Why we're paying more

[Kuyuk]

Because we want more of this!


!R>search roa
You search the roa'ter.
It had 500 silvers on it.
You gather the remaining 500 coins.
It had an emerald on it!
It had nothing else of value.
A roa'ter decays into compost.
!>stance def

*
* Connection to the game has been lost. You will need to login again to continue playing.
*



Gotta love it.

Kuyuk

[Bobmuhthol]

Way to break the game with that emerald, jerk.

[Celexei]

Simu's chargin us more now i see, yet there service is shittier than when i started playing.....i'm debating whether to pay it, but like i always do, i know i will

[J-Tech]

rofl @ bob.

[Tsa`ah]

No, this is the real reason.

Whatley has a japanese car fetish to feed. He won't be complete without a 2004 NSX to brag about.

[DianaBanana]

I was considering cancelling my account and this certainly did it for me. I hardly play as it is...why pay more for something I dont really use?

[GSTamral]

1) We are paying more because there are fewer accounts to pay every month.
2) We are paying more because the ratio of accounts per person has risen considerably, so each person leaving ends up outweighing the fewer new players.
3) We are paying more to finance the in-house programming of Simu's new EQ game.
4) We are paying more because they know enough people will pay the additional cost, (especially the additional 7 for premium) that they will end up making more money.

Simu is a business, and from those of us who paid by the hour, its not exactly a significant amount you end up paying considering the usage. The average person I assume plays 40 hours a month, so its about a buck an hour for premium or 40 cents an hour for basic. For those like Tsin, it amounts to around 5 cents an hour for premium and 2 cents an hour for basic

[ElanthianSiren]

We are paying more to round out the previous 3 dollar increase to premium to 10 because simu was too chicken shit to do it in a lump sum as they knew they'd lose accounts.

Divide and conquer. Divide and lose anyway during a recession.

-Melissa

ps. This also rounds basic up by 5.00 from the original web-based price, so anyone who wants to argue that this is because SIMU suddenly realized just now they needed money for this or that.... feel free; I've seen enough of this to bring the words 'patheti-sad simu' to mind with a patented head shake.



[Edited on Tue, March th, 2004 by ElanthianSiren]

[Methais]

Simucon, June 2003 -- Dave Whatley gets engaged

May 2004 -- Prices go up

It's all so clear now :P

[ElanthianSiren]

Originally posted by Methais
Simucon, June 2003 -- Dave Whatley gets engaged

May 2004 -- Prices go up

It's all so clear now :P


Prices also went up in 2003 by 1/2 the current increase for basic and 1/2 the current increase for premium. Melissa claimed it was to pay for "hot summer nights" or that hot summer nights was re-instituted to distract from it basically.

Whatley/SIMU needs to realize his customers are only going to shoulder this for so long before he loses out to free muds on the web. 39.00 for one account of text seems indeed excessive.

-Melissa

[GSTamral]

Simu is in the business of making money. To fault them for attempting to do so is kinda stupid. When a business increases prices, they lose customers. But if they've done the proper research, they end up making more money in the end.

[DeV]

Business or no, we (the customer) are what makes that business operate and prosper. Raise prices-Lose customers. Seems like Simu has it down.

What business is not out to make money?

[Artha]

39.00 for one account of text seems indeed excessive.

So don't pay it. Switch to basic and quit bitching.

I could sort of understand people bitching about the basic price, but you're perfectly able to still be playing a full game without that extra money. You have a month to switch down to basic, if you don't do it, you lose all bitching rights.

[Wezas]

Basically the problem is they're selling crack. Plain and Simple. They can raise their prices, might lose a few people who aren't seriously hooked and might lose a few that are hooked but can't afford it. But they'll keep their core members. They'll get the people that are addicted. They just need to know when pushing is too far. I think once basic membership (no extra chars) reaches $19.95 is when the addicted people will start to think twice.

[TheEschaton]

Preach on, Wezas.

I already know that if I wasn't leaving in June to a place without computers, I wouldn't be cancelling my accounts. Why? I dunno, I don't play obsessively any more, nor do I really care about levelling or obtaining things or anything. But I'd still pay.

If that's not crack, I don't know what is: something you pay for long after you realize you not only don't need it, but that you might not want it either.

-TheE-

[DeV]

So sadly true Wezas. Now, when it hits $19.95 then Houston will have a problem.

