I don't feel VIP at all
Would you mind elaborating on why voice overs are an intrinsically bad thing for an MMO?
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- Not multilingual - not as much of a problem anymore since they gave up translating
- Requires rerecording if story elements change - may be a problem getting the same voice actor
- More disk space required - the pigg files marked as music and sound effects are 3/4 of a gig, no idea how much of the 1.8 GB of stageX pigg files are sound
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And to keep bad feelings to a minimum start all VIP's off at the same time when it goes live.
Would you mind elaborating on why voice overs are an intrinsically bad thing for an MMO? It'd certainly be nice if the mid-mission caption or NPC dialog was voiced over in this game, since it can be a bit frustrating to focus on the battle and ALSO trying to read the bubbles (I end up having to have a box open just for Captions + NPC dialog... but even that can scroll past way too fast at times!).
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I agree that CoH is over-reliant on the pop-up text in many of the new missions. When I first played the Freedom opening missions, I didn't even realize there WERE pop-ups because they were hidden behind my map. It's a neat little feature that feels like an interactive comic book, but it should be used for punctuation rather than extended dialogue.
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Would you mind elaborating on why voice overs are an intrinsically bad thing for an MMO? It'd certainly be nice if the mid-mission caption or NPC dialog was voiced over in this game, since it can be a bit frustrating to focus on the battle and ALSO trying to read the bubbles (I end up having to have a box open just for Captions + NPC dialog... but even that can scroll past way too fast at times!).
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Also unlike CoH most other MMO's have complex coordination required in their raids (or similiars) so most people uses VOIP to do raids and such and an extra talking in that totally offsets players timing. You can type or even set what you want to type on a bind on CoH easily and use that infact one of reasons I am still playing CoH is there is no need for mic and sound I can just turn off sounds of game totally and still can play the hardest trial.
Don't get me wrong I don't say it is bad that NPC having voices and cutscenes but there is other ways doing that. Like how it is in The Secret World IMO it is best option so far used I would prefer if my character talked in cutscenes but still it has far better feel than TOR's.
EDIT: Also what Ironik said but that is just my personal opinion that I prefer text over sound.
So really, it's the ones on the fence or dissatisfied that should say what sort of additional 'perks' they'd find as worthwhile additions.
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What I want is to be able to buy things that are "unavailable" for made-up marketing reasons designed to enforce artificial scarcity as a means to trump up seasonal sales or promote another item that I don't want. I want to buy stuff that's out of season in case I suddenly decide I want it right now, I want to be able to buy stuff that's in the "Super Packs" without having to go through the nonsense of rolling on it. I want to be able to buy stuff that's on the market as it is, but is being blocked or obfuscated in some way. That, to me, would be the big perk, because that would make me feel important. Or, at least, important enough to not be treated like a freeloader that everything has to be sold to through a mind-game gimmick.
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.
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Would you mind elaborating on why voice overs are an intrinsically bad thing for an MMO? It'd certainly be nice if the mid-mission caption or NPC dialog was voiced over in this game, since it can be a bit frustrating to focus on the battle and ALSO trying to read the bubbles (I end up having to have a box open just for Captions + NPC dialog... but even that can scroll past way too fast at times!).
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The development team and this community deserved better than this from NC Soft. Best wishes on your search.
Like I said - the only perk I want is to be treated as a person who's too important to dick around with marketing mini-games.
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More or less, I'm happy with what I'm getting as a VIP. However, if I could give the studio a certain amount more a month and get all the powersets and all the auras and all the costumes that come out, without having to think about it... Yeah, I'd do it. I'd also voluntarily give up at least most, if not all, of my monthly point stipend, too (it'd be nice if I could keep the 150 bonus for tier 9. I DO buy the consumables occasionally, and I happen to like the super packs on a random basis).
Note here, I'm not asking for free, I'm saying I'd pay more. And also give up some of the freebie stuff.
I can always buy more points, if they happen to add something exciting under the consumables, but I'm frequently forgetting to look during the limited time costuming packs and missing stuff - it's hard to fix that. I'd rather just get it.
Also, I really just plain don't like the market UI. I can navigate it, I just don't want to.
