Discussion: 63 And 66 Month Veteran Rewards!
By
alienuterus,
Posted on: 2009-07-17 14:05 in News, Events and Announcement Discussion
Too bad we have to wait 63 months for it. 
@macskull, @Not Mac | XBL: macskull | Steam: macskull | Skype: macskull
"One day we all may see each other elsewhere. In Tyria, in Azeroth. We may pass each other and never know it. And that's sad. But if nothing else, we'll still have Rhode Island."
"One day we all may see each other elsewhere. In Tyria, in Azeroth. We may pass each other and never know it. And that's sad. But if nothing else, we'll still have Rhode Island."
Here's my Vet power suggestion:
You know how you can summon a Crafting Table with the Field Crafter accolade? Well, similarly, create a Vet power that brings Jack Wolfe to you so you use your respec anywhere.
Or...what about a 6th costume slot? Or a Freedom Phalanx / Arachnos costume change emote?
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I'd love to know how many people actually qualify for the 63 month badge on the first possible day. (Which, I think discount bugs, would be 7/27?)
My main account has had an uninterrupted subscription since the 3-day pre-order head-start.
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Mine is this, minus one day. I turned off auto-billing at one point, cuz I was poor, and bought a one-month game card. I forgot to turn auto-billing back on at the end of the game card month, and so my account was actually down for about 16 hours before I noticed it, and quickly logged on to account management to get billing going again. I still kick myself over that one! 
Like a Runaway Train!
SS's Crey Profile
SS's Virtue Handbook Page
Liberty League: Leave the Justice to Us!
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Veteran Rewards for your long-time customers are nice and all, but sometimes seeing the rewards is pretty disheartening for your newer customers, especially those that are returning customers who unsubscribed before there were veteran rewards.
I have no idea how it would work, but it sure would be nice to have some mechanism to allow newer customers to "catch up".
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I don't agree with the whole "catching up" idea - however, I DO think ending vet rewards at some point might be a good idea.
I've been thinking about this a bit lately, and basically, I've come to the conclusion that CoH does not have a good recruiting program - and the Vet Rewards issue is part of that. Vet Rewards do what they were designed to do, well. That is, they offer incentive to keep old subscribers paying month after month, even if they're taking a break from the game. But, I have long felt that they must be disheartening to new players. Also (and I know this is off-topic - sorry), look at our Recruit-a-Friend program! Frankly, it's terrible, compared to other MMO's.
I have a bunch of rl friends who play other MMO's, and I've been trying to get them to play CoH for a long time. They, meanwhile, have been trying to get me to jump ship to WoW or WAR, or whatever game they're hooked on atm (right now it's Aion). Anyway, point is - they tried CoH, and left because, to them, the new player experience was terrible. And I gotta say, I understand their point of view on it, after trying out WoW and WAR with them - those games offer HUGE incentives to new players, and recruiters, alike. All we get is a free month - and the recruits themselves get nothing.
Sorry for rambling on - this is something I should collect my thoughts on, and perhaps post in the suggestions forums once I have concrete ideas. I really think we need to make a more concerted effort to get new players, because no matter WHAT Vet Rewards come down the pike, player retention will never be 100 percent.
Like a Runaway Train!
SS's Crey Profile
SS's Virtue Handbook Page
Liberty League: Leave the Justice to Us!
Will the Remove Fog of War power remove the fog from all the levels if you're on a multilevel map (like the tech labs)?
My guess is that it will, seeing that all the levels are really on the same map, and the minimap makes it seem multilevel by limiting you to looking at one piece of it at a time.
But just checking...
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If someone only plays the game for 3 years, why should they give a hoot about what someone that's played the game 5 years gets?
Either stay and get it, or leave and don't worry about it...
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The highest veteran rewards will be limited to few people, and it seems, to me, that it is one of the main purposes of the VR system. However, while I understand the idea of awarding long-time players, isn't 5 years enough "veteran time" that, at some point, more players will be able to get the ultimate rewards?