[Fengus]

Bah buncha whiners. *You* are not a victim, GS is not an addictive substance. No one is forcing you to play.

Raising prices so they can develop some other product is not evil, thats buisness.

Some that are saying they don't want your buisness are 100% correct and there is no shame or fault in that. If they can get the same income and have 700 players online in prime time versus 1000 its better. Its better for the 700 players and its better for Simu.

GS does not have massmarket appeal, so all the massmarket products are not run the same way.
As an example: Walmart cares about customers but can surely lose a few, and they sure as hell don't need to keep their stores clean or have knowledgable intelligent cashiers, this cheaper service is passed on to you. Your local vegetable stand run by Old Buck Wilson on the other have, gives personal and caring attention to every customer, and his prices are higher. You would pay more because the service is infinitely better. Being in between those two means you are working towards one or the other, or you are a failing buisness.

GS is geared towards the service part, and platinum is definately your local vegatable market. Premium is the list of people Buck Wilson calls when he gets a fresh shipment of some particularily tasty or otherwise rare item, and the customers he knows by name.

[peam]

Hunterleigh must be demanding another set of tits.


[Edited on 3-30-2004 by peam]

[IcyPoison]

Originally posted by peam
Hunterleigh must be demanding another set of tits.


[Edited on 3-30-2004 by peam]

LOL, Whatley's Girl I assume?

[Kat]

I'm not happy about the price increases....and I'll be cancelling my premium services as a result. I'm not going to sit here and bitch about it, but....after paying to play this game over the course of several years, and enduring a few other price increases, I must say I think I have bitching 'rights'. Sure it's business, but making customers happy is part of a successful business right?

[longshot]

Originally posted by peam
Hunterleigh must be demanding another set of tits.


[Edited on 3-30-2004 by peam]

Maybe they weren't done properly the first time...

Think, "The Mickey Mouse Ears" slide from the movie "Breast Men".

[SpunGirl]

Originally posted by peam
Hunterleigh must be demanding another set of tits.


[Edited on 3-30-2004 by peam]

Lame.

-K

[Zeyrin]

Originally posted by Artha

39.00 for one account of text seems indeed excessive.

So don't pay it. Switch to basic and quit bitching.

I could sort of understand people bitching about the basic price, but you're perfectly able to still be playing a full game without that extra money. You have a month to switch down to basic, if you don't do it, you lose all bitching rights.

I just told SIMU to shove my accounts up their ass....in a nice way of course.

[Galleazzo]

Doubly lame. Hunterleigh's got a nice rack as it is.

:clown:

[LordSagan]

She may have a nice rack, but look at what she lets play with them... /shudder

[Galleazzo]

Oh, I dunno, maybe Davy-boy's an ass man.

[Methais]

<<Simu is in the business of making money. To fault them for attempting to do so is kinda stupid. When a business increases prices, they lose customers. But if they've done the proper research, they end up making more money in the end. -Tamral>>

What do you think you're doing posting like that? I expect nothing less than a 5 page conspiracy report :P

[Suppa Hobbit Mage]

I'm glad I don't own a company where my personal life, and the life of my loved one(s) is dragged through the mud everytime someone makes a decision that is though of as unpopular. :duh:

I mean, I think it's a bad decision, but how he spends his money/time and on what, isn't really at issue.

[Wezas]

Originally posted by Suppa Hobbit Mage
I mean, I think it's a bad decision, but how he spends his money/time and on what, isn't really at issue.

Bill Gates is just glad it's not him for the moment.

[Methais]

f

[CrystalTears]

Originally posted by Suppa Hobbit Mage
I'm glad I don't own a company where my personal life, and the life of my loved one(s) is dragged through the mud everytime someone makes a decision that is though of as unpopular. :duh:

I mean, I think it's a bad decision, but how he spends his money/time and on what, isn't really at issue.

You're right, it's not really an issue.

I got into quite a few arguments for my view, but I'll be a glutton for punishment and state it anyway. I really don't blame nor care how anyone spends their money.

However.. I do have a problem with a company that has a CEO who flaunts what he earns, flaunts what his company makes for him, stating how his profit margin is quite considerable, and in the same breath demand more money from his clients. The fact that I even know how much he spent on a ring is a clear indication that I know way too much about him.

THAT is the problem I have with him at the moment. Not what he spends what on, not what he earns, but the mere fact that he's very vocal around his own clientele in sharing his profit grandness.

