I'm sorry, but I say no.

I'm putting this here because I have no idea where else to that I can even post.



I'm a loyal 33+ month veteran of this game.
I've had a lot of fun in this game and bought quite a bit of extras, from every boxed deal/rerelease to many boosters.
I've recommended and defended this game to many people.
I've been an active voice helping other players understand the newbie-unfriendly overcomplicated immersion-breaking systems in a messy overly-complex UI of this game.

I've been extra excited for each new issue.
I've eagerly made a new character using the newest power set each new issue.

I am excited for the new issue.
I love the new things coming.
I can't wait to play Time Manipulation.
I can't wait to be able to buy things that I actually want directly instead of renting access and paying for things i don't want.

I have been hoping that this would make content more frequent and even better through direct ales giving developers a direct line of feedback as to which content is best done so that they can improve and sell us more.

I knew the future of city of Heroes was bright.




I'm sorry, but I say no.
No, it is not that good anymore.
I was wrong.

I have become less and less and less and less enthusiastic about the new issue, issue 21, coming out soon with every few days.

I have been learning all the details as they have been released, but also later as someone points me to things I missed.
I have questions, but even more answers that are not good.



I "was" looking forward to CoH: Freedom.
I "was" thinking this would be a much more fair financial model akin to those used by DDO and LOTRO.
I "was" sure that I would retain everything I had already paid for and most of the unlocked things.
I "was" certain that, even if I had to pay a premium, I would be able to permanently unlock content.
! "was" certain that the developers would be moving away from making content take longer and be rented to make money.
I "was" certain that the way they would make money would be through releasing new content that people want to buy.

I "knew" that this would be a version of F2P that would make every customer feel that their money spent was welcome and worthwhile.

I was very wrong.



I have discovered that despite over 33 months of veteran time, fully paid, I will be losing access to 6 archetypes that I previously had access to.
I have discovered that, apparently, I will even lose access to the characters I have already made that are of those archetypes.
I have discovered that I will have to pay a pseudo-subscription "license" just to "rent" the invention system or AE.
I have discovered that purchasing that "license", or not, will still not allow me to benefit from any invention origin set bonuses.

I have discovered that the "licenses" can be avoided, and I can get back partially systems which I already have, by subscribing for approximately another year after Freedom goes live to unlock the remaining Paragon Rewards tiers.


I have seen how the game used to play.
I have seen what these overly-complicated systems add to the game, and it is worth the complication.

I have played this game before it was even half as good as it is now.



I have seen that almost everything that has been added to the game while I was subscribed, or unable to pay, will be taken away with Freedom.
I have seen that some of it will be locked behind the subscription with no option to unlock.
I have seen that some of it will only be accessible through a "pseudo-subscription" fee.





I predict, many VIP players will switch to the VIP only sever.

I predict, the decision to restrict the invention system will mean less people will pay to deal with it.
I predict, demand will increase but supply will inevitably not keep pace, driving the in game market prices to the inf cap for even more items.

I predict, the restriction of the incarnate system to VIP subscribers only, and absolutely, will result in fewer incarnate trial teams to be found, especially with VIP subscribers leaving for another server.

I predict, there will be very little grind to keep non-subscribers busy with them being restricted almost entirely to SOs.
I predict that even generic IOs will not take long enough to obtain to earn much money from "licenses" and keep people busy.







Most of all....

I was excited, but now I am starting to feel hatred towards this game and the decisions made.

I have seen other F2P models. I have seen other F2P conversions from P2P.
i have seen the past history of this game and its extra content sales.
I have seen other F2P games sell temporary stat boosts.
I have seen other F2P games sell content unlocks.
I have seen other F2P games treat their veterans well.

I am seeing City of Heroes do some of those.
I am seeing City of Heroes not do some of those.

An am seeing City of Heroes make mistakes. I am seeing it make mistakes that I can't accept on principle, let alone on my wallet.



I was hoping for F2P to continue supporting the best MMO I have ever played.
I was hoping that my patronage and money spent would be welcomed and worthwhile.
I was hoping to be able to pay a fair price and get what I pay for.

I was not hoping for a grind reset back to 2006.
I was not hoping for more grind that I had to pay a lot for.

I was hoping to no longer be charged for a rental fee when the rented property was not even in use.(server access fees while I sleep)

I was hoping for fun above all else.





