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Unfair advertising via misleading omissions and imposed limitation of time

DeletedUser1874

Guest
YHomq8k.png


What does that big golden badge with "20%" written on it mean? 20% off one would assume... but 20% off of what exactly? Has there ever been a set price for time boosts? See, the %s off in diamond purchases are legit, because diamonds have a fixed price and they're always available for purchase - time boosts on the other hand are not - and to make something a "sale" (as in a discount), you have to have it available regularly in the first place, with a fixed price. Clearly this is not the case. And don't get me started with the whole time-pressure thing, just look at the wording for God's sake, "I'm really in a rush!" - sic!
So the way I see it, it's an deceptive tactic to make this "sale" more appealing by misleading the customers into thinking they're getting a discount over something that by definition can't have a discount because it's not normally available and doesn't have a fixed price. I dare say it looks illegal.
Moreover, I wonder why this "discount" only appears in the browser version of the game and not in the app. Perhaps it's because the Apple and Google stores have rules in place to prevent these sort of things, whereas it's felt there's more leeway in the browser version? That'd be ironic because it'd mean that InnoGames GmbH, based in Germany, cares more about whatever rules Apple and Google have for their online stores than for the European Directive 2005/29/EC.
"We show fair behavior to our players", Inno's website boasts as a "core value"... and again, "Simplicity: keep things simple and straightforward". This doesn't strike me as fair nor as straightforward. As a matter of fact I'm more than a bit perplexed.

@Muf-Muf?
 

DeletedUser8409

Guest
You know you can pay diamonds to act as time right?

I'm guessing this means that its 20% cheaper to buy the boosters and use them than it is to pay diamonds to act as time.
 

DeletedUser1874

Guest
randblade said:
You know you can pay diamonds to act as time right?

I'm guessing this means that its 20% cheaper to buy the boosters and use them than it is to pay diamonds to act as time.
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Customers shouldn't have to guess in order to make informed purchasing decisions. Besides, I've never seen a shred of information that attributes a clear monetary value to time (which is why making use of virtual currencies is convenient, they aren't subject to the same laws that require actual purchases - such as purchasing of the currencies themselves, which are on the contrary crystal-clear, because again, you know, regulations and laws).
 
OldHag

OldHag

Necromancer
I knew it wouldn't be long until they put time boosts up for 'sale' after the 'zodiac event'.

as for what the 20% means, I've no idea.
 

DeletedUser1874

Guest
OldHag said:
I knew it wouldn't be long until they put time boosts up for 'sale' after the 'zodiac event'.

as for what the 20% means, I've no idea.[/QUOTE]
Click to expand...
Exactly. Working as intended then. All we can do is taking rather wild guesses. Way to treat customers with respect. :rolleyes:
 
Killiak

Killiak

Artisan
These 'offers' are, to me anyway, like the old tele-commercials. Of the type that coined the phrase 'It's FREE real estate', by some shifty looking dude on an obviously low budget.
They are best ignored, like most sales/marketing folk should be.
 

DeletedUser8409

Guest
Killiak said:
These 'offers' are, to me anyway, like the old tele-commercials. Of the type that coined the phrase 'It's FREE real estate', by some shifty looking dude on an obviously low budget.
They are best ignored, like most sales/marketing folk should be.
Click to expand...
Or the dodgy TV commercials you used to get advertising something and then it's like "call now and you'll only pay £29.99 and the next 50 callers get a free ... but wait there's more ..."
 
m4rt1n

m4rt1n

Adept
randblade said:
You know you can pay diamonds to act as time right?

I'm guessing this means that its 20% cheaper to buy the boosters and use them than it is to pay diamonds to act as time.
Click to expand...

I doubt it, different things require different amounts of diamonds to reduce the same amount of time. Take troop training for example as compared to spire doors and workshop productions.
 
OldHag

OldHag

Necromancer
Vetrinus said:
Exactly. Working as intended then. All we can do is taking rather wild guesses. Way to treat customers with respect. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I don't want to give them any ideas, but I'm half expecting to see pet food sales next, cos I'm not seeing in my MA.
 
Laurelin

Laurelin

Sorcerer
I've also seen many of these strange "X%" badges/graphics emblazoned upon the various items Elvenar has often tried to sell me - from "Troops Packages" to "KP Stacks" to the "Bundles of Time Instants" as shown in the OP above, and they also feature on some of the offers which appear at least once during Events, selling Small/Medium/Large "bundles" of Event Currency - although to be fair, not all of those carry the mysterious "20/30/xx%" badges. When they do, however, I've sometimes taken the time to calculate whether the (say) "20% off" bundle* of Event Currency really is 20% cheaper than buying standard-priced Event Currency (using the promoted "most popular" £19.99 purchase as my cost-per-Diamond comparison), and I've found that this is not the case.

