Originally posted by VultureSkull Yeah maybe my point is not getting across. Let me try and explain again: If i pay for a life time sub, and then stop after 3 months then i lose. That i agree on. But I cannot see how Cryptic gain anyhting if I quit early. Cos they will not make any changes to their server or their development costs based on my quitting. They will not say "oh look one of our Life Time subs have quit we therefore do not need a server of X size anymore we can cut back and use a smaller." So if i played or not, it iwill not have any effect on Cryptic expenditure. One extra player on the server or the absence of one player will not have any effect on their costs. Hence no benefit to them if i quit early.
Besides the profit on the LS, you mean. Which is considerable.
I think you are saying that Cryptic does not want people to quit playing (other than a tiny reduction in operating costs). I agree with that point.
However, the point at which you quit is determined by how much you are enjoying the game. If you grow bored, you will quit playing - regardless of whether you are paying per month or on an LS. In fact, you are more likely to quit if you are paying monthly, as playing on an LS is free. Most players (and I know there are exceptions to this) not on LS will stop their account if they grow dissatisfied.
Cryptic doesn't really want you to quit early, but they do expect most players to, so the LS will make them more money. The shorter the subscription period, the more they make in profit.
The best scenario would be for everyone who is going to buy the game at release (or pre-order) to buy an LS as well. That would mean HUGE profits. They could shut the game down the next day, if they wanted, and probably would, as it would save them all the operating costs.
I am sorry but from your response you just cannot see what i am saying
Actually Lotro is perfect example of this faulty system. Lotro got like three or four times more free content updates between era SoA-MoM. It was a book update every 2 months. Player housing, 2 large zones, zone extensions, lots of dungeons, 2 long raids, class revamps, events, etc After MoM, the content updates stopped. It took them 6 months before pulling out an update that contained a few small dungeons. Later there was one raid added. The amount of content was extremly small since MoM. wrong Lotro is getting paid expansions more regularly than ever, with almost no free content updates in between. wrong And to add the final thing. Lotro did not lose played/hours according to xfire since a few months after release. If they remain the same amount of subscribers, where did all the man hours went? The answer is simple, large portion of the current playerbase in Lotro are lifetimers already, hence not paying anything other than for paid expansions. wrong As I said earlier, a game with lifetime has only three choices: Go Free to play later or with microtransactions. Stop adding free updates, but only paid expansions. Or SHUT DOWN. wrong The only games in the history that offered lifetime so far was : Lotro, Hellgate London, Champions Online.
Like always you are completly wrong Thillian... LotrO recived more content this year than most MMOs including WoW. So maybe the lifetime offer had a positive effect so they could make alot of content after release which turns your arguments against you. After the first 6months the LotrO updates became smaller and less frequent (after book 11). They said since release that they were going to have 1 paid expansion each year and that is what they have done. And they have not added microtransactions to LotrO but WoW already have it even though they dont have lifetime!
The big difference between LotrO and STO is that you didnt have to choose lifetime untill AFTER launch, as long as you were a founder you could wait how long you wanted untill you activated it. That is why forcing people to decide before launch is a scam.
If WoW = The Beatles and WAR = Led Zeppelin Then LotrO = Pink Floyd
Do not preorder - or buy lifetime subs of ANY games. Never - ever.
The fact that they are adding Borg as ONLY awailable if you have lifetime sub is a disgrace and once again shows how a gaming developer and a publisher is NOT thinking about the game - ONLY the money they could make. And ofc Im talking about the money they could make BEFORE the game is even launched - and ppl might realise that its not even playable.
Do NOT preorder
Do NOT buy lifetime subs.
The gamers can influence how we want to see the future. And we want games to play. Thats all. The job of the developer is to release the game in playable state and THEN the gamers can buy them IF they like what they see from trials, from reviews - but MAINLY what they hear from other gamers.
Kakarotage, not everyone enjoys World of Warcraft or even considers it a quality game. WoW is nothing new. Just a basic dungeon raid game only with MMO elements attached. I have been playing RPGs for over 20 years and every MMORPG out there is seems to be a variation on the classic formula. STO is another genre altogether, and hopefully it will prove it's worth to the Star Trek franchise.
WoW is a basic dungeon game but it's created with topnotch quality (I'm talking animation, character movement sound etc)
I would be happy to play STO or games in the genre but it's just poorly poorly created.
World of Warcraft is a proof that MMORPG quality should affect schedule/budget and not the other way around.
Actually Lotro is perfect example of this faulty system. Lotro got like three or four times more free content updates between era SoA-MoM. It was a book update every 2 months. Player housing, 2 large zones, zone extensions, lots of dungeons, 2 long raids, class revamps, events, etc After MoM, the content updates stopped. It took them 6 months before pulling out an update that contained a few small dungeons. Later there was one raid added. The amount of content was extremly small since MoM. wrong Lotro is getting paid expansions more regularly than ever, with almost no free content updates in between. wrong And to add the final thing. Lotro did not lose played/hours according to xfire since a few months after release. If they remain the same amount of subscribers, where did all the man hours went? The answer is simple, large portion of the current playerbase in Lotro are lifetimers already, hence not paying anything other than for paid expansions. wrong As I said earlier, a game with lifetime has only three choices: Go Free to play later or with microtransactions. Stop adding free updates, but only paid expansions. Or SHUT DOWN. wrong The only games in the history that offered lifetime so far was : Lotro, Hellgate London, Champions Online.
Like always you are completly wrong Thillian... LotrO recived more content this year than most MMOs including WoW. So maybe the lifetime offer had a positive effect so they could make alot of content after release which turns your arguments against you. After the first 6months the LotrO updates became smaller and less frequent (after book 11). They said since release that they were going to have 1 paid expansion each year and that is what they have done. And they have not added microtransactions to LotrO but WoW already have it even though they dont have lifetime!
The big difference between LotrO and STO is that you didnt have to choose lifetime untill AFTER launch, as long as you were a founder you could wait how long you wanted untill you activated it. That is why forcing people to decide before launch is a scam.
SoA-MoM Free updates:
Book 9: Shores of Evendim
The first free content update was released on June 14, 2007.[14]
Updates included:
Discovery of Evendim
Over 100 new quests
Raid in the Battle for Helegrod
Nine new monsters
Collectible armour sets
Book 10: The City of the Kings
The second free-content update was released on August 21, 2007 in North America and on August 24, 2007 in Europe.[15]
Updates included:
Continuation of the Story Line.
Legendary Play – Players can now use Destiny Points to play as a Ranger of the North or as a Troll.
Critter Play – Players can now explore Middle-earth from a different viewpoint as a chicken.
New Reputation and Bartering Systems – The Reputation system enables players to earn positive and negative standing with different races and groups in Middle-earth based on both monster kills and quest completions. The Bartering system allows players to trade trophies earned in battle for rewards, such as armour sets or mounts.
