Wow, yet again... another blunder by a company that is trying its hand in the MMO.... bet they loose funding for STO. So lifetime subs, with a promise of a lot from a company that wont be around in 18 months.... wave goodbye to your money, STO, and cryptic. I can see it coming!
Yeah, that six-month deal was the only way I was going to be playing, as I just don't find it worth the standard monthly fee, and the STO beta was great incentive.
Ah, well.
Favorites: EQ, EVE | Playing: None. Mostly VR and strategy | Anticipating: CU, Pantheon
Originally posted by Korgana Sorry you could not read but it always said "Limited Supply".
It said limited supply on the initial article on the CO website. They didn't mention it in any of the followup emails they sent out, which is where a lot of people would have been getting their information. I managed to get a lifetime sub but I feel for the people who really wanted one and missed out. Since the end of the month was the cutoff date, a lot of people were waiting till then - pay day you know!
At the end of the day though, it's only a game. There are far more important things to feel outraged about if you look hard enough...
Stop defending Cryptic saying it always said limited supply. Cryptic themselves said they never expected they would run out before Sept 1st. The fact that they saw themselves running out and did nothing to fix the problem just makes the situation worse.
As for me, I thought long and hard about getting the lifetime deal before the OB started. It came down to faith. Will it be a good game or just good hype? I decided to wait and see. After the inexcusable problems they had at the opening of the beta followed by how that problem was handled half-assed with patching I felt good about waiting. After seeing the game's powers and XP are still in flux, and the huge lag problems people are having I waited longer. To be honest I still do not know if this game will survive. Not due to it being a bad game but poor planning.
We still have to see how the real start will go,
How will gold farmers be handled?
How will lag and server drops be handled for paying customers?
How (not what) will new content be handled?
In the final analysis I am not disappointed I did not get a lifetime membership.
I am disappointed that I never felt safe enough to buy it. I am disappointed in how the game is managed not the membership.
If I was sitting in a planning meeting with Cryptic/Atari I would ask their marketing people to weigh the effects of the rabid Anti-Champions demographic vs. the economics of more memberships.
Then I will ask if they are working for DC Online? Because I can not imagine more successful marketing for DCUO then what has happened now.
To re-state, this will be the first MMO to ever launch with a strong ANTI-fanbase.
Whatever happens I am sure it will be good experience for Roper. In his next job he can tell people it is bad to start a game with people at best having no confidence at worst outright hating you. He know's because he tried it.
Sorry, but I don't buy this. Smells awefully like a PR stunt to Hype the game. The only reason I could see it had a limited supply was for the STO beta access bonus. They could have easily removed that bonus item, saying sorry the amount of STO beta access slots are full. And so people would at least still be able to get a Lifetime Sub or 6-month sub. So again, I don't buy this statement at all! All fake PR to make things look better then they really are. Just my 2cents.
You don't buy it? Ahhh so Cryptic is the real arch-nemesis, evil genius, mastermind not simply mismanaged and stupid. How super hero-like of you.
While i peronally always asumed it was going down before i could hve the funds to purches one (and after trying the beta) most likley would not have bought one anyhow. I have a different reason as to why i have n plans to get this game...
We were told about this total customisation were you could choos color and emanition point of your powers so i get ingame and sure i can change the color of my powers, that is nice but a truckload of powers just refuse to let me change were i shoot them from and then i can just as well stay with my old CoH.
Will be keeping an eye on this game tho to see how it developes.
I was one of the lucky ones that got a Lifetime Sub. I'm not interested in CO really, got it for the guaranteed STO Beta. I will play it until STO comes out though. So I really have no reason to complain other than the fact that this shows just how shady Cryptic is. They never announced anywhere that supplies were limited until they posted that message on the front page (during a play session of Open Beta) and in the middle of the night (for the US) .
Personally I'm thinking it has more to do with available Beta Slots for STO than it does with CO. They are promising people beta slots with these promotions and know that it will be another HUGE PR blunder to let whoever just "signed up" in over someone that purchased their exclusive deal. They also promised people who complained about this "Exclusive Offer" and didn't want to pay for their way into STO beta that they will still have a chance to get in just by "signing up" .
Although I'm just speculating....I wonder if this means anyone that didn't get a lifetime/6mo offer or hasn't won a contest for a beta key from Cryptic pretty much out of luck with ever getting into STO beta.
I'm glad the open beta didn't capture my attention any. I would have otherwise been pissed by Cryptic's response to the situation. Sorry we screwed up, but we aren't going to fix up our own blunders?
