Palooza ------------> "Extravaganza"

[SeptenaryRavens]

I think it's safe to say that the word Palooza is close to being dead at this point, being replaced with words and phrases like "Best of the Best", and "Extravaganza", whatever those mean.

This is the second year in a row that we haven't seen Pack-a-Palooza, and to my surprise (*sarcastically*), this year's pack "sale" is called the "Super Pack Extravaganza". What is so super about this? Are all the packs in the crown shop on sale by 50%?

Nope.

It's not even a sale. My conspiracy allegedly is that KI put this event out full well knowing that many players would assume this event is like a typical Palooza sale, the players would then buy crowns at FULL PRICE on the site, log into the game, and then find out that this event isn't actually a sale (all the "super" packs are still 399 crowns each). In the end, they just gave KI money and unfortunately will have self-induced pressure to spend those crowns anyway (I sometimes feel this self-induced pressure to spend crowns with these recent ploys, too). It is sad, but it is in KI's right to do whatever sale or event they want, even knowing that their playerbase is hungry for a pack sale, an ACTUAL sale.

I don't agree with how KI seems to be shifting their marketing to be more predatory, especially to younger players who rely on allowance money or their parents/guardians to buy crowns or memberships. Sales like Pack-a-Palooza, Plant-a-Palooza, Gear-a-Palooza, House-a-Palooza, Bundle-a-Palooza, etc, all helped players like me between when I first joined in 2011 to 2018 when everything went haywire. Why can't newer players have the same opportunities?

Besides the outcry from the 225,000 crown night-knight mount event, the loss of double seeds from double gardening, the removal of classic crowns sales and the frequency reduction of the 60/60, the ptw essence of spellements, the removal of Paloozas, the addition of pack gear set bonuses, etc, KI's marketing team wants and is unfortunately very successful at making players pay for their products and services in the crown shop at full price. It's sad that KI is treating it's newer playerbase like pawns, and it's longtime playerbase like checkers.

How much I wish we could go back to KI's pre-2018 marketing.

Oh well.

PS. 0% x3 is still 0.

[JaredSpellFrost]

Well said. Even with Dave Rosen and Craig Beers leaving the team, it would seem that they have left their mark on the game. I would like to take a moment and remind all of the KingsIsle lovers out there that all of these predatory "bundles," lack of sales, and promotions were all perpetrated by two Marketing execs who used to work at EA- the single most infamous gaming company there is.

The lack of classic Crown Sales and any consideration for the E10+ Rating is great cause for concern- not only is it blindingly obvious that this is a stupid* marketing strategy, these shifts in the meta directly target innocent children that don't know better. But what's even worse is that this is becoming the new normal!


Just earlier on KI Live Decius said that we shouldn't bash people for buying into these promotions, and that their Mega Snack Packs are one of their more popular items. I respectfully disagree. If KingsIsle is going to pump out predatory promotions on a weekly basis, then I have every right to warn people of their worthlessness and criticize KingsIsle for doing so! I believe it was Falmea that had pointed out 5,000 Crowns can buy 2 Mega Snack Packs, and that to me really drove home the sheer disconnect between what we value and what KingsIsle puts value into.
Mega Snack Packs are inherently scammy, since Couch Potato seeds cost half as much and see an infinite return on your investment. Plus, these seeds drop like candy in Empyrea! But if KingsIsle started including Couch seeds in these "bundles," Players would have less motivation to buy more. KingsIsle clearly knows this, but the fact that they keep trampling forward reveals their immoral intentions.



*Over 50% of their profits comes from Crown purchases, with a mere 11% from these predatory promotions. But remind me when we last saw a week without something new from marketing to be replaced by a classic Crown sale.

[Crystal Calligraphy]

I always find it interesting during a KI Live when they say they keep specific sales that do really well. So why is it that the classic crown sales are nowhere to be found now? And the pack-a-palooza? Were these sales truly not successful in garnering the masses to spend their crowns?

Or were these sales simply hurting the company more than benefitting? By that I mean, were these sales perhaps too steep of a good deal? For $60 in the Classic crown sale, I could get 60,000 crowns. But what if that's just breaking-even for Kingsisle?

I don't personally know why they wouldn't bring these types of sales back besides it actually not turning a profit for them, but that's just my speculation.

[JaredSpellFrost]

Or were these sales simply hurting the company more than benefitting? By that I mean, were these sales perhaps too steep of a good deal? For $60 in the Classic crown sale, I could get 60,000 crowns. But what if that's just breaking-even for Kingsisle?

I doubt it. They were hosting classic Crown Sales on a near monthly schedule before Rosen and Beers entered the picture, and Sparck has said that 2018 was on of their best financial years. I could see why hosting these sales monthly might lose them potential profits, but not hosting any is a surefire way to lose customers!

[SeptenaryRavens]

...Decius said that we shouldn't bash people for buying into these promotions...

Trying to protect our fellow players from these devious and predatory products and services isn't "bashing" people. No one on either side is being "bashed" in any way. All we are trying to do is voice our displeasure and share our constructive criticisms with both KI and the playerbase. I don't equate "helping" with "bashing".

[Spellbinder]

I agree with the bird, don't bash players for buying these bundles. However, I agree with other here also, how these are handled, these bundles and sales are awful and KI should be better than this.
Imo, to make these sales okay, put each part of this bundle in the crown shop also and make sure the bundles are cheaper as the lump sum.

[Kokyota]

Hey! Our last Super Hoard Pack sale, where I bought lots and lots of packs, was 7/10/2020 and the cost was c199! I have records of what I bought and for which wizard. I quess, like all things, inflation has finally hit our Super Pack Extravaganza! Oh the good old days.

[SeptenaryRavens]

Hey! Our last Super Hoard Pack sale, where I bought lots and lots of packs, was 7/10/2020 and the cost was c199! I have records of what I bought and for which wizard. I quess, like all things, inflation has finally hit our Super Pack Extravaganza! Oh the good old days.

I'm specifically talking about Paloozas. I know we just had the 50% off online bundles this past weekend too, but no event to the scale of a Palooza has happened in a LONG while. Last year they moved the Bundle-a-Palooza to March instead of August which caught me off guard. I also praised KI for doing the 4.95 membership at the start of the pandemic announcement last March too. Both of those things just don't make up for the loss of the other Paloozas.

And with what you're mentioning, I wouldn't blame that on inflation. It's purely a KI marketing tactic.

[Willowdreamer]

Language changes over time (especially English), and maybe someone decided that the "palooza" has gone the way of "on fleek." After all, it started with music concerts like Lollapalooza, which aren't happening any more either.

[KingNothing]

Language changes over time (especially English), and maybe someone decided that the "palooza" has gone the way of "on fleek." After all, it started with music concerts like Lollapalooza, which aren't happening any more either.

So with this in mind, here are some ideas that KI can rebrand with: Packachella. Pack by Pack West. Electric Pack Carnival. New Orleans Jazz & Pack Festival. Burning Pack.