[Issue 42] Why a 40% Off Sale is Better than 50% Off

[LaserShark 2,095]

Again, we are NOT here to praise the developers, we simply wrote our respective articles to make you UNDERSTAND the developers' duty.

 

Did you see the words 'Semyon is a god' anywhere?

Not in those specific words. Maybe next issue?

[greyat 2,972]

Not in those specific words. Maybe next issue?

If you came to the Newspaper expecting 'omg i h8 dis upd8 so much dev suck wai they do dis' *whine whine whine*, you came to the wrong place.

 

Please leave.

[KillerGnat 3,135]

If you came to the Newspaper expecting 'omg i h8 dis upd8 so much dev suck wai they do dis' *whine whine whine*, you came to the wrong place.

 

Please leave.

I don't like your attitude very much, but I have to admit that was funny.  :)

[greyat 2,972]

I don't like your attitude very much, but I have to admit that was funny.  :)

My apologies - I don't usually get very worked up about anything (I also do think a 50% sale would've been better :)) but to see so many hate-filled posts (especially by that one guy - @LaserShark) that seem to be aimed at suppressing a very valid point made by my colleague, rather than to improve his article quality, drove me over the edge.

Edited October 26, 2015 by greyat

[LaserShark 2,095]

My apologies - I don't usually get very worked up about anything (I also do think a 50% sale would've been better :)) but to see so many hate-filled posts (especially by that one guy - @LaserShark) that seem to be aimed at suppressing a very valid point made by my colleague, rather than to improve his article quality, drove me over the edge.

That one guy, LaserShark, he's just a little crybaby, lets not listen to him. Let's say we come up with some new valid points to discuss instead.

Might I suggest for our next enlightened, intelligent read, "Why you should spend your money on Tanki", "Save the poor, starving devs", "Sales hurt people",  or "Spending is for pros."

[KillerGnat 3,135]

My apologies - I don't usually get very worked up about anything (I also do think a 50% sale would've been better :)) but to see so many hate-filled posts (especially by that one guy - @LaserShark) that seem to be aimed at suppressing a very valid point made by my colleague, rather than to improve his article quality, drove me over the edge.

I totally understand.

[GoldRock 6,165]

 

Here's a simple lesson for you: in the world you have two items: tangible and intangible.

 

Tangible means you can touch it, hold it, buy it, use it, and resell it. Things like food, clothes, cars, houses, computers, iPhones, etc. Objects that require physical manufacturing and physical costs associated with producing them and selling them (such as a car - from the time the iron is mined from the ground to the oil being pumped from the ground, raw materials being transported and refined, finally arriving somewhere where you trade real currency for that item). With many things the more you produce the cheaper they become (production lines greatly improved manufacturing and lowered costs). Witness how cheap electronics become over time after they reach the market. There is always a fixed cost for making something under which you lose money if you sell it for less than it cost you to produce it.

 

If it costs me $500 to produce something and I sell it for $400 then I'm going to lose money. If I sell it for $600 I will turn a profit and I will have X number of customers. If I try to sell it for $750 I will earn more per item sold, but, I might actually lose customers so my overall profit might be less despite earning more per item sold.

 

Intangible means something you pay for but can't really hold it, touch it, or technically own it. Things such as software, music, movies, online games, etc. Once it is produced making more copies cost mere pennies. Things such as CDs, DVDs, BluRay, etc. Online distribution eliminates the physical costs so the only cost of distribution becomes server costs and bandwidth.

 

The major difference between tangible items and intangible items is that intangible items almost NEVER drop in price no matter how many copies exist - whether or not Microsoft sells 10,000,000 licenses of Windows or 100,000,000 licenses the price never drops - it never goes down if more are sold.

 

In the real world an "economy" is largely defined as individuals who have the capability of trading and selling items to each other using currency. It's an interaction between companies and customers - even between companies and between customers, or, between nations. Even currencies can be traded -  something called FOREX - I could sell my USD and buy euros, hold them for some time, then resell them for dollars hoping to turn a profit.

 

This talk about "economy" in Tanki is FALSE. There is no relationship between players - we cannot sell or transfer money (crystals) between one another. We cannot sell our items in the garage back to Tanki. Once you buy it you are stuck with it. This is because the items you buy don't really exist, and, crystals cannot be sold or traded using other online games, so, crystals themselves have no real value either. We cannot obtain crystals in any other way aside from interaction with Tanki - whether it is "earning" them in each round or buying them with real money. So, in essence, Tanki maintains a monopoly over crystals.