I was one of the lucky ones that got a Lifetime Sub. I'm not interested in CO really, got it for the guaranteed STO Beta. I will play it until STO comes out though. So I really have no reason to complain other than the fact that this shows just how shady Cryptic is. They never announced anywhere that supplies were limited until they posted that message on the front page (during a play session of Open Beta) and in the middle of the night (for the US) . Personally I'm thinking it has more to do with available Beta Slots for STO than it does with CO. They are promising people beta slots with these promotions and know that it will be another HUGE PR blunder to let whoever just "signed up" in over someone that purchased their exclusive deal. They also promised people who complained about this "Exclusive Offer" and didn't want to pay for their way into STO beta that they will still have a chance to get in just by "signing up" . Although I'm just speculating....I wonder if this means anyone that didn't get a lifetime/6mo offer or hasn't won a contest for a beta key from Cryptic pretty much out of luck with ever getting into STO beta.
You paid $200 for a game you're not interested in so you could get into STO beta? Really? heh eh ehe ehehehehehehehaaaaahahahah
Although I'm just speculating....I wonder if this means anyone that didn't get a lifetime/6mo offer or hasn't won a contest for a beta key from Cryptic pretty much out of luck with ever getting into STO beta.
I don't think so. You just bought access to the beta - not the date you get in if you know what i'm saying.
And personally i believe there will be other ways to get into beta sooner or later. Would be a bad choice to hype the beta so soon without anything left in the tank for later PR actions. So i wouldn't spend my money just to get into the STO beta - as large as the desire may be - it still just is a beta access.
Sorry, but I don't buy this. Smells awefully like a PR stunt to Hype the game. The only reason I could see it had a limited supply was for the STO beta access bonus. They could have easily removed that bonus item, saying sorry the amount of STO beta access slots are full. And so people would at least still be able to get a Lifetime Sub or 6-month sub. So again, I don't buy this statement at all! All fake PR to make things look better then they really are. Just my 2cents.
You don't buy it? Ahhh so Cryptic is the real arch-nemesis, evil genius, mastermind not simply mismanaged and stupid. How super hero-like of you.
Because it is. Life Time Sub and 6-month sub offer is what is it about. The STO beta access is just an added perk or bonus to the existing offer!
That the STO beta access bonus runs out. That makes perfectly sense.
But running out of virtual goods like a LifeTime sub and 6-month sub. LOL!
Seriously! If they think that people would buy the LifeTime sub or 6-month sub offer ONLY for the STO beta access.
Well, then sorry, there must be something seriously wrong with this game.
Last time I remember with LifeTime sub offers for LOTRO... the players bought the LifeTime offer, because they had actually faith in the game and were planning to play it for a very long time!
I guess that is not the case with Champions Online.
How can one "sell out" of a virtual commodity? They may well have run out of STO beta slots to give away, but turning away $200 lock-ins for a game that may or may not succeed? That's madness.
Personally, I think the idea of bundling beta-invites of one game with another is stupid. STO and Champions are totally different systems, and totally different styles of games. I would suspect half those beta keys never get used. Half the ones that are used will be Champions fans who just want to poke at STO because the Champions servers are down, or they're bored in some other way. Only a fraction will actually WANT to play STO.
Oh, and if you spent $200 *just* to get in the STO beta... you need to think about your priorities. You could have sent that cash to ME and paid my cable + electric bill for the month! *grin*
Sorry, but I don't buy this. Smells awefully like a PR stunt to Hype the game. The only reason I could see it had a limited supply was for the STO beta access bonus. They could have easily removed that bonus item, saying sorry the amount of STO beta access slots are full. And so people would at least still be able to get a Lifetime Sub or 6-month sub. So again, I don't buy this statement at all! All fake PR to make things look better then they really are. Just my 2cents.
You don't buy it? Ahhh so Cryptic is the real arch-nemesis, evil genius, mastermind not simply mismanaged and stupid. How super hero-like of you.
Because it is. Life Time Sub and 6-month sub offer is what is it about. The STO beta access is just an added perk or bonus to the existing offer!
That the STO beta access bonus runs out. That makes perfectly sense.
But running out of virtual goods like a LifeTime sub and 6-month sub. LOL!
Seriously! If they think that people would buy the LifeTime sub or 6-month sub offer ONLY for the STO beta access.
I see, then it was also their marketing plan to underestimate how many people would join the open beta and crash their server on purpose.
The plan continues with screwing up their patching server and making people have insanely long download time to force them into buying a membership to Fileplanet.
Finally, in their master stroke they again underestimate how many people would buy the discounted memberships and suddenly cancel them.
