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SoE accused of secretly adjusting droprates in their MMO to promote cash shop

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  • GeezerGamerGeezerGamer Member EpicPosts: 8,857

    SoE has every right to adjust their game to funnel players into the cash shop. And players have every right not to play the game. It would seem those who do don't seem to mind. That being said, I don't know what all the people who are waiting on EQN to be the next big thing are thinking. This thread pretty much says it all. EQN is just going to be more of this.

  • nariusseldonnariusseldon Member EpicPosts: 27,775
    Originally posted by FlyByKnight

    I pretty much didn't understand how severely twisted MMORPG business was. They're just as bad (if not worse) than the mobile game companies.

    You don't have to play any of it. It is a free world.

    I don't see what is the problem ... particularly ... when SoE admit honestly what they are doing. In fact, it is a good thing. They are up front of what they are doing ... if they still have customers, more power to them.

    (Disclaimer: i am not playing SoE MMOs .. but hey it is a free market.)

  • arzamasarzamas Member Posts: 1

    I think 90% of people complaining in this thread (including op) have never played Planetside 2. This gif also has nothing to do with PS2. Planetside 2 has many flaws but Pay2Win is definitely not one of them. You can make new char in PS2 and easily kill level 100 character (levels are battle ratings). In what other MMO game can you do this? Most of the game presented on this site are much more P2W.

    Implants were dropping like crazy. You could earn lots of them and energy chargers with simple playing. And they don't give a lot, just some bonuses and features. So please, find another target for your sensationalism.

  • cheyanecheyane Member LegendaryPosts: 9,404
    It's completely true though they are trying to make money and by golly they have every right to. I applaud Smedley for his blunt answer. Fed up of all this nonsense from people who keep yammering for f2p and now are shocked at the methods companies are using to get money. You can say the game I'm playing is not like that but how are you suppose to know they are not diddling the drop rates just because they do not say they are. Blinders folks   image
    Garrus Signature
  • free2playfree2play Member UncommonPosts: 2,043

    Cash grabs are when they are exclusive to the pay store and if you don't want to buy them, tough shit do with out.

     

    LotRO has a stat enhancement system that runs I to XII in strength values. The VIII to XII drop like candy but there is a snowballs chance in hell of you drop looting the I to VII variant. Of course you need to use them in order so if you want to use your shiny Vit Xor Strength VIII you could always buy I to VII in the store. It will only run you around 3500 TP.

     

    A: SOE aren't alone in this

    B: I don't hate on LotRO for going it.

    C: I've never been roped in to it.

     

    tl;dr

    Not sure where this was going but what-eva

     

     

  • AldersAlders Member RarePosts: 2,207
    Where was the outrage when GW2 did this on what seemed like a weekly basis?
  • eye_meye_m Member UncommonPosts: 3,317
    Originally posted by Sukiyaki

    Praise god that there exists P2P games! Because we all know paying more money to a publisher upfront and just to access the game we already paid for will guarantee that he is not going to try milking more money from my pocket and prevents them to add cashshops selling levels, exclusive or rare mounts, pets, costumes, gear, ingame money, access to events or apply schemes like adjusting droprates to force me to use their P2W real money auction house or infinite grind, forced gear resets, gear walls and long reset timer to keep me subscribing longer before the advertised fun begins or I can have some fun for a while again.

    Was your improper sentence structure some sort of scheme to get a person to read your post multiple times so that people would believe it's disarrayed content merely through repetition?

    All of my posts are either intelligent, thought provoking, funny, satirical, sarcastic or intentionally disrespectful. Take your pick.

    I get banned in the forums for games I love, so lets see if I do better in the forums for games I hate.

    I enjoy the serenity of not caring what your opinion is.

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  • shalissarshalissar Member UncommonPosts: 509
    Originally posted by eyelolled
    Originally posted by Sukiyaki

    Praise god that there exists P2P games! Because we all know paying more money to a publisher upfront and just to access the game we already paid for will guarantee that he is not going to try milking more money from my pocket and prevents them to add cashshops selling levels, exclusive or rare mounts, pets, costumes, gear, ingame money, access to events or apply schemes like adjusting droprates to force me to use their P2W real money auction house or infinite grind, forced gear resets, gear walls and long reset timer to keep me subscribing longer before the advertised fun begins or I can have some fun for a while again.

    Was your improper sentence structure some sort of scheme to get a person to read your post multiple times so that people would believe it's disarrayed content merely through repetition?

     

    Hah!

    I'll stick with the devil I know, thanks. Infinite grind, gear resets, gear walls and reset timers are par for the course for ANY given mmorpg. And I've never seen a p2p mmo try to "milk" me, assuming that by milk, they mean selling things that I absolutely have to buy to experience a semi-decent QOL during my gameplay.

  • CalmOceansCalmOceans Member UncommonPosts: 2,437

    I have my doubts that most "whales" in F2P MMO are actually rich people. If I was rich I would be driving around in a Ferrari and going on holidays, not play MMO.