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More or less, I'm happy with what I'm getting as a VIP. However, if I could give the studio a certain amount more a month and get all the powersets and all the auras and all the costumes that come out, without having to think about it... Yeah, I'd do it. I'd also voluntarily give up at least most, if not all, of my monthly point stipend, too (it'd be nice if I could keep the 150 bonus for tier 9. I DO buy the consumables occasionally, and I happen to like the super packs on a random basis).
Note here, I'm not asking for free, I'm saying I'd pay more. And also give up some of the freebie stuff. |
BEING ABLE to buy stiff is the real issue, though. Certain things are held back for reasons of marketing - promotions, exclusives, gambling mini-games and more. It's standard marketing practice so I can't really blame the team for going with it. Sure, it's aggressive as all hell, but we did bust their balls for years about not doing anything. But here's the catch - I'm a VIP. Those marketing strategies should not be aimed at ME. Marketing shouldn't be trying to milk ME for more money. I've already pledge to pay money, and all the marketing schemes that keep arriving in my inbox pretty much tell me that I'm not paying enough. This is the complete opposite of VIP treatment.
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.
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What I'm hearing from Sam, and would be my suggestion, is actually make a new 'tier' of subcription. There's Freebies, Premium (For those that paid SOMETHING), Subscriber (The current VIP) And a NEW VIP, which costs between 20-30 dollars and allows:
* ALL non-in-game unlockable costume sets FREE! While Subscribed. (So it does not include things like the Roman set, Auras/Capes, and Holiday stuff.)
*Includes ALL Powersets Unlocked, no need to buy them.
*Includes the ability to purchase time-constrained items (Overwhelming Force Set, Costume sets as Christmas and Holloween, Etc.)
Of course you lose all this if you didn't buy them before and lack being a VIP.
What's that sound for?
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What I'm hearing from Sam, and would be my suggestion, is actually make a new 'tier' of subcription. There's Freebies, Premium (For those that paid SOMETHING), Subscriber (The current VIP) And a NEW VIP, which costs between 20-30 dollars and allows:
* ALL non-in-game unlockable costume sets FREE! While Subscribed. (So it does not include things like the Roman set, Auras/Capes, and Holiday stuff.) *Includes ALL Powersets Unlocked, no need to buy them. *Includes the ability to purchase time-constrained items (Overwhelming Force Set, Costume sets as Christmas and Holloween, Etc.) Of course you lose all this if you didn't buy them before and lack being a VIP. What's that sound for? |
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I don't think that's what Sam is asking for. Sam is asking for something that's simultaneously less, and a lot more. He's asking for a tier of subscriber that has no restrictions on bundling, gating, or time limits for the store. Whatever the devs sell, Sam wants to buy ignoring all time limited availability, without any prerequisite requirements, and unbundled from any specific packaging.
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At least I'd probably increase my payment to a $25 monthly sub for that stuff... if I didn't already buy most of it.
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Like I said - the only perk I want is to be treated as a person who's too important to dick around with marketing mini-games. Zwill says that people aren't buying the consumables, so Marketing are working on ways to trick us into buying them via gimmick ploys. That's fine - the game needs to make money to stay afloat. But I'd like to subscribe to the option that puts me above those marketing gimmicks and lets me buy what I want to buy when I want to buy it. Again, "moar points" is the last thing I want as a "perk" because "moar points" I can always buy. It'll cost me, but I can buy them at my terms.
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And I agree, just giving more points isn't a satisfying solution. Instead, I do like the idea of things that are like the T-9 costumes: fun but don't give a numeric advantage. I think the true strength and what I love about our devs more than any other game is the interaction with them, how they do listen and do silly things like put Posi into a tuxedo over the armor and dance at a party. Capitalize on that with the VIPs. Have in-game VIP-only events. Add a VIP lounge to the game and have Devs actually hang out in there in character as NPCs or out of character as Devs. In game-meet and greets, etc. (probably requires a custom channel that only the devs can speak on to prevent drowning in chatter, and to not use the big-red-appears-in-all-channels-at-once admin speech) Things like those motivate me, much more than just a bonus to exp or inf earning. For me, the fun is in doing and being, not getting and having. To make my VIP experience better, focus less on "stuff" or "things" and more on "actions" and "experiences".
