COMING SOON: Membership Revamp

[jaygrae]

Have friends who will return but you really REALLY gotta open up the expansion for f2p's. Look, us "paying subs" WILL have alot more fun and continue to PAY YOU if we have PLAYERS AROUND US!!! Limit them in some fashion or way but don't exclude them from the lands. There are some people whether from foreign countries or just don't have the money that will JUST NOT SUB EVER, PERIOD. But you guys are letting this game just die a long silent death. Crafting Revamp..um really? Why even mention this stuff if its nowhere NEAR being done.
Open up some new fresh 3 month, 6 month, 1 year sub plans, free up some hand-tying on the F2p's, and just slowly work on new maps/areas ect and SELL THEM AS ADVENTURE PACKS!!! This is getting beyond so insane you are now beginning to lose long-time veterans. Either end this and let people go out with a smile or DO SOMETHING. No more smashing rocks, no more 1/2 arse content, take the 1 person in the office, have him feed the gerbil running on the wheel..and focus on what you CAN do!!!

We want to stay...cmon, but this is getting straight crazy.

[Ingen175]

Any opening of the expansion and giving access to T2/T3, Khitai 6-mans and so on, should have happened long ago. The F2P model for AoC was ridiculous and rather dis-encouraging from the very beginning. Never understood who came up with such an idea, but I guess it was usual Funcom greed.

And in regard to dropping numbers. Havent noticed that much, its rather just that most of the people are stuck in Arena. Half of my guild is spending there hours every week, doing nothing else. As I've asked others, it is same in other guilds. As much as it was nice to introduce this Arena, a solo instance in mmo game is always a bad idea. Separating playerbase and encouraging solo activities wont help in a long run.

[Hrulfr]

I have to agree that the current ftp model here is really bad. After how bad EQII's ftp model was I never thought I'd see worse, but here it is.

Turbine's Lord of the Rings online has a really nice ftp model, and I like Star Wars : The Old Republic's as well, but only because all of the account unlocks can be bought and listed on the GTN ( broker, trader etc ) to be bought with in game currency. The only bad thing with theirs is the credit cap, but that can be overcome.

I really hope the new membership changes will make things more player friendly here and maybe draw in some old and new players alike. This is a great game, but it does need some love and attention if it's to keep on going for the duration.

[Kantakwa]

I think neither FC nor the players understand what F2P is and how it works.
Playes: I can play anything I want for free and don't have to pay a dime E-V-E-R.
Otherwise the majority wouldn't be asking for access to T2/3, Unchained, Khitai Dungeons etc., but for a shop revamp so that a F2P-player can buy his way out of many really annoying limitations. Again and again, btw.
FC: We open the basic game (at release state) to players who do not pay a sub , and add some limitations (gold, chat, Vistrix). We do not add any options to pay your way out of those, other than subbing.
Everone else: We create a game players can play for free, but add many many really annoying limitations. Then we put everything you can wish of in the item shop, so players can buy ways out of limitations. If we are good we don't offer any unlock options, but let them pay again and again for the same things. And we add new offers with 7,5% discount every 3,7 weeks (excluding full moon and month with less then 30 days, including japanese, scottish and klingon holidays), so every player is always informed about our fair price policy. We set prices so low and offer excellent support (only regarding payment options, off which we offer every type, you can even send a racing pigeon), that everyone will click easily on the buy-button, and we even have a name for this: Micro transactions. Our ultimate goal is to get players to pay more than they would pay if we had a sub system every month. And if X amount of the playerbase doesn't do that we just cancel the game and start the new one we develloped, using the income off this game.

F2P is NOT a fair buisness model, and I do not get why everyone is crying for this rip off model for AoC. I do not say the current model is clever, because it is not. But the biggest problem is actually a labeling one: You can play AoC until you hit end content for free. Until 80 there is nothing you need a sub for, there is noting that decreases your experience to a level that you really, really have to start a sub. After this huge amount of hours you have been enjoying the game for free, after more gametime than you use for a AAA-singleplayer-game, you can decide if you want to pay a sub - or not. So it is more of a huge trial / basic game system then F2P.

And for the price: Yes, it is nice if companies decide to decrease their products prices over time. Again, not touching and adjusting the model for years has not been a clever move. But what you can read on this forum regarding the price makes me cringe, really. 7,8,9 EUR A MONTH and people get all husshuss about that. That is less then going to the cinema once a month, equals one fast food menue...that is just what you pay for your hobby. A years sub equals two AAA-Games (months after release with discount), and I do not believe that someone who likes to play is satisfied with two games. A year. I for myself like it better to know exactly what I have to pay to get what I want, instead of constantly be pushed to spend a few cets here and a few cents there...and as I am an adult I can easily afford 7,8,9 EUR a month. For my hobby I choosed myself, no one is forcing me. I pay bigger monthly fees for the sports club, or any other free time activity.

/rant over

I just really hope the new model will not include F2P for everyone. I just want to pay my sub, I do not want to pay here a little, have to buy access to a dungeoun or raid there...and so on.