I do not think it is smart or fair to lock existing characters away from veteran players, especially not those that have played over a year already. I have never seen a game do this before without a mandatory subscription.

I do not think it is smart or fair to lock away content permanently behind the subscription without a one-time purchase method of unlocking it as well. Content should be for all.

I do not think it is smart of fair to lock away systems behind a subscription then sell only part of the system back for a temporary fee that is no different than a subscription. This is just a dirty trick to get a subscription out of non-subscribers.

I do not think it is smart or fair to treat your veterans as less than new subscriptions. they are the reason your game still exists, and you have the nerve to give them a reduced amount of rewards from Paragon Reward Tokens compared to subscriptions after Freedom launches?! You have the nerve to tell them "you will be able to unlock all that you have access to" and yet still leave certain major benefits like the character classes they had and systems they had access to at such a high tier that only the most senior of veterans can even get those basic systems they all once had?!
You have the nerve to take things away from them that they have paid for over many months and years and charge them to get it back?! Why not just keep everything locked behind a subscription and forget the conversion to F2P?


I don't think it will go over well with future subscribers as you release more and more content that they still have to spend points on instead of being included with the subscription. I do think that will happen.
After all, we have seen super boosters behind an extra fee despite paying a mandatory subscription. It isn't too far a stretch to see that the monthly stipend of points for subscribers has to be for something. It is obvious there will likely be more and more to buy that will be over the monthly stipend and impossible to save the stipend for all or even most.
Eventually, subscribers won't even be getting a good deal at that rate. It would be better to stay under the current system then.




Look, "free to play" is supposed to be a way for customers to have options and to feel they are getting a good deal so they will pay you for that deal. It's supposed to be defined by the removal of the mandatory subscription in favor of direct purchase of content and temporary statistical boosts with, perhaps, and optional subscription.

You're allowing us some options, but they are expensive, not to mention the things we have to buy back after they were taken away.

You're still leaving the subscription as a mandatory fee for content, rather than for exclusive services and free play of the purchasable content.

You're treating game content that is currently, and should always be, permanent as if it were a repeatable purchase of a temporary statistic boost.






I'm sick of this. I've had enough.

F2P should be fair to both the people who buy content piecemeal with one time purchases and the subscribers, but you are clearly not being very fair to non-subscribers and blatantly ripping off veterans who choose to buy content individually.
Your system even leaves huge holes where you can ripoff subscribers eventually.

If nothing else, every piece of content should be available through a fairly priced one time purchase of permanent access to it while services, such as character renames and transfers and global channel access and forum posting ability, are restricted to subscribers only and perhaps temporary licensees.



This is not fair to your veteran customers who are the reason you still have jobs, let alone future customers.
This isn't even fair to your subscribers who will have a constantly reduced pool of possible teammates for exclusive content. How many people can you guarantee they will have to be able to run all that new incarnate content now and in the future?

That's a big chunk of the game that non-subscribers can ignore and can't keep them busy and paying or even give them incentive to subscribe for because they lose it if they stop subscribing and it is supposedly "optional" and not required for any of the content they do have access to. Why would they subscribe for more unnecessary grind and more challenges that feel the same as challenges they already have access to? Why would they continue to subscribe once they experienced the story? Are you sure another grind is enough to hold their interest?


Why can't you just make fun content and sell it to us. Sell us more costume options, more stories, new zones, revamps to old zones and all sorts of content.
Don't force us to subscribe for it or you'll end up with no more subscribers than you already have, those already willing to pay a subscription for more of the game than those in the future will have to pay a full $15 for. What looks like less content for the same amount of money doesn't look very enticing to those who didn't find $15 worth the entire game as P2P.




I'm a veteran.
I'm disappointed in the prices.
I'm perturbed at the subscription only content instead of just services and a stipend.
I'm just plain angry at the loss of content I already have, especially my current characters.


I'm not going to subscribe to CoH Freedom. I'm not even going to spend any money the way this looks.
In fact, I think I'll probably just uninstall your greed-machine and hope that others do the same.


I'm sorry, but I say no to your scam.
I will not suffer unfair treatment, price gouging and lack of the best content simply because I am smart enough to not fall for your pseudo-subscription licensing and refuse to pay for unused subscription time.


You should have taken a page from the book of other f2P/freemium games that treat their customers fairly and make them WANT to spend rather than forcing their hand.