    They're regular people spending tons of cash on games. What boggles my mind is, why? Why not spend those hundreds of dollars on a PS4 and the tens of games you could buy with them instead of a fake sword in a game.

  • CalmOceansCalmOceans Member UncommonPosts: 2,437
    Originally posted by FlyByKnight

    We literally have to be wary of ANY game with a cash shop in it

    SoE is the company that made deals with hackers.

    People figured it out 4 or 5 years ago, when EQPlayer and Magelo characters started to appear in the game, with gear from raids that hadn't even been beaten on the server. Apparently SoE was trading that gear for the code of the hacks, because it was much cheaper than fixing the exploits.

    Those same characters decked out in raid gear, were then sold by hackers for real life money.

    There are some incredibly shady characters employed at SoE.

  • kaiser3282kaiser3282 Member UncommonPosts: 2,759
    Originally posted by Kiyoris

    added gif someone replied with in another thread, thought it was funny

    personally I don't get people defending this, luckily I don't have to deal with this kind of stuff in FFXIV

    Nope. Just have to deal with extremely low drop rates  on things required to advance your character (atmas, alexandrite, etc) as well as forced weekly locks on everything worth doing for progress (the 1 item limits previously imposed on ST and CT, 1 clear of each turn of coil, caps on tomes) forcing you to play X amount of months in order to even be able to obtain everything you need. Then a few months later, start the cycle all over again.

    I loved FFXIV too, but let's be realistic here. The game is designed, just as many others, with a carrot on a stick form of progress that could have VERY easily been condensed and simplified but then you wouldnt be paying that sub each and every month if the weekly maxing wasnt required in order to be at your best by the time the next update comes.

    I mean come on, they have the whole "be every class with one character" ideology, yet limit you on everything on a per character basis rather than per class. Why? Because if you could get fully geared in every class at the same time, you wouldnt need to stay subbed to keep working on the alt classes. But since they have those limitations in place, whether you have 1 class or 8 classes to gear out, youre still stuck with the same exact cap on tomes, 1 coil run, etc and can only gear out your alt classes by plugging away each week (and paying that sub) even after youve already finished with your main class.

     

    BTW, not defending SOE here. Just pointing out that SE is no different. Theyre all businesses out to make money and they will milk you for as much as they can. Theyre just choosing to do it through different methods.

  • TiamatRoarTiamatRoar Member RarePosts: 1,689
    Originally posted by Rhoklaw

    . Now, developers think because PvP games are competitive that they will make a killing from their P2W cash shop when actually, it will only shorten the life of their MMO due to the fact only whales care to invest in a game like that. 

    Actually, according to R2Games' business presentation on the subject, they make a killing from their P2W cash shop AND it shortens the life of their MMO due to the fact only whales care to invest in a game like that.

     

    And they're perfectly fine with that because they made a killing from their P2W cash shop.  So perfectly fine in fact that they made a friggin' business presentation about it.

  • CalmOceansCalmOceans Member UncommonPosts: 2,437
    Originally posted by Torvaldr

    Where's the outrage when WoW, ESO, FFXIV, or any other game does this to "balance" the game?

    Changing the drop-rate of something because of balance issues is something entirely different from changing something because it is cutting into your cash shop revenue.

    That comparison isn't a kite that is going to fly.

  • CalmOceansCalmOceans Member UncommonPosts: 2,437
    Originally posted by Torvaldr
    Originally posted by CalmOceans
    Originally posted by Torvaldr

    Where's the outrage when WoW, ESO, FFXIV, or any other game does this to "balance" the game?

    Changing the drop-rate of something because of balance issues is something entirely different from changing something because it is cutting into your cash shop revenue.

    That comparison isn't a kite that is going to fly.

    Of course it is. It's there to keep the treadmill going until the next xpac and gear reset. It's there to keep players paying their monthly rent. It's been that way since Lineage and EQ first launched. People like to fool themselves. People who love cash shop games pretend it's not true with their cash shops. People who love monthly rental games pretend it's not true with their game. Keep on fooling yourself if you want. It's your money.

    Balancing the game is done in every single game, single player games, multiplayer, console games, it has nothing to do with cash shop revenue.

    Trying to rationalise companies using incredibly shady practices to increase revenue by pointing fingers at companies that do the right thing, isn't going to work. You would need to justify this behavior itself, any rational person can see how backhanded and wrong this is.

  • ArskaaaArskaaa Member RarePosts: 1,265

    oh noes!

  • Jagwar_FangJagwar_Fang Member UncommonPosts: 264
    Originally posted by Kiyoris

    added gif someone replied with in another thread, thought it was funny

    personally I don't get people defending this, luckily I don't have to deal with this kind of stuff in FFXIV

    Then why even bother to start a thread?

