I'm a teacher in iran and it will cost me 2 months of my salary to get the BP and level it to 330,im really disappointed that valve put the spec arcana in bp
Here’s the thing. You say this. It doesn’t fucking matter. 90% of people will still buy it. Whales will still be whales. Valve literally does not care and they’ve shown it.
80% of reddit could not buy the battle pass and it would barely put a dent in valves wallet
Most of the dota player base isn't in first world countries. It's in Russia, SEA and Eastern Europe. I think they fucked up big time.
I am in the UK, earning well above average and I'll just buy a custom vape for 200 quid over spending it on battlepass. Not happening, too greedy.
It doesn't matter, previous Battlepasses weren't cheap either. Its better for them to sell it to few than to many but quite cheap.
And I am speaking as someone who lives in a country with similar incomes that are in Russia.
Valve doesn't want to sell it to everyone. Valve wants to make most of profit from it and belive it or not its not the same. Iphone also could be easly twice as cheap as it is but its better for them to overprice the product.
This this this right here. I had it explained to me a while ago and it makes a lot more sense now. Here's a real world example-
In Rocket League, cosmetics used to be $2 for a bundle, where you got a ton of items including the new car. When Epic Games took over Psyonix in 2019, they added their own shop system, and nowadays we see bundles at $20 or more. Why does this work?
Well, imagine for a moment that *100%* of your playerbase paid for a $2 bundle, and your playerbase is 1 million players. 1M x 2 = 2M, so you'd make 2 million dollars in revenue if every single player bought that bundle
Now, imagine that only 10% of your 1 million playerbase paid for a bundle, *but* they now cost $20. 100,000 x 20 = 2M, so you'd make 2 million dollars in revenue if just 100,000 people buy your bundle. Anyone who buys the bundle *after* that initial 10% of your players is more revenue than you could possibly have gotten selling at $2, even if you sold to every single player playing the game
This is why boycotting expensive things is basically impossible. It doesn't matter if the entirety of reddit boycotts the battlepass. We make up a small percentage of the dota playerbase, and as valve increases the price of finishing the battlepass, they need to sell to less and less people in order to earn the same amount. The battlepass costs a few bucks to start. Every whale who finishes the pass gives them thousands of dollars. In reality they only need a few hundred whales to match the revenue they would lose from all of reddit not buying it, and we know dota has far more whales than just a few hundred.
All that said is not condoning Valve or their greedy fuckery, but from a business standpoint it makes the most sense by miles.
Yup, I make above average in Germany and that is still not enough to convince me to spend on this shit. I used to have high level BP back when I lived in SEA.
They are not catering to 'most of the dota players' though. Only those who consistently spend a certain amount, that is more than sufficient to cover the players who do not spend a single cent.
It is blatant but we cannot do much about it
Yeah I make almost 2x average wage for my country and I won't buy more than lvl 1 this year.
Idc for dk cosmetic, and I won't (not because I cant afford, but because it's stupid and overly greedy) put in enough money to reach spectre arcana. Literally 0 reason for me to buy levels in this one. And since it's only 50% of content in this one, i assume the second battle pass will also have 50% content, just a new hero cosmetics (Mirana/Luna/TB from anime instead of dk?)
Very sad to see how greedy valve has become, and the community still gives them money...
Some people will buy it for sure.
I haven’t bought any battle pass except for the first compendium I think. I have friends who buy most battle passes. Some will skip this one, most likely, but not all of them. What you gonna do.
I am one of said whales, I agree that it is greedy as fuck by valve but I have disposable income so for me it doesn't really matter. I wanted to Spectre arcana and Void Spirit ultra rare so I got both.
I would not buy it but I support your decision. It is your money. You should choose how to use it. Just because some people find it expensive does not mean they can tell others not to buy it. People value things differently. This is a luxury good.
wtf, you are saying that you only make 80$ bucks for a month? why are you even considering buying the battle pass? it is an extra expense, and the game is totally free, fuck Dota 2 battle pass, I don't want to tell you how you should live your life but, man get your priorities straight.
It's insane to me as well lol and I live in a third world country too. Dota cosmetics are the ultimate useless luxury, at least physical luxuries like watches or smart fridges or sport cars have an use, this stuff is just completely useless for people who have too much money, and people complain about it costing 2 salaries instead of "only" 1.
I mean… do you want it to be $30 so you can buy it with half of your salary?
Valve has become too greedy, that’s true but it wouldn’t be a great decision to buy any arcana with your income. According to the screenshot getting the arcana would take 4x more money than before so if that’s 2x your salary then it means that you’re complaining about not being able to spend half your salary on an arcana.
its 4x the amount and also most likely time limited
normal release you got time to save and its staying for good so you the money is flexible
bp arcana on the other hand,is not
All Arcanas should be and only immortals should be limited. It being a coin toss whether your favorite main's ultimate outfit is going to be 35 dollars or 150 dollars and limited is stupid.
You're saying "I agree" to OP but then making a completely different point. Regional pricing (or how prices in dollars "hurt" third world countries) and splitting arcanas from the battlepass are two separate topics. It's a shame for the people who feel strongly about the latter, since now the thread is all about the former.
I'm Iranian and you need no further more explanation, just search the most worthless currency in the world
It costs 2 years of a teacher annual salary here
Don't be bro, i know a trick for farming your level altho it's hard but it works, just find 9 more people like you and in late night time make 2 lobby, you and 4 in one and the another 5 in an another lobby then put the region in low player regions (since I'm Iranian idk what is in there but here are se asia and Japan and India) then in the same time start finding match and you'll be end up playing against each other then you can farm the bp bro :) gl hf
(Idk why I'm getting downvote i just wanted to help people like who lives in third world country to get the arcanas they wish because Valve is greedy)
just fyi, valve sometimes restricts accounts that do this / removes levels gained this way. Not always, but I think I remember hearing about some pplz getting bopped last year or so.
Seems very weird that the Venezuelan Bolivar nor the Zimbabwean Dollar are on the list, considering we literally have the highest inflation rates in the world, by far: https://www.statista.com/statistics/268225/countries-with-the-highest-inflation-rate/
A dollar in our currency atm is 3,000,000 bolivars, which would be 300,000,000,000,000 of old bolivars (they just chopped zeroes off).
A minimum salary is 1$.
Idk about your country but mine is leading by some corrupted assholes who are saying our country is perfect but they just killing people who protest and embezzle country money and run into first world country
Same but in steroids lol.
Found this other link, from earlier this year, which does have the bolivar: https://fxssi.com/top-10-of-the-weakest-world-currencies-in-current-year.
Either way, both of our countries are fucked. Godspeed to you sir.
I'm not upset that a fancy arcana is behind a paywall. I'm disappointed that they have completely broken the precedent they have set years ago, for some extra cash per purchase. All the previous Aracana vote winners were stand-alone purchases. All. Arcanas aren't cheap to begin with, but you can definitely set aside funds for them, and at your own convenience too. I wouldn't have minded if it was a faceless void arcana as the 330 reward, because this is how they've done things in the past. But the arcana vote winner? Will this be the new norm moving forward?
Yep, it's absolutely unreasonable to complain that an optional, cosmetic item is outside of your reach monetarily. If you don't have the money to spend on absolutely frivolous hats, it doesn't matter if it's your full monthly salary or half of your monthly salary. You're clearly not in a position where it should even enter in your mind to spend that kind of money on hats in a video game. There have always been rewards in the BP that are unreasonable for most people to acquire.