I don't WANT to spend money on your game if this is the direction you are taking, where my dollar is never enough to unlock content you make and never enough to buy even temporary access to services.



You obviously don't WANT my money or you could easily make me WANT to give it to you by giving me things to spend it on and at a fair price.
I'll take my money elsewhere and hope your game sees the light and changes, for the sake of every customer, or fails and teaches you a hard lesson about "biting the hand that feeds you".



P.S.
I loved Time Manipulation, even just the concept,but the fact that I won't have access t IOs or bonuses to make it more easily playable severely dampened my enthusiasm.
You may say "the game isn't balanced around inventions", but you constantly balance around that system and the incarnate system otherwise how can incarnate content even require incarnate powers? how can a challenge be maintained unless you constantly adjust to the level of the players instead of letting them overpower it like true "superheroes"?

Also, your game is stupidly laggy and inefficient with dumb stupid things going over the internet that should never do so. I saw a French "this player has quit the team" message in my chat box the other day, despite the fact that it was an automated string and I am playing on an English client. Why would that ever send a French string rather than a much shorter universal code for "quit team"?

Dumb. I can easily design a more efficient system that is still secure. and don't give me that "you would do it if you could" or "then do it" or "you can't because you haven't" because we all know there are a lot of different reasons why I haven't yet and the vast majority of them have nothing to do with lack of ability or dishonesty about that statement.

The point of the statement is that this game is worse than games that are even older than it or the same age.

I've played WoW, o a laptop no less. I never ever had my character "rubber-band"(a.k.a. move back to a previous position or to the position that the server says "no, you are here") in WoW simply because they had the obvious idea to eliminate the obvious cause of rubber-banding.
Their game obviously is doing quite well still, many thanks likely to their emphasis on performance rather than unnecessary proprietary complexity that nobody would even want to copy because it is so bad.



I'm letting my time run out and not coming back unless there are some major changes to make me feel welcome and my money feel wanted rather than demanded.

Long post is looooooooong.

That being said, a lot of what you're complaining about I've seen a lot of complaints about over in the Beta feedback forums. I would strongly recommend you post your thoughts in the relevant places there.

I agree with a lot of what you're saying, I really do, but there's not much that can be done from here. The Devs are looking much more in the beta forums, which are open to everyone right now. If you don't see them, under the main banner, click on the "City of Heroes Forums" button right next to the folders, and they'll be on the top of the new page. Check them out.

You understand that you lose nothing if you're still subscribed, right? You understand how completely silly from a financial standpoint it would be for them to give Premium members access to everything they had as a VIP without having to pay anything for it, right?

I'm guessing the answers to these two questions is no, so I'll finish up with the inevitable third: Can I have your stuff?

I'm sorry, but I say no to your whole post.

I'm going to be getting more for my money than I ever was, along with the freedom to get the stuff I want, rather than having to pay for an entire booster which contains costume parts or powers I will never use.

tl dr



but I was under the impression that as long as I stayed subscribed, I would have all that I have now and nothing would be lost.
The impression I got from skimming the OP was that somehow staying subscribed would mean that a subscriber would have to re-purchase items.

Am I wrong about what Freedom means? Or about what the OP says? Or what?

is there a tl dr version of the OP?

Did anyone point out to this guy that he was playing an early beta version of the software and not a release candidate?

PS- if you've never rubberbanded in WoW, you didn't play very much.

I'd say it's pretty clear that when the OP heard the game was going F2P he jumped to the conclusion that he wouldn't have to pay money any more.

The OP isn't the only one jumping to conclusions, I saw someone say this on beta earlier. A name has been changed to protect the identity of the clueless.

08-12-2011 00:09:22 [Beta Testers]Clueless Player: A paying accout should become V.I.P auto...that is soo lame...
08-12-2011 00:09:48 [Beta Testers]AuraFamilia: huh? a paying account is VIP auto
08-12-2011 00:10:08 [Beta Testers]Clueless Player: I said Should be hun.

So many people are mad that they can't play the game as it is now for free.

That mistake may have been fostered by the VIP beta where we logged on and found so much greyed out.

Granted that I am not as smart as the average person, but it seemed to me that I had to buy the things that I would have received as a VIP player. Now
i know that the store stuff thingy wasn't wai.

So I spent my points on things like the invention system etc.

So I am broke on beta and have about what I would've had as a VIP anyway.