Introduction
Travelers, as you are likely already aware, yesterday’s announcement has given us another chance to earn our reputation as the community-driven ARPG, and the studio that listens. We’ve spent the last 24 hours reading your feedback, discussing it internally, and deciding what to do next. I want to thank our community for challenging us to be better. We’re here today to say we hear you, and want to answer that challenge.
We are making three immediate changes.
- We will be removing the offset conversion rate between EP and USD, replacing it instead with a 1 USD = 10 EP (Epoch Points) ratio.
- We are making price reductions across the board. As an example, the $20 portal from yesterday (which was actually a $14 portal) is now a $10 portal.
- We are adjusting the Epoch Point Package pricing to directly line up with the cost of items in the store and removing the bonus system. This is detailed below.
How We Got Here
Admittedly, we ended up leaning too hard into following the established and successful models in the industry. The operational cost of EHG as a studio has risen sharply with the increasing team size, quality of the game, server expenses, etc., and our current price tag of $35 for the game was never designed to be the only source of income to ensure that we’re able to continue operating. So, when we were evaluating our options, we leaned on advice designed around previous titles, and that was a mistake.
Last Epoch fans aren’t here because they want something that’s already been done; you are here because you see how much we have to offer the genre. Over time we hope to bring that same innovation and player focus into the monetization space.
New Pricing and Purchase Experience
As echoed in our community yesterday, the experience of purchasing currency bundles and then managing leftover funds is not an enjoyable one. So moving forward we will have a new structure of currency bundles at the following price points:
$4.99 USD = 50 EP
$9.99 USD = 100 EP
$19.99 USD = 200 EP
*note the 1c offset on these prices is not something within our control to adjust at this time, as it is powered by Steam’s localized pricing model. Also note Steam will automatically convert USD into your local currency.
Additionally, items for sale in the store will always be equally divisible in 50 EP increments, meaning that if you see an item in the store that you want, you will be able to purchase exactly enough currency required to buy that item, and no more.
Supporter Packs
We are now also ready to announce our Supporter Pack pricing for Rising Flames. For players who choose to purchase cosmetic MTX, we want the Supporter Packs each cycle to be the reveal that is most looked forward to and the place you can go to get the most value for your money spent each cycle. We hope that value is recognized below, but we of course will be keeping an ear out for your feedback.
Eternal Traveler - 19.99 - (includes 150 EP)
Eternal Templar - $29.99 - (includes 150 EP)
Eternal Vanquisher - $39.99 - (includes 150 EP)
Eternal Legend - $49.99 - (includes 150 EP)
Cosmetic Price vs. Value
As with all things, art and design are subjective in nature, so what’s fantastic and exciting to one person may not be to the next. There can be some levels of understanding of “This item is more grandiose than this item,” but at its core, humans are so varied and unique in their perceptions that we’re never perfectly aligned in what we think is “cool” or “worth it”.
We say this because we understand this concept, and so when some players say, “That’s ugly, I would never pay X,” or they say, “That’s way overpriced for that garbage,” you also have to recognize that there are others who say, “Wow that’s awesome and fits the character I’m making perfectly” and think it’s a good choice.
With that in mind, we understand that the price points proposed initially were met with a general sentiment of being too high, and we’ve made adjustments to our inventory that will be ready to share fully for 0.9.1 - Rising Flames.
Why Epoch Points at All?
As for EP itself, we have seen confusion around why we need a separate currency at all. Which is a completely fair question, and it does have good reason. This is a larger conversation, but it’s important to break it down because the answer is many-layered.
First, using an intermediary currency is very much necessary from a transactional / functions standpoint. This includes things like being able to award EP for community events, being able to refund EP when there is a hiccup with the actual transaction process, and being able to resolve payment disputes with Steam/sellers.
A big part of this is our ability to reward our player base in ways that give them freedom of choice. We want to make cool things, but “what’s cool” when it comes to cosmetics to incredibly selective. It’s much better if we can use EP as a reward and allow you to get the things you would want, instead of being saddled with something that you felt wasn’t worth it. Though, there may be some specific cosmetic rewards in the future as well.
We have done a lot with our community in the past, and we have plans to do so much more. Utilizing EP is just one of the ways that we can continue to do so.
Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, Epoch Points are something that we have offered from the very beginning of the Last Epoch existence. They were initially called Cosmetic Coins as a placeholder, but there are quite literally millions of them distributed to our players already. We have always intended to use a secondary currency as a reward system, and again, this just puts it in a place where any other option just could not work.
Conclusion
To sign off, Last Epoch is a passion project being made by fans of the ARPG genre and gaming as a whole. When our community tells us in unison that we have made a mistake, we have always worked to correct it. We hope that if you’ve been part of our community for long enough that we’ve shown that to be true, but we know many of you have joined us recently and we look forward to the next 10 years of proving it to you.
We sincerely thank you for your passion in what we’re creating here at Eleventh Hour Games and taking your time to provide us with your feedback. We hope and aspire to always rise to the occasion to correct our mistakes when we’ve planned or introduce something that isn’t well received by our fantastic fans - the fans who have taken us from a small after hours group on Kickstarter to the studio we are becoming.
Appreciate you all,
Judd.