Graal Forums - New Subscriptions

Graal Forums (https://forums.graalonline.com/forums/index.php)

- Questions about V6 (https://forums.graalonline.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=196)

- - New Subscriptions (https://forums.graalonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=80066)

New Subscriptions

Oh hell, I have just read on the startup news about the new subscription method, and I just flat out don't understand it. For those of you who haven't seen it yet:

Quote:

We are introducing a new more flexible subscription system - you get a starter pack with your subscription, and you can pause your subscription:

Euro conversion
Right now we are losing an incredible amount of money each month just for currency conversion. That's why we have decided to switch the billing system completely to Euro. We know that odd Dollar numbers on the bill (like .37) might be confusing, but we hope that you understand this step. At the same time we lower the Euro prices so that the actual difference between old and new amount will not be too huge. So depending on where you come from and what you want to buy, some prices might be slightly higher or lower. On the subscription page you can easily convert the amount to your local currency.

New subscription system
We have changed the subscription system to be based on Gelats. That means you buy an amount of Gelats on the website, and then subscribe directly in the game using the Shop window. The subscription system has been simplified: we again only offer one Gold subscription which works for any current server (Zone, Kingdoms, Classic, under construction and hosted playerworlds). The price is in the middle of old single server subscription and gold bundle: you subscribe and then pay 300 Gelats each month.

Free starter pack
When you buy a subscription or gelat pack on the website then you get an additional starter pack for free. The starter pack includes items for Zone, Kingdoms, Unholy Nation, Zodiac and Era and makes the life for new players easier.

Flexible subscriptions
The subscription system is now much more flexible. First you don't need to subscribe for 12 months upfront: you can subscribe one month, then pause and continue later with your remaining Gelats. You will get an e-mail notification when your subscription is near the end and there are not enough Gelats on your account.

To start off, a new player is not going to understand what a Gelat is so I find it weird that everything is now gelat based. Gelats are very foreign, even to current Graal players and they're often confused with the local money system, it's a very confusing system in general so I personally don't think it should be mainstream. I didn't really understand the news post, so I checked out the subscriptions page which left me even more confused; this is not a simplification of subscriptions at all.

Here are my questions:

What the heck is a bonus?
Why do I need or want a starter pack? Especially since the items aren't even available on the server I play, and I'm not starting out.
Are the forums going to be free now that the subscriptions are incredibly confusing and "flexible" to the point of it being abusable?
Why change something that worked, was simple and obvious to the player, into something that is confusing to the point where I'm not even tempted to buy a subscription anymore?
Why remove the Zone and Kingdoms subscriptions? Is it because nobody was paying for Gold anymore and just buying Zone?
Are you aware that the 8 months package is the price of the previous 12 months?

I think it's ok except for the fact that...

Quote:

Are you aware that the 8 months package is the price of the previous 12 months?

Theyre charging twice as much for less. 24 euros converts to around 42 USD x.x.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MysticX2X (Post 1396811)

Theyre charging twice as much for less. 24 euros converts to around 42 USD x.x.

Nope its about 37 Dollars atm.. the problem is likely the current american recession and the low dollar.

But look at it from the european side:
We had to pay 60€ for half a year server hosting, while you had to pay 60$, which currently converts to about 40€ => a difference of 20€!

So all the time with the weak dollar we had to pay 20€ more, then you had to pay for it :O

okey, now im confused ..
i dont see any subscription just grelats :S
or are im to dum to see it? x_x

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deas_Voice (Post 1396823)

okey, now im confused ..
i dont see any subscription just grelats :S
or are im to dum to see it? x_x

There are only gralats from now, so you are more flexible and for example can have a gold-pause of a month if you are on vacation somewhere.

Wait ... if I want to buy a 12 month subscription, I do what? I don't want a subscription to GK, Zone, and everything else. I just want UC playerworlds, and I already have lifetime classic. Why would I want to buy gelats, when the price could likely go up later? If I'm told I can buy 12 months, under law I should be able to. And WHAT THE HELL ARE 48.00 €???

This is what I thought as I looked at the subscription page.

Also, how do I convert the € to USD? I'm from the US, I expect to see prices in USD. I would NEVER a subscription to Graal if I was a new player.

36.00 EUR = 55.3527 USD

That's what I get on a currency conversion site. So, it costs 3x more to get a 12 month subscription? I'm not upgrading.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darklux (Post 1396826)

There are only gralats from now, so you are more flexible and for example can have a gold-pause of a month if you are on vacation somewhere.

rolf!
i think thats kinda stupid, becuase then i bought new sub last time, i notice that i had 2 sub of the same thing ( take zone for ex) i had 5 days left of zone and 1 year of the new sub, so it was lowering both subs and not the 1 with the lowest days left x_x
is it realy smart to have grelat only becuase i think this is gona get new players confused :asleep:

Quote:

Originally Posted by cbk1994 (Post 1396827)

That's what I get on a currency conversion site. So, it costs 3x more to get a 12 month subscription? I'm not upgrading.

Sorry but thats rather the fault of your current President then the fault of CJ, like ive stated above, its sadly fair like that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deas_Voice (Post 1396829)

this is gona get new players confused :asleep:

It has gotten OLD players confused x_x

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darklux (Post 1396831)

Sorry but thats rather the fault of your current President then the fault of CJ, like ive stated above, its sadly fair like that.

It doesn't matter what's fair; I'm not going to upgrade until the prices go down.

rofl XD
yeah ok thats not fair they only changed the USD into Euro
so for Europen people it changes nothing
but US people have to pay more than before...

they should stay with the old costs and change the price for Europen people
so they dont have to pay the same than us people in Euro

24.00 EUR = 36.8520 USD
24.00 EUR = 37.9310 CAD

not bad but not something i would spend money on all the time..probably when i am close and need more time.

Just selling Gelats is alienating to new players. I understand basing the prices in Euros but I don't see how not selling subscriptions directly benefits Graal. There's no reason you can't sell the new gelat packs (for mostly current players who want flexibility) AND subscriptions (which are easier for new players to understand).

Also, it wouldn't be hard to make a php script or whatever to grab the live currency conversion rates off of Google or whatever, which would let you display the prices in USD/CAD/GBP/etc. on the store page.

And I think americans/canadians should get 10% off.. 37 dollar really sounds alot.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darklux (Post 1396875)

And I think americans/canadians should get 10% off.. 37 dollar really sounds alot.

It's still cheaper than a console game.