i21 - in case you are not looking
By
Aett_Thorn,
Posted on: 2011-06-21 06:52 in Archetypes and Powers General Discussion
Quote:
From what I got, they aren't going anywhere, so I don't understand what you are saying. We can now buy them with these paragon points, which means if we just keep up our 15 a month, we can get the boosters free, which is great for me, because I never liked the idea of paying money to get a few flashy powers in game, or costume sets. This way, I keep up the 15 a month and can eventually get the boosters anyway. And it's not like they are being taken away from players who already have them, so I see no negative impact on the booster packs at all.
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Originally Posted by FallenValkyrja
I am sorry to see the Booster Packs go.
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It sounded to me as though the boosters as prepackaged units of multiple items will no longer be available, although the pieces themselves will be purchaseable individually. I think the fear is that having to buy everything you want separately will be quite a bit more expensive than getting everything included in a single pack.
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Originally Posted by Pyro_Master_NA
From what I got, they aren't going anywhere, so I don't understand what you are saying. We can now buy them with these paragon points, which means if we just keep up our 15 a month, we can get the boosters free, which is great for me, because I never liked the idea of paying money to get a few flashy powers in game, or costume sets. This way, I keep up the 15 a month and can eventually get the boosters anyway.
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But if you just wait a little while, you get it along with your normal subscribtion cost, so it really doesn't cost anything. If people want them and don't want to use the new system, they still have a few months/weeks to buy them the way they are available now. I don't see the problem.
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Originally Posted by Selina_H
It sounded to me as though the boosters as prepackaged units of multiple items will no longer be available, although the pieces themselves will be purchaseable individually. I think the fear is that having to buy everything you want separately will be quite a bit more expensive than getting everything included in a single pack.
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I am a little confused....
Q: If I am a subscriber now, what will happen to my account if I choose to become a Free player when City of Heroes Freedom launches?
A: Current City of Heroes subscribers who choose to become Free players will retain access to tons of content, however some Issue content will be reserved for VIP players, including Power Sets, Costume Sets, etc. One notable difference is that Free players will be limited to two character slots total, plus any character slots directly purchased or earned through Veteran Rewards. All existing characters will be saved and reenabled if a player subscribes as a VIP player. (including costumes and powers) and character slots (directly purchased character slots or those unlocked from Veteran Rewards). Access to some content, such as Mission Architect and epic character Archetypes, may be restricted, but will be reenabled if a player subscribes as a VIP player.
**If I switch to F2P and I have all 8 slots full of characters and have none purchased or earned through rewards. Would I not be able to play 6 of my 8 already made characters? and if two of them are Epic AT's that are already 50, I will not be able to play them as well?
Proton Sentry Peacebringer:lvl 50+++ - Human Build / Triform Build
Quasar Sentry Warshade:lvl 50+- Human Build / Triform Build
Red Katipo Arachnos Soldier:lvl 50+++ - Crab Build / Bane Build
Black Katipo Arachnos Widowlvl 50+++ - Fortunata Build / Night Widow Build
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Correct. As a former subscriber, you would be downgraded to Premium status, which includes only 2 automatic character unlock tokens. If you don't have any slots purchased or earned through vet rewards, you'll have to choose which two characters you want to play, or pony up for additional slots.|
Originally Posted by Big_Soto
If I switch to F2P and I have all 8 slots full of characters and have none purchased or earned through rewards. Would I not be able to play 6 of my 8 already made characters? and if two of them are Epic AT's that are already 50, I will not be able to play them as well?
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In addition, AT unlocks are separate from the slots. If you don't have sufficient vet status for an automatic AT unlock (the conditions for this are still a bit vague), you'll have to pay for the unlock before you can use a gated AT character, even if you have a free slot available.
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Confirmed as bankable on Ustream. We will get one character transfer token per month subscribed.
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Originally Posted by DarkSideLeague
Free character transfers!!!
I wonder if it's "Use it or lose it" or if it's gonna be bankable? |
Why Blasters? Empathy Sucks.
