I completely agree with you. I've been discussing the promo cards pricing issue and pricing in general with people for some time now as well, and what I see most often is that some people with a lot of weight in the community equate (in my view wrongly) the promo card sales and their card prices to card scarcity. They basically say that if the prices are high, that is good because that will create scarcity, and that, of course is good cause, you know..., low supply means high prices in the future. That's very nice on paper, however, as we can see from the previous outrageously priced promos - they have all lost their initial value by 60-70% or more. How come that is the case? Well there's obviously not enough demand for Zyriel for instance, and on the other hand too many copies were printed of Fyatt and the Halving dude due to card cycling for LB rewards. So, neither of these managed to keep their initial price. That's the issue with overpricing these cards. Why pay 550,000 DEC for the Leg if chances are it will get to its "real" price sooner rather than later. These cards should be priced fairly, and as you've said, then they will create hype and more people will get them. The community right now is not big at all so any amount which satisfies the demand will still be "scarce". I think stuff such as very rare foils, some sort of an animated card, a card with a really low drop rate from packs are all better collector's items than the promo cards.
PS. I bought the last two promo cards from the store and then saw their value plummet in just a few days so I will wait and see if I can pick these up at more acceptable prices from the secondary market.
@ghostlybg: Let us assume that you are 100% right. Then one or both of the following should happen and you should act accordingly:
I will be buying knowing the price will be lower later. That fact doesn't impact my purchase decision. I think I should be complaining since I am paying. Yet I don't see myself complaining.
How do you explain that?
Easily, you've got more disposable income to burn... ;-) I live in Bulgaria, I can't afford to splurge on every single overpriced card despite the fact that I earn well above the average for the country. Also, dismissing everything as "complaining" is not the best approach imho. I just share Jimmy's view that making these more fairly priced (in accordance with the current sentiment of the community) will result in more positive events with less constructive criticism a.k.a "complaining"... :)
Now you are getting it! Yes, I have more disposable infome to burn, so please let me burn it. Isn't it better if I burn it as opposed to you?
Again, you are getting it wrong. It was me who begged Jimmy to write this post, so that his view get out there and stays on the blockchain, as walls of text on discord has no value and gets lost the next day and noone scrolls up. I want Jimmy's view. which is different from mine, published. Not only that, I want Jimmy to earn money for his view, even if that view is different from mine.
Do you get it?
His post is currently fetching nearly $20. That is not a lof of money here, but I bet it is bigger money in Bulgaria.
I am originally from India. I grew up there. Please understand I know what poverty is. I have seen it, and I have grown through it my childhood and my teenage. I am an immigrant in the USA, and I have achieved the American Dream that they try to sell in the movies and political speeches. I am the poster child of that. I have achieved this by education, hard work and people's kindness that this great country provides to its immigrants. I am forever indebted to my adopted country.
I am an immigrant, I do know what poverty is :)
I want to be clear that you SHOULD be able to burn extra income on some expensive and exclusive cards/promos in the ecosystem. We SHOULD be having these. BUT what many players feel is that there is currently no balance. We are ONLY offering rare and exclusive promos but completely neglecting to offer promos that are priced affordably and designed to engage and excite the majority of the player base. I can't recall exactly when the Zyriel sale was, but it's been well over a year since we have seen a promo designed to engage and excite the majority of the community, and in that time had three events (with 5 cards) that have been extremely expensive.
If we even just alternate promo price targets we would see this salt simply vanish! Or when we offer one L and one R, as with the last two promo events, price the L high and make the R affordable! But the balance needs to be found, that's the main complaint. The complaint is not that we have these expensive promos AT ALL, the complaint is they we ONLY have expensive promos that price out most of the players. Simply offer both, and the problem is solved. We do need high priced promos, and we have them in abundance. But we also need affordable promos, and we do NOT have those at all.
That's why you are writing this. Maybe there will be cheaper promotions in future. Maybe not. I think whether that happens or not, free market will respond. If there are 10 of each card that sells, Matt will get the signal
Okay, that's fair and I totally get your point in regards to letting people who have "extra money" to spend it on stuff which seems not so "accessible" for the mere mortals.
Again, as I mentioned in my original post - I think the team could use their imagination (and adopt standard industry practices) to create real collector's items which would not interfere with the competitive side of the game by being for instance OP (or at least a Meta/Kind of/Sort of must-have card) and in the mean time still scarce and valuable. I'm just approaching this from the gaming/competitive aspect - people who want to be competitive feel the need to have all the cards that are frequently played and these promo cards often make that cut. However, they are not really interested in some sort of really limited foils/animated cards/some other type of collectible with some sort of a boost in the game which could generally be "whale items".
It's really cool that you've managed to achieve the American Dream by going to The States. I graduated from AUBG (American University in Bulgaria) and I spent 3 Summers in the USA (in Virginia and Alaska) on Work & Travel programs cause I had to earn enough money to pay for my tuition so I've got some idea of what that's all about.
I asked Jimmy this question and he couldn’t answer. I will ask you the same.
What do you think the “right” price from this two max promos in DEC in your opinion?
I am glad you have been able to visit multiple US universities. They are some of the best in the world. Alaska being sparsely populated narrows down the choices. Was it Anchorage or Fairbanks? I love both towns. Potentially a possible area I can retire someday!
I would say - 2000 DEC for the rare and 35,000 DEC for the Legendary are more or less fair prices for the current climate.
I spent two Summers in Anchorage. I liked it a lot there (at least during the Summer :D). I did not go as far North as Fairbanks but I did go to Denali National Park, Seward, Whittier, Talkeetna.
Rare Max = 230,000
Legendary Max = 385,000
Is that right?
You might enjoy this
https://peakd.com/hive-163772/@azircon/ruth-glacier-denali-national-park-alaska
Yes, I purchased the last two promo cards as well, with the intention of supporting the team, even though I though prices were ridiculous. And yes, a few days later I was really bummed out to see the prices plummet. We need to create a situation where players feel rewarded for participating in promos, not feel regret or disappointment.
Yup, totally..