Over 100 new Quests.
More customizable user interface.
Book 11: Defenders of Eriador
The third free-content update was released on October 24, 2007 in North America[16] and October 25 in Europe.[17]
Updates include (complete release notes):
Continuation of the Epic Story arc, including 13 quests.
Player housing – players will be able to customize their houses with items such as furniture and doormats.
Second raid called "The Rift" – 12-player raid in which players encounter a Balrog for the first time. Turbine has stressed that this is not the Balrog from Khazad-dûm.[18]
Two new areas – Tâl Bruinen in the Trollshaws, where Gollum will be introduced for the first time, and Goblin-town in the Misty Mountains, featured in The Hobbit.
More than 100 new quests.
Book 12: The Ashen Wastes
The fourth free content update was released on February 13, 2008 in North America; and February 14, 2008 in Europe.
Updates include (complete release notes):
Continuation of the Story Line.
Character customization - Increased character customization "ranging from haircuts, to some (possible) additions to the trait-system." In addition, the Outfit system, along with many special social clothing designed just for it, will be introduced where a second or third set of clothing can be slotted and displayed while retaining the statistical bonuses of the currently equipped items.[19]
The Delving of Frór - A new Monster Play PVE (and PVMP under certain circumstances) area will be introduced: An expanse of caves and catacombs located beneath the Ettenmoors.
The Great Angmar Revamp - A revamp of the most high-level region of the game's current 9 PvE regions. The revamp included the reworking of many quests, areas and other changes, such as new horse routes.
Barbershop - You can customize the look of your avatar in-game with around 50 new haircuts and second set of details.[citation needed]
Updates to the Burglar, Guardian, and Champion classes.
Book 13: Doom of the Last-King
The fifth free content update was released on April 24, 2008 in North America and on May 1, 2008 in Europe.
Updates include (complete release notes):
A new playable map area: the Ice Bay of Forochel.
Players being able to see the ocean for the first time, confirmed as the Ice Bay of Forochel in recent developer chats.
Fishing - the first of a new system in Lord of the Rings Online, called 'hobbies'.
New PVMP Monster Healing Class - Orc Defiler.
Looking For Fellowship- and Quest-panel improvements.
Book 14: The Ring-forges of Eregion
The sixth free content update was released on July 22, 2008 in North America. It was released on July 24, 2008 in Europe.
Updates include (complete release notes):
Climax of the "Shadows of Angmar" storyline.
Added selected sections of Eregion (Region leading towards the Gates of Moria).
Epic Quest events that will allow interaction between players regardless of server.
Prelude quests for and leading up to the Mines of Moria expansion. Which will have updates leading to Lothlórien, Fangorn, Rhovanion and Rohan.
Book 15: Daughter of Strife
The seventh free content update was released on November 18, 2008. This update was released in tandem with the Mines of Moria expansion for players who did not purchase the expansion release.
Updates include ([5]):
Conclusion of the "Shadows of Angmar" storyline.
Added the zone of Eregion expanding on the selected sections from Book 14. The zone does not include the Hollin Gate leading to the Black Pool.
Added UI enhancements
Moria - SoM Free updates: Moria released: October 2008.
Book 7: 17th march 2009
Over 50 new quests!
New area zone - Lorien, half-sized of other regular zones.
The epic story continues with 9 chapters and 4 instances!
New faction: Elves of Lothlórien
Book 8: 9th June 2009
New raid: Dar Narbugud.
3 new three man instances
Enhanced new player experience
SoM Release: December, 2009
While you talk the same crap over and over and over Papadam, I just provided the FACTS: the chronology of the book updates with dates and their highlighted additions.
Number of subscribers did not decrease in Lotro, yet the amount of updates went down by three or four times as I previously mentioned.
Let's not compare the amount of content that was added to Lotro between MoM and SoA with other games please.
Don't start saying SoA is content addition. I was talking about free updates. Lotro had lifetime offer. The downward free updates are evident. Lotro is turning into a game with monthly subscribtion, no free updates, and with regular paid expansions.
I'd be very careful about dishing out that kind of money if I were you guys, you better be very sure you're going to want to play it for an extended period of time. The deadline for the offer is February 1st and you have to pre-order I believe so it sounds to me like they're trying to milk it for all it's worth before people realize how shallow the game is.
Just my two cents but I'd be very leery of it.
"Censorship is never over for those who have experienced it. It is a brand on the imagination that affects the individual who has suffered it, forever." - Noam Chomsky
The fact that they are adding Borg as ONLY awailable if you have lifetime sub is a disgrace and once again shows how a gaming developer and a publisher is NOT thinking about the game - ONLY the money they could make.
Why is it a disgrace to add Borg as only available for LSubbers?
Doing it this way is far better then allowing all subbers to be Borg, cos if they did then everyone would be Borg. This will limit it.
The same problem occured, more or less in SWG, where everyone wanted to be the Jedi class, at frist it required completion of a long and hard quest chain before you could become a Jedi, (which would not work here as Borg is a race, chosen when you start the game, whereas Jedi is class, which you can grow into as u play). I think later they made it much easier to be a Jedi resulting in 1000s of Jedis running around.
So they are thinking about the game, cos left to you we would all be Borg, so in fact it is you who is not thinking about the game. Or would like a game where 98% of everyone you meet is Borg?
For a Star Trek game, this one is extremely well made, but then you don't have many decent Star Trek games to compare it with. I have every confidence it will only get better. I also preorder the Collector's Editions because they are extremely difficult to obtain and the extras, for me, are well worth it. I do thoroughly enjoy this game, and if Cryptic does extend the offer to March 1st later, I will likely get a lifetime subscription, especially considering I get periods where I get busy and then get slow periods in my life.
Personally, I would like to see Borg characters, but I don't think even half of the people would make that choice. With so many races, there really is a flavor for everyone. I think the best way to add extra races is a microtransaction model, since then having a bunch of extra race information in the client would bog down the computer you play on obviously. It is not unlike many P2P mmos that allow you to add on extras for a small fee. I want to see Romulans, Cardassians, and other iconic races made available.
I can not understand the black lash against this offer. We are consumers and Cryptic are offering us a CHOICE. This is the basis of the free market states that we all leave in. No one forces us do anything..... It is up to you to take it or leave it. Ofc no one knows what will happen in the future but at the end of the day it is a choice. Your choice. I commend Cryptic for offering this choice to its consumers!
I choose to get all content that has been made for the game on launch day, without having to give them an arm or a leg. I am very worried that other developers may try the same crap.
Vault-Tec analysts have concluded that the odds of worldwide nuclear armaggeddon this decade are 17,143,762... to 1.
I hope it does not end in that short a time. There is clearly a lot they can do with it, but it will take time. It is not easy to get this franchise correct and they are doing admirably, compared to some previous attempts. Everyone thinks WoW will take every subscriber away from every game. One day even it will go the wayside. The great thing about STO is there really aren't that many sci-fi mmos out there and this is a uniquely positioned one.
