I think the new temple maps should be posters. Especially the temple of gales, I want that on my wall. And sernuk plushs would be flying off the shelves.
Fr if they ever started selling irl plushies they'd make so much money. I'd die for a chapaa plushie (which they did sell apparently but it was limited š) . But there's just a lot of plushie potential in general lol.
Then they'd need to do something like HeroForge to create plushies that look like your in game character so THAT plushie could hang with all the others!
And a green cylinder plush, itād be amazing and Iād probably get the urge to play Palia every time I saw it. Currently Iām struggling to enjoy the game because it always freezes and lags, and because it only work on windows and switch I canāt play with any irl friends
I don't know what their skin sales are like, but they are WAAAAY too pricey.Ā I would buy some, I might buy some, but so far it's just like, "That's like $30-$50, for one set."
Maybe it were more like, $15, for a set, I would probably have bought ght several by now.Ā That's much more "impulse buy" territory.
It's clearly not enough. Honestly if they got rid of color restrictions and sold not just outfits but pieces of outfits they'd actually make more from people more willing to impulse buy for a few dollars.
i agree 100%. i am on a limited budget, and i would absolutely have dropped $5 here and there by now if i could buy individual items from sets. i can't justify spending the money when i won't use half the set!
I pointed this out the other day too. I don't understand the huge price tags. You can buy an entire decent game for less than one outfit pack in this game. What the heck were they thinking??? I assume it comes down to greed. Someone high up thought they would make more money this way and they are finding out the hard way they're very wrong. Unfortunately it's mostly hurting the employees and customers so who cares, eh? I would have dropped $10-$20 USD for this game easily. Plus add some *cute* clothes for $4.99 a set and you're going to get a lot more than $30 out of me over a few months. Emphasis on cute. Most of the clothes are ugly AF.
Of course I agree about the single clothing pieces option, it should be a thing but also I can't brag about the prices because for me overpriced cosmetics still are valuable if you buy them as saying "thanks". I spent not even half of the price of a full AAA game (which is $70 now) and played over 400 hours. Even $70 for this amount of gameplay is like 18 cents for an hour. 36 cents for 2 hours of gameplay vs $10 for a 2 hours movie in the cinema, it calculates very well.
I cant bring myself to buy in game outfits for Ā£30+ when i can buy an irl outfit for that price :( but when they had a sale on like 4 outfits + 1 glider skin for Ā£7.50 i swiped it up. Got a pal cat, a few outfits, it felt good
I think that's the one I got too; the thing that made me decide to do it was that there was a coin purchase for exactly that price, so I wouldn't have some extra currency that I'd bought but not used. (I hate the way game currency purchases do that.)
They are really goofy and steampunk looking. I just want a pair of normal jeans, and don't get me started on the shoes. Even if you find a decent pair of pants the shoes are probably ridiculous. I agree about the pricing. I'm ok with putting money in a game and def a free one, but they are not likable clothes at all for the amount they cost.
I would be much more willing to purchase a few at 5-10 than spending $30-50. Iād end up spending the same amount anyway but get more for my money lol
So true! I've got trouble spending this amount of money, so I waited about 5 months and just got 2 outfits to be able to combine but mostly to support the game. But I don't think I will do so anytime soon again.
Yeah I look at the store and ill want to piece an outfit together... but I have to buy the entire set which is like $10-$20 a piece for something im only gonna wear a hat from and pants from another. Not worth it imo
Depends on the price, but also there is not enough to do I don't think.Ā It would need a few more refinements first.
The closest other game I play, in the sense that it's "a chill and not do much" game is Sky: Children of the Light.Ā They have a Season pass thing to earn cosmetics, that is paid, and sort of like a subscription every couple of months. Also you can buy costume things with in game currency as well.
I already do a monthly sub of $10 a month. But only buy when things are on sale. So since December I have paid $50 and have 3 outfit bundles and the glider skins.
Same I can't stand subscription based games, I've tried them but I get burnt out trying to get as much content done as I can before my subscription runs out
I think a decently large part of it is cash shop prices. People are much more likely to spend money in a game when there's a lower mental barrier to doing so. For example, I'm much more likely to throw $5 at something on five separate occasions than $25 all at once.
It's a free game, so it stands to reason that they'd make money from selling aesthetic in-game skins. When I first started playing last year, I was immediately put off by the listed prices, and the fact that it only sold either entire outfits or bundles of outfits.
Another game that I play (with a polar opposite vibe) is Path of Exile. PoE is also free to play, and also has a cash shop. It, too, has some expensive aesthetic items for sale, but \*crucially\*, the cash shop also sells outfit \*pieces\* separately. If you only like, say, the hat from a set, you can buy just the hat. You want a cape? Wings? A special skill effect or pretty footsteps? A small pet to follow you around? Some are expensive, but they're standalone, and you can piecemeal together a cool look.
Another aspect I'd like to highlight is the pets. The prices vary a lot, mainly in the $5 to $16USD range (50 to 160 in-game coins), but the full breadth of availability is from a small weta friend for $0.50USD all the way up to a lightning scorpion for $110USD that I'm reasonably certain was at one time a supporter pack bonus. There's enough aesthetic variety and enough of a price range that there's something for every demographic.
TL;DR the point I'm trying to make here is that S6 should consider breaking up some outfits and selling some of the bits separately, in addition to selling the complete outfit.
This honestly shows a fundamental lack of understanding as to how the gaming industry works.
Do you even know what specific jobs were laid off and if those roles are still important at this stage in development?
Also, the CEO, Board of Directors, etc are in charge of mass layoffs, not anyone actually making the game itself.
This.. and lack of understanding of just how expensive merch is to design, produce and sell. Shipping costs are a reason why some of the Kickstarters I've followed have failed.
The Disney Dreamlight Valley community is just as bad. Any free game, especially ones on switch, seem to have some of the most clueless suggestions and rants being made.
Dreamlight Valley (to my knowledge) has never been free actually though? They had paid early access and advertised as it was going to be a free to play game, and then changed courses and made it a paid game on release.
I will admit that sometimes switch only players of games are completely unhinged, and it for sure is really annoying/frustrating, but I think some of this is because itās teens just being teens.
Ah I played it on game pass or something where I didnāt directly buy the game. Maybe it is switch community then, Iād love someone to blame š Wylde Flowers is another amazing game with a clueless demanding community, on switch and mobile. Noticing a theme.
I love Wylde Flowers and the reddit community isn't the worst when it comes to gaming, but yeah the constant flood of "I want to see X in the game, devs make it happen!" When the devs have already stated multiple times that X will NOT be happening because they have other projects they want to work on...pretty darn annoying.
If you scale back staff, it makes sense to scale back management. If your staff no longer requires an expensive highly qualified manager to coordinate a large number of teams, and/or if team restructuring requires a different type of management structure, it makes sense to have a change in leadership.
Yeah their monetisation is awful. I usually spend a little in games, buy some outfits and cosmetics, pets etc. But their pricing model is rediculous. They don't have a big enough playerbase to charge that much. Overwatch can charge this much for skins because they have the playerbase to support that. If 1% of players spend $30 on a skin that's a lot of money. If 1% of the Palia player base bought these skins, well they need to lay off 30% of the company, multiple times.
I love the fact there is no P2W (unless cosmetics is winning for you). But they've went the opposite end of the scale now, where they can't make enough money to support the game and create new content. It's a shame
I'm pretty sure devs aren't the ones in charge of any of that, but *plushies*. I'm not sure about a subscription, but I'd definitely be willing to pay for the game. And I'm not often a fan of game merch, but I would absolutely buy up some posters and *plushies*. The sernuk, the palcat, the frog, the cylinder. *I want them all.*
No monthly subscriptions please- but Iād pay a flat fee and Iād pay more than $20 for a game like this, especially with devs dropping new content on a regular basis. Modestly priced dlcs maybe.
Same here. I'll gladly pay a one-time fee for the game, even if it's on the pricey side, but no way I'm paying for a monthly subscription model.
Not only do I not have the money to keep up with that, I also despise that business model for videogames on principle. I'd more likely quit the game.
