Price of Gold Increase on iOS

[Blaggard]

Well, the price of gold went up for European and Canadian players today on IOS . I've heard it's gone up by as much as 50% in some places.

Believe it was an Apple issue and not GREE (for a change).

I'm in the UK, and £92 for a vault is frankly ridiculous. 115 Euros in other member states.

GREE, you need to act - this will be the death knell for your games if a large ratio of your paying customers are priced out by this insane increase.

[-Batman-]

Well I thought the standard were to expensive and only bought on a gold sale this is just stupid

[legalious]

You can find the reason for this increase ->Here (http://forums.gree.net/showthread.php?103992-Apple-s-EU-Canada-pricing-changes)<-.

I will be closing all topics that are the same and directing them to the post about the increase. Thanks for understanding.

[Momocha]

Hi everyone,

This post will remain open if you'd like to discuss the price increase, but as legalious has stated, we will be closing any other general inquiries about Apple's price increase so as to avoid confusion or multiple posts about the same topic.

[legalious]

Do you realize you are directing discussion of this topic to a locked thread?

Yea and this one remains open.

[SilentAssassin]

Will gree be making adjustments to compensate for the matter?
You face to lose a massive chunk of your Non-USA market if you don't act swiftly

[HellRaizer]

I have iOS and droid. So for the moment I can still purchase off the play store for a cheaper price. Possibly anyone who has a PC could install bluestacks, link their account and purchase cheaper. I think.

[Weasel]

I play a game based on a popular animated television series. That game is not unlike Gree games in the sense that you build a town and can earn or buy various in game currencies. Coincidentally, this other game is also developed by a company that operates out of San Francisco.

The costs of in app purchases in that game are unchanged.

Given that the price changes were implemented by Apple and affect all products available in the App Store, prices that are unchanged lead me to believe developers do maintain a great deal of control over the cost of in app purchases.

So the price change is on Apple, but if Gree simply does nothing about it that decision is on them. Choosing to do nothing is still a choice.

[!Radar]

Sounds like a rush song

[Captain Torgue]

Wtf Gree??????

[Fredfreddy]

Weasel, I'm thinking you'll see increases in other games in the next day, all the articles I've read imply the change is across the board. I think we should all give the industry a few days to react to this before crucifying Gree specifically yet.

[Babytway]

I have iOS and droid. So for the moment I can still purchase off the play store for a cheaper price. Possibly anyone who has a PC could install bluestacks, link their account and purchase cheaper. I think. i think this is prob the best solution, Gree said in there post there base price hasnt changed and remains the same, so highly unlikely they will do anything about it, and any lower price adjustment on there end would mean they would have to fire there private chefs and in-house masseuses they wont give that up for nothing

[The Billionaire]

You've gotta do something about this Gree otherwise the game will be dead within 6 months.

I'm in a lot of communal chat rooms on many different chat apps and i've seen the same message being said by an unbelievable amount of players over the last few hours....

"Once my gold stash has gone I'm quitting the game"

You're going to see active gold spending accounts disappear over the next few months if you don't do something about this now.

I seriously fear for the future of this game.....

and whilst prices are going up you also go and change the box event prizes in the last 24 hours of the event, change it to a 5 day war and release an LTQ for only level 250 players! Both need to be reverted back immediately and the LTQ available for everyone.

You certainly win a gold medal for making your community extremely angry.

Very bad day in the world of Gree.

[spiderman]

You've gotta do something about this Gree otherwise the game will be dead within 6 months.

I'm in a lot of communal chat rooms on many different chat apps and i've seen the same message being said by an unbelievable amount of players over the last few hours....

"Once my gold stash has gone I'm quitting the game"

You're going to see active gold spending accounts disappear over the next few months if you don't do something about this now.

I seriously fear for the future of this game.....

and whilst prices are going up you also go and change the box event prizes in the last 24 hours of the event, change it to a 5 day war and release an LTQ for only level 250 players! Both need to be reverted back immediately and the LTQ available for everyone.

You certainly win a gold medal for making your community extremely angry.

Very bad day in the world of Gree.

Well said, mate. Indeed the end may be near. Happy gaming.

[Captain Torgue]

You've gotta do something about this Gree otherwise the game will be dead within 6 months.

I'm in a lot of communal chat rooms on many different chat apps and i've seen the same message being said by an unbelievable amount of players over the last few hours....

"Once my gold stash has gone I'm quitting the game"

You're going to see active gold spending accounts disappear over the next few months if you don't do something about this now.