Had to have one after formulating an opinion the game is good enough for one - for me anyway.
This tells me all I need to know about the game. I have been playing beta but if AmazingAvery says its a good game then I know it will take at least a year for it to become playable based on his AoC rants in the past.
Thanks AmazingAvery, you made this choice very easy. I will be passing.
Originally posted by VultureSkull You still have not explained how it is a great deal for Cryptic, simply repeating over and over will not make it true you know!
Either you are not making your point clear, or your math is seriously flawed.
$240 is a lot more money than $75. Is that not clear?
Yeah maybe my point is not getting across, nothing to do with maths.
Let me try and explain again:
If i pay for a life time sub, and then stop after 3 months then i lose. That i agree on.
But I cannot see how Cryptic gain anyhting if I quit early. Cos they will not make any changes to their server or their development costs based on my quitting. They will not say "oh look one of our Life Time subs have quit we therefore do not need a server of X size anymore we can cut back and use a smaller server."
So if i played or not, it iwill not have any effect on Cryptic expenditure. One extra player on the server or the absence of one player will not have any effect on their costs. Hence no benefit to them if i quit early.
If, when i quit, Crytic could reduce the supply of their service then they will benefit, if the supply remains unchanged (which is will) then they will not gain anything from my quitting.
Ulitmately Crytics cost are fixed and not variable based on one or two subs.
(AND even if they could reduce the servuice after i quit, they would not cos i could always come back, since i have a life time sub, and then they would have to increase the service again. )
I get what you are saying... and you are wrong.
You would be right IF (and only if) your lifetime sub guaranteed that you could always log in and play on demand - but it doesn't do that. It doesn't do that at release - and it won't do that in 3 months or a year from now.
Cryptic will maintain a number of servers based on population in game. They will allow for some load variation based on peak loads on weekends, holidays and special events.
But what they won't do is continue to maintain idle servers based on the possibility that all of their lifetime sub members all suddenly decide to log in together at once a year from now.
If that was ever to happen and they had removed servers do to a falling population (or hours played) then the harsh reality is that many of those people would not be able to log in. Lifetime sub or not.
And what can you do about it?
Say "I have a lifetime sub - so it's my RIGHT to play ON DEMAND!"?
Well, you can say that, but it makes no difference. Because somewhere in the terms and conditions it will say you are not guaranteed to be able to play every time you try to log in. And no court would support you either because that is simply 'unreasonable'.
So that means that if you pay a lifetime sub - yes Cryptic get your money - and yes if you stop playing (along with many others) they can reduce their services. They can cut servers and customer support and a host of other things.
They are NOT obliged to maintain a full service for years to come on the off chance you might decide to log in.
I can not understand the black lash against this offer. We are consumers and Cryptic are offering us a CHOICE. This is the basis of the free market states that we all leave in. No one forces us do anything..... It is up to you to take it or leave it. Ofc no one knows what will happen in the future but at the end of the day it is a choice. Your choice. I commend Cryptic for offering this choice to its consumers!
I choose to get all content that has been made for the game on launch day, without having to give them an arm or a leg. I am very worried that other developers may try the same crap.
No-one is saying you have to give them an arm and a leg,I do not see anywhere that it says "to play this game you must have a lifetime sub"
It is an option,If I am out for a meal with my wife and the waiter asks if I would like to see the wine list I do not start shouting at him because he offered me something extra..I either accept and pay for the wine or just say no thanks and I go on and enjoy my meal.
I think quite a few are just complaining as they seen a chance to complain about something.
If someone had came up to me in 1980 when I was on my Atari 2600 and said we will be playing games with thousands of people at the same time.I guess my response would have been,"but I only have 2 joysticks"
After the Hellgate:London disaster i dont think too many ppl will jump on the life sub bandwagon. It does work for Turbine games though!
(AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH teaches Hugh Hefner and the 2009 models to dance at the playboy mansion!)
All my opinions are just that..opinions. If you like my opinions..coolness.If you dont like my opinion....I really dont care. Playing: ESO, WOT, Smite, and Marvel Heroes
For a Star Trek game, this one is extremely well made, but then you don't have many decent Star Trek games to compare it with. I have every confidence it will only get better. I also preorder the Collector's Editions because they are extremely difficult to obtain and the extras, for me, are well worth it. I do thoroughly enjoy this game, and if Cryptic does extend the offer to March 1st later, I will likely get a lifetime subscription, especially considering I get periods where I get busy and then get slow periods in my life.
Decent Star Trek games ARE a rarity, IMO. Bridge Commander was pretty decent, and there was an old Super Nintendo Next Generation game that was likable at the time. That's about it.
Bringing Star Trek to MMO's is without a doubt a huge and tricky undertaking, and I don't envy Cryptic for the undertaking. That said, I haven't seen ANYTHING in game that makes me think, "ah, that was pretty clever of them to resolve this issue this way, which allows them to bring this aspect of the IP into the game as an enjoyable gameplay feature...", etc.
Instead, I see: Everyone wants to be a captain(no, I'm not advocating PC crews). No one wants more than one solution to a problem(ground diplomacy). Explorers will be happy mining nodes, and those nodes will have nothing more than stuff to turn in to get stuff, and despite being called something interesting, won't even be slightly interesting.
Again, all this could be different as you increase in rank, and by all means, please provide evidence that I'm wrong; I'd love to hear it. But from what I've seen, we have two modes of gameplay; shooting/collecting stuff on the ground, shooting/collecting stuff in space. And if diplomacy is(as I have experienced) a matter of running around reading dialogue from a handful of people, and repeating it to the mission contact, there's not much there, either.
Do not preorder - or buy lifetime subs of ANY games. Never - ever. The fact that they are adding Borg as ONLY awailable if you have lifetime sub is a disgrace and once again shows how a gaming developer and a publisher is NOT thinking about the game - ONLY the money they could make. And ofc Im talking about the money they could make BEFORE the game is even launched - and ppl might realise that its not even playable. Do NOT preorder
Do NOT buy lifetime subs.
The gamers can influence how we want to see the future. And we want games to play. Thats all. The job of the developer is to release the game in playable state and THEN the gamers can buy them IF they like what they see from trials, from reviews - but MAINLY what they hear from other gamers.
I couldn't agree more. I can't think of a single solid reason why the lifetime sub can't be offered until at least the end of the first month post-release. Call it what you want, but I see that as both a chain-yank on the usual gamer's impulse of "I gotta get it now, or else! ARGGH!!" and a lack of confidence in customer rentention. I know retention is likely one of the biggest problems developers face, but moves like this make that especially clear.
