A few people, most of whom I really don't know, have messaged me on Steam asking how I got Perpetuum before release and that it looks like an awesome game. I am a little blown away as I thought it had all flown under the radar up until this point.
After talking about the game for a while they seem very interested. I've been honest, given them the good, the bad and some of the ugly. When I talked about pricing they all turned away, calling it expensive for them to put down that much money for a game without any trials/demos. I broke down the pricing model, explained the game concept and managed to turn their concerns around. A lot of them said they'd check it out and a few said they'd wait for a deal before buying it (Bloody steam deal culture!)
For the current players who paid 9.99 a month the 29.99 (Or whatever the buying price is) seems reasonable as it's like getting three months game time. However for a new player sticking down that much money based on pictures and peoples opinions may leave a sour taste in mouths of disappointed customers.
New players will benefit more in the long term by activating EP boosters and buying credit to fix EP spending mistakes but they're also being hit by the purchase price. If you want to get more players into the game and keep them I'd suggest not using the "Light at the end of the tunnel" approach to pricing. A long term player is not inclined to buy as much credit given the current items on sales, where as a newer player who wants more EP as fast as possible to get their core levels sorted out (level 5 in basic stats) will be driven to buy boosters.
All I an suggest is going with a 19.99 price point and having someone, even from the community and not a developer, write articles detailing the benefits of buying the game once and it being free forever. Looking at the numbers of other games on Steam, a 19.99 gives you a good position for a massive up to 50% sale possability during the high of the steam sales seasons while relying on educated new players to choose to spend small amounts of booster that they'll later not need.
In total honesty the credit store should not be aimed at new players at all, it should be cosmetic items only like nicknames, paint (if it's cheap enough) and blingy things. If you want to grow the game slowly do so by not heavily advertising, don't make your price into your entry requirements as rich people does not mean smart people.
(P.s. I have been very tempted to just purchase the game for a few of the most interested people that have messaged me about the game just so they'll stop complaining about buying before trying. I sadly cannot afford to do this. )