VIP server = one consolidated server
By
Adeon Hawkwood,
Posted on: 2011-06-21 10:11 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
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^^^^ This. Well said.
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Originally Posted by Techbot Alpha
The 'VIP' servers, to my mind, are the escape for all the Elitists and down-their-nose lookers who would just alienate genuine nice players and others and stop them adding to the game.
Good riddance, I say. I'll be waiting on Union to welcome the next batch of RPers. |
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Or.. it could be just another place to put some new characters.|
Originally Posted by Techbot Alpha
The 'VIP' servers, to my mind, are the escape for all the Elitists and down-their-nose lookers who would just alienate genuine nice players and others and stop them adding to the game.
Good riddance, I say. I'll be waiting on Union to welcome the next batch of RPers. |
I have no mind to run away from the new comers, but I am fully planning on taking advantage of the character slots. We'll have to see if it ends up being just your average server, or if the people on it are loud and obnoxious with regard to the F2Pers.
�Alas, regardless of their doom, the little victims play!� - Thomas Gray
Given that I'm already an elitist snob soloist 
the VIP server will just be an
extra server where I can put new toons.
As for the freebs? No issue at all - I'll just do what I already do now...
Default settings of "Decline All Invites", and "/hide" on all but my 4 incarnates.
No Problem. 
The part of this that *does* concern me is not what the rednames are saying
now (about keeping all your stuff etc.), but what they'll do a year down the
road, if/when they start wanting to charge to enter new zones or trials, or
make certain enhancements obtainable *only* through payment, rather
than the market, a-merits, or r-merits as it is today.
Right now, they're saying many of the "right" things, but I also recall them
telling us that ED wasn't a nerf.
So, we're VIPs when this all goes live, but I have a premonition that it
won't be long before they'll be trying to pry extra cash out of us as well.
If it's for optional stuff, fine (I haven't bought booster packs either), but if
it's for actual game progression stuff - enhs, ATs, powers, trials and the
like ...see ya.... (ED cost them 2 yrs of my business - F2P could cost them
all of it).
Considering these guys can't get a simple option switch to work right
(Useful Salvage Warning, Market Fees, just to name two) or run a BBS
smoothly (its TEN months now, for the logout bug), I don't have very
much confidence in the outcome of the "Freedom" experiment.
There are (imho) literally 100's of ways to mangle it for the game and their
customers, and only a few ways to make it work smoothly, and tbh, an
influx of freebs is the very least of the issues in my book.
I'm not planning to change anything I'm doing now, and I'll hope for the best,
but I'll also prepare for the worst.
As always, time will give us the real answer.
Regards,
4
I've been rich, and I've been poor. Rich is definitely better.
Light is faster than sound - that's why some people look smart until they speak.
For every seller who leaves the market dirty stinkin' rich,
there's a buyer who leaves the market dirty stinkin' IOed. - Obitus.
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Unfortunately, the first impression a server's community makes on an individual player is often the local channel. Whether or not it's active, whether the discussion revolves around RPing stories or mix-maxing builds, whether the atmosphere is immersive or digressive - the ongoing conversation is very telling. If it's filled with gold-selling spam, however, that sends another message.|
Originally Posted by Forbin_Project
Because the free accounts only have access to local and team channels, nothing else. The local channel can simply be dropped from your chatbox and you'll never see any spam.
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Spamloads of spam would of course be a huge spam impediment to building a spam community on a spam F2P spam server with a fried egg on top and spam. It would seem the devs are counting on the existing servers' established communities to be able to withstand the increased static. That they've left open the safety valve of a "VIP" server suggests that they're not wholly confident this will work.
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The point I was making was that it was a waste of time and money to have done it that way, because they are integrating anyway.|
Originally Posted by TrueGentleman
That's a much better way of handling an F2P transition. Here's hoping that Paragon Studios will poll their player base to determine whether we'd prefer "VIP" servers or F2P servers to be launched with COH Freedom.