And about "selling" an exclusive race, I don't know, maybe the industry's changing and I don't realize; but why are developers selling their game in pieces like this? Don't even get me started on how terrible RMTs can be. How soon until devs decide to create their game in such a way that they make money off of every single aspect of it? Sorry, expansions is where I draw the line. I figured selling a box (or...simply a retail key to access the game...) and latching on a monthly fee was enough...but I guess I'm wrong. Either developers really need it or they're just being greedy while putting up smoke and mirrors. Whatever happened to simply making a fun game, I thought gamers liked those? "Businesses need to make money, DUH" - I don't want to hear it. There's a difference between creating and selling a game to make money and creating a money-making vehicle disguised as a game. The latter is the foundation for craptasticness.
Sure, I may have the wrong impression of Cryptic, but I hate the way they market their games, which I personally feel are quite shallow. Hell - and I'm sure Atari influenced this - their games feel very "arcadey" compared to more engaging MMOs. Maybe the players are to blame; it seems like this is all of question of lack of faith in one's product vs. being realistic about how rigid the industry can be. But again, these are all just my thoughts.
It's a huge gamble I'd never take, but for anyone who decides or has decided to partake in it, I hope you can enjoy the game for at least 15-16 month's and get your money's worth. CO showed us a lot of (significant) things can change (significantly) on release day and thereafter.
I think everyone needs to try and play the beta(there are keys left) and decide if the game is for them. There are areas where it is still a bit rough, which is normal for any new mmo, but being not playable is a bit of a stretch. I do think the space battles are overly simplified(i want the ability to have a more custom space experience), but the ground missions are truly engaging(no pun intended).
Originally posted by VultureSkull You still have not explained how it is a great deal for Cryptic, simply repeating over and over will not make it true you know!
Either you are not making your point clear, or your math is seriously flawed.
$240 is a lot more money than $75. Is that not clear?
Yeah maybe my point is not getting across, nothing to do with maths.
Let me try and explain again:
If i pay for a life time sub, and then stop after 3 months then i lose. That i agree on.
But I cannot see how Cryptic gain anyhting if I quit early. Cos they will not make any changes to their server or their development costs based on my quitting. They will not say "oh look one of our Life Time subs have quit we therefore do not need a server of X size anymore we can cut back and use a smaller server."
So if i played or not, it iwill not have any effect on Cryptic expenditure. One extra player on the server or the absence of one player will not have any effect on their costs. Hence no benefit to them if i quit early.
If, when i quit, Crytic could reduce the supply of their service then they will benefit, if the supply remains unchanged (which is will) then they will not gain anything from my quitting.
Ulitmately Crytics cost are fixed and not variable based on one or two subs.
(AND even if they could reduce the servuice after i quit, they would not cos i could always come back, since i have a life time sub, and then they would have to increase the service again. )
I get what you are saying... and you are wrong.
You would be right IF (and only if) your lifetime sub guaranteed that you could always log in and play on demand - but it doesn't do that. It doesn't do that at release - and it won't do that in 3 months or a year from now.
Cryptic will maintain a number of servers based on population in game. They will allow for some load variation based on peak loads on weekends, holidays and special events.
But what they won't do is continue to maintain idle servers based on the possibility that all of their lifetime sub members all suddenly decide to log in together at once a year from now.
If that was ever to happen and they had removed servers do to a falling population (or hours played) then the harsh reality is that many of those people would not be able to log in. Lifetime sub or not.
And what can you do about it?
Say "I have a lifetime sub - so it's my RIGHT to play ON DEMAND!"?
Well, you can say that, but it makes no difference. Because somewhere in the terms and conditions it will say you are not guaranteed to be able to play every time you try to log in. And no court would support you either because that is simply 'unreasonable'.
So that means that if you pay a lifetime sub - yes Cryptic get your money - and yes if you stop playing (along with many others) they can reduce their services. They can cut servers and customer support and a host of other things.
They are NOT obliged to maintain a full service for years to come on the off chance you might decide to log in.
Yeah i see what you are saying and u are right however you seem to be getting bogged down by my statement that they have to maintain servers incase the LS come back. That is just a side point.
The main point i was trying to get across is that Cryptic would not gain anything from a Life time subber quiting the game. If they quit after 2 months then Cryptic would not automatically make $200 ($230 - (2 X $15) =$200) as MMO DOubter seems to think, as their costs would not decrease if one LS leaves.
I don't think they have announced per say an item mall but judging by their other games its coming.
I like to pay my fee for the servers and game patches and fixes and perhaps the trouble shooting and general release of content and hell even for a expansion if it has a lot of new content.
But once again... I will pay my fee and buy my game and play but seriously item mall/game/subscription/ and expansions.
Seems like its a bit much right?
I may even be willing to work with the whole item mall buying the game thing... but seriously... I have to pay for my net, my computer my electricity along with all the other bills in life.
I remember when gaming used to be something I did for fun or perhaps a hobby.
Seems to me the more and more gaming companies are trying to turn it into an addiction and one that you must feed. Buy this buy this, as we slide it under the door in small payments.
I play Atlantica and I realize they have an item mall... but at least its free and somewhat Item mall vs. in game itemization balanced.
Anyway I guess this is a plea to keep gaming a fun hobby and not a time consuming investment of my dollars where everyone is trying to get a piece of the pie while giving as little as possible as far as game content. Oh and for heavens sake just to throw a book on the fire something a little different than the WoW/War/Aion/DAoC/EQ/AC/RF/OU/Lineage/FF11 the list goes on way of playing and structure of the game... sure you change the talent style/level progression/trade skills but it still goes down to grinding a lot, leveling a lot and getting a limit few ways to customize.
Oh, and I know people are going to troll a bit but not to hate On the prior games... some of these were my favorites of all time... FOR THERE TIME
$290 for a game? No thanks, it will get old after 2 months and you guys will be back here crying because you wasted your money (look at how fast Champions Online got old). We should be able to buy a game and actually get ALL of the same content in it, not be forced to pay these outrageous prices just to get the good stuff...
And like said before, you still have to buy the expansion packs. This company is in it to make as much money as they can, not caring if they ruin their image or startrek's image.
Exactly right. It's almost comical how shameless this is.
I don't think I have to explain what I think of this 'offer' to the regulars here.
Selling entire player races now?
Its not a whole race ! Its a liberated borg AKA an avatar choice.
Wow, ... on the one hand a playable race for the lifers is a big deal, but ultimately they are selling the race, not just the lifetime sub. The main issue will be 3 months down the line when they release the borg race as a Micro Transaction, and then suddenly those that took advantage of this "deal" suddenly become just another guy who overpaid for their product.
I really don't like the way cryptic is handling this... but judging from the popularity of their games recently, I guess they have to make money somehow.
And you know full well that is going to happen. To me, Cryptic is nothing more than one of those sleazy, shady people you get at one of those games at your local carnival, but on a grander scale.
As someone that fell in love with MMOs due in large part to CoH, it's sad to see how far they have fallen.
