Prices of ottos boxes rivals aaa game

[Logicman69]

To me, those boxes are all about time. Playing an average of an hour and a half a day, I can probably grind out a life in 2 weeks (21 hours). That is assuming I know what I want for a build and have the gear to do it. Or, for about $110 US, I can get from level 1 to 30 in about an hour. That is saving me 20 hours of grinding. So the question is, is my time (those 20 hours) worth the $110? In my financial state, I believe it is... and that is the key. Yes they are expensive to some people, but to others, they are a value.

Now, if we want to talk real bang for the buck in this game? Those Tensers Weapon Boxes are a HUGE value vs the grind.

[magaiti]

Otto boxes are here to help people play the game on a budget. Any budget.

[adamkatt]

So you paid 9000 points for each.

nope someone else did. like i said i farmed fossils and sold those.. no points were spent.

[Arkat]

For a new player starting DDO, he would need 140+ lives to play endgame content, especially as a tank for high reapers. With no catchup mechanics like other games, boxes are the only way to get to endgame quickly. It may be unncessary for veterans with all those past lives accumulated over 15 years, but absolutely needed for new players.

No

zero past lives needed to play endgame content. High reapers are optional difficulty settings.

Yes

[slarden]

Yes this game's bread and butter is big spenders, but I don't think it's so essential people need it. From a time/benefit perspective the fastest way to earn power is with reaper points and not past lifes.

So you paid 9000 points for each.

This is a reasonable way of looking at it, but many of us accumulate AS and don't have much to spend it on. So yeah Otto boxes sell fast and relatively high when comparing point spend of AS to point spend of Boxes. But if you aren't paying for the AS you don't care about any of that and just want something of value to buy - and sadly there is rarely anything good for sale.

[Bozone]

To me, those boxes are all about time. Playing an average of an hour and a half a day, I can probably grind out a life in 2 weeks (21 hours). That is assuming I know what I want for a build and have the gear to do it. Or, for about $110 US, I can get from level 1 to 30 in about an hour. That is saving me 20 hours of grinding. So the question is, is my time (those 20 hours) worth the $110? In my financial state, I believe it is... and that is the key. Yes they are expensive to some people, but to others, they are a value.

Now, if we want to talk real bang for the buck in this game? Those Tensers Weapon Boxes are a HUGE value vs the grind.

That's a reasonable and common approach to purchases like this. However, it implies that you don't enjoy playing the lower/mid level quests as much as the high-level (end game) content. I assume you're going to play those 20 hours regardless. The difference between buying the box or not is that you can skip the lower levels and jump straight to the high levels. In my case, I enjoy playing lower levels about the same amount as playing higher levels so I don't get much utility out of my money if I buy the levels and skip to the high level stuff. It's better spent on something else, which potentially includes things outside this game.

Everyone's different. It's an individual choice based on individual situations.

[Sylvado]

nope someone else did. like i said i farmed fossils and sold those.. no points were spent.

Great deal on the other side of the transaction, someone got 6299 AS for 4995 points.

[Gordo]

Can't wait for the new Baldurs Gate to come out. I'm sure that will be worth way more than lag and Otto's boxes.

[magaiti]

Can't wait for the new Baldurs Gate to come out. I'm sure that will be worth way more than lag and Otto's boxes.

It's turn based, so basically it has infinite lag

[Gordo]

It's turn based, so basically it has infinite lag

Hi welcome!
Turn based does not equal lag. Turn based is a design and choice type of play specific to strategy and planning.
DDO lag is a design and choice type of play specific to lack of investment and poor management of a major brand.

[Bjond]

need 140+ lives to play endgame content, especially as a tank for high reapers

zero past lives needed to play endgame content

Magaiti is right. I've made and played a 1st-life R10 tank as have many others and it's much easier than making a low-life R10 melee. Low life DPS in R10 is more than possible, too. It's a fair bit harder as melee than ranged or caster, but even that can be done.

The real place for a catch-up mechanic is on racial PLs. That's where previous end-game characters go to die. All done with Epic PLs? Got a nearly-full reaper tree on the way? The only thing left for that character is to grind out racials. What's the reward? That character goes from "done with epics" to "done with everything". Nothing more to gain. No point in playing it. MUCH better to provide a way to quickly knock those out so you can have some fun using them during your EPL cycles and at-cap reapering.

Closer to the OP's topic, my problem is not with Otto's pricing. It's that using one literally removes the fun from the game. You go from spending 5~20% of your game time stuck in the hell of TR+Leveling UI (ie. not playing at all) to 95% stuck in the TR+Leveling UI. Even if you outright buy enough Otto's to fully racial your character, it takes WEEKS to use them because of the UI.

Because of the type of work required to use an Otto's, I view them as mostly pointless except for quickly boosting a character out of an egregiously bad build. If they want to sell PLs to me (and likely a lot others like me), it will need to be ONE CLICK PER PL.

