Joining now, joining later.

Recently I was trying to convince a friend of mine to try out City of Heroes. Normally he wouldn't even consider paying a monthly subscription fee, but another friend was lured into World of Warcraft (so much that the rest of us are seriously considering some sort of intervention), and for some reason this made him receptive to the idea of fifteen US dollars a month (working out to be over twenty Singapore dollars).

I don't know, it's some sort of socio-psychological thing.

There was some iffy-ness about the restrictions on trial accounts. I don't agree with the implementations, but I understand why they were put in place regarding the whole RMT spam thing. It's not a very good introduction to the game for a new player, though. In fact, it's pretty terrible.

One thing he seemed interested in was the weapon customizations, specifically for Dual Pistols. Are those available for all players, he wondered.

Only with the expansion pack pre-purchase, I answered. In other words, he'd have to buy the game, then buy (or pre-buy) the expansion pack. Remember the exchange rate between US and Singapore dollars: even if the actual price is objectively the same, there's this odd psychological reaction to seeing the bigger numbers. (Also I think the relative cost of living is slightly different, and the price comparisons are usually with local examples.)

He was willing to at least consider it, in any case. But the hurdle of getting the game just got higher.

"What about side-switching?" he asked. (I'd previously explained that despite the game being City of Heroes, he'd also have access to City of Villains.) I told him it was coming with the expansion, but no amount of pre-purchasing would make it arrive sooner.

"What about the graphics?" he asked. "They look kind of old." I told him about Ultra Mode.

His response: "So why should I get the game now when there's all these good things coming soon? Why not get it later?"

Why indeed? Extending that argument, since CoH is an actively-developed MMOG, there will always be good things coming soon. Should there be a point where a prospective player goes "this is where I will jump in and play"? Why should this point be right now?

As the person trying to convince him to join this game, I think it has to be now, or at least very soon, because there's competition. He's interested in CoH now; he might not be as interested by the time Ultra Mode comes around. I'm not the only friend trying to convince him to play a MMOG; the aforementioned WoW friend is also dangling a buddy trial offer.

(Tangentially, I'm the only one in my group of friends, and indeed among anyone I know, who plays CoH. Whereas it seems like everyone who has ever paid a monthly subscription fee for a MMOG before has played WoW, currently or lapsed, including me. There's an obvious shared topic of conversational options here.)

Should I push my friend harder to try CoH right now, while he's still interested? Should I wait until Ultra Mode or Going Rogue, when his interest may have cooled? Or should I not push at all, and simply leave CoH open as an option, passively waiting?

Has anyone encountered this sort of problem before?

At least wait until after I17 - let him experience ultra mode as the standard look for the game

Well... He would do well to wait for GR: Complete Edition.

But if he'd really like to play RIGHT NOW there's nothing wrong with that either.

He'll get more Vet rewards if he joins now.

The earlier you subscribe, the sooner you start accruing veteran rewards.

Plus, of course, a lot of that good stuff is going to cost in-game resources to do or get. Who wants to be stuck in a tutorial or leveling up their lowbies right when everyone else is off in the newest zones doing the coolest stuff?

It depends on what matters to him as far as the game goes. If graphics is really that important, then wait until i17 and Ultra Mode, then everything else will be gravy one he gets used to the game.

The earlier you subscribe, the earlier you start having fun?

I'm happy I signed up six years ago instead of today. I've had six years worth of joy, entertainment, and most importantly... community.

Still too early? This game has been around for over five years. There's over five years worth of content he can go through... if he just doesn't want to play CoH, he won't play it.

And to me, it sounds like he just doesn't want to be convinced and is making up excuses when he just doesn't want to.

Sometimes people just need to learn to say "no".

I think you should just let him be. He'll come around when he wants to, just remind him when GR comes out. Too much pushiness can push someone AWAY from what you want them to get into.

I recall one of my elementary school teachers once give me a talk. She had heard one of my friends inviting me to something (I forget what) and the first thing I did was ask "who else will be there?" My teacher pointed out that I wasn't making the decision based on whether I wanted to join my friend to enjoy the time with him, but rather who else I subconsciously considered more worthy to be with would also be there. It was as a profound and enlightening concept for me at that age. Since then, I have tried to make immediate decisions with regards to requests from friends. I don't want them to beg and I won't beg them.

Therefore, I say: screw him. You gave him the pitch and more than once it seems. It's up to him to make a decision. So far, all indications is that his decision is still no. While I'd like there to be more new players, I don't feel that we need to coerce them to join. They either want to or they don't. Leave at that and let him go.

oops my bad.

Wait until Going Rogue is out. He's hemming and hawing now, he'll hem and haw until forever if you let him. When GR comes out, remind him City's still here for him, and if he buys the Going Rogue Complete Edition, he'll have City of Heroes, City of Villains, Praetoria/Going Rogue, Dual Pistols (and Demon Summoning, Kinetic Melee, and Electric Control), and side switching, among a whole ton of other features and goodies, and a free month of gameplay, for $40 USD.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dispari I don't know why Dink thinks she's not as sexy as Jay was. In 5 posts she's already upstaged his entire career.

I may be misrepresenting him unintentionally.

All these questions he's asking me are not because he's "hemming and hawing". It's because he knows almost nothing about City of Heroes.

For example, he didn't know that CoH and CoV are now available to all players. He didn't know about customization. He didn't know how combat even works in CoH.

This is because there is nothing available about CoH here by way of advertising. Store presence is limited to old copies of the CoV box. (Not GvE or anything; CoV.) Up until I mentioned CoH to him, he had no reason to even think about the game.

Now that he knows about the game, he wants to know about it, before committing bandwidth and time to downloading the client. Hence all the questions.

Point him to the webpage that shows all the Issues. That should get him updated.

There really is only one thing I can say here on the matter:

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Rather than intentionally putting off a good thing with the expectation that it could be even better later, just go out and do it. It can ALWAYS be better, but you can have some fun now and even MORE fun later. It doesn't make sense to give up on a good thing just because it's going to get better.

Now, in regards to I17, I'd say that's both big enough and SOON enough to possibly hold out for that, as it would make for a good introduction to the game. But don't bother waiting for Going Rogue. That's like waiting for Christmas - it's all good stuff, but it's too far away and it isn't going anywhere.

If you can, push your friend to try City of Heroes after I17.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arcanaville Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

My only comment would be to do with money. If it's tight or short he should consider waiting for the GR:complete edition giving him everything and a free month. Otherwise the sooner the better.

When I started playing I knew nothing about CoH other than what I read on the box. I had never played a minute of an MMO before I bought CoH and I knew no one else who played. And in fact, when I bought CoH, I wasn't sure I wanted to play it, ESPECIALLY if it cost me $15 a month to play on top of the $30 for the game! All I really wanted was the ability to make cool super hero costumes.

Because of the above, I waited almost three years before I finally buckled and bought the game. When I signed up, I figured I'd try it for a month and quit if it sucked. The day I installed it, I sat down and played for 12 hours straight.

I can't speak for anyone's financial situation, especially someone in a foreign country (although from what I saw when I was in Singapore 10 years ago, it was a pretty afluent country), so I can't say he should just bite the bullet and buy the game. But the simple fact of the matter is, he's not going to know if he likes the game until he tries it, and if he doesn't like it the way it is today, it's doubtful the Ultramode and GR updates are going to be enough to change his mind. The game will look prettier when those updates arrive, but they won't significantly change the experience of playing a character.

Some people always wait for the "perfect" moment to do something. Said people never get to do anything because there is no such thing as a "perfect" moment. COx is a work in progress, so no matter when you get into the game, there will always be better things ahead (thankfully).