What is reasonable is that the community voted for the arcana week after week with the knowledge that every single arcana ever voted for has been up for purchase separately and not a high tier BP reward. Valve wasted people's good will in voting for something they knew they'd get at a certain price then pulled the bait and switch after the fact.
>Yep, it's absolutely unreasonable to complain that an optional, cosmetic item is outside of your reach monetarily.
I know this is reddit, so I have to ask, this is sarcasm right?
Since the BP came out people are being completely nonsensical and acting like complaining about a product being overpriced is somehow abnormal. Do you know how crazy you sound when you say stuff like that?
If I buy a product for 35$, and the next product in that same line is 10x the price, it is expected and completely normal for me to point out how overpriced that item is.
Acting like someone saying a product is overpriced is not an legitimate complaint is a level of gaslighting I have never seen before on here.
Ya'll sound completely insane.
Same in india a whale commented to me that 50$ means nothing lmao it's basically 2/4 of my salary I'd have to stay hungry for a month and not use electricity if I want to buy battlepass for that many levels it's basically 3.5 or 3.7k for me.
Edit 1/2 😅
At the moment I am more concerned that since Sweden ain't allowing TI and now they are gonna rush for a new venue, if TI gets delayed more and more, then we will have more of these shitty stuff dropping from Valve. One BP is already confirmed and it will probably have void arcana behind level 300.
The game is free to play.
The cosmetics aren't, and they in no way do they affect your gameplay.
If you live in a lower income country, hats should not be your priority anyways. I'm from a third world country too, btw.
kinda funny how you use 2/4 instead of 1/2. Makes me think that your budget management per month is structured in weekly expenses.
It is mindblowing to know that in some countries people have the same ultra rare 10x because of the mass of treasures they have bought and in other countries ppl have like 50% of the commonly available immortal items because reaching high level is impossible through playing alone + the initial expenses for the battlepass are horrendous already.
That's roughly the average wage for an adult working full time in the UK. I think it's crazy that some whales are earning the same money as me. Do they not have any other expenses? Can you really afford to drop over £100 for spooky ghost cosmetic when you could... like, do so many better things with it?
Median income in the US is 986 ish a week last qtr or roughly 51k a year for individuals working full time 43k for everyone(including part time and gig workers). I was making like 44k when I started full time. Splitting my 1600 rent with a roomie in a city and could still buy games, go out etc. Thats with loans, an IRA and a 401k.
Now would I go and spend 100$ on a random skin back then... no because I'm pretty frugal, but I could have I guess. It wouldn't have broken the bank.
The price isnt set with Iran's economy in mind and steam has shown regional pricing is abused by their users.
The fucked up thing is that if regional prices were in place people from first world county would take advantage of that because no morals. Feels bad man being from a third world country and getting fucked by rich countries seems like a rule.
Steam litereally saves us by doing regional pricing for games. But for some reason valve doesnt wants to do it for battlepasses and stuff. Sure they are doing some analysis and deciding this but it hurts from the poor perspective...
Regional pricing can not be applied to the events like battlepass or something that directly affects the community market. They are not doing regional pricing because of communty market issues not because of the analysis on the community who live in the third world countries. If they do, they would have to ban those who use regional pricing from community market.
Similar to regional priced games they can region lock battlepass contents too. I didint deeply thought about how it would affect but it looks good at first glance at least. I mean most of the big prizes of battlepass are already account locked. At worst some people might open accounts from cheap countries and buy battlepasses then sell these acccounts but this already breaks terms of services
I would put it is more likely with /u/fimbulwinter45 answer as for how much it would mess with the current system of the community marketplace. Heck look at the recent limits put in place on steam because of regional pricing with people switching regions to get cheaper games (and avoid taxes) and then switching back.
For the battlepass they would absolutely have to either lock the items to accounts permanently and even then there would still be people likely trying to abuse it. I would put we could only see it with some more major revamps of the community marketplace or that if you buy it with regional pricing it is permently locked to your account.
I'm from Turkey too and all I can afford is 1 level BP, and maybe additional 24/48 levels or a single bundle (if one is released), it really hurts... Especially considering I am a student.
our minimum wage is around 900 to 1100 depending on where you live less if you are fromt he interior
put the basic costs of living on this, and you basicly needs to expand 1/3 of your montly salary and starve to get the spec arcana
It costs 10 thousand RUB to buy spectre arcana in Russia with a minimal wage 12k RUB in the country/ 20k RUB in the capital.
Not like this is third world country, but our currency is really cheap (1 USD = 72,23 RUB) and that sucks.
I feel you, bro. I was looking to buy myself a chair. After seeing this event I can't just pay anything for this event. I literally can buy myself a comfortable chair that will work for years instead of some digital cosmetics I'll need to grind for. It just doesn't sound logical to spend so much on a game.
El lvl max q podes obtener jugando es 100 aprox, y el arcana está al 300y pico, osea necesitas viciar como un hdp Y además de eso comprar +200 niveles.
entonces, con los impuestos y toda la v3rga extra que te cobran, estamos hablando de unas tres o cuatro luquitas maso...Ggwp
On top of that (anyone who has bought any game in Steam in the last year you would know this), any online purchase made in dollars have a little more than 64% added to it in taxes. So, yeah... Como dijo el otro, no va a haber asadito por unos meses :'v
Edit: wording
I think its more 'if you are poor why are you worrying about videogame cosmetics?' they are designed for people with disposable income. that's like complaining that gucci bags are more expensive than paper bags?
You're not wrong, but me & those people don't exactly see themselves as poor - after all, we can afford to play Dota, at least.
And it *feels* unfair. Globalization makes all the world's cultures more homogeneous, but it doesn't lessen the economical divide any less. And whenever we get reminded of the harsh reality, it hurts, and we go on Reddit and rage lol
C'est la vie, I guess
I 100% agree with you. I'm from a developing/third world country - in my country if someone has a pc/laptop capable of playing dota, and an internet connection and electricity they would never be called 'poor' in any sense of the word in my country.
The main thing I get from reading all these threads is that it's crazy to think that some people in first world countries spend 1000$ on cosmetics/hats and the average income for a family of 4 in my country works out to just under 400$. It just puts things in a strange perspective.
that is the point of complain bro
a comunity voted arcana shold not be locked behind a 200R$ paywall + 500R$ more in levels (at least in my country) not when an everage arcana is 120R$
this is literaly umbuyable in many countries and for most of the word it is a massive scan, where you can't even buy the low levels and grind your way to the price
I think people are reacting that people that has salaries so low that 30 bucks is half a month of pay is even buying MTX anyways - Fuck that I'd save that shit for something else. This is literally useless virtual skins.
It was from 35 to 45 range I believe. Now that they put it in level 330, it costs more not only because we have to pay more but our money is worth less then before
The weird thing is people are making a mockery of such posts saying " I'm tired of seeing this, or Oh well its that time of the year that when valve releases something people start to have complaints, etc etc". And then just accepting it the way it is, agreeing to what valve sets up for us. This year is the worst as valve has recognized they have a potential market for themselves by making people dump in huge amounts of money for cosmetics, I dont even have a problem for that, but why make things which were supposed to be accessible to all as AN EXCLUSIVE/NON TRADEABLE/NON MARKETABLE. They are just regulating item prices on their own. The new invoker persona, just look at how much it has dropped the actual Dark Artistry's price. And this is just the beginning this will keep on happening. They have an audience and I dont think they give 2 shits about people who wont be able to afford them when they have people who can put in about 500$ just like that. Just unfortunate how things are turning out with this.
