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Membership Update
Po_gg
Member EpicPosts: 5,749
Well, since there's no mention about it so far, maybe it worths a post...
I mean, there was a thread earlier (http://forums.mmorpg.com/discussion/445210/25-off-for-lifetime-till-february-5th-funcom-in-dire-need-of-money ), but that focused onto the GM sale and "dire need" etc. - though I tried to nudge it back on the right track
So, with the update of today (starts in a couple hours from now), the new membership system will go live. It was discussed in the TSW stream last week (from about 48min, https://youtu.be/x2shusdgEig?t=48m17s , also was covered by *cough*Massively...), Funcom's goal with the change is to add more "value" into the subscription. (Similarly to Rift's Patron update of tomorrow, which was covered by the news section... Suzie, you missed this one? )
Some says "finally, a good move", others say it's the first step towards p2w or to a switch from b2p -> f2p. Personally I'm somewhere in the middle: good changes indeed, but they definitely will separate the regular b2p folks from the subscribers (especially the lowered lockout timers).
Membership was pretty worthless so far, beyond showing your faith and support to the game you got almost nothing from it. Veteran points, which has an own store section, but nothing good or "worthwhile" stuff in there. An XP booster (1 hour per day, and only for kill xp). The Item of the Month, exclusive cosmetic piece just for members, sometimes it was an awesome piece, but most times was just an average, or even a weak, "never-to-use" item.
There's a FAQ page set up with all the details how the membership will change (http://www.thesecretworld.com/membership ), and it was detailed in the stream as well. A short summary / recap:
Item of the Month, gone. Cosmetics will be given through the Loyalty system in the future.
Veteran points won't be awarded anymore, but your current balance still can be spent, since the veteran store will stay for an undisclosed time.
Accelerator (xp boost item) will be gone, and replaced with a permanent 30% xp boost, which applies on everything and not only the kill xp. Fairly useful, for faster advancement.
Added benefits to the subscription, beyond the permanent xp boost:
+50% BB earn, rounded up, so in Kingsmouth it's a double (2, instead of 1.5)
Cooldowns lowered to 8 hours for everything, and 18 hours for raid lockout timers. This one is massive...
2 additional lockout timer resets per month (it resets all the ongoing cooldowns, can be piled up in the inventory for later use if not used in the given month)
And free anima leaps, but that's not really a boon
Above the membership benefits there's the new Loyalty rewards system, based on the months spent as a subscriber. There's a tier for 1, 2 and 3 months, then at month 6, and then a new tier after every 6 months onwards. It's a fresh start, so subscribed time from the past doesn't "count" in this, unfortunately...
The first year's rewards were announced in the stream (the Massively article listed them as well). They're mostly just cosmetics and travels (hoverboard, and a golden bee-like vespa scooter).
What's worth to mention is the second Agartha conduit for the 3-months tier (separate item with separate cooldown, and with new animation), and the 6-months reward, the permanent portable bank, which is awesome (I remember I praised the same item when Rift switched to f2p and it was one of their Patron rewards as well). Currently there's only a consumable one in the game, but this Loyalty one is permanent. Is it p2w? I don't think so, but it's convenient as hell
So, this change goes live today with the update. Since the subscription has more value now, the GM pack (lifetime subscription) won't be available for purchase in the future - as the other thread's title said.
Also, last but not least, the Valentine's event will be switched on with this update... but to be honest, I think the membership changes will have a heavier impact on the game. (don't get me wrong, Valentine has some cool costumes)
I mean, there was a thread earlier (http://forums.mmorpg.com/discussion/445210/25-off-for-lifetime-till-february-5th-funcom-in-dire-need-of-money ), but that focused onto the GM sale and "dire need" etc. - though I tried to nudge it back on the right track
So, with the update of today (starts in a couple hours from now), the new membership system will go live. It was discussed in the TSW stream last week (from about 48min, https://youtu.be/x2shusdgEig?t=48m17s , also was covered by *cough*Massively...), Funcom's goal with the change is to add more "value" into the subscription. (Similarly to Rift's Patron update of tomorrow, which was covered by the news section... Suzie, you missed this one?
)Some says "finally, a good move", others say it's the first step towards p2w or to a switch from b2p -> f2p. Personally I'm somewhere in the middle: good changes indeed, but they definitely will separate the regular b2p folks from the subscribers (especially the lowered lockout timers).
Membership was pretty worthless so far, beyond showing your faith and support to the game you got almost nothing from it. Veteran points, which has an own store section, but nothing good or "worthwhile" stuff in there. An XP booster (1 hour per day, and only for kill xp). The Item of the Month, exclusive cosmetic piece just for members, sometimes it was an awesome piece, but most times was just an average, or even a weak, "never-to-use" item.
