Chad Gulzow-Man

Pfft, at least you've GOT a job, jerk. I just lost mine today!

... waitaminute...

Yeah huh. (I disagree with the clumsy bit, though. I rather like the way the tailor and the store tie together.)

DAMMIT, I was hoping for two tickets to that thing I love.

So, you specifically state that you can see the costume item in the tailor at any time, but then complain that there's not a good way to view the item?

I think the set up for individual costume pieces is pretty elegant as-is. There's an icon showing the item by itself in the store, and the tailor lets you see how that part will look on your costume before you buy it. I think your suggestion--to add extra screenshots in the store--would actually just clutter up the interface and actually detract from the experience.

Now, I will say that there needs to be better info about costume bundles in the store. They're better than they were at launch, but the detailed info should still show every individual piece contained in the bundle AND show the image(s) they use to advertise the bundle.

You can't. The transaction will fail, and it will state that you're attempting to purchase more than the allowed limit on an item in your cart.

It's a very vague message, but it keeps you from doing so.

(Except in the case of purchasing a costume bundle when you've already purchased individual pieces. As far as I know, it will allow that. And unless you've actually purchased every single piece in that bundle already, I see no reason why it shouldn't.)

Um, yes it does. They're icon-sized, sure, but there are definitely images of each individual costume piece in the store. ... No argument there. Definitely agree, needs to get implemented as soon as superhumanly possible.

If you try to complete a transaction on an item you already own, it will fail, stating you cannot purchase any more of that item (with an unfortunately vague message). But it exists.

There are. You've either got some weird bug where they're not rendering or you're blind.

Actually, they've said that there's a bug that's keeping them from giving out the Reward Tokens up front, and that they still intend to do so once they've figured out a solution.

It's no longer required to "patiently wait" the way it was in the past. And frankly, it shouldn't matter whether someone spent $100 over the course of a year or in one day--they should be rewarded equally.

I'm not saying it doesn't suck to lack disposable income. My hours just got cut at work right after I made that purchase on my second account, so I couldn't afford to buy more Paragon Points right now even if I desperately wanted them to purchase something. I kind of wish I could rewind the clock and NOT make that purchase, so I can have a better safety net between paying my bills this month and my next paycheck. But that doesn't mean I begrudge those who CAN make extraneous purchases... I'm just a little jealous of them.

I can absolutely see "the issue" from both sides, as you inquired... but that doesn't mean both sides have valid arguments. Your side has lost nothing and is now gaining rewards a little over three times faster than before (one reward per month, plus an extra every 12 months); you also have the option to make extra purchases and gain those rewards even faster. Your opposition has the same options, but chooses to exercise them both.

You have not been singled out and told that you're not receiving the same treatment as anyone else in your situation. As has been said, the new Paragon Rewards program rewards players for anything they do to fund the game. The duration over which you spread that expenditure no longer matters.

Definitely looks like a bug. My secondary account (which was created nearly 7 years ago) still only has the 5 Year Veteran badge, which matches up with the fact that it has now been subscribed for a little over 63 months total. And yes, I've bought enough Paragon Points to make the account a Tier 9 VIP, so that's not where the discrepancy is coming from.

As I stated, many people felt it was unfair when that wasn't the case. Whether you're spending your money on subscriptions or buying bonuses from the store, you're still supporting the game, and they've acknowledged a 1:1 ratio on that support--$15 on either a month of subscription or Paragon Points will earn you a Paragon Reward Token (note: larger purchases discount this a bit; a 12 month subscription costs about $12 per month, and a $100 Paragon Point purchase earns you 8 tokens instead of 6 1/3).

You're still welcome to wait for your tokens. In fact, you'll get them faster NOW, since they're rewarded monthly instead of tri-monthly. And once they fix the bug that's currently preventing it, getting a multi-month subscription will give you all your Paragon Reward Tokens up front, so you'll get rewarded for your purchase immediately instead of having to wait.

I fail to see how this is unfair to anyone. If you spend extra money in the store, you'll get the same rewards at the same rate as everyone else who spends money in the store. If you don't want to spend extra money, then you'll still earn those rewards for your subscription alone faster than ever before. It's entirely win-win, for both the players AND the developers.