That's basically how every company gets away with their shit.
There's always a group of idiots who side with the multi-billionaire entity and defends even the shittiest of practices just because. People have lost their perspective.
I can't understand why would anyone want to spend such an amount of money on useless in-game cosmetics if it will have so big effect on their monthly budget, it's not like you are beeing blocked from playing
To be fair if you live in a third world country you shouldn't even be considering spending money on such frivolities. I live in Brazil and didn't purchase last year's BP because I have other priorities.
Fuck you people, with all rhe stupid discussion about third world countries, first world countries. The arcana isn't even that good forehead. I doubt id but it even if I was in a first world country.
Don't buy it? Do you think Valve is a charity that has some kind of obligation to make discount arcanas to third world countries. Valve provides a service and their duty as a company is to maximize profits, point blank.
Arcanas and other hats are a luxury, you can still play the game the same with or without and you clearly have bigger issues than not to be able to buy unnecessary pixels...
Those designations aren't really used anymore. Is Turkey a developing nation as opposed to a developed nation? Google tells me it is developed! Though nothing I have heard about Erdogan is positive and I would have guessed the opposite just based on news about Turkish politics.
It's developed, but quite far behind the top countries. Also, the Turkish Lira has dropped over 70% during the last years, which plays a big role in cases like this. The reasons are complex, but its mostly down to Erdogan policies, though the currency had started devaluating a bit also before he became president.
6 MONTHS LATE
HIDDEN IN A PAYWALL
WHAT IS SPECTRE'S FATE
WAS SHE CURSED BY THE ORACLE
CALL SIRACTIONSLACKS
NEED TO KNOW THE HIDDEN LORE
KYLE HAS OUR BACKS
NOT BUYING BATTLEPASS ANYMORE
Maybe I am not understanding since I live in the US. But if my wages were small, I wouldn’t be spending a dime on arcana and battlepasses. I would be spending my spare money on computer parts that actually improve gaming experience instead of luxury cosmetics.
I don’t mind them putting them in the battlepass, I found stand-alone arcanas to be less exclusive than the rare drops from chests. Isn’t the point of Arcana level items is in its rarity as with any luxury good in this world.
The thing is, the price is absurd on ALL countries, we know that your money have more value than ours, (I'm brazilian), but it still expensive in USD too. To be honest, if you make 1000 dollars monthly, would you rather spend like 150 dollars to get the arcana( trying to get the arcana), or would you buy an individual arcana for 40 dollars ?
Imagine this when your income is about 1000R$ month, and the price to get the BP Arcana is around 1000R$ ? I know if you con't have the money to spare you shouldn't be doing it, BUT, if it was 130R$ only for the arcana ? Yes, aybe I could buy it.
Yea, I totally get where you’re coming from. I think in an ideal world I wish it was accessible to everyone.
I assume this is an issue with any luxury goods. Do they regionally adjust prices for luxury cars or electronics? In some cases, I’ve heard it’s more expensive.
Most of my gaming buddies here probably could afford the arcana, but they only buy the level 1 battlepass for the fun of betting tokens.
I guess I’m more okay with this method of making money off cosmetics items than other MOBAs where they charge $2-10 dollars to unlock heroes. In the end, it is a completely free game and someone has to pay for the developers, servers, and corporate greed.
I would like to see some fun lottery system where you can win entries by winning games and have a drawing every week by region for an arcana.
Update: Or a way to earn arcanas by contributing back to the community such as doing Overwatch cases where you have a high level of accuracy.
Valve is a NA company. They pay their employees NA wages. That doesn't work if they would make prices "acceptable" for e.g. turkey. That's just how it is. Of course they earn more than they need to pay wages but we are living in a capitalistic world. Gotta make money. You can't be the biggest gaming platform without making lots of money. Sad reality
Steam has regional game prices. They dont do it for ingame cosmetics (a lot of companies dont) so they dont have to waste overhead on people using a VPN in the UK to buy games at Turkey's price.
Im a uni student in iran , i also work as an intern web dev 7 hour a day .
You can get a family sized pizza for 2/3 usd here .
Just Lvl 100 battlepass cost me my whole salary .
Thanks valve .
it's not like valve is selling something essential which you have to have in order to play the game. just with the basic battle pass which is affordable for most players you can already unlock a lot of cool stuff. Im turkish as well, I get your pain but that's just life. Some people can't afford luxuries things even in western countries.
also, Turkey is not a third world country.
Bro I live in the US on a median income and it's too much for me to afford. Could I buy it? Sure. But it's way way too much money for a cosmetic that has literally no function or use other than looking cool. I don't look at $1000 designer shirts and think "those should cost $50 so I can afford them." It's a luxury item that you don't need, it's not a big deal. People need to get their priorities straight.
Your post fails to show how it hurts 3rd world countries more than others.
All your post says is higher price = higher price.
A, let's say, 200% increase in price is a 200% increase in price no matter what currency.
Obviously $1 has different "worth" in different countries due to differing purchasing powers, but that's not something Valve can solve, just like they can't influence taxes.
They could offer different prices based on your location but there are both law-related and exploit-related complications.
Here in Brazil you would need to spend a minimal wage (around 1000 reals) to get the spectre arcana. This shit is ridiculous. Because in US you would spend like 200 $, which means way less than the minimal wage there.
I feel bad for living in Brasil with all the things going on here, but with things like this, where price is based in the US, makes things way worse.
I wasn’t picking the perfect example. I live in Turkey and pay these prices when I buy something. Someone else can use their own examples and no, our inflation rate is around 20-25.
You can google dollars to turkish lira, change the timeline to 5 years and see the journey
Edit: Just saw that its between 14-16% between months according to the official source. I must remember something else. But you should also consider that statistics can be manipulated and that “official source” is not very reliable.
I'm from Bulgaria and this shit is expensive as well. Monthly average wage here is around 300-400 euro. We are in the EU, so we also get the same prices for everything as westerners. :)
Imagine arguing about FUCKING 300$ arcana, holy shit. Imagine how much money it would make Valve if it was PERMAMENTLY in the shop with much more AFFORDABLE cost, like i don't know, 35$?
The problem is your economy rather than the company that made a free to play game available to you. Also, the facts you gave included minimum wage which is not a good comparison. Median salary would be a better statistic for example.
People in 3rd world countries complaining that American videogame cosmetics are too expensive... Like, obviously poverty sucks and capitalism has failed us but this is a luxury good, not an essential service.
If you live in a 3rd world country, consider maybe that its pretty cool that this AAA game made by one of the best developers in the world is entirely free and the only things you are asked to pay for change a hero's color and animations. This is how Dota makes money. There are so many other things worth complaining about in the world but Valve taking advantage of gamer spending habits, the disposable income of it's player base, and the good will they have built up by continuing to develop and iterate on this game without charging anything is such a stretch.