You are right that is far more likely than mismanagement and incompetence like I said.
Because it is. Life Time Sub and 6-month sub offer is what is it about. The STO beta access is just an added perk or bonus to the existing offer! That the STO beta access bonus runs out. That makes perfectly sense. But running out of virtual goods like a LifeTime sub and 6-month sub. LOL! Seriously! If they think that people would buy the LifeTime sub or 6-month sub offer ONLY for the STO beta access.
I see, then it was also their marketing plan to underestimate how many people would join the open beta and crash their server on purpose.
The plan continues with screwing up their patching server and making people have insanely long download time to force them into buying a membership to Fileplanet.
Finally, in their master stroke they again underestimate how many people would buy the discounted memberships and suddenly cancel them.
You are right that is far more likely than mismanagement and incompetence like I said.
Well incompetence and mismanagement is a related factor and is going ot bite them in the ass at release. That's a different matter.
Thinking that the stop on Life Time subs and 6-month offer is going to prevent the servers from crashing? lol.
What about the people that are buying the regular boxes in the store?
And I haven't heard about insanely long download times at Fileplanet. I only downloaded the client last friday, couple hours after it had opened up fully and I had the client downloaded in about an hour! Add the 24 min waiting line. I was done within 1 and half hour!
Cryptic has nothing to lose with offering as many lifetime subscriptions as people want to buy. While I imagine they are worried about the loss of revenue after the 14 month break-even point, they are planning micro-transactions as well. How many of the lifetimers are going to be playing this game for a straight 14 months anyway? It is poor business sense. Get the cash up front!
Hey, I didn't buy one, never planned to buy one, nor am I buying the game when it comes out. But I know there were people that wanted to and that is enough for me. It was poor planning and even poorer execution. I notice Cryptic never mentioned how many lifetime subscriptions it was selling. Was it 10 or 1000?
It is just a sad way to entice people to play their new game. I hope, for the sake of those that were going to buy the discounted subscriptions, that Cryptic changes their mind and lets it continue even after the game launch.
Some people just look for absolutely anything they can to complain about we had more than enough time to take advantage of the offer if that was our intention at all.
I for one picked up 3 copies of the game and 3 of the lifetimes the second they were offered.
Having been with LOTRO since the beginning and knowing just how much money a lifetime sub can save you over the long haul I will ALWAYS buy lifetimes for any and every game I am interested in that offers them.
I just really wish Aion was offering a lifetime, but I tend to think that will never happen.
On a side note, Im sure eventually they will make the lifetime offer again just most likely sans the STO CB offer. Im sure thats the part causing the limited numbers. I mean think about it they really dont wanna try and run a closed beta with 10000+ testers.
Comments
Wow, yet again... another blunder by a company that is trying its hand in the MMO.... bet they loose funding for STO. So lifetime subs, with a promise of a lot from a company that wont be around in 18 months.... wave goodbye to your money, STO, and cryptic. I can see it coming!
Yeah, that six-month deal was the only way I was going to be playing, as I just don't find it worth the standard monthly fee, and the STO beta was great incentive.
Ah, well.
I'm impressed !!!
Didn't expect they would sell all 10 lifetime subscriptions ...
Hold your breath.
"" Voice acting isn't an RPG element....it's just a production value." - grumpymel2
This new fiasco stinks of a PR move to me. Creating a 'buzz' by telling people their lifetime subs were more popular than they ever hoped.
Yeah, right. I don't believe for a second that they were limited in number. It's just another dodge by Shenanigans Inc.
"" Voice acting isn't an RPG element....it's just a production value." - grumpymel2
It said limited supply on the initial article on the CO website. They didn't mention it in any of the followup emails they sent out, which is where a lot of people would have been getting their information. I managed to get a lifetime sub but I feel for the people who really wanted one and missed out. Since the end of the month was the cutoff date, a lot of people were waiting till then - pay day you know!
At the end of the day though, it's only a game. There are far more important things to feel outraged about if you look hard enough...
Stop defending Cryptic saying it always said limited supply. Cryptic themselves said they never expected they would run out before Sept 1st. The fact that they saw themselves running out and did nothing to fix the problem just makes the situation worse.
As for me, I thought long and hard about getting the lifetime deal before the OB started. It came down to faith. Will it be a good game or just good hype? I decided to wait and see. After the inexcusable problems they had at the opening of the beta followed by how that problem was handled half-assed with patching I felt good about waiting. After seeing the game's powers and XP are still in flux, and the huge lag problems people are having I waited longer. To be honest I still do not know if this game will survive. Not due to it being a bad game but poor planning.