The other benefit of this approach is that it leaves the decision up to P2P players about when to move to an F2P community instead of everything happening all at once. Conversely, it would be fair to allow F2P players to spend their Paragon/Reward Points to move to P2P servers. And in either case, actively committing to a given server psychologically encourages players to be good community members instead of taking things for granted. |
In any case, the playerbase here is NOT saying a resounding "NO WAY", so it seems even less warranted. The VIP server gives a refuge to those that want it. That's the right way to do it. Give the free players a chance to mix and mingle and be a part of the community, not a walled-in island. Let vets who absolutely don't want to mix with free players do a transfer to the VIP server.
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We have difference preferences: I'm a gradualist, and you (if I'm characterizing yours accurately) would rather cut to the chase.|
Originally Posted by SlickRiptide
The point I was making was that it was a waste of time and money to have done it that way, because they are integrating anyway.
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| In any case, the playerbase here is NOT saying a resounding "NO WAY", so it seems even less warranted. |
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That may be the case in other games but here in CoH the community's first impression is made in the Broadcast channel. Broadcast is zonewide while you have to be standing next to the person being a jerk in local.
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Originally Posted by TrueGentleman
Unfortunately, the first impression a server's community makes on an individual player is often the local channel.
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Originally Posted by TrueGentleman
Then why not split it the other way around and create new F2P servers where VIPers can go if they prefer more active/crowded playingfields? Some players love to start out from square one on an unexplored server, after all.
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I have a feeling that Founders Falls on the Vip server will be amazingly similar to the one on the other servers.
The only reason that a person would leave their current community to move there is to be a snotty elitest who think that they'll contact leprosy from the unwashed masses of F2P people.
Arc #1267 The Key of Brass and Flame
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Not gonna happen |
Originally Posted by TrueGentleman
Then why not split it the other way around and create new F2P servers where VIPers can go if they prefer more active/crowded playingfields?
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At this stage, there'll be no major changes to the new set up that's been outlined to us - it's already been worked out and planned for.
When I21 goes live, all 15 current servers will be open to everyone, and there'll be a new 16th server open to subs only.
@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
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Broadcast-wide chat channels are a fundamentally dissociated affair, like having an ICQ window open in the background of the main app or listening to a call-in radio show while stuck in traffic. It's better to get a sense of who's talking about what where, not tuning in to voices in the ether.|
Originally Posted by Forbin_Project
That may be the case in other games but here in CoH the community's first impression is made in the Broadcast channel. Broadcast is zonewide while you have to be standing next to the person being a jerk in local.
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I am an explorer, by Bartle test standards, so I move around lot while taking in my first impression - others' mileage may vary. Still, Barren's Chat <shudders>
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Originally Posted by TerraFan
The only reason that a person would leave their current community to move there is to be a snotty elitest who think that they'll contact leprosy from the unwashed masses of F2P people.
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Originally Posted by TrueGentleman
(It's fairly clear that this is going to be the holy war of COHF2P.)
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I doubt it. Judging from past experinces with our community the nerdrage will peter out in about a month at most and only flare up in the occasional short lived thread when some nut wants to vent his spleen.
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Add to it that the free players don't get posting rights, wouldn't be surprised if much of forum-rage fizzles away.
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Originally Posted by Forbin_Project
I doubt it. Judging from past experinces with our community the nerdrage will peter out in about a month at most and only flare up in the occasional short lived thread when some nut wants to vent his spleen.
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Let's Dance!
For now I'm withholding judgement and not planning to transfer any characters. Some people appear to be working themselves into a froth over this, but we have no idea what it'll really be like yet.
Personally I remember with fondness how it was when I first started playing, when most of the people I met in CoH were new like me. As long as the jerk-to-nice-person ratio isn't too high, I look forward to teaming with the newbies. If it does get too high, there's always the refuge of the VIP server.
Freedom: Blazing Larb, Fiery Fulcrum, Sardan Reborn, Arctic-Frenzy, Wasabi Sam, Mr Smashtastic.