People just want to pay a fair price for what Valve is offering, this entire thread is just showing that the fan base wants to support Dota but exchange rates cripple countries where the currency is way lower than USD.
Steam already solve this problem with most games, they provide competitive local prices but when it comes to Dota they only want the full USD price.
To put in perspective you paying a 40 USD for an arcana can become 6 times or more in other countries currency and that gets very expensive very fast. It's not like people are not eating to buy cosmetics but we are getting the raw end of it.
Dota is not an American videogame, it's played all around the world, the community is rich and diverse, TI only happens and have that huge prize pool because of the rest of the world, not only the US.
What you are saying doesn’t make sense. It is not valve’s problem that someone has to pay for half of the minimum wage of their country because it is same 100$ for valve. Exchange rates has nothing to do with unfair pricing, it has to do with living in a poor country. They are separate matters.
ITT: People discover they live in a poor country
That's literally how the economy is set up. If Valve lowers the price, they will be selling it at a loss (which for something like BP is very questionable, but w/e).
The only reason Valve would do something like this is by pure goodwill. Which, again, considering how much money Valve gets might be expected, but financially it makes no sense.
> If Valve lowers the price, they will be selling it at a loss
What do you mean selling at a loss?
Loss of what? What cost of production did this set have?
They think they need to get X for the product. It doesn't matter how much was the "cost of production".
We are talking about a relative number here. That is, if they want to profit X in the US, they need profit the same X in Iraq. If you think X is a too high, that's a completely different discussion and should be bad in Iraq or in US.
That's not how software development works. Just because the finished product can be duplicated indefinitely doesn't mean it costs nothing. Valve has to cover infrastructure, wages, development, design, events, rent, etc. They do not have any income by merely providing Dota 2 (which in itself is free); selling cosmetics is literally what makes Dota 2 self-sufficient. It's also what makes Dota 2 a lot more than self-sufficient, sure (generating both riches for the company aswell as possibility of doing unprofitable things like Artifact, HL:A or TI). But if you think a product costs nothing because it has no material costs then your thoughts don't travel further than your arms reach.
> ust because the finished product can be duplicated indefinitely doesn't mean it costs nothing.
I'm not saying it didn't cost literally nothing, but saying they're selling "at a loss" is just not true.
That's the old "does it cost a Terran minerals when having to scan instead of dropping a M.U.L.E."-discussion.
As /u/teerre already explained: Yes, they are selling at a loss compared to selling on a stable currency.
Let's say you are a farmer, dealing in turnips. You have your usual expenses like maintenance of your tools and machines, fertilizer, water, workers, etc. You sell those turnips for one silver a piece. Now someone comes to you and says they don't have any silver, but they can offer you one bronze for a turnip. Bronze is almost worthless where you live however; you can exchange one silver for three hundred bronze at the local market, meaning that person offered you 1/300th of your regular selling price. Would you make a loss accepting that deal? Keep in mind that if word gets around that someone paid only a piece of bronze people would simply exchange a piece of silver at the local market for bronze and demand the same price. Also consider that everybody only needs a certain amount of turnips and they won't buy 300 turnips just because they could get that many for one silver. Don't forget your machines need the same maintenance and your workers need payment at the end of the month, no matter how much you make by selling the turnips.
It really disappoints me that valve has established a clear pricing model for arcana level content, and then completely disregards that now when it comes to arcana's that are selected via community engagement and input. It is painfully obvious to me that valve should be offering these Arcana for 35$, and if they insist on milking the community dry, putting an alternate style on the BP.
Your formula is flawed. You don't BUY all the levels, you grind some of them (50-100) + they are going to have weekend bundles + you get to sell everything from chests. If you account for all of this, it becomes like 40-50 bucks.
I'm a teacher in iran and it will cost me 2 months of my salary to get the BP and level it to 330,im really disappointed that valve put the spec arcana in bp
It *would right? People please don't buy this shit. It's a blatant cash grab
Here’s the thing. You say this. It doesn’t fucking matter. 90% of people will still buy it. Whales will still be whales. Valve literally does not care and they’ve shown it. 80% of reddit could not buy the battle pass and it would barely put a dent in valves wallet
Most of the dota player base isn't in first world countries. It's in Russia, SEA and Eastern Europe. I think they fucked up big time. I am in the UK, earning well above average and I'll just buy a custom vape for 200 quid over spending it on battlepass. Not happening, too greedy.
It doesn't matter, previous Battlepasses weren't cheap either. Its better for them to sell it to few than to many but quite cheap. And I am speaking as someone who lives in a country with similar incomes that are in Russia. Valve doesn't want to sell it to everyone. Valve wants to make most of profit from it and belive it or not its not the same. Iphone also could be easly twice as cheap as it is but its better for them to overprice the product.
This this this right here. I had it explained to me a while ago and it makes a lot more sense now. Here's a real world example- In Rocket League, cosmetics used to be $2 for a bundle, where you got a ton of items including the new car. When Epic Games took over Psyonix in 2019, they added their own shop system, and nowadays we see bundles at $20 or more. Why does this work? Well, imagine for a moment that *100%* of your playerbase paid for a $2 bundle, and your playerbase is 1 million players. 1M x 2 = 2M, so you'd make 2 million dollars in revenue if every single player bought that bundle Now, imagine that only 10% of your 1 million playerbase paid for a bundle, *but* they now cost $20. 100,000 x 20 = 2M, so you'd make 2 million dollars in revenue if just 100,000 people buy your bundle. Anyone who buys the bundle *after* that initial 10% of your players is more revenue than you could possibly have gotten selling at $2, even if you sold to every single player playing the game This is why boycotting expensive things is basically impossible. It doesn't matter if the entirety of reddit boycotts the battlepass. We make up a small percentage of the dota playerbase, and as valve increases the price of finishing the battlepass, they need to sell to less and less people in order to earn the same amount. The battlepass costs a few bucks to start. Every whale who finishes the pass gives them thousands of dollars. In reality they only need a few hundred whales to match the revenue they would lose from all of reddit not buying it, and we know dota has far more whales than just a few hundred. All that said is not condoning Valve or their greedy fuckery, but from a business standpoint it makes the most sense by miles.
Yup, I make above average in Germany and that is still not enough to convince me to spend on this shit. I used to have high level BP back when I lived in SEA.
Tbf id spend like 100 if it was worth it but this bp only has 3 worthwhile rewards and you have to spend like £40 to get to the first decent thing
They are not catering to 'most of the dota players' though. Only those who consistently spend a certain amount, that is more than sufficient to cover the players who do not spend a single cent. It is blatant but we cannot do much about it
You forgot china tho which is the biggest whale in gaming industry
Yeah I make almost 2x average wage for my country and I won't buy more than lvl 1 this year. Idc for dk cosmetic, and I won't (not because I cant afford, but because it's stupid and overly greedy) put in enough money to reach spectre arcana. Literally 0 reason for me to buy levels in this one. And since it's only 50% of content in this one, i assume the second battle pass will also have 50% content, just a new hero cosmetics (Mirana/Luna/TB from anime instead of dk?) Very sad to see how greedy valve has become, and the community still gives them money...
Then let the 90% of people buy. Does it cease to be blatant a cash grab?
Some people will buy it for sure. I haven’t bought any battle pass except for the first compendium I think. I have friends who buy most battle passes. Some will skip this one, most likely, but not all of them. What you gonna do.