That's just a very round-about way of saying exactly what I said: the yearly veteran badges are awarded for every 12 months you've subscribed. Going by the NEW terminology, it's for every 12 months (total, not concurrent) of VIP status. VIP status is gained by paying your subscription fee, using a time card, or using the free month from a box purchase.

The badges should NOT be awarding up-front, so no, you should NOT be seeing people who were gone for 5 years with all 7 yearly badges. As Obitus said, if that is happening, then it's a bug.

Are you by any chance confusing the yearly badges (1 Year Veteran, 2 Year Veteran, ... , 7 Year Veteran) with the ANNIVERSARY badges (Celebrant, Reveler, Merrymaker, Entertainer, Jubilant, Exultant, Lucky)? The latter are awarded specifically for logging in during the month of May in any given year.

The old system folded into the new system. Everything I said in the quoted bit you made this reply to was valid pre-Freedom and is still valid today.

(Well, I guess the referral time has gone away and been replaced with a bonus Paragon Point stipend...)

I like this game doing what it takes to make a profit while simultaneously making the game better for everyone who plays. I've been willing to buy the occasional booster pack here or there in the past, which has funded the extra development. Some people haven't been willing to make extra purchases, but they're still benefiting from my doing so, and I'm okay with that.

Going to this hybrid subscription/microtransaction model means the game will stay profitable longer and continue to grow, rather than to start fading away. I get more value for the $15 monthly fee I continue to pay than I did prior to CoH Freedom AND I have more choices for ways to spend an additional $5 or $10 per month to get extra stuff. You have those same options, and are more than welcome to ignore them if you don't want to spend that extra money. You're even welcome to stop paying your subscription altogether and keep playing with around 80% of the things currently available in the game.

At the same time, the developers need to reward the people who are using the store heavily just as much as those who subscribe consistently. That's why the Veteran Rewards program had to evolve into the Paragon Rewards program--you're now rewarded for any real world money you spend on the game, whether it's on your subscription or on microtransaction points. People have been asking for that to happen ever since booster packs were first introduced. I'm sorry you don't like it, but I would bet heavily against that opinion belonging to the majority of players.

Arrange an "incident" where he's replaced by an impostor or mind-controlled by someone intent on ruining his good name. When he breaks free, he can return to being a hero and work towards making amends for all the evil that was done in his name.

Hey, some only cost $5.

Now if they all cost half of THAT (or less) after whatever they're doing, then I'll actually be willing to spend the money on them.

Oh, and just so you know, I didn't ignore this post... I'd actually been thinking about it before you said anything, but I've decided against it, as I don't want to clutter the main page any further.

I think what I'm actually going to do is just let the "What's New?" tab on the spreadsheet keep growing ad infinitum, and keep adding the newest items in at the top of the sheet. I will be trimming the first post in this thread as promised, so that only the most current 4 weeks worth of items are displayed.

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As for the number of reward tokens per PP purchase, Snow Globe summed it up pretty well; it's already got a note on there that 1200 PP gets you a bonus token, and since not everyone is starting from 0 if they've already purchased points, it's impossible to definitively state that you'll get a specific number of tokens for anything that's not exactly divisible by 1200... which only fits the $100 purchase.

What the flying backpack said.

Not happy that I have to rework my spreadsheet based on this, but if they come back with reasonable prices, I will gladly reenter them... and purchase a few to boot!

It's for every 12 months subscribed. Time from a box purchase, time card or referral counts towards that time.

News to me. I know that about 2 years ago, they reworked the Vet Reward program because it wasn't awarding things on time, and as part of that, some people got a few extra rewards that they didn't actually earn (most I ever heard of was 3). But you shouldn't see anybody who left 5 years ago with all 7 yearly badges.

In my honest opinion, life in general is unfair to people who don't have enough money. This game is much more fair than most in rewarding its players, both past and present.

They also got to experience that content before the people who didn't buy those sets AND got a month of game time included with that purchase.

I'd say someone can be called a badger when they're interested in obtaining badges for the sake of earning the badges themselves.

It doesn't matter how many they have now, or whether they intend to "catch 'em all" or not, as long as they're interested in badging outside of just earning gameplay rewards such as Accolades or costume/weapon unlocks. It's really all about the passion one has for the act of badging; if you have that passion, then you're a badger.