I seriously fear for the future of this game.....

and whilst prices are going up you also go and change the box event prizes in the last 24 hours of the event, change it to a 5 day war and release an LTQ for only level 250 players! Both need to be reverted back immediately and the LTQ available for everyone.

You certainly win a gold medal for making your community extremely angry.

Very bad day in the world of Gree.

Also people only have 12 days to complete the LTB.

[My2cents]

Why is everyone trying to put this on Gree? If you have a problem with VAT talk to your government. If you have a problem with conversion rates take an economics class.

[cooch]

You've gotta do something about this Gree otherwise the game will be dead within 6 months.

I'm in a lot of communal chat rooms on many different chat apps and i've seen the same message being said by an unbelievable amount of players over the last few hours....

"Once my gold stash has gone I'm quitting the game"

You're going to see active gold spending accounts disappear over the next few months if you don't do something about this now.

I seriously fear for the future of this game.....

and whilst prices are going up you also go and change the box event prizes in the last 24 hours of the event, change it to a 5 day war and release an LTQ for only level 250 players! Both need to be reverted back immediately and the LTQ available for everyone.

You certainly win a gold medal for making your community extremely angry.

Very bad day in the world of Gree.

This change is across apple app world so it forces players to choose between app games. This is not only game app hearing the cries of outrage.

As USD continues it's climb vs other currencies expect more apple and google adjustments. Although apple has built in a profit with this increase in anticipation of further increases. Apple just announced expecting $25 B in app sales this year and strongest start in app sas sales ever so far.

Take it up with apple. When one or both distributors ratchet up their prices both players and suppliers dependent on distributor get squeezed. Is what it is

[cooch]

Also people only have 12 days to complete the LTB.


Why is everyone trying to put this on Gree? If you have a problem with VAT talk to your government. If you have a problem with conversion rates take an economics class.

Exactly. Your problem u voted for goons that depend on your taxes for their salary. Fx figure out in class or go work for an international company

The only fall out for gree is they need to be more responsive and less sloppy in execution with game as less game money means tougher choices. Gree isn't the best game app developer

[The Billionaire]

Why is everyone trying to put this on Gree? If you have a problem with VAT talk to your government. If you have a problem with conversion rates take an economics class.

I think everyone realises that Apple has caused this problem but unfortunately Gree is the only one who can do anything about it.

They need to lower the baseline prices of gold so it's equal for all countries on all devices.

Otherwise they'll lose a lot of their active gold spending accounts in the EU & Canada.

This game has already become too costly for the amount of enjoyment a moderate/high gold spending player gets from the game these days.

To maintain playing in a top team in this game has become more of a chore than a bit of fun and now we've got to pay more for it and it's going to last two days longer.

It's all downhill from here for Crime City. New players will have to spend a fortune to catch up to be able to compete and the long term players are quitting because of burnout and the constant rising cost to play at the top level.

[Weasel]

Why is everyone trying to put this on Gree? If you have a problem with VAT talk to your government. If you have a problem with conversion rates take an economics class.

Value added tax (VAT) is known in Canada as Goods and Services Tax (GST). It was introduced in 1991 at a rate of 7% and has since been lowered to 5%.

The change in Canada has nothing to do with our government, and everything to do with exchange rates. Which is quite greedy of Apple, really, considering at no point have they ever lowered prices when the Canadian Dollar was above par with the US Dollar. In fact, this is the first time in the history of the Canadian App Store that Apple has increased prices.

While none of that has anything to do with Gree, unless Android app stores follow suit Gree will have to take some form of measures to ensure a level playing field that shows no preference to any platform.

[cooch]

I think everyone realises that Apple has caused this problem but unfortunately Gree is the only one who can do anything about it.

They need to lower the baseline prices of gold so it's equal for all countries on all devices.

Otherwise they'll lose a lot of their active gold spending accounts in the EU & Canada.

This game has already become too costly for the amount of enjoyment a moderate/high gold spending player gets from the game these days.

To maintain playing in a top team in this game has become more of a chore than a bit of fun and now we've got to pay more for it and it's going to last two days longer.

It's all downhill from here for Crime City. New players will have to spend a fortune to catch up to be able to compete and the long term players are quitting because of burnout and the constant rising cost to play at the top level.


