We Paid for These Paragon Points, Mr. Positron

Given that digital purchases, whether downloads or subscriptions, are typically expected to be immediate "delivery" on payment, I see no reason why CoH should be different. Would it be acceptable to purchase 400 Paragon Points at the Market and have to wait a week for delivery after payment was approved?

And therein lies the entirety of the issue for those wondering.

When Freedom launched I bought points for my subscribed account and an old one. I got both points and tokens immediately.

TrueGentleman's point is valid. If they take your money on the 5th you should get your points and tokens due after that payment transaction not on some later date. This should absolutely be the case for people automatically paying each month just as it would be for someone manually re-upping each month.

It's catchy. Kind of like when I "demanded" in a post years ago for Positron to tear down the walls (between markets).

It's also an allusion to a Ronald Reagan quote (in the 1980 presidential primary debate, he said, "I am paying for this microphone, Mr. Green!" when he was interrupted, but it's better known as "I paid").

EDIT: I should have addressed him as "Prof." to make the alliteration complete, but that's in hindsight.

I paid for those points as part of my VIP subscription package. They're not "free".

So what are people paying a subscription to get now that there is more than just monthly access for the payment? Can they just not give the 400 points since they aren't being paid for and are free?

Yes they are. Before, your $15 got you access to the game and all it's goodies. These were added on as a bonus to your subscription. They are free. Now, considering that 400 points is $5, and a server transfer is $10, you're essentially getting back the $15 you paid, whether you're going to use the points/transfers or not.

No, they're not. That's just accounting. It's like those TV commercial offers that throw in an "extra", but the bottom line price doesn't change.

If Paragon wants to offer a $10 VIP subscription package with no free Paragon Points/transfers/whatever, that would be a different matter.

EDIT: But I repeat, it's not simply about VIP point availability going out of sync - it's just another recent problem with Paragon, including the erratic server behavior and downtime, unscheduled server maintenance, the last-minute delay of VIP head start, the Mac client's stability issues and market access, the unexpected termination of level pacts, etc.

That would be nice.

And I will say again. You didn't buy those points, they were free.

http://na.cityofheroes.com/en/freedom/about-freedom/
Right there, on that chart, first line below Account Features it says Free Paragon Points. You don't get the option to say "I don't want them" and get a discount. So guess what, that law has no bearing to this situation. There's no mention that guarantees the Free points will be delivered exactly when your billing date rolls around.

Now they're aware of the issue and trying to fix it. Stop trying to claim your entitled to some extra reward because a freebie wasn't delivered exactly when you want it.

So... Basically all tech issues which they are trying to fix?

It's not just a tick of a box to fix things like this, coding in general is just such a pain in the rear to get working just right that yes, it'll take time. Would you rather they just not give you points for the months they're trying to even it out? Or would you rather not have the server up at all while they mess around with it trying to get it to work? Or not have a mac client at all?

That's the thing with MMOs- They break, and they break spectacularly. They are working to fix the issues that are cropping up, and they are doing so one problem at a time. They have a solution for the points issue, and in a few months it WILL be exactly on your billing date. For now, it's only 10 days late at most, and will be less than that over time. I fail to see the need for the complaints when they can't fix it any faster than that without screwing things up. I'd rather have it slowly stabilize and have no further issue with it than them throw in a quick fix and deal with any coding fallout that might be the result of changing a single character in the code.

So if you don't get your points you have nothing to complain about because they were free.

We cannot use the before comparison to the current because before points were not part of the game.

Before $15 = 1 month of game access
Now $15 = 1 month of game access, 1 token and 400 or 550 points depending on Tier Level.

This is not unlike an all you can eat buffet including the drink. If you were told you could not get a drink because the machine was down would you be "oh well, at least I get the food. the drink was free anyway"?

This is a new game. This is Freedom. The purchases have changed. These guys are not crying for entitlements or demanding free stuff. They* are asking to get what they pay for when they pay for it.

*Me? I don't care. If I did I'd be "demanding" my 14 months worth of points and tokens when they charge my card. But they are making valid points about this.

You need to work on your reading skills. not once have I claimed any entitlement whatsoever.

And no, they're not free, no matter how much Paragon say they are. They are part of the package you PAY for as part of a VIP subscription. If they were free, you'd get them as a Preem or Freem, too.

Seems you're saying the same thing I said which is what you said wasn't true. I won't have all of the things until April. Before then I will only have some of them. I am not sure why you would say it's not true and then demonstrate exactly how it is true.

Yet again I didn't say what you think I am saying. I said that I wouldn't have them ALL until then.

Except when they said that they would give us all of our pre-paid stuff up front. One of the redname posts that affirms this in posted in the OP that you read at the beginning of this thread.
But it's really neither here nor there.

I understand this.
Thank you for taking the time to reply. It's a nice thing that you didn't have to do.

What I am saying is that I will not have received ALL of them until then when the last bit of awarded thingies arrives.

Both if the post from Zwil which is quoted in the OP is correct.

I should be more clear and point out that I am talking about the difference between a sub and buying points with the sub money instead.

I never did either. ymmv.

You're reading it incorrectly, that's not what Z is saying at all. It was discovered some time ago that they couldn't front load the currencies received from the payment plans due to technical issues. The original intention before Freedom came out was to grant either Reward Tokens or Paragon Points akin to how many months you paid for (I can't recall which currency it was), but they were unable to do so. You're not getting less than someone who bought a year now, they get the points monthly just as you'll be doing.

Am I complaining?

He's not talking about that, he's talking about someone who doesn't subscribe, but spends the same amount on points.

Oh, then in that case they're missing out on all the VIP benefits and needing to pay specifically for points to buy the upgrades that VIPs get as well as the points.

Which is what for a tier 9? honest question

incarnates
exalted

and what else?

I would guess, based on first ward, that future zones or sets of missions may only be available to VIP's for free. But that's a guess.

No, you're ASSUMING that you paid for them. Guess what, your subscription fee did not increase, so unless you're getting a receipt or an extra line on your CC bill saying you paid for them, then it's a free gift granted to you for extending your patronage.

And seeing that Paragon OWNS all the content you're paying to access Paragon saying it's free points holds a lot more weight than you saying it isn't, especially when you say they're breaking the law in your claim.