid tier products for the masses and budget product for the low end market.

Walk into you local refrigirator / washing machine shop, and you will not find only the most expansive $1500-2500 products but a whole spectrum of products starting at near production low spec items to high premium branded overpriced products just to cater to each section of the market to leverage the biggest possible revenue.

 

[Iyapo1]

The diamonds I won in the spire + the 500 diamonds i won in the MA gold chest(which I keep running using CCs from the spire) allowed me to fully upgrade my MA for less than $10. That's hardly whale spending.

 

[Deleted User - 1178646]

What does a Whale thats finished all the Chapters, spend $$$ on anyway ?
Other than..... whew I did it.... what then is there for them really to do ???

Each new chapter thats added to the game:
~ 2 x $80 on expansions = $160
a handfull of the best pop/cult buildings $25 a piece ~$150
Quickly unlocking new wonders $25 ea?
Upgrading premium buildings they do not have blueprints for (2.50 ea)
Events: often $50-150 each, at really good events ~$400-600
spamming crating recipes for more time boosters to get units in the tournaments.


As you can see this is some serious money, and thats why this game floats on them.
This is why new chapters are added and new worlds are opened. to keep these type of players spending like crazy.
But how many people do you think are spending like this? it's a very very very minor group.

What I am missing for years are the replacements for marlo (premium culture building) (darn woman liked that building like crazy andf bought them just because it was pretty where is it's successor)
Where are my custom avatars? where are my options to "color" my buildings to make my city look not like every other city? (and yes this is very easy to do)
Where is the differentiation between diamonds so free diamonds in 1 city cannot be spend in another (for example blue diamonds which you can spend everywhere, and white diamonds that can only be spend on the world/city aquired)

People are willing to spend, they really do.
The best proof we ever had was the introduction of the outpost at $5 (it then had a different name and look), it was a huge success, you could not do neighbourly help and nog find it at like every handfull of cities. it was huge.

Guess what? next event the price doubled to $10 and sales fell hard, you could barely find any anywhere.
I think this is now settled at $7 or $8 or whatever.

And do not forget, you could exclude some new options from being bought with diamonds to create some exclusive paid revenue streams.
There are so many option but as long as your very first response to succes is to double it's price, they will never be truly succesfull.
It's also a PR nightmare since people see it as a money grab and in response a portion of it will stop spending out of principle.

 

[GlamDoll]

I’m tempted to experiment with different purchase patterns to see if I can change the offers I get... but I’m not that bored and my income isn’t that disposable.

I have no proof or hard data to offer you, but I have done this...
In my experience, I had to wait 4-6 months before getting 100% offer.
Now that events are almost nonstop, it is a thing of the past for me, it seems.
I usually give Inno some of my $ each Event...

So, per usual, I am penalized for supporting the game it seems.

Not complaining really, just stating my observation in my time playing & paying here.

Edit:

The thing is, if you don't like the 2% who dominate the attention of the devs, help make it 3% by spending.

I have spent about $1000 give or take...do I qualify?

 

[Iamaita]

Just wondering ... IS there such a thing as "housewives" anymore?

Exactly. I hoped putting it in quotes was adequate to convey my dislike of the word without going into a full rant about it. I don’t want to be accused of hijacking this thread to push my liberal feminist agenda. (I assumed 100% benign intent in its original use. No offense taken or intended on my part.)

While I think that all demographic data has the potential to be highly problematic, I do recognize that it is used extensively in sales and marketing across most industries presumably because it is effective in developing targeted ads and promotions that do boost sales.

We can speculate all we want on which demographics Inno is specifically targeting. I actually think they are working towards a more universal something for everyone approach. If you like building pretty towns, you can decorate as much as you like, and there are exclusive themed decorations available in each event. If you like marshaling armies, there are plenty of ways to do that with an autofight option if you don’t enjoy the tactical component. If you like to produce goods, well there are lots to make. There is even a pretty decent storyline to follow through the chapters if that is what you are into. Enjoy the social component? There are fellowships for team play and chat. You can adjust your play style to focus on the aspects of the game that you enjoy the most. And it’s great.

