Pricing Breakdown and a couple Ascension suggestions.

DISCLAIMER/TLDR: Call the base amount 108,000 units/~$3,200-4,000 for a single max-rarity champion. If you don't like math, don't read this post.
TLDR of the TLDR: Where is the Accountability from Kabam? Why did you pride yourselves on cost reducing and then do a sharp 180 and try to disguise it as something good for the players?

I don't see the requirement for new champions being removed as a feature (let's acknowledge the reason why: $$$$$$)
Since we'll most likely have to live with this, what can we do to alleviate the pain and make this feature better* (*cheaper. I mean that's the direction everyone was so proud of going toward near the end of last year but we for some reason just got a complete 180 on it, but that's neither here nor there.)

Currently, if a summoner wants a new champion (which we get at least 24 of per year, btw), if they are massively unlucky, they would need to open 120 featured valiant crystals at 300 Units a piece. For all you math heads out there, feel free to correct me if im wrong, but that is 36000 units for a single champion. So about 1 Dark Phoenix worth of units for 1 out of 24 new champions a year.

Going forward, let's call this the "base" amount of unit spend or cost, rather than the "unlucky" number.

So the base amount for a new champion is 36000 units. Let's now break that down into monetary spend, also.

If I started with 0 units and needed to purchase them with my real money, I could do this in 2 ways. Via the in-game store or the summoners market.
The cost for 36000 units for both of these stores (if you're buying the most cost-effective options) is this:
In Game Store: Odin Vault - 3100 Units:$99.99 USD (108.86 post tax) 36000/3100 comes out to 11.6, and since you can't buy .6 of an Odin and buying $60 worth of other bundles is less cost-effective, you're realistically buying that 12th Odin. So if we go ahead and do 108.86*12, that equals $1306.32 for a single new champion at the base cost if you're spending in the in-game store.
Summoners Market: Namor's Riches - 7040 Units: $199.99 (213.99 post tax). The first time you buy the sunken riches, you get 1760 bonus units, so I'll drop 36000 to 34240. 34240/7040 is equal to 4.88, and since buying any other bundle isn't as cost-effective, you're buying that 5th Namor. So then we do 213.99*5 that is $1069.95 for a single new champion at the base cost if you're spending in the market (possibly ony for one champ since that bonus is 1 time only and i dont know if it resets.)

So, to sum up that yap with a TLDR, the cost of 1 out of 24 new champions per year is:
- 36000 units
- $1306.32 if you're buying in the app
- $1069.95 if you're using the market (subject to increase based on reset)

Feel free to multiply all 3 of these numbers by 24 for a yearly base cost if you'd like, but that isn't the point im trying to make, so I won't be doing that here.

I don't know about you, but all that doesn't look like cost saving to me.

So what is the best thing we can do?
Not essentially requiring the opening of these would be a start, but throw that in the garbage.

So what can we realistically do?
Im sure the more intelligent summoners out there could come up with better ideas than me, but I'll throw out a few ideas that could help alleviate the pain of the summoners that Kabam will never do with varying levels of "yeah they're never doing that".

1. Reduce the grace to 80 crystals and keep 300 units each
2. Reduce the cost of crystals to 200 units each and keep grace where it is
3. Do both

Reducing the grace to 80 crystals would drop the base cost of a champion from 36000 units to 24000 units. Still a metric **** load of units for a single character, but much more "manageable" (I struggled to type that with a straight face because that cost is still outrageous)

Reducing the cost of the crystals to 200 each and keeping grace at 120 would also be 24000, but as I mentioned above, this one has more issues because dropping the price means dropping the overall crystal value and be extension, everything in it which is generally way worse (for kabams wallet) to do than just dropping the ask for a new champion only.

I don't really need to explain why #3 is never happening. ($$$$$$$$$$$$$$$)

All of this is also with the caveat that we now need to pull these champions minimum 3 times each to get them at the max rarity (this will increase as ascension levels increase, btw) when previously we only needed to pull the champion once to get them at their max rarirty and if we were feeling spicy pull them a second time to save an awakening gem.

So let's treat ascension like 8*s, and if we're treating ascension like that and as a whole, that means in order to get a single new champion at 8* rarity, it will be a base amount of 108,000 units/~$3,200-4,000. This cost will INCREASE per champion as we get more levels of ascension

To tie all this up with a bow. I hope this post provides some value in the perspective it gives to everyone on how costly everything is JUST for new champions at the highest rarity possible, and serves as some sort of wakeup call to Kabam on how insane they are.
Ascension is basically compounding costs disguised as progression.

Something definitely needs to be done about it because it simply can't stay as it is.

Feel free to discuss below or glaze kabam since we can someway somehow get these for free after a YEAR of waiting (totally not manipulative and FOMO baiting)

This is the game we choose to play - Vega

Comments

ahmynuts

Treat this comment as an edit or addendum. I don't want to mess with the original post in fear of it getting eaten by the forum void.