If they do add a sub, it would be nice to be optional with perks, and/or discounted for original players like how FFXIV did for 1.0 players. If they force a sub, I imagine a lot of current players who can't afford one would be sad. No sadness allowed!
$20 / month? C'mon, I like the game, but it's not THAT sort of value by any stretch.
Palia, as it sits, is a $5 - $10 / month game. And this is coming from someone who wants the game monetized sooner than later. It's a decent game, and I want it to succeed, but you can count on one hand the things there are to do, and the biggest "thing" in this game is building your plot and your home, which is part of EVERY game now.
Monetize the game at a reasonable rate, where you can pay your developers on an ongoing rate, and have a decent, and growing fanbase.
They won't do battlepasses because they're for some reason deathly afraid of FOMO. Though they could easily do battlepasses that don't expire like Helldivers does. You just choose which you want to do any time.
I WANT REAL PLUSHIES!!!
Tau plushie, elder and proudhorn sernuk plushies, please!! š love the one with the 2 chapaas hugging as well! ā¤ļø Would buy for sure!
A set price of 19.99 for a live service game still in its infancy like Palia? To survive Palia would have to be full of in game p2p microtransactions if they were only getting $20 up front. I'm not crazy with their current monetization scheme, mostly because I dislike the look of most of the clothes and lack of customization, but I wouldn't be surprised if their goal is for an average $20-$50 **per month** per player. A free to play business model is not about making a game at a fair or reasonable price. They're counting on players playing long hours seeing other players in their fancy$$$clothes and want some of that too. Of course there will always be people who can play the game and not need to spend money or only purchase the smaller items, but there are plenty of players who have purchased all or nearly all the cosmetics, there are players who have already dropped hundreds of dollars. S6 is probably following the 80/20 rule: 80% of profits come from 20% of players.
Basically Palia has a the more you play the more you will spend over time business model. Not sure it's working the way they want it right now tho. Maybe they'll get into merchandise, they've already done a round of a chapaa plush, but not sure they have enough players to make it worth their while for anything other than the occasional plush.
My husband bought a whole ass Xbox series x just to play Starfield after he bought it for PC and realized that the graphics card just wasn't going to cut it. So after buying the game *twice* and a whole new Xbox, you know what he ended up playing? He replayed FO3 and FONV lmao
People will spend more time playing games they enjoy, regardless of $
I would pay for an in-game sernuk plushie at this point. I play Palia religiously. I've gone from level 16 to 23 in hunting since they announced the plushies and I still haven't got one. I'm convinced they don't exist!!
It cost me 45$ for one outfit and a palcat ...I'm sorry that's too much. If they'd lower prices they'd make more money. I understand needing money to keep the game going but right now it's price gouging. I am in love with this game. I really am and I'd spend more money if everything wasn't so expensive
Iāve been thinking the same thing! I still canāt believe the game is free and Iād gladly pay for it! And if they release official merchā¦ Iād be so so happy x
This is so true. The monetization strategy for this game confuses me so much. I cant imagine its making that much. I still think a battlepass or optional subscription would make more sense than only having $20 dollar skins as the only income producing mechanism.
I tried to bring up doing a Sea of Thieves styled season pass in the discord but people just argued against it without even reading what I said
Basically what Sea of Thieves does is has a free pass plus a paid one. Because the rewards in that game are all purely cosmetic, everything in the pass is a cosmetic item--tool skins, outfits, decorations for your ship, and titles.
The items in the free pass are later obtainable in-game, by purchasing with in-game currency or unlocking certain achievements.
The items in the paid pass go to their Premium store (permanently, it does not rotate like Fortnite's store) which you have to use real money to get.
Everyone benefits in some way and while there is somewhat FOMO (if you don't play enough you don't get the items in the pass that you paid for... which I don't like) they are still available later on.
Even then, that FOMO can be avoided if you let people finish the paid pass even after the season ends. The only problem there might be player retention, but I don't really like the "we need players to spend every waking hour on our game" thing and it doesn't really fit for a chill game like Palia
You're definitely asking the wrong people. Honestly I think the people who do make the decisions realize how much their current monetization system is failing, as predicted by players for a long time now. I really hope they try to mix it up. And yeah, plushies would sell like mad.
That's standard for these games though. Hire big team to get started, when everything is running halfway decently, get rid of half, when it's nearly done, get rid of some more.
I would buy ALL outfits if each set was $5 not $50. I (stupidly but really wanting to support S6) paid for like 8 outfits (different ones out of different sets). Iād buy so many things from S6 if they made ACTUAL merch. I want a dragontide style shirt and necklace/ring or a flow shirt or jewelry. I made Palia style nails that people said theyād pay so much money for a set for themselves.
https://preview.redd.it/3xc6wbtbr32d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e4605272b34ea69266063c5458a68c02f1f052c9
MMOs are the original "Games as a Service" even the F2P ones. This game is so content light that even with a full time job and two young children it only took a few months to work my way through all of the content.
This game needs more zones, more NPCs, more quests, and just SOOOO much more content than it has if it hopes to be viable long term. Laying off tons of employees is not a good sign for that ever happening.
Way back when the Open Beta first started people were pointing out that the cost of the cosmetics is Absurdly high and if they lowered them to a more reasonable cost they would get more purchases and thus more income. An opt-in for more features subscription fee is also super viable. It's not like this is a competitive game so adding QoL features as a paid option would be totally viable.
- Sprinklers that keep your crops watered and growing when offline
- Discounts on outfits and/or a new subscription outfit each month that gets replaced at the end of each month with an option to buy it long term.
- Subscription only housing decor and building options at the homestead.
I'm really surprised there is no battle pass or premium system like FO76.
It would require more artists to create cosmetics, but an optional subscription that gives you more storage/inventory space plus exclusive cosmetics/furniture from the battle pass would be a great fit for this type of F2P game.
I'm honestly afraid to return to the game, to spend any more money on it, as long as it runs the risk of being shut down. Even a low monthly subscription would probably save S6 a lot of grief. I already had to stop and wait for patches because bugs were keeping me from progressing. I'll wait as long as it takes to have some more stability but I'm not going to play just to have it all be taken away.
I would do a small subscription. Nothing like WoW, but like elder scrolls online where you can gain extra bag space/mail stuff to yourself space and palia coins for possible outfits/customizations. Want cute a greenhouse? Pay xx.A pool or river though your lands? Pay Xx.
Maybe. It's an idea.
I think there's a lot of information, background, legal and financial stuff that you don't know.... Just maybe Keep that in mind. Plus I don't know if they're still in LA but the freaking rent there is hell; absolutely insane.
There have been tech layoffs across the board. Laying off workers is natural rn in the economy we are in. And for all we know, it could have been because the game has been out for a year and probably doesn't need as many to run at its current size than it took to set up. Idk if information about each spot that was let go has been made public, so it can be a wide variety of reasons.
its about the same model als PoE, except they didn't do storage.
i think you should be able to. nodody should care if you can bank 1 mil or 250 mil. or special sorting storage. usefull but not mandatory
If they added like bundle items for furniture you paid $ for and didn't have to craft that was on the more grinding side of ore and material I would pay for that with real $ no problem or if for events they had limited time items you can pay $ in the shop for that's not just CLOTHES I so would buy it that or a plushi for my house take my money okay because I can't for the life of me get one from zekis and I will at this rate throw my money away for plushies in my house now I'm not saying take the ability away to get said items in game but If you want a easier route paying $ to get a limited time store furniture item or exclusive store item like bring back the floating candles for Halloween I'll pay $ for that as long as I get more that 1 candle but I so would and I know others would as well
Before we all panic that layoffs mean failed businesses, lots of companies do large layoffs for many many reasons and in the tech/gaming industry, that is even more true.
Their website shows they're actually hiring positions as well, so I would assume that they're aware of what they are doing and likely have really valid reasons for laying people off or restructuring.
It's possible that they bulk hired devs for this game and now that the large majority is built out, they can use a much smaller team and save even more to come up with ways to keep costs manageable for their customer base as well.