That's impossible bill. How do u do that? Does Mercedes, ford or Toyota set an universal list price adjusted for country currency fluctuation? Nope. Besides apple does not allow for this. U set price in USD and it falls wherever it falls in The host country. Apple and google take the risk or benefit of any currency changes

[Fredfreddy]

I found this article to be concise and informative:

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jan/08/apple-ios-app-prices-iceland

As mentioned, Gree can do nothing about the cost of gold on a country by country basis. They choose one tier of pricing, and it automatically translates to each country's appropriate currency as per what Apple has defined. Gree could lower the base cost of gold but that doesn't accomplish anything, the gap will still exist between those affected by this new law and everyone else.

the article seems to imply it's more about VAT and less about exchange rates. That makes sense, as right now $100USD (standard price of a vault) ~= £66 According to a syndicate mate in the UK the price of a vault went from £70 to £92, so it's clearly unrelated to exchange rates. It's merely the greed of the various governments involved taking money off the top via VAT. Unfortunately the inconsistency was created because this wasn't done at a global level (in the US for example, we don't pay tax on digital content like this, however considering the government revenue this will generate it's hard to imagine that other governments aren't far behind.

[Weasel]

Does anyone really care about any of this VAT, GST, exchange rate non sense? All that really matters is that both platforms are priced equally. Whatever the price is, is just that. Whatever it is. Google/Amazon follow suit with Apple and everything is back to the way it was.

[sister morphine]

Does anyone really care about any of this VAT, GST, exchange rate non sense? All that really matters is that both platforms are priced equally. Whatever the price is, is just that. Whatever it is. Google/Amazon follow suit with Apple and everything is back to the way it was.
Actually it does matter. If you live in a country where the government levies tax on digital content it can make a big difference compared to those that don't. Even more so if the sales tax (whatever it's name might be) is at a high rate. Across the EU around 20% is the norm. In the US, which doesn't yet tax on digital content it's below 10% on average I believe. A volatile currency market doesn't help either; you can bet that if other currencies rise against the dollar (as they will at some point) the prices in those nations will not come down to reflect that new reality.

[Weasel]

Actually it does matter. If you live in a country where the government levies tax on digital content it can make a big difference compared to those that don't. Even more so if the sales tax (whatever it's name might be) is at a high rate. Across the EU around 20% is the norm. In the US, which doesn't yet tax on digital content it's below 10% on average I believe. A volatile currency market doesn't help either; you can bet that if other currencies rise against the dollar (as they will at some point) the prices in those nations will not come down to reflect that new reality.

Your price for almost anything will be different than the cost of the same item some place else in the world. That's not a new concept. The only thing that really matters here is that two people using the same product, in the same room, but on two different platforms, won't see different prices just because of the device they are using.

[sister morphine]

Your price for almost anything will be different than the cost of the same item some place else in the world. That's not a new concept. The only thing that really matters here is that two people using the same product, in the same room, but on two different platforms, won't see different prices just because of the device they are using.
True, but when you buy a car, or a tv, or a camera, or any number of consumer items you're using it in isolation. This is a single worldwide game and now some players are going to be paying not just a few pennies extra or fewer for gold but considerably more. That's simply unsustainable. I don't know whether players from Canada could simply drive south of the border whenever they wanted to buy gold and get it at US prices - probably not, but that isn't an option for EU based players.

So far as Europe is concerned the blame isn't really with Apple but a change in EU law which means companies must now collect and pay VAT at point of sale rather than where their HQ is - in Apple's case Luxembourg. That means their accountants now have to audit separately for 28 different nations, each with their own internal tax rules. A massive increase in the cost of doing business in Europe, which is being passed on to consumers rather than being absorbed as was in the past.

[HavingFun]

Just move the the US, problem solved.

[Nighteg]

Just buy a droid, problem solved.

[sister morphine]

Just buy a droid, problem solved.
Until Google follow. They're in the same boat.

[-Batman-]

Price changed but still more than it was

[Jeronimo]

I think the Apple CEOs didn't get their expected bonus, so they're gonna get it this year.

[Oasis]

Apple announced today some numbers which clearly indicate the company started the year off on the right foot. Apple has stated that the App Store set a new record for billings in the first week of January, with customers world-wide spending nearly half a billion dollars on apps and in-app purchases. In addition, the company has indicated that New Year’s Day 2015 was the single biggest sales day in App Store sales history.

In all, the App Store has generated $25 billion in revenue for developers from the sale of apps and games, of which there are now more than 1.4 million, 725,000 of which are made for iPad.

[Max Power]

Exactly. Your problem u voted for goons that depend on your taxes for their salary. Fx figure out in class or go work for an international company



If you can show me some examples of politicians that don't fit this description, I would be happy to consider them. In many years of voting, I have yet to see one.


