Asheras wrote on Jan 17
th, 2014 at 2:34pm:
That is debatable. I spend money on the game. This logic has nothing to do with it.
I didn't claim "all" or even "most", just "many", so not applying to you does not weaken my argument.
And I'm sure you've seen this behavior in game - people who buy a ton of mana pots and supreme tomes to help them run with elite raiding groups, or to help them get an undergeared PUG to completion.
Even just buying cosmetic armor or pets, surely these are more attractive if you have an admiring audience not similarly equipped.
Or maybe it's as simple as you are friends with people who are fun to hang out with but don't spend a ton. If they leave or even just log in less, you are less likely to log in and buy the stacks of potions you use when you run with them.
Even all of those cases don't cover the whole range of motivations for people to spend big in the game, but they add up.
And I don't mean that to be critical of big spenders, it's a natural and healthy aspect of group dynamics. But if Turbine ignores that and feels they can blow off the small spenders, the game is in trouble.
It's 2 pages back now, but near the start of this thread I observed that the current login numbers were good news - most servers are stable for the last 3 or 4 months, ending a year long cycle of decline. And more importantly, signaling that Turbine *can* stop the decline, and that the population isn't in a vicious cycle of decay where shrinking population drives people away leading to ever more shrinking population.
Turbine has the ability and the need to hold population steady, we just have to make sure they realize that, and numerous statements they've made leave me unsure that they do.