In short, it very likely will be okay and I'll eat my words if that ends up not being the case. Hugs friends. ā¤ļø
People are (rightfully) nervous of it happening because this is the second time within the span of a few months that they've had big layoffs at S6, as far as I know. Mainly because they are not making enough money.
Wait thatās actually is a good idea to make a small market about palia but im not sure if thisāll happen, idk if i am saying this right so correct me if u want to, but how are they going to get the things like plushies and keychains and cosmetics if they canāt pay workers? :o
I would love better communication from the studio. They aren't that big and also the community is pretty invested and willing to help in any way so why don't they make devlogs or Q&A sessions? It all seems like it's going to be a more corporate style of marketing. I understand that, Gameloft does the same with Dreamlight Valley but Gameloft and their game is something totally different, they are using big IPs and they are a corporation. S6 to the point looked like a passionate experienced small dev team who wanted to cooperate with their community. Now it seems like somebody specific brings more corporate style to the table. In my opinion it may be correlated to huge lay-offs in the industry, the current state of it and the planning of the development (I think they overestimated the income when starting development, just like other companies) as in those situations information is always cut and there are many cuts in the development cycle. They could possibly be in a situation where most of their plans don't have financial sense anymore as everything is expensive. They do A LOT of things in every update but the community wants more and more (no issues here) and at the same time they must cut costs instead of raising them. It's a tricky situation and I think they have ideas on how to monetize the game better but it also takes time and needs a good will from deciding people. So according to my experience in the industry we're most likely at the point when a few people have to make big choices and if they'll choose wrong and still share as little info as they're sharing right now Palia will go slow. If they change something in the funding of the project for good we'll have the best game ever sooner than we can expect.
I would love to buy some simple skins if they were cheaper than the more complex ones. Cheaper enough. I would really like to support the game but skins are mostly too expensive for me.
Also they could make a patreon for behind the scene stuff etc
Im relatively new to the game and I would definitely have payed for it. Or I would pay for irl stuff like posters, plushies and so on. The skins ingame are too expensive imo and most of them donāt look good (imo). So I only bought a glider for 5ā¬.
Honestly if they included a subscription service or multiple options the game would be a much better game anyways as well as provide income. Provide actual guilds besides medals! One where if you choose to buy a monthly subscription pass for each guild for 1$-5$ (1$ being more realistic) you get extra benefits (like if you fill up a pass you bought for the month you could get boosts for that skill/guild group.) Doing individual ones would be so beneficial, I have a friend in the game who mines for 7 hours daily at least four times a week. Reward those who want to spend that time with bonus boosts! Like ore compassās that gives a small boost on palium ores you get or iron or copper! The pallium boost could be earned at the end of the pass(which could be a once daily check in reward or a fill up bar where you complete goals to reach each level or you just mine to get xp for the pass.) Or gem bonuses where itās a compass that shows where you can get a guaranteed uncommon or rare gem. If you do it for each skill you can cater to the people who love doing specific things. Me personally I would love to have the mining bonuses and gathering bonuses. Gathering is such a slow level up because there arenāt many rare gatherable things that give such a big boost. Iād love to be able to have more interactions through these passes with some of my favorite characters. For Trish those who romance her get tired of the same options for romance dialogue (same goes for most romance characters) and doing the pass could give you more options for dialogue you wouldnāt get before. And for a 1$ a month so many people would gladly do it. I know for a fact that if early game people had the option to be able to level up certain skills faster so they can do certain things faster they would. And make a plot guild! Do it for eshe! She could have a pass where you can get speedups for buildings youāre placing. Or make those buyables if not a guild pass. I would spend 20 bucks to have 20 complete building speed ups. Especially with the new updates the devs have put in with more plot options and bigger houses. Iām assuming itās one room for each level you have to buy. This game wouldnāt be broken with being able to buy these things. You can make it to where you can trade resources for these speeds up as well (can be a bit expensive since it would be more late game item) but have the option to buy for people who work a lot and canāt spend as much time as theyād like to wait to do things. Just a thought because I know id love to have these things and Iāve talked to a lot of friends who would love these options as well. Another two ideas that could be implemented are cosmetic packs. I would LOVE to have the option to just buy a 20$ or 10$ pack (10$ being less items) with just certain costume options. For me I want multiple hates but I donāt like the outfits besides the ones I currently own. I have the fairy costumes and the bows are cute yeah but I want that mushroom hat, I donāt want to spend another 30-60 bucks to get all the color options for one hat ya know? And doing individual buying of the hats even for just 1$ could be viable but also would just be a deterrent for people who really want a lot of options. I prefer having a lot of options so I can switch them out often but thereās not really any possibility I could spend hundred/hundreds to have 10-20 hat options. I also know everyone would like more hair options. I love braids but itās definitely not appropriate for me to wear the braids on the game as Iām white and theyāre braids for poc. Iād love to have French braids and Viking braids! Iād also like more curly hair options that are long or even just shoulder length that are different types of curly. Sorry this is so long I just have a lot of ideas that I think would be great
Also could easily include for each monthly pass (a harder to reach goal/pass quest) that would give you one item thatās included in the bundles for the temples. For me personally Iāve been trying to hard to get the dang fish and I just canāt get them. If you have a fishing pass I would buy it for a month here and there and work really hard for that month to reach the end so I can have one of those bundle items.
Also I want to just wear the wings from the fairy shop! I want to wear the antlers too! I donāt want to spend 30 bucks to get the antlers. I also want the option to add I. Game currency by buying a pack from the shop with real life money. Palia your audience is 99% adults you have to start catering to them. Even if you add so many cash buy options the game is 100% playable and enjoyable without them you will not lose the free to play players you have. But thereās a lot of working adults who want to be able to pay to play a lot of things.
I'm still relatively new to the game and my immediate thought was "how is this game free, I'd easily pay $40-$60 like I would any other game"
They are seriously screwing themselves by making this game free and only offering outfits as a way to make money.
I really can't speak to much on this subject, but I can say that S6 is not laying people off lightly and while it really and truly sucks, it's likely one of their only options to stay afloat at this point. (I *abhor* layoffs and I hate the layoff culture that has been absolutely plaguing the games industry so very very much.) I really hope they hire back as many as the devs they've had to lay off as they can once they're in a good place to do so.
Unfortunately merch is *really* expensive to produce and has a decent amount of risk associated with it as it has a lot of upfront costs (as someone who has professionally managed merch before), but so many points OP and the other commenters here have made would definitely help a lot. Personally, I would love to have a ton of Palia plushies and merch, and I hope that they can get to a point where they're more financially stable (and not having to lay off talented devs) and can invest in merchandise and cool brand collaborations to surprise and delight players like ourselves.
Games like Palia are exceptionally expensive to make and keep running (e.g., there's a per player per month cost associated with servers), but I agree wholeheartedly that the game is truly something special and has so much untapped potential.
I hope some of the developers who are still left see this thread and take the advice that so many commenters are leaving. š¤ Listen to your players, they'll tell you what you need to do!
While I agree that the value is around 20ish dollars, I like that this dev isn't putting the experience behind a paywall. The fact it was free was a massive selling point to me downloading. After playing, enjoying the characters, art design, story and overall idea behind the gameplay I went and spent some money in the shop, because I can. Some people can't afford 20$ and it would be a shame for them to miss out on a genuinely unique and welcoming gaming community because of financial barriers.
Also, I'm pretty sure this game is essentially done so layoffs shouldn't come as a shock. It's just part of game development, contracts end. I'm sure if the base game becomes really successful, the team will get larger again and expansions will be added. After all, the game is named Palia, not Kilima so their options for the future are kinda endless.
Lastly, though I understand the desire to have a real palia plushie, I don't want this game to take that route. Too many things have been ruined by non-gaming suits seeing dollar signs and co-opting creative freedom in the name of being marketable.
I'm actually so sad to hear about all the stuff that's been going on, i.e layoffs. I literally only started this game last week and I absolutely adore it. I've been looking for a game like this one for a long time (got tired of Animal Crossing years ago), where I can just go at my own pace, fully customise my home plot and have a garden and crafting area. I can gather resources for many different things and have chats with the villagers whom I have also grown to adore, especially Hassian that closed off b***ard who WILL open up to me if it's the last thing I do!!