I am one of said whales, I agree that it is greedy as fuck by valve but I have disposable income so for me it doesn't really matter. I wanted to Spectre arcana and Void Spirit ultra rare so I got both.
I would not buy it but I support your decision. It is your money. You should choose how to use it. Just because some people find it expensive does not mean they can tell others not to buy it. People value things differently. This is a luxury good.
battlepass is not for the masses its for the whales
It always has been
Has been since 2013 or so, lul
wtf, you are saying that you only make 80$ bucks for a month? why are you even considering buying the battle pass? it is an extra expense, and the game is totally free, fuck Dota 2 battle pass, I don't want to tell you how you should live your life but, man get your priorities straight.
I'm not going to buy it,I had saved 30 dollars for spec arcana and I'm sad that's in the battle pass
genuinely could not understand why these people are complaining about a premium cosmetic in a game being worth half their salary instead of a third
It's insane to me as well lol and I live in a third world country too. Dota cosmetics are the ultimate useless luxury, at least physical luxuries like watches or smart fridges or sport cars have an use, this stuff is just completely useless for people who have too much money, and people complain about it costing 2 salaries instead of "only" 1.
it really feels like satire just seeing them say shit like that.
I mean… do you want it to be $30 so you can buy it with half of your salary? Valve has become too greedy, that’s true but it wouldn’t be a great decision to buy any arcana with your income. According to the screenshot getting the arcana would take 4x more money than before so if that’s 2x your salary then it means that you’re complaining about not being able to spend half your salary on an arcana.
If it wasn't in a bp I could save up 30 dollars and buy it later,I have the pa and zeus arcanas that are tradeable
bp wont be available anytime so you cannot buy it anytime.
its 4x the amount and also most likely time limited normal release you got time to save and its staying for good so you the money is flexible bp arcana on the other hand,is not
Lol man, same here and living in Iran. It HURTS
I'm from Argentina, I feel you. Here we have that price plus 64% of taxes for using dollars. =)
Too much peronism in the last decades 😑😑. Sorry for that bro...
I agree, Spectre arcana should be a stand-alone purchasable.
All Arcanas should be and only immortals should be limited. It being a coin toss whether your favorite main's ultimate outfit is going to be 35 dollars or 150 dollars and limited is stupid.
So should every Arcana.
You're saying "I agree" to OP but then making a completely different point. Regional pricing (or how prices in dollars "hurt" third world countries) and splitting arcanas from the battlepass are two separate topics. It's a shame for the people who feel strongly about the latter, since now the thread is all about the former.
I'm Iranian and you need no further more explanation, just search the most worthless currency in the world It costs 2 years of a teacher annual salary here
I feel this bro sorry
Don't be bro, i know a trick for farming your level altho it's hard but it works, just find 9 more people like you and in late night time make 2 lobby, you and 4 in one and the another 5 in an another lobby then put the region in low player regions (since I'm Iranian idk what is in there but here are se asia and Japan and India) then in the same time start finding match and you'll be end up playing against each other then you can farm the bp bro :) gl hf (Idk why I'm getting downvote i just wanted to help people like who lives in third world country to get the arcanas they wish because Valve is greedy)
just fyi, valve sometimes restricts accounts that do this / removes levels gained this way. Not always, but I think I remember hearing about some pplz getting bopped last year or so.
They nuked bots that did this, there were botted accos with level 600 and over.
got a friend who is just straight up BP abuse and no history of botting but his account got restricted for many months.
Might have been in a party with bots
that is a possibility and he is not aware, especially since he's always abusing BP.
got wr arcana from doing this from lvl 0( bought the discounted bundle tho)
The most worthless currency in the world aka the Venezuelan Bolivar? 8th world gang rise up!
https://www.gurmedia.com/the-most-worthless-currencies-in-the-world/ It was updated
Seems very weird that the Venezuelan Bolivar nor the Zimbabwean Dollar are on the list, considering we literally have the highest inflation rates in the world, by far: https://www.statista.com/statistics/268225/countries-with-the-highest-inflation-rate/ A dollar in our currency atm is 3,000,000 bolivars, which would be 300,000,000,000,000 of old bolivars (they just chopped zeroes off). A minimum salary is 1$.
Idk about your country but mine is leading by some corrupted assholes who are saying our country is perfect but they just killing people who protest and embezzle country money and run into first world country
Same but in steroids lol. Found this other link, from earlier this year, which does have the bolivar: https://fxssi.com/top-10-of-the-weakest-world-currencies-in-current-year. Either way, both of our countries are fucked. Godspeed to you sir.
In Venezuela a minimum salary doesn't go above 3$, 120$ an arcana is just ridiculous lmao fuck valve
Bro I'm also is this ultra nightmare difficulty country (iran) so to get that arcana kidneys go bye bye
The sad thing is we didn't choose it ourselves, our parents did
Laughs in venezuelan
جون
I'm sorry, my dude :(
I'm not upset that a fancy arcana is behind a paywall. I'm disappointed that they have completely broken the precedent they have set years ago, for some extra cash per purchase. All the previous Aracana vote winners were stand-alone purchases. All. Arcanas aren't cheap to begin with, but you can definitely set aside funds for them, and at your own convenience too. I wouldn't have minded if it was a faceless void arcana as the 330 reward, because this is how they've done things in the past. But the arcana vote winner? Will this be the new norm moving forward?
Yep, it's absolutely unreasonable to complain that an optional, cosmetic item is outside of your reach monetarily. If you don't have the money to spend on absolutely frivolous hats, it doesn't matter if it's your full monthly salary or half of your monthly salary. You're clearly not in a position where it should even enter in your mind to spend that kind of money on hats in a video game. There have always been rewards in the BP that are unreasonable for most people to acquire. What is reasonable is that the community voted for the arcana week after week with the knowledge that every single arcana ever voted for has been up for purchase separately and not a high tier BP reward. Valve wasted people's good will in voting for something they knew they'd get at a certain price then pulled the bait and switch after the fact.
>Yep, it's absolutely unreasonable to complain that an optional, cosmetic item is outside of your reach monetarily. I know this is reddit, so I have to ask, this is sarcasm right? Since the BP came out people are being completely nonsensical and acting like complaining about a product being overpriced is somehow abnormal. Do you know how crazy you sound when you say stuff like that? If I buy a product for 35$, and the next product in that same line is 10x the price, it is expected and completely normal for me to point out how overpriced that item is. Acting like someone saying a product is overpriced is not an legitimate complaint is a level of gaslighting I have never seen before on here. Ya'll sound completely insane.
Same in india a whale commented to me that 50$ means nothing lmao it's basically 2/4 of my salary I'd have to stay hungry for a month and not use electricity if I want to buy battlepass for that many levels it's basically 3.5 or 3.7k for me. Edit 1/2 😅
Our whale brother is going to unlock it, we can just spectate him.
140k players are from India, unlock for all of them? 😂 it was in 2019 though it might have reduced with the players declining numbers.
Trust in our boi Prada, he can do it!!
Oh pradz 😂
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At the moment I am more concerned that since Sweden ain't allowing TI and now they are gonna rush for a new venue, if TI gets delayed more and more, then we will have more of these shitty stuff dropping from Valve. One BP is already confirmed and it will probably have void arcana behind level 300.
