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Official: John Smedley comments on the Pay2Win controversy.
"I'm going to weigh in here on this subject. We've been showing it clearly in all of the streams we have been doing. I made a point of personally doing it during last Friday's streams. We want them to be server events... so we make sure the whole server knows they're coming and I've personally been killed many times after I paid for them myself. So I fundamentally disagree with the argument. In terms of us not being honest about it - untrue to an extreme. [1] Quoting an 8 month old reddit post after numerous streams and interviews where we've been quite public AND [2] putting it front and center in our "What to expect document" which was right on the purchase page just makes this blatantly unfair IMO. (here's the link - https://www.h1z1.com/dev-updates/h1z1-what-you-can-expect-in-early-access ) or you can just go back to the steam page. [3] So if you think it's P2W don't buy it. Don't play it. But I have to say wait until you've personally tried them before making the call. We included airdrops in both the $20 and the $40 versions just so you could see for yourselves. But to clear up the misconceptions - 1) You cannot call in airdrops until the servers are 1/4 full. 2) You can't call in airdrops without generating a ton of zombie heat. 3) the airdrops are random in what they deliver. 4) you are not guaranteed to get a single thing out of the airdrop you called in. You could die trying and you're out the money. 5) We fly the plane in very slowly and loudly.. we also stream green smoke from it you can see from very far away. This is all I'm going to say on the subject. We've been straight about it. We've called attention to it publicly and it's something we've decided we want in the game. It makes it more fun. It can shake things up. Please don't judge based on knee jerk reactions. Try it. Or watch more streams with people doing it.
Now with all that being said - we're going to be making some big changes to them in the next day or so.
1) Dramatically widening the radius they come in - it's too small from what we're observing. 2) Making sure the chance for guns is a much lower chance so they are much more rare. 3) Upping the minimum number of people on a server to even allow air drops. It's set at 50 right now and we're going to at least double it. We are serious about these being server events and contested. 4) Making the plane fly even slower.
Smed"
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Let's take a look at this a little closer, shall we.
[1] Quoting an 8 month old reddit post after numerous streams and interviews
The actual stream is from January, 12th 2015: "There is no way to get ammo any other way. You can't buy ammo, you can't buy guns, you can't get them out of a crate. There is ZERO way. You have to find them in the world."
[2] putting it front and center in our "What to expect document" which was right on the purchase page just makes this blatantly unfair IMO.
This was put on the purchase page on release day 01.16.2015. The information was not there before release.
[3] So if you think it's P2W don't buy it. Don't play it.
This is the CEO of a billion dollar company essentially telling you to fuck off if you don't like it. He must be pretty sure this will make millions even with all the lies and "Pay2Win". Buying this in EarlyAccess to help make it better seems pretty stupid when the CEO tells you he does not care what people think.
He then moves on trying to make it sound like an airdrop is different than opening a crate and tell you to go buy it to see for yourself. But you have to pay first of cause, since this is not Free to Play yet.
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'Don't ever, ever try to lie to the internet - because they will catch you. They will de-construct your spin. They will remember everything you ever say for eternity.' - Gabe Newell
Comments
No matter how he spins this, hes still a liar.
Interested in H1Z1, but I'll wait to see the quality they deliver for a while.
He does not.
He just explains the mechanics and ask ppl to base their judgement on their own experience or watching others doing the airdrops, rather then "knee jerk" reactions.
Reasoning with "crowds" is a lost cause tho...
Lol, dats good
SOE is a faliure. Every game they put their hands on is a cash shop game where if you dont spend money (more than a normal sub should cost) you dont get much. Theyre whalers plain and simple. Why he even bothers is beyond me. Whales dont care, the people he is trying to convince arent going to change their minds and arent going to spend enough money to be worth it anyway.
But thats the future of games now. its where the money is.
The sooner people realize developers dotn care about making good games the better. Its a business now and is being shown that more and more every day.
Imo selling weapons in a survival game is P2W. But anyway, check out some streams on twitch and see for yourself. More or less everyone is running around with a loaded weapon. Only threat are players. Player killing is rampant. Zombies are a joke.
This is not s zombie survival game currently but more some kind of Hunger Games.
So I will go and follow the CEO recommendation to not buy. Because of P2W and because it's not really worth 20$ atm. But see for yourself on twitch, no need to buy and try out the game yourself as he suggested.
Maybe will take a nother look when it gets F2P.
Terrible idea, IMHO. Regardless of how well you make it known to the people who buy these 'drops' that there's a chance they won't get squat/lose what they do get, there will still be a ton of people who are going to not pay attention, spend money on it, not get anything(or lose what they get) and become vocal that they lost their money.
