http://dbd.game/killswitch
Are skins overpriced?
So recently I bought like 4000 auric cells to get the rift and a few characters i didnt own. I was left with almost 1500 cells, so I checked for skins instead.
To my surprise skins are really ######### expensive (at least during my first impression), I mean, a character is 500 cells and a purple skin is 400? And better ones like complete sets are over 1300 cells? (almost 3 characters, or even more if they are at discount).
So, are they really that expensive or am i just not used to these practices in games? I watch dbd content on the daily and hardly ever hear people complaining about them
Comments
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It makes no sense that the skin for Chris is $15 while the Leon character is only $5.
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They're expensive, yes. Most games with similar monetisation modules have it that way, which is fine because it means the actual gameplay content can be reasonably priced.
I'd much prefer cheap content drops and expensive cosmetics instead of the inverse.
Look at games from ten years ago. $50-60 seasonal passes, $15-20 expansion packs, etc. All generally gameplay content that you have to pay a pretty penny for. Now that kind of module has been gradually phased out, and for the better I say.
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Yeah, but BHVR are still a company and they still have to make revenue. Considering the amount of licensing fees they must have to pay by now, I assume they need a loooootta revenue to begin turning a profit.
And skins are entirely optional, while characters with perks to unlock + powers are part of the core gameplay experience. I'd much rather they be cheaper- and in the case of unlicensed characters, can be bought for free- than the other way around.
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Laurie is a character with 3 unique teachable perks. Chris is not, and therefore is significantly more of an optional purchase.
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Yes but that still doesn't mean he should be 3x more money than Leon. They objectively put less work into making him, why is he worth 3x more?
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He's worth whatever people are willing to pay for him. Capitalism 101.
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Skins being expensive allows for DLCs to be quite cheap. And in fact it also allows for original Characters to be available for Shards, which can be acquired via Playtime. This reduces the price a lot, if someone buys original Characters only for Shards.
However, BHVR needs to make money, they are a company and no Charity. This money can be earned via Skins.
In the end, Skins are entirely optional, you can have the same gameplay experience with the Base Cosmetics like with a really expensive Skin. And I prefer cheap Chapters and expensive Skins over cheap Skins and expensive Chapters.
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Because BHVR is a company and if people have proven they will buy it at that price they'll price it there. If that's where the equilibrium price is then that's the best place for it.
They have to make money somehow. If you play enough dbd, the battle pass is a one-time purchase. Characters barely make them anything, considering their price, they must pay licensing fees for all licensed characters bought, and a lot can be unlocked for free. That leaves one final place for money, skins.
Which, again, completely optional.
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I'm not saying they don't have the right to make it whatever price they want, just that it's unreasonable which it seems like a lot of other people agree with because Chris/Claire is a rare sight in the game.
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Chris/Claire may also be a rare sight because dbd doesn't function on over half the platforms right now and a lot of people are holding back their money, especially after the Jill/Leon set fiasco, until they can actually play the game again. Cause I see a lot of Cybil, Lisa, And Minotaur Oni in my trials.
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I've seen free to play mobile games with less predatory cosmetic prices. Honestly, I'd have probably dropped another $50+ on skins if they were reasonably priced. And also not linked.
So I don't think you're crazy for looking at those prices and thinking they are comically high for what's on offer
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Sad thing is that even if you buy 15€ legendary skin, game wont even give you some small amount of BP to help you level them up faster.
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Most f2p mobile games I know use either gatcha, stamina, or both. I'd much rather pay for exactly what I know I'm getting instead of a chance at getting what I need.
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Well that may be true but we won't know until a few weeks. I definitely don't think "dbd doesn't function on over half the platforms" because most of the people I play with are console anyway.
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Not saying DBD is worse than most free to play games out there, I really wouldn't know. But the fact that there are any free to play games with cheaper skin prices says a lot on its own. DBD is bigger, and the base game plus characters can cost between $100-$200 depending on how full of a roster you're getting. And they still have the gall to charge that much for skins on top of that
And before we talk about earning stuff with shards... it's 60+ hours to do that for one character. Some free to play mobile games also have less grind to unlock stuff for free. Skin sets with shards (if it's one of them that's available), could take 200+ hours for a legendary
Loot boxes are bullshit - 100% agree, I'm not talking about those. $15 for a skin with no other added features is just a LOT, especially when the core game and content is already this expensive. That's well past the point of BHVR just trying to keep the company books out of the red
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The skins are astronomically overpriced. Three good skins is the same cost as the entire base game. I don't have the time to sit and do the math but I'm guessing that if one were to buy all the cosmetics in this game it would cost several thousand dollars. That's insane.
Don't get me wrong, I love the game and many of the skins are awesome. I've bought some. But even five bucks per alternate costume is a little high, let alone ten to fifteen. At the very least I do respect that DBD restricts the extra purchases to cosmetics and doesn't go the lootbox or "pay to win" route.
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The problem is the people that pay these extortionate prices. Stop buying them!
(Wait, let me just buy Claire first)
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I personally think they're fine. I've never had an issue with cosmetics being a little pricey considering they're not necessary.
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They just copied the pricing of other games, as it worked there. Now it works here. I feel like most skins are overpriced but it doesn't mean anything as the price isn't going to change.
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TL;DR: yes.
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Yes they are.
It's gotten worse with the release of the 'legendary' skins. Especially with most of them having non-interchangeable parts.
There is a reason why the Rift has scatterings of re-coloured skins: the more impressive ones are saved for purchase in the store, and sold at a high price.
