This is why we cant have nice things

[MudPuppy]

1 hour ago, Inigo said:

You know, i scored it on sale in July 2015 right after it released, loved the hell out of it. Scored SE on sale, was awesome.

Caught them both on sale again for $9 and $5 respectively when they had their mega sales, for my builder alt. It was all good.

I'm just pointing the dirty business practice, of ONLY offering it in a package, and then severely discounting said package on release day, and then also allowing you to buy the DLC by itself(which before today was not even an option people knew was even going to be available to them).

But they did let us know...

Jat said on Sept 1 "Aberration will be available as a standalone expansion pack ($19.99) and as part of the ARK Season Pass (or the ARK: Explorers Edition)."

Here:

https://survivetheark.com/index.php?/forums/topic/243863-ark-aberration-expansion-pack-announced/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[LouSpowells]

1 hour ago, Inigo said:

You know, i scored it on sale in July 2015 right after it released, loved the hell out of it. Scored SE on sale, was awesome.

Caught them both on sale again for $9 and $5 respectively when they had their mega sales, for my builder alt. It was all good.

I'm just pointing the dirty business practice, of ONLY offering it in a package, and then severely discounting said package on release day, and then also allowing you to buy the DLC by itself(which before today was not even an option people knew was even going to be available to them).

Based on what you've said thus far it seems the primary source of your frustration is a lack of knowledge on the topic.

It's Christmas season. Steam always has Christmas sales. If you're bummed out that Wildcard couldn't cancel Christmas to avoid their game being on sale, you should call Santa to see if he can do anything about it. Maybe good old St. Nick can convince Steam not to have sales at Christmastime. 

That said, it may be the case that you didn't know that Wildcard would be selling Aberration by itself, but that's your bad. Until I saw this thread, I didn't know a single person who wasn't aware that Wildcard would be selling Aberration on Steam...and at no point has Wildcard indicated that the only way to purchase Aberration is to purchase a Season Pass. Quite the opposite. 

You will spend much less time frustrated about topics if you spent a little more time researching them.

[Guest BubbaCrawfish]

So has anyone verified that it is indeed cheaper now, than it was when I bought it early?

I find this, if it's true, to be quite a substantial letdown...

[AbsAj]

For some reason I got the map expansion for 15 dollars even though I don't have the season pass

[ausYenLoWang]

16 minutes ago, AbsAj said:

For some reason I got the map expansion for 15 dollars even though I don't have the season pass

3 expansions for $15 each is the same as the $45 season pass.

[Olivar]

I bought Ark in early access for 15. Bought the scorched earth dlc when it came out for 25. Bought the season pass last month for 40is using the steam autumn sale.

I don't mind it's cheaper now/with a promo. I enjoy this game and happily invest in it to keep it going.

[PhilNGraves]

An underlying issue a few of you in this post seem to be missing:

1.  An item is offer for pre-sale.  This item is given a release date for availability that the buyer can use to determine value based on preference.  The item in question was to be released in October (so there goes the comments on holiday sales).

2.  The item offered for pre-sale is then delayed 2 months (appx.).  During this delay, the folk who pre-paid are forced to watch as others buy the same product for substantially less than they paid.  This is normal in business, yes... however not with the delayed release.  In fact a large number of businesses practice refunds of difference in price when a pre-sale item is discounted before the release of said item.  This issue becomes rather tedious as part of that sale was SE, which a large number of people already purchased.  (ie: Steam counts SE as part of the season pass, even if you already owned it).  

Analogy:  You by a car from the dealership with the promise that it will be released a certain day.  2 months after the said release, you are finally told that the manufacturer has delivered the new car line to the dealership.  Upon arrival, some Joe Blow off the street is buying the same car, released that very day, for 15% less that you paid.  

3.  I'm not saying anything consipiratorial, however in standard practice in business selling an item pre-sale, delaying said items release, then offering that same item for discounted prices while still in pre-sale is highly frowned upon and, in some areas of the world, cause for litigation.  

 

Luckily I didn't buy it, but that is my view from an MBA standpoint.  

[Nova76]

13 hours ago, Jacira said:

Does the season pass include the next unannounced DLC in 2018?