 

The difference between a real economy and the false one in Tanki is that in the real world if too much currency exists in the market then the value of that currency drops. If it is easy to produce money it loses value (this is why governments take such extreme measures to try to prevent counterfeiting). If a government decides to print more money to ease economic conditions then the increase in money supply leads to inflation (because if money is easier to obtain then more people will spend it - the more people spent money the higher prices will go).

 

Inflation cannot really happen in Tanki because crystals cannot be traded between players. I can't sell you the M2 I no longer need, and, I can't use crystals in my account to buy that Mammoth you don't like. Whether or not 1 billion or 100 billion crystals exists in the "game economy" means nothing. If I have a million crystals it has no impact on the price you pay for your items in your garage.

 

What does exist in the Tanki economy is something similar to counterfeiting - this is what happens when druggers appear and start slaughtering tanks. It increases the battle funds - this is how more crystals are produced. What also happens in Tanki is increases in crystal supplies by Tanki "printing" more crystals - this is what happens when gold boxes drop more often or with larger values, or, when you have days when battle funds are multiplied.

 

We hear that sales are bad. Well, is a sale any good if you aren't at the rank yet to unlock the things you want? If I want M3 Mammoth and I'm not a Gismo yet when a sale comes around then it's as if the sale doesn't exist for me at that point. A 50% sale two months ago would have done no good at all if the items I wanted weren't unlocked yet. So, despite there being 60-70,000 players it is highly improbable many of them would be able to buy what they want during a sale. A sale doesn't mean everyone will buy something or will be able to buy something. That's why they come several times per year. Players need time to rank.

 

How is a sale bad, but, allowing druggers to mine crystals, promoting inflated battle funds, or dropping larger gold boxes is not?

 

As I mentioned a sale is not a sale if a player isn't at a suitable rank in order to use it, but, anyone can take part in those events when crystals are being handed out like candy.

 

Now, there's a lot of focus on the difference between 40% and 50%. 10% at lower ranks is fairly small - it might make at most a 10,000 crystal difference in getting a complete tank. 10% at higher ranks is substantial - as high as 60,000 crystals if someone is getting a complete upgrade (hull and turret) - and for most people it tanks months to make the ranks needed to unlock those - hence it is more typical for players at high ranks to completely miss sales than those at lower ranks.

 

Why are supplies permanently 75% off, but, selling me a turret at 50% off versus 40% will "wreck the economy?"

 

Don't buy into the nonsense about game economy and how sales will destroy it when other actions clearly demonstrate the hypocrisy of that statement. There is simply no logical comparison between "selling" tanks that only exist in the online world to other hypothetical real world situations mentioned here such as supermarkets, etc.

 

Someone here who understands Economics. Impressive.

 

(clap)

[KillerGnat 3,135]

Ok, I was reading the rules (I know that's weird but I'm a nerd) and I found an interesting rule under the section of 

 

2.4. Actions that will lead to (at the Administration’s discretion) a temporary limitation of access to the Game’s Chats and Forum for up to 24 hours (ban) or an official warning:

 

here it is.

 

2.4.9. Unconstructive criticism of the Game and/or its authors, the Owner

 

Now, I'm not saying that any of you are doing that, but I'm just warning you. I truly don't want any of you getting a ban.

 

 

 

In another section called:

 

4. Assistants of Administration

 

I saw this:

 

4.3. An Assistant of Administration shall be honest and objective in making decisions, and shall also comply with the provisions of these Game Rules and the Agreement, be polite to Users, perform his/her duties efficiently and regularly. The activities of Assistants of Administration are determined and regulated by their internal guidelines.

 

The main part I wanna point out in that one is: be polite to Users

 

Personally, I don't think any of you have really broken these, but please watch out.

[viratno2 146]

I admit that the response to the 40% sale was insensitive, stupid and morally wrong. However, more is to be explained for the feedback to these topics-  Premium Accounts are in the game! and Episode 63 of the V-LOG is here, in two words, the premium accounts update.

[Brubook 1,161]

Again, we are NOT here to praise the developers, we simply wrote our respective articles to make you UNDERSTAND the developers' duty.

 

Did you see the words 'Semyon is a god' anywhere?

Nooo ... instead you put appropriated controlled voices that say that saving less is convenient!

 

And why? Because devs need a soup on their table at dinner!

 

TNT, I never said that Tanki development has not been a great work ... I also said that any company with a good idea and good management capacity (that include "customer care") deserves to earn millions!

 

I just say that first of all Alternativa Platform earn millions already and also that devs should take appropriate care of their customers, which are not only the paying whales but all the players. Because the players (read also FREE players) make the critical mass of players to make the game interesting and worth to invest and spend on.