We still have to see how the real start will go,
How will gold farmers be handled?
How will lag and server drops be handled for paying customers?
How (not what) will new content be handled?
In the final analysis I am not disappointed I did not get a lifetime membership.
I am disappointed that I never felt safe enough to buy it. I am disappointed in how the game is managed not the membership.
If I was sitting in a planning meeting with Cryptic/Atari I would ask their marketing people to weigh the effects of the rabid Anti-Champions demographic vs. the economics of more memberships.
Then I will ask if they are working for DC Online? Because I can not imagine more successful marketing for DCUO then what has happened now.
To re-state, this will be the first MMO to ever launch with a strong ANTI-fanbase.
Whatever happens I am sure it will be good experience for Roper. In his next job he can tell people it is bad to start a game with people at best having no confidence at worst outright hating you. He know's because he tried it.
Sorry, but I don't buy this. Smells awefully like a PR stunt to Hype the game.
The only reason I could see it had a limited supply was for the STO beta access bonus.
They could have easily removed that bonus item, saying sorry the amount of STO beta access slots are full.
And so people would at least still be able to get a Lifetime Sub or 6-month sub.
So again, I don't buy this statement at all! All fake PR to make things look better then they really are.
Just my 2cents.
You don't buy it? Ahhh so Cryptic is the real arch-nemesis, evil genius, mastermind not simply mismanaged and stupid. How super hero-like of you.
While i peronally always asumed it was going down before i could hve the funds to purches one (and after trying the beta) most likley would not have bought one anyhow. I have a different reason as to why i have n plans to get this game...
We were told about this total customisation were you could choos color and emanition point of your powers so i get ingame and sure i can change the color of my powers, that is nice but a truckload of powers just refuse to let me change were i shoot them from and then i can just as well stay with my old CoH.
Will be keeping an eye on this game tho to see how it developes.
This have been a good conversation
limited supply on virtual products? was worth a good laugh though.
I'll tell you what is a good laugh; reading posts by people who obviously have no idea what they are talking about.
cfurlin - "When are you flakey gamers going to realize that game development is a business."
Blocked - MMO_Doubter, Angelof2070
So Cryptic shows that they are greedy, shady company before launch...
Even Hellgate:London was better than this... I feel sorry for thoose getting the lifetime subs, but i hope that the STO beta will be worth it.
If WoW = The Beatles
and WAR = Led Zeppelin
Then LotrO = Pink Floyd
I was one of the lucky ones that got a Lifetime Sub. I'm not interested in CO really, got it for the guaranteed STO Beta. I will play it until STO comes out though. So I really have no reason to complain other than the fact that this shows just how shady Cryptic is. They never announced anywhere that supplies were limited until they posted that message on the front page (during a play session of Open Beta) and in the middle of the night (for the US) .
Personally I'm thinking it has more to do with available Beta Slots for STO than it does with CO. They are promising people beta slots with these promotions and know that it will be another HUGE PR blunder to let whoever just "signed up" in over someone that purchased their exclusive deal. They also promised people who complained about this "Exclusive Offer" and didn't want to pay for their way into STO beta that they will still have a chance to get in just by "signing up" .
Although I'm just speculating....I wonder if this means anyone that didn't get a lifetime/6mo offer or hasn't won a contest for a beta key from Cryptic pretty much out of luck with ever getting into STO beta.
Sold out my ass. This is Bill Roper's marketing mind at work to lure in more impulsive buying schmucks.
"What? Sold out? The game must be awesome. I gotta get it!"
Wait a day or two and they will extend the offer.
Lol,
I'm glad the open beta didn't capture my attention any. I would have otherwise been pissed by Cryptic's response to the situation. Sorry we screwed up, but we aren't going to fix up our own blunders?
You paid $200 for a game you're not interested in so you could get into STO beta? Really? heh eh ehe ehehehehehehehaaaaahahahah
I don't think so. You just bought access to the beta - not the date you get in if you know what i'm saying.
And personally i believe there will be other ways to get into beta sooner or later. Would be a bad choice to hype the beta so soon without anything left in the tank for later PR actions. So i wouldn't spend my money just to get into the STO beta - as large as the desire may be - it still just is a beta access.
You don't buy it? Ahhh so Cryptic is the real arch-nemesis, evil genius, mastermind not simply mismanaged and stupid. How super hero-like of you.
Because it is. Life Time Sub and 6-month sub offer is what is it about. The STO beta access is just an added perk or bonus to the existing offer!
