I couldn't help but notice that each patch brings new champions, new skins, and new forum complaints. Surprisingly, different people complain after each patch. If anything, this should indicate a growing disillusionment with Riot's current pricing model.

I'm not an economist and I'm not going to pretend like I understand where Riot is spending their money or how much money they need. Instead, I'd just like to make a suggestion. Maybe it's a great suggestion, maybe it's a bad one. I'm just looking for some feedback.

What I'm suggesting is a total overhaul of the champion and skin prices, such that there is an even distribution between all price tiers.

Champion Prices

There are currently 60 champions in the game, and prices are leaning much more towards the expensive 3150 / 6300 IP price than the cheaper 450 / 1350 IP price.

In an even tier price system, an equal number of champions would be in each tier.

450 IP - 15 champions
1350 IP - 15 champions
3150 IP - 15 champions
6300 IP - 15 champions (All new champions start here)

Rather than pricing on complexity or fun level, Riot could price based on demand.

Ex. - Sona is released for 6300 IP / 975 RP. Since this is an even tier pricing system, one champion is moved from the 6300 IP price range down to a lower one (creating an even balance between price tiers). This process repeats as often as Riot wants it to.

In this way, prices are evenly split and fair. If Riot wants to charge 6300 IP for every new champion, they can. If one champion is not selling well at a 6300 IP level, Riot could lower the price of that champion, and raise the price of a high-demand champion.

Skins

I believe that the same pricing model could work for skins.

520 RP - 50% of skins fall here
975 RP - 50% of skins fall here
Legendary - Legendary skins remain unchanged by this pricing model.

Releasing a new 975 RP skin means that one 975 RP skin moves down to the 520 RP price (and vise-versa). An even and fair balance is created between pricing tiers.

Prices could be determined by demand as well.



TL;DR

An even balance between all price tiers would be very profitable for Riot and a great change for the consumers. It's a suggestion and I'd like some feedback.



So what do you guys think? Would it work? Constructive criticism is appreciated!

If I remember correctly, that actually shifts the pricing towards the higher end. I'm pretty sure there aren't 15 6300 champions in the game right now.

Skin pricing is fine -
Legendary skins have special features
Remodels take significant work
Recolors are cheap

The system is fine as is. New players already have a lot of catching up to do with older champs and rune pages to fill. Veteran players need an IP sink to burn it off. After you build all your rune pages and have most champs you want unlocked what is there left? The newest content.

This is all speaking from a business perspective, otherwise of course as a player we want everything cheap.

This makes a lot of sense. The only issue would be RP prices - you can't really change those.

+1

I would get VERY pissed if Riot lowers the price on any 6.3k champions that i have.

A champion should NEVER go up in price. Other than that I don't mind the model of even tier, but I want Riot to maximize its profits when it comes to champions, so I don't mind them doing what works for them. If this system makes them more money, then go for it.