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Plus price changes
Since Sokker introduced Plus in 2004 subscription has remained, despite inflation, at the same low price for more than 4 years. During that time, Sokker was constantly developed and many new features have been added to Plus.
The new prices will be:
89 PLN for 1 year (old price 77 PLN)
49 PLN for 6 months (old price 42 PLN)
29 PLN for 3 months (old price 24 PLN)
22 PLN for 2 months (old price 19 PLN)
The price increase will come into effect on Monday, 15th September.
Before this date you can still buy Plus at the current price.
Accepting Teams Process Change
We have changed the process for assigning new teams to leagues. For countries with at least 4 divisions or more, new users are accepted in the two bottom leagues (instead of only the bottom one). This was done to increase the number of users who remain as users in Sokker. For example, we have considered the following statistics:
- Poland retains 56% of new users (full leagues, hard to promote, 7 divisions to get top but all time matches with live teams)
- Austria retains 39% of new users (half filled leagues)
- Denmark retains only 14% of new users stayed (when you register you get team in bot league)
It is our intention that this change will increase the amount of interaction new users get when joining the game, and make the game initially more enjoyable.
so whadaya think? better get to renewing those plus now before they hike up the price :P
also, does the latter announcement include Australia? if so, it would be kinda harsh to drop new teams into div III where they will most likely get thrashed and (maybe) relegated to div IV anyways...
Since Sokker introduced Plus in 2004 subscription has remained, despite inflation, at the same low price for more than 4 years. During that time, Sokker was constantly developed and many new features have been added to Plus.
The new prices will be:
89 PLN for 1 year (old price 77 PLN)
49 PLN for 6 months (old price 42 PLN)
29 PLN for 3 months (old price 24 PLN)
22 PLN for 2 months (old price 19 PLN)
The price increase will come into effect on Monday, 15th September.
Before this date you can still buy Plus at the current price.
Accepting Teams Process Change
We have changed the process for assigning new teams to leagues. For countries with at least 4 divisions or more, new users are accepted in the two bottom leagues (instead of only the bottom one). This was done to increase the number of users who remain as users in Sokker. For example, we have considered the following statistics:
- Poland retains 56% of new users (full leagues, hard to promote, 7 divisions to get top but all time matches with live teams)
- Austria retains 39% of new users (half filled leagues)
- Denmark retains only 14% of new users stayed (when you register you get team in bot league)
It is our intention that this change will increase the amount of interaction new users get when joining the game, and make the game initially more enjoyable.
so whadaya think? better get to renewing those plus now before they hike up the price :P
also, does the latter announcement include Australia? if so, it would be kinda harsh to drop new teams into div III where they will most likely get thrashed and (maybe) relegated to div IV anyways...
I've never been a particularly big fan of places that do the "We haven't indexed our price with inflation since (some date A) so now we're going to increase our price (coincidentally that amount is indexed against inflation relative to date A)"
Which sounds fine, except that the majority of your users didn't start paying for the game 4 years ago (assuming you're a growing game), so to the bulk of your users its greater than just an inflation increase.
To my mind if the pricing was fine last year (which it was or the admins would have increased it) and you want to start indexing it against inflation now, then its reasonable for users to expect the 3-4% increase on last years amount. A 15-16% increase is much less cool.
As for the accepting teams process change, it sounds reasonable. I'm pretty sure the div III team I was given was better than the div IV team most users now get. It also means that bots with NT players will potentially be replaced sooner, which is definitely a good thing.
Which sounds fine, except that the majority of your users didn't start paying for the game 4 years ago (assuming you're a growing game), so to the bulk of your users its greater than just an inflation increase.
To my mind if the pricing was fine last year (which it was or the admins would have increased it) and you want to start indexing it against inflation now, then its reasonable for users to expect the 3-4% increase on last years amount. A 15-16% increase is much less cool.
As for the accepting teams process change, it sounds reasonable. I'm pretty sure the div III team I was given was better than the div IV team most users now get. It also means that bots with NT players will potentially be replaced sooner, which is definitely a good thing.
