Discussion: 63 And 66 Month Veteran Rewards!
By
alienuterus,
Posted on: 2009-07-17 14:05 in News, Events and Announcement Discussion
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The real purpose of VRs is to entice players to keep paying and playing.
Every player knows that in less than 3 months, there is another little perk waiting for them, if they stay.
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Actually, the fact that I will never get all the Veterans Rewards, that there will always be another reward out there that I'll want and will never get to makes the Veteran's Rewards completely ineffective as incentive. "Collect them all!" is a pretty enticing idea, but when collecting them all becomes impossible, it loses its appeal.
As such, the idea of losing Veteran Rewards has absolutely zero effect whatsoever on my choice to stay subscribed. I play the game because I have fun with it and enjoy my VG, not because I have another Veteran Reward coming around the corner.
They might entice five-year veterans, but at this point, the already four+ years of rewards that I won't have for X amount of time has completely removed any ability for the system to entice me at all. Now, I am simply annoyed that, in a game whose primary strength over its competitors is the creativity and customisation of its character creation (and base editor), there are options that, for completely arbitrary reasons, I cannot use for another year or more.
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There was a theory for several years that the Vet Awards might stop at 60 months. People who looked into the .pigg files back around when the Vet Awards started found the 3-60 month Vet badges and generated a reasonable suspicion of that. I'm one of those long time Vets who would've not minded if that were the case. I can see the pros and cons of a Vet system like this finally coming to an end.
But I also understand the general type of player that the Vet Award system was established for in the first place. In the world of MMOs the most valuable type of customer a game can have are long-term consistent ones. They are the type the Devs can count on to be there month after month to produce a reliable cash stream for the budget and accounting folks. Between a guy who might randomly pop in one day and drop a $1,000 for 'purchasable' Vet Awards or another guy who will be constantly subscribed to the game for years at a time the Devs are always going to favor the second guy because that's the guy they know they can count on. They can't sit around "hoping" Mr. Random is going to decide to drop in or not.
Thus the Vet Awards are more about rewarding players for time subscribed than money paid. I agree it's not too friendly to players who come and go. I suppose you could try to make the "I didn't know there was going to be a Vet Award system" argument, but then again I didn't know there was going to be one either until it happened. If you had been around you, well, would've been around for it. *shrugs*
Better luck next time. It's probably worth realizing that in the future I would expect most MMOs to have some kind of "customer loyalty" program along the lines of CoX's Vet system. I'm certainly going to keep that in mind with any new MMO I ever play from now on.
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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.
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Besides the first people who'll legitimately be able to have the 63th month Vet Award will get them in less than 2 weeks. The Devs were going to have to officially announce at least that one more or less now anyway. 
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Ryver 50 Ele� Blaster [1392 Badges]
Silandra 50 Peacebringer [1138 Badges] [No Redside Badges]
--{=====> Virtue ♀
I think the fog thing would be great IF the newly revealed portion showed up as 50% gray or something, so we could see the whole map but still easily tell where we haven't been.
As it is it's doubtful I will ever use it. 
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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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/agreed. it is a REWARD for the people that have PLAYED THE LONGEST. In case that doesn't sink in, let's put it a different way: Those who have PAID THE MOST.
That may sound 'elitist', or 'favoritist', or whatever, but they are rewards. To people that have actually done something that the Devs want to ENCOURAGE.
Arc #6015 - Coming Unglued
"A good n00b-sauce is based on a good n00b-roux." - The Masque
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(from Eikochan) Actually, the fact that I will never get all the Veterans Rewards, that there will always be another reward out there that I'll want and will never get to makes the Veteran's Rewards completely ineffective as incentive. "Collect them all!" is a pretty enticing idea, but when collecting them all becomes impossible, it loses its appeal.
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You know, being #1/Best/First/Most/Uberest/The Alpha is really not necessary for EVERYONE. You CAN have them all. You just may not be able to have them all at the same time some other people do.