So, you want to be Mental?
What the hell? Let's buff defenders.
Tactics are for those who do not have a big enough hammer. Wisdom is knowing how big your hammer is.
Quote:
It sounded to me like F2P and Premium will be different in that regard. The premium already having all ATs unlocked as usual.|
Originally Posted by Big_Soto
**If I switch to F2P and I have all 8 slots full of characters and have none purchased or earned through rewards. Would I not be able to play 6 of my 8 already made characters? and if two of them are Epic AT's that are already 50, I will not be able to play them as well?
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Originally Posted by StratoNexus
Confirmed as bankable on Ustream. We will get one character transfer token per month subscribed.
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This is incorrect. However, you may already have the ability to unlock an AT through vet status. We still don't have the exact details (Posi was somewhat vague).
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Originally Posted by Pyro_Master_NA
It sounded to me like F2P and Premium will be different in that regard. The premium already having all ATs unlocked as usual.
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While i haven't seen anything specific, i would be every surprised if it wasn't just from July on, exactly like Paragon Points.
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Originally Posted by Pyro_Master_NA
Does anyone know if they will make it retroactive? For example, if I have 66 months on now, will I gett 66 transfers, or will it start with this July as month one like the Paragon points?
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Dr. Todt's theme.
i make stuff...
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That's what I was thinking, but it would be very nice if the long term vets had a ton banked up. Shouldn't get my hopes up that much. Then again, I don't know what I'd do with that many transfers haha.
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Originally Posted by Schismatrix
While i haven't seen anything specific, i would be every surprised if it wasn't just from July on, exactly like Paragon Points.
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Originally Posted by Jibikao
So it begins...
During the time I took a break from this game, I've tried two F2P games and in both of them, I ended up paying MORE per month because I had to buy extra slots, bag space and whatnot. Allods is one of the games I've tried. The bag space is so freaking small that I had to spend like $19.99 to buy extra bag. $19.99 is more than one month subscription!!! I am also impatient. If I know there is a new powerset that can be unlocked by doing numerous grinding or can be locked by purchasing, I always choose purchasing. My business is growing and TIME is more valuable to me. I rather spend the money now to try new things than waiting to be unlocked. It seems like most major games are switching to F2P. I won't trash it for now because if it happens, it happens. I am not so old that I want to resist any new changes. I am going to be open minded for now and see what happens. As long as the VIP portion of it is handled well, and it gives the company more money to develop the game, then I am fine with it. The article mentions that new "powers" can be purchased? If that means I can buy a new power for an existing powerset, then I'll definitely do it. :P |
This is quite common from what I gather. It's the "buying" syndrome. "3 bucks here, 5 bucks there.. oh that's only 2.99, I might as well buy that".. People are more likely to buy $50 worth of stuff in small increments, then smack it all down at once.
Serious F2P players usually end up spending multitudes more per month than if they were to play a Pay-to-play game.. Which is probably why the model has taken off in recent years.
(It's not uncommon for people playing F2P games to spend around 50 bucks per month, and some spend hundreds). I know my little sister once spent about $300 without even realizing it.. Granted shes not the best with money lol.
I also play LOTRO which went FTP awhile back which like DDO is run by Turbine. The limited content, limited slots, big store, and monthly points for VIPs (including the name 'VIP') is a carbon copy of Turbine's model. FTP has its ups and downs in my experience.
Disclaimer: This is 100% my opinion based on my own experience.
The influx of new FTP players will bring their own problems. Newbie zones and later mid level zones are going to become very crowded and inhospitable places to be. Offensive and abusive chat, clueless newbies asking the same question (ex: Where can I get a horse? Is that near Atlas Park?) over and over and over and over, killstealing, trouble getting enough mobs for mission completion, inf begging. If you think this was ever bad before in the last 7 years you have seen nothing yet.
The game store is going to be shoved down your throat. Just accept it. On the forums, on the official website, on the loading screen, on in-game UIs, and I would be very surprised if we didn't see it on in-game billboards. LOTRO just redesigned the entire character UI to get more 'store' buttons into it.
