[morganb]

This is pretty standard and typically is called "reactivation". You have a previously active user who you've lost for one reason or another, so you try to reactivate them with special offers. This doesn't just happen online, it happens everywhere.

The saying goes that it is far more expensive to gain a new customer then retain and old one, and offering 30% on virtual goods is a pittance compared to the real ad dollars they have to spend to get one new player, so it makes total sense.

The different price points are no mistake either. You anchor one high and one low and guide people to the middle. Our favorite sites do this to us all the time. Any subscription site worth it's salt has this type of guidance. Look at 37 Signals pricing as just one example.

It's not sneaky. Is it aggressive? Sure. But it's also smart marketing based on learning from a ton of customer data.