37 replies to this topic

[JONDIESATTHEEND]

I just watched a video of a seminar on how to make money on free to play games. One of their main points was to get players so invested in the game that they feel that they have to keep investing or they are wasting their money. IE  Buying premiums that are way better than last premiums so that you stay relevant in a game that you have a lot of money and time invested in. They referred to whales as the target demographic. Whales are people who spend more than a thousand dollars on a game. At first I thought this was stupid because who would spend that on a game? Then I thought about it and realized I am that guy. The video I watched then made fun of idiots who spend this much on one video game. 

  My thoughts are this. I average 60 hours a month on WOT and my average spending has been probably 40 dollars a month. The way I see it is I get 1 hour of enjoyment/rage per 66 cents. To me that is a value.

  Why am I making this post? I guess to try and make myself not feel like the idiot they said I was for spending the money I have spent.

[Trakks]

Increasing your enjoyment of a game by throwing some money at it every now and again is not something that the people who make these videos ever takes into consideration. 

[grandthefttankV]

Your marketing professor is way too polite in calling them whales. Most people refer to them as basement dwellers, WG fanboys and nerds.

[Goblord]

I don't think there is anything wrong with investing in a hobby.

If you're intelligent about spending within your means or less, then why does it matter?

Unless you're funding your WoT habit through careless debit accrual, then what's the problem?

 

Also, if their entire strategy was around attracting whales, and then it turnaround and insult them, they probably shouldn't** be someone you listen to for business advice.

 

Edited by Goblord, Jul 13 2019 - 00:57.

[FrozenKemp]

No, "whales" is the industry term. 

 

I don't know HOW you spend $40/month but that's up to you I guess.   Then again I'm probably only playing 30-40 hours/month so you are playing more!

[24_inch_pythons]

 There are only a few premium tanks that I feel I haven't gotten my money's worth out of. Most I feel I have gotten it or will get it eventually. Gold purchases... eh, hard to say on that one but I probably lean towards not worth it because it costs too much to do stuff with gold in WoT. But, overall I don't feel my money is wasted on WoT, nor do I feel like a sucker. I very rarely buy any other games anymore. The point is I used to buy a lot more games and spend X dollars per month, year, whatever, now I buy a lot less games and probably spend less money but the vast majority of it goes to one place, WoT.

[tanopasman62]

I normally buy premium time when I'll have lots of free time to make the most ouf ot it, even the more broken premiums are still going to be farmed by tier 10s.

 

Either way thanks to the whales that keep the hamsters running so I can play the rest of the time. 

[Flarvin]

I was hoping this thread was going be about the tog. lol 

[Allf]

JONDIESATTHEEND, on Jul 12 2019 - 18:39, said:

I just watched a video of a seminar on how to make money on free to play games. One of their main points was to get players so invested in the game that they feel that they have to keep investing or they are wasting their money. IE  Buying premiums that are way better than last premiums so that you stay relevant in a game that you have a lot of money and time invested in. They referred to whales as the target demographic. Whales are people who spend more than a thousand dollars on a game. At first I thought this was stupid because who would spend that on a game? Then I thought about it and realized I am that guy. The video I watched then made fun of idiots who spend this much on one video game. 

  My thoughts are this. I average 60 hours a month on WOT and my average spending has been probably 40 dollars a month. The way I see it is I get 1 hour of enjoyment/rage per 66 cents. To me that is a value.

  Why am I making this post? I guess to try and make myself not feel like the idiot they said I was for spending the money I have spent.

 

You should not feel bad about throwing money here and there at a game that makes you happy.

You work, so you can spend it and enjoy your life on whatever hobby you like. Anyone to tell you otherwise is a pretty lost cause.
It makes you happy, so you go spend that 40 and get yourself a new shiny tank or whatever. Go wild.

You get only one life, so enjoy it.

[Wingnuttz33]

JONDIESATTHEEND, on Jul 12 2019 - 18:39, said:

I just watched a video of a seminar on how to make money on free to play games. One of their main points was to get players so invested in the game that they feel that they have to keep investing or they are wasting their money. IE  Buying premiums that are way better than last premiums so that you stay relevant in a game that you have a lot of money and time invested in. They referred to whales as the target demographic. Whales are people who spend more than a thousand dollars on a game. At first I thought this was stupid because who would spend that on a game? Then I thought about it and realized I am that guy. The video I watched then made fun of idiots who spend this much on one video game. 