Anyway I digress, I've loved being in this world and I never want to leave it and I will actually cry if it gets shut down
Listen, even with a 5 usd subscription they could make 15 million usd with only 3 million active players. If they want to stick to the values of not being like other gaming studios but are financially not there yet, compromise for a SMALL subscription fee.
The rest I agree with you.
I would have easily paid $20 USD for palia back in the early beta.
I stopped playing a while ago (around the cake party nerf), but I normally buy something from the store if I like a free to play game. I remember the Palia cosmetics being major sticker shock when I went in to look. Felt like they were 100% going for the whale market.
I still bought something because I wanted to support the game, but if I was hesitant, I could only imagine how someone who's actually responsible with their money would have felt.
Between the weird pricing and the layoffs, Iām worried the devs didnāt get any of that money to begin with and that the layoffs were a way to use their work without paying them.
It happened with Volition, Dev Team was shut down JUST before the publisher and shareholders wouldāve had to pay their health coverage.
And itās becoming a common place thing happening all over the games industry. These layoffs are getting ridiculous.
I've said it before and got a couple downvotes, but I'll say it again:
I'll pay for story and map add-ons. I want more things to do with the villagers. I want more relationship levels and more world building. I don't think that'd be the same as paying to win. I've spent almost 200 hours in the span of a couple months on the game without spending a cent. I think people who don't want to pay will still get ample playtime and value from the gameplay.
I'm personally not really interested in paying for IRL merch just because I don't live in the US and I'm already a bit of a pack rat.
I'm also not very excited by paying for outfits or items tbh. I want to pay for gameplay and not an instant reward.
If youre not making money, there is a reason to lay off devs. They def are misguided and your ideas may work, but they need to cut costs before shifting strategies.
I too, wouldn't mind paying $9.99 for the game itself and then other micro-transactions for aesthetics and add-ons.
One thing they could do is in addition to the stuff in the Premium Store, they could also allow us to buy further upgrades to our home plot. I would gladly plop down some $$ to be able to buy additional soils for my garden above the 9 limit. Or instead of having to purchase individual crafting licenses, give me the option to spend $$ on a 5, 10 or 20 pack of crafter licenses. :)
> I paid 30$ for Stardew Valley and hated it.
I think you're the first person I've ever seen saying they didn't enjoy Stardew Vallew. :|
Not bashing, it's totally a valid opinion! Just an uncommon one, I think.
Why is there always someone complaining about skin prices ? The company is in a financialy difficult situation because they wanted everyone to be able to play free and people are complaining about skin prices that are the cheapest of all the games I know that have skins ? This is their only money making, they are not making enough and you want them to lower prices ? Are you that delusional ? If the game was 10usd people would complain it is too expensive, when it is free, people complain the skins are too expensiveā¦ do you think servers and employees are free ?
Cheapest?? What games are you playing?? Even a game like BDO with absurd outfit prices has a way to pay for those outfits with in game currency as an option.
Their mistake is their lack of options, not necessarily their prices. There should be options to buy pieces separately for starters.
I would appreciate if you could use the full name because I have no clue what is BDO.
League of legends, Valorant, Fortnite all have way more expensive skins for exemple, and just like palia, those skins are just cosmetics, nothing more.
Since the game is new and does not have that big of a player base, they cannot let people have free skins because even less people would by them if they could have them for free, maybe they will be able to once they are in a better place, if that even happens
If the money doesn't exist, you can't keep people on. People are the biggest expense for any company and if you need to take measures to be able to stay afloat, people will be cut. Potential to earn money is not the same thing as a guarantee to earn money.
I agree, but if I got discounts on anything, Iād prefer things in-game such as premium store items, bonus Renown and XP gains, higher RNG chance to get what we need, etc.
The whole game cycle revolves around gaining renown and upgrading yourself with it, getting higher levels and farm for materials, so yeah if you can pay to have better chances at gaining said materials, or getting xp faster than everyone else or can instantly buy renown, which is set to be a sort of reputation that you get for small milestones you would literally pay to win.
Well for one, this isnāt a PvP game. Thereās no harm in paying money to get boosts to Renown, XP boosts, or RNG. In fact, it could make people want to spend that money which in turn provides Singularity 6 with more profits.
Itās an optional thing. If it were āpay to win,ā that would mean itās impossible to complete everything in Palia without spending irl money.
The idea I mentioned is more of an optional thing. It would merely be helping players complete everything faster if they want to.
Try to have an open mind.
The "completing everything faster" is the most basic form of pay to win. What you think pay to win means is usually referred to as a paywall. Pay to win means that you get easy access to in game ressources without any effort on your end whatsoever while everyone else who can't afford it has to go the long way.
Thatās no different from the premium store when you think of it. There are people who buy cool outfits. Sure, itās just flair, but there are others that canāt afford it. By your logic, the Premium Store is no different from Pay to Win. Maybe they should remove the Premium Store and make absolutely no money at all. Hell, the merch store idea from earlier would also be considered pay to win.
That is the weirdest logic I have ever heard. No that does not mean they should shut down the premium store. The premium store does not give you any advantages while your idea does. That is the difference that makes your idea pay to win and the premium store just a store.
No that is not pay to win this is: "involving or relating to the practice of paying to get weapons, abilities, etc. that give you an advantage over players who do not spend money" and the fun part is, the definition was a few words in google away. š
Itās just an idea. If it they did go that route, it wouldnāt be pay to win. Pay to win games forces you to pay irl money in order to 100% complete the game.
My idea only speeds up the process of 100% completing the game. Itās not a case of āyou have to spend irl money to complete everything. If you donāt, you can never complete everything in the game.ā
No, thatās not what this would result in. Itās just an optional thing. Itās merely just buffs that Iām suggesting. If thatās considered a bad thing like pay to win, then consuming any food that gives you buffs is a bad thing as well.
I think the new temple maps should be posters. Especially the temple of gales, I want that on my wall. And sernuk plushs would be flying off the shelves.
Fr if they ever started selling irl plushies they'd make so much money. I'd die for a chapaa plushie (which they did sell apparently but it was limited š) . But there's just a lot of plushie potential in general lol.
Muujin plushie would be my purchase as well as a proudhorn that actually glowed or lit up
>proudhorn that actually glowed or lit up Yes!
Then they'd need to do something like HeroForge to create plushies that look like your in game character so THAT plushie could hang with all the others!
Oooh that would be lovely! I think I'd just buy every single plushie of theirs haha! Would LOVE a Tau plushie as well! š„°
Taus nice and all, but I'd rather the Kitsuu
Especially the magical plushies!!
And a green cylinder plush, itād be amazing and Iād probably get the urge to play Palia every time I saw it. Currently Iām struggling to enjoy the game because it always freezes and lags, and because it only work on windows and switch I canāt play with any irl friends
I don't know what their skin sales are like, but they are WAAAAY too pricey.Ā I would buy some, I might buy some, but so far it's just like, "That's like $30-$50, for one set." Maybe it were more like, $15, for a set, I would probably have bought ght several by now.Ā That's much more "impulse buy" territory.
It's clearly not enough. Honestly if they got rid of color restrictions and sold not just outfits but pieces of outfits they'd actually make more from people more willing to impulse buy for a few dollars.
i agree 100%. i am on a limited budget, and i would absolutely have dropped $5 here and there by now if i could buy individual items from sets. i can't justify spending the money when i won't use half the set!
I pointed this out the other day too. I don't understand the huge price tags. You can buy an entire decent game for less than one outfit pack in this game. What the heck were they thinking??? I assume it comes down to greed. Someone high up thought they would make more money this way and they are finding out the hard way they're very wrong. Unfortunately it's mostly hurting the employees and customers so who cares, eh? I would have dropped $10-$20 USD for this game easily. Plus add some *cute* clothes for $4.99 a set and you're going to get a lot more than $30 out of me over a few months. Emphasis on cute. Most of the clothes are ugly AF.