3rd division and 4th division are pretty similar for us apart from the top teams in div 3. I'm guessing it will apply for us as well since we have 4 divisions. Could be a good thing though, could also work the opposite, get into a hard league, get slaughtered 10-0 first game then decide what's the point in hanging around if I'm going to get thumped every week. I'm a bit 50-50 on that. Also is somewhat unfair for those teams currently with users in IV if a team just starting out gets into III without working up the tree.
Will just see how it pans out :).
Edit: Naph raises a good point about NT players getting released earlier :).
Wasn't going to mention much about prices but it does at least from the news reading appear to be trying to make excuses for price rising. I don't see too much of a problem with the price rising, although it would be better if they said something like we've decided to raise prices so we can make better improvements or something like that in the future rather than the "well we've avoided inflation and now we're adding prices due to lot of new plus things". Realistically there's not that much "new" in Plus since last year when the prices were lower. A few extra stats, a google map thing (which isn't really any added value to the game), probably a few other things I haven't remembered as well. Just seems to be an excuse for "we want more money" to me ;). Fortunately it's only an extra couple of bucks but I didn't really like the way they worded it, looking like they were trying to find an excuse when there really wasn't one to be making.
(editado)
Will just see how it pans out :).
Edit: Naph raises a good point about NT players getting released earlier :).
Wasn't going to mention much about prices but it does at least from the news reading appear to be trying to make excuses for price rising. I don't see too much of a problem with the price rising, although it would be better if they said something like we've decided to raise prices so we can make better improvements or something like that in the future rather than the "well we've avoided inflation and now we're adding prices due to lot of new plus things". Realistically there's not that much "new" in Plus since last year when the prices were lower. A few extra stats, a google map thing (which isn't really any added value to the game), probably a few other things I haven't remembered as well. Just seems to be an excuse for "we want more money" to me ;). Fortunately it's only an extra couple of bucks but I didn't really like the way they worded it, looking like they were trying to find an excuse when there really wasn't one to be making.
(editado)
Yeah, I think more than anything I hate the bollocks, marketing spin people try to put on stuff like this.
What's wrong with saying something like:
"We haven't had a price rise in a while (2004 in fact). Our costs (larger dev team, servers for more traffic, backup systems etc etc) have gone up and we're going to pass those costs on to plus users. Thanks to all the supporters out there who make this game possible."
What's wrong with saying something like:
"We haven't had a price rise in a while (2004 in fact). Our costs (larger dev team, servers for more traffic, backup systems etc etc) have gone up and we're going to pass those costs on to plus users. Thanks to all the supporters out there who make this game possible."
Don't know, just seems to be looking for excuses to me but I have no problem with the rise. I can't even think of more than 4 new plus things they've added since last August. 1) New stats, 2) Google map thingis, 3) Chairman photo 4) Rehash of the old assistant function.
Trying to think of anything else thats been for plus only.
Anyway it's not a big deal I just wasn't particularly impressed with the way it was written.
Trying to think of anything else thats been for plus only.
Anyway it's not a big deal I just wasn't particularly impressed with the way it was written.
Its worded such that it implies lots has been done in the last 4 years, not the last one year. Or at least that is how I'm reading it.
yeah I know, but why suddenly now raise the price when previous years hadn't been. So even though it's implied over the 4 years, last year things were already there without the increase. I just think there has to be a better way of stating the news :).
Sounds like we can stop agreeing with each other then :P
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naphtali [del]
I think I can afford to fork out an extra few bucks a year.
The wording was poor, but I have no problem with the intention. It's been getting cheaper every year, especially with exchange rates.... shhhh. ;-)
No problem with a 4 year bump. I hope the next one is in 4 years time as well. :D
The wording was poor, but I have no problem with the intention. It's been getting cheaper every year, especially with exchange rates.... shhhh. ;-)
No problem with a 4 year bump. I hope the next one is in 4 years time as well. :D
If I can say my opinion, I don't like this price changes. Why? Sokker goes down, for a long time nothing arecting happend. New "players moves" during the matches, is probably only positive upgrading which devs do in a last year. They made a really horrible design, that is not upgrade. Just check public inquiry on International forum, what people thinks about this (design).