Indeed.

[Nova76]

12 hours ago, Dreadnaught said:

This is a victim mentality, no one made anyone buy anything.  There was no gun to anyones head with a guy on the trigger saying buy aberation or your dead.  Is this the most honest business practace?  No its not but if you have been paying any attention to the gaming industry or just this game for instance you can see our hobbies creators and publishers are getting greedier and greedier, its nothing new and i expect the underhandedness now.  The only way this will change is if people start voicing their displeasure with their wallets instead of whining on forums.

I agree with your statement about the " Victim mentality & gun to your head"..

Geez... Majority of these forum turns toxic so quickly... I also bought the Seasons pass during black Friday, and it was MY choice to wait.. Get over it and move on.

 

[Dylan1602]

16 hours ago, Inigo said:

name some games, dates pre-release prices vs. launch day prices. Also I don't recall ever saying I purchased the dlc/seasonpass, so you're arguing a moot point there

If you haven't bought it then why are you getting such an attitude? I can see why the captain gave up replying after this. It's either you haven't bought it and you're just being ridiculous, or you have bought it and don't want him to be right. 

[Inigo]

1 minute ago, Dylan1602 said:

If you haven't bought it then why are you getting such an attitude? I can see why the captain gave up replying after this. It's either you haven't bought it and you're just being ridiculous, or you have bought it and don't want him to be right. 

So basically what are you saying is;

A) If I didnt buy it, I don't get to have an opinion on their pricing/delays screwing people over. (When in fact, if I observe something I perceive as wrong, I can in fact have an opinion, and voice such opinion)

and 

B) If I did buy it, it's my fault and Capt is right. 

Correct?

2 hours ago, PhilNGraves said:

An underlying issue a few of you in this post seem to be missing:

1.  An item is offer for pre-sale.  This item is given a release date for availability that the buyer can use to determine value based on preference.  The item in question was to be released in October (so there goes the comments on holiday sales).

2.  The item offered for pre-sale is then delayed 2 months (appx.).  During this delay, the folk who pre-paid are forced to watch as others buy the same product for substantially less than they paid.  This is normal in business, yes... however not with the delayed release.  In fact a large number of businesses practice refunds of difference in price when a pre-sale item is discounted before the release of said item.  This issue becomes rather tedious as part of that sale was SE, which a large number of people already purchased.  (ie: Steam counts SE as part of the season pass, even if you already owned it).  

Analogy:  You by a car from the dealership with the promise that it will be released a certain day.  2 months after the said release, you are finally told that the manufacturer has delivered the new car line to the dealership.  Upon arrival, some Joe Blow off the street is buying the same car, released that very day, for 15% less than you paid.  

3.  I'm not saying anything consipiratorial, however in standard practice in business selling an item pre-sale, delaying said items release, then offering that same item for discounted prices while still in pre-sale is highly frowned upon and, in some areas of the world, cause for litigation.  

 

Luckily I didn't buy it, but that is my view from an MBA standpoint.  

This guy summed it up quite nicely. And the above is the primary issue here, whether I personally bought it or not. I in fact did not, not that it is at all relevent. I see a problem, I'm going to call it out. 

[Dylan1602]

1 hour ago, Inigo said:

So basically what are you saying is;

A) If I didnt buy it, I don't get to have an opinion on their pricing/delays screwing people over. (When in fact, if I observe something I perceive as wrong, I can in fact have an opinion, and voice such opinion)

and 

B) If I did buy it, it's my fault and Capt is right. 

Correct?

This guy summed it up quite nicely. And the above is the primary issue here, whether I personally bought it or not. I in fact did not, not that it is at all relevent. I see a problem, I'm going to call it out. 

A. If you didn't buy it, what have you lost/got to gain from putting up as much fuss as you are? Why do you care how other people have spent their money? It literally has nothing to do with you.

B. Well yes, they did make it known on the forums before that they would be sorting out the season pass to accommodate for people whom had purchased previous DLCs. So if you did purchase before this was done, that is indeed your fault. Also with events like Black Friday and the lead up to Christmas in the delayed gap, there will always be sales which you can get great savings. Also everyone and I mean everyone knows Wildcard are very inconsistent with their launch dates, if you can name one deadline they have met I will be impressed. 

