Plee to revise pricing policy (Ru&CIS)

iFruit

Good day,

While the base game price here in Russia & CIS is quite within the market range, ESO plus and Crown packages appear to be somewhat overwhelming.
I just started playing, liked it very much and decided to subscribe, but was completely staggered by the numbers - it amounts to over 900RUR per month.
For comparison, some other prominent Western MMO subscription prices: World of Warcraft - 500RUR/month (nearly 2x less), SWTOR - 300RUR (3x less).

Could you please consider a revision of your pricing policy in our region? I'm quite sure you'd find there is a significant market share for this positively mind-blowing MMO that is barred off by this impenetrable price wall.

Thanks in any case.

Rohamad_Ali

Yes ZoS , please make the game more affordable for our Russian friends . There was a post a year ago regarding the currency differences and it was not easy to be a subscriber at all for them .

The exchange is showing it as 15$ U.S. But there was something going on then with the currency fluctuations . Average income was no where near U.S. Standards either . Need to target countries individually for pricing and not assume the U.S. price is affordable everywhere .

RickDeckard

Indeed, new AAA Games in Russia cost us 2000 RUR, 2xESO + subscription (900 RUR)= AAA B2P release, its like 30$ compare to US prices.

KiriX

Agree, but I don't believe, that ZOS make something with it

Azard

I can admit that prices are too high for Russian players in comparsion with other MMO. I want to support this game (played WoW many years with sub, and around two years ago subscription was even ~360RUB) but with such prices it's unrealistically. Sure I can afford something but not that much on principle.

iFruit

I would like to point out that this is, of course, in the best interests of Zeni/Bethesda as well, as it might mean the difference between 1/10 people ready to pay 900RUR/month or 6/10 for 500RUR/month. Hope this is obvious.

Cyrediath

Its not only about russia and usa you know...

There are lots of countries thag have less money value than usa nearly all european and asian countries except €£, so indeed it hurts other countries too. Its not only about russians.

iFruit

Sure, I guess it is.
Now with Morrowind coming out in June our local gamer community is very exhilarated.
But again, pricing policy is becoming the centerpiece of decision-making. 4000RUR for an upgrade to your Imp+Gold edition (no small investment, that) is a bit harsh (For Honor complete edition = 3000RUR, Legion Deluxe = 3000RUR, etc. etc.).
Specially as another [Japanese] MMO is launching a big expac that same month and their sub amounts to a laughable 250RUR/month.
Wish someone from Marketing read these forums

GrigorijMalahevich

"Денег нет, но Вы держитесь здесь, вам всего доброго, хорошего настроения и здоровья."

You have to consider things on a larger scale. What if Zenimax decide to decrease price for the CIS and guys from the States will start using Russian proxy for cheaper prices...

Not that straightforward, but I do agree with requirement of a more flexible pricing strategy.

Danikat

Valera Progib wrote: »

"Денег нет, но Вы держитесь здесь, вам всего доброго, хорошего настроения и здоровья."

You have to consider things on a larger scale. What if Zenimax decide to decrease price for the CIS and guys from the States will start using Russian proxy for cheaper prices...

Not that straightforward, but I do agree with requirement of a more flexible pricing strategy.

Are there really many people who would do that?

I mean if they wanted to they could do it already. For example a 30 day sub costs $15 in the USA, but in the UK it's £9 which works out at about $11. If you buy a 180 day sub it's £41.94, or $52.59 whereas if you buy it in the USA it's $77.94.

It would be a little bit cheaper at the suggest 500RUR ($9 at the current exchange rate). But I doubt an extra $2 saved is going to cause loads more people to start using a proxy to buy.

iFruit

There's a number of mechanisms to prevent people from buying the game from a cheaper region. Ex. BioWare closes your account when it detects a purchase in SWTOR was made from a region that's different from acc registration zone. Then there's Blizzard's profound experience (and it's notably cheaper to play as a Russian customer than one from EU in the same server). FFARR as well. Etc.

There are means to control it, there's just no realization in Zeni that it's the right thing to do.

necronomniconb14_ESO

In soviet russia you don't afford game, game affords you.

Soella

Russia is a huge market gaming wise. I am working in the similar area, and we do quite a lot differently for this specific market only to keep Russia playing.

iFruit

Soella wrote: »

Russia is a huge market gaming wise. I am working in the similar area, and we do quite a lot differently for this specific market only to keep Russia playing.

Really appreciate the notion.

Frankly, I was very discouraged back in 2014 when the RUR plummeted through the floor; I was sure most Western game devs would not adjust to the situation and our market would be ruined, with users resorting to the good old days of the 90s' profound piracy. Glad most major companies saw through it and rethought their approach. Zeni not being among them sadly, hence this thread

coplannb16_ESO

Although I understand the issue, Zenimax' Developers and Servers are paid in US-$ (NA) and probably € (EU) sooo.... maybe you should instead petitiion for a RU server?

iFruit

Would be great, sure. But that would most likely imply full localization, which will never happen, clearly, because of the insane amount of translation and voice acting in this game.

As per dev's costs being covered - I made a small example above why it's win/win for Zeni. Ex. even if there aren't any new players, more of the current b2p' would go for a sub. Or see SWTOR - hardly anyone F2plays it in Russia, everyone subs for the locally offered price.