  My thoughts are this. I average 60 hours a month on WOT and my average spending has been probably 40 dollars a month. The way I see it is I get 1 hour of enjoyment/rage per 66 cents. To me that is a value.

  Why am I making this post? I guess to try and make myself not feel like the idiot they said I was for spending the money I have spent.

Don't worry what others say. Spend your money where you want, and how much you want to spend.

 

I am also guilty of putting on tubular control arms and disc brakes on my 65 Goat. Many say i will never get my money back when i sell it. WHO SAYS I'm SELLING? It's for me.

Many say you don't get your investment money back on a pool, Who cares i want to go swimming anytime i want. Who says I'm selling my house?

"why you drinkin' THAT rum? Ya know Admiral Nelson WAY cheaper and just as good."  Cause i like "THAT" rum.

If i want to buy a premium in WOT , who cares?  You want to spend alittle on the game, who cares? Just do it. 

Too many people on here telling everyone how to spend their money.

Ignore them.

 

 

[tod914]

Flarvin, on Jul 12 2019 - 19:08, said:

I was hoping this thread was going be about the tog. lol 

 

Initially it was, but he didn't have the code for it.

[TheOutlawJosieWhales]

I just bought the Lansen C-THAR SHE BLOWS!

[MagillaGuerilla]

"Whales" is a casino gambling term for the richest gamblers. It applies here because gaming addiction is related to gambling addiction, ie : spend more to win more.

I look at it like entertainment expenses. Golf, white water rafting, hang gliding, car racing, whatever entertainment you pursue, costs money. At least you can play this game for free if you want to. 

[nuclearguy931]

When you look at it like this, 1 year of premium time, in Canadian dollars, is about $125.00 without discounts. That breaks down to about 34.7 cents per day, cheaper than a daily cup of coffee. But many players like myself bought the Christmas boxes that included gold and premium time, tanks, credits and other goodies. Myself, I spent a little over 300 bucks this past year on it and I received, in cash value, more than triple what I spent. Got all the premium tanks available, well over 175k in gold, about 100 days of premium and quite a few million credits. Now with the gold that was earned 1 year of premium time was bought, at a 15% discount I believe and then I bought a bunch of premium tanks from the tree with it. On the most recent Black Market I used some of the gold and extra credits to buy the available tanks that aren't normally on sale, even got the Type 59G out of it.

 

If players want to call me a whale for it then so be it. I look at it as maybe the cost associated with what I would spend on 2 dinners and a movie out with the wife or a trip to the casino, either way, that money would be gone after those 2 or 3 dates, in this case I have online entertainment playing a game I really enjoy for the next couple of years.

 

Now depending on what type of event they have this coming Christmas I may spend a few more bucks for my enjoyment of the game. Having a good paying job with disposable income allows me to spend on stuff that I like. This game being one of those.

[khorender_1]

I'm a whale here and WoWS.

[SwipertheFox]

If you're having fun then it's worth it. I used to spend half my paycheck when I was young at the bar in 2 days. Quite a few times I would spend 2/3 of my paycheck, I didn't care because I still lived at home with my parents. I don't mind spending money on this game here and there.

[heavymetal1967]

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

[Nightshield_]

If you interested in this you should check out the videos done by BellularGaming on YouTube.  He goes into all kinds of gaming news and covers a lot of the marketing of games and their monetization characteristics.  He has videos which touch on the things you say in your OP. 

[Trakks]

khorender_1, on Jul 13 2019 - 00:28, said:

I'm a whale here and WoWS.

I have you beat by one. I have one of the largest hangars of anyone I know in WoWP, and yes, it does still exist although it's probably dying even faster than the NA WoT server. 

[Cowcat137]

People who buy things aren't a problem. The people who rage in chat are the ones that worry me. Not the sarscasm or a little griping, the guys that are unhinged over losing in a video game. You know ?

Edited by YANKEE137, Jul 13 2019 - 02:47.