[Xenithar]

I believe the pricing was silly myself. I can buy Aberration (the only thing I do not have) for $19.99, or I can buy the "Season Pass" for $15.29, or the "Explorer's Edition" for $14.53. Each one only gets me Aberration since I have everything else. Why couldn't Aberration be on sale for supporters like me? I bought the "Explorer's Edition" since it got me both the season pass and Aberration cheaper than any other option. Seriously, DILO? I'd rather have bought just Aberration for like $9.99 since I bought everything else up to this point.

[Palenor]

17 hours ago, OttoGrunf said:

who buy ark or ark dlcs on full price? you are first person that i know off???

I bought it at full price the day they released the Season Pass.

I am glad to support these guys with my wallet, as this is the most fun and long duration of play I have gotten out of a game since, EQ and WOW.

[Melcreif]

Instead of complaining about it. Let this be a life lesson for you.  A game that you can DL anytime you want I'd recommend waiting till you see a price you like...

[Jtmorris]

I waited. Knowing from their past the sales they do. 

I already purchased SE for $20.  SE now goes on sale for $12.

If aberration and the next expansion go on sale for the same price, I can get both of them for $24. 

So rather than buying the season pass for $33 on xbox, I can wait a bit and save some cash.

- however, I will be honest, Even for $33 for the next two packs, that's still a good price for how much entertainment it will give us. I would drop that on one night out at the movies with my wife.

[Eli]

20 minutes ago, Jtmorris said:

I waited. Knowing from their past the sales they do. 

I already purchased SE for $20.  SE now goes on sale for $12.

If aberration and the next expansion go on sale for the same price, I can get both of them for $24. 

So rather than buying the season pass for $33 on xbox, I can wait a bit and save some cash.

- however, I will be honest, Even for $33 for the next two packs, that's still a good price for how much entertainment it will give us. I would drop that on one night out at the movies with my wife.

The season pass is currently $31.49 USD, I'd say that's good value for the hours people usually put in on ark.

[Dark2084]

~slowly wades through the flock trying not to spook any of them~

I think what many people forget is that there are sooo many new gamers out there that don't understand how game pricing works. A company makes a new game, they put out teasers and trailers and build up an interest in the game. While doing that they pay attention to reviews and get an idea on how many sheep are being herded into their flock. Then they announce the retail price and get it all set for preorder sales. After they have more than made a healthy profit from preorders they have a big sale offering it at a slightly discounted price. As time goes by and the clock continues to count down to official release day the sales will continue and the game dev just keeps raking in the cash. If you want to be mad at anyone then go look in a mirror and be mad at the person you see there because they are the one that just had to have it right now and couldn't wait for it to actually drop in price. Another fun thing to point out here, as long as people blindly through their money at them all of the game devs out there today will continue to do whatever they can to keep that cash flowing in. If you play a game and aren't happy with the support you recieve in it then step up and stop giving them money. Hit any game dev in the wallet and they will actually start doing whatever they need to do just to make another dollar. While i personally feel that WC does not care about the players because they ignore issues that have plagued this game for over a year, and in some cases 2 years, i can't fault them for happily taking money that is thrown at them. They are here to make money and as long as people hand it to them they will continue doing what they have been doing and nothing will ever change.

 

 

[LouSpowells]

4 hours ago, Inigo said:

This guy summed it up quite nicely. And the above is the primary issue here, whether I personally bought it or not. I in fact did not, not that it is at all relevent. I see a problem, I'm going to call it out. 

He didn't sum it up nicely. He lied about the situation to justify his emotional response to it.

 

[Jtmorris]

2 hours ago, Eli said:

The season pass is currently $31.49 USD, I'd say that's good value for the hours people usually put in on ark.

Totally agree. But if I can wait a bit and pay $24 just by being patient rather than impulsive, that's probably a better discipline.