Does anyone really care about any of this VAT, GST, exchange rate non sense? All that really matters is that both platforms are priced equally. Whatever the price is, is just that. Whatever it is. Google/Amazon follow suit with Apple and everything is back to the way it was.

Ideally, yes, but when compared to other products, is that really reasonable? When you buy any consumer product, you make choices that factor in expenses. Do you think if you buy a new Chevy the cost of operating it will be the same as a Mercedes? If you choose to live in a city like SF, where wages/expenses are considerably higher than the rest of the nation, does the $99 vault cause the same level of heartburn as it would for someone in a small midwestern town where wages are quite low? In countries where taxes are applied, is their total cost of living actually worse? I know if I lived in a country with free health care I would have $350 a month to waste on frivolous things.

Ideally, you would like to charge the same rate for everybody, but there are far too many factors in the total expense pool to really expect Apple/Google/etc to come up with some complicated algorithm to adjust for taxes, platforms, cost of living, etc.

I can totally see why they would just say it's one price and let market forces go from there. After that, it's kind of out of their hands.

[b-w]

buy or borrow a cheap droid for the sole purpose of purchasing gold. You can do that now. duh

[Winnson]

Apple died with Jobs. Sorry about that.

[Winnson]

This is payback for all that free gold ios users have been able to get that droid users haven't had access to for the past few months maybe?

[Dipstik]

All of your conspiracy theories make me lol.

http://www.somegif.com/gifs/13805226691502373259.GIF

[Molly's Voice]

All of your conspiracy theories make me lol.

http://www.somegif.com/gifs/13805226691502373259.GIF

Making light of another's misfortune is no laughing matter.....

Oh wait, yes it is.

[Max Power]

I like Dippy's new avatar.

[Dipstik]

I don't. Google Images has failed me. Can't believe no one has done a proper pony-spoof of the Sons of Anarchy logo yet.

[Dazzanic]

"A massive increase in the cost of business" is one way of looking at it. But considering Apple Base themselves in Luxembourg to avoid vast sums of corporation tax, I think it is a little too far to have any sympathy for them having to hire a few extra accountants!

[cooch]

Frankly the uproar is moronic. Other app developers have done a better job linking apple and google responses to eu/Europe new vat tax for app purchases plus currency changes. The European tax changes have been planned for a long time. Why didn't you complain when it was being legislated?

US and Asia do not tax app purchases. If u got a problem with that take it up with your countries. As for Canada and Russia all currency issues

The big difference is how apple and google apply the increases. Each is applying it differently and app developers will have to determine how to balance that out mindful that neither apple or google will allow the true purchase price to undercut the other.

In essence from what I understand apple charges upfront. Google assess buyer at purchase. There will be differences not sure how minor/major.

[sister morphine]

"A massive increase in the cost of business" is one way of looking at it. But considering Apple Base themselves in Luxembourg to avoid vast sums of corporation tax, I think it is a little too far to have any sympathy for them having to hire a few extra accountants!
I don't. The fall-out is on the spenders here though.

[Molly's Voice]

European tax changes have been planned for a long time. Why didn't you complain when it was being legislated?

US and Asia do not tax app purchases. If u got a problem with that take it up with your countries. As for Canada and Russia all currency issues.

^this. Is it really that hard to understand?

Lesson learned, folks. All this could have been avoided if you were fortunate enough to be born Merican. We really are the tits. :D

[montecore]

This change is across apple app world so it forces players to choose between app games. This is not only game app hearing the cries of outrage.

As USD continues it's climb vs other currencies expect more apple and google adjustments. Although apple has built in a profit with this increase in anticipation of further increases. Apple just announced expecting $25 B in app sales this year and strongest start in app sas sales ever so far.

Take it up with apple. When one or both distributors ratchet up their prices both players and suppliers dependent on distributor get squeezed. Is what it is

Yeah, it takes tons of money, resources, man hours and careful planning to physically manufacture each vault of gold. It isnt like gree could keep the pricing the same and make each vault 2500 gold or something.

[cooch]

Yeah, it takes tons of money, resources, man hours and careful planning to physically manufacture each vault of gold. It isnt like gree could keep the pricing the same and make each vault 2500 gold or something.

Balls in gree court. However past performance by gree mgmt is indicative of future performance as you and I have seen for years.

Btw apple plans to take small losses according to article in bloomberg on fx. Until they adjust again.

[montecore]

Balls in gree court. However past performance by gree mgmt is indicative of future performance as you and I have seen for years.