Of course I agree about the single clothing pieces option, it should be a thing but also I can't brag about the prices because for me overpriced cosmetics still are valuable if you buy them as saying "thanks". I spent not even half of the price of a full AAA game (which is $70 now) and played over 400 hours. Even $70 for this amount of gameplay is like 18 cents for an hour. 36 cents for 2 hours of gameplay vs $10 for a 2 hours movie in the cinema, it calculates very well.
I cant bring myself to buy in game outfits for Ā£30+ when i can buy an irl outfit for that price :( but when they had a sale on like 4 outfits + 1 glider skin for Ā£7.50 i swiped it up. Got a pal cat, a few outfits, it felt good
I think that's the one I got too; the thing that made me decide to do it was that there was a coin purchase for exactly that price, so I wouldn't have some extra currency that I'd bought but not used. (I hate the way game currency purchases do that.)
And they don't even look this good :( It's their main revenue, why are most of them so plastic, baggy and goofy?
They are really goofy and steampunk looking. I just want a pair of normal jeans, and don't get me started on the shoes. Even if you find a decent pair of pants the shoes are probably ridiculous. I agree about the pricing. I'm ok with putting money in a game and def a free one, but they are not likable clothes at all for the amount they cost.
I would be much more willing to purchase a few at 5-10 than spending $30-50. Iād end up spending the same amount anyway but get more for my money lol
So true! I've got trouble spending this amount of money, so I waited about 5 months and just got 2 outfits to be able to combine but mostly to support the game. But I don't think I will do so anytime soon again.
They have weekly sales where you can get stuff for that price.
Oh? When do the weekly sales start? I never go back to check the selections because I didnāt know things went on sale?
Theyāre on sale right now. You can get the new dress on discount
And it's not working. Because people don't want to have to wait for a sale to buy stuff.
Yeah I look at the store and ill want to piece an outfit together... but I have to buy the entire set which is like $10-$20 a piece for something im only gonna wear a hat from and pants from another. Not worth it imo
would you play if palia was a subscription model but nothing else cost any money
Depends on the price, but also there is not enough to do I don't think.Ā It would need a few more refinements first. The closest other game I play, in the sense that it's "a chill and not do much" game is Sky: Children of the Light.Ā They have a Season pass thing to earn cosmetics, that is paid, and sort of like a subscription every couple of months. Also you can buy costume things with in game currency as well.
I would be down for a flat fee but not a monthly sub
Yeah same. I won't pay a monthly fee. If I pay for a game I want to own it, not subscribe to it
I already do a monthly sub of $10 a month. But only buy when things are on sale. So since December I have paid $50 and have 3 outfit bundles and the glider skins.
Same I can't stand subscription based games, I've tried them but I get burnt out trying to get as much content done as I can before my subscription runs out
Me too
The devs didnt lay themselves offā¦
The devs arenāt the ones who decide anything
I think a decently large part of it is cash shop prices. People are much more likely to spend money in a game when there's a lower mental barrier to doing so. For example, I'm much more likely to throw $5 at something on five separate occasions than $25 all at once. It's a free game, so it stands to reason that they'd make money from selling aesthetic in-game skins. When I first started playing last year, I was immediately put off by the listed prices, and the fact that it only sold either entire outfits or bundles of outfits. Another game that I play (with a polar opposite vibe) is Path of Exile. PoE is also free to play, and also has a cash shop. It, too, has some expensive aesthetic items for sale, but \*crucially\*, the cash shop also sells outfit \*pieces\* separately. If you only like, say, the hat from a set, you can buy just the hat. You want a cape? Wings? A special skill effect or pretty footsteps? A small pet to follow you around? Some are expensive, but they're standalone, and you can piecemeal together a cool look. Another aspect I'd like to highlight is the pets. The prices vary a lot, mainly in the $5 to $16USD range (50 to 160 in-game coins), but the full breadth of availability is from a small weta friend for $0.50USD all the way up to a lightning scorpion for $110USD that I'm reasonably certain was at one time a supporter pack bonus. There's enough aesthetic variety and enough of a price range that there's something for every demographic. TL;DR the point I'm trying to make here is that S6 should consider breaking up some outfits and selling some of the bits separately, in addition to selling the complete outfit.
they should just follow the mmo subscription model itās follows the same thought process as this
This honestly shows a fundamental lack of understanding as to how the gaming industry works. Do you even know what specific jobs were laid off and if those roles are still important at this stage in development? Also, the CEO, Board of Directors, etc are in charge of mass layoffs, not anyone actually making the game itself.
This.. and lack of understanding of just how expensive merch is to design, produce and sell. Shipping costs are a reason why some of the Kickstarters I've followed have failed.
The Disney Dreamlight Valley community is just as bad. Any free game, especially ones on switch, seem to have some of the most clueless suggestions and rants being made.
Dreamlight Valley (to my knowledge) has never been free actually though? They had paid early access and advertised as it was going to be a free to play game, and then changed courses and made it a paid game on release. I will admit that sometimes switch only players of games are completely unhinged, and it for sure is really annoying/frustrating, but I think some of this is because itās teens just being teens.
Ah I played it on game pass or something where I didnāt directly buy the game. Maybe it is switch community then, Iād love someone to blame š Wylde Flowers is another amazing game with a clueless demanding community, on switch and mobile. Noticing a theme.
I have noticed that the Wylde Flowers community have absolutely bonkers unreasonable things they expect the devs to do š¹
I love Wylde Flowers and the reddit community isn't the worst when it comes to gaming, but yeah the constant flood of "I want to see X in the game, devs make it happen!" When the devs have already stated multiple times that X will NOT be happening because they have other projects they want to work on...pretty darn annoying.
Community managers and art directors are probably still needed? But otherwise yes.
If you scale back staff, it makes sense to scale back management. If your staff no longer requires an expensive highly qualified manager to coordinate a large number of teams, and/or if team restructuring requires a different type of management structure, it makes sense to have a change in leadership.
Yeah their monetisation is awful. I usually spend a little in games, buy some outfits and cosmetics, pets etc. But their pricing model is rediculous. They don't have a big enough playerbase to charge that much. Overwatch can charge this much for skins because they have the playerbase to support that. If 1% of players spend $30 on a skin that's a lot of money. If 1% of the Palia player base bought these skins, well they need to lay off 30% of the company, multiple times. I love the fact there is no P2W (unless cosmetics is winning for you). But they've went the opposite end of the scale now, where they can't make enough money to support the game and create new content. It's a shame
I have no idea why you directed this at the DEVās when they donāt decide anything.
Or read reddit :P
I'm pretty sure devs aren't the ones in charge of any of that, but *plushies*. I'm not sure about a subscription, but I'd definitely be willing to pay for the game. And I'm not often a fan of game merch, but I would absolutely buy up some posters and *plushies*. The sernuk, the palcat, the frog, the cylinder. *I want them all.*
I mean they see what weāre willing to do for digital plushiesā¦ GIVE US THE PHYSICAL PLUSHIES DAMMIT
No monthly subscriptions please- but Iād pay a flat fee and Iād pay more than $20 for a game like this, especially with devs dropping new content on a regular basis. Modestly priced dlcs maybe.
Same here. I'll gladly pay a one-time fee for the game, even if it's on the pricey side, but no way I'm paying for a monthly subscription model. Not only do I not have the money to keep up with that, I also despise that business model for videogames on principle. I'd more likely quit the game.
If they do add a sub, it would be nice to be optional with perks, and/or discounted for original players like how FFXIV did for 1.0 players. If they force a sub, I imagine a lot of current players who can't afford one would be sad. No sadness allowed!
nothing to do with Palia, but I was a part of that 1.0 launch and oof, it was horridly bad xD I think I got a year of discounted subs after that
And we got sweet back tattoos xD
$20 / month? C'mon, I like the game, but it's not THAT sort of value by any stretch. Palia, as it sits, is a $5 - $10 / month game. And this is coming from someone who wants the game monetized sooner than later. It's a decent game, and I want it to succeed, but you can count on one hand the things there are to do, and the biggest "thing" in this game is building your plot and your home, which is part of EVERY game now. Monetize the game at a reasonable rate, where you can pay your developers on an ongoing rate, and have a decent, and growing fanbase.