Anyway, the bigger problem is that there are only two payment options left, both unconviniend and no chance to stay anonym. Payment via paypal isn't properly working (because of FC, not because of paypal). I will never ever understand why a company struggeling with cashflow problems reduces its payment options. I bet they saved less money then they lost because people can not use their favorite payment option any longer.

[Hedge]

F2P is NOT a fair buisness model...

That's why a company should have it in place

However, there is something like a fair F2P model, at least what players believe it is.

This is when you can achieve everything without paying, but with payment you just get everything faster. As a company you can make a lot of money because people can't wait.

Useful examples:
- access to AA should be for F2P too, but gain so slow that people would by "speed up pots" in shop
- pet arena: sell pots that give you more gain per pet kill - there are so many people waiting and waiting just to get that shinny necklace as fast as possible. Most of them would pay for those pots - and would pay even more to reduce waiting time

P.S.: paypal works fine with me but still you point is valid

[Lady-Zarathustra]

the most radicalous thing in the F2P AoC thing is that :

- you buy Expansion : Rise of teh Godslayer (khitai) as a f2p player, pay for it, and still you can't do anything with it ...
- you buy Coast of Ardashir (turan) and you can go even raid t3.5 !

...people f2p who bought khitai should be able to enter those zones, just put some kind of limitations on how many HM can do per day, rare aquisition or something (funcom is good at this btw)

[Kantakwa]

That's why a company should have it in place

Hehe, you are right (Although this works best with products that have only a short lifetime, otherwise your customers trust will bring you more money long term.)

My opinion on Rise of the Godslayer / F2P: It is not a wise decision to not treat every expansion the same way. The different "expansion models" are due to the different circumstances at their time of release. RotG was released under the sub model, Turan was released with the start of the movie (and the start of the F2P model...? not qhite sure).
If you bought RotG prior to F2P then why should you be able to use it beeing F2P? You bought it knowing you can only play it with a sub, like the whole game (at that time).
If you bought it after the game went "F2P" then you knew at that moment that you can only access it with a sub. Why should you be able to to enter the zones, enter dungeouns etc. beeing F2P? I know you want to, but there is no reason why you should be able to. The terms under which you can use the expansion are perfectly clear to anyone who buys it.

Just to be clear: I do not think that the item shop or the expansion policy or the F2P system are good. But if you purchase things you have to inform yourself about the conditions. You can discuss if the conditions are good or bad, and you can suggest better ideas. But you do not have any right to get the conditions get changed after you bought something, only because you demand it.
(On a sidenote: In case of RotG it would have been the stupidest thing they could have done to open it to F2P, because access to K6, T4 and the AA-system are the things that keep pve players subbing.)


Hopefully the membership revamp will bring consistency. It is really annoying to explain the membership and expansion-system to new and even old players. For example Gateway to Khitai is open to everyone, regardless if you own RotG, but you see wrong answers to questions in global chat every day (even from known nice and experienced people).

EDIT@ Odonoptera: As we are on it, please make sure you update the information and FAQ on the homepage. They haven't been updated properly for the recent changes, but it will be important that we all know exactly what the revamp brings us.

[ckirmser]

wake up or shut down imo

Ah - no.

I'm still having a blast in the game and I'm quite sure there are others.

You guys that are displeased can leave, but don't demand that it be ruined for others, just because you're not happy.

[Halfdead]

Ah - no.

I'm still having a blast in the game and I'm quite sure there are others.

You guys that are displeased can leave, but don't demand that it be ruined for others, just because you're not happy.

I believe you are the minority. The majority of the players are veterans. I think you are probably 1 in 100 new players to stay with the game.

I love the game, I have played it since launch, and I never quit once. I want to stay, but its difficult when theres less and less people to play with and I know people can agree there is little to zero future.

Every other game has consistent interaction with the playerbase about what the future holds, even TSW.

If they hired me as Game Director, I sure as hell would get it together.

[Anubium]

I started playing a few months after launch (had to get a new computer) so I missed all the initial bugs. But unless I'm on a cruise or at a convention, basically I log in daily to do things. I might work on getting a jhiang shi ring for one of my alts, do braindead farming of the world boss for a chance of the hate increase ring for my Yorkies, kill quillins for milestones (haven't had any drop for two nights, wondering if they got bugged) or doing raids or sixies in guild.

Its a restful way to relax after work. I turn on the TV next to the computer and go into videoyoga mode doing quillins: basically I just get killed when I fall asleep killing them. Very relaxing though, as I don't have to worry about using any mental capacity.

I don't really want to move over and would like the game to continue. I am in the most progressive US raiding guild: I keep hearing that Funcom is going to adjust the last t6 boss but nothing is happening.

This anniversary was disappointing to say the least. Even if they put in the old quests, that would have induced people to go to them to get the vanir captive pets and such you can't get now (I don't think the vanir captive is out anyway else?). The hoard of hoards I hear has a lousy drop rate: I bought one and got one purple bop pet I didn't have out of the entire lot. I would have hoped that we might start getting one legendary drop per set of boxes, but just that one purple. And no special funcom point deals are out, with that ring being so expensive I don't want to bother.

I hope Funcom comes up with something soon as I think we are bleeding out old players and not getting the new ones in.