I don't feel VIP at all

There will always be kerfuffle for anything.

LEGION OF VALOR - Be a part of the Legend!

How about the name it had for years: "subscriber"

The 'VIP' name is a touch silly, because there will be people like Sam that insist such a name should entitle you to back rubs by Positron (although, to Sam's credit, he's not saying that we should get that for what we currently pay ).


As this thread has shown many times, people do not realize simply how LITTLE they got in the first MANY years of this game. I was absolutely shocked at how few powersets were added over all the time I'd played (if I had guessed before I saw the list the first time, I would have guessed somewhere on the order of 20-30! Actual new powersets, not proliferated!). It's quite interesting how perception can mess with us like that.

The entire reason we're getting the free-for-VIP powersets so often is because of the pay-for sets. Paragon is subsidizing their development from the massive increase in revenue they're getting from selling the other sets.


The simple facts are that you get far more for being subscribed to the game now than you ever did in the entire previous history of the game. And with the addition of premium, if you're not interested in the VIP bonuses, you have another option, which may be a better value to you! It's also much easier to get friends to try the game with the free accounts not having close to the same level of restrictions as being a trial (the 'time' restriction was the worst part of the old one... I got friends to make an account, and they'd spend 5 hours making a character, not have anymore time to be able to play then, and then we don't get another opportunity until the time had run out!).

We've been saving Paragon City for eight and a half years. It's time to do it one more time.

Originally Posted by ShadowNate ;_; ?!?! What the heck is wrong with you, my god, I have never been so confused in my life!

How about you wake up and read a simple sentence that explains why things are the way they are:

You're so enthralled by the shinies but feel like you should be getting those shinies as part of your VIP sub. What you fail to realize is there would be much fewer shinies if we were not paying for them. Thats the bottom line that seems to elude you. No money = MUCH fewer powersets. Do you think that's ok or good for the game?

I'm guessing he didn't keep his VIP status active each month and that's why he came up short.

Otherwise there's no way he couldn't afford every power set if he saved his stipend each month for the sole purpose of buying power sets because subscribers have been getting a monthly stipend since July 1st, 2011.

At least a few of those are auras that came with the themed "booster packs". You paid $10 each for those booster packs. Tarot Cards, for instance, is from the Origins Pack that was pretty much all auras and themed capes. Are you sure that this list is from an account that owned any or all of those booster packs?

Here's a list, if it's helpful.

If you paid for something and you find that you don't have access to it now then you've got a customer service issue that you need to contact them about and straighten out.

As someone else pointed out we'd get far fewer power sets per year. We'd get less quality of life additions, less time spent on costume sets, less of just about everything.

The power sets we pay for generate income for the company. Even if you use your stipend to buy them those are points you can't spend on something else like SBE's, Superpacks, Costume Sets, etc.

Buying them with your stipend removes that currency from your "wallet" leaving you either shelling out more money for points to buy the things your stipend doesn't cover (generating income for the company) or waiting and saving points to buy the things you want, all while the company is producing even MORE things you want so your stipend might not ever be able to keep up.

The goal of the company is to make a profit while producing a desirable product. The monthly stipend is hard pressed to keep up with EVERYTHING the devs are putting out. Even if you don't want EVERYTHING you may want more than 400 or even 550 a month can keep up with. That's intentional. But if the devs were not generating income in that way they'd be producing far less and a slower rate.

I swear there are people here who actually believe they had it "better" pre-Freedom because they got "everything for free!" but conveniently forget that "everything" came in 1 or 2 drips per year, not the 11+ we're getting now. Not to mention they completely overlook all the other stuff they paid extra for like costume packs, expansions that included power sets, etc.

I'm still not hearing an argument for why we're not soaking the Premium players to generate income for the company, rather than soaking the VIPs. VIPs get *half* as many points as Premium players do for the same amount of money. You can improve the VIP situation and still generate enough income -- more income, in fact, if you made VIP status truly desirable.

They are restricting how much the VIP players get so that they can push out more content to all players. Non-VIPs then get the new content more cheaply than VIPs do. Doesn't that seem counter to the goal of getting more subscribers?

People with entitlement issues ignore or dismiss any and all facts that don't support their rants.

I recall a guy back in January demanding the store prices be lowered because he and his wife only made 70k a year and he couldn't afford to buy points. Sadly his thread didn't survive because his tirade got it modded out of existence.

I'm not sure I follow where this idea is coming from. Let's assume 15 a month for VIP and a premium

The VIP will get 400(550) points
The new SSA (400 points)
A server transfer token (800) points
1 Paragon Reward Token
Unlimited Access to all game zones,systems features and ATs

a Premium will get
1200 Points
1 paragon Reward Token
limited access to all game content

Those 1200 points can get spent pretty quickly.
the SSA at 400 so now they have 800 left
their invention license needs to be renewed for 200 so that's 600 left
AE also requires a license so that's another 200 gone and they now have 400 points left which would put them at the same amount of points for stuff assuming the Vip isn't Tier 9 in which case the VIP would have 150 more points than the Premium.