Rofl. This is exactly what I said in another thread. Sure it may be P2W, it just wont always be the person who pays that does the winning. I cant wait to see the forums blow up with all the threads after people spend $20 bucks on an airdrop only to get sniped and have it stolen before they even get close to it.
Can you taste the tears already? All the whining about "I thought this was a P2W game, so I paid, and some jackass came and stole my stuff". Even if you are lucky enough to get the airdrop you paid for, and even if you are lucky enough to get a gun in that airdrop, you still have to survive. The first person to come across you and kill you, will still loot that gun off you. No matter how you look at this, P2W doesnt come into play rofl.
That is why there are no lockboxes and alike, right? Oh, wait...
I make spreadsheets at work - I don't want to make them for the games I play.
I'm not sure I understand your point. I'm not that big a fan of lockboxes, but with those you're always getting something (usually with a small chance of getting something amazing, at least in MMOs that I've played that have them). With this, we're talking about spending money on something, and potentially never being able to use anything that drops, or losing it.
It's Pay For A Chance For Someone To Win. If that makes any sense. Ideally, weapons and ammo wouldn't be in the cash shop in any form, but hey, SOE are the professionals, so I'm sure they know what they're doing.
All of this is why I've completely lost hope in SOE. Particularly, in Dave Georgeson and Smed. They've simply gotten to a point in making their games so incredibly Cash Shop focused, with full focus on catering to the people with the fattest wallets.
The design of the airdrops is the exact same concept as a RNG lockbox that so many F2P games (the cheesier ones) have. Real life money buys you a chance at items you want in your purchase. The only thing they did here was add an additional layer of RNG, in that you might be killed before getting the item you paid real life cash for, as well as someone potentially killing you shortly after you make this purchase.
That the contents of the crates contain blatant in-game advantages is an interesting move on their part. It is absolutely a P2W purchase, and Smed's attitude towards people who don't like it is simply inexcusable, but predictable. There is a long history of how he perceives and treats his customers, one which has landed him in hot water on several occasions.
Have to say, if this is the sort of evolution of their Cash Shop and monetization model, any hopes that I had of EQNext being appealing to me wither up faster and faster.
yep, im so glad i didnt buy!!! tired of gettin burned by these "early access" BS.....
i'll wait till F2P also.
H1Z1 confirmed slot machine.
Its P2 chance to win - or in another words give SOE money and they don't have to give you anything in return.
The other thing they are doing is taking a fun activity - pvp event - and putting it behind a paywall which is a very vile business practice.
People spending money on lockboxes are not doing to get just "something", they want specific item(s), the rest is "junk" which I do not think they care much about - how much value an item you do not want have...? Also, there are also plenty of "alike" items like various crafting RNG related items.
The point is, this model works.
In case of H1Z1, even if you do not get the loot, you get the fun while trying to get the loot - your money goes directly into a game content, you are spawning an event. It is a fantastic idea.
Putting 'fun' content behind a cash-shop paywall is a good idea?
20 bucks for the client, then pay up every time you feel bored eh?? Good lord some people have low standards for games these days.
This is the very essence of 'nickle and dime' monetization schemes. Slice up the game so that in order to do anything fun the player has to pay over and over. There is a reason why Arcades are dead.
You're the sort of potential customer SOE wants.
As opposed to who? I don't disagree with you about how crappy this is but honestly how many options do we have? TSW added lock boxes half a year ago and there is no sign of them going away, PWI is one of the most cash shop heavy companies around even beating SOE in some of it's antics, SWTOR and Rift outright sell gear now, and GW2 sells in game gold for real world money plus lock boxes. Eve would be just as bad if the player base hadn't outright rebelled and you can be sure they have not forgotten their cash shop plans. just shelved them for another day.
This isn't any different than any other lock box system except that it adds the element of additional risk to it which is probably offset by higher chances of getting good stuff out of the boxes. I mean if the best stuff in PWI boxes are 1:1000 chance where the best stuff in H1Z1's are 1:100 does that offset the risk of not getting the box?
There really are no white knights here. From indie's to big main stream companies the cat is out of the bag and all beats are off. With very few exceptions both single player and multiplayer it's been several years since game development was more about creating a engaging fun experience and less about monitizing the crap out of it.
No, I think he is being realistic. You are buying a chance to spur on some action. I can see lots of people calling them in to draw other groups into a fight. It is not like it is that hard to find a weapon. I found one within five or ten minutes. They need to make money, plain and simple.
James T. Kirk: All she's got isn't good enough! What else ya got?
Paywall like purchase fee and sub?
Those 2O bucks you pay not are not for the client, they are for early access - you do not have to pay for EA nor for airdrops.
Thank you.
You seem like a sort of customer no one wants
Dont use the word paywall till you know what it means. You dont need to buy an Air Drop to be able to progress in this game so its not a paywall.