Trial Account, such a lonely place
By
Bill Z Bubba,
Posted on: 2009-09-23 08:41 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
My friend didn't have any issues with his trial account. Of course the reason WHY he didn't was because he had a real life friend waiting in game to show him the ropes, hang out with him, etc, etc.
While he was under the trial rules, we discussed exactly what you speak of here, GS.
I can see this being a very rough experience for anyone without existing contacts within the game community trying it out for the first time.
Not only are there the trial limitations, the game itself has a huge learning curve.
Be well, people of CoH.
Freedom is no longer the most populated as of i16. Virtue is. Also, there are a lot of clueless people who have no clue how to use /search. <_< And I personally don't invite people below level 12 when I'm running 30+ missions.
Quote:
Hah, but when I appear you have a place for poor little Grinny right? Even without DO's I am sure I can spit the enemy wicked into the eye and call him names and then be grateful to get a wakie |
Originally Posted by The_Coming_Storm
Freedom is no longer the most populated as of i16. Virtue is. Also, there are a lot of clueless people who have no clue how to use /search. <_< And I personally don't invite people below level 12 when I'm running 30+ missions.
|
And thanks for the info, I must check out Virtue next.
Quote:
One thing that drives me mad is that popup in the midst of your screen. The limitations of a trial account are not always clear either. Sometimes it is not obvious if an action is prohibited because I am on a trial or for another reason. The AE is one such example.
|
Originally Posted by Bill Z Bubba
My friend didn't have any issues with his trial account. Of course the reason WHY he didn't was because he had a real life friend waiting in game to show him the ropes, hang out with him, etc, etc.
While he was under the trial rules, we discussed exactly what you speak of here, GS. I can see this being a very rough experience for anyone without existing contacts within the game community trying it out for the first time. Not only are there the trial limitations, the game itself has a huge learning curve. |
Quote:
And they can't form teams. I've found groups of people who got trial accounts together, expecting to check the game out with their friends, only to find they can't team with each other without convincing a stranger to start the team for them... while only using local.
|
Originally Posted by Bill Z Bubba
My friend didn't have any issues with his trial account. Of course the reason WHY he didn't was because he had a real life friend waiting in game to show him the ropes, hang out with him, etc, etc.
While he was under the trial rules, we discussed exactly what you speak of here, GS. I can see this being a very rough experience for anyone without existing contacts within the game community trying it out for the first time. |
Having Vengeance and Fallout slotted for recharge means never having to say you're sorry.
Looking at this: Makes me sad
Suitable fix: Should be sought
New players: Always a good thing
Unworkable trial accounts: Not a good incentive
Possible fix: ...unknown...
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Zwillinger
GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.
|
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Captain_Photon
NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.
 |
I'm sympathetic to the OP. I recently started a new brute and have noticed that I can set my Looking For Team flag and not get any invites for hours at a time.
When I get tired of soloing, I just start inviting folks and can quickly form a full team (thank you SSK system!). This is total speculation but I wonder if a lot of players just got used to shouting for AE teams and their ability to use /search atrophied?
Freedom: Blazing Larb, Fiery Fulcrum, Sardan Reborn, Arctic-Frenzy, Wasabi Sam, Mr Smashtastic.
Trial Accounts are overly restrictive...
It's was so lonely. ;_;
I couldn't even interact with people in Atlas Park on the Broadcast Channel.
And I couldn't respond to tells. I had to go find the person and tell them my response on local. X_X
One thing I've consistently said about trial accounts is that they ought to be able to reply to /tells. Not initiate conversation, but be allowed to reply when someone else does.
It's not a perfect solution, and wouldn't solve everything, but I think it would improve the experience some.
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/36641/My-Little-Exalt
Maybe they could let trial accounts send team invites to other trial accounts.
Quote:
Yeah let's give RMTers back one of the tools they used to harass players, cuz you know knew players just love being flooded with RMT spam.
|
Originally Posted by Lucky666
Maybe they could let trial accounts send team invites to other trial accounts.
|
tbh now we got the whole ignore option i think trials should have broadcast enabled. and not just basic local stuff.
then again i havent tried a trial yet to see whats it really like
Quote:
I don't think anyone wants the spam back however coming into a game like this and not being able to communicate really can turn away a new player. I know when I started here (my first ever mmo) I didn't know how to use the chat system and since it was beta there was no real place to get that info from (I think someone on the forums eventually told me I don't really remember how I found out). It can be very lonely. |
Originally Posted by Forbin_Project
Yeah let's give RMTers back one of the tools they used to harass players, cuz you know knew players just love being flooded with RMT spam.
|
Personally I support the trial account restrictions being modified in some way to allow those accounts a bit more ability to interact with other players.
"I think I'm cute. I've got gold medals.
I've got the moves that make them all tap out.
The Angle Slam, the Ankle Lock.
Marty Jannetty...still can't walk.
I'm just the sexy Kurt.
I'll make your ankle hurt.