Btw apple plans to take small losses according to article in bloomberg on fx. Until they adjust again.

I think this sums up everything Gree intends to do with the "ball" in their court:



Apple's EU/Canada pricing changes
Apple has made some changes to their exchange rates and VAT (Value Added Tax) policies. Players may see an increase in pricing in the EU region and Canada.

GREE does not have control or influence over Apple’s exchange rate or foreign pricing policies. The packages offered in our games are priced in US dollars and no increase has been made with the base prices. Any increase that you may see are the additional fees as determined by Apple as they manage foreign conversion rates, taxes or fees appropriate to the transaction and customer’s region.

Please contact iTunes support directly if you have questions regarding any additional costs: https://www.apple.com/support/contact/


TL;DR: Go cry to Apple. We aren't going to modify the amount of gold per purchase tier nor will we even act like it's an option.

To be honest, I gave it some thought: This is the best thing that could have ever happened to the developers, game managers, executives, basically every layer of the corporation responsible for Crime City or Modern War. They have managed to screw up left and right, implement buggy and awful ideas, provide incompetent/indifferent/insulting customer support, and to any casual observer or player you would think they are deliberately trying to ruin the games and make the players as angry as possible in the process. Unlike previous rants this doesn't impact SAS but not TAW, spenders but not free players, free players but not spenders... The game now sucks for everyone.

The reason this is great news for the Crime City and Modern War teams, is they can now point the finger at Apple and the VAT pricing to explain why players are dropping like flies with revenue falling just as dramatically. These incompetent people, or competent people who are simply doing what they know is wrong because their manager is ordering them to do it, may save face and some may even get to keep their jobs. Someone mentioned how great Apple's quarterly report looked. This is how a bad quarterly report looks:

http://corp.gree.net/jp/en/news/press/2013/1113-01.html



Financial Highlights

Net sales amounted to ¥35.3 billion, a decrease of 5% compared to ¥37.0 billion in the fiscal 2013 fourth quarter

Operating profit was ¥9.8 billion, an increase of 26% compared to ¥7.8 billion in the fiscal 2013 fourth quarter

The operating profit margin improved by 6.6 percentage points quarter on quarter to 27.7%

Cut fixed costs by ¥1.9 billion or 12% quarter on quarter through strict cost control; met, ahead of schedule, the target
reduction committed to in the fiscal 2013 fourth quarter announcement

Total expenses were ¥25.5 billion, a decrease of 12% compared to ¥29.2 billion in the fiscal 2013 fourth quarter

A total extraordinary loss of ¥5.0 billion was recorded following an extraordinary gain of ¥0.2 billion recorded on the sale of investment securities and an extraordinary loss of ¥5.2 billion stemming from a re-examination of assets related to certain titles and the implementation of a voluntary retirement program and others

(Cost cutting, losses, declines)

Business Update

Overall

Coin consumption on smartphones increased by approximately ¥1.6 billion compared to the fiscal 2013 fourth quarter
This was not sufficient to cover the decline in coin consumption on feature phones, resulting in a decrease in overall coin consumption

(I wonder why they aren't offering a percentage? I guess 1.6 billion sounds like a huge increase.)

Web Game Business:*

Coin consumption on third-party smartphone titles grew to 1.3 times that of the fiscal 2013 first quarter as titles released during the previous fiscal year contributed to growth
Completed adjustments to development operations in order to address a halt in the flow of first-party releases and ensure ability to renew product offering on an ongoing basis

(third party growing, first party doing nothing ATM)

Native Game Business:*

Maintained steady flow of new releases with titles such as Dragon Realms and Beyond the Dead (no one cares)

Overseas operations on track to achieve monthly profitability within 2013**

In Japan, sales were flat due to a lack of growth from some card battle games
Started development on titles for Japan market in new genres other than card battle games

New Business

Advertising: Spun off advertising business, integrating ad network, reward and affiliate, and media businesses and operations from development to sales into new subsidiary Glossom, Inc. (established November 1, 2013, following a change in the trade name of GREE group company Atlantis Co., Ltd.)
Venture capital: In August 2013, invested in KAIZEN platform Inc., operator of planBCD, a user-friendly platform for website UI improvement
Licensing and merchandising: GREE Entertainment Products, Inc. released the second series of the SiegKrone trading card game, Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titan) in September 2013

(sold a division and invested in another one)

My comments are in parentheses. These are the HIGHLIGHTS.

Now when they have finished killing off Crime City, Modern War, and anything else these stooges touch, they can point the finger at Apple and VAT taxes and say that they are to blame.