I don't think, that Sokker, and money for PLUS have to do something with inflation. Unfortunately, money perish character... Interplay company (creators of RPG Fallout) had once one nice slogan "by Gamers for Gamers". I think, it's not right to run Sokker for money, for my own bliss. It's game, it's for fun, for relax and for passion. Just like a real football (or soccer).
Not a long time ago, I count with another manager, how many money, devs got from us. And we count out, that each month, they "earn" almost 5000 €! I don't know how expensive is life in Australia, but here in Central Europe (Slovakia from where I am, is right next to the Poland, we have the same border) is common wage around 500 - 650 €. In Poland are also a little bit lower prices, so 5000 € per month are a really big money! For doing nothing!
What I can say, our community (czech and slovak) are really unsatisfied by devs work. And this takes especially communication, that's probably the biggest problem! Many of us has a really nice ideas in BUGS / IDEAS forum but no respond from devs! So many people says, it's not worth to write there, 'cause noone important read it...
Also there are problems with stability of server (not only now, almost every seasons are some problems), and what really irritate me, is that when you buy PLUS, they send you mail "be sure, we are continue to adding more and more options for PLUS users". And what changes in PLUS for a years? N-O-T-H-I-N-G... So, increasing of price is step back... I won't pay it again, not because of price, but because of characters of devs...
I don't think, that Sokker, and money for PLUS have to do something with inflation. Unfortunately, money perish character... Interplay company (creators of RPG Fallout) had once one nice slogan "by Gamers for Gamers". I think, it's not right to run Sokker for money, for my own bliss. It's game, it's for fun, for relax and for passion. Just like a real football (or soccer).
Not a long time ago, I count with another manager, how many money, devs got from us. And we count out, that each month, they "earn" almost 5000 €! I don't know how expensive is life in Australia, but here in Central Europe (Slovakia from where I am, is right next to the Poland, we have the same border) is common wage around 500 - 650 €. In Poland are also a little bit lower prices, so 5000 € per month are a really big money! For doing nothing!
What I can say, our community (czech and slovak) are really unsatisfied by devs work. And this takes especially communication, that's probably the biggest problem! Many of us has a really nice ideas in BUGS / IDEAS forum but no respond from devs! So many people says, it's not worth to write there, 'cause noone important read it...
Also there are problems with stability of server (not only now, almost every seasons are some problems), and what really irritate me, is that when you buy PLUS, they send you mail "be sure, we are continue to adding more and more options for PLUS users". And what changes in PLUS for a years? N-O-T-H-I-N-G... So, increasing of price is step back... I won't pay it again, not because of price, but because of characters of devs...
That's like an extra $6 a year... It's not gonna make a big difference to us I guess...
Does anyone know if it is possible to top PLUS up before it expires...
Like mine has 4 months to go if I buy another year it would be 16 months to go... ???
We could all saves $6 before the 15/09 :)
Does anyone know if it is possible to top PLUS up before it expires...
Like mine has 4 months to go if I buy another year it would be 16 months to go... ???
We could all saves $6 before the 15/09 :)
Regarding communications, I think they really need to sort out the Bugs/Ideas forum.
1) Split the forum into two separate ones.
2) Have a stickied thread of already requested ideas, and the comment from the mods/devs.
3) Enforce a strict posting policy: contributing content only. (Posting "That sucks!" is not helpful.)
4) Limit each idea to only one thread. That is, do a SEARCH on the forum BEFORE you post, to see if a similar idea to yours has been requested; and then continue discussion in that thread. (We don't need thousands of "Let's have a Champions League" thread.)
5) Only post a new idea after giving it much though, and supporting it with logical arguments.
Of course, this is for the English based forums; and I think we have enough mods in Sokker to clear out the garbage in that forum, so that the stuff in there can actually improve the game. Bans/punishments can be dished out by the dozen.
1) Split the forum into two separate ones.
2) Have a stickied thread of already requested ideas, and the comment from the mods/devs.
3) Enforce a strict posting policy: contributing content only. (Posting "That sucks!" is not helpful.)