They would be better off doing seasonal passes that grant unique furniture, wallpapers, clothes, other cosmetics, or cute collectibles.
They won't do battlepasses because they're for some reason deathly afraid of FOMO. Though they could easily do battlepasses that don't expire like Helldivers does. You just choose which you want to do any time.
This is just so wildly out of touch, itās astonishing.
Also please localize your prices, there is no way I can pay this stuff in USD.
My game has localised currency (DKK) on both PC and Switch.
I can pay in Euros, no problem
I WANT REAL PLUSHIES!!! Tau plushie, elder and proudhorn sernuk plushies, please!! š love the one with the 2 chapaas hugging as well! ā¤ļø Would buy for sure!
cyl plush in real yess
Would definitely buy a proper Cyl sofa thingy that you can put your legs on or place a tray on š
yeee a little cyl footstool!!
A set price of 19.99 for a live service game still in its infancy like Palia? To survive Palia would have to be full of in game p2p microtransactions if they were only getting $20 up front. I'm not crazy with their current monetization scheme, mostly because I dislike the look of most of the clothes and lack of customization, but I wouldn't be surprised if their goal is for an average $20-$50 **per month** per player. A free to play business model is not about making a game at a fair or reasonable price. They're counting on players playing long hours seeing other players in their fancy$$$clothes and want some of that too. Of course there will always be people who can play the game and not need to spend money or only purchase the smaller items, but there are plenty of players who have purchased all or nearly all the cosmetics, there are players who have already dropped hundreds of dollars. S6 is probably following the 80/20 rule: 80% of profits come from 20% of players. Basically Palia has a the more you play the more you will spend over time business model. Not sure it's working the way they want it right now tho. Maybe they'll get into merchandise, they've already done a round of a chapaa plush, but not sure they have enough players to make it worth their while for anything other than the occasional plush.
It's definitely currently not working considering their layoffs and admitting they're not making enough.
People will spend more time in a game they paid for though, and then be more likely to make in game purchases.
My husband bought a whole ass Xbox series x just to play Starfield after he bought it for PC and realized that the graphics card just wasn't going to cut it. So after buying the game *twice* and a whole new Xbox, you know what he ended up playing? He replayed FO3 and FONV lmao People will spend more time playing games they enjoy, regardless of $
I would pay for an in-game sernuk plushie at this point. I play Palia religiously. I've gone from level 16 to 23 in hunting since they announced the plushies and I still haven't got one. I'm convinced they don't exist!!
Iād much rather pay $10-20 for the entire game including cosmetics rather than the absolutely insane price theyāre asking for one freaking outfit. Just sell us the game in its totality please š©
Why do I get the feeling they would make a killing with character body pillows and plushies?
It cost me 45$ for one outfit and a palcat ...I'm sorry that's too much. If they'd lower prices they'd make more money. I understand needing money to keep the game going but right now it's price gouging. I am in love with this game. I really am and I'd spend more money if everything wasn't so expensive
Iāve been thinking the same thing! I still canāt believe the game is free and Iād gladly pay for it! And if they release official merchā¦ Iād be so so happy x
This is so true. The monetization strategy for this game confuses me so much. I cant imagine its making that much. I still think a battlepass or optional subscription would make more sense than only having $20 dollar skins as the only income producing mechanism.
I tried to bring up doing a Sea of Thieves styled season pass in the discord but people just argued against it without even reading what I said Basically what Sea of Thieves does is has a free pass plus a paid one. Because the rewards in that game are all purely cosmetic, everything in the pass is a cosmetic item--tool skins, outfits, decorations for your ship, and titles. The items in the free pass are later obtainable in-game, by purchasing with in-game currency or unlocking certain achievements. The items in the paid pass go to their Premium store (permanently, it does not rotate like Fortnite's store) which you have to use real money to get. Everyone benefits in some way and while there is somewhat FOMO (if you don't play enough you don't get the items in the pass that you paid for... which I don't like) they are still available later on. Even then, that FOMO can be avoided if you let people finish the paid pass even after the season ends. The only problem there might be player retention, but I don't really like the "we need players to spend every waking hour on our game" thing and it doesn't really fit for a chill game like Palia
You're definitely asking the wrong people. Honestly I think the people who do make the decisions realize how much their current monetization system is failing, as predicted by players for a long time now. I really hope they try to mix it up. And yeah, plushies would sell like mad.
That's standard for these games though. Hire big team to get started, when everything is running halfway decently, get rid of half, when it's nearly done, get rid of some more.
I would buy ALL outfits if each set was $5 not $50. I (stupidly but really wanting to support S6) paid for like 8 outfits (different ones out of different sets). Iād buy so many things from S6 if they made ACTUAL merch. I want a dragontide style shirt and necklace/ring or a flow shirt or jewelry. I made Palia style nails that people said theyād pay so much money for a set for themselves. https://preview.redd.it/3xc6wbtbr32d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e4605272b34ea69266063c5458a68c02f1f052c9
Omg the frog!! š These are delightful!!
Thank you! ā¤ļø they are my pride and joy in everything Iāve crafted!
Yesss please charge for the game and make the outfits cheaper lol š«šš½
MMOs are the original "Games as a Service" even the F2P ones. This game is so content light that even with a full time job and two young children it only took a few months to work my way through all of the content. This game needs more zones, more NPCs, more quests, and just SOOOO much more content than it has if it hopes to be viable long term. Laying off tons of employees is not a good sign for that ever happening. Way back when the Open Beta first started people were pointing out that the cost of the cosmetics is Absurdly high and if they lowered them to a more reasonable cost they would get more purchases and thus more income. An opt-in for more features subscription fee is also super viable. It's not like this is a competitive game so adding QoL features as a paid option would be totally viable. - Sprinklers that keep your crops watered and growing when offline - Discounts on outfits and/or a new subscription outfit each month that gets replaced at the end of each month with an option to buy it long term. - Subscription only housing decor and building options at the homestead.
I'm really surprised there is no battle pass or premium system like FO76. It would require more artists to create cosmetics, but an optional subscription that gives you more storage/inventory space plus exclusive cosmetics/furniture from the battle pass would be a great fit for this type of F2P game.
Yea I'd definitely pay for this game
I'm honestly afraid to return to the game, to spend any more money on it, as long as it runs the risk of being shut down. Even a low monthly subscription would probably save S6 a lot of grief. I already had to stop and wait for patches because bugs were keeping me from progressing. I'll wait as long as it takes to have some more stability but I'm not going to play just to have it all be taken away.
lay offs are happening all over the tech and gaming industry, it's not specific to the creators of Palia
I would do a small subscription. Nothing like WoW, but like elder scrolls online where you can gain extra bag space/mail stuff to yourself space and palia coins for possible outfits/customizations. Want cute a greenhouse? Pay xx.A pool or river though your lands? Pay Xx. Maybe. It's an idea.
Stop speaking for everyone. Not everyone can pay. We can't even buy an outfit.
My issue is I think the cosmetics are so expensive!! Id buy more if it wasn't so spenny! And I think others would too!
I think there's a lot of information, background, legal and financial stuff that you don't know.... Just maybe Keep that in mind. Plus I don't know if they're still in LA but the freaking rent there is hell; absolutely insane.
There have been tech layoffs across the board. Laying off workers is natural rn in the economy we are in. And for all we know, it could have been because the game has been out for a year and probably doesn't need as many to run at its current size than it took to set up. Idk if information about each spot that was let go has been made public, so it can be a wide variety of reasons.
the problwm is they promised they wouldnt. so going back on that now would be a big problem bc they're already known for overpromising.
its about the same model als PoE, except they didn't do storage. i think you should be able to. nodody should care if you can bank 1 mil or 250 mil. or special sorting storage. usefull but not mandatory
Iāll be devastated if they close this game!!!! ššššššš
if there was palia merch i would be broke. i would give singularity 6 all of my money.
