Why is UO still so expensive to upgrade?

[BrianFreud]

Most games have a shelf life of months, if not weeks. After that, they drop in price quite quickly.

So why is UO still so expensive to upgrade? I have two accounts fully upgraded. The rest... sorry, I'd pay $10, but I won't pay *that* much.

ULTIMA ONLINE™: STYGIAN ABYSS™ (ACCOUNT UPGRADE) - released 8 September 2009
ULTIMA ONLINE™: HIGH SEAS BOOSTER - released 12 October 2010
ULTIMA ONLINE™ HOUSING AND BANK STORAGE UPGRADE CODE - released 8 September 2009
(or) ULTIMA ONLINE™ 7TH CHARACTER SLOT AND STORAGE - released 8 September 2009
GOTHIC THEME PACK - released (the site says 8 September 2009, but I'd swear it was around 2012...)
RUSTIC THEME PACK - released (the site says 8 September 2009, but I'd swear it was around 2012...)

SA is still $19.99. High seas, still $14.99. Just the storage, $19.99, or with the 7th char slot, $29.99. Plus the theme packs, $9.99 and $9.99.

So if you came back with RTB, or you have accounts that mostly just hold houses, or whatever, ignoring the monthly fees, you'd still be looking at $84.95 per account. This is for content and features which are minimally 2 to 4 years old. Additionally, there's three different "storage upgrades" listed on the store; I know when I came back, I initially bought both the $19.99 and $29.99 codes for my main account, thinking they were different storage expansions.

So dev team, why not make that a more realistic number, and a less confusing upgrade path for returning players? Let us buy a code for $9.99 which gives SA, all the storage upgrades, High Seas, and the theme packs.

 

[Captn Norrington]

Well, the short answer is they don't lower the price because they need the cash. As we all know UO loses many players every year, and pretty much none of those players ever get replaced for more than a month or two.

I completely agree though, new players don't want to hear "ok so you pay the $15 for a month of game time, oh and then you pay almost $85 to unlock the other half of the game, oh ya, and then if you want more than one house you have to pay for another account, and then if you want to actually use your other account for anything other than house holding, you get to pay an additional $85 bringing our grand total up to about $200 for this 17 year old game plus another $15 per month subscription for each account forever.....yay this game is so fun isn't it.....".

I would think the new player's reaction would be "um....no....no thanks...I'm good, I'd rather not spend $100-$200 for a game that's been outdated for over a decade".

 

[BrianFreud]

While I agree it may be simply wanting that one time cash injection, consider the current sale on forged tools. The price actually is closer to reasonable for the moment; I've bought 10, and I know a good number of others who've bought at least 5 each.

I can only wonder; if everything in https://www.origin.com/en-ca/store/browse?q=ultima online and not just the one item were just put on the black friday sale at 75% off, how many of us would jump to spend a good pile of cash to upgrade and stock up on stuff we otherwise skip due to the overly expensive prices? I'd think that'd give a far better cash infusion...

Plus I kind of find it hard to believe that there's so many people who've not already upgraded their main accounts. The number of weekly sales on SA+high seas+rustic+gothic+storage/7th char can't be more than a handful now... yet make it simple and cheap, again, you'd get a cash influx, as all of us with extra accounts might actually consider it a reasonable price. It's not like we don't already have access to that content, but at only $10, it'd far more reasonable to then give those spare accounts to have that storage, access to Ter Mur houses, etc. It's likely at least part of the reason why Ter Mur is house-free on most shards.

 

[Olahorand]

At least there should be an option, to bundle all those more recent boosters with SA.
And still there is no Kings collection in German Origin store.

 

[Aurelius]

Well, the short answer is they don't lower the price because they need the cash.

You'd have thought so - but then, the huge variations in what is actually on sale on differing regional Origin shops, and the almighty mess of an accounts system, and the total failure of anyone at all to get a grip on those, rather contradict that idea..... There's cash waiting to be given to them, and a complete lack of interest in taking it

As we all know UO loses many players every year, and pretty much none of those players ever get replaced for more than a month or two.

That there, is the real problem though. There are many reasons for it, but sadly the core ones seem to never be addressed........ just papered over and ignored.

 

[FrejaSP]

I do believe we need a way to get all current upgrates to price like maybe $30 or something like that. one key that add all upgrates you do not already have.
Also why can't we buy Kings Collection in Europa, it's not in the Danish EA store, at least give us a way to buy it.

 

[Olahorand]

Also why can't we buy Kings Collection in Europa, it's not in the Danish EA store, at least give us a way to buy it.

The ridiculous part is, that you can circumvent this with a proxy server, as you can circumvent the one item per type limitation by multiple logon/logoffs during the purchase.
But there is no other company I have ever seen making it so hard to give them money.
*Salute*
Olahorand

 

[MalagAste]

Well I couldn't agree more with much of what is said...