By the way, how I feel about him is not a direct indication of how I feel about the price increase. It was just the straw.

[Edited on 3/31/2004 by CrystalTears]

[Methais]

I'm giving it til June 1 to see if they have anything to show for the higher prices they're charging before I start condensing accounts and deleting characters.

I have no faith in Simu at all though, as they rarely live up to any of their promises, so I'm getting ready to start condensing.

Then I'll send a lifesize picture of tubgirl to the Simutronics offices, followed by the goatse.cx guy shortly after.

[peam]

Originally posted by Galleazzo
Doubly lame. Hunterleigh's got a nice rack as it is.

Yes, a nice fake rack.

[Galleazzo]

Don't think so. She's looked like that for years.

As if it was our fucking business anyway.

[wanfu-san]

dave whatley is an asshole and the reason there is such unrest amongst the GS veterans is that GMs are paid zero dollars and zero cents and receive a small pittance every month. Most of them have second jobs or subsist entirely on pet food, and then are expected to maintain good product.

Where as that blubbering vagina goes on the radio and babbles on about profit margins, his toothy wife's ring, and his genius plan of premium accounts.

Honestly I am surprised someone in simu offices hasnt gone postal on a murder suicide trip.

[SpunGirl]

If GMs were paid an actual salary the game would be two, maybe three times more expensive than it already is. Not only that, but we'd have GMs doing it for the money instead of for love of the community and product.

Though things aren't perfect the way they are, I prefer this over the alternative. And if you don't like the way things are, attack the policy decisions that are at issue. Personal attacks against the CEO or his fiancee are just stupid and don't even address the actual issues.

-K

[Vesi]

Originally posted by SpunGirl
If GMs were paid an actual salary the game would be two, maybe three times more expensive than it already is. Not only that, but we'd have GMs doing it for the money instead of for love of the community and product.

Though things aren't perfect the way they are, I prefer this over the alternative. And if you don't like the way things are, attack the policy decisions that are at issue. Personal attacks against the CEO or his fiancee are just stupid and don't even address the actual issues.

-K

Second this.

Also, the GMs know what they are going to get when they are hired. I've been asked to host but frankly I don't want to commit the hours where I could be making real money. But you know... even then it is tempting to me because I want to have input (or try to) in how things are done in the game.

Anyway... I suppose we could go on and on.

Vesi

Disclaimer: No I have never been to a Simu convention... have never touched anyone's anything... have never had anyone's love child... heh... just add anything else that is usually claimed when someone becomes a GH or GM.

[Galleazzo]

Yeah, I'd never want to be a GM. A lot of crap and no jack in your pocket, and every GM friend I know pretty much stops being a player because of the hours.

So what do they got, about 50 GMs on staff? Pay them just $10/hour and that's what, $50,000 extra a month in operating costs BEFORE you deal with workers' comp, hiring and firing laws, health benefits and all of that? Anyone think there's as many as 10,000 paying accounts? If it's only 5000 that means a $10 bump in price across the board.

Oh, right, then they stop being dedicated volunteers and start being working stiffs who bail at the end of a shift.

And you know something, asshole? Most companies have CEOs. Those guys appreciate profit margins, because that's why companies are in business. A lot of those CEOs have spouses, and a lot of them buy nice things for the spouses. Where do you live, the Peoples' Republic of Wanfu-ckhead? Grow up and get a clue. If you want a CD, you got to pay jack for it. If you want to go out to eat, you got to pay jack for it. You want to cruise, you got to pay jack for the gas and the wheels. You want to see a movie, they charge there too.

You don't like paying, don't. You think you can get the service cheaper somewhere else, go for it. But nut up and quit the whining.

:violin:

[SpunGirl]

:thumbsup: Galleazzo.

-K

[Xcalibur]

Losing accounts and raising price to compensate is one of the worst decision in an economical thinking.

It's, mcdonald's, losing clients for Burger king, compensate by raising their price. They will lose even more.

Simu should had DROP the price and RAISE extras. But the owner is really dumb, so it's like hoping mcdonald to become healthy.

[Kitsun]

Galleazzo > Xcalibur

Making sense > Babble

You have no idea what their accounts standing or statuses are. Don't even pretend.