There will be things available only in the store that are not earnable anywhere else. Some of these things will seem like real game changers or gamebreakers depending on your point of view. Extra character slots, incarnates, costume items, and the like are only the beginning. Expect things like nifty new temp powers and temporary bonuses (ex: damage, xp). Maybe we will even see the base upgrades we've been begging for these last many years. It can be fun to shop in the game store and it can be a slap in the face. "We've been asking for this for XX years!" and "Wow, neat!" and "Why can't I earn this in game?"
FTP game store money is good for profit and game development. MMOs seem to forget that VIP money is good for that too. If MMO and paying customer were husband and wife, then the FTPer is the sweet young thing on the side that gets all the attention and presents. An example of this is LOTRO's coming Rise of Isengard expansion, for which the preorder package is almost exclusively designed around enticing the FTPer.
FTP demands more decisive and swifter GM response. The chat abuse alone can kill a game if not dealt with swiftly and decisively.... for whatever that is worth, as a ftp account can be created with a new dummy email in 5 minutes. There really are people that will churn through numerous ftp accounts just to be chat trolls and even brag they know they're going to be banned and will be back, they're losing nothing. However, ignoring the elephant in the room is even worse. LOTRO tried that the first two weeks of FTP as their GM staff was swamped, nice new FTPers thought this was what the community was like and quit, VIP accounts were dropping like flies, and those of us who stayed moved into the 50+ zones and didn't come out for months. Now, in LOTRO an harassment petition will typically be answered in 5 minutes or less. Seriously.
Communities may close ranks against the new FTPers (not the oldtimer FTPers) out of a sense of self preservation. Think back to the heydays of AE PL farming, pre-SSKing, back with Rikti Comm Officers were king. It's going to be like that, only worse, for the first six months. If your SG recruits be sure to do a lengthy provisional no-bin test first. If you already do that, double the time. There will be good FTPers and there will be FTPers who were banned from their playing games and have nowhere else to go.
I hope COH takes the good and learns from the bad in the FTP model. It's been a real adjustment as a LOTRO player and I still wish they'd never done it. The game was dwindling before the influx of ftp money, but it was a friendlier and happier place.
The first thing I'm doing is taking off the "Helper" tag. For those of you on Liberty who know me that may put the magnitude of community change coming in perspective.
Together we entered a city of strangers, we made it a city of friends, and we leave it a City of Heroes. - Sweet_Sarah
BOYCOTT NCSoft (on Facebook)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/517513781597443/
Governments have fallen to the power of social media. Gaming companies can too.
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That does worry me some. |
Originally Posted by Steele_Magnolia
The first thing I'm doing is taking off the "Helper" tag. For those of you on Liberty who know me that may put the magnitude of community change coming in perspective.
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I'm cautiously hopeful about the changes coming our way over-all, but... yeah. I can also see how things might get kind'a hairy.
Hope for the best but be ready for the worst, I guess.
@Brightfires - @Talisander
That chick what plays the bird-things...
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On the topic of the chat abuse, I think it would be a good idea for F2P accounts to have profanity disabled in a similar manner as it is in AE arcs. In AE, profane language is just not allowed in the arcs, and I think a similar function could be applied to the chat for F2P accounts (I think. I have no clue how to program that in, just saying it theoretically seems possible). There is also something I think they have that bans you from using chat currently if you have too many things said in x amount of time. And they don't get in game email on F2P from what I heard. So this should be a minor issue after a short amount of time IMO.
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Originally Posted by Steele_Magnolia
I also play LOTRO which went FTP awhile back which like DDO is run by Turbine. The limited content, limited slots, big store, and monthly points for VIPs (including the name 'VIP') is a carbon copy of Turbine's model. FTP has its ups and downs in my experience.
