109071-the-viability-of-credd

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Recently, I purchased a C.R.E.D.D. from the website as a means to gain an in-game financial boost. Immediately, I noticed an issue with the C.R.E.D.D. system, which I hope that either someone can explain to me how it is economically feasible, and/or the developers will notice and make a much needed change.
 
Let me start by saying that I love the C.R.E.D.D. concept and model as a whole, regardless of where they may have come up with the concept. But what bothers me is the unit price for C.R.E.D.D. on the website, and how unsustainable it truly is in its current form. To purchase one C.R.E.D.D., it costs the player $20 (https://shop.wildstar-online.com/product/credd) and this is, in theory, to be used in one of three ways:
 
1. To be sold in-game for in-game currency.
2. To be gifted to a friend for a month's subscription.
3. To be used by the purchaser for a month's subscription.
 
Now, if you consider that the purchaser is paying $20 for one month's play time via C.R.E.D.D., but then you go into your subscription (https://shop.wildstar-online.com/product/subscription) one month's subscription is only $15 per month, and even less if you get a 3-6-12 months subscription.
 
So why would I, a subscription holder, ever buy C.R.E.D.D. to give to a friend, instead of just giving them $15 to get a subscription for a month, saving me $5 in the process; or why would I use it for myself, when I can pay $5 less for a month's subscription?
 
What this essentially means is that the only viable reason to purchase C.R.E.D.D. is to get in-game money. Now, I'm personally against gold farmers, but this only increases the validity of their business (versus other games where purchasing gold is highly frowned upon), and creates an even more incentive to purchase their better deals (I received one offer for 100 plat for $20, versus 5p80g I got for my $20; granted, most of them are scams to get your credit card, but that's not the point).
 
Retrospectively, if C.R.E.D.D. cost $15 (the price of one month's subscription) then it would be more logical, and financially sound to give and use, than the current $20 pricing. From a consumer's perspective, I feel that the $20 pricing is a scheme by the developers to make more money from C.R.E.D.D. than subscriptions, and this really turns me off from the whole system (which, as stated before, I like the concept of).
 
 
TL:DR - C.R.E.D.D. costs $20, while 1 month subscription only costs $15; illogical to purchase C.R.E.D.D. for personal use and/or gift for friend. Essentially dumbing down the whole concept to you paying $20 for in-game currency based on the market value of one C.R.E.D.D. in-game. Devs need to lower C.R.E.D.D. price to $15 to make it a better option for players.	
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			No, having CREDD costing more than a monthly subscription is the correct way to do business.	
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TL:DR - C.R.E.D.D. costs $20, while 1 month subscription only costs $15; illogical to purchase C.R.E.D.D. for personal use and/or gift for friend. Essentially dumbing down the whole concept to you paying $20 for in-game currency based on the market value of one C.R.E.D.D. in-game. Devs need to lower C.R.E.D.D. price to $15 to make it a better option for players.
 
http://www.wildstar-online.com/en/game/features/business-model/
 
The whole point of the system was to make it so that those who had less time to play could purschase in-game money (legally) and those who had more time to play / better ability to make money could play for free. If credd were at $15, the the 1 month subscription option at the same $15 would be redundant in that those who opt for the subscription have fewer options available than those who elect the credd route.
 
The issue shouldn't be that Carbine needs to lower Credd price, it should be that people who actually spend $20 to purchase credd should demand more for their $20 investment, but if people are willing to give away 30 days of playtime for the amount of money you can easily get by playing 1 day then it's their own fault	
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No, having CREDD costing more than a monthly subscription is the correct way to do business.
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They need to handle the CREDD pool like they do the Gold pool (IE the total number of currency in the hands of players)  CREDD isn't going up much because of too many gold sinks, which have countered inflation. On my server they've risen form 4 plat to 6 plat in 3 months.  The more CREDD that exists in the game, the less desirable it is to obtain more. I don't think that gold inflation alone will make CREDD worth more because of all the gold sinks in the game. In addition, the only way
 
They should have a system that allows players to directly sell CREDD to other players, like EVE does.  At a reduced price but with a brake pedal that keep it from being totally preferable over CREDD directly from NCSOFT. An example would be 18$ when buying a CREDD form a player, of which, the player sees 13$ via paypal ( Carbine still gets the 5$ cut they normally would form a 20$ CREDD sale, and would get it every time this CREDD is sold) Or perhaps that could cash CREDD into the system directly for 10-12$ pretty much handing
 
Having player able to sell CREDD directly accomplishes several things
 
1: Highly increased demand for CREDD. Gold per CREDD shoots up. 
2: Higher gold per CREDD adds incentive to buy CREDD for in game currency.
3: This allows for CREDD purchases to not increase the amount of CREDD in the pool, the more CREDD, the less its worth, the less incentive to buy CREDD This is important. It should allow people to enjoy turning dollars into plat, but not weaken the system by generating another CREDD into the system, while allowing NCSOFT to still get the same extra $$$.
4: This gives incentive for people who have more CREDD than they need to play the game to sell CREDD. Either for the increased Plat via exchange, or to other players ot directly to NCSOFT for a payout. The less CREDD held by players the more demand CREDD has. 
 