I think they ought to just roll all that into one bundle and put at the VERY least High Seas and SA together at one price .... preferably the High Seas price... and then bundle the other two back together like they were originally and sell them for the 9.99... And they should do that before they put UO on Steam..

Infact they should just put people new to UO at the SA level and do the rest put High Seas with it too... and just give everyone access to both them like they have done in years past. Like years ago if you bought Mondains Legacy it gave you everything prior to it... except of course the Shadow and Crystal stuff... and many folk still don't have those... and they haven't been included in any upgrade since. So perhaps they ought to just offer that stuff with the other two the Gothic and Rustic... with the shadow and crystal and maybe everyone would be happy. Just saying.

 

[MalagAste]

The ridiculous part is, that you can circumvent this with a proxy server, as you can circumvent the one item per type limitation by multiple logon/logoffs during the purchase.
But there is no other company I have ever seen making it so hard to give them money.
*Salute*
Olahorand

I told them that when I wrote the CEO's of EA awhile back... I said it was insane how they treated UO, Insane how the Origin store handles sales of UO related items and then questions why anyone would even "need" more than one of anything... I almost wanted to say "Do you even know WTF your selling us?" But then I stopped myself.... but anyway they have been told... they just chose to be stupid about business. Boggles the mind don't it?

I asked them straight up how they possibly justify calling themselves a business if they don't want to do "Business" with their customers... It's like Ok you make it impossible to get help, impossible to buy upgrades or items, impossible to keep your subscription from stopping randomly for no reason... and impossible to update your payment methods... do you want to fail at business 101 or do you just have a bunch of saboteurs working for you? I was like good god do you hire the competition to handle your sales or what???

I got the impression they didn't have a CLUE what I was talking about... Not even after I linked them to over 100 posts and threads on Stratics regarding players who were torked that they couldn't activate their accounts, update the CC's, buy more than 1 item at a time a month at the Origin store... Or get assistance with getting their accounts started back up. They wanted me to give them specifics... Specific instances where "I" had problems doing any of this stuff... I'm like Dude I linked you over 100 posts about it... WTF more do you freaking need? You want me to read them out for you or do you want me to contact each and every one of these people and give them your email so they can email you all the pertinent information your looking for? He didn't want me to give out his email... he wanted me to send him all the info myself... I'm like Dude I ain't doing your job for you... You going to pay me to do that for you.... or you going to do the job yourself? Well then he quit talking to me and said my case/matter was closed. I suppose I should have pretended to be shocked.... but yeah... I don't think they have clue #1 about how to run a business that isn't sports or Pogo related.

 

[SpyderBite]

I think those prices are just fine.. For a game without a monthly subscription.

 

[Warpig Inc]

EA needs to make UO a stand alone game where the team lives and breaths only UO right down to GMs. The team gets paid enough for gas money, food and a roof with heat & lights. And they get a nickle (.05 each) from every sub for UO. 40 member team to start. Thinking designers codamages and policing the game. Every year the team can vote a few off the island that are not pulling their weight.. They do well with the game and get the subs back up, then they get paid fat bonus at the end of the year. Game keeps slipping to an unplugging. Who wants "I killed UO" in their work history?

Let us see how the numbers crunch for $10. $2 of each sub goes to the team to feed and house them for a year with a fat holiday bonus based off their years work. They can keep the subs over 2 million all year long. Then they can join the 7 figure tax bracket. $4 of each sub goes to a place to work with lights, TP for the bungholeo, landscaping and such. Side cost like advertising and side buisness operations cost. $4 of the each sub goes to AE for getting to stack their two letters above UO's. EA can use that money to create fly by night games. EA can keep floating the STORE selling bling to the players making side cash (tossing some to the team as a cost for deverting their time/effort on overtime for betterment of the game). EA Big Wigs will need their cut (they need a vacation home bigger then a majority of homes most people are living in and a car that cost more then most peoples homes). And if all goes well they might want to break some that off expanding the team if the operational cost exceeds it's needs.

Sure if I had a degree and extra skoughling. I might have more to add. I'm sure having a workforce just clock in and get paid for whatever they are doing is super. Hey it works for the company that makes a fuel filter for my trucks. Win or lose. It is still a blip on a resume. Might weed out some productive workers in the end for a new game to gamble on. I hear Cricket is making the news.

 

[Victim of Siege]

But when it comes to showing some drive for the business, she utterly fails. How hard can it be to resolve wrong formatted codes issue in the store in about 2 years?

This has been fixed, you do not have to reformat the codes any longer. I bought some codes this morning and put them in just the way the were given to me.

 

[Gem]

I agree--they should bundle some of the upgrades and reduce the price.

