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Guide: Responsible NX Spending

Discussion in 'Guides' started by Ridureyu, Aug 27, 2010.

  1. Ridureyu Old Man

    Well, hello, there! I'm sure you've all heard the news stories - kid steals credit card, spends $90.00 on Farmville, parents die of heart attack, kid has to work as a chimney sweep in Victorian England to pay off the bill. And I'm sure that most of the people here fall into one of two categories concerning these types of incidents:

    1. "I must say, that child certianly is irresponsible! I for one have never paid money for leisure, and the lure of Nexon certainly will not dissuade me from my standards."

    2. "Only spent $90? Lolcheapfag."


    The reality behind this, though, is very simple - by offering pay services which are mostly beneath people's psychological price point, and thus can have two desired effects - 1. selling a lot of small products which add up ofer time, and 2. increasing a customer's psychological price point. Perhaps $24 is too much for an SP reset, but is seems that $17.90 sure isn't! And of course, Nexon cards coming in $10 and $25 increments almost seem to guarantee that we're okay with a bunch at once, don't they? This isn't a slam on Nexon, per se - they want to make money like any other business. But the fact is, microtransaction games are a particular danger, and can only be combated by the big, grown-up word that is Responsibility. Fiscal responsibility is important, and it's best to start early! So, how do we keep from spending $75 a week on our new electronic crack? Well, there are several ways to do this:


    1. KEEP A BUDGET

    Ta-Da! Ideally, this will solve all your problems. Budget your income, and set aside entertainment amounts only AFTER saving, paying for essentials, tithing (if you tithe), and so on. By the way, I'd recommend tithing and giving to charity, as you can get some pretty sweet tax breaks for those. With online purchases in particular, you might want to look into subdeividing your entertainment budget - set aside a specific DFO fund, and stick with that. Do not go overbudget. on the off chance that you do, thens acrifice in other ways so that you still remain soluble.

    Now again, in an ideal world this wouldbe all we'll everneed. but this isn't an ideal world, is it? So here are some little tricks of the trade to keep purchases reasonable:


    2. NEVER CHARGE NX. ALWAYS BUY FROM CARDS

    "What?" you say. "That makes no sense!" Actually, it makes complete sense. Charging online for NX is quick, easy to do, and only a few mouse clicks - it can stack up before you know it. Using prepaid game cards means several things. You have to plan your purchases ahead of time, leave the house and go elsewhere, publically buy your gift cards (And believe me, when a casdhier gives you the ole' hairy eyeball because of your $100 in gaming money, you begin to feel shame real fast), and thenbring them back and enter them in. All of these offer a chance of Buyer's Remorse before the purchase, and more importantly they train you inplanning your online purchases and following the plan. You can just keep charging NX, but do you really want Hamid at the 7/11 watching you buy the same cards three times a day? Or, for that matter, the Gamestop guys you chat with and have made friends out of? What do you think it means when one of them says, "Oh, Nexon again? Wow."

    And of course, buying NX cards also helps with another rather important step:


    3. KEEP TRACK OF PAST PURCHASES

    With game cards, it's as easy as not throwing them away. Keep a stack of your used NX cards. Look at them. Realize how much you have spent on your games. Keep receipts, keep them organized by date. Track your monthly spending. Look for patterns as to when and why you spend what you spend (do you spend more because of promos and things like rare avatar sets, or becuase you get really bored in the summer?). Counter this with how much, say, a monthly-fee game would have cost you. Evaluate how big you want that stack of cards do grow. Keep them in an easily-accessibhle, fairly public place. Not so public that everybody sees, but public enough to keep your sense of shame healthy.


    4. RESIST THE CALL OF THE SHINY

    Oh man, this one's tough. Nexon is really good with new deals - Demon wing sets! Special summer promotions! Rare avatars! Buy this package and get a NEW TITLE! But every time one comes up, you need to evaluate: Will it be back again? Can you afford it? is it really worth it? untradeable titles might indeed be limited-buy-now, but new advanced sets aren't exactly anything you need to rush out for. And these days with bind cubes, you only have to wait before you can pick the look you want. Rare avas are also incredibly shiny (and I myself have spent quite a bit assembling them), but be careful not to let it creep up on you. Current rare ava chances seem to be in the 1/10 and 1/5 range for normal and advanced avas in the cube, or at least from personal experience. This means that you can easily drop $80 and only get one rare avatar. That's why they cost so much on the secondary market. So again, ask yourself, "Do I really want to go ahead with this?"