(* NB : It's true that the word "off" isn't actually there - as seen in the OP, the badges just say "xx%" - but what else could that possibly mean but "20% off"...?!)

Even when ignoring, as I do, the fact that Diamonds have no fixed price (becoming cheaper the more one buys at once), the actual percentages by which the Event Currency "sale bundles" are cheaper have varied each time, with the "on-sale" Event Currency bundles being typically somewhat cheaper than directly buying Event Currency using the "+" button (which always features so helpfully next to my Event Currency total...), but so far none of the discount percentages has actually matched the 20%/30%/whatever% "Gold Badge" amount emblazoned on the relevant Event Currency "sale" package(s).

All very mysterious - and I'd take a reasonably informed guess that it's probably not 100% legal, either... at least here in the UK, where any item (real or virtual, and in a physical shop or online) can only be offered at "sale price" if that exact same item has previously been offered for at least 28 consecutive days at a higher price and during the past 12 months. I'll have to take others' word on US and/or European law - not areas I know much about!

Of course, now that Elvenar has finally "jumped the shark" in terms of outraging its loyal fans, by dropping all pretence of player choice within Events and replacing (currently still in Beta) the already-too-random "three chests" system with the new out-and-out-wholly-random "undisguised lottery" which is the proposed upcoming Winter Event, my interest is strictly to view from the sidelines, having given over my formerly busy, demanding end-of-Orcs City to my ex-Fellowship, and now owning a laid-back, cheap-n-cheerful, tiny little village - just so that I can still post on here, when the (rare) urge drives me to do so.

I must say, though, that throwing in the towel (the game had become a full-time job!) was the best decision I've made in years - the relief of not having had to go through the miseries of the Autumn Zodiac Event was immense, and it's only multiplied by knowing that I also don't have to care any more about the cynical degradation by Innogames of the (already overly luck-based) Winter Event into the blatant casino cash-grab which is soon to drop onto the heads of the unsuspecting players in the live worlds. You all have my genuine sympathy - and I'm guessing that it's going to take FAR more than a few strange "20% off something unspecified" offers to cause the natives to stop rioting once they realise what Elvenar's Santa is bringing them for this year's Festive "treat"... /sigh

PS: @Vetrinus : Love your signature (Jim Sterling is THE man!)... I'm an old-time gamer of 35+ years, and while mobile/browser F2P games are all greedy, Elvenar really does set new (low) standards of avarice - and earn far more than most of its players realise - while disguising its grasping motives as "game balancing"... :/
 
Pauly7

Pauly7

Magus
"Inno Maths" never makes any sense anyway, like the percentages applied to increased troop output. It's best not to think too deeply about it. They won't respond to any complaints so it will only lead to frustration.
 

DeletedUser8532

Guest
its funny we dont get mods commenting on these threads and giving us feedback.
 

DeletedUser392

Guest
Fair one Rilian, but it might be worth telling them that they should talk to people, or at least read feedback.

I work for a software company too, so I know how hard it is, to get devs and sales people to listen to any ideas but their own, and devs to talk to people at all, but it is worth doing.
 

DeletedUser8632

Guest
@Rilian , on top of what @DonPrestoni said: If they don't reach their revenue goal, they will blame it on you and the Devs.

I just quit my job for exactly this reason. Our company was not able to secure projects because the price-tag Marketing and Operations put on our solution was insane (something like a whole order of magnitude off, similar like the artifact pricing.. but with several additional zeroes at the end) . Year-end review came around and the lack of revenue was firmly placed at the implementation and development guys for "being unable to make the customer see that this price is justified" (newsflash: its not).
 

BuilderViktor

Adventurer
tesla333 said:
@Rilian , on top of what @DonPrestoni said: If they don't reach their revenue goal, they will blame it on you and the Devs.

I just quit my job for exactly this reason. Our company was not able to secure projects because the price-tag Marketing and Operations put on our solution was insane (something like a whole order of magnitude off, similar like the artifact pricing.. but with several additional zeroes at the end) . Year-end review came around and the lack of revenue was firmly placed at the implementation and development guys for "being unable to make the customer see that this price is justified" (newsflash: its not).
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We are getting a bit over-the-top here, I believe.
Rilian - you need to quote provable facts, indeed so does the source that you quote. Blatantly quoting someone else is rumour-mongering.
Tesla333 - Did you really quit your job? You mean you just gave up, do you not? Why did you not remain and help try to fix whatever the problem you alegedly "gave up your job" for - you have no proof to provide here that you really did give up your job. The job of selling an item, I would have thought is the work description of the people in advertising. Customers, I believe are notoriously cautious when trying/buying a new or renovated product. I'm 80-years-"young" and probably a bit overly cautious but I have never just sat back and given up. If you do not like something, you do not buy into it.
 
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