[I.WalkAlone 548]

Yeah, sure, we put him in and the newspaper turns into a gossip magazine for criticizing all updates released by the developers.

Wow. So, according to you, an argument with valid and well presented points is 'gossip'? And I don't really see what's wrong with criticising some of the updates which developers release as long as it's constructive... It's not like creeperskelly is screaming "Nub developers! Y no 50%?" It's a balanced and unbiased view. Unlike that of some of the current reporters...

[creeperskelly 1,281]

I've been thinking about this issue some more over the past 24 hours.

 

You know what Tanki really should do? Get rid of blanket sales that apply to everything and instead hand out "BOGO" cards - similar to how 2x crystal cards are handed out.

 

It seems management/developers are opposed to the sales now because of the fear people will buy one of everything on sale.

 

Do we really need 50% off on all turrets at the same time? If you limit the choice but still give a sale it presents a compromise that encourages people to buy while at the same time preventing someone from just buying a whole entire garage at once. Therefore both sides can be satisfied and it generates goodwill - essential for the survival of any business.

 

When you think about the logic it makes sense. A 2x crystal bonus card is essentially a 100% sale - in other words it is just "buy one get one free" card. These are fairly common.

 

You could issue "Buy one get one free cards" on special dates instead of blanket sales and this would probably be a great compromise. Then people could still essentially get 50% off a turret and a hull on special occasions, but, it also preserves the "economy" by getting rid of blanket sales on everything. Since it is practically impossible to find two items for the same amount of crystals it works out to be less than a 50% sale, but, "buy one get one free" has a much more positive sound to it.

 

You buy Firebird M3 and get Wasp M3 for free.

 

Today I went to buy groceries and many of the things I bought were BOGO. But I can't buy 1,000 of those things and expect to get 1,000 for free - there are quantity limits whenever a store offers such a steep discount.

 

So, Tanki should offer something similar - instead of a sale consider a BOGO card limited to 24 hours.

[dragonssk1 334]

Moral of the story. Lets not talk or write controversial topics, so it doesn't anger anyone. Stick to the funny stories, reviews and more contest! 

Edited October 26, 2015 by dragonssk1

[creeperskelly 1,281]

Here's an economic question: does a business make more money from a 50% off sale or a "buy one get one free?"

[shaurya471 313]

You completely changed my view about the sale!!

I must say,which I don't very often do, you have a very convincing style of writing which seems appealing to most of us (Some of the scallywags present here just don't seem to understand). :D

Good Job and keep it up!

[E.Leclerc 1,887]

I don't think they do get paid. It's volunteer work.

Volunteer? Volunteer is a person who wants to help, without any payments.

These guys (reporters) get paid 50,000 crystals per every article.

 

Of course, I'm not saying that they work for crystals, I just told you a fact. :)

[Jwimmer 2,835]

The gold box increase is not a guarantee that more will fall - it's still random chance.

Gold box drop chances are based off changes in the fund. The more the changes, the more the chance. So if the fund is multiplied, the gold box change multiplies. 

[creeperskelly 1,281]

Gold box has a chance of falling each time the fund increases by one crystal (1/10000). It is a chance of falling - not a guarantee. The chance of falling is the same whether the fund is 1 crystal or 100,000 crystals. Just because the fund increases from 0--->10,000 does not mean 1 gold box is guaranteed to fall. The fund could grow forever and one could not fall. Or the fund could start by one tank being killed and immediately one could fall - sometimes even 2 at a time.

 

This isn't the same as  lottery where there's a finite set of numbers and possibilities.

 

Theoretically changing the ratio from 1/10000 to 1/1000 should increase drops - but it's still random chance no matter what. Pure luck (or so we think).

 

 

This is why players who ask "Did gold drop yet?" are highly annoying. Whether it fell 10 seconds ago has nothing to do with whether it will fall 10 seconds from now, 1 hour from now, or 10 days from now.

 

Just because the ratio changes doesn't guarantee that more will fall.

Edited October 26, 2015 by creeperskelly

[Real_Madrid_M3 0]

Tanki needs money?

 

Well, I will tell you a thing: meanwhile Tanki banned players for a month (for a few insults in game) I never give you a single ruble.

 

In addition, I think all the revenue structure is wrong. Benefit paid players versus free players is a wrong policy (at least in so far as Tanki does). How many hundreds of dollars (if not thousands) are required to have a tank with full M4 equipment in a year? Full M4 tank I mean 4 turrets, 3 hulls and 3 paints. It's crazy: Tanki is the world's most expensive game.

