Chandley

Well, Im willing to trust Back Alley Brawler when he says this move is going to rock my world. He's got enough of a rep as a straight shooter that I cant find it in myself to maintain pessimism in the face of that kind of enthusiasm.

I look forward to the new, better, world.

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That article was full of stupid.

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I'm with BillZ on this one, though I wouldn't call it an article; it's an opinion piece, a blog. No publisher of anything that could remotely be described as "articles" would have published that as anything but "From the Mailbag."

Don't get me wrong; the author and others that share his PoV are entitled to their opinion, and they are entitled to state it. The lowering of the barriers to publication and the democratization of public information is hands down the best thing the Internet has done for us as a civilization.

Conversely, others have the same right to reply with a resounding "You're so full of it, your eyes are brown!" I could wish that neither side would resort to Shut Up posts, but given how easily Internet discussions descend into idiots jousting with words they barely understand*, I expect we're a long way from ubiquitous Socratic discourse.


*DISLAIMER: I don't think anyone in this thread has descended to this level. The DOOMCON and overall barbarity of this discussion are remarkably low.

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Its definitely a blog. Says so right there in the URL. Not sure where that controversy comes from.

And I, for one, am not telling BIllZ or anyone else to shut up. Just mouthing off with the rest of you on this topic. But I stand by what Ive said. Everytime Ive gotten a "gift for valued X customers" from NCSoft email, that game has been on the way out.

I dont want CoX to be on the way out. I dont want NCSoft to TREAT it like its on the way out. Id have been just fine with this announcement if it HADNT included gifts to valued customers.

But it did include gifts, and those gifts are aimed at just about everyone else who plays CoX. And then I go back and look at my Auto Assault gifts, and my Tabula Rasa gifts, and I shudder.

In the end, I really dont want gifts from NCSoft on a game I love. It just doesnt bode well.

Im happy to be proven wrong.

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NC Soft, want to really, really impress your customer base during the transition?

All people who had CoV before it was given away get a Patronage Reward!
Patronage Reward: Thanks for being a part of City of Heroes and City of Villains! Enjoy a big red ball and a pony! Players get to choose from one of two pet powers!
Big Red Ball - Bouncing red rubber ball follows wherever you go.
Pony - A pony follows you around, cuteness ensues.

And for all customers, to celebrate our new overlords we present: Carp Melee! Carp models have been added for the following weapons:
War Mace
Dual Blades
Axe
Broadsword

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Your making a funny, I get that. On the other hand, even something as silly as this would have been a good move. It would have shown that NCSoft ALSO cares about its most enthusiastic CoX players. The ones who bought multiple games on multiple accounts. The ones who get next to nothing out of the, lets call them "incentives" given so far.

The most valuable thing a developer or publisher can give to an MMO player isnt in game goodies. Its evidence of attention. Ill take a bouncing red ball and a pony if it means I know that somewhere, the group I belong to is noted and that groups concerns are reviewed with everyone elses.

Would I have bought CoV if it had a sticker saying it would be free some definite time down the line? No, because thats a sign of a game in decline. This is not an argument based on value. Its an argument based on the perceived change in direction for the game.

Veteran rewards where a nice, positive example of the kind of attention Im talking about. Perhaps we'll see the next Vet reward be something more dramatic than a costume piece (though I love the costume pieces, dont get me wrong), and I can then sit back and revel in how wrong I was to worry.

Till then, I worry.

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Im with Happy_Killmore.

Sadly, I think NCSoft forgot a bribe here. They forgot to bribe the hard, core, dedicated player. Ill grant, that group is probably not as large or as influential as any of the other three bribed, but its the group I belong to, and the group everyone I play with belongs to. And my cheeks (pick one, of the four) are feeling a little stung here. As if Ive been slapped. Taken for granted. Why would we quit over something so silly as a new owner? We've been playing for 3 years, why quit now? Why indeed. Of course we wont. These bribes arent about making players feel good about the new owners. These bribes are about business, pure and simple, and for some reason that sends a dark chill down my spine for the future of a game I love.

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That article was full of stupid. Loaded with it. I'm not an ignorant man. I can be a jerk, but no one I know would say that I'm stupid. Or a chump.

Yet I don't feel chumped. I can certainly see that these little perks, incentives, bribes, whatever you wish to call them, might be construed negatively by the more paranoid of the world, but I see them rather as junk given out because there's no harm in doing so.

Other than the hurt feelings of those with overblown senses of entitlement.

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Of course, Im not calling YOU a chump. Im saying I feel like a chump. None of that is an attack on you, personally or collectively. I find it interesting that you took it that way.

I believe my point stands. These bonuses are carefully targeted at three sets of players that NCSoft does not want to leave CoX just because they purchased it. This is a brilliant move, and I would normally applaud it. Except for this curious blind spot on a (for now) ignored fourth set of players.

I would hate for that blind spot to propagate from a couple of bonuses in a purchase announcement to overall direction of the game. If they announce that they are getting rid of the debt system entirely, for example, Ill know it has. And THEN would be the time to consider jumping ship.

Im with Happy_Killmore.

Sadly, I think NCSoft forgot a bribe here. They forgot to bribe the hard, core, dedicated player. Ill grant, that group is probably not as large or as influential as any of the other three bribed, but its the group I belong to, and the group everyone I play with belongs to. And my cheeks (pick one, of the four) are feeling a little stung here. As if Ive been slapped. Taken for granted. Why would we quit over something so silly as a new owner? We've been playing for 3 years, why quit now? Why indeed. Of course we wont. These bribes arent about making players feel good about the new owners. These bribes are about business, pure and simple, and for some reason that sends a dark chill down my spine for the future of a game I love.

As an aside, at least with the Plague Spreader badge, and possibly others, only the person who "completes" the mission (by clicking on the last glowy) is getting the badge, even if its not their mission. No one else in the group is getting the badge.

Have had that happen twice now. So, yay on the exemplaring down to see content, but getting badges remains difficult.