 

[Lady Storm]

Wont happen....ever.
EA sees the cash flow barely tollerable from UO but is loath to change one iota of its strangle hold on UO funds.
It's a nice chunk of change when the accounts billing reports are read every 3 to 4 months at the directors meetings.
But.. and i do mean BUT.. EA will never bundle the offerings in its Store.
Oh they do have sales that no one ever gets told of till its got only a few hours left to go and 90% of us miss out on.
Because we have no new Expantion due or in the works its felt that SA is still the money maker and will stay at the set fee.
You have to know exactly what to type in the Store's quest box to find the offerings for UO as it is... and most times you have to jump through hoops to get more then one item on your check out list.... Thank heaven my son knows these hoops so well that its now easy for him to get what I need when I need it...(time codes are now how i pay for all accounts due to the bad billing system)
If wishes were granted and all was a kind and gentil world... maybe but as I see it...
dont hold your breath.... my CPR is rusty.....

 

[BeaIank]

And there is also the fact that not all upgrades are available on every country origin store...
I have been waiting for 2 years to open my 4th account. Won't happen until the Brazil store gets Stygian Abyss, for one.

 

[Uriah Heep]

This has been fixed, you do not have to reformat the codes any longer. I bought some codes this morning and put them in just the way the were given to me.

Huh?? I bought a 30 day gametime earlier this week, and it wasn't formatted

 

[4gregu]

I certainly hope the reason these prices haven't changed for years is apathy rather than a financial strategy. Apathy makes sense to me, after all, it's a running theme as far as the origin store goes. But if they truly believe they will/are making more money this way they are very mistaken. I haven't bought ANY upgrades for any account beside my main one. Now, if they were to bundle ALL the upgrades for say... $25 or so? I would have bought quite a few by now.

 

[Yadd of Legends]

Huh?? I bought a 30 day gametime earlier this week, and it wasn't formatted

You don't get the right format, but it fixes itself and works after you copy and paste it - I just did it 5x with the forged metal tools - just copy and paste

 

[Joshua Ravenloft]

I doubt they will lower the price because the items are probably selling quite nicely without doing so thanks... Why lower a price to 10 bucks when most are already (and willing) to pay 30. It makes perfect business sense. And let's not forget, some of the money raised from the store goes to keeping a staff that keep UO going... It's a video game, it's a hobby that brings joy to a lot of people, it's cheaper than the pub! So dig deep - 85 bucks is a good meal out that only lasts for one evening - upgrading your account is for a lot longer, and IMHO, much more enjoyable

 

[BrianFreud]

I doubt they will lower the price because the items are probably selling quite nicely without doing so thanks... Why lower a price to 10 bucks when most are already (and willing) to pay 30. It makes perfect business sense. And let's not forget, some of the money raised from the store goes to keeping a staff that keep UO going... It's a video game, it's a hobby that brings joy to a lot of people, it's cheaper than the pub! So dig deep - 85 bucks is a good meal out that only lasts for one evening - upgrading your account is for a lot longer, and IMHO, much more enjoyable

The point isn't folks who won't spend $85. The point is twofold - RtB chars couldn't see any of the new content without spending it (and what good is a free month if you have to spend $85 to actually use it?), and for the rest of us, the main account spent that $85 long ago. The house-holder accounts, on the other hand, won't ever use 95% of that content, and thus there's no reason to spend it, where as at $10 or $20, it's far less difficult a decision.

 

[Joshua Ravenloft]

RTB are likely old players returning, so will already know how to read up on what the new content is all about before buying. Hopefully they will then upgrade - play - enjoy - and then stay paying/playing. And house holder accounts are exactly that, so unless you want the new tiles (unlikely because most HHA's have either basic storage or empty plots to sell on), they're unlikely to fully upgrade, making it still very cheap (if only using the minimal upgrades - extra storage etc). I'm fine with the prices on the store, but would like to see some new stuff added and the Japanese items put on there if possible please....

 

[BrianFreud]

Minimal upgrades = very cheap? You're talking High Seas + the storage upgrade. That's $15 + $20. $35, and you still can't access SA content (Ter Mur house, etc), place some addons, nor use some house tiles. To me, that's not cheap at all.

For RTB, why would they "upgrade - play - enjoy - stay"? They've come back because it won't cost them $15 for a nostalgia trip. That nostalgia trip isn't going to turn into a very long one if they can't see how there's all this new stuff to try out. And they're certainly *not* going to upgrade when that upgrade to try the "free month" actually costs them even just $20 (SA) or $35 (SA + High Seas)...

 

[Uvtha]

That there, is the real problem though. There are many reasons for it, but sadly the core ones seem to never be addressed........ just papered over and ignored.

I think the core problem is that modern gamers will not pay a sub for a 17 year old mmo. Not much can be done about that, aside from going f2p, which they have said they wont do.