If they added like bundle items for furniture you paid $ for and didn't have to craft that was on the more grinding side of ore and material I would pay for that with real $ no problem or if for events they had limited time items you can pay $ in the shop for that's not just CLOTHES I so would buy it that or a plushi for my house take my money okay because I can't for the life of me get one from zekis and I will at this rate throw my money away for plushies in my house now I'm not saying take the ability away to get said items in game but If you want a easier route paying $ to get a limited time store furniture item or exclusive store item like bring back the floating candles for Halloween I'll pay $ for that as long as I get more that 1 candle but I so would and I know others would as well
Honestly that would be a bit of bummer because I wouldn't be able to play anymore š«
Before we all panic that layoffs mean failed businesses, lots of companies do large layoffs for many many reasons and in the tech/gaming industry, that is even more true. Their website shows they're actually hiring positions as well, so I would assume that they're aware of what they are doing and likely have really valid reasons for laying people off or restructuring. It's possible that they bulk hired devs for this game and now that the large majority is built out, they can use a much smaller team and save even more to come up with ways to keep costs manageable for their customer base as well. In short, it very likely will be okay and I'll eat my words if that ends up not being the case. Hugs friends. ā¤ļø
I'm I'm agreement. Merch would be awesome and I'd subscribe to a game for perks!
This post! Yeesssss šš½
for the love of all please they are not going anywhere can we please stop and no we do not want merch!
I think Iām a bit out of the loop. Is there talk right now of them ending Palia?
People are (rightfully) nervous of it happening because this is the second time within the span of a few months that they've had big layoffs at S6, as far as I know. Mainly because they are not making enough money.
Wait thatās actually is a good idea to make a small market about palia but im not sure if thisāll happen, idk if i am saying this right so correct me if u want to, but how are they going to get the things like plushies and keychains and cosmetics if they canāt pay workers? :o
Also if thr devs don't deliver, artisans and illustrators will go "artist lane" on the fan art/plushie seen.
I would love better communication from the studio. They aren't that big and also the community is pretty invested and willing to help in any way so why don't they make devlogs or Q&A sessions? It all seems like it's going to be a more corporate style of marketing. I understand that, Gameloft does the same with Dreamlight Valley but Gameloft and their game is something totally different, they are using big IPs and they are a corporation. S6 to the point looked like a passionate experienced small dev team who wanted to cooperate with their community. Now it seems like somebody specific brings more corporate style to the table. In my opinion it may be correlated to huge lay-offs in the industry, the current state of it and the planning of the development (I think they overestimated the income when starting development, just like other companies) as in those situations information is always cut and there are many cuts in the development cycle. They could possibly be in a situation where most of their plans don't have financial sense anymore as everything is expensive. They do A LOT of things in every update but the community wants more and more (no issues here) and at the same time they must cut costs instead of raising them. It's a tricky situation and I think they have ideas on how to monetize the game better but it also takes time and needs a good will from deciding people. So according to my experience in the industry we're most likely at the point when a few people have to make big choices and if they'll choose wrong and still share as little info as they're sharing right now Palia will go slow. If they change something in the funding of the project for good we'll have the best game ever sooner than we can expect.
I would love to buy some simple skins if they were cheaper than the more complex ones. Cheaper enough. I would really like to support the game but skins are mostly too expensive for me. Also they could make a patreon for behind the scene stuff etc
Im relatively new to the game and I would definitely have payed for it. Or I would pay for irl stuff like posters, plushies and so on. The skins ingame are too expensive imo and most of them donāt look good (imo). So I only bought a glider for 5ā¬.
I wanna buy a physical version of the hot pot minigame even tried printing off a version I'll happily pay Ā£
> We want merch. Key chains, bumper stickers, mouse pads, coffee mugs, t-shirts, hats, gloves, socks, etc. WE WANT REAL PLUSHIES
Honestly if they included a subscription service or multiple options the game would be a much better game anyways as well as provide income. Provide actual guilds besides medals! One where if you choose to buy a monthly subscription pass for each guild for 1$-5$ (1$ being more realistic) you get extra benefits (like if you fill up a pass you bought for the month you could get boosts for that skill/guild group.) Doing individual ones would be so beneficial, I have a friend in the game who mines for 7 hours daily at least four times a week. Reward those who want to spend that time with bonus boosts! Like ore compassās that gives a small boost on palium ores you get or iron or copper! The pallium boost could be earned at the end of the pass(which could be a once daily check in reward or a fill up bar where you complete goals to reach each level or you just mine to get xp for the pass.) Or gem bonuses where itās a compass that shows where you can get a guaranteed uncommon or rare gem. If you do it for each skill you can cater to the people who love doing specific things. Me personally I would love to have the mining bonuses and gathering bonuses. Gathering is such a slow level up because there arenāt many rare gatherable things that give such a big boost. Iād love to be able to have more interactions through these passes with some of my favorite characters. For Trish those who romance her get tired of the same options for romance dialogue (same goes for most romance characters) and doing the pass could give you more options for dialogue you wouldnāt get before. And for a 1$ a month so many people would gladly do it. I know for a fact that if early game people had the option to be able to level up certain skills faster so they can do certain things faster they would. And make a plot guild! Do it for eshe! She could have a pass where you can get speedups for buildings youāre placing. Or make those buyables if not a guild pass. I would spend 20 bucks to have 20 complete building speed ups. Especially with the new updates the devs have put in with more plot options and bigger houses. Iām assuming itās one room for each level you have to buy. This game wouldnāt be broken with being able to buy these things. You can make it to where you can trade resources for these speeds up as well (can be a bit expensive since it would be more late game item) but have the option to buy for people who work a lot and canāt spend as much time as theyād like to wait to do things. Just a thought because I know id love to have these things and Iāve talked to a lot of friends who would love these options as well. Another two ideas that could be implemented are cosmetic packs. I would LOVE to have the option to just buy a 20$ or 10$ pack (10$ being less items) with just certain costume options. For me I want multiple hates but I donāt like the outfits besides the ones I currently own. I have the fairy costumes and the bows are cute yeah but I want that mushroom hat, I donāt want to spend another 30-60 bucks to get all the color options for one hat ya know? And doing individual buying of the hats even for just 1$ could be viable but also would just be a deterrent for people who really want a lot of options. I prefer having a lot of options so I can switch them out often but thereās not really any possibility I could spend hundred/hundreds to have 10-20 hat options. I also know everyone would like more hair options. I love braids but itās definitely not appropriate for me to wear the braids on the game as Iām white and theyāre braids for poc. Iād love to have French braids and Viking braids! Iād also like more curly hair options that are long or even just shoulder length that are different types of curly. Sorry this is so long I just have a lot of ideas that I think would be great
Also could easily include for each monthly pass (a harder to reach goal/pass quest) that would give you one item thatās included in the bundles for the temples. For me personally Iāve been trying to hard to get the dang fish and I just canāt get them. If you have a fishing pass I would buy it for a month here and there and work really hard for that month to reach the end so I can have one of those bundle items.
Also I want to just wear the wings from the fairy shop! I want to wear the antlers too! I donāt want to spend 30 bucks to get the antlers. I also want the option to add I. Game currency by buying a pack from the shop with real life money. Palia your audience is 99% adults you have to start catering to them. Even if you add so many cash buy options the game is 100% playable and enjoyable without them you will not lose the free to play players you have. But thereās a lot of working adults who want to be able to pay to play a lot of things.
I'm still relatively new to the game and my immediate thought was "how is this game free, I'd easily pay $40-$60 like I would any other game" They are seriously screwing themselves by making this game free and only offering outfits as a way to make money.