(in Canada it's a bit more $ - rotten exchange rate)

[Glerian]

4 hours ago, Xenithar said:

I believe the pricing was silly myself. I can buy Aberration (the only thing I do not have) for $19.99, or I can buy the "Season Pass" for $15.29, or the "Explorer's Edition" for $14.53. Each one only gets me Aberration since I have everything else. Why couldn't Aberration be on sale for supporters like me? I bought the "Explorer's Edition" since it got me both the season pass and Aberration cheaper than any other option. Seriously, DILO? I'd rather have bought just Aberration for like $9.99 since I bought everything else up to this point.

Actually you are forgetting a few things that are awfully important here. The Season Pass offer more than simply Aberration, it is also access to any other DLC they release during this season, which seems to be at LEAST one. This means that for $15.29 you're getting, at least, 2 additional maps, not just one. Compared to the 19.99 or 14.53 for just one item are a lower value. BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE!

See, the season pass is temporary, it covers a season. Which means when the season is over you have to purchase it AGAIN in order to continue enjoying the maps you get. This means that your expense increases over time. At the same time you are still going to receive new content. So this MIGHT be worth it to you. Comparatively the Aberration Expansion pack costs 19.99, but you only pay one time and get to enjoy Aberration indefinitely, no further investment is required. The same holds true for the Explorer's Edition. Meaning that between the Expansion Pack and the Explorer's Edition, the later is the better value. But this means that you would not have access to the next DLC, without further investment. This could be good or bad depending on if you care to play it or not.

But you cannot compare those two to the season pass, since the season pass includes more, and demands further investment later to maintain. It's a preference thing, not a black and white comparison.

[Ranger1]

7 minutes ago, Glerian said:

Actually you are forgetting a few things that are awfully important here. The Season Pass offer more than simply Aberration, it is also access to any other DLC they release during this season, which seems to be at LEAST one. This means that for $15.29 you're getting, at least, 2 additional maps, not just one. Compared to the 19.99 or 14.53 for just one item are a lower value. BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE!

See, the season pass is temporary, it covers a season. Which means when the season is over you have to purchase it AGAIN in order to continue enjoying the maps you get. This means that your expense increases over time. At the same time you are still going to receive new content. So this MIGHT be worth it to you. Comparatively the Aberration Expansion pack costs 19.99, but you only pay one time and get to enjoy Aberration indefinitely, no further investment is required. The same holds true for the Explorer's Edition. Meaning that between the Expansion Pack and the Explorer's Edition, the later is the better value. But this means that you would not have access to the next DLC, without further investment. This could be good or bad depending on if you care to play it or not.

But you cannot compare those two to the season pass, since the season pass includes more, and demands further investment later to maintain. It's a preference thing, not a black and white comparison.

Correct on the 3rd DLC being included, however there is no additional cost or time limit on items you receive with the season pass.  Those expansions are yours permanently.  The only thing that would not be included is if they decided to do more expansions beyond the 3rd.

[Glerian]

10 minutes ago, Ranger1 said:

Correct on the 3rd DLC being included, however there is no additional cost or time limit on items you receive with the season pass.  Those expansions are yours permanently.  The only thing that would not be included is if they decided to do more expansions beyond the 3rd.

Ah, my mistake! I assumed it functioned like a season pass for a theme park, I've never actually purchased one. Thanks for clarifying, that changes things substantially. The season pass would objectively be the better value in that circumstance, more bang for your buck.

[Ranger1]

Just now, Glerian said:

Ah, my mistake! I assumed it functioned like a season pass for a theme park, I've never actually purchased one. Thanks for clarifying, that changes things substantially. The season pass would objectively be the better value in that circumstance, more bang for your buck.

No worries, it can get a bit confusing.

[Uueerdo]

3 minutes ago, Glerian said:

Ah, my mistake! I assumed it functioned like a season pass for a theme park, I've never actually purchased one. Thanks for clarifying, that changes things substantially. The season pass would objectively be the better value in that circumstance, more bang for your buck.

Yeah, most games' Season Passes are permanent access to content delivered either over a given time frame or (more often) content specifically listed (though the details may be vague; like all that is known about the 3rd DLC for Ark's SP is that it will exist, and almost certainly consist of a new map with new creatures.)

 

*"most" because until this misconception was brought up on another occasion I was not aware of any that have time-limited access; apparently this is the norm for Rainbow 6.