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Here's what I'd like to see VIPs be able to purchase:Those annoying Facebook/Twitter give away emotes, costume pieces etc. Maybe something as a perk for a 6+ month sub package.
All marketing is trying to do is pad their facebook/twitter account "numbers" by getting those of us who've bought into the game to go play in the social networking arena. They're already preaching to the choir. Go sell the game to someone who's not subbed, or not playing the game already.
As someone who isn't a fan of either Facebook and Twitter for various reasons, including security issues on their part, I will never be participating in those giveaways. Give me another venue to get them.
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Rangle's right....this is fun.
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Here's what I'd like to see VIPs be able to purchase:Those annoying Facebook/Twitter give away emotes, costume pieces etc. Maybe something as a perk for a 6+ month sub package.
All marketing is trying to do is pad their facebook/twitter account "numbers" by getting those of us who've bought into the game to go play in the social networking arena. They're already preaching to the choir. Go sell the game to someone who's not subbed, or not playing the game already. As someone who isn't a fan of either Facebook and Twitter for various reasons, including security issues on their part, I will never be participating in those giveaways. Give me another venue to get them. |
Those things are blah to me, why go outside of the forums/game for stuff?
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I'm actually with Samuel Tow on this one. Let me buy what I want to, when I want to. Don't force me to farm incarnate content for merits to buy things. Don't force me to run an arc to unlock weapons/armor/costume pieces when I've already done that fifty times over.
And to agree with other posters.....the amounts that are being charged for some items is...quite honestly, ludicrous. Gold farmers charge less. Lower prices and I'll -consider- it. And even at a 50% off sale, 1000 points for a very rare set is outlandish. That's almost two month's worth of a sub cost in points. If you're a Tier 9 VIP and getting 550 points a month! ( Yes, I don't view those points as "free" because I have to spend $15 a month to get them. Unless I'm wrong in thinking non-VIP's don't get a monthly stipend of points to spend, in which case...OOPS. ^_^ )
It really -is- a smack in the face and saying "Hey, the fifteen dollars monthly you toss at us as a subscription price ISN'T ENOUGH. We want more." Which I really don't have a problem doing...as long as I'm getting what I want for my money. This is why I'm sitting on 1900 points and five tokens. There's nothing I -want- right now. Hasn't been for months.
I agree that CoH is over-reliant on the pop-up text in many of the new missions. When I first played the Freedom opening missions, I didn't even realize there WERE pop-ups because they were hidden behind my map. It's a neat little feature that feels like an interactive comic book, but it should be used for punctuation rather than extended dialogue.
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It's such a bad situation that, wanting to actually have a chance to experience the story lines, I consider my only option to be soloing it. I soloed through all of First Ward and Night Ward to actually get to read the stuff and see what was going on.
I'm quite glad that for the NPCs one person talks to in missions (which bring up the dialog box) that in newer content they'll 'say' a shorter version on the NPC dialog channel. Certainly a major improvement.
As for the 'skipping was a day 1 addition for TOR'... well, duh. That was just a major bungling on the part of BioWare that most every other game has already done without issue, regardless of whether they're voiced or not (CoH still doesn't let you skip cut scenes... but the devs nearly never use them).
It seems that people are saying that voice overs are bad because TOR got it wrong, not because voice overs are bad. I'd say STO also got it wrong, by only doing them randomly. The big important top military guy's mission brief isn't voiced over... but this random chump that wants some crappy side missions that is just filler is? Yeah, nice job screwing it up (maybe they get better in the late game... but honestly, free is too expensive for that game). If you're going to do them, do them throughout (which is why I don't like the voice overs in the new tutorial... I like them, but when 100% of the rest of the game has zero voice overs? It's simply misleading and confusing few new players).
(I also wasn't asking/interested in technical challenges with voice overs, but why they're a bad fit from the player's perspective, and only on MMOs)
Originally Posted by ShadowNate
;_; ?!?! What the heck is wrong with you, my god, I have never been so confused in my life!
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Originally Posted by ShadowNate
;_; ?!?! What the heck is wrong with you, my god, I have never been so confused in my life!
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I'm not sure how you endure the indignity.