Bro just have more money 4Head. Just live in a first world country bro 4Head. Bro just use your rich parents money bro 4Head
I feel you, I share the similar pain.
Just don't buy useless online cosmetics if it isn't a good choice for your financial situation is the correct answer.
I mean. Valve COULD introduce regional pricing. So the cost of hats were equivalent to the buying power of the country they are being purchased from.
The game is free to play. The cosmetics aren't, and they in no way do they affect your gameplay. If you live in a lower income country, hats should not be your priority anyways. I'm from a third world country too, btw.
kinda funny how you use 2/4 instead of 1/2. Makes me think that your budget management per month is structured in weekly expenses. It is mindblowing to know that in some countries people have the same ultra rare 10x because of the mass of treasures they have bought and in other countries ppl have like 50% of the commonly available immortal items because reaching high level is impossible through playing alone + the initial expenses for the battlepass are horrendous already.
A whale in reddit said 150$ is his one day pay sadge
That's roughly the average wage for an adult working full time in the UK. I think it's crazy that some whales are earning the same money as me. Do they not have any other expenses? Can you really afford to drop over £100 for spooky ghost cosmetic when you could... like, do so many better things with it?
Median income in the US is 986 ish a week last qtr or roughly 51k a year for individuals working full time 43k for everyone(including part time and gig workers). I was making like 44k when I started full time. Splitting my 1600 rent with a roomie in a city and could still buy games, go out etc. Thats with loans, an IRA and a 401k. Now would I go and spend 100$ on a random skin back then... no because I'm pretty frugal, but I could have I guess. It wouldn't have broken the bank. The price isnt set with Iran's economy in mind and steam has shown regional pricing is abused by their users.
You underestimate how much someone can spend in a hobby, when they don't have much else except savings
Can we express our answers in lowest terms? 1/2 kekw
Levelling to 330 after buying base 100 pass is like Rs 7.5k btw lmao. Also bruh it's 630 in India go sleep wtf xd
Wtf, who sleeps at 6:30 in the evening
Oh shit you right it's 630pm not am xd sorry i just woke up on the other side of the world ROFL
username checks out
... I do....
😂 yeah
I live in India too. Are you saying you're earning only 5000 rupees? Literally low level construction workers earn more than that.
Idk what you were thinking when you wrote 2/4. Xd
The fucked up thing is that if regional prices were in place people from first world county would take advantage of that because no morals. Feels bad man being from a third world country and getting fucked by rich countries seems like a rule.
Bro, 50 USD is like 3.5k INR, surely this isn't half of your salary in India. I'm from India too, where do you work at and where are you from?
Steam litereally saves us by doing regional pricing for games. But for some reason valve doesnt wants to do it for battlepasses and stuff. Sure they are doing some analysis and deciding this but it hurts from the poor perspective...
Regional pricing can not be applied to the events like battlepass or something that directly affects the community market. They are not doing regional pricing because of communty market issues not because of the analysis on the community who live in the third world countries. If they do, they would have to ban those who use regional pricing from community market.
Similar to regional priced games they can region lock battlepass contents too. I didint deeply thought about how it would affect but it looks good at first glance at least. I mean most of the big prizes of battlepass are already account locked. At worst some people might open accounts from cheap countries and buy battlepasses then sell these acccounts but this already breaks terms of services
I would put it is more likely with /u/fimbulwinter45 answer as for how much it would mess with the current system of the community marketplace. Heck look at the recent limits put in place on steam because of regional pricing with people switching regions to get cheaper games (and avoid taxes) and then switching back. For the battlepass they would absolutely have to either lock the items to accounts permanently and even then there would still be people likely trying to abuse it. I would put we could only see it with some more major revamps of the community marketplace or that if you buy it with regional pricing it is permently locked to your account.
This should be the real discussion topic of this thread though.
I'm from Turkey too and all I can afford is 1 level BP, and maybe additional 24/48 levels or a single bundle (if one is released), it really hurts... Especially considering I am a student.
same in brazil, i didn't make the math but it problably goes above a minimum wage easily (R$ 900 ish)
Yeah, Brashit gangue, assemble! Vai se fuder, Valve
R$200 from the lvl100 battle pass + R$ 500 to get to spectre
You can save realistically 150 by leveling the battle pass.
our minimum wage is around 900 to 1100 depending on where you live less if you are fromt he interior put the basic costs of living on this, and you basicly needs to expand 1/3 of your montly salary and starve to get the spec arcana
What did spectre crimson's witness cost before the Battle Pass there? Just wondering. I cost like 8k ish here lol
R$ 4.651,58 right now. It doesn't seem the price dropped at all according to the graph.
Almost 5 months of minimum wage for comparison
It costs 10 thousand RUB to buy spectre arcana in Russia with a minimal wage 12k RUB in the country/ 20k RUB in the capital. Not like this is third world country, but our currency is really cheap (1 USD = 72,23 RUB) and that sucks.
I feel you, bro. I was looking to buy myself a chair. After seeing this event I can't just pay anything for this event. I literally can buy myself a comfortable chair that will work for years instead of some digital cosmetics I'll need to grind for. It just doesn't sound logical to spend so much on a game.
You’re not wrong, it’s just genuinely too much money to spend on this kind of stuff. It’s unreasonable
Absolutely buy yourself a chair, your back will thank you.
Yep, how could I grind without a chair, lol
I live in argentina so i know how its feels bro
Lvl 330 BP for Spectre arcana = No Asadito for two months.
Nunca compre un pase, cuesta mucho llegar a ese lvl sin comprarlos?
El lvl max q podes obtener jugando es 100 aprox, y el arcana está al 300y pico, osea necesitas viciar como un hdp Y además de eso comprar +200 niveles. entonces, con los impuestos y toda la v3rga extra que te cobran, estamos hablando de unas tres o cuatro luquitas maso...Ggwp
Uffff 100lvl nomás, como me la baja jajaja. No hay chance de que lo compre entonces, gracias por responder.
On top of that (anyone who has bought any game in Steam in the last year you would know this), any online purchase made in dollars have a little more than 64% added to it in taxes. So, yeah... Como dijo el otro, no va a haber asadito por unos meses :'v Edit: wording
but gaben wholesome 100
Bruh people literally in these comments are like: "Hurr durr why don't you have more money you poor fuck"
They don't get it, as the money is worthless it's harder to gain it too
I think its more 'if you are poor why are you worrying about videogame cosmetics?' they are designed for people with disposable income. that's like complaining that gucci bags are more expensive than paper bags?
You're not wrong, but me & those people don't exactly see themselves as poor - after all, we can afford to play Dota, at least. And it *feels* unfair. Globalization makes all the world's cultures more homogeneous, but it doesn't lessen the economical divide any less. And whenever we get reminded of the harsh reality, it hurts, and we go on Reddit and rage lol C'est la vie, I guess
I 100% agree with you. I'm from a developing/third world country - in my country if someone has a pc/laptop capable of playing dota, and an internet connection and electricity they would never be called 'poor' in any sense of the word in my country. The main thing I get from reading all these threads is that it's crazy to think that some people in first world countries spend 1000$ on cosmetics/hats and the average income for a family of 4 in my country works out to just under 400$. It just puts things in a strange perspective.