Disclaimer: This is 100% my opinion based on my own experience. The influx of new FTP players will bring their own problems. Newbie zones and later mid level zones are going to become very crowded and inhospitable places to be. Offensive and abusive chat, clueless newbies asking the same question (ex: Where can I get a horse? Is that near Atlas Park?) over and over and over and over, killstealing, trouble getting enough mobs for mission completion, inf begging. If you think this was ever bad before in the last 7 years you have seen nothing yet. The game store is going to be shoved down your throat. Just accept it. On the forums, on the official website, on the loading screen, on in-game UIs, and I would be very surprised if we didn't see it on in-game billboards. LOTRO just redesigned the entire character UI to get more 'store' buttons into it. There will be things available only in the store that are not earnable anywhere else. Some of these things will seem like real game changers or gamebreakers depending on your point of view. Extra character slots, incarnates, costume items, and the like are only the beginning. Expect things like nifty new temp powers and temporary bonuses (ex: damage, xp). Maybe we will even see the base upgrades we've been begging for these last many years. It can be fun to shop in the game store and it can be a slap in the face. "We've been asking for this for XX years!" and "Wow, neat!" and "Why can't I earn this in game?" FTP game store money is good for profit and game development. MMOs seem to forget that VIP money is good for that too. If MMO and paying customer were husband and wife, then the FTPer is the sweet young thing on the side that gets all the attention and presents. An example of this is LOTRO's coming Rise of Isengard expansion, for which the preorder package is almost exclusively designed around enticing the FTPer. FTP demands more decisive and swifter GM response. The chat abuse alone can kill a game if not dealt with swiftly and decisively.... for whatever that is worth, as a ftp account can be created with a new dummy email in 5 minutes. There really are people that will churn through numerous ftp accounts just to be chat trolls and even brag they know they're going to be banned and will be back, they're losing nothing. However, ignoring the elephant in the room is even worse. LOTRO tried that the first two weeks of FTP as their GM staff was swamped, nice new FTPers thought this was what the community was like and quit, VIP accounts were dropping like flies, and those of us who stayed moved into the 50+ zones and didn't come out for months. Now, in LOTRO an harassment petition will typically be answered in 5 minutes or less. Seriously. Communities may close ranks against the new FTPers (not the oldtimer FTPers) out of a sense of self preservation. Think back to the heydays of AE PL farming, pre-SSKing, back with Rikti Comm Officers were king. It's going to be like that, only worse, for the first six months. If your SG recruits be sure to do a lengthy provisional no-bin test first. If you already do that, double the time. There will be good FTPers and there will be FTPers who were banned from their playing games and have nowhere else to go. I hope COH takes the good and learns from the bad in the FTP model. It's been a real adjustment as a LOTRO player and I still wish they'd never done it. The game was dwindling before the influx of ftp money, but it was a friendlier and happier place. The first thing I'm doing is taking off the "Helper" tag. For those of you on Liberty who know me that may put the magnitude of community change coming in perspective. |
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Based on my previous play of DDO and LotRO, I much prefer how they do the F2P options. Premium is ok, but subpar. F2P is horrible compared to what those to games did.
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Originally Posted by Steele_Magnolia
I hope COH takes the good and learns from the bad in the FTP model.
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What LOTRO did was put a name-right click "Report Harassment" option in place similar to the "Report Gold Spammer/Spammer" option here. It autoreports a petition that includes the name/line of chat and puts the name on the ignore list. |
Originally Posted by Pyro_Master_NA
On the topic of the chat abuse, I think it would be a good idea for F2P accounts to have profanity disabled in a similar manner as it is in AE arcs. In AE, profane language is just not allowed in the arcs, and I think a similar function could be applied to the chat for F2P accounts (I think. I have no clue how to program that in, just saying it theoretically seems possible). There is also something I think they have that bans you from using chat currently if you have too many things said in x amount of time. And they don't get in game email on F2P from what I heard. So this should be a minor issue after a short amount of time IMO.