    5. SAVE

    In situations where the shiny really is limited-edition and if you don't spend more than usual NOW, then the opportunity is lost, you need to ask yourself again: Do I really need this? if, in spite of everything, the answer is "yes," then go ahead - but MAKE IT UP. Next month's budget should be cut down to reflect this. Or, better yet, keep track of what you don't spend in your NX budget each month. Save up for something like the rares or massive holiday packages. Do not spend what you do not have, and always make sure the bills even out. Overspending one month and saving the next month is very hard, and easier to abuse (you can always let the owed amount "slide," and end up racking up the bills). So instead, it's much better to save beforehand. Just always try to have a cushion ready for when you go card-buiying.


    6. BE HONEST

    Now, I don't mean, "tell everyone how much you've spent on internets." But I mean, "be honest about your spending habits." If this is like an addiction to you, then cutback, or perhaps even cut off for a while. Don't develop habits which will mortgage your future. Develop an accountability system with somebody if you really are having trouble. Don't hide receipts, and don't hide purchases. This also means not buying cards from different places each time to avoid being "seen." Yes, I know that 7/11, CVS, Walgreens, Krogers, and Gamestop are all next to each other. Don't even think about it. Get into a healthy pattern that will ensure a good future of gaming without damaging your real-world finances. Nexon makes some really fun games, but they're not our mommy, and it's up to us to realize when we've spent enough.


    7. DEVELOP GOOD HABITS

    This is really just a summary of everything above. Develop healthy saving and spending habits, and stick to them. The more you do something, the more ingrained it becomes. if you p[ractice budgeting and making difficult decisions now, it will get easier as time passes. And trust me, you'll be glad you did!
  2. geenareeno Not gReenareeno

    Good guide man. I find it easier to stop myself with this game than i did with Maplestory. I can't ever find a good reason too buy nx in this game other than making money and if i do it's too much or i don't need it. A lot of people could really use this though, again, good job.
  3. Heidi Member

    In my case the only NX I could get is via paypal, as nowhere within 1000's of miles sells NX cards.

    So I tend to just try and get free NX :p
  4. geenareeno Not gReenareeno

    Do it with swag bucks! Google it.
  5. Soushin The Novice

    I want to comment on that one.

    It should be known that if you get banned, you don't a refund on the pre-paid cards that you used.

    I speak from experience because when I got banned along with many other people such as Rae Hellsing and Mireille who bough NX via paypal, they got a refund whereas I did not.
  6. Ridureyu Old Man

    Yeah, that is kind of a risk, and occasionally random bans do happen. And yeah, I really wish they'd bring back your main account!
  7. saccharin That one crazy witch

    I've never bought a single game card.

    However, I do have Paypal transactions and a Word Doc listing all my charges from even back in the days of Maplestory and Mabinogi.

    I've spent several hundred, but it's also been.. 5 years? ~$100+ a year seems pretty reasonable to me. That's like buying 2-3 games a year which seems pretty normal to me.
  8. Gloomy dicks

    The fifteen 25-dollar prepaids sitting in a neat stack in front of me remind me of the reason I'll never log into this game again.
  9. Midekai New Member

    I've only bought liiiiiike... 5 or 6 ten dollar cards, but even with that I felt it was more than it should be. I actually think the best thing I've spent NX on is those dumb safe upgrades. They are cheap and quite convenient. Maybe when they add more desirable pets or whatever...
  10. Infection Cool story, bro

    I've spent hundreds of dollars (not really, $300 at most) over the five years I've played Dungeon Fighter and MapleStory. Yeah, that's a -lot- of money, but I always keep reminding myself not to buy more.

    Good guide, though. STICKYYY Put in General Discussion for more traffic!
  11. AiNoMinako Poke Poke Poke

    250 over a time span of maplestory *i payed for the pets and quit at lvl 30 =_+''* combat arms and then dfo

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