(Funny, I wonder what the reaction would be on the part of people who got the Vet rewards legitimately, if there were a new option where you could purchase the rewards... remember the upset that reducing the Rikti Monkeys defeat badge from 10000 to 1000 caused? I remember a bit of an uproar. And I suspect that your answer may be different if you were on the other side of that argument...)
It's unfortunate we live in a society where Having It Now is so ingrained and everpresent. It's a Game, people, it's just Not the kind of game where it is That Important to WIN. Looking forward to a reward is, you know, a THING.
Arc #6015 - Coming Unglued
"A good n00b-sauce is based on a good n00b-roux." - The Masque
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You know, being #1/Best/First/Most/Uberest/The Alpha is really not necessary for EVERYONE. You CAN have them all. You just may not be able to have them all at the same time some other people do.
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If they never stop adding new rewards, I cannot have them all. This is a simple fact. It shouldn't be hard to grasp.
If removing the fog of war allows me to find those %$*^ glowies in Oranbega then I will be one happy Vet
I like, I like!
It's kind of fustrating to remember where all of the things are, when it's been a while since you've travelled places as you concentrated on leveling up with one or two characters
As for the extra recipe, invention salvage, and auction slots, jolly good show! 
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the recipe slots are nice...but uh fog of war?...am i suppose to be familar with this term?
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Its a term that goes all the way back to the good ole days of command and conquer and other games that have minimaps.
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It's actually attributed to Carl von Clausewitz, back in the early 1800s.
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They had Command and Conquer back in the early 1800s? NICE!
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the recipe slots are nice...but uh fog of war?...am i suppose to be familar with this term?
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Its a term that goes all the way back to the good ole days of command and conquer and other games that have minimaps.
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It's actually attributed to Carl von Clausewitz, back in the early 1800s.
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They had Command and Conquer back in the early 1800s? NICE!
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Of course not, that's just silly.
Carl was obviously playing Dune 2 at the time.
It might be worth noting that while Carl is credited with introducing the term as it pertains to military encounters, its usage in computer gaming is a tad more specific, and also a tad more recent. It is however older than Command and Conquer (and minimaps).
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You know, being #1/Best/First/Most/Uberest/The Alpha is really not necessary for EVERYONE. You CAN have them all. You just may not be able to have them all at the same time some other people do.
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If they never stop adding new rewards, I cannot have them all. This is a simple fact. It shouldn't be hard to grasp.
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In that case, I guess you'll either have to make believe they don't exist, or you can drive yourself nuts.
Arc #6015 - Coming Unglued
"A good n00b-sauce is based on a good n00b-roux." - The Masque
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the recipe slots are nice...but uh fog of war?...am i suppose to be familar with this term?
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Its a term that goes all the way back to the good ole days of command and conquer and other games that have minimaps.
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It's actually attributed to Carl von Clausewitz, back in the early 1800s.
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I thought it was OTTO von Clausewitz?? I assume the term came from his book "On War"??
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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!
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I started playing and pay the first or second week of release. I'm not in the first round of vet reward handouts, but the second. (like a week or two later then the eairlest you can ge them.)
So i'm one.
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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. (My 2nd account is about a month behind)
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Me. [Almost. 1 day after (EB pre-order SNAFU).]
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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.
[u]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.[u]
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This, emphasis mine. This will sound bitter, but can VR stop already? For many people, there are only so many years they can spend in a game, also for different reasons other than growing tired of it.
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And you should be rewarded for that? 
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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.
[u]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.[u]
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This, emphasis mine. This will sound bitter, but can VR stop already? For many people, there are only so many years they can spend in a game, also for different reasons other than growing tired of it.
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And you should be rewarded for that?
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No. But if you played since first beta and had to stop playing for some periods for reasons against your will, once you'e back to the game you'll never be able to reach some of the high-end rewards.
But as galadiman said...
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In that case, I guess you'll either have to make believe they don't exist, or you can drive yourself nuts.
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Making believe they don't exist drive myself nuts enough already. =P
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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 disagree.