  • BrenicsBrenics Member RarePosts: 1,939
    Nice to finally see a lot of people agreeing F2P is crap. Maybe one day we can force them to put a stop to it. It is a pipe dream thou.
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  • SulaaSulaa Member UncommonPosts: 1,329
    Originally posted by CalmOceans

    I have my doubts that most "whales" in F2P MMO are actually rich people. If I was rich I would be driving around in a Ferrari and going on holidays, not play MMO.

    They're regular people spending tons of cash on games. What boggles my mind is, why? Why not spend those hundreds of dollars on a PS4 and the tens of games you could buy with them instead of a fake sword in a game.

    Indeed most are not rich people. 

     

    Most whales are people who play a lot hours, often have big knowegedle of the game AND additionally spent a lot of money on cash shop stuff.

    Reasons?

    Bragging rights

    Addiction

    Owning in PvP or e-peen contest

  • SulaaSulaa Member UncommonPosts: 1,329
    Originally posted by FlyByKnight

    We literally have to be wary of ANY game with a cash shop in it,

    Yup. Only option to not have to deal with microtransaction hassle is to not play games that have them.

  • GruugGruug Member RarePosts: 1,794


    SOE is not the only company doing this. They all control what goes on in  their game and therefore they can at a whim change things to cost you more. Thing is most people won't notice. That is the shaddy part. I would much rather pay up front a sub OR upfront a box/digital price then deal with this sort of thing. F2P is NOT free.

     

    Let's party like it is 1863!

  • amber-ramber-r Member Posts: 323

    Any mmo with a cash shop is the same, this applies to FFXIV too (and will apply to a greater extent as the cash shop matures).

     

    Any MMO with a cash shop is tainted, it's as simple as that.  Once a cash shop is added it is part of every meeting and every game decision.

  • nariusseldonnariusseldon Member EpicPosts: 27,775
    Originally posted by CalmOceans

    I have my doubts that most "whales" in F2P MMO are actually rich people. If I was rich I would be driving around in a Ferrari and going on holidays, not play MMO.

    They're regular people spending tons of cash on games. What boggles my mind is, why? Why not spend those hundreds of dollars on a PS4 and the tens of games you could buy with them instead of a fake sword in a game.

    Why do you care? It is their money? If they want to flush it down the toilet, it is their right.

     

  • CecropiaCecropia Member RarePosts: 3,985
    Originally posted by nariusseldon
    Originally posted by CalmOceans

    I have my doubts that most "whales" in F2P MMO are actually rich people. If I was rich I would be driving around in a Ferrari and going on holidays, not play MMO.

    They're regular people spending tons of cash on games. What boggles my mind is, why? Why not spend those hundreds of dollars on a PS4 and the tens of games you could buy with them instead of a fake sword in a game.

    Why do you care? It is their money? If they want to flush it down the toilet, it is their right.

     

    Whales have helped screw up how we pay for our gaming time; of course people care. 

    I get that you are experiencing gamegasms with all the "F2P" games available now, but as you can see, there's clearly an increasing amount of bitching with respect to "F2P" and cash shops. 

    It's my understanding that it takes some people more time to see how ridiculous some of these payment models are; especially once "the formula" is switched up, and what seemed fine in the beginning, becomes an obvious rip off to even the most tolerant.

    Western gamers are becoming savvy to all of this and the industry will likely suffer and then adapt as it needs to.

     

     

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  • GeezerGamerGeezerGamer Member EpicPosts: 8,857
    Originally posted by amber-r

    Any mmo with a cash shop is the same, this applies to FFXIV too (and will apply to a greater extend as the cash shop matures).

     

    Any MMO with a cash shop is tainted, it's as simple as that.  Once a cash shop is added it is part of every meeting and every game decision.

    I watched as my one time favorite MMORPG, Anarchy Online devolve after FunCom  implemented their Item Store. It became the "fix" for evertything wrong with the game. Instead if fixing the game, they started putting cheap solutions in the Cash Shop. All new content (Not that Funcom ever added any in years) now came with a price.

    Also, I disagree  with players who are talking about developers of subscription games who also "tweak" drop rates to prolong subscriptions as though it were actually a bad thing. The only real way they are going to prolong subscriptions is to create a better long term player experience. So yeah, P2P games have drop rates tweaked, but the end result is far different. One is to improve overall player's long term experience, the other is to improve short term publisher profits.

  • KyleranKyleran Member LegendaryPosts: 44,060
    Originally posted by nariusseldon
    Originally posted by CalmOceans

    I have my doubts that most "whales" in F2P MMO are actually rich people. If I was rich I would be driving around in a Ferrari and going on holidays, not play MMO.

    They're regular people spending tons of cash on games. What boggles my mind is, why? Why not spend those hundreds of dollars on a PS4 and the tens of games you could buy with them instead of a fake sword in a game.

    Why do you care? It is their money? If they want to flush it down the toilet, it is their right.

     

    While it is their "right", it certainly is not "right to let them do so.

    Sometimes people need to be protected from themselves, this is one of those situations.

     

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