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The chat abuse was so pervasive there simply wasn't enough time to petition it all via normal petition form. I'm not talking about profanity or mild obscenity, which you can just /ignore. I'm talking about incidents like a player that used /regional chat to spout his white supremacy and racial jokes and all the others that chimed in.
The right click report option helped a lot. The worst offenders disappeared when their FTP accounts were being banned as fast as they made them. I hope COH does this as well as beefs up their support staff.
Together we entered a city of strangers, we made it a city of friends, and we leave it a City of Heroes. - Sweet_Sarah
BOYCOTT NCSoft (on Facebook)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/517513781597443/
Governments have fallen to the power of social media. Gaming companies can too.
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I like some of the store options which enhance the game, such as additional storage and shared storage. I've spent probably $300 in the LOTRO store, above and beyond my Lifetime suscription. Not all FTP is bad, it's just that the bad is very bad. I'd like to see COH ahead of the curve and prepared for it with tools and GM staff in place when FTP begins, rather than trying to react to it after the fact.
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Originally Posted by Amy_Amp
Based on my previous play of DDO and LotRO, I much prefer how they do the F2P options. Premium is ok, but subpar. F2P is horrible compared to what those to games did.
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Together we entered a city of strangers, we made it a city of friends, and we leave it a City of Heroes. - Sweet_Sarah
BOYCOTT NCSoft (on Facebook)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/517513781597443/
Governments have fallen to the power of social media. Gaming companies can too.
Quote:
Are you planning to drop your subscription?|
Originally Posted by PC_guy
so I have to pay to play my khelds now?
welp, looks like that AT is dead now. |
If not you have nothing, zero, nada, zip to worry about.
But it's MY sadistic mechanical monster and I'm here to make sure it knows it. - Girl Genius
List of Invention Guides
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Thank you for prefacing this by acknowledging that it is personal opinion. I'll apply the same acknowlegement to the following comments as well: |
Originally Posted by Steele_Magnolia
VIP accounts were dropping like flies, and those of us who stayed moved into the 50+ zones and didn't come out for months. Now, in LOTRO an harassment petition will typically be answered in 5 minutes or less. Seriously.
... I hope COH takes the good and learns from the bad in the FTP model. It's been a real adjustment as a LOTRO player and I still wish they'd never done it. The game was dwindling before the influx of ftp money, but it was a friendlier and happier place. |
To the best of my knowledge, VIP accounts were not "dropping like flies." Some dropped, but there was by no means a mass exodus. Neither I nor anyone I know in game moved to 50+ zones; I've got characters new and old, in low and high level ranges on 11 servers and have never felt the need to avoid specific zones during the transition.
While I certainly saw awful chat spam in the earliest days, it really wasn't any worse than launch or expansion releases.* There were new players that were serious troublemakers, but there were almost as many vets skewering newbs (not n00bs) for asking the same types of questions we all asked when we first started playing. Not all n00bs were new players.
I find LOTRO just about as friendly and happy now as I have since the beginning (Founder, earliest alpha member). There were definitely some speed bumps for a little while, but nothing to cause panic or make me not want to log in. As you noted, Turbine responded pretty quickly to harassment reports and nipped much of the drama in the bud. Hopefully that too is something Paragon has been watching.
The overwhelming majority of new players I've had any dealings with have been very pleasant. There was no massive horde of savages washing over the servers, just a few bad apples here and there.
Sometimes I think the few significant instances of problems get blown 'way out of proportion to reality because some players expected the worst, so they saw it -- whether it was really that bad all around or not (my experience says not). YMMV, but my advice to CoH/V players is to go into this with an overall positive attitude, while realizing there will be some bumps in the road. It will make for a much smoother transition and better experience for all of us.
*NOTE: I don't have OOC chat on, but turned that off at launch and never looked back.