Do not preorder - or buy lifetime subs of ANY games. Never - ever. The fact that they are adding Borg as ONLY awailable if you have lifetime sub is a disgrace and once again shows how a gaming developer and a publisher is NOT thinking about the game - ONLY the money they could make. And ofc Im talking about the money they could make BEFORE the game is even launched - and ppl might realise that its not even playable. Do NOT preorder
Do NOT buy lifetime subs.
The gamers can influence how we want to see the future. And we want games to play. Thats all. The job of the developer is to release the game in playable state and THEN the gamers can buy them IF they like what they see from trials, from reviews - but MAINLY what they hear from other gamers.
I couldn't agree more. I can't think of a single solid reason why the lifetime sub can't be offered until at least the end of the first month post-release. Call it what you want, but I see that as both a chain-yank on the usual gamer's impulse of "I gotta get it now, or else! ARGGH!!" and a lack of confidence in customer rentention. I know retention is likely one of the biggest problems developers face, but moves like this make that especially clear.
And about "selling" an exclusive race, I don't know, maybe the industry's changing and I don't realize; but why are developers selling their game in pieces like this? Don't even get me started on how terrible RMTs can be. How soon until devs decide to create their game in such a way that they make money off of every single aspect of it? Sorry, expansions is where I draw the line. I figured selling a box (or...simply a retail key to access the game...) and latching on a monthly fee was enough...but I guess I'm wrong. Either developers really need it or they're just being greedy while putting up smoke and mirrors. Whatever happened to simply making a fun game, I thought gamers liked those? "Businesses need to make money, DUH" - I don't want to hear it. There's a difference between creating and selling a game to make money and creating a money-making vehicle disguised as a game. The latter is the foundation for craptasticness.
Sure, I may have the wrong impression of Cryptic, but I hate the way they market their games, which I personally feel are quite shallow. Hell - and I'm sure Atari influenced this - their games feel very "arcadey" compared to more engaging MMOs. Maybe the players are to blame; it seems like this is all of question of lack of faith in one's product vs. being realistic about how rigid the industry can be. But again, these are all just my thoughts.
It's a huge gamble I'd never take, but for anyone who decides or has decided to partake in it, I hope you can enjoy the game for at least 15-16 month's and get your money's worth. CO showed us a lot of (significant) things can change (significantly) on release day and thereafter.
Yeah you draw the line at Expansions, which, like it or not, is a massive form of RMT. And like it or not RMT is unofficial rife in almost all games(MMOs), made available by Gold Sellers.
Let me ask you : what the difference between going to an RMT and buying an item with real cash and going to buy gold from a gold seller with real cash and then buying same item from the auction house? Answer= RMT is safe and you wont get your cc details stolen etc.
And finally, there are a lot of moaners that complain that MMO companies want to make money and the same people complain that games are not released complete, polished and content rich.
If MMO devs dont make money how on earth are they going to make the games you want? You think your government subsidises them lol!
It is not as if the MMO producers are rolling in cash, it is a poor industry and the only ones who will pay for it are the players(us). So either pay up or shut down cos you cannot have your cake and eat it!! Sounds like you want free entertainment load of cheap skates!
My God guys wake up and smell the coffee already!!
Comments
Besides the profit on the LS, you mean. Which is considerable.
I think you are saying that Cryptic does not want people to quit playing (other than a tiny reduction in operating costs). I agree with that point.
However, the point at which you quit is determined by how much you are enjoying the game. If you grow bored, you will quit playing - regardless of whether you are paying per month or on an LS. In fact, you are more likely to quit if you are paying monthly, as playing on an LS is free. Most players (and I know there are exceptions to this) not on LS will stop their account if they grow dissatisfied.
Cryptic doesn't really want you to quit early, but they do expect most players to, so the LS will make them more money. The shorter the subscription period, the more they make in profit.
The best scenario would be for everyone who is going to buy the game at release (or pre-order) to buy an LS as well. That would mean HUGE profits. They could shut the game down the next day, if they wanted, and probably would, as it would save them all the operating costs.
I am sorry but from your response you just cannot see what i am saying
Like always you are completly wrong Thillian... LotrO recived more content this year than most MMOs including WoW. So maybe the lifetime offer had a positive effect so they could make alot of content after release which turns your arguments against you. After the first 6months the LotrO updates became smaller and less frequent (after book 11). They said since release that they were going to have 1 paid expansion each year and that is what they have done. And they have not added microtransactions to LotrO but WoW already have it even though they dont have lifetime!
The big difference between LotrO and STO is that you didnt have to choose lifetime untill AFTER launch, as long as you were a founder you could wait how long you wanted untill you activated it. That is why forcing people to decide before launch is a scam.
If WoW = The Beatles
and WAR = Led Zeppelin
Then LotrO = Pink Floyd
Ohhh my. This game must be really bad.
Do not preorder - or buy lifetime subs of ANY games. Never - ever.
The fact that they are adding Borg as ONLY awailable if you have lifetime sub is a disgrace and once again shows how a gaming developer and a publisher is NOT thinking about the game - ONLY the money they could make. And ofc Im talking about the money they could make BEFORE the game is even launched - and ppl might realise that its not even playable.
Do NOT preorder
Do NOT buy lifetime subs.
The gamers can influence how we want to see the future. And we want games to play. Thats all. The job of the developer is to release the game in playable state and THEN the gamers can buy them IF they like what they see from trials, from reviews - but MAINLY what they hear from other gamers.
WoW is a basic dungeon game but it's created with topnotch quality (I'm talking animation, character movement sound etc)
I would be happy to play STO or games in the genre but it's just poorly poorly created.
World of Warcraft is a proof that MMORPG quality should affect schedule/budget and not the other way around.
Like always you are completly wrong Thillian... LotrO recived more content this year than most MMOs including WoW. So maybe the lifetime offer had a positive effect so they could make alot of content after release which turns your arguments against you. After the first 6months the LotrO updates became smaller and less frequent (after book 11). They said since release that they were going to have 1 paid expansion each year and that is what they have done. And they have not added microtransactions to LotrO but WoW already have it even though they dont have lifetime!
The big difference between LotrO and STO is that you didnt have to choose lifetime untill AFTER launch, as long as you were a founder you could wait how long you wanted untill you activated it. That is why forcing people to decide before launch is a scam.
SoA-MoM Free updates:
Book 9: Shores of Evendim
The first free content update was released on June 14, 2007.[14]
Updates included:
Discovery of Evendim
Over 100 new quests
Raid in the Battle for Helegrod
Nine new monsters
Collectible armour sets
Book 10: The City of the Kings
The second free-content update was released on August 21, 2007 in North America and on August 24, 2007 in Europe.[15]
Updates included:
Continuation of the Story Line.
Legendary Play – Players can now use Destiny Points to play as a Ranger of the North or as a Troll.
