A Final View of Daily Deal

[Whirlzap]

Final Opinion/Argument of Daily Deal
Publicly Voiced Views by Various Members of the PL Forum Community-
Assembled by Whirlzap
Hello, this is Xwhirlz.
Note: This is an argument with actual proof and evidence from the community. No flaming or trolling here, just some strong opinions.

As many of you may have noticed, there has been *Daily Deal offer from STS. This deal allows you to purchase an item for discounted or a special item for less platinum.
Samhayne originally introduced the idea of Daily Deal here:

The way the Deal of the Day works is, when you first log in, to display what the current daily deal is. You can always go back to the deal via the icon at character select. A new deal comes up every 24 hours. You can see the countdown clock for how long the current deal will be available.*

Later, the Daily Deal came for Androids with a special first item: The Crimson Holoshield.
As said here, there is a Hardlight Shield that is white and was given to those who reserved Blackstar names for 50 platinum:

Log into Pocket Legends and go to your Avatar page and tap the button to reserve that character's name and that character will be granted the EXCLUSIVE HardLight vanity shield! This opportunity ends on Tuesday, June 28, 2011.

(Note the EXCLUSIVE uppercased.)
But the Crimson Holoshield is SIMPLY the same item, except with another color.
STS promised EVERYONE in PL that the Hardlight Shield would be never given out again and EXCLUSIVE, and now they decide to be smart and give out a shield, with a slight variation. What does this tell you?

Another thing, 50 plat? Might as well look me straight in the face and call me stupid. Unless there's some sort of perk which comes along with it that I may not know about?

PL is officially turning into an official business scheme.

I wouldn't say business scheme(cmon' now, forget the whole main spine being free?), but at the very least justify the pricing with a perk. Don't be so blatantly obvious about it.

"Why was the original Hardlight vanity 50 plat?"

"You received a Star Legends name reservation along with it"

"So why is the new Hardlight vanity 50 plat?"

"Uh...it's red."*

And I don't wanna hear "Oh, but the name reservation was 50 plat, the Hardlight was free". No, if I couldn't get the Hardlight any other way, that means I payed for it.

*People missed out on the first time, so they will obviously buy the Crimson Shield, or maybe they are a collector. Sure, STS keeps their word, but seriously? As I said before, why don't they make a red Founder's Helm? I am SURE people will pay lots of money for that. And hey, why not make the description: Given to Founders of Pocket Legends?
I'm sure people would pay tons for that. And besides, why would STS care anyway?*

The second item case I will mention is the Red Antenna:

*

Slush, King.... these are RED not FIERY. Unless there was another contest I'm unaware of-

There was a contest for red: Haikus Contest

Yes, Crimson, this is the RED antenna. Of course, the Fiery one had a contest, but the RED one also did!
This contest was WAY back and the participation prize was a Red Antenna. And the description says, "You were THERE!" The antenna is now back at Daily Deal. And guess what it says? "You were THERE!"

We receive the occasional question about Antenna and how people can get them for their characters. Below is an outline of what Antenna are and how you can get them.

What are Antenna?
Antenna are vanity helmets that have antenna feeler type thingies sticking off your character’s head. Here's a picture of an my character Samhayne wearing a pair of yellow Antenna:



How do you get Antenna?

There are a couple ways you can obtain Antenna.*

Wave to Developers in Game: The Spacetime Studios Development Team can be found in game from time to time. You can recognize them because the name over their head is red. Only members of the Development Team can have a red name. Usually, if you wave at them, you will be granted a pair of Antenna. These Antenna are not tradeable to other characters, so they are yours to keep. There is no guarantee that you will ever bump into one of the Devs in game, it’s just a special thank you should you see us out and about.

Contests: We regularly grant Antenna as contest rewards. It's up to the specific contest for what is included.

Deal of the Day: We have made some of the available Antenna available via the Deal of the Day. More information about the Deal of the Day functionality (that as of this writing is available in the Android client of Pocket Legends) can be found at: http://www.spacetimestudios.com/show...eal-of-the-Day

Here is a list of what Antenna have been given out for in the past:
Black Christmas (coal)
Blue Facebook
Green Android Launch
Dark Green Star Legends Dev Treat
Orange Player Video Guide Contest
Red Haiku Contest and Deal of the Day
White Where do you Play Contest
Yellow Dev in game grant for 2010 best app award
Flame Fiery weapons of DOOM weapon contest

We know that people like to collect things. It’s possible that we will make all Antenna available in the future for collectors to obtain. However, right now we would ask that you please do not write us asking for specific Antenna. Thanks!