Knowing that I'll get rewards for being a loyal subscriber does encourage me to keep playing, but at the same time, frustrates me to know I'll hardly ever be able to get those rewards that are just announced. I'd think that setting a hard limit would encourage more people to achieve some kind of "ultimate" veteran time and cast those frustrations away.
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I suspect this sounds bitter because you're bitter.
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I am a 3-year player. To get 5-year rewards, I'd have to keep playing for 2 more years. And every time I see a new VR announced, it's still 2 years away from the moment they announce it. [u]There will be 2 years of new stuff that I'll never be able to get[u]. It's a never-ending cycle. This, indeed, makes me bitter, and I apologize for the way my comment came out. I should have stated that I'd "prefer" that VRs just stopped instead of making it a question. It would probably sound bitter either way... just not so much.
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In order to work at my current company for 50 years, I would have to stay there until I'm in my 90's. I can never and will never get that recognition. Therefore, that recognition should be abolished??
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Given the above analogy, I'm just saying that working at the same company for 50 years *could* have the same recognition as working there for 40 years. If a recognition is available at such point (50 years), what's the good of having it available to the (probably very few, if any) people that were there when the company started, since (given your example) they would probably own it themselves anyway? It does not compare very well to playing a game.
In this game, Veteran Rewards are exposed in a public way that makes everyone want to get them by being a subscriber for many years. But 5 years can already be a long time for quite some people. While it will not make people NOT play the game or stop playing it, it will cause frustration. While a hard limit will, on the other hand, upset the people who started playing the game since first beta (because they'll stop getting rewards past the hard limit), there will be less upset people if you compare the numbers to new players. If you see it in a cold way.
Personally, I don't find the 63-66 rewards awesome. I find, however, the 60-month one very appealing (travel powers at level 6). I hope I can play long enough to get it. I'm 2 years away from it, and I'm aware it can take a long time. But what if some new, uber-cool reward is announced in the future? My frustration and anxiety will just... reset back to 2 years. =P
This is just my opinion on something I find disappointing. It does not, however, makes me want to stop playing or anything. Given the current state of the game, I can see myself playing it, like, forever. I just wished certain things were different.
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Ya know, I remember pitching this as a vet reward back when I first found out we had a console command to do it. I still think it's a nifty idea. Great for unfettering the shadow shard maps, which are impractical to uncover by hand...great for revealing the sewers or abandoned sewers for a new character.
Nothing mind blowing, but still neat and handy in some situations. Kinda glad to see it finally going in.
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It will be invaluable in the Chantry (I think, maybe it's Cascade Archipelago) if, and only if, it circumvents that bug that automatically refills the bottom third of the map, no matter how many times you clear it.
"I wish my life was a non-stop Hollywood movie show,
A fantasy world of celluloid villains and heroes."
Here you go!
I think this vet power is silly, but then a lot of the other ones were too.
It's just that I think the rewards should be better the longer you go.
But then you create haves and have nots. So they are kind of stuck with the whole thing.
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Here you go!
I think this vet power is silly, but then a lot of the other ones were too.
It's just that I think the rewards should be better the longer you go.
But then you create haves and have nots. So they are kind of stuck with the whole thing.
[/ QUOTE ]You can't exactly see the Vidiot overlays until the Fog is lifted, yaknow.
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*shrug* Color me disappointed, but they certainly aren't in any way game-changing. Just fun bonuses.
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I'm mostly disappointed because I was hoping that vet rewards would eventually stop at some point. 5 years seemed the best place. As it is, there's no way I can ever catch up to get the new rewards. I've been around since release, but I had no way of knowing at the time that if I stayed subscribed I'd be able to get stuff.
Makes it worse when new stuff comes out and there are rewards I actually WANT, but I can't get, and will NEVER be able to catch up to.