Critter Play – Players can now explore Middle-earth from a different viewpoint as a chicken.
New Reputation and Bartering Systems – The Reputation system enables players to earn positive and negative standing with different races and groups in Middle-earth based on both monster kills and quest completions. The Bartering system allows players to trade trophies earned in battle for rewards, such as armour sets or mounts.
Over 100 new Quests.
More customizable user interface.
Book 11: Defenders of Eriador
The third free-content update was released on October 24, 2007 in North America[16] and October 25 in Europe.[17]
Updates include (complete release notes):
Continuation of the Epic Story arc, including 13 quests.
Player housing – players will be able to customize their houses with items such as furniture and doormats.
Second raid called "The Rift" – 12-player raid in which players encounter a Balrog for the first time. Turbine has stressed that this is not the Balrog from Khazad-dûm.[18]
Two new areas – Tâl Bruinen in the Trollshaws, where Gollum will be introduced for the first time, and Goblin-town in the Misty Mountains, featured in The Hobbit.
More than 100 new quests.
Book 12: The Ashen Wastes
The fourth free content update was released on February 13, 2008 in North America; and February 14, 2008 in Europe.
Updates include (complete release notes):
Continuation of the Story Line.
Character customization - Increased character customization "ranging from haircuts, to some (possible) additions to the trait-system." In addition, the Outfit system, along with many special social clothing designed just for it, will be introduced where a second or third set of clothing can be slotted and displayed while retaining the statistical bonuses of the currently equipped items.[19]
The Delving of Frór - A new Monster Play PVE (and PVMP under certain circumstances) area will be introduced: An expanse of caves and catacombs located beneath the Ettenmoors.
The Great Angmar Revamp - A revamp of the most high-level region of the game's current 9 PvE regions. The revamp included the reworking of many quests, areas and other changes, such as new horse routes.
Barbershop - You can customize the look of your avatar in-game with around 50 new haircuts and second set of details.[citation needed]
Updates to the Burglar, Guardian, and Champion classes.
Book 13: Doom of the Last-King
The fifth free content update was released on April 24, 2008 in North America and on May 1, 2008 in Europe.
Updates include (complete release notes):
A new playable map area: the Ice Bay of Forochel.
Players being able to see the ocean for the first time, confirmed as the Ice Bay of Forochel in recent developer chats.
Fishing - the first of a new system in Lord of the Rings Online, called 'hobbies'.
New PVMP Monster Healing Class - Orc Defiler.
Looking For Fellowship- and Quest-panel improvements.
Book 14: The Ring-forges of Eregion
The sixth free content update was released on July 22, 2008 in North America. It was released on July 24, 2008 in Europe.
Updates include (complete release notes):
Climax of the "Shadows of Angmar" storyline.
Added selected sections of Eregion (Region leading towards the Gates of Moria).
Epic Quest events that will allow interaction between players regardless of server.
Prelude quests for and leading up to the Mines of Moria expansion. Which will have updates leading to Lothlórien, Fangorn, Rhovanion and Rohan.
Book 15: Daughter of Strife
The seventh free content update was released on November 18, 2008. This update was released in tandem with the Mines of Moria expansion for players who did not purchase the expansion release.
Updates include ([5]):
Conclusion of the "Shadows of Angmar" storyline.
Added the zone of Eregion expanding on the selected sections from Book 14. The zone does not include the Hollin Gate leading to the Black Pool.
Added UI enhancements
Moria - SoM Free updates: Moria released: October 2008.
Book 7: 17th march 2009
Book 8: 9th June 2009
SoM Release: December, 2009
While you talk the same crap over and over and over Papadam, I just provided the FACTS: the chronology of the book updates with dates and their highlighted additions.
Number of subscribers did not decrease in Lotro, yet the amount of updates went down by three or four times as I previously mentioned.
Let's not compare the amount of content that was added to Lotro between MoM and SoA with other games please.
Don't start saying SoA is content addition. I was talking about free updates. Lotro had lifetime offer. The downward free updates are evident. Lotro is turning into a game with monthly subscribtion, no free updates, and with regular paid expansions.
REALITY CHECK
I'd be very careful about dishing out that kind of money if I were you guys, you better be very sure you're going to want to play it for an extended period of time. The deadline for the offer is February 1st and you have to pre-order I believe so it sounds to me like they're trying to milk it for all it's worth before people realize how shallow the game is.
Just my two cents but I'd be very leery of it.
"Censorship is never over for those who have experienced it. It is a brand on the imagination that affects the individual who has suffered it, forever." - Noam Chomsky
Why is it a disgrace to add Borg as only available for LSubbers?
Doing it this way is far better then allowing all subbers to be Borg, cos if they did then everyone would be Borg. This will limit it.
The same problem occured, more or less in SWG, where everyone wanted to be the Jedi class, at frist it required completion of a long and hard quest chain before you could become a Jedi, (which would not work here as Borg is a race, chosen when you start the game, whereas Jedi is class, which you can grow into as u play). I think later they made it much easier to be a Jedi resulting in 1000s of Jedis running around.
So they are thinking about the game, cos left to you we would all be Borg, so in fact it is you who is not thinking about the game. Or would like a game where 98% of everyone you meet is Borg?
For a Star Trek game, this one is extremely well made, but then you don't have many decent Star Trek games to compare it with. I have every confidence it will only get better. I also preorder the Collector's Editions because they are extremely difficult to obtain and the extras, for me, are well worth it. I do thoroughly enjoy this game, and if Cryptic does extend the offer to March 1st later, I will likely get a lifetime subscription, especially considering I get periods where I get busy and then get slow periods in my life.
Personally, I would like to see Borg characters, but I don't think even half of the people would make that choice. With so many races, there really is a flavor for everyone. I think the best way to add extra races is a microtransaction model, since then having a bunch of extra race information in the client would bog down the computer you play on obviously. It is not unlike many P2P mmos that allow you to add on extras for a small fee. I want to see Romulans, Cardassians, and other iconic races made available.
Lifetime? Ha. More like 2-3 years since I don't see the game lasting longer than that and if so it will be F2P anyway.
I choose to get all content that has been made for the game on launch day, without having to give them an arm or a leg. I am very worried that other developers may try the same crap.
Vault-Tec analysts have concluded that the odds of worldwide nuclear armaggeddon this decade are 17,143,762... to 1.
I hope it does not end in that short a time. There is clearly a lot they can do with it, but it will take time. It is not easy to get this franchise correct and they are doing admirably, compared to some previous attempts. Everyone thinks WoW will take every subscriber away from every game. One day even it will go the wayside. The great thing about STO is there really aren't that many sci-fi mmos out there and this is a uniquely positioned one.
This tells me all I need to know about the game. I have been playing beta but if AmazingAvery says its a good game then I know it will take at least a year for it to become playable based on his AoC rants in the past.
Thanks AmazingAvery, you made this choice very easy. I will be passing.