I think the game also depends on a wide variety of spending habits to be successful. There are a small number of players spending a huge amount of money, a larger number of players spending a smaller amount of money, and a likely very large number of people who will never spend a dime or will only spend very small amount. Even the freebie players do their part because larger worlds with more active players makes the game more fun and helps keep the spenders playing to spend more. I’m definitely not a whale. Probably more like a mackerel. But if we are going to continue the ocean analogy, the ecosystem starts with plankton. I would be surprised to find out that most of inno’s revenue comes from whales. I doubt they will be sharing their actual sales data with us on the forum anytime soon, but I would bet the majority comes from numerous small purchases.

Again where are the options that target people that want to spend at a single time max $5,10,15,20,25 ect.

Inno claims that the $20 diamond package is the most popular. They have smaller options as well. They probably have a lot of people that buy those small packages over and over again every time they want to buy one in game thing. I think what you are asking for is more in game items to purchase for a smaller amount of diamonds so that $20 goes a bit further. It does seem like the good things that are really worth having cost quite a bit, while the only opportunity to spend a few diamonds here and there are the spending traps set out for impatient players who want to speed a timer, recover lost troops, fill in missing goods, or avoid restarting a lost spire encounter.

I have no proof or hard data to offer you, but I have done this...
In my experience, I had to wait 4-6 months before getting 100% offer.
Now that events are almost nonstop, it is a thing of the past for me, it seems.
I usually give Inno some of my $ each Event...

I think this supports my theory that most revenue comes from smaller frequent purchases. If the algorithm that determines player specific offers isn’t targeting you, then it likely assumes you will continue to spend money regardless. This revenue stream is safe and stable for Inno already; they don’t have to do anything. It would be nice if loyal customers who spend a large amount over time received some sort of bonus thank you gift or offer periodically. If the players who are buying more expensive packages less frequently are receiving all the special super deal incentive packages, then that could be a sign that Inno is actively trying to increase revenue from those players. Again, this is all speculation.

I’m sorry this post got so long. I did say I was bored. Lol And now all of you are, too. Apologies if so, because this has been an interesting topic with a lot of well considered commentary. I will hush now. It’s probably time for me to go bake cookies or something.

 

[GlamDoll]

It’s probably time for me to go bake cookies or something.

Let's do it! Why I made this thread (which I almost never do, BTW).

I have read on @MinMax Gamer's site about being penalized, in regards to other things. I have watched games die before my very eyes, at times.

I made this thread in hopes of that not happening here. I am rather passionate about this game! See my earlier posts for confirmation!

I am sick & tired of being exploited for supporting!

Inno, please!

 

[Henroo]

The diamonds I won in the spire + the 500 diamonds i won in the MA gold chest(which I keep running using CCs from the spire) allowed me to fully upgrade my MA for less than $10. That's hardly whale spending.

If you are in a FS that gets bronze in the Spire every week and you can also get the first floor complete then you are guaranteed 50 diamonds a week. Plus there is a chance you will get diamonds in the gate encounters of the Spire. On average you will get at least 15 or 20 diamonds a week from these as well if you do the entire first floor. So a player could upgrade the MA every 8 weeks or so just on the Spire if they wanted to play for free. These figures are just for the first third. If you are in a silver level FS and can do 2/3 of the Spire every week, it is only going to take 4 weeks to get the diamonds you need to upgrade the MA for free.

 

[SoggyShorts]

Exactly. I hoped putting it in quotes was adequate to convey my dislike of the word without going into a full rant about it. I don’t want to be accused of hijacking this thread to push my liberal feminist agenda. (I assumed 100% benign intent in its original use. No offense taken or intended on my part.)

Indeed, none was intended. To me "housewife" was just shorthand for the demographic that was listed in the article as "Female, married, grown or older kids, not in the work-force". I know that the PC non-gender term is "homemaker", but that would have been inaccurate since the target demo is specifically women.

 

[SoggyShorts]

it is only going to take 4 weeks to get the diamonds you need to upgrade the MA for free.

And that doesn't even account for the crafting. If you do the spire a lot, you can craft a lot, and at some point win 500 diamonds.

 

[Darielle]

And that doesn't even account for the crafting. If you do the spire a lot, you can craft a lot, and at some point win 500 diamonds.

It's funny how that comes in spurts. I craft a lot and never won the 500 diamonds in many months, but as soon as I did, within a week I won it again. I guess what I'm saying is "never give up; never surrender."

 

[GlamDoll]

"never give up; never surrender."

I C what you did there