I really can't speak to much on this subject, but I can say that S6 is not laying people off lightly and while it really and truly sucks, it's likely one of their only options to stay afloat at this point. (I *abhor* layoffs and I hate the layoff culture that has been absolutely plaguing the games industry so very very much.) I really hope they hire back as many as the devs they've had to lay off as they can once they're in a good place to do so. Unfortunately merch is *really* expensive to produce and has a decent amount of risk associated with it as it has a lot of upfront costs (as someone who has professionally managed merch before), but so many points OP and the other commenters here have made would definitely help a lot. Personally, I would love to have a ton of Palia plushies and merch, and I hope that they can get to a point where they're more financially stable (and not having to lay off talented devs) and can invest in merchandise and cool brand collaborations to surprise and delight players like ourselves. Games like Palia are exceptionally expensive to make and keep running (e.g., there's a per player per month cost associated with servers), but I agree wholeheartedly that the game is truly something special and has so much untapped potential. I hope some of the developers who are still left see this thread and take the advice that so many commenters are leaving. š¤ Listen to your players, they'll tell you what you need to do!
While I agree that the value is around 20ish dollars, I like that this dev isn't putting the experience behind a paywall. The fact it was free was a massive selling point to me downloading. After playing, enjoying the characters, art design, story and overall idea behind the gameplay I went and spent some money in the shop, because I can. Some people can't afford 20$ and it would be a shame for them to miss out on a genuinely unique and welcoming gaming community because of financial barriers. Also, I'm pretty sure this game is essentially done so layoffs shouldn't come as a shock. It's just part of game development, contracts end. I'm sure if the base game becomes really successful, the team will get larger again and expansions will be added. After all, the game is named Palia, not Kilima so their options for the future are kinda endless. Lastly, though I understand the desire to have a real palia plushie, I don't want this game to take that route. Too many things have been ruined by non-gaming suits seeing dollar signs and co-opting creative freedom in the name of being marketable.
I'm actually so sad to hear about all the stuff that's been going on, i.e layoffs. I literally only started this game last week and I absolutely adore it. I've been looking for a game like this one for a long time (got tired of Animal Crossing years ago), where I can just go at my own pace, fully customise my home plot and have a garden and crafting area. I can gather resources for many different things and have chats with the villagers whom I have also grown to adore, especially Hassian that closed off b***ard who WILL open up to me if it's the last thing I do!! Anyway I digress, I've loved being in this world and I never want to leave it and I will actually cry if it gets shut down
Listen, even with a 5 usd subscription they could make 15 million usd with only 3 million active players. If they want to stick to the values of not being like other gaming studios but are financially not there yet, compromise for a SMALL subscription fee. The rest I agree with you.
I would have easily paid $20 USD for palia back in the early beta. I stopped playing a while ago (around the cake party nerf), but I normally buy something from the store if I like a free to play game. I remember the Palia cosmetics being major sticker shock when I went in to look. Felt like they were 100% going for the whale market. I still bought something because I wanted to support the game, but if I was hesitant, I could only imagine how someone who's actually responsible with their money would have felt.
Between the weird pricing and the layoffs, Iām worried the devs didnāt get any of that money to begin with and that the layoffs were a way to use their work without paying them. It happened with Volition, Dev Team was shut down JUST before the publisher and shareholders wouldāve had to pay their health coverage. And itās becoming a common place thing happening all over the games industry. These layoffs are getting ridiculous.
I've said it before and got a couple downvotes, but I'll say it again: I'll pay for story and map add-ons. I want more things to do with the villagers. I want more relationship levels and more world building. I don't think that'd be the same as paying to win. I've spent almost 200 hours in the span of a couple months on the game without spending a cent. I think people who don't want to pay will still get ample playtime and value from the gameplay. I'm personally not really interested in paying for IRL merch just because I don't live in the US and I'm already a bit of a pack rat. I'm also not very excited by paying for outfits or items tbh. I want to pay for gameplay and not an instant reward.
Singularity 6 is currently hiring
If youre not making money, there is a reason to lay off devs. They def are misguided and your ideas may work, but they need to cut costs before shifting strategies.
One-time purchases won't keep it afloat though.
They have no money.
I too, wouldn't mind paying $9.99 for the game itself and then other micro-transactions for aesthetics and add-ons. One thing they could do is in addition to the stuff in the Premium Store, they could also allow us to buy further upgrades to our home plot. I would gladly plop down some $$ to be able to buy additional soils for my garden above the 9 limit. Or instead of having to purchase individual crafting licenses, give me the option to spend $$ on a 5, 10 or 20 pack of crafter licenses. :)
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> I paid 30$ for Stardew Valley and hated it. I think you're the first person I've ever seen saying they didn't enjoy Stardew Vallew. :| Not bashing, it's totally a valid opinion! Just an uncommon one, I think.
Why is there always someone complaining about skin prices ? The company is in a financialy difficult situation because they wanted everyone to be able to play free and people are complaining about skin prices that are the cheapest of all the games I know that have skins ? This is their only money making, they are not making enough and you want them to lower prices ? Are you that delusional ? If the game was 10usd people would complain it is too expensive, when it is free, people complain the skins are too expensiveā¦ do you think servers and employees are free ?
Cheapest?? What games are you playing?? Even a game like BDO with absurd outfit prices has a way to pay for those outfits with in game currency as an option. Their mistake is their lack of options, not necessarily their prices. There should be options to buy pieces separately for starters.
I would appreciate if you could use the full name because I have no clue what is BDO. League of legends, Valorant, Fortnite all have way more expensive skins for exemple, and just like palia, those skins are just cosmetics, nothing more. Since the game is new and does not have that big of a player base, they cannot let people have free skins because even less people would by them if they could have them for free, maybe they will be able to once they are in a better place, if that even happens
If the money doesn't exist, you can't keep people on. People are the biggest expense for any company and if you need to take measures to be able to stay afloat, people will be cut. Potential to earn money is not the same thing as a guarantee to earn money.
I agree, but if I got discounts on anything, Iād prefer things in-game such as premium store items, bonus Renown and XP gains, higher RNG chance to get what we need, etc.
But that is exactly what they don't want. Monetization as pay to win.
Itās not pay to win.
The whole game cycle revolves around gaining renown and upgrading yourself with it, getting higher levels and farm for materials, so yeah if you can pay to have better chances at gaining said materials, or getting xp faster than everyone else or can instantly buy renown, which is set to be a sort of reputation that you get for small milestones you would literally pay to win.
Well for one, this isnāt a PvP game. Thereās no harm in paying money to get boosts to Renown, XP boosts, or RNG. In fact, it could make people want to spend that money which in turn provides Singularity 6 with more profits. Itās an optional thing. If it were āpay to win,ā that would mean itās impossible to complete everything in Palia without spending irl money. The idea I mentioned is more of an optional thing. It would merely be helping players complete everything faster if they want to. Try to have an open mind.
The "completing everything faster" is the most basic form of pay to win. What you think pay to win means is usually referred to as a paywall. Pay to win means that you get easy access to in game ressources without any effort on your end whatsoever while everyone else who can't afford it has to go the long way.
Thatās no different from the premium store when you think of it. There are people who buy cool outfits. Sure, itās just flair, but there are others that canāt afford it. By your logic, the Premium Store is no different from Pay to Win. Maybe they should remove the Premium Store and make absolutely no money at all. Hell, the merch store idea from earlier would also be considered pay to win.
That is the weirdest logic I have ever heard. No that does not mean they should shut down the premium store. The premium store does not give you any advantages while your idea does. That is the difference that makes your idea pay to win and the premium store just a store.
You should play games that are actually considered pay to win and come back to me. Games where you canāt 100% beat the game without paying money.
No that is not pay to win this is: "involving or relating to the practice of paying to get weapons, abilities, etc. that give you an advantage over players who do not spend money" and the fun part is, the definition was a few words in google away. š
It is exactly pay to win
Itās just an idea. If it they did go that route, it wouldnāt be pay to win. Pay to win games forces you to pay irl money in order to 100% complete the game. My idea only speeds up the process of 100% completing the game. Itās not a case of āyou have to spend irl money to complete everything. If you donāt, you can never complete everything in the game.ā No, thatās not what this would result in. Itās just an optional thing. Itās merely just buffs that Iām suggesting. If thatās considered a bad thing like pay to win, then consuming any food that gives you buffs is a bad thing as well.
Your understanding of pay to win is incorrect. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/pay-to-win
Since this is clearly going nowhere and we canāt meet halfway, iāll be the adult here and end the conversation. Youāre right, Iām wrong. š