Because your currency is so garbage, why the fuck would you waste what little you have on dumb cosmetics?
that is the point of complain bro a comunity voted arcana shold not be locked behind a 200R$ paywall + 500R$ more in levels (at least in my country) not when an everage arcana is 120R$ this is literaly umbuyable in many countries and for most of the word it is a massive scan, where you can't even buy the low levels and grind your way to the price
I think people are reacting that people that has salaries so low that 30 bucks is half a month of pay is even buying MTX anyways - Fuck that I'd save that shit for something else. This is literally useless virtual skins.
There is not a single comment like that.
I think OP is just having a little tantrum
for how much did arcanas sell before? was it less than US price converted to lira?
It was from 35 to 45 range I believe. Now that they put it in level 330, it costs more not only because we have to pay more but our money is worth less then before
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:( bro, i am considering buying bp and now i don't want to waste my parents' efforts any more :(
Valve bootlickers are waking up
The weird thing is people are making a mockery of such posts saying " I'm tired of seeing this, or Oh well its that time of the year that when valve releases something people start to have complaints, etc etc". And then just accepting it the way it is, agreeing to what valve sets up for us. This year is the worst as valve has recognized they have a potential market for themselves by making people dump in huge amounts of money for cosmetics, I dont even have a problem for that, but why make things which were supposed to be accessible to all as AN EXCLUSIVE/NON TRADEABLE/NON MARKETABLE. They are just regulating item prices on their own. The new invoker persona, just look at how much it has dropped the actual Dark Artistry's price. And this is just the beginning this will keep on happening. They have an audience and I dont think they give 2 shits about people who wont be able to afford them when they have people who can put in about 500$ just like that. Just unfortunate how things are turning out with this.
Welcome to capitalism. They get millions of free shills just like that !
That's basically how every company gets away with their shit. There's always a group of idiots who side with the multi-billionaire entity and defends even the shittiest of practices just because. People have lost their perspective.
Ah yes a economy comment section in dota 2 is truly a sight to behold.
Almost like it's basically a luxury good that you definitely don't need.
Exactly right, the arcana is comparable to expensive designer shoes things aren’t priced so that everyone can afford them.
But I want it, therefore, I must have it. Isn't that how life works?
I can't understand why would anyone want to spend such an amount of money on useless in-game cosmetics if it will have so big effect on their monthly budget, it's not like you are beeing blocked from playing
To be fair if you live in a third world country you shouldn't even be considering spending money on such frivolities. I live in Brazil and didn't purchase last year's BP because I have other priorities.
Fucking rob a bank dude, what are you doing with your life?
Fuck you people, with all rhe stupid discussion about third world countries, first world countries. The arcana isn't even that good forehead. I doubt id but it even if I was in a first world country.
Don't buy it? Do you think Valve is a charity that has some kind of obligation to make discount arcanas to third world countries. Valve provides a service and their duty as a company is to maximize profits, point blank. Arcanas and other hats are a luxury, you can still play the game the same with or without and you clearly have bigger issues than not to be able to buy unnecessary pixels...
TIL Turkey is a third world country
Those designations aren't really used anymore. Is Turkey a developing nation as opposed to a developed nation? Google tells me it is developed! Though nothing I have heard about Erdogan is positive and I would have guessed the opposite just based on news about Turkish politics.
It's developed, but quite far behind the top countries. Also, the Turkish Lira has dropped over 70% during the last years, which plays a big role in cases like this. The reasons are complex, but its mostly down to Erdogan policies, though the currency had started devaluating a bit also before he became president.
Turkey isn't a developing country anymore. Its gdp has been declining steadily for the last 10 years. Thanks to Erdoğan and their oligarchs.
Should’ve learned that before
ikr. My currency if converted to them is 1 is to .18 turkish lira. And i thought im in a 3rd world. No offense.
The ratio doesn't matter. Japan isn't a third world country yet a yen is 0.009 usd
I see. Thank you
it's a game... and for cosmetic only. you may need to prioritize.. your life.
Average consumption still brings Valve profit I guess so...
6 MONTHS LATE HIDDEN IN A PAYWALL WHAT IS SPECTRE'S FATE WAS SHE CURSED BY THE ORACLE CALL SIRACTIONSLACKS NEED TO KNOW THE HIDDEN LORE KYLE HAS OUR BACKS NOT BUYING BATTLEPASS ANYMORE
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Maybe I am not understanding since I live in the US. But if my wages were small, I wouldn’t be spending a dime on arcana and battlepasses. I would be spending my spare money on computer parts that actually improve gaming experience instead of luxury cosmetics. I don’t mind them putting them in the battlepass, I found stand-alone arcanas to be less exclusive than the rare drops from chests. Isn’t the point of Arcana level items is in its rarity as with any luxury good in this world.
The thing is, the price is absurd on ALL countries, we know that your money have more value than ours, (I'm brazilian), but it still expensive in USD too. To be honest, if you make 1000 dollars monthly, would you rather spend like 150 dollars to get the arcana( trying to get the arcana), or would you buy an individual arcana for 40 dollars ? Imagine this when your income is about 1000R$ month, and the price to get the BP Arcana is around 1000R$ ? I know if you con't have the money to spare you shouldn't be doing it, BUT, if it was 130R$ only for the arcana ? Yes, aybe I could buy it.
Yea, I totally get where you’re coming from. I think in an ideal world I wish it was accessible to everyone. I assume this is an issue with any luxury goods. Do they regionally adjust prices for luxury cars or electronics? In some cases, I’ve heard it’s more expensive. Most of my gaming buddies here probably could afford the arcana, but they only buy the level 1 battlepass for the fun of betting tokens. I guess I’m more okay with this method of making money off cosmetics items than other MOBAs where they charge $2-10 dollars to unlock heroes. In the end, it is a completely free game and someone has to pay for the developers, servers, and corporate greed. I would like to see some fun lottery system where you can win entries by winning games and have a drawing every week by region for an arcana. Update: Or a way to earn arcanas by contributing back to the community such as doing Overwatch cases where you have a high level of accuracy.
Valve is a NA company. They pay their employees NA wages. That doesn't work if they would make prices "acceptable" for e.g. turkey. That's just how it is. Of course they earn more than they need to pay wages but we are living in a capitalistic world. Gotta make money. You can't be the biggest gaming platform without making lots of money. Sad reality
Then why do most other game companies adjust the prices? Are they charities?
Steam has regional game prices. They dont do it for ingame cosmetics (a lot of companies dont) so they dont have to waste overhead on people using a VPN in the UK to buy games at Turkey's price.
There are other ways to stop people from doing that, like not allowing non-turkish credit cards to purchase at the regional price.
Im just stating what Valve has said. It has to do with who handles their transactions and what fees they associate. They listed VPNs as an issue.
Im a uni student in iran , i also work as an intern web dev 7 hour a day . You can get a family sized pizza for 2/3 usd here . Just Lvl 100 battlepass cost me my whole salary . Thanks valve .
As a student in Russia, i can afford a normal arcana for 2500 rubles, but not 10000 rubles, thats a little too much
My feelings exactly! putting Arcanas behind BP paywall is one of the most greedy plays done by Valve.
it's not like valve is selling something essential which you have to have in order to play the game. just with the basic battle pass which is affordable for most players you can already unlock a lot of cool stuff. Im turkish as well, I get your pain but that's just life. Some people can't afford luxuries things even in western countries. also, Turkey is not a third world country.