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Over-reliant? I'd say quite the opposite. It's the only way in game currently that other people besides the mission owner get a chance to see the, you know, story. Anyone on team can click to reach the mission text, but that damn dialog clears every time someone changes zones (even between two zones you're not in), making it horribly difficult to read it. Plus, you can't see the mission completion dialog, nor the arc completion dialog.
It's such a bad situation that, wanting to actually have a chance to experience the story lines, I consider my only option to be soloing it. I soloed through all of First Ward and Night Ward to actually get to read the stuff and see what was going on. I'm quite glad that for the NPCs one person talks to in missions (which bring up the dialog box) that in newer content they'll 'say' a shorter version on the NPC dialog channel. Certainly a major improvement. As for the 'skipping was a day 1 addition for TOR'... well, duh. That was just a major bungling on the part of BioWare that most every other game has already done without issue, regardless of whether they're voiced or not (CoH still doesn't let you skip cut scenes... but the devs nearly never use them). It seems that people are saying that voice overs are bad because TOR got it wrong, not because voice overs are bad. I'd say STO also got it wrong, by only doing them randomly. The big important top military guy's mission brief isn't voiced over... but this random chump that wants some crappy side missions that is just filler is? Yeah, nice job screwing it up (maybe they get better in the late game... but honestly, free is too expensive for that game). If you're going to do them, do them throughout (which is why I don't like the voice overs in the new tutorial... I like them, but when 100% of the rest of the game has zero voice overs? It's simply misleading and confusing few new players). (I also wasn't asking/interested in technical challenges with voice overs, but why they're a bad fit from the player's perspective, and only on MMOs) |
Hell I still want cut scenes to be skippable.
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There's nothing I -want- right now. Hasn't been for months.
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VIP's can get anything they want in the store for free if they simply wait and save their points.
Over-reliant? I'd say quite the opposite. It's the only way in game currently that other people besides the mission owner get a chance to see the, you know, story. Anyone on team can click to reach the mission text, but that damn dialog clears every time someone changes zones (even between two zones you're not in), making it horribly difficult to read it. Plus, you can't see the mission completion dialog, nor the arc completion dialog.
It's such a bad situation that, wanting to actually have a chance to experience the story lines, I consider my only option to be soloing it. I soloed through all of First Ward and Night Ward to actually get to read the stuff and see what was going on. |
It seems that people are saying that voice overs are bad because TOR got it wrong, not because voice overs are bad. I'd say STO also got it wrong, by only doing them randomly. The big important top military guy's mission brief isn't voiced over... but this random chump that wants some crappy side missions that is just filler is? Yeah, nice job screwing it up (maybe they get better in the late game... but honestly, free is too expensive for that game). If you're going to do them, do them throughout (which is why I don't like the voice overs in the new tutorial... I like them, but when 100% of the rest of the game has zero voice overs? It's simply misleading and confusing few new players).
(I also wasn't asking/interested in technical challenges with voice overs, but why they're a bad fit from the player's perspective, and only on MMOs) |
It's not just that TOR and STO got them wrong, it's that everyone gets them wrong. I think they're fine for the new tutorial mission in CoH, and I've seen them well-done similarly in other games, but using them more than sparingly just makes everything come to a screeching halt. Mostly all they are is infodumps, and chunks of exposition are hard digest in any fashion.
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I did address why they're bad from a player's perspective: they slow down your gameplay
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(the claim that THEY would slow down your computer is absurd to an extreme)
they're largely uninteresting |
and they're awkward to sit through on teams |
and annoying as hell the second time around. |
I don't find any of your reasons even slightly compelling. Also, of the four you gave, three of them should apply equally well to any single player game as to an MMO, which you explicitly said was 'fine' wrt voice overs.
Originally Posted by ShadowNate
;_; ?!?! What the heck is wrong with you, my god, I have never been so confused in my life!
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It really -is- a smack in the face and saying "Hey, the fifteen dollars monthly you toss at us as a subscription price ISN'T ENOUGH. We want more." Which I really don't have a problem doing...as long as I'm getting what I want for my money. This is why I'm sitting on 1900 points and five tokens. There's nothing I -want- right now. Hasn't been for months.
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You do not get anything less than pre-freedom for your sub.You get more, in fact. *shrug* What more can we say?
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