Best newbie feature: full reset of a character for FREE. Abandon all current XP/etc and start over as L1. The game badly needs a build-punt. It's fantastic that it has the build freedom that it does, but now and then there is literally no way out of a bad build and this only happens to newbies or rather semi-newbies. Creating a new character isn't exactly a viable option; people like their character names and they may have purchased upgrades for that character (tomes/etc). Even multiple back-to-back LTR+20s wouldn't have been enough to fix the couple bad builds I tried playing way back -- was just lucky Otto's were available when I did.

[Logicman69]

That's a reasonable and common approach to purchases like this. However, it implies that you don't enjoy playing the lower/mid level quests as much as the high-level (end game) content. I assume you're going to play those 20 hours regardless. The difference between buying the box or not is that you can skip the lower levels and jump straight to the high levels. In my case, I enjoy playing lower levels about the same amount as playing higher levels so I don't get much utility out of my money if I buy the levels and skip to the high level stuff. It's better spent on something else, which potentially includes things outside this game.

Everyone's different. It's an individual choice based on individual situations.

This is a fair assumption, though a little skewed. Yes, I would probably still be playing those 20 hours, but I would be playing what a want to play not what I need to play (in order to level). I think that is a fair distinction.

Like we agree on, its all about the individual. I will say, if the price was lower I would probably buy them more often. Not sure what their "cost of goods" are with these things but $20 for heroic and $30 epic would be more tempting.

[Sam-u-r-eye]

For a new player starting DDO, he would need 140+ lives to play endgame content, especially as a tank for high reapers. With no catchup mechanics like other games, boxes are the only way to get to endgame quickly. It may be unncessary for veterans with all those past lives accumulated over 15 years, but absolutely needed for new players.

So a new player should drop 5 grand on the game to play endgame?

Do we all realize how insane this idea is?

[Captain_Wizbang]

Can't wait for the new Baldurs Gate to come out. I'm sure that will be worth way more than lag and Otto's boxes.

I've been playing beta BG3 And Solasta. Both are great. Both have paywalls. Nothing like DDO mind you, but it's there.

Turn-based combat can get boring IMO. Role playing can get boring, So far Elden Ring is the closest to real-time combat compared to DDO.

All 3 games at full MSRP is the same (or close to it) as the Otto's Box.

OP, your post makes little sense, Comparing an in-game purchase to an game built on UE 5 is not even a valid point. Buy he Otto's enjoy it, then go drop $60.00us for any of the 3. (you'll be back)

[Gordo]

I've been playing beta BG3 And Solasta. Both are great. Both have paywalls. Nothing like DDO mind you, but it's there.

Turn-based combat can get boring IMO. Role playing can get boring, So far Elden Ring is the closest to real-time combat compared to DDO.

All 3 games at full MSRP is the same (or close to it) as the Otto's Box.

OP, your post makes little sense, Comparing an in-game purchase to an game built on UE 5 is not even a valid point. Buy he Otto's enjoy it, then go drop $60.00us for any of the 3. (you'll be back)

Thanks for info Captain.
The original BG series was awesome. I don't mind the turn based but I believe you can turn it off. I also think you can turn down the combat speed so you have enough time to react real time for all six party members?

[Monkey_Archer]

Yes, they are very expensive. But the prices of both the store and the market are generally very expensive for what they give. DDO has focused its business strategy on whales, totally ignoring the medium consumer. Other games have items for whales and items for the masses. DDO no. It's always seemed like a short-sighted, door-closing business strategy to me, but the devs seem content with what they're getting from milking the whales, not worrying about what they might gain from other, less elitist business strategies.

Even the mounts. Those prices for an item that only works on one server. The storage, grotesquely overpriced, to the point that everyone prefers mules. A simple bag has ridiculous prices, look at the price of a hireling holder. Cosmetics would sell more if they created storage for them, however.

You just have to see how they treat the expansions. Compare the shinnies that Turbine's xpacks brought with those of SSG. It's hilarious. SSG doesn't seem to understand how attractive extras encourage people to spend real money. SSG withdrew the turbine bundles (because of hardcore, obviously, they didn't want to give more xp tomes lol) and hasn't bothered to put new ones. Nah, SSG doesn't care about new players, or the old but average consumer. SSG only cares about veteran whales.

SSG's reluctance to make VIP membership desirable fits into this framework as well, a framework that has a hint of greed. Devs consider gold dice irresponsible because they consider that VIPs should not earn anything they can buy in the store, as if the subscription money means nothing and is no longer a fixed income for SSG. It is possible that the devs have not even noticed that the financial damage has not been caused by the gold dice (which encouraged many people to sign up for VIP), but by the rampant duping that has occurred this year and that they, as of habit, have taken centuries to fix.