I'm just the sexy Kurt.
I'll make your ankle hurt."
Kurt Angle
Quote:
There are intermediate solutions. For example, you could put a cooldown on group invites and tells (e.g., 5 minutes) and allow you to always respond to tells, but still forbid broadcasts. This would make using this for RMT ads ineffective, but still allow some basic communication functionality. You could also allow players to turn on an option to receive tells and group invites (off by default for non-trial accounts) so that trial account players who start together can invite each other to a team or that a vet who has helped a trial account player earlier to still receive tells from that player.|
Originally Posted by Forbin_Project
Yeah let's give RMTers back one of the tools they used to harass players, cuz you know knew players just love being flooded with RMT spam.
|
Your best option as a trial account player currently is to use the help channel as well as you can (it's the only channel that is open to trial accounts aside from the local and team channels).
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by pmgunnerxx
I don't think anyone wants the spam back however coming into a game like this and not being able to communicate really can turn away a new player. I know when I started here (my first ever mmo) I didn't know how to use the chat system and since it was beta there was no real place to get that info from (I think someone on the forums eventually told me I don't really remember how I found out). It can be very lonely.
Personally I support the trial account restrictions being modified in some way to allow those accounts a bit more ability to interact with other players. |
Before the trial restrictions the chat channels were constantly being spammed. The RMTers were joining SG's and teams to spam people, and they even joined private chat channels to spam people there.
After the restrictions we only got the spam thru emails.
Now I don't mind letting trials respond to tells, that's a reasonable request. I just don't want to accidentally give the spammers tools that they can abuse.
Quote:
Some good ideas there.
|
Originally Posted by Sorciere
There are intermediate solutions. For example, you could put a cooldown on group invites and tells (e.g., 5 minutes) and allow you to always respond to tells, but still forbid broadcasts. This would make using this for RMT ads ineffective, but still allow some basic communication functionality. You could also allow players to turn on an option to receive tells and group invites (off by default for non-trial accounts) so that trial account players who start together can invite each other to a team or that a vet who has helped a trial account player earlier to still receive tells from that player.
|
I've helped a number of trials form teams lately. Seems overly restrictive to me. I remember trialing this game a long time ago and getting up to 26 on my ma/regen scrapper and doing pretty much everything a "real" account would. I doubt I would have actually joined this game with the current implementation of the trial. I did actually run a trial account a few months ago leading up to i15, it feels considerably more restrictive than some of the trials I've done for other MMO's such as WoW.
I wouldn't mind having an "Allow trial accounts to contact this character" option in the settings, along with some way for trial account players to find players who opt in that setting.
It would be very, very good if a player with a trial account logs in and is presented with a dialog box saying "The following characters have expressed their desire to help new players to get used to the game; you may contact them for help!" with a list of all the players in the server that are online and have that flag on. Sure, we may get spammed to heck and back, but /ignore is very easy to do, and I would expect only veteran players who are willing to bear that annoyance to opt in the list.
www.SaveCOH.com: Calls to Action and Events Calendar
This is what 3700 heroes in a single zone looks like.
Thanks to @EnsonsDeath for the GVE code that made me VIP again!
Quote:
Oh really? Here are |
Originally Posted by Frosticus
I've helped a number of trials form teams lately. Seems overly restrictive to me. I remember trialing this game a long time ago and getting up to 26 on my ma/regen scrapper and doing pretty much everything a "real" account would. I doubt I would have actually joined this game with the current implementation of the trial. I did actually run a trial account a few months ago leading up to i15, it feels considerably more restrictive than some of the trials I've done for other MMO's such as WoW.