Sooner or Later
Either you are not making your point clear, or your math is seriously flawed.
$240 is a lot more money than $75. Is that not clear?
Yeah maybe my point is not getting across, nothing to do with maths.
Let me try and explain again:
If i pay for a life time sub, and then stop after 3 months then i lose. That i agree on.
But I cannot see how Cryptic gain anyhting if I quit early. Cos they will not make any changes to their server or their development costs based on my quitting. They will not say "oh look one of our Life Time subs have quit we therefore do not need a server of X size anymore we can cut back and use a smaller server."
So if i played or not, it iwill not have any effect on Cryptic expenditure. One extra player on the server or the absence of one player will not have any effect on their costs. Hence no benefit to them if i quit early.
If, when i quit, Crytic could reduce the supply of their service then they will benefit, if the supply remains unchanged (which is will) then they will not gain anything from my quitting.
Ulitmately Crytics cost are fixed and not variable based on one or two subs.
(AND even if they could reduce the servuice after i quit, they would not cos i could always come back, since i have a life time sub, and then they would have to increase the service again. )
I get what you are saying... and you are wrong.
You would be right IF (and only if) your lifetime sub guaranteed that you could always log in and play on demand - but it doesn't do that. It doesn't do that at release - and it won't do that in 3 months or a year from now.
Cryptic will maintain a number of servers based on population in game. They will allow for some load variation based on peak loads on weekends, holidays and special events.
But what they won't do is continue to maintain idle servers based on the possibility that all of their lifetime sub members all suddenly decide to log in together at once a year from now.
If that was ever to happen and they had removed servers do to a falling population (or hours played) then the harsh reality is that many of those people would not be able to log in. Lifetime sub or not.
And what can you do about it?
Say "I have a lifetime sub - so it's my RIGHT to play ON DEMAND!"?
Well, you can say that, but it makes no difference. Because somewhere in the terms and conditions it will say you are not guaranteed to be able to play every time you try to log in. And no court would support you either because that is simply 'unreasonable'.
So that means that if you pay a lifetime sub - yes Cryptic get your money - and yes if you stop playing (along with many others) they can reduce their services. They can cut servers and customer support and a host of other things.
They are NOT obliged to maintain a full service for years to come on the off chance you might decide to log in.
Nothing says irony like spelling ideot wrong.
I choose to get all content that has been made for the game on launch day, without having to give them an arm or a leg. I am very worried that other developers may try the same crap.
No-one is saying you have to give them an arm and a leg,I do not see anywhere that it says "to play this game you must have a lifetime sub"
It is an option,If I am out for a meal with my wife and the waiter asks if I would like to see the wine list I do not start shouting at him because he offered me something extra..I either accept and pay for the wine or just say no thanks and I go on and enjoy my meal.
I think quite a few are just complaining as they seen a chance to complain about something.
If someone had came up to me in 1980 when I was on my Atari 2600 and said we will be playing games with thousands of people at the same time.I guess my response would have been,"but I only have 2 joysticks"
http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/235780/page/8
After the Hellgate:London disaster i dont think too many ppl will jump on the life sub bandwagon. It does work for Turbine games though!
(AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH teaches Hugh Hefner and the 2009 models to dance at the playboy mansion!)
All my opinions are just that..opinions. If you like my opinions..coolness.If you dont like my opinion....I really dont care.
Playing: ESO, WOT, Smite, and Marvel Heroes
Decent Star Trek games ARE a rarity, IMO. Bridge Commander was pretty decent, and there was an old Super Nintendo Next Generation game that was likable at the time. That's about it.
Bringing Star Trek to MMO's is without a doubt a huge and tricky undertaking, and I don't envy Cryptic for the undertaking. That said, I haven't seen ANYTHING in game that makes me think, "ah, that was pretty clever of them to resolve this issue this way, which allows them to bring this aspect of the IP into the game as an enjoyable gameplay feature...", etc.
Instead, I see: Everyone wants to be a captain(no, I'm not advocating PC crews). No one wants more than one solution to a problem(ground diplomacy). Explorers will be happy mining nodes, and those nodes will have nothing more than stuff to turn in to get stuff, and despite being called something interesting, won't even be slightly interesting.
Again, all this could be different as you increase in rank, and by all means, please provide evidence that I'm wrong; I'd love to hear it. But from what I've seen, we have two modes of gameplay; shooting/collecting stuff on the ground, shooting/collecting stuff in space. And if diplomacy is(as I have experienced) a matter of running around reading dialogue from a handful of people, and repeating it to the mission contact, there's not much there, either.
I couldn't agree more. I can't think of a single solid reason why the lifetime sub can't be offered until at least the end of the first month post-release. Call it what you want, but I see that as both a chain-yank on the usual gamer's impulse of "I gotta get it now, or else! ARGGH!!" and a lack of confidence in customer rentention. I know retention is likely one of the biggest problems developers face, but moves like this make that especially clear.
And about "selling" an exclusive race, I don't know, maybe the industry's changing and I don't realize; but why are developers selling their game in pieces like this? Don't even get me started on how terrible RMTs can be. How soon until devs decide to create their game in such a way that they make money off of every single aspect of it? Sorry, expansions is where I draw the line. I figured selling a box (or...simply a retail key to access the game...) and latching on a monthly fee was enough...but I guess I'm wrong. Either developers really need it or they're just being greedy while putting up smoke and mirrors. Whatever happened to simply making a fun game, I thought gamers liked those? "Businesses need to make money, DUH" - I don't want to hear it. There's a difference between creating and selling a game to make money and creating a money-making vehicle disguised as a game. The latter is the foundation for craptasticness.
Sure, I may have the wrong impression of Cryptic, but I hate the way they market their games, which I personally feel are quite shallow. Hell - and I'm sure Atari influenced this - their games feel very "arcadey" compared to more engaging MMOs. Maybe the players are to blame; it seems like this is all of question of lack of faith in one's product vs. being realistic about how rigid the industry can be. But again, these are all just my thoughts.
It's a huge gamble I'd never take, but for anyone who decides or has decided to partake in it, I hope you can enjoy the game for at least 15-16 month's and get your money's worth. CO showed us a lot of (significant) things can change (significantly) on release day and thereafter.
I think everyone needs to try and play the beta(there are keys left) and decide if the game is for them. There are areas where it is still a bit rough, which is normal for any new mmo, but being not playable is a bit of a stretch. I do think the space battles are overly simplified(i want the ability to have a more custom space experience), but the ground missions are truly engaging(no pun intended).
Either you are not making your point clear, or your math is seriously flawed.
$240 is a lot more money than $75. Is that not clear?
Yeah maybe my point is not getting across, nothing to do with maths.
Let me try and explain again:
If i pay for a life time sub, and then stop after 3 months then i lose. That i agree on.
