What is the real cost of playing Simcity Buildit?

Yes I agree. I have thought that I would buy a little of this and a little of that and now when I sit back and think what I have actually spent it hurts quite a bit as I have spent a small fortune and my city is still not looking that stunning as well as running out of room to put things. When I see some other guys with amazing cities and they are low levels the first thing that comes in to mind is that they must have spent a shed load. 

It it probably would not be too bad if they either charged a one off cost like you say or reduced the cost of sim cash as when you look how much you get for real money the value seems a lot of real cash for little sim cash especially as it does not go that far once you start buying a few things. 

EA know how to make money so this is the best strategy for them but also the worst cost model for us the end user. 

I couldn't POSSIBLY agree more! It's almost insulting, really! GREAT GAME! But sometimes I feel like I am the one being "Played"...

I agree that this is a much more profitable business model for EA, but not factored in your equation: Simcash can be obtained for free (watching vids, trading, reward of the day etc).

Nonetheless, I really wish it were MUCH cheaper. The game's over 5 years old now, so the devt costs are amortized. 

Yet it is such a fun game : ) 

I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place: I could play SimCity (any flavor) on my laptop, but I have fun playing SCBI on the go with the multiplayer aspect...... 

To be clear: if EA were 100% honest, it'd offer a way to buy the game flat out., or make it a subscription model but even a subscription model cannot generate the same feeling as getting that great deal with 3 buildings and a few 1000 simoleons for "only" $9.99. 

I'd be curious to know how many serious players never put one penny of real cash into it. 

@publicOnline2  You have an interesting perspective and well worth an xp...you mentioned free simcash and quite honestly it is one of the more clever aspects of the business model - you invest a little time watching an ad and EA earns revenue from selling that advertising space and you earn a 1 in 3 chance of earning simcash and EA has a 100% chance of selling that ad, a win/win so to speak. Please don’t misunderstand what I’m saying...if the odds of you winning increases (sometimes it shifts) you would lose relative interest over a period of time - but when it’s a game of chance an individual subconsciously can’t wait until the next opportunity to give it a try - absolutely brilliant. 

You did not mention the war games (probably by design) which is an absolute revenue generator. As teams and individuals get caught up in that competitive moment when the adrenaline is flowing at a fever pitch and focus is finite, they don’t mind for a second reaching for that credit card...and even after it’s over It’s ok until the bill arrives and they moan never again...and next week it’s the same. Yes this is extreme scenario, but there a lot of folks that get caught up in the moment and many more that actually plan for it (which is great). This format was developed to run for the long haul. EA is currently faced with many challenges as related to this revenue stream but it has been discussed in other threads and I think it would be wise to stay on topic.

EA has a unique opportunity with this game and I for one hope they are successful...that’s what free enterprise is all about. There have been many missteps along the way but if you treat customers with respect (because without them you have nothing), employees as your greatest assets (which they are), face your challenges head on and invest the necessary resources (ie: hackers & cheaters), perform due diligence before introducing updates, simplify aspects of the game to encourage new customers to play (ie: war games) and actually require all levels of management to read the feedback you’ve asked for in this forum you will be fine. That should be the business model going forward.

@morris1967 

“When I see some other guys with amazing cities and they are low levels the first thing that comes in to mind is that they must have spent a shed load. ”

Everyone is given a slot in CoM, so at low levels there may be thousands of cities in your level but only a few dozen are actually active.  As a result competition is weak and ranking high in metropolis or megalopolis league is easy.  It’s something learned in hind sight.  For example, my main city at level 99 generally needs 100k points to not get demoted from megalopolis league, where as my level 24 city would always place top 3 in megalopolis with that same score and if I have a busy week any score at all on the board is enough to prevent demotion.  Winning the first few times will take effort and knowledge, but once you get a capable city with a large inventory and cheetah tokens it becomes much easier.

Yep, it's been a few months since I haven't won at least medium prize in Megalopolis league.  I'm at Level 28.  It takes simcash to earn simcash.  I always buy the Mayors Premium Pass though.  Makes COM a lot easier with all those items.