CREDD is less valuable the more there is in the game, we need a viable "sink" that we can use directly for CREDD. As it stands CREDD is just used to get a few $ extra profit for NCSOFT and as a cog int he gold sink machine (CREDD % fee when purchasing)  We need to view CREDD itself as a currency and offer means to drain the CREDD count without using it solely for 30 day time extensions.  The sooner the better. 
 
  And example gold 'sink' diagram	
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Okay, I know that forums are often filled with smart asses, so I hope that my following comment doesn't come off as such, but it appears that many of you have missed the point.
 
 
To Desekrate:
"The whole point of the system was to make it so that those who had less time to play could purschase in-game money (legally) and those who had more time to play / better ability to make money could play for free. If credd were at $15, the the 1 month subscription option at the same $15 would be redundant in that those who opt for the subscription have fewer options available than those who elect the credd route." - 1. I read the business model, and even mention it in the OP. Thanks for the unnecessary reiteration of what I wrote. 2. That doesn't make any sense. What you're purchasing with both, subscription and C.R.E.D.D. is a 1 month subscription, regardless of price. Value does not equal price, and price does not equal value.
 
To WS-Melt:
Your "dual purpose currency" concept is fallible, as you simply described my third C.R.E.D.D. option in the OP, and just because one option can be sold for in-game currency, does not make for a higher price, as we are still discussing a single valued service of 1 month play time. You even support my point when you said "The $5 differences eliminates people who buy CREDD for subscription purposes, and if look at it this way you can see how having $15 CREDD would be redundant and illogical. If CREDD was same as subscription, less people would buy CREDD because they won't be able to sell them for as much." If you read the Business Model, then you would understand that the three options I pointed out in the OP are what Carbine offers as reasons to purchase C.R.E.D.D.; I didn't just make those up. However, what you fail to acknowledge is that C.R.E.D.D. in-game is not dictated by the amount of money one spends, but rather the value of 1 month's play time, and the availability of in-game currency. We are talking about a standardized, unchanging, service: 1 month of play time. The amount one can exchange it for in-game is irrelevant, as it is still 1 month of play. A set amount of value. C.R.E.D.D. in-game exchange would not rise or fall depending on the amount of cash spent on it, as it is fixed by in-game parameters (i.e. amount of gold available, amount of gold able to be farmed within a month to maintain the exchange, etc).
 
I do agree that C.R.E.D.D.'s use could certainly be expanded.
 
To Tenasscity:
 
I definitely enjoy your picture and explaination of basic supply and demand as it relates to Wildstar. Kudos. I especially agree with your statement: "As it stands CREDD is just used to get a few $ extra profit for NCSOFT and as a cog int he gold sink machine". My only counter point would be that if the price was normalized to a standard 1 month subscription, more people would purchase it and have more options with it. As a subscriber, if I purchase a C.R.E.D.D. at $20, my only REAL option is to sell it for whatever the market says it's worth. But, if it was normalized to $15, and the market is not good, then I could still use it for my own personal use and extend my subscription without losing money.
 
I agree that there is value in the duality of a service, but when 2 out of the 3 options presented by the service provider are not financially logical, then you're only left with one option, and that negates the duality of the service. Because we are not talking about money here, we're talking the value of 1 month worth of subscription, from both sides of the C.R.E.D.D. exchange.
 
As I stated before price does not equal value. Example: if I'm in the desert, a $.50 bottle of water is more valuable to me than a $4,000 computer. The value of a full month's worth of play, per Carbine/NCSoft, is $15, so then why would it be priced higher for the simple ability to pay $15 and give/sell it to someone else? Instead, that type of exchange should be HIGHLY encouraged (thus lowering the prices) so that more players will populate their service (the game).	
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As I stated before price does not equal value. Example: if I'm in the desert, a $.50 bottle of water is more valuable to me than a $4,000 computer. The value of a full month's worth of play, per Carbine/NCSoft, is $15, so then why would it be priced higher for the simple ability to pay $15 and give/sell it to someone else? Instead, that type of exchange should be HIGHLY encouraged (thus lowering the prices) so that more players will populate their service (the game).
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Wtf is up with all these ideas about credd. Its called supply/demand. If Credd is going for 3 p on your server, it means there are a ton of people buying credd from Carbine, but not a whole lot of players in game wanting to spend P on it
 
(AKA lots of supply, little demand)
 
On some servers, CREDD is 10-12pp in that case its little supply, lots of demand.
 
How do you people not know this? Did you even go to elementary school?	
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