But I cannot see how Cryptic gain anyhting if I quit early. Cos they will not make any changes to their server or their development costs based on my quitting. They will not say "oh look one of our Life Time subs have quit we therefore do not need a server of X size anymore we can cut back and use a smaller server."
So if i played or not, it iwill not have any effect on Cryptic expenditure. One extra player on the server or the absence of one player will not have any effect on their costs. Hence no benefit to them if i quit early.
If, when i quit, Crytic could reduce the supply of their service then they will benefit, if the supply remains unchanged (which is will) then they will not gain anything from my quitting.
Ulitmately Crytics cost are fixed and not variable based on one or two subs.
(AND even if they could reduce the servuice after i quit, they would not cos i could always come back, since i have a life time sub, and then they would have to increase the service again. )
I get what you are saying... and you are wrong.
You would be right IF (and only if) your lifetime sub guaranteed that you could always log in and play on demand - but it doesn't do that. It doesn't do that at release - and it won't do that in 3 months or a year from now.
Cryptic will maintain a number of servers based on population in game. They will allow for some load variation based on peak loads on weekends, holidays and special events.
But what they won't do is continue to maintain idle servers based on the possibility that all of their lifetime sub members all suddenly decide to log in together at once a year from now.
If that was ever to happen and they had removed servers do to a falling population (or hours played) then the harsh reality is that many of those people would not be able to log in. Lifetime sub or not.
And what can you do about it?
Say "I have a lifetime sub - so it's my RIGHT to play ON DEMAND!"?
Well, you can say that, but it makes no difference. Because somewhere in the terms and conditions it will say you are not guaranteed to be able to play every time you try to log in. And no court would support you either because that is simply 'unreasonable'.
So that means that if you pay a lifetime sub - yes Cryptic get your money - and yes if you stop playing (along with many others) they can reduce their services. They can cut servers and customer support and a host of other things.
They are NOT obliged to maintain a full service for years to come on the off chance you might decide to log in.
Yeah i see what you are saying and u are right however you seem to be getting bogged down by my statement that they have to maintain servers incase the LS come back. That is just a side point.
The main point i was trying to get across is that Cryptic would not gain anything from a Life time subber quiting the game. If they quit after 2 months then Cryptic would not automatically make $200 ($230 - (2 X $15) =$200) as MMO DOubter seems to think, as their costs would not decrease if one LS leaves.
I don't normally troll. But really...
Pay
a sub.
for the game.
for the expansions.
for things in an Item Mall.
I don't think they have announced per say an item mall but judging by their other games its coming.
I like to pay my fee for the servers and game patches and fixes and perhaps the trouble shooting and general release of content and hell even for a expansion if it has a lot of new content.
But once again... I will pay my fee and buy my game and play but seriously item mall/game/subscription/ and expansions.
Seems like its a bit much right?
I may even be willing to work with the whole item mall buying the game thing... but seriously... I have to pay for my net, my computer my electricity along with all the other bills in life.
I remember when gaming used to be something I did for fun or perhaps a hobby.
Seems to me the more and more gaming companies are trying to turn it into an addiction and one that you must feed. Buy this buy this, as we slide it under the door in small payments.
I play Atlantica and I realize they have an item mall... but at least its free and somewhat Item mall vs. in game itemization balanced.
Anyway I guess this is a plea to keep gaming a fun hobby and not a time consuming investment of my dollars where everyone is trying to get a piece of the pie while giving as little as possible as far as game content. Oh and for heavens sake just to throw a book on the fire something a little different than the WoW/War/Aion/DAoC/EQ/AC/RF/OU/Lineage/FF11 the list goes on way of playing and structure of the game... sure you change the talent style/level progression/trade skills but it still goes down to grinding a lot, leveling a lot and getting a limit few ways to customize.
Oh, and I know people are going to troll a bit but not to hate On the prior games... some of these were my favorites of all time... FOR THERE TIME
Rant complete
Exactly right. It's almost comical how shameless this is.
I don't think I have to explain what I think of this 'offer' to the regulars here.
Selling entire player races now?
Its not a whole race ! Its a liberated borg AKA an avatar choice.
And you know full well that is going to happen. To me, Cryptic is nothing more than one of those sleazy, shady people you get at one of those games at your local carnival, but on a grander scale.
As someone that fell in love with MMOs due in large part to CoH, it's sad to see how far they have fallen.
Your fail comment, failed.
I couldn't agree more. I can't think of a single solid reason why the lifetime sub can't be offered until at least the end of the first month post-release. Call it what you want, but I see that as both a chain-yank on the usual gamer's impulse of "I gotta get it now, or else! ARGGH!!" and a lack of confidence in customer rentention. I know retention is likely one of the biggest problems developers face, but moves like this make that especially clear.
And about "selling" an exclusive race, I don't know, maybe the industry's changing and I don't realize; but why are developers selling their game in pieces like this? Don't even get me started on how terrible RMTs can be. How soon until devs decide to create their game in such a way that they make money off of every single aspect of it? Sorry, expansions is where I draw the line. I figured selling a box (or...simply a retail key to access the game...) and latching on a monthly fee was enough...but I guess I'm wrong. Either developers really need it or they're just being greedy while putting up smoke and mirrors. Whatever happened to simply making a fun game, I thought gamers liked those? "Businesses need to make money, DUH" - I don't want to hear it. There's a difference between creating and selling a game to make money and creating a money-making vehicle disguised as a game. The latter is the foundation for craptasticness.
Sure, I may have the wrong impression of Cryptic, but I hate the way they market their games, which I personally feel are quite shallow. Hell - and I'm sure Atari influenced this - their games feel very "arcadey" compared to more engaging MMOs. Maybe the players are to blame; it seems like this is all of question of lack of faith in one's product vs. being realistic about how rigid the industry can be. But again, these are all just my thoughts.
It's a huge gamble I'd never take, but for anyone who decides or has decided to partake in it, I hope you can enjoy the game for at least 15-16 month's and get your money's worth. CO showed us a lot of (significant) things can change (significantly) on release day and thereafter.
Yeah you draw the line at Expansions, which, like it or not, is a massive form of RMT. And like it or not RMT is unofficial rife in almost all games(MMOs), made available by Gold Sellers.
Let me ask you : what the difference between going to an RMT and buying an item with real cash and going to buy gold from a gold seller with real cash and then buying same item from the auction house? Answer= RMT is safe and you wont get your cc details stolen etc.
And finally, there are a lot of moaners that complain that MMO companies want to make money and the same people complain that games are not released complete, polished and content rich.
If MMO devs dont make money how on earth are they going to make the games you want? You think your government subsidises them lol!
It is not as if the MMO producers are rolling in cash, it is a poor industry and the only ones who will pay for it are the players(us). So either pay up or shut down cos you cannot have your cake and eat it!! Sounds like you want free entertainment load of cheap skates!
My God guys wake up and smell the coffee already!!