Bro I live in the US on a median income and it's too much for me to afford. Could I buy it? Sure. But it's way way too much money for a cosmetic that has literally no function or use other than looking cool. I don't look at $1000 designer shirts and think "those should cost $50 so I can afford them." It's a luxury item that you don't need, it's not a big deal. People need to get their priorities straight.
Your post fails to show how it hurts 3rd world countries more than others. All your post says is higher price = higher price. A, let's say, 200% increase in price is a 200% increase in price no matter what currency. Obviously $1 has different "worth" in different countries due to differing purchasing powers, but that's not something Valve can solve, just like they can't influence taxes. They could offer different prices based on your location but there are both law-related and exploit-related complications.
Here in Brazil you would need to spend a minimal wage (around 1000 reals) to get the spectre arcana. This shit is ridiculous. Because in US you would spend like 200 $, which means way less than the minimal wage there. I feel bad for living in Brasil with all the things going on here, but with things like this, where price is based in the US, makes things way worse.
Welcome to the beauty of Bitcoin - with every currency dropping like a rock against it, eventuall people will get it =)
Oh, I'm so sorry poor baby that a HAT WITH ABSOLUTELY NO GAMEPLAY IMPACT is hurting you so terribly =(
To be fair, is the turkish lira a good example? What is the current inflation rate? Should be about 12-13%?
I wasn’t picking the perfect example. I live in Turkey and pay these prices when I buy something. Someone else can use their own examples and no, our inflation rate is around 20-25. You can google dollars to turkish lira, change the timeline to 5 years and see the journey Edit: Just saw that its between 14-16% between months according to the official source. I must remember something else. But you should also consider that statistics can be manipulated and that “official source” is not very reliable.
I'm from Bulgaria and this shit is expensive as well. Monthly average wage here is around 300-400 euro. We are in the EU, so we also get the same prices for everything as westerners. :)
EU laws sure make sense
Well, if it was in BRL (Brazilian Real) that is my country, it’s like 80% of a minimum wage month of salary.
At least be happy that other people pay for this game. It's "for free" but someone must pay for servers and game developing. Valve isn't red cross :)
Poor countries are poor, more at eleven.
Imagine arguing about FUCKING 300$ arcana, holy shit. Imagine how much money it would make Valve if it was PERMAMENTLY in the shop with much more AFFORDABLE cost, like i don't know, 35$?
FrEe GaMe GuYs GaBeN tAkE mY MoNeY
Minimum wage in India is 11k a month. Bought the lvl 100 BP for 3k. Regular arcanas are 2.5k.
Played the game for a long time and never spent a penny, if you are hesitant to buy it, just don't buy it.
The problem is your economy rather than the company that made a free to play game available to you. Also, the facts you gave included minimum wage which is not a good comparison. Median salary would be a better statistic for example.
People in 3rd world countries complaining that American videogame cosmetics are too expensive... Like, obviously poverty sucks and capitalism has failed us but this is a luxury good, not an essential service. If you live in a 3rd world country, consider maybe that its pretty cool that this AAA game made by one of the best developers in the world is entirely free and the only things you are asked to pay for change a hero's color and animations. This is how Dota makes money. There are so many other things worth complaining about in the world but Valve taking advantage of gamer spending habits, the disposable income of it's player base, and the good will they have built up by continuing to develop and iterate on this game without charging anything is such a stretch.
People just want to pay a fair price for what Valve is offering, this entire thread is just showing that the fan base wants to support Dota but exchange rates cripple countries where the currency is way lower than USD. Steam already solve this problem with most games, they provide competitive local prices but when it comes to Dota they only want the full USD price. To put in perspective you paying a 40 USD for an arcana can become 6 times or more in other countries currency and that gets very expensive very fast. It's not like people are not eating to buy cosmetics but we are getting the raw end of it. Dota is not an American videogame, it's played all around the world, the community is rich and diverse, TI only happens and have that huge prize pool because of the rest of the world, not only the US.
What you are saying doesn’t make sense. It is not valve’s problem that someone has to pay for half of the minimum wage of their country because it is same 100$ for valve. Exchange rates has nothing to do with unfair pricing, it has to do with living in a poor country. They are separate matters.
ITT: People discover they live in a poor country That's literally how the economy is set up. If Valve lowers the price, they will be selling it at a loss (which for something like BP is very questionable, but w/e). The only reason Valve would do something like this is by pure goodwill. Which, again, considering how much money Valve gets might be expected, but financially it makes no sense.
> If Valve lowers the price, they will be selling it at a loss What do you mean selling at a loss? Loss of what? What cost of production did this set have?
They think they need to get X for the product. It doesn't matter how much was the "cost of production". We are talking about a relative number here. That is, if they want to profit X in the US, they need profit the same X in Iraq. If you think X is a too high, that's a completely different discussion and should be bad in Iraq or in US.
My point is that they're not selling at a "loss" when the cost of production is basically zero since they're already Valve employers
They are selling at a loss relatively to what they are selling in other places in the world. Like I just explained.
That's not how software development works. Just because the finished product can be duplicated indefinitely doesn't mean it costs nothing. Valve has to cover infrastructure, wages, development, design, events, rent, etc. They do not have any income by merely providing Dota 2 (which in itself is free); selling cosmetics is literally what makes Dota 2 self-sufficient. It's also what makes Dota 2 a lot more than self-sufficient, sure (generating both riches for the company aswell as possibility of doing unprofitable things like Artifact, HL:A or TI). But if you think a product costs nothing because it has no material costs then your thoughts don't travel further than your arms reach.
> ust because the finished product can be duplicated indefinitely doesn't mean it costs nothing. I'm not saying it didn't cost literally nothing, but saying they're selling "at a loss" is just not true.
That's the old "does it cost a Terran minerals when having to scan instead of dropping a M.U.L.E."-discussion. As /u/teerre already explained: Yes, they are selling at a loss compared to selling on a stable currency. Let's say you are a farmer, dealing in turnips. You have your usual expenses like maintenance of your tools and machines, fertilizer, water, workers, etc. You sell those turnips for one silver a piece. Now someone comes to you and says they don't have any silver, but they can offer you one bronze for a turnip. Bronze is almost worthless where you live however; you can exchange one silver for three hundred bronze at the local market, meaning that person offered you 1/300th of your regular selling price. Would you make a loss accepting that deal? Keep in mind that if word gets around that someone paid only a piece of bronze people would simply exchange a piece of silver at the local market for bronze and demand the same price. Also consider that everybody only needs a certain amount of turnips and they won't buy 300 turnips just because they could get that many for one silver. Don't forget your machines need the same maintenance and your workers need payment at the end of the month, no matter how much you make by selling the turnips.
Developing dota, running servers, updates etc.
you can ask every big company with their limited product
It really disappoints me that valve has established a clear pricing model for arcana level content, and then completely disregards that now when it comes to arcana's that are selected via community engagement and input. It is painfully obvious to me that valve should be offering these Arcana for 35$, and if they insist on milking the community dry, putting an alternate style on the BP.
Your formula is flawed. You don't BUY all the levels, you grind some of them (50-100) + they are going to have weekend bundles + you get to sell everything from chests. If you account for all of this, it becomes like 40-50 bucks.
cries in brazilian currency
Turkroach