As you can see, all antennas have been from exclusive milestones in the PL past! And now daily deal?
Back to Red Antenna:

Umm yay? Now a few thousand other people will also, according to these antennas, have participated in a contest and earned these! No that's not right. All you have to do is pay money.*

Is there any limit at all?! If there is, you guys have passed it. These antennas were from a contest! You had to WORK AND PARTICIPATE to get these. You had to EARN them. That's the last time I'll ever wear my red ones proudly because, honestly, who can tell the difference?

What happened to these being a contest exclusive? Holiday items are ok I guess, but these were special. At least make them a prize for a future contest instead of this.

Exactly! I was THERE but apparently for a fee of 20 plat you could be THERE!? The few people who actually have those and was actually THERE are very angry.*
Imagine this:
Congratulations Red team! You won the soccer tournament! You get a trophy!
I'm sorry for all the teams that didn't win or were not in the tournament. You can buy the same thing that the red team is getting but for a small fee.
How does the red team feel? Like nothing!

Ok. Didnt know there was a contest for these. I joined PL on the day the contest was announced and as you can see, I joined forums in April. Also, hate to break the news but I already have two pair. Deal of the Day from a few weeks ago for Android. Since they were a reward for a contest, then I agree: they should stay that way.

To rephrase:
And now countless people can simply pay 20 Platinum and be THERE, more than several months ago. Did STS consider what people who were actually there would think? No! If they did, Greed overcame respect for players. This was a SPECIAL item given for being THERE. people that were ACTUALLY THERE! And STS, wanting more money, brings the item back. I have many other players that will vouch against this. This is simply a disrespectful action. PL shields are also won from contests? Heck, why not make them for platinum too? How about make everything for platinum? That would be good for extra money right, STS?


And now, let's look at Big Luck. This was sold in Daily Deal for 75 Platinum, 10 dollars! It gives a small chance to re-roll and was originally sold for 15 Platinum. But why 75 now? Of course being limited time, it could be a little more, but why 75? Why not 35? That's still twice the original price? 10 DOLLARS JUST FOR AN ITEM! STS, it clearly seems you are trying to make money from this!

And we can add Big Love to the group. Special holiday Platinum items are being brought back. Why? Becase of profit! People can argue that they can be given a second chance. This is not true! You have ONE Chance sometimes in real life. Mess it or miss it, and you HAVE NO SECOND CHANCE! EXACTLY. So why is Holiday stuff being brought back? Another thing is why is the Platinum item being brought back rather than the non-plat one you get from waving at the plat one? When one waved at Big Love, you got Little Love. So now STS cares more about the non-plat users than the Plat users. Heh.


And now what we call a free to play game has been changed.
I ask you, what does Daily Deal mean?
It is *a deal given every day, or 24 hours.
A deal is a discount or agreed lowered price on items.
And I requote by Sam:
"The way the Deal of the Day works is, when you first log in, to display what the current daily deal is. You can always go back to the deal via the icon at character select. A new deal comes up every 24 hours. You can see the countdown clock for how long the current deal will be available. "

And what is also mentioned later is the Blast from the Past quoted by Apollo and Mysticaldream:

"So, I heard about the Blast to the Past Packs? I remember Mysticaldream and I bringing it up while Justg was in Balefort Castle months ago. I thought it was forgotten, but it seems like it wasn't.*

Had a few questions about it? Will it include the Halloween item packs and the Christmas item packs? Valentine's Day as well? If so, I want! Would willingly pay 50+ platinum for each!"

"Btw, I highly highly doubt it'll include tradable items. JustG in town talked about bringing back old holiday plat items into the store. Pretty sure he wasn't talking about gold items, only plat."

As I said before. There will be lots of controversy over this. IMO, discontinued items should stay discontinued. They are mementos of the past.

I agree, discontinued means discontinued, not available ever again!

