[Gameplay] Overpriced shops

I tend to agree with you.  Since games are only to last on averge 30 min, and you already have to spend gold to upgrade your citadel, it's very unlikely that you'll see items over about 5k, if even that.  IMO, top tier items should be around 7k, so they're still very rare, but at least there's the possibility of them showing up.

Barring that, I'd like to at least see some items costing around 2k; as it is you're either spending ~1k or nearly 4k gold on items.  There's nothing in between.

Not to be harsh, but 60 minutes was a llllloooooooooooonnnnngggggg game in beta 2.  In beta 2b games are getting a bit shorter and that is a good thing.  The point of the game is not to max your character and get all the items, but to the contrary, simply to beat out your opponent and win the match.  What might differ from simple wisdom, I think the higher prices of items is actually good.  It forces generals to choose a focus, have minions or have armor.  It makes individual items more important.

Saying that, I still think items are slightly overpriced.  I would like to see things a bit cheaper.  I would prefer them to be at 85% of what they are.

That said it is hard to judge if the values are set right or not.  In a 15 minute game, with 5v5, I can usually get 30k+.  To me that means items are good at current price for the 5v5 games.  Since most of your money comes from DG kills, when the netcode is a bit better and we can play 5v5 or 4v4 matches outinely, then we will really know if the prices or a right on or too high.

I think the prices are reasonably close to the right place (perhaps a 10-15% reduction in price is needed, but surely no more than that).

In particular, I think the design of an RTS should force players to make interesting strategic decisions. If players have plenty of money to both buy all citidel upgrades and deck their demigods out in the best possible gear, then the game becomes less interesting. Therefore, I support prices that make players think about whether it's worth fighting with fewer citidel upgrades in order to afford powerful pieces of gear.

[Note: There's an important related question of whether 5000 gold worth of citidel upgrades yields a comparable benefit to 5000 gold worth of items, but that's not a question that I have enough data to answer]

I believe prices are perfect as is - as mlepinski says, the point is to defeat your opponent and to do so such that you earn scads of campaign points, not amass top-tier skirmish items. In long games choosing between a couple of costly Artifacts or maximizing your General Minions (when playing Generals) is a great decision to have to make.

The only problem i have is the all- fathers ring. It is a hell of alotr better than all of the other items that cost 20,000

I think that artifacts and some of the other items are over priced. Part of making a game fun is a divercity of BO's or stratedgies. Currently you can't really save up your money to buy an item thats 20K. If the prices were lower (I don't know how much lower) there would be a greater room for more stratedgies to develop (Like shooting for the Unmaker in previous betas).

It just makes it hard to gauge what is important.

Citadel upgrades are hard to ignore. Games seem to average about 25-30min for me these days, and while certain items are nice, I find myself getting a few lower to mid level items, and going in and co-op'ing on citadel upgrades. Depending on how long is left after the most important upgrades, I may get one high end item, but usually with never more than 5 min of gameplay left.

The high end items, no doubt, are nice, but some of the lower end items you can stack (from same item class), and for much cheaper, are very inticing.

If your teammates all acknowledge that citadel upgrades are primary, it changes how you play. You may feel less inclined to move ahead alone and move out as a team (together, instead of splitting up, I mean).

If you both become uber-DG's, with great items, you better be able to hit things from a distance or move fast, or it'll be in vain - no? This approach could lead to a less effective start with a stronger finish.

I'm not sure if changing anything could really help - I'm sure some minor tweaking is bound to happen at the very least.

Regardless, it will no doubt be interesting to see what happens here.

Best-

Balancing doesn't formally begin until beta 3.

The items are definately overpriced for games that are supposed to last around 10-15 minutes.

Beta 2C is out and one of the updates is "+ Citadel upgrade cost increases" - this should significantly make the choice more interesting.

Check it out.

The item price seems to me to be only temporary. It's nigh on impossible to attain most of the items anyway so I guess they want us to focus on itemless gameplay issues.

Items are you whacked most i'll spend on a item is 1000 gold i buy all the cheap stuff then citadel upgrades and potions

I think there really needs to be an upgrade system for items. That way you can save up a little at a time and have a smoother, general increase in item power instead of saving up forever for an item.

i spend alot on items that put all gold to citadel.

im ok with high price. monney will come fast on bigger and with a lot more player to kill