Ahoy, matchers! This weekend we will be running a gem sale! It goes live at reset tonight, so make sure to check it out in the store.
PS, I’m getting in before everyone says, “This isn’t a real gem sale it’s only extra gems the devs are lieing to us GET THE TORCHES AND PITCHFORKS!!!”
Yes, we understand you feel this way. Yes, we have heard your many posts on this every time we have a sale. We make these posts before the sale as a matter of courtesy, so you can choose to wait to buy gems. We like to do these within the 24 hours prior to the sale going live, and this one will go live at reset tonight, as mentioned earlier.
No, this is not false advertising. It is technically correct, there are no legal issues here no matter what another player says. Other companies typically do not give players notice before offering deals or sales, as it can negatively affect the economy when players choose to wait. We do so as we want you to get the best deal possible if you are already planning on purchasing gems.
I apologise for being salty (even though it’s who I am :P) but if we continue to receive heat over these posts, I will consider stopping them in advance of future offers.
TLDR; there’s a sale and we wanted to give you advance notice please don’t make me sad.
Wait is “we got a post in advance” what people complain about?
My complaint’s always been I think “discount” when I think “sale”, but this is more a “bonus” or “deal”. A better counter to my argument is “that’s kind of pedantic,” but at first I thought that was the target of the, “We have heard your feelings and they do not matter.”
But if the target is, “WHY DID YOU TELL US IN ADVANCE” then yeah, they kind of deserve it.
I’m don’t think anyone is threatening legal action here. I feel like we’re just trying to make you understand that calling it a “sale” when the price doesn’t go down feels really crappy.
If you continue to constantly receive criticism over something you’re doing…perhaps you should re-examine what you’re doing? A community manager literally threatening to keep the community in the dark if they express negative feedback is a really bad look.
I think the advance notices are wonderful, and probably very helpful to the community overall.
I just don’t believe they’re truth-in-advertising, because this is also how my brain works. “Sale” means I can (for example) get a $20 product for $15. “Bonus with purchase” means I can get a little something thrown on top for spending $20 on a $20 product.
I got excited the first few times I saw these “sale” announcements because the regular shop Gem prices are ludicrous. Then I realized that no, I wouldn’t be able to spend less. I know it sounds dumb to some but even if the ratios are the same, it just plain feels better to pay less for item X than it does to pay standard price and get item X + a little on top.
I’m sure there are people far smarter than me who guided the decision to never offer a true sale and instead stick to the “bonus with purchase” theme. Maybe it does increase player spending more than a real sale would. I have no idea. I just know it feels bad to me as a customer and as a result I ignore them.
Hopefully this is seen as the constructive criticism it is intended as. No pitchforks were used in the creation of this post.
What you are giving is a bonus, it’s not a sale. Though I ve bought in the past, will not do so because it is indeed disingenuous to call it a sale, and bad design issues raised by the community that you refuce to address/communitcate
Sale means or implies a discount.
Let’s say that you have a 50% sale on all of your in-game products.
This means that the price for all the listed products is halved.
Getting some extra Gems is not really a sale, technically speaking.
I’m surprised how many people are complaining about the usage of the word “sale”.
In retail, when companies have BOGO (buy one, get one) promotions, they’re commonly referred to as sales by customers. Sometimes the companies call them sales as well, instead of deals or promotions, and I have never seen people up in arms when that happens.
That being said, it would have been easy enough for the devs to stop calling it a sale and prevent these complaints.
No worry if salty stop advertising 24h before, you will get 20 pop up during the weekend to remind you the super “sale” and if you not sure you still can watch the little gem blink in the right corner.