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OOC chat was the worst. I always kept in on because some people ask for help in OOC rather than Advice. Sometimes the chat moved into other channels, but the abuse was primarily in OOC. This was how it was on my server. I don't know about other servers.|
Originally Posted by lionheart_fr
Thank you for prefacing this by acknowledging that it is personal opinion. I'll apply the same acknowlegement to the following comments as well:
To the best of my knowledge, VIP accounts were not "dropping like flies." Some dropped, but there was by no means a mass exodus. Neither I nor anyone I know in game moved to 50+ zones; I've got characters new and old, in low and high level ranges on 11 servers and have never felt the need to avoid specific zones during the transition. While I certainly saw awful chat spam in the earliest days, it really wasn't any worse than launch or expansion releases.* There were new players that were serious troublemakers, but there were almost as many vets skewering newbs (not n00bs) for asking the same types of questions we all asked when we first started playing. Not all n00bs were new players. I find LOTRO just about as friendly and happy now as I have since the beginning (Founder, earliest alpha member). There were definitely some speed bumps for a little while, but nothing to cause panic or make me not want to log in. As you noted, Turbine responded pretty quickly to harassment reports and nipped much of the drama in the bud. Hopefully that too is something Paragon has been watching. The overwhelming majority of new players I've had any dealings with have been very pleasant. There was no massive horde of savages washing over the servers, just a few bad apples here and there. Sometimes I think the few significant instances of problems get blown 'way out of proportion to reality because some players expected the worst, so they saw it -- whether it was really that bad all around or not (my experience says not). YMMV, but my advice to CoH/V players is to go into this with an overall positive attitude, while realizing there will be some bumps in the road. It will make for a much smoother transition and better experience for all of us. *NOTE: I don't have OOC chat on, but turned that off at launch and never looked back. |
It's much better now, but the transition was rough. My kinship found about a dozen new good players and we're the better for it. We did avoid the starter zones, then Lonelands, and primarily stuck to the highend except for when helping our new players with tours and the like.
I think COH can learn from LOTRO's experience and hope they do. I also play AION and really, really hope that COH's store is more like LOTRO's and less like AION's. The pricing and value is worlds apart.
Together we entered a city of strangers, we made it a city of friends, and we leave it a City of Heroes. - Sweet_Sarah
BOYCOTT NCSoft (on Facebook)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/517513781597443/
Governments have fallen to the power of social media. Gaming companies can too.
Quote:
Yeah, I did end up putting a few players on ignore (which I rarely do) early on.|
Originally Posted by Steele_Magnolia
OOC chat was the worst. I always kept in on because some people ask for help in OOC rather than Advice. Sometimes the chat moved into other channels, but the abuse was primarily in OOC. This was how it was on my server. I don't know about other servers.
It's much better now, but the transition was rough. My kinship found about a dozen new good players and we're the better for it. We did avoid the starter zones, then Lonelands, and primarily stuck to the highend except for when helping our new players with tours and the like. I think COH can learn from LOTRO's experience and hope they do. I also play AION and really, really hope that COH's store is more like LOTRO's and less like AION's. The pricing and value is worlds apart. |
CoH has a great opportunity here to learn from how Turbine and others handled their implementation. They can avoid some of the pitfalls, although I'm sure they'll find some of their own.
Overall, I'm excited by CoH:F as it is currently described, and will go into it with high hopes. I won't, however, blind myself to the potential for problems.
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The way I read it, F2P only gets local and team chat options.
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Originally Posted by Steele_Magnolia
The chat abuse was so pervasive there simply wasn't enough time to petition it all via normal petition form. I'm not talking about profanity or mild obscenity, which you can just /ignore. I'm talking about incidents like a player that used /regional chat to spout his white supremacy and racial jokes and all the others that chimed in.
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Originally Posted by Pyro_Master_NA
The way I read it, F2P only gets local and team chat options.
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They also get Help, which is why I and a few others have predicted it turning into a LFG channel. It isn't in the interest of someone forming or trying to get on a team to broadcast where a lot of people can't reply.
Interestingly the game has an option to add a LFG channel to your chat tabs but I've never actually seen a message there or how to send one.