And then said Premium still has limited access to the game content, and a whole host of systems and At's that need to be purchased for two or three times the amount of points they have left.

I don't think I've ever used a server transfer token, and the SSAs are crap.

The fact that VIPs are force-fed content we do not like, while Premium players are able to pick and choose, is *another* way that VIPs get the raw end of the deal.

There are no words, only Rick Castle:

-
SUPPORT - IT'S NOT JUST A GROUPING OF ATs
-
More Than a Game
-

By George, I think he's got it!

Now now, Sam is...Sam. He's unique. Just not in a dragon way.

Jack was psychotically obsessed with spending no money at all. I was ECSTATIC to see him leave.

Seems like it to me. As I mentioned earlier, I highly approve of this new set-up. My computer broke in late '10 and I came back earlier this year. I deliberately didn't keep up (because it was KILLING ME) on the news here so the difference to me is HUGE. SO much more stuff in just the year and a half since I was gone.


Premium is a better deal for people with specialized tastes I suppose. It was never in question for me. I want everything. And for the same price I used to pay, plus plus plus plus more toys? Here's my card number.

LEGION OF VALOR - Be a part of the Legend!

OK...



You're not hearing an argument because you're leaving out a lot of the benefits of being a VIP.

Blood Widow Ricki * Tide Shifter * T-34 * Opposite Reaction * Shaolin Midnight * ChernobylCheerleader

Entropy Legion * Hyperion Force * Hero Heights

What you mean 'we', white man?

Blood Widow Ricki * Tide Shifter * T-34 * Opposite Reaction * Shaolin Midnight * ChernobylCheerleader

Entropy Legion * Hyperion Force * Hero Heights

I forgot about all the little things VIP's do get, namely available character slots at 12 per server vs the 13 total I have now as a Premium (I qualify for tier 9 but can't justify the subscription at the moment).

I don't think I directly mentioned the free for VIP power sets but I think I implied them. Not to forget the Incarnate Content either which is VIP only.

Honestly if you don't like the SSA's and don't use the server transfer(or use 2 as a name change) why are you paying to be VIP?

And yet another perfect example of what I said earlier.

Just because he personnaly doesn't like something he assumes he speaks for everyone with his tirade

A sub gets you a huge amount of functionality for 'free': bases, incarnates, inventions, market, SSAs, slots.

Not having to spend points on this stuff means you can blow them all on goodies- power sets, costume bundles, etc.

Point cost is the same for everyone- your "non VIPs getting stuff cheaper" is unsupported by the reality of the game.

That's not as true as you might think. Casinos like repeat customers no matter how much they lose there. Their income model is based on the average player will lose X% of the money they brought with them per hour. Therefore you want lots of people there and you want them to return frequently and spend a lot of time there when they do. Meal and entertainment comps, slot tournaments, free swag all makes the little guy feel important as well. And the overall experience keeps them returning every weekend and willing to lose $100 before calling it a night, all the better. 1000 guppies is better than one whale.

Originally Posted by Dechs Kaison See, it's gems like these that make me check Claws' post history every once in a while to make sure I haven't missed anything good lately.

We love the VIP content.

I guess this calls for an explanation of what is meant by "all the perks"?

The same way a nonsmoker is force fed an ashtray and cigarette lighter in every car they ever bought. Or an amusement park admission when you will never go on any of their rollercoasters or kids rides.

Doesn't the monthly spending limit cap at $200? Or is that per card, so you could still spend the full $900 all at once by cycling multiple CCs?

I've never used an IO, and the AH is crap. I've just proven that nobody should ever be anything but a free player, ever!

Remus, you've laid out an extremely thorough and effective argument why a
1) Tier 9 player,
2) who purchased Going Rogue,
3) doesn't like Incarnate content,
4) doesn't like SSAs,
5) doesn't need or care about more character slots, and
6) doesn't care about transfer tokens

...would be better off as a Premium. Based on the six points above, I agree that *you* would be better off as premium. But those six points are not true of everyone in the game. And even in this case, your argument boils down to "I've discovered I can get everything I want from this game, in perpetuity, for less money. How DARE they!"

The VIP/Premium split was always going to boil down to some content that was available only to VIPs, and there's no way EVERYONE was going to like that content. The fact that you, personally, DON'T like that content means...that you don't like the content, and may no longer be interested in being a VIP. It is NOT some sign of an evil conspiracy by the devs to screw over VIP players.