And then we have the usual happy-clappy DBD streamers promoting new skins (likely purchasing them with funds which have been donated during streams).
And as long as people gush over them and buy them...the high prices are unlikely to change. But this is a problem with several games, not just DBD.
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BHVR's cosmetic pricing actually showcases a rarely seen measure of decency and self-awareness from them.
Any normal company--interested only in max profits--would simply sell their abundance of useless cosmetics for trivial prices relative to their key goods in order to prey upon the collector mentality. The strategically lower costs & collection atmosphere facilitate far greater purchases, from a far greater market segment, for far greater revenue. But we're not dealing with just any company here.
BHVR's key strategy (charging $10-15 for these regularly released novelty textures, on par with what game-modders toss together over the weekend and release freely in other games) is actually quite noble.
See, that's a pricing range that makes sure you're doing what's best for *you*. They're numbers that jump from the page right into your ear, and whisper: "Welp, $15 gets you one novelty "legendary" cosmetic in this game you've played... and played, and played, to almost no change over the years... orrrrr that's literally hundred of hours of BRAND NEW EXPERIENCES! Heard about Valheim yet? Ohh so ambitious!!!"
BHVR reminds you that there's a lot more to life than DBD.
It takes guts for any company to push customers away from its products for their own good like that.
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imo yes, its up to the market to choose, if its too much, then dont buy anything.
funny thing for me personally is, if they did a lot more discounts (and specifically discounts on PARTS of outfits) and stopped with the arbitrary locked sets, I would have invested tons more money into this game.
but no, slap in the face 15 bucks for chris redfield and you cannot mix and match, hard pass.
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Some people have more money than brains, but yes. The skins are ridiculously overpriced.
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Like Orion said, it is supply and demand. This game is no different than others in that regard.
At least they let us buy some of the skins with shards I guess. But the grind is like mobile games which is too much imo.
We do have bigger issues that need to be taken care first, like the perk grind. I know that skins don't affect gameplay directly even if they make it more enjoyable. Skins are very popular and profitable tho and I understand why people would like them to be cheaper. They prolong the game too, not just new chapters. I think some underestimate how important they are to the experience, but they should just look at the fact how many people are buying them. Not just in dbd.
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A purple skin is 1080. 400 is just 1 piece. Its absurd. They are 100% overpriced if your skins are double the price of your FULL characters.
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If people are still buying them then they are not overpriced.
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Yes they are therefore why I never bought them with one skin price I can get brand new game on discount
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I came to this game 3 years ago from Overwatch and I love how Bhvr runs their shop in comparison. I always told my friends that Bliz would get more money from me if I could just buy skins I wanted instead of gambling with loot boxes... I loath loot boxes and that practice all together. Its scummy and shady and something really should be done about it. End rant.
So are skins expensive? Sure, but they are not unreasonable. After all they are just cosmetic and a feel good thing.
Bhvr has the right idea- make content cheap, make cosmetics pricy. On top of that they do give out free cosmetics in the rift which is fantastic.
I am happy to buy the rift pass once in awhile or a skin here or there. I think I maybe spend about $50 on this game a year.
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So you'd rather the characters be more expensive with cheaper skins?
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I'd rather both be cheap which some people don't realize we can actually get if we really ask for it.
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Basic economics proves otherwise and hmu tomorrow when it's not 1am and I can go into this in more depth. As is, while a business remains motivated by profit then no you can't.
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Depends on what you do to tell them what we want. Obviously this won't happen but if we did we could get cheap both. You would have to both tell them we want cheaper stuff and just not buy it. Like I said that won't happen but if it did hey would most likely change things for the better.
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A company having seriously less revenue doesn't change things for the better.
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Charging $5 less isn't that bad.
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Isn't it? Depending on the PED of the skins this would either have a great effect on revenue (if Price Elastic Demand) as more people would purchase due to the lower price, or (if Price Inelastic Demand) would have detrimental effects to the business. I don't have access to the figures BHVR has so I can only take a guess however if they've managed to release these 1250 cell Legendary cosmetics and keep doing so then chances are the PED is pretty inelastic.
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BHVR can charge whatever they want for skins. I personally won't buy most of them because to me they're too expensive, but that's a personal thing. BHVR sells the actual game-changing content (killers and survivors) at a reasonable price, so if they charge more for the cosmetics to make up for it then cool, I appreciate it.
HOWEVER
Jill's old-school outfit is definitely overpriced. They're charging the full three-piece-set price for something that's only two pieces, and by being three pieces it takes away the player's ability to show off any prestige cosmetics. Players can't put the P3 head, which is just her default head with a little blood on it, on the old-school body and they have to pay for all three pieces just to not have this option. Players are required to pay for a head they already own for the explicit purpose of not having the option of equipping the exact same head but bloody. Let that sink in.
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P2P skins are not overpriced, simply because of how flexible they are. Other games have skins in rollable chests, lootboxes, crates, etc. The fact that you can choose a skin and buy it whenever you want makes it worth the price tag. Not to mention you can mix and match certain non-set outfits and pieces.
DbD's skin prices could be much, much worse, by direct price tag or delivery.
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Ugh yes. The gacha is one thing that im well accustomed to, but the recent Jean skin is absolutely pathetic.
They made the event skin looking so much better by comparison.
The only drama I have with skins on DBD is that the ones I always want are never purchaseable with shards. I think skins in fortnite are more expensive, and OW skins are all stuck behind loot boxes. 🙄
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