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LOTRO has tripled its subscribers since going to a F2P model. Sure you get some bad apples but the VIPs are just as juvenile at times. Go look at almost any GLFF channel. The difference here is that the GMs are much swifter and more aggressive. LOTRO's model is probably more friendly than CoH and it allows for more Freedom than CoH's will but that is due to more frequent and higher quality updates being put out to the playerbase. |
Originally Posted by Steele_Magnolia
I also play LOTRO which went FTP awhile back which like DDO is run by Turbine. The limited content, limited slots, big store, and monthly points for VIPs (including the name 'VIP') is a carbon copy of Turbine's model. FTP has its ups and downs in my experience.
Disclaimer: This is 100% my opinion based on my own experience. The influx of new FTP players will bring their own problems. Newbie zones and later mid level zones are going to become very crowded and inhospitable places to be. Offensive and abusive chat, clueless newbies asking the same question (ex: Where can I get a horse? Is that near Atlas Park?) over and over and over and over, killstealing, trouble getting enough mobs for mission completion, inf begging. If you think this was ever bad before in the last 7 years you have seen nothing yet. The game store is going to be shoved down your throat. Just accept it. On the forums, on the official website, on the loading screen, on in-game UIs, and I would be very surprised if we didn't see it on in-game billboards. LOTRO just redesigned the entire character UI to get more 'store' buttons into it. There will be things available only in the store that are not earnable anywhere else. Some of these things will seem like real game changers or gamebreakers depending on your point of view. Extra character slots, incarnates, costume items, and the like are only the beginning. Expect things like nifty new temp powers and temporary bonuses (ex: damage, xp). Maybe we will even see the base upgrades we've been begging for these last many years. It can be fun to shop in the game store and it can be a slap in the face. "We've been asking for this for XX years!" and "Wow, neat!" and "Why can't I earn this in game?" FTP game store money is good for profit and game development. MMOs seem to forget that VIP money is good for that too. If MMO and paying customer were husband and wife, then the FTPer is the sweet young thing on the side that gets all the attention and presents. An example of this is LOTRO's coming Rise of Isengard expansion, for which the preorder package is almost exclusively designed around enticing the FTPer. FTP demands more decisive and swifter GM response. The chat abuse alone can kill a game if not dealt with swiftly and decisively.... for whatever that is worth, as a ftp account can be created with a new dummy email in 5 minutes. There really are people that will churn through numerous ftp accounts just to be chat trolls and even brag they know they're going to be banned and will be back, they're losing nothing. However, ignoring the elephant in the room is even worse. LOTRO tried that the first two weeks of FTP as their GM staff was swamped, nice new FTPers thought this was what the community was like and quit, VIP accounts were dropping like flies, and those of us who stayed moved into the 50+ zones and didn't come out for months. Now, in LOTRO an harassment petition will typically be answered in 5 minutes or less. Seriously. Communities may close ranks against the new FTPers (not the oldtimer FTPers) out of a sense of self preservation. Think back to the heydays of AE PL farming, pre-SSKing, back with Rikti Comm Officers were king. It's going to be like that, only worse, for the first six months. If your SG recruits be sure to do a lengthy provisional no-bin test first. If you already do that, double the time. There will be good FTPers and there will be FTPers who were banned from their playing games and have nowhere else to go. I hope COH takes the good and learns from the bad in the FTP model. It's been a real adjustment as a LOTRO player and I still wish they'd never done it. The game was dwindling before the influx of ftp money, but it was a friendlier and happier place. The first thing I'm doing is taking off the "Helper" tag. For those of you on Liberty who know me that may put the magnitude of community change coming in perspective. |
People need to be patient and willing to help and if they don't the community is going to do more damage to this game than will the new players looking for a bone.
I have not been happy with the iGrind. the "NEARLY" has me concerned and I am sorry to see the Booster Packs go. However, if I can finally get the KoA costume I might be moderately happy. Overall I do not expect this to impact the game much except a short spike in new players using the Free system. I play for free on DDO but rarely log in, my game time is limited.
Truthfully this does not sound like a big game changer.