[Methais]

<<If GMs were paid an actual salary the game would be two, maybe three times more expensive than it already is. Not only that, but we'd have GMs doing it for the money instead of for love of the community and product. >>

You get what you pay for.

[Xcalibur]

Originally posted by Kitsun
Galleazzo > Xcalibur

Making sense > Babble

You have no idea what their accounts standing or statuses are. Don't even pretend.

There is a reason why we don't know.

There is a reason why all those datas are hidden.

I do pretend and I am proud to have quit that silly game in november. I won't be forced to quit because simu screwed it all

[CrystalTears]

Originally posted by Methais
<<If GMs were paid an actual salary the game would be two, maybe three times more expensive than it already is. Not only that, but we'd have GMs doing it for the money instead of for love of the community and product. >>

You get what you pay for.

Lo and behold, the GMs that DO get paid a salary have the time and dedication to do their job because it's their sole job, AND they do it because they love doing it.

I'd much rather pay for a game if they were all paid professions who can dedicate their working time to the game, and not have to try and fit it into their schedule, done in the middle of the night, and are exhausted and overworked.

Since when did getting paid equal that people don't care about what they do?

[SpunGirl]

I don't think that's always the case, CT. But with the current system, I can't imagine ANY of them are doing it for the money... because the money is next to nothing. They're doing it because they love the game and community. That's a good thing.

Not to mention the fact that GMs getting paid an actual salary, benefits, et cetera, is completely unrealistic. It would cost the company thousands and in turn, the price to play would skyrocket. No choice is perfect, but IMO, the present situation is preferable.

-K

[Galleazzo]

Originally posted by CrystalTears
Since when did getting paid equal that people don't care about what they do? It doesn't.

But look at all of us. How many of us are dedicated to your jobs, hardcore? Come in whenever you're needed, work OT whenever it's needed, kick butt all day long, dream up new ideas to help the company?

With a volunteer crew everyone's pretty much there because they WANT to be, not because they need to pay bills and it's less work than loading trucks or flipping burgers.


Simu should had DROP the price and RAISE extras. But the owner is really dumb, so it's like hoping mcdonald to become healthy.Got a problem with your scenario. GS is a dinosaur. No one will ever launch a new text-based game, everything will be graphic. Most online games ARE getting graphic now. Probably not a lot of people start playing EQ and figure to come here instead. So dropping the price kind of assumes there's a lot of EQ players who'd love to come to GS if only it was cheaper.

Big assumption there, guy.

[SpunGirl]

Originally posted by Xcalibur
There is a reason why we don't know.

There is a reason why all those datas are hidden.


And I'm sure it's a good one. Go ahead, call up... I don't know, Ford or something and ask them to disclose all their financial data. Maybe to major shareholders, but Simutronics isn't even a publically traded company.


Originally posted by Xcalibur
But the owner is really dumb, so it's like hoping mcdonald to become healthy.

Just a hint, G - your post makes perfect sense, but its intended target is dumb, so this is like hoping your navel lint will teach you chemistry.


Originally posted by Xcalibur
I do pretend...


We know.

-K

[CrystalTears]

Originally posted by Galleazzo
But look at all of us. How many of us are dedicated to your jobs, hardcore? Come in whenever you're needed, work OT whenever it's needed, kick butt all day long, dream up new ideas to help the company?

I do. And I know a few people who are doing what they love to do and feel the same way. Just because many, many people aren't working in their preferred work environment doesn't mean that people who work have to do it begrudgingly and miserably. Some people actually LIKE their jobs. I imagine those GMs that are getting paid to work for a game they love is enjoying their job a whole lot more.

Besides, volunteer work can only be done for so long before you get burnt out and don't want to do it anymore, regardless of how much you love it. The time is just not available when it comes to needing to make ends meet.

I don't need nor want to know Simu's financial statements. However I also don't want to hear executives spout and brag about their profit margins and at the same time have a product that people complain about constantly AND asks them for more money.

But seeing as how this is neither here nor there and my opinion will always be swept under the rug, we'll just have to agree to disagree.

[Methais]

<<However I also don't want to hear executives spout and brag about their profit margins and at the same time have a product that people complain about constantly AND asks them for more money>>

Kind of like Tsin bragging about how rich he is even though he ripped off a lot of people and paid (some) cash to get there. Or certain GMs saying "I worked hard and earned my way to GM, yessirree!!" even though we all know what bullshit it is in their case.