Sugar-high!

I’m prefacing this entry with a tl;dr warning, because it really is.You can say this is a continuation of my comments on the top up system I talked about in my previous post.

Theory on the top up system I’ve only begun to play recently, so I can’t really guarantee if I’ve got the correct idea about the g-points system, but I believe the cards were originally planned for the pay to play (p2p) format, that is, these cards not only have g-points, it guarantees play time for you for up to a certain period. If that’s the case, then it explains - not very well, but hey, at least it serves as a workable theory - why the amount of g-points per card is quite low. But GE has not been a p2p game for a while now, so why has this not been changed?

Now my problem with this, if this theory was correct - and this can only be a theory without further confirmation, and you can ignore this whole section if it isn’t - is that when they became free to play, why couldn’t they have announced a plan that after a certain date, all GVC card will have an increase in g-points value, and offer a similar premium item scheme similar to the enhancement booster premium item bonus for those who have already loaded up? That way anyone who was going to buy gvcs or codes could decide not to load them immediately, and wait till the new GVC values were up, while keeping the players who have topped up already satisfied that they’re not losers in the bargain.

This option is actually readily available to them because they can for all intents set the value of the gvcs at any time, and their only consideration would be to keep the playing field balanced at any point in time.

I guess there is a very simple reason is they get more money this way, or assume they do. In fact, changing their system would probably generate a higher amount of income, but they’d need a more accurate projection of profits than something an ordinary player will say. What a capitalist thing to do at the expense of their customers. =(

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GVC Cards scarce So let’s turn our attention to what most people complain about, which would be the lack of GVC cards in most areas here in the Philippines. when GE first came out and I had no interest in MMOs, I saw GE cards in every net shop by my house. And as I live practically in the middle of nowhere, that’s saying something! These were the 50 to 100 cards actually, and I remember this because they were very pretty and I was actually curious about the game it was for. It was strange that even when those cards were available, there were virtually no players of GE in the area. A few months later there were no more cards available, but then everyone was too busy playing RO.

I remembered this because one of the excuses I heard about the lack of GVCs is that the stores returned cards because they couldn’t be sold. I guess that even word of mouth and a dedicated set of players in one area wouldn’t be enough to get the distributors to promote their cards again to the netshop owners.

But then, why must the players be the people to act to bring GE to the shops? Players are essentially customers, and they rely on the top up system to make their playing experience better, paraphrasing Leticia the premium item dealer. But what does it really mean to have a better playing experience? What do the other side - the players - get while topping up? I’ve come up with a list of reasons why players would most likely top up, based on what I do.

- for experience. Purchasing combat manuals to speed up the vetting process, since I’ll be using them to power level my other characters, like the elementalist and Adelina.

- for trading premium items for vis. Mysterious powders, enhancement boosters and tranquilizers, barracks slots and warp slots fall into this category. It always helps to be rich in-game, because you’d never know what you’ll have to buy. (Why hello there, Catherine’s pelvis)

- to make ‘em pretty and unique. (I want to know how many guys will admit to this!) Premium costumes like the school look and the different costume boxes fall into this category, but this sometimes overlaps with reason #2, because with enough g-points you can make a brisk business for the eyewear, Karja, and Andre boxes.

In lighter news: My fighter, wiz, and scout have all reached 58! Still at Torsche leveling in the hope of getting (not buying) the elusive Cath’s pelvis, and still vacillating at doing the Intruder Alert! quest.

Today I just came from RCBC and was told that they do not have any 100php cards for sale for Granado Espada in the main office. And this with still 3 days left of their top up premium. I just don’t want to go to the forums to check out if anyone already posted about this, but I thought that if they figured the LoadCentral pins didn’t last two weeks into their top up promo, shouldn’t they generate more pins in the event this could happen. People have been very vocal about in the forums and the broads in the network about this issue, but even if it’s been like this for a month, I haven’t heard of any direct word from people in e-games about it.

WTH.

So I’ve been playing Granado Espada for over two months now, and one thing that I do to ensure I can play and enjoy the game play fully is to top-up regularly. At certain quests and NPC recruitment (Irawan and Angie come painfully to mind) you may have to shell out quite a bit of money to get them. I didn’t mind at first - hey, the more characters the more variety, innit? - but then I realized that I was shelling out between 1k to 2k on GE and I have to keep shelling out more to get better options.

1k to 2k a month may not sound like much to those who’ve invested more money for their characters, but it’s not like I actually play the game all the time. Even during weekends I never play 24 hours straight (not like some people aiming for vet and expert) and weekdays I’m more often off than off Caracci. So where exactly is my money going? That made me think what do I get for each top up that I do. At my level I am more interested in stuff to make my characters level, so I got manuals, and then traded a out a bit for vis in case I needed it for purchases of equips and armors in the MM, because I’m still low enough not to need the rare elites everyone’s after. But with prices going higher and higher for premium items, the g-points I traded off decreased in value.

I began to top up more often because of the promo, just like around 80% of the players in the Philippines, and I noticed that ever since the 1.8k g-points ran out, the market prices of premium items have gone higher. The best example might be enhancement boosters that became bonus items since April with the 750 and 1.8k g-points. At the start of April you could get these items - practically necessary for a guaranteed +5 for enhancing weapons and armor - at 5-6m vis each, and you’d think that since you’d get from 1 to 3 boosters for free during top-up, and with all things remaining equal, prices will stabilize or dip slightly. Last price check they’re at 9m-10, with people offering higher for bulk purchases. And this is trading at the broads, because selling your boosters in the Market Manager (fondly called the MM) may net you 12m vis above.

Why are these premium items so expensive these days? Maybe because right now, g-points have gotten scarce in the country, but there should still be a stable pool of g-points in Singapore and other SeaGE countries. I can’t think of a reason why this inflation is still ongoing. I mean, isn’t g-points equivalent cheaper there as well? Or do encounter the same lack of sources there?

So, where does that leave me? Should I still top up? My best bet would be the 750php top up in LoadCentral worth 18k, but then I did a bit of math. According to this blog post by Futels, that 75ophp also comes with 15 search for Adelina’s Booty (or ABS) license, but then what happens if I do the insane thing and buy 15 50 php codes from LoadCentral. That may only be equal to 15×1000 = 15k g-points, but then it comes with 15 enhancement boosters which is a practically guaranteed 150m vis in trading (it can go higher if you sell in the MM) and 30 ABS licenses. Oh hay, that was hard.

But really? If I only didn’t have to get some premium items for the possibility of vetting in the near future, I’d stop topping up till they come up with a better solution to their marketing system. It’s just way too hard to top up when LoadCentral has also proven unreliable for code values. How many people got hit by the April 1 fiasco? Raise your hands! I’m going to chance it with the 15 50 codes, and if not, well good luck to the e-games rep I’ll be talking to over the phone tomorrow.