Discontinued doesn’t mean temporarily removed, coming back in fall.

what the???

sam, NEVER put the pumpkin helm or green antennae up for sale again. its a symbol of being a long time player

The Blast of the Past still isn't implemented. But it's such a wonderful way to profit! But why has it not been implemented, even when a Dev tells us? The trick is, it has! I suspect that the Daily Deal is just a Blast from the Past in disguise!
Why? Because,
1. What else besides special holiday/exclusive items have we been seeing that is legit?
-Gold *for PlatDiscounts(still not reasonable)
-Cowboy Steel Plate Hat(fail-plat purple hat for STR)
-Access to Maps Plat Reduced
I can say I have atleast seen these SAME deals occur twice!
But now,
2. All these special items can be seen. And look at all the buzz on them! Of course STS wants money of this!

So now with all statements stated, please think about these opinions. Is the Daily Deal really a Daily Deal?
Will discontinued special exclusive items be back? What is going to happen to PL? Will it become even more Platinum-exclusive?
More of all, what is wrong with Daily Deal? STS, I am disappointed at how you can keep not listening to the community's rules! After all, didn't you say Community was important?
Daily deal, why?
It needs to be modified. Daily Deal just isn't right. STS, please listen to me or atleast compromise with this opinion of me and as cited, many of the community!
Please listen to the people who play your game!
STS, the forums are for discussion. And this IS A DISCUSSION! A COMBINED VOICED OPINION BY MANY OF THE COMMUNITY!
I know you have been ignoring my threads on this on purpose, but hopefully many people of the community's quotes will help you see what Daily Deal has done.

Yes! I wear my founders helm and my green antennas and people go crazy asking me where I got it. I HAD that attention with the reds but now it's something everyone can purchase...

Daily deal for this coming Monday! Founder's helm!*

In all seriousness, I must agree, discontinued items should mean discontinued. It's not "unfair" to new members, it's how a lot of things in real life are.

That's the thing though. As far as I know, time machines don't exist. People wish that they could have bought Apple stock back when it was 70 dollars. Did the price reverse back to favor those who missed out on that opportunity? Pretty sure it didn't.

Daily Deal NEEDS to be changed!

But what could be done?

I can see it from both sides since I am by no means a collector, but have been here since the beginning. I have 2 vanity items and they were both awarded by STS. I didn't have to do any work, just log in and check my stash (I didn't even have to wave). So I get that it's an opportunity for those that missed it the first time around to get it again, but it's by no means a deal. From one aspect the oldies want the item to remain a onetime thing. Can we compromise and have the items changed ever so slightly so that it doesn't ruin the "specialness" of their initial purchase? A modification to the description should be enough right? For instance the red antenna would no longer say "You were there" because you weren't there. The only problem I see with that is the OCD collectors out there may then regard that as a different vanity item and have to purchase it as well (*hint hint* adds fuel to the STS profit machine). Perhaps all vanity items that are purchased through daily deals should read "Second chance vanity item" or even remove the item description completely. Will that satisfy everyone?

A separate suggestion is that perhaps there should be two deal categories, a daily deal that is actually a deal on an item that is available for purchase daily (elixirs, in store vanity, plat only gear) and another daily called “Blast from the past” where special vanity/holiday items that are now removed from the game are available again. We have to bridge this gap somehow, as only those lucky enough to have found out about the game before the popularity came had access to many specialty items, time to share the opportunity.

My only issue is the price, between 50-75 plat each. Even with the best deal that's $2.25-$3.50 (rounded up) each item, where exactly does the deal part factor into this equation? So all of those out there who don’t think that the new players deserve the same items that you had a shot at, don’t pretend they aren’t paying a hefty price.

And as a conclusion:
I am not saying Daily Deal is a bad idea. I am just saying, actually give a deal, not a bribe.
I am saying that collector's items should remain collector's and a daily deal should be a daily deal.
I hope STS will atleast consider this opinion of mine and many others about this new feature.
It is a great feature, and I respect it; however they need to know, reckless releasing of items from the past simply for profit, or any other reason should be atleast given some voices from those who have already gotten them. Hopefully someday, the Daily Deal can be steadily modified to what it is supposed to be defined and function as: a discounted offer for those seeking a bargain and not a revive towards goods from the past.