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This statement makes absolutely no sense. You will ABSOLUTELY be able to get those rewards when you have -paid- to play the game for 63 and 66 months...just like all the rest of us have. Put in the money, put in the time and enjoy. Complaining you don't have something you haven't earned is not going to make the time go by any faster.
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I have no idea how it would work, but it sure would be nice to have some mechanism to allow newer customers to "catch up".
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That mechanism is already present...pay for and play the game for 63 months and 66 months. You will never catch up to being here the entire time...because you haven't. You can however earn the rewards the same way every other 63 and 66 months vet has if you stay here, support the game and help the community. Get to work!
Hahaha, we've always joked that one of our SGmates should get a "Maplighter" badge since she insists on lighting up every bit she can...even when she knows there's nothing to fight in that back corner of the Skyraider map!
So, Honorable=Maplighter I guess. She'll be thrilled (in a year)
Craft your inventions in AE!!
Play "Crafter's Cafe" - Arc #487283. A 1 mission, NON-COMBAT AE arc with workable invention tables!
QR: I still like [Reveal]. As for folks asking how many (if any) floors of a map it would cover--plenty of times I have been on missions that have glitched and every single floor is available to view, simultaneously, on the overhead map. I'm going to guess that [Reveal] will cover the whole thing. It's up to the user to determine whether that will be useful or not--just as it's up to individual Vet preference to determine if they like it or not. 
There are no words for what this community, and the friends I have made here mean to me. Please know that I care for all of you, yes, even you. If you Twitter, I'm MrThan. If you're Unleashed, I'm dumps. I'll try and get registered on the Titan Forums as well. Peace, and thanks for the best nine years anyone could ever ask for.
soo i just got 48 months on my main acct
your sayin i havent dedicated ENOUGH of my life to get more slots on the market??????????????????
grr
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soo i just got 48 months on my main acct
your sayin i havent dedicated ENOUGH of my life to get more slots on the market??????????????????
grr
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If you're not being an ebil marketeer, you're just wasting slots anyway.
Loose --> not tight.
Lose --> Did not win, misplace, cannot find, subtract.
One extra 'o' makes a big difference.
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So...what would be the point of having them in the first place? If everyone has them, it's not a special reward.
There's *plenty* in the first year that's good. I don't think that veteran rewards that aren't *that* significant are going to be what causes people to leave.
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I still have to wait another week to get angel wings. I've been playing over a year and I still can't even make a character with basic feathered wings yet.
I stopped playing three years back (as the reg date of my account will verify) before there were veteran rewards, so I didn't even have a chance to know that I'd get something for staying subscribed.
If I pay $10-15 extra dollars a month, why shouldn't I get double credit for veteran rewards? Or just a flat $15 a month to "catch up"?
What exactly is so threatening about allowing people that haven't been playing for five years some way to compensate NCSoft to receive the same benefit as those that have?
I think after 5+ years of non stop play, we should get a vet power than can auto lvl a character by 10 lvls, to be used at any time. I mean really...after 5+ years I think we earned that.
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I can't help but wonder if this thread prompted this announcement. I mean, I make a post about a new vet power I've found that I've never heard of before, and less than 12 hours later an official announcement goes up confirming it?
Sure the power's icon has been uploaded to ParagonWiki since March, but I'd never heard of it, and judging by the reactions in this thread and the other, neither had most of the forumgoers.
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Outlook is doubtful, considering that this was posted by Mod 8 almost 18 hours before that.
"I wish my life was a non-stop Hollywood movie show,
A fantasy world of celluloid villains and heroes."
Hm, I think +5 recipe slots is pretty hot, actually.
Blue
American Steele: 50 BS/Inv
Nightfall: 50 DDD
Sable Slayer: 50 DM/Rgn
Fortune's Shadow: 50 Dark/Psi
WinterStrike: 47 Ice/Dev
Quantum Well: 43 Inv/EM
Twilit Destiny: 43 MA/DA
Red
Shadowslip: 50 DDC
Final Rest: 50 MA/Rgn
Abyssal Frost: 50 Ice/Dark
Golden Ember: 50 SM/FA
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Veteran Rewards for your long-time customers are nice and all, but sometimes seeing the rewards is pretty disheartening for your newer customers, especially those that are returning customers who unsubscribed before there were veteran rewards.