|
WoW's trial account restrictions
Quote:
|
A Trial Account allows access to World of Warcraft for 10 or 14 days. These are offered to allow our prospective customers time to experience the game purchasing a retail copy How do I get a Trial Account? - Being recruited by a friend. - Trial keys included in other Blizzard Products. - Purchasing a 14-day $1.99 Trial at select retailers. - Limited offer at (website deleted) The following restrictions are placed on all Classic Trial Accounts: - A level cap of 20. - A maximum of 10 gold. - Trade skills are capped at 100 ranks. - Inability to trade via the auction house, mailbox, or player-to-player. - In-Game public chat channels will be unavailable. - Characters will be unable to create or join existing guilds. - Accounts will no longer be able to whisper other players unless they have been added to those players' friends lists or have received a whisper from them first. - Characters will not be able to invite players into a party. - Characters will not be able to join parties with other players above level 20. - Voice Chat is disabled on trial accounts. - Realms with login queues will give priority to customers with retail accounts. - Will not be eligible for any Character Transfer service. |
City of Heroes Trial account restrictions
Quote:
|
Trial Accounts allow a player to take City of Heroes and/or City of Villains for a test run. They are free and last either 10 or 14 days, depending on the source of the Trial Account code. Up until Issue 12, a Trial Account was not limited in what it could do; as of Issue 12, there are several restrictions put in place. Most of these restrictions were placed due to tells and in-game email spam. Restrictions Trial Accounts cannot email other players Trial Accounts may not level past 14 Trial Accounts can only have 50k influence Trial Accounts may not join global channels Trial Accounts can only speak in
Trial Accounts may join teams, but not invite other players Trial Accounts may not join SuperGroups. Trial Accounts may not create Mission Architect arcs. They can not interface with the Architect Entertainment Stations. However, they can be invited onto a team that is running MA missions. Sources Trial Account codes are always available from the "Refer a Friend" option in a player's Master Account options. Each player may give out three of these at a time. They last ten days, and if the Trial Account is upgraded to a retail-code account, the person who originated the offer gets a month of free time added to the end of their subscription. They are also available for 14 days anytime at the official free trial website. Trial Accounts are also available from older NCsoft box sets. They come on small pieces of paper with a code on it. These last 14 days and do not give a free month to the owner of the box set if the account is upgraded to a retail-code account. An additional source is websites offering Trial Account codes. These typically last either 14 or 10 days, though vastly more often 14. They do not give a free month to anyone if the account is upgraded to a retail-code account. |
Quote:
You're probably right, I trialed WoW a long time ago and didn't remember it being bad at all, the only thing I recall was the gold limit. Just as when I first trialed this game in ~'05 it was great. The trial I ran of this game a few months back would have never inspired me to actually buy it, perhaps WoW's would be just as bad for me now.|
Originally Posted by Forbin_Project
Oh really? Here are
WoW's trial account restrictions City of Heroes Trial account restrictions Sorry but aside from being able to respond to tells/whispers they seem just as restrictive as ours if not more in some spots. |
At any rate, I feel bad for people trialing this game now.
Part of the problem of seeing Trial Accounts as being too restrictive is the unspoken assumption that "OK, I can't level past 14, but, I should be able to do *everything* a Live account can do from level 1-14."
The reality is that the 'full experience' is limited because it's a *trial* account and it's *free.* It's only meant to give one a taste or a sneak peak at the game. Not give one actual full-functioning game time for two weeks free. It's just enough to let one see if they'd like to upgrade to the full game or pass on it.
If you want a full functioning trial for a month with no restrictions whatsoever, then it will cost you just $20 at the most. Much cheaper if you find a like a $10 copy of the game somewhere.
Speeding Through New DA Repeatables || Spreadsheet o' Enhancements || Zombie Skins: better skins for these forums || Guide to Guides
Quote:
I loved the old trials, but they did have good reasons for dropping the hammer on them, and with the exception of email spam the restrictions have been effective.
|
Originally Posted by Frosticus
You're probably right, I trialed WoW a long time ago and didn't remember it being bad at all, the only thing I recall was the gold limit. Just as when I first trialed this game in ~'05 it was great. The trial I ran of this game a few months back would have never inspired me to actually buy it, perhaps WoW's would be just as bad for me now.
At any rate, I feel bad for people trialing this game now. |
This has come a few times and I always get the impression a few of us like helping and teaming with Trials.
If I could offer an idea, besides being able to respond to tells, would be to add an icon in the search engine marking the Trial players. This way those of us forming teams can see they are trials and invite them without having to /tell, and show them around.
Quote:
This: I approve of|
Originally Posted by Tormentoso
This has come a few times and I always get the impression a few of us like helping and teaming with Trials.
If I could offer an idea, besides being able to respond to tells, would be to add an icon in the search engine marking the Trial players. This way those of us forming teams can see they are trials and invite them without having to /tell, and show them around. |
As with: Allowing /tell responses
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Zwillinger
GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.
|
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Captain_Photon
NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.
|
I decided to check out the other side on the pond, created a trial account to check out if the grass is really greener over there.
First, I went to Freedom, since it should be the heaviest populated server. Populated it was. 600+ users visible. 600! Here I am thinking that 200+ users is loads on my home server on the euro side. And this on a Monday sigh. I was in heaven, getting a team here would be easy.
I made sure that I stated please invite me blindly as my search tag. Let the pugging begin!
Ahem, hello? Looking for a pug here, any pug? pretty please? No, no, don't tell me to react to your broadcast, just invite me.
waiting.
gaining a few levels just hunting. Then going to Kings Row and get myself a raptor.
More waiting and realizing that by now, I could have been chatting on my favorite chatchannels, getting into a tf or joking around in broadcast when somebody is asking a question or behaves foolishly.
It is hard to communicate when you only have the limited range of local and teaming. It is hard to respond to calls and shouts. In fact, it felt lonely.
If not for one person nice enough to help me get a team together and another for inviting me into a pug this would not have been an experience I would relish.
The limits the trial accounts face, while necessary, are pretty tough. Of course a first time player will be overwhelmed with the question what to do and it was never designed for a vet like me. But being a vet doing a trial I realize that we should take care of the visitors to this place. make them feel welcomed and at home.
Because, when you can't speak, this game is a lonely place.