It would be much better to have a free section with limited functions and other payment section in which only could improve the equipment with crystals earned in games. The payment should not in any case exceed 5 euros/month. I am sure that the vast majority of players would pay those 5 euros delighted if it gave them greater equality in the game. And would be thousands and thousands of players that every month you would enter that amount. Would it be enough for you 3 million euros/year? With this policy, I am sure you could get it.

Of course, at the same time you should reduce the prices of all the equipment (items with a price of 250.000/500.000 crystals is ridiculous but insane).

 

This is the point of view of someone who become Generalissimo in 5 months (less one day) and paying only 60 euros. When I was banned a month (by insults in game) I decided never to buy anything more with real money.

 

Hell33lleH/Capablancka

Edited October 26, 2015 by Real_Madrid_M3

[Yacine54.1 43]

pls money pls

[Quarks 2,255]

I must agree with stratus here, Just because Tanki gives a 40% sale does not mean that it hates you. Last year alone, there were way too many sales, and that can cause a depreciation of crystals, just like to much money causes it to depreciate, think about it. Also remember that Alternativa Platforms is a for profit company, and if they did continue to go on with the oversupply of sales, guess what would happen, Rebalance. Again.

 

Wait a second, why would they need a rebalance? Because the currency slowly goes down in worth, and that causes an increase in prices, and the programmers would have to work to figure it out, and the whole currency would change, again.

 

While I would have loved a 50% off sale, the 40% still got the job done. I bought m2 hornet and fracture with a few thousand left over, which is now back to 73k ish.

 

One last thing I would like you to think about, since so many of you complain about buyers, Have you ever seen a free to play online game NOT give advantages to buyers? No, what a surprise. But fortunately for you, you can get ANYTHING in Tanki for free. Even XT's, though it is a pain. 

[sonofchrysalis3 3,719]

I must agree with stratus here, Just because Tanki gives a 40% sale does not mean that it hates you. Last year alone, there were way too many sales, and that can cause a depreciation of crystals, just like to much money causes it to depreciate, think about it. Also remember that Alternativa Platforms is a for profit company, and if they did continue to go on with the oversupply of sales, guess what would happen, Rebalance. Again.

 

Wait a second, why would they need a rebalance? Because the currency slowly goes down in worth, and that causes an increase in prices, and the programmers would have to work to figure it out, and the whole currency would change, again.

 

While I would have loved a 50% off sale, the 40% still got the job done. I bought m2 hornet and fracture with a few thousand left over, which is now back to 73k ish.

 

One last thing I would like you to think about, since so many of you complain about buyers, Have you ever seen a free to play online game NOT give advantages to buyers? No, what a surprise. But fortunately for you, you can get ANYTHING in Tanki for free. Even XT's, though it is a pain. 

You nailed it, Bigs. One particular complaint I keep seeing is "An extra 10% isn't going to hurt Tanki". And, as you said, that extra 10% didn't hurt the players, either. So it's all good! No need to make a planet out of a pebble.

 

P.S. Hope you don't mind that I called you "Bigs".

Edited March 8, 2016 by sonofchrysalis3

[greyat 2,972]

Wow. So, according to you, an argument with valid and well presented points is 'gossip'? And I don't really see what's wrong with criticising some of the updates which developers release as long as it's constructive... It's not like creeperskelly is screaming "Nub developers! Y no 50%?" It's a balanced and unbiased view. Unlike that of some of the current reporters...

Certain people seem to want this style of articles from us...

 

 

 

I speak of @LaserShark here.

 

 

Edited October 26, 2015 by greyat

[Extant 154]

Nice article. :)

[Quarks 2,255]

You nailed it, Bigs. One particular complaint I keep seeing is "An extra 10% isn't going to hurt Tanki". And, as you said, that extra 10% didn't hurt the players, either. So it's all good! No need to make a planet out of a pebble.

 

P.S. Hope you don't mind that I called you "Bigs".

Thanks stratus, I do not know why this is getting so much negative attention. You made a valid argument (even if a little overboard on imagery, but hey, that is just me.) and it made sense. And honestly, If you save up for a sale, underestimate it, that way, you can't be let down, HOWEVER, I am disappointed that there is not sale for halloween. The silver lining is either A.) Christmas will be great, or B.) I buy a kit.

 

And no, I do not mind being called bigs, In fact, it is better than my nickname. I detest my nickname, I do not like the band anyways, I prefer Rap, Hardcore, Punk and Pop Punk. Wierd huh.