 

[Uvtha]

Well, the short answer is they don't lower the price because they need the cash. As we all know UO loses many players every year, and pretty much none of those players ever get replaced for more than a month or two.

I completely agree though, new players don't want to hear "ok so you pay the $15 for a month of game time, oh and then you pay almost $85 to unlock the other half of the game, oh ya, and then if you want more than one house you have to pay for another account, and then if you want to actually use your other account for anything other than house holding, you get to pay an additional $85 bringing our grand total up to about $200 for this 17 year old game plus another $15 per month subscription for each account forever.....yay this game is so fun isn't it.....".

I would think the new player's reaction would be "um....no....no thanks...I'm good, I'd rather not spend $100-$200 for a game that's been outdated for over a decade".

If I were a new player i'd probably buy the 30 dollar SA + 1 month new account, and call it good. None of those addons are MUST have to enjoy the game. High seas is the only half way close, and if you aren't into boats/fishing it's no huge loss.

I only have HS on one account (I have three but usually just have no more than one up at a time) and I haven't purchased any of the other listed things.

*shrugs*

 

[FrejaSP]

A problem is, a crafter may need a lot of the extra packs

 

[Warpig Inc]

An Ideal relating house holding accounts and more locks.

Houseing Accounts are purposed for just that. Account has one character slot only. Character never fails at casting recall like wraith form ability. For that soul reason the character can not gain in any skills. And the character is generated already with 150 points to strength.

The house that this Housing Account can place has a plot no bigger then a 10x10. Even if the plot placed is a 7x7 shack in the desert, by this account. Any house controled by a Housing Account will have the same locks as an 18x18 house. Housing Account houses are also capped to only having max 3 vendors.

The butter? A static Housing Account only cost $5 a month.

If they ever change the floor plan option for keeps and castles to make them functional and desired by players. Then maybe look at upgrades for the Housing Account. An account upgrade for $19.99 that gives a Housing Account Keep count locks. $7 a month Housing Account for Castle count housing locks for it's plot. New players need to live the UO dream also. So let those warehouses the size of a castle be enjoyed as a castle.

 

[Capt. Lucky]

EA's all about the money... it's all they care about. There's no charity action going on here lol. The very second UO doesn't turn a profit it's gone.

 

[JC the Builder]

Four of those things you don't even need at all. Do you really need a 7th character, 20% more storage or some house decorations? No.

The "standard" game is Stygian Abyss which costs $20. If you want access to High Seas, which is completely optional content, it costs $15. This seems entirely reasonable compared to other paid MMOs. It only takes you $35 to have access to all game content. It still cost you $30 to get the last WOW expansion (released 4 years ago) up to a few months ago until the current one just released last month.

 

[Ray_Martin]

Four of those things you don't even need at all. Do you really need a 7th character, 20% more storage or some house decorations? No.

The "standard" game is Stygian Abyss which costs $20. If you want access to High Seas, which is completely optional content, it costs $15. This seems entirely reasonable compared to other paid MMOs. It only takes you $35 to have access to all game content. It still cost you $30 to get the last WOW expansion (released 4 years ago) up to a few months ago until the current one just released last month.

It goes on sale for $5 frequently.

 

[BrianFreud]

Four of those things you don't even need at all. Do you really need a 7th character, 20% more storage or some house decorations? No.

The "standard" game is Stygian Abyss which costs $20. If you want access to High Seas, which is completely optional content, it costs $15. This seems entirely reasonable compared to other paid MMOs. It only takes you $35 to have access to all game content. It still cost you $30 to get the last WOW expansion (released 4 years ago) up to a few months ago until the current one just released last month.

I would suggest that, for a house holder account, where that house likely is for extra storage, then 20% more storage indeed would be an essential, though the rest of the content within High Seas indeed is unneeded.

Also, for many of us, the "standard" game may be anything as old as UO:R. SA is an additional $20 on top of an existing account - an upgrade, not the "standard".

Having worked computer retail in the past, 3 to 6 months after release, WOW, UO, Star Wars, etc MMORPG upgrades could easily be found for between $1 and $5 per box. The only difference between a 6 month old boxed copy of Mondain's and a digital upgrade to the 5 YEAR old SA is the box. There's no visible financial cost to EA to keeping the price at $20/$30 for SA, so they've never dropped it. (I'm ignoring any opportunity costs, missed potential subscribers, etc.) Had High Seas and SA been boxed releases, like all releases prior to them, you'd now find them in the remainders bin at EA Games - and they'd have had to release another expansion to keep boxes on the shelves. Having moved to digital only, EA/Broadsword not only isn't releasing new expansions (or even new add-on packs), but they're also not lowering the upgrade price in the way that otherwise naturally would have happened.