I have no idea how it would work, but it sure would be nice to have some mechanism to allow newer customers to "catch up".
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That's foolish.
And besides...look at these rewards bud...they aren't all that hugely great...I mean seriously...
Some of the best rewards come pretty early actually, such as Ghost Axe, Sand of Mu, Black Wand, and Nem Staff. The rest? Mostly fun little "perks" that don't really do much. Even the "buff pets" are pretty much a joke in terms of actually "helping" the Vet out, their values are sooooo minimal to be hardly even noticed, and they die at the thought of a stiff breeze...
So what exactly...are "non" long-term vets missing out on?
You are missing out on nothing but small "perks" and "ooohs and aaahhs." That's about it. In fact, I get more praise over my VET BADGE count being so high than the little "perks" I got with it. And that's just a Badge...
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If I pay $10-15 extra dollars a month, why shouldn't I get double credit for veteran rewards? Or just a flat $15 a month to "catch up"?
What exactly is so threatening about allowing people that haven't been playing for five years some way to compensate NCSoft to receive the same benefit as those that have?
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No one feels threatened by it. Suggesting that's the problem is really dumb.
The reason you shouldn't get it is that that's not what it's for.
It's a reward for cumulative time you stayed subbed. Nothing more, nothing less. You weren't subbed, you don't get it. Is that really hard to grasp?
I mean heck, you aren't even suggesting paying up to the levels of someone who has been subbed that long and asking for it. Even if you were, though, that's still not what it's a reward for.
Blue
American Steele: 50 BS/Inv
Nightfall: 50 DDD
Sable Slayer: 50 DM/Rgn
Fortune's Shadow: 50 Dark/Psi
WinterStrike: 47 Ice/Dev
Quantum Well: 43 Inv/EM
Twilit Destiny: 43 MA/DA
Red
Shadowslip: 50 DDC
Final Rest: 50 MA/Rgn
Abyssal Frost: 50 Ice/Dark
Golden Ember: 50 SM/FA
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<QR>
These rewards are alright. The extra slots for 66 months is a decent reward, but I'm baffled by 63. I mean, I get what the "Fog of War" is -- I just don't see the value of having it lifted. Clearly I'm missing something; I have never once entered a map and thought, "Oh, I wish this map was revealed." Does this pinpoint glowies or tell you where mobs are located?
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On an alt...enter Boomtown and you want to go grab all the badges and plaques.
Hit "reveal"...oh so much easier now.
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Here you go!
I think this vet power is silly, but then a lot of the other ones were too.
It's just that I think the rewards should be better the longer you go.
But then you create haves and have nots. So they are kind of stuck with the whole thing.
[/ QUOTE ]You can't exactly see the Vidiot overlays until the Fog is lifted, yaknow.
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QFT
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It's possible to have a villainous character abide by a code of honor. Case in point: Beast Wars character Dinobot.
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late reply I know, but dinobot was only a villain for like 2-4 episodes. A better choice would be maybe sixshot from the G1 comics or headmasters or that one skeleton samurai pretender also from the comics or from masterforce. There are plenty of ninja transformers that have to follow some code of honor (I wonder if sixshot even follows one, some of his plot lines and stuff are underhanded esp when he attacked decps in the japan headmasters cartoon)
Ya know, I remember pitching this as a vet reward back when I first found out we had a console command to do it. I still think it's a nifty idea. Great for unfettering the shadow shard maps, which are impractical to uncover by hand...great for revealing the sewers or abandoned sewers for a new character.
Nothing mind blowing, but still neat and handy in some situations. Kinda glad to see it finally going in.