4) Limit each idea to only one thread. That is, do a SEARCH on the forum BEFORE you post, to see if a similar idea to yours has been requested; and then continue discussion in that thread. (We don't need thousands of "Let's have a Champions League" thread.)
5) Only post a new idea after giving it much though, and supporting it with logical arguments.
Of course, this is for the English based forums; and I think we have enough mods in Sokker to clear out the garbage in that forum, so that the stuff in there can actually improve the game. Bans/punishments can be dished out by the dozen.
If I can say my opinion, I don't like this price changes. Why? Sokker goes down, for a long time nothing arecting happend. New "players moves" during the matches, is probably only positive upgrading which devs do in a last year. They made a really horrible design, that is not upgrade. Just check public inquiry on International forum, what people thinks about this (design).
Problem with this is polls are always loudest heard by those unhappy, rather than those happy. Never trust polls ;). Also most of the choice answers were negative to begin with, there was 1 positive one which was an extreme case, there wasn't any semi-positive choices, so it was always going to be biased towards the negative side. Again, never trust polls ;).
I don't think, that Sokker, and money for PLUS have to do something with inflation. Unfortunately, money perish character... Interplay company (creators of RPG Fallout) had once one nice slogan "by Gamers for Gamers". I think, it's not right to run Sokker for money, for my own bliss. It's game, it's for fun, for relax and for passion. Just like a real football (or soccer).
I disagree in a sense that you have to get something out for the time spent for this. There has always been the option not to purchase plus, so they're not forcing people to pay. Also all the server costs etc need to be funded from somewhere other than their own pockets because nobody does anything that results in them losing out.
Regarding your last post saying increasing the price is a step back, I don't see it that way. It's not a massive increase (ok percentage terms it is but absolute terms it's not). I was just more unhappy with the wording as I feel it could have been expressed better. You don't know whether the extra income they now receive will improve the game further and quicker so it's too early to call saying its a step back. They could have easily had these prices from the beginning anyway, it's still quite cheap compared to other online games, so it's not the price increase thats the problem, more so how people always like to get things as cheap as possible and complain when something goes up and also largely the way it was written giving a potential interpretation which isn't really a good impression on users.
(editado)
Problem with this is polls are always loudest heard by those unhappy, rather than those happy. Never trust polls ;). Also most of the choice answers were negative to begin with, there was 1 positive one which was an extreme case, there wasn't any semi-positive choices, so it was always going to be biased towards the negative side. Again, never trust polls ;).
I don't think, that Sokker, and money for PLUS have to do something with inflation. Unfortunately, money perish character... Interplay company (creators of RPG Fallout) had once one nice slogan "by Gamers for Gamers". I think, it's not right to run Sokker for money, for my own bliss. It's game, it's for fun, for relax and for passion. Just like a real football (or soccer).
I disagree in a sense that you have to get something out for the time spent for this. There has always been the option not to purchase plus, so they're not forcing people to pay. Also all the server costs etc need to be funded from somewhere other than their own pockets because nobody does anything that results in them losing out.
Regarding your last post saying increasing the price is a step back, I don't see it that way. It's not a massive increase (ok percentage terms it is but absolute terms it's not). I was just more unhappy with the wording as I feel it could have been expressed better. You don't know whether the extra income they now receive will improve the game further and quicker so it's too early to call saying its a step back. They could have easily had these prices from the beginning anyway, it's still quite cheap compared to other online games, so it's not the price increase thats the problem, more so how people always like to get things as cheap as possible and complain when something goes up and also largely the way it was written giving a potential interpretation which isn't really a good impression on users.
(editado)
Does anyone know if it is possible to top PLUS up before it expires...
Like mine has 4 months to go if I buy another year it would be 16 months to go... ???
We could all saves $6 before the 15/09 :)
I "think" it just adds onto what you've already got but I'm not certain of that so don't hold me to it ;).
Like mine has 4 months to go if I buy another year it would be 16 months to go... ???
We could all saves $6 before the 15/09 :)
I "think" it just adds onto what you've already got but I'm not certain of that so don't hold me to it ;).
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