So the price of otto's boxes is framed in the global commercial policy of SSG. I'm not worried because they are unnecessary items. Before, I was more concerned about seeing newbie arrivals, seeing them get scared of the paywall that awaited them, and leaving. Now that doesn't bother me. Their business, their problem lol.

Yep pretty much.

I have no issue with elitist pricing on elitist items, so to speak, but not having reasonable prices on things for the masses is just bad business.

I could buy less than 3 days of +50% xp pots in DDO for $30 (while they're on sale)... or I can go to another MMO and get 3 days worth of +100% xp for the equivalent of 50 cents....

Since I play both games, and its time saved either way, where do you think I'm going to spend my money...

Storage prices are even worse somehow... I would be happy to drop $50, maybe even $100 on unlimited shared bank storage (or at least ~1000 slots), instead I spend nothing.

[Captain_Wizbang]

Thanks for info Captain.
The original BG series was awesome. I don't mind the turn based but I believe you can turn it off. I also think you can turn down the combat speed so you have enough time to react real time for all six party members?

I play real time until combat, (default setting) which then allows you to slow it down for more of a PnP feel. Very cool open world. Paladin so far is my favorite class, casters are a blast too but I like more toe 2 toe combat. August for full release. Worth every penny. Lots of mods already, (which is another perk)

[cmecu]

Ive bought 2 in the last few months on thelanis for 1800 shards each.. they arnt posted that cheap often.. these were with shards i earned in game.

Thats not too bad. Still alot more than if you had bought them from the store with ddo points. But there are some people who sell stuff on the AH to make shards.. so some people dont use real money at all.
I did a post couple years back on a complete break down of otto boxes.

https://forums.ddo.com/forums/showth...costs-and-You-!!!

[Drunkendex]

Yes, they are very expensive. But the prices of both the store and the market are generally very expensive for what they give. DDO has focused its business strategy on whales, totally ignoring the medium consumer. Other games have items for whales and items for the masses. DDO no. It's always seemed like a short-sighted, door-closing business strategy to me, but the devs seem content with what they're getting from milking the whales, not worrying about what they might gain from other, less elitist business strategies.

Even the mounts. Those prices for an item that only works on one server. The storage, grotesquely overpriced, to the point that everyone prefers mules. A simple bag has ridiculous prices, look at the price of a hireling holder. Cosmetics would sell more if they created storage for them, however.

You just have to see how they treat the expansions. Compare the shinnies that Turbine's xpacks brought with those of SSG. It's hilarious. SSG doesn't seem to understand how attractive extras encourage people to spend real money. SSG withdrew the turbine bundles (because of hardcore, obviously, they didn't want to give more xp tomes lol) and hasn't bothered to put new ones. Nah, SSG doesn't care about new players, or the old but average consumer. SSG only cares about veteran whales.

SSG's reluctance to make VIP membership desirable fits into this framework as well, a framework that has a hint of greed. Devs consider gold dice irresponsible because they consider that VIPs should not earn anything they can buy in the store, as if the subscription money means nothing and is no longer a fixed income for SSG. It is possible that the devs have not even noticed that the financial damage has not been caused by the gold dice (which encouraged many people to sign up for VIP), but by the rampant duping that has occurred this year and that they, as of habit, have taken centuries to fix.

So the price of otto's boxes is framed in the global commercial policy of SSG. I'm not worried because they are unnecessary items. Before, I was more concerned about seeing newbie arrivals, seeing them get scared of the paywall that awaited them, and leaving. Now that doesn't bother me. Their business, their problem lol.

Agreed on everything said.

SSG completely ignores non whale spenders. Their entire business model revolves around making whales spend.

you can't afford to become a whale, you're not interesting to them.

they talk about "fiscal irresponsibility" while ignoring many potential spenders.

in last couple of weeks I've seen number of Steam discussion topics complaining about acc creation, because it's not clear what acc name/password requirements are and number of potential spender don't even get past acc creation.

THAT'S "fiscally irresponsible".

for example, mobile games make idiotic adds that don't even show actual game content in order to attract as much new players as possible, because more new players more chances that some of them will spend money on game, while SSg prays that D&D movie will not attract too much new players to DDO...

Steam again: out of those that actually managed to make acc, number of them actually got VIP. One even mentioned buying stuff that's unlocked via favor.
imagine if every month you get number of new players like that, they don't need to stay, just join, spend a little and next month get replaced by some other newbie who also goes VIP/buys easily attained stuff.

Fun Fact for SSG: In Croatia we have a saying literally translated as "grain to grain, bread, stone to stone, palace"

it means that small amount can reach high numbers when you get many of them.

Stop being "fiscaly irresponsible".

[Diracorvus]

nope someone else did. like i said i farmed fossils and sold those.. no points were spent.

So what was your hourly wage farming these things?
I think if people are ready to pay that amount of money to NOT play the game something is seriously wrong. Either the game is too boring or past lives are way too powerful.