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Discontinued Ship skins ...
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Azerick Koslova
The Azerick Corporation
#1 - 2016-11-27 21:34:41 UTC
Apologies if this has been beaten to death like a dead horse but I'm curious about something.

I've been away for about 6 months (game always drags you back) and I noticed there had been a lot of new ship skins come and go in that time.

I don't understand why they would ever discontinue any skins. As a company trying to make money you've done the work...the overhead now is literally nothing, production costs you NOTHING... all you need to do is sit and wait for someone to buy.

There are a LOT of skins I'd be interested in buying but they're not available anymore and I can't be the only one who feels that way. I have a quafe obelisk skin and I noticed that one was gone as well. I don't really care how "rare" a skin is. I'm not excited by the idea that I have one that other people can't get now. I care more about all the ones I can't get because I wasn't here at the time. There may be other reasons people don't buy them right when they come out as well...they can't fly the ship yet...they don't have the money RIGHT NOW for whatever reason.

Does CCP really think the money from the number of people who bought them because 'OMG they're limited edition if I don't get them now I'll never have them' will ever out pace ALL the people down the road who'd have bought them if they could later? Especially now with all the new players coming in and older players returning?

Maybe they think it'll lead to more plex purchased for people buying them and putting them back out on the market?

I don't know the answer but I do know...they have to be losing more sales than just those to me because the skins aren't on the market anymore.
Azerick Koslova
The Azerick Corporation
#2 - 2016-11-27 21:38:15 UTC
And what's more....why not make the skin for both the t1 and t2 variants if you're going to do it at all?
Danika Princip
GoonWaffe
Goonswarm Federation
#3 - 2016-11-27 21:59:31 UTC
...It drives demand. People buy more than one so they can sell them on the market later for more ISK.
Azerick Koslova
The Azerick Corporation
#4 - 2016-11-27 23:13:25 UTC
But does it drive it to such a degree that you can ignore all the money to be made down the road from people just getting into game or returning or finally having the disposable income available to purchase those skins?
Danika Princip
GoonWaffe
Goonswarm Federation
#5 - 2016-11-27 23:18:11 UTC
Better to sell ten skins to one guy today, that he can flip for ISK when you bring out different skins that he also buys ten of, than to maybe sell ten skins to returning players six months down the line.
Azerick Koslova
The Azerick Corporation
#6 - 2016-11-28 07:24:39 UTC
Unfortunately neither you or I have the numbers to support either claim. It just seems counter intuitive to deny your company future sales on the supposition that purposely limiting supply is going to automatically produce a buying frenzy big enough to offset all possible future sales.
Iain Cariaba
#7 - 2016-11-28 08:00:52 UTC
Azerick Koslova wrote:
Unfortunately neither you or I have the numbers to support either claim. It just seems counter intuitive to deny your company future sales on the supposition that purposely limiting supply is going to automatically produce a buying frenzy big enough to offset all possible future sales.

Actually, it's simple marketing. If you have a product that is geared towards a rather narrow demographic, one way to artificially generate demand is to regulate supply. If a product is available all the time, those who buy it will only buy one. However, if a product is only available for a limited time, a portion of those who buy will buy more than one, to either horde to sell for a profit later or to use themselves at a later time. The retail industry has known for years that advertising something as limited edition or as available for a limited time will actually cause an increase in demand for that product.