There's a FAQ page set up with all the details how the membership will change (http://www.thesecretworld.com/membership ), and it was detailed in the stream as well. A short summary / recap:
Item of the Month, gone. Cosmetics will be given through the Loyalty system in the future.
Veteran points won't be awarded anymore, but your current balance still can be spent, since the veteran store will stay for an undisclosed time.
Accelerator (xp boost item) will be gone, and replaced with a permanent 30% xp boost, which applies on everything and not only the kill xp. Fairly useful, for faster advancement.
Added benefits to the subscription, beyond the permanent xp boost:
+50% BB earn, rounded up, so in Kingsmouth it's a double (2, instead of 1.5)
Cooldowns lowered to 8 hours for everything, and 18 hours for raid lockout timers. This one is massive...
2 additional lockout timer resets per month (it resets all the ongoing cooldowns, can be piled up in the inventory for later use if not used in the given month)
And free anima leaps, but that's not really a boon
Above the membership benefits there's the new Loyalty rewards system, based on the months spent as a subscriber. There's a tier for 1, 2 and 3 months, then at month 6, and then a new tier after every 6 months onwards. It's a fresh start, so subscribed time from the past doesn't "count" in this, unfortunately...
The first year's rewards were announced in the stream (the Massively article listed them as well). They're mostly just cosmetics and travels (hoverboard, and a golden bee-like vespa scooter).
What's worth to mention is the second Agartha conduit for the 3-months tier (separate item with separate cooldown, and with new animation), and the 6-months reward, the permanent portable bank, which is awesome (I remember I praised the same item when Rift switched to f2p and it was one of their Patron rewards as well). Currently there's only a consumable one in the game, but this Loyalty one is permanent. Is it p2w? I don't think so, but it's convenient as hell
So, this change goes live today with the update. Since the subscription has more value now, the GM pack (lifetime subscription) won't be available for purchase in the future - as the other thread's title said.
Also, last but not least, the Valentine's event will be switched on with this update... but to be honest, I think the membership changes will have a heavier impact on the game. (don't get me wrong, Valentine has some cool costumes)
Comments
The FAQ page has a list too http://www.thesecretworld.com/membership
edit: they finished the update earlier, servers are up. The official post:
http://www.thesecretworld.com/news/new_membership_benefits
if it's not a comparison enough, ask some details and I try to fabricate a list
edit2: I'm lazy to correct all the links above... so:
Funcom put the benefits and loyalty tiers under the membership address, and moved the FAQ behind http://www.thesecretworld.com/membership/faq
Lo, the wonders and flexibility of the internet and its addresses...
Group finder / Randomizer: it's working (except when not
Pvp (I know, I say all the time I don't pvp
Rewards are good, I think Fusang fans already complaining that the better rewards of Shambala are "stealing" away players from Fusang.
Loyalty: what's in the post above. Cosmetics are cool, the pet is useless, hoverboard is good, scooter... actually I don't see any, even the Valentine's pink scooter is more popular
Subscription: the chat spam wasn't mentioned before the update, it's annoying. The payment status icon wasn't mentioned either, also annoying - but at least there's a UI mod already for removing it. The rest is pretty much what was guessed in the post above. One emphasis I'd like to drop here:
This is huge. Even more than expected. Sometimes I'm still surprised when see missions available, missions which I did just a couple hours ago... It pushes the +30% xp boost to the back seat. Even the lockout timer reset has only limited viability, maybe for a raid-heavy weekend, to run them four times in two days (instead of the usual, close to two weeks...), or maybe to keep them for later, non-subbed use.
So, changes made the game p2w or f2p, as feared? Not at all. The b2p option is unchanged and still there, subscription (with loyalty) got some minor boosts, mostly cosmetics and convenience.
The exception to that is the cooldown reduction... Clearly, that's the only "real" boon in the subscription, it can help the AP advancement big time, especially beyond Egypt where the low cooldown has more weight, and where players start to spread out within the Wheel. Big help, but still very far from the regular f2p models, imo.
B2p players who are already at the "end" and have a well-used daily routine, the sub (and cooldown) means less, but sure, if they need the bank or the second conduit for the raised conveniene, it's advisable to gather 6 months of sub somewhere along the road - personally I used to buy new Issues with a 1 month sub, so far I did it just because I thought it's a good move to show some support... from now on it will raise the Loyalty status as well. I'm in no hurry
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An another change, buddy keys were pulled off, until they adjust it to the new model.
https://forums.thesecretworld.com/showthread.php?95611-Future-of-the-Buddy-Key-program-trials&p=1992921&viewfull=1#post1992921
The unused keys are still valid, and during the revamp we still can invite 1 buddy per address through the Support.
Suzie ( @SBFord ) can you get off the Announcement sticky from the buddy key thread? For some odd reasons Odonoptera only sent the info to barely visited, lowlie sites like Reddit and steamy gabe, and he missed one of the longest thread here on mmorpg.com