I could have expanded on the counterarguments and provided more information in the post itself, but honestly, I just didn't have it in me. I shouldn't have even felt the need to write the post as is in the first place. I'm honestly just tired of how the overlords over the Kabam devs and community managers are running this game, and im tired of how we need to direct our anger and grievances at the wrong people and just hope it gets tossed up the chain to someone who somehow cares at the top corporate level

jcphillips7

Agreed. The price is significantly ramping up to keep that new champion at relevant levels.

I would say that the A2 cost would be to give you that advantage OF a new champ for quite a while, but worth the cost it requires? Absolutely not.

At least with the “old” system, you could choose a new champ that came out shortly after Titan rollover (Pryor would be the next example of this), pay your 36k of units (maybe you get lucky and pull earlier, who knows), and at least have the champ at highest rarity for a guaranteed 3 month advantage before available to the masses.

ahmynuts

I honestly think i undersold my point by saying 36000 is the unlucky amount because with the drop rate being at .45% without the pity that's like 220 pulls or something for one copy of a champ

TikkaMasala

yeah I never buy the featured crystals and can’t see that changing bc of ascension. 0.45% chance to pull the desired champ is ludicrous. Part of me honestly hopes this creates so much dissent that the game collapses.

lucianxvs

https://forums.playcontestofchampions.com/en/discussion/412240/pricing-breakdown-and-a-couple-ascension-suggestions

Thank you Ahmynuts for posting this, its been on my mind ever since we got that livestream, it is just not fair, even if you spend, it's insane, you need to be earning 7 figures annually to keep up with this game..

realistically, if you want to get and ascend lv2 Pixie or Madelyne per say, you need to spend 108k units, $3600.. for each.. this really puts things into perspective, there should be an alteranative way to getting them ascended in the longer run.

Yes, we shouldn't get them for free on release date, that's why we have the featured valiants and the titan crystals, but titan crystals not dropping any ascension material whatsoever it's just outrageous.

I fully support your post, and I hope kabam will see it and do something about it, I don't want to wait 1 year to ascend new champions, and I don't want to spend $3000+ for each one of them.

DocWest

It’s all up to the whales, they are the only ones with the power to change how all of this works. If they accept it and keep spending, nothing will change.

For me personally, the ascension system is absolutely exhausting. It’s a miserable feeling to have to rely on RNG to rank up the character you want, or spend thousands of units to guarantee it.

Also just imagine if you whale out on featured crystals and have to use the pity system to get the champ you want and then in a few months Kabam stealth nerfs that champ. No thanks. That would make me delete the game on the spot.

lucianxvs

let me break down who this is for ( i dont have exact data, but i think its pretty close)

who can afford this:

FTP (only units grind) - NO.

low spenders ($20-$100/month) - NO

medium spenders ($200-$500/month) - NO

whales ($1000/month) - NO. (even if they do spend 1k/month they would spend it on good offers, not featured valiant crystals, and 1k wont even get you nothing for ascension )

mega whales (3-10k/month+++) - Yes.

Unless im missing something everyone is a mega whale, i dont think anyone is getting ascension for new champs. 99.9% wont get them ascended most likely.

ahmynuts

I also want to make it clear that when I say, address, or direct anything toward "Kabam" in this post i am not directing it at the community managers, developers, qa testers if we have those etc. Which i hope I made clear in a previous comment. When I say kabam I am directly referring to the people over their heads who try and drive this game into the ground at every opportunity and make things infinitely worse for everyone we are able to actually interact with

TheUglyone123

This was a great write up and breakdown. I really hope Kabam is realizing how poor of a decision this was, but I doubt it. I appreciate you writing this up 🙌🏼

MrSakuragi

https://forums.playcontestofchampions.com/en/discussion/comment/2935063#Comment_2935063

We are the qa testers.

This is aimed at the game economists.

CheeseMaster482

https://forums.playcontestofchampions.com/en/discussion/comment/2935058#Comment_2935058

Mega whales don't even care. They will spend the money regardless. If it looks like one of them are against the changes, they are just being performative. It's like when rich people say they feel bad about the increased egg prices. They already buy the $50 eggs anyway.

Tx_Quack_Attack6589

Easy solution is this, for the first cycle of a champ in the Titan (the initial 3 months) if you pull them at max sig then you get the ascension mats. This requires you to have the champ, awaken the champ, sig up the champ all within the first 3 months. Average players can allocate the resources for a targeted champ they like and the whales can continue to shine brighter because they have access to all these required resources in greater amounts.

lucianxvs

@ahmynuts I have another idea besides the ones you mentioned.

4. Turn all featured valiant crystals into NEXUS featured valiant crystals. This will basically triple the chances.

ahmynuts

https://forums.playcontestofchampions.com/en/discussion/comment/2935101#Comment_2935101

That wouldn't be too bad either. Though it would likely fall into the camp of really never happening because it gives players too much choice

ahmynuts

Bumping this to add to the love today

Magrailothos

https://forums.playcontestofchampions.com/en/discussion/comment/2935048#Comment_2935048

Yeah.

223.

So, approximately 2 people will get a 'grace' champion for every person that pulls one by chance.

(You had me at 'maths'...)

ContestOfNoobs

welll big chance by 4th of july and cyber,banquet kabam will make the deal much better.

Prob 1 7* ascension crystal per odin.

kabams revenue for this year will be down thats for sure.