That the STO beta access bonus runs out. That makes perfectly sense.
But running out of virtual goods like a LifeTime sub and 6-month sub. LOL!
Seriously! If they think that people would buy the LifeTime sub or 6-month sub offer ONLY for the STO beta access.
Well, then sorry, there must be something seriously wrong with this game.
Last time I remember with LifeTime sub offers for LOTRO... the players bought the LifeTime offer, because they had actually faith in the game and were planning to play it for a very long time!
I guess that is not the case with Champions Online.
How can one "sell out" of a virtual commodity? They may well have run out of STO beta slots to give away, but turning away $200 lock-ins for a game that may or may not succeed? That's madness.
Personally, I think the idea of bundling beta-invites of one game with another is stupid. STO and Champions are totally different systems, and totally different styles of games. I would suspect half those beta keys never get used. Half the ones that are used will be Champions fans who just want to poke at STO because the Champions servers are down, or they're bored in some other way. Only a fraction will actually WANT to play STO.
Oh, and if you spent $200 *just* to get in the STO beta... you need to think about your priorities. You could have sent that cash to ME and paid my cable + electric bill for the month! *grin*
You don't buy it? Ahhh so Cryptic is the real arch-nemesis, evil genius, mastermind not simply mismanaged and stupid. How super hero-like of you.
Because it is. Life Time Sub and 6-month sub offer is what is it about. The STO beta access is just an added perk or bonus to the existing offer!
That the STO beta access bonus runs out. That makes perfectly sense.
But running out of virtual goods like a LifeTime sub and 6-month sub. LOL!
Seriously! If they think that people would buy the LifeTime sub or 6-month sub offer ONLY for the STO beta access.
I see, then it was also their marketing plan to underestimate how many people would join the open beta and crash their server on purpose.
The plan continues with screwing up their patching server and making people have insanely long download time to force them into buying a membership to Fileplanet.
Finally, in their master stroke they again underestimate how many people would buy the discounted memberships and suddenly cancel them.
You are right that is far more likely than mismanagement and incompetence like I said.
Whoever does some regular shopping certainly have experienced sold out. Yeah, it is annoying but do you go and rage in the shop like you do with CO?
I see, then it was also their marketing plan to underestimate how many people would join the open beta and crash their server on purpose.
The plan continues with screwing up their patching server and making people have insanely long download time to force them into buying a membership to Fileplanet.
Finally, in their master stroke they again underestimate how many people would buy the discounted memberships and suddenly cancel them.
You are right that is far more likely than mismanagement and incompetence like I said.
Well incompetence and mismanagement is a related factor and is going ot bite them in the ass at release. That's a different matter.
Thinking that the stop on Life Time subs and 6-month offer is going to prevent the servers from crashing? lol.
What about the people that are buying the regular boxes in the store?
And I haven't heard about insanely long download times at Fileplanet. I only downloaded the client last friday, couple hours after it had opened up fully and I had the client downloaded in about an hour! Add the 24 min waiting line. I was done within 1 and half hour!
If you call that insanely long? lol.
I think it is complete and utter crap.
Cryptic has nothing to lose with offering as many lifetime subscriptions as people want to buy. While I imagine they are worried about the loss of revenue after the 14 month break-even point, they are planning micro-transactions as well. How many of the lifetimers are going to be playing this game for a straight 14 months anyway? It is poor business sense. Get the cash up front!
Hey, I didn't buy one, never planned to buy one, nor am I buying the game when it comes out. But I know there were people that wanted to and that is enough for me. It was poor planning and even poorer execution. I notice Cryptic never mentioned how many lifetime subscriptions it was selling. Was it 10 or 1000?
It is just a sad way to entice people to play their new game. I hope, for the sake of those that were going to buy the discounted subscriptions, that Cryptic changes their mind and lets it continue even after the game launch.
My head smells like buzzing
Personally I have zero sympathy.
Some people just look for absolutely anything they can to complain about we had more than enough time to take advantage of the offer if that was our intention at all.
I for one picked up 3 copies of the game and 3 of the lifetimes the second they were offered.
Having been with LOTRO since the beginning and knowing just how much money a lifetime sub can save you over the long haul I will ALWAYS buy lifetimes for any and every game I am interested in that offers them.
I just really wish Aion was offering a lifetime, but I tend to think that will never happen.
On a side note, Im sure eventually they will make the lifetime offer again just most likely sans the STO CB offer. Im sure thats the part causing the limited numbers. I mean think about it they really dont wanna try and run a closed beta with 10000+ testers.