One of the nicest things about this game is that there are Vets playing low level characters around to help those who are playing the game for the first time. If this is put in, than you will effectively kill that angle.
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QFT
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Agreed.
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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.
[u]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.[u]
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This, emphasis mine. This will sound bitter, but can VR stop already? For many people, there are only so many years they can spend in a game, also for different reasons other than growing tired of it.
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And you should be rewarded for that?
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No. But if you played since first beta and had to stop playing for some periods for reasons against your will, once you'e back to the game you'll never be able to reach some of the high-end rewards.
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Only true when the game comes to an end. And at that point... who cares?!?
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No. But if you played since first beta and had to stop playing for some periods for reasons against your will, once you'e back to the game you'll never be able to reach some of the high-end rewards.
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Only true when the game comes to an end. And at that point... who cares?!?
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Isn't it also true since rewards keep coming? If someone joins the game today, they will never be able to reach the [u]last[u] 5 years of veteran reward content, no matter how long they stay subscribed. At least if VRs stopped at some point and someone who joins today plays for the 5 next years, they would be able to get all rewards. As a new player, I'd find that much more encouraging, rather than knowing that there will be stuff I'll never get no matter how many years I play.
Why do some folks keep saying they willNEVER reach that vetran bonus? Because it is too far away time wise that they will NEVER reach it? Then you DO NOT DESERVE IT! You want the vetran rewards then stick with it and put in the time. Sadly (REAL) LIFE happens and events may occur that can disrupt your gaming life. You earn what ya can while ya can. A number of you folks complaining that you will never get those rewards, perhaps do not expect to actually play this game long enough to rightly earn them. Why should you be rewarded for being impatient? To those that real life has interrupted your game time, my condolenaces for what ever missfortune caused the interruption in game play, but as stated above things happen. Why should everyone be penalized for what happens to you?
Deeds not Words....
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No. But if you played since first beta and had to stop playing for some periods for reasons against your will, once you'e back to the game you'll never be able to reach some of the high-end rewards.
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Only true when the game comes to an end. And at that point... who cares?!?
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Isn't it also true since rewards keep coming? If someone joins the game today, they will never be able to reach the [u]last[u] 5 years of veteran reward content, no matter how long they stay subscribed. At least if VRs stopped at some point and someone who joins today plays for the 5 next years, they would be able to get all rewards. As a new player, I'd find that much more encouraging, rather than knowing that there will be stuff I'll never get no matter how many years I play.
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So you suggest that the players who have been playing and plan to continue, should no longer be rewarded for their dedication to the game? So that newer players, whom may or may not stick with the game can get the rewards we have had to wait for? In what way is that fair to the dedicated Vetrans?
Deeds not Words....
In what way are the continued rewards fair to dedicated newcomers?
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In what way are the continued rewards fair to dedicated newcomers?
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Sure, show the dedication and earn them like the players before them.
Deeds not Words....
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So you suggest that the players who have been playing and plan to continue, should no longer be rewarded for their dedication to the game? So that newer players, whom may or may not stick with the game can get the rewards we have had to wait for? In what way is that fair to the dedicated Vetrans?
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There are disadvantages both sides.
In the current form, the VR system can be disheartening to new players.
If VRs stopped at some point, veteran players would lose a benefit for their dedication to the game, although that would incentive new players to stick to the game.
However, you said "newer players, whom may or may not stick with the game can get the rewards we have had to wait for." New or old player, the waiting time is (or has been) there. Think about a new player that may not stick to the game because, since VRs keep being announced, there's a time window that will never close, and with it, dozens of rewards they will not reach. This can be a turn down for this new player, and that could make an impact on his decision to stick with the game.
On the other hand, a veteran player who would stop earning rewards (if VRs stopped) would stop playing the game? I do agree that the VR system would lose some of its appeal. But even to me, a 3-year veteran, I'd like to see new, dedicated players being able to get all rewards at some point. The current system doesn't make this possible.
Don't we want more players?
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