2014 Membership Update - News from Smed!

<= This, except that number of smaller items sold is what I suspect SOE is intending to stop.

At first this response did not really help matters for me, but I followed the link to Smed's original Reddit post and reading through the comments/replies there and it does make a little more sense. From the accounting standpoint I can understand that inactive people continuing to accrue SC on a very long basis could be an issue. I personally don't have a problem with the "use it or lose it" aspect. I have a problem with the ONE ITEM aspect.

Most of my purchases are building blocks, tiles and consumables that are under 200SC each. I will occasionally purchase a prestige house during a rebate/sale. If I need 1 tile to finish a project and I don't want to wait SIX months for the next City Fest to cycle around I will essentially purchase 1 tile (or consumable) for 2000SC.

I don't know how "involved" it would be to implement but if we could limit it to ONE TRANSACTION of up to 2000SC per month (still use it or lose it) this would resolve my issues with the change. With this method I could at least stock up on the smaller valued items. Another option would be to bundle these items in a bundle that is more equivalent to 2000SC, but I think read somewhere that bundles may be excluded.

As a long standing gold member, I am thankful for the permanent double tokens and that alone might just be enough to persuade me to keep my gold membership current. I'm still straddling the fence.

I think they're stopping us from accumulating it first and foremost. I think the 'one only purchase' is just to limit what we can actually use it for.

I'm going back to thinking it has more to do with EQWoW again now than anything else.

they could always just give us nothing extra and go back to things where before where we had to pay 14.95 just to play.
I'm not a fan of how SoE handles things but what there doing is a really good deal.

I was not one of them. The 500 sc was plenty for me.

I realize we are still waiting for an official answer on Services.

Will you consider for your Gold Members that do not buy fluff stuff to acquire some type of point/point system that we can save and apply to Service items if the 2000 sc is not used? A point we could claim every month if we decide not to use the 2000 sc.

Kindest Regards ~

I don't know, am I missing something here? I read the reason why there where problems with SC and it made sense to me all those tax laws have got to be a pain in the neck and the way it was explained was good.

Then I though - ok so they are making these changes and putting a time limit on the 2000SC token to help limit the TAX problems that they are having. Makes sense so far.

Then I though - but people can still buy SC through cards or through SOE and they can still do whatever they want with them, save them, spend them as they like.

So now I don't understand how this is going to solve SOE's accounting problems, Am I missing something?

HA HA HA HA HA well I hope this teaches SONY to be clearer in future and use BOLD print for stuff that people might want to be aware of.

I had a trash ftp account. I bought station cash to upgrade it to gold, thinking that since the account was now gold I would be able to use the remaining SC to transfer any toons I wanted over to one of my main accounts or gift items to my main accounts.

but I didn't read the fine print. Gold accounts are only gold if they are subscription gold. So, even though i paid for 12 months gold subscription using station cash, it wasn't really a gold account and the station cash could only be used for items for that specific account. i couldn't gift items, i couldn't use the remaining station cash to transfer a toon from that account to my main account.

that account is now silver, sitting there with i think with still enough station cash for me to transfer my toon over, which I would like to do but can't coz i didn't read the fine print. and it will sit there in perpetuity.

so there's another way to clear up some of that station cash sitting around: allow people to spend it.

Give me a game specific voucher of a 2000SC rebate, useable in chuncks... same bloody deal. Im SURE it can be arranged to actually work because if not then they are in teh exact same problem giving us free items with a value, which would be akin to gifts in the business world, and we all know how the heck that works, cant even eat a sandwich without being 'audited'

#1 - To me, SoE's non-EQ titles are garbage, a lot of it is just SoE's dated portfolio. Just like I imagine a lot of PS2 players could give a steaming pant load about all the fantasy themed titles.

#2 - The first post mentioned restrictions on what could be bought with the 2000 SC coupon. What are they? A lot of the items on there are just fluff which is meaningless to a lot of people. To me the only things worth while are the xp potions, item unattuners, character slots, and heroic tokens. The only ones on that list that I have actually bothered to purchase were slots and tokens. The potions seemed too expensive. The unattuner just seems like it should be a consumable crafted item for armosmiths/weaponsmiths (plat sink + gives smiths a consumable to sell).

#3 - Please rework the SC shop offerings. Bundle more items to prep for the 2000 SC coupon. Get more cool looking items on there (for classes other than the shadowknight). You have an entire team of artists, are they not allowed to release items through the shop, or is the payback just not worth their time? This will help those that don't want to blow a 2000 SC coupon on a single 250 SC item

#4 - How about rewarding long term subscribers with 95 level characters with account services? Like a buy 6 sandwiches get the 7th free. If you sub for so long you get a free heroic token or character slot. I have a sneaking suspicion that this service really was introduced with pay to win in mind. It doesn't help new players unless they have an extra $35 laying around. And it certainly doesn't help vets skip the alt grind. Is there some plan to do the free heroic later to pull in more new players? This will help those that were saving that 500 SC amount for character slots and tokens.

#5 - Will I be able to sub to EQN, EQNL, and EQ2 all at the same time for 15 bucks? I read it that way but I really just do not believe what is said by SOE.

Of course. But there are ways round it. There are always loopholes to avoid situations, and bigger loopholes to make those easier.

I'd like to think valueing Customers is important to SoE, and that they would be willing to find a solution to this that benefited both themselves, and the players, rather than rushing into a decision without giving out prior information in original posts.

Out of all the pages and pages of posts I've read about this, there's one thing that I feel needs to be addressed. We do have military overseas who play the game and pay for gold accounts. With an intermittent connection, can anything be done to ensure that they end up with everything they deserve?

To all the people complaining:

SOE is within their legal right to make changes on how they do business. They are not legally obligated to share the whys of it to non-employees, they only need to give us adequate notice that there will be changes. Which they have. Either pay the fee or don't, put up or shut up as they say. They aren't your parents or your spouses, you can't nag them to death just to get your way.

To SOE:

Thanks for continuing to provide an entertaining game, my and my gold accounts are happy that you're making strides and doing what you can to stay in the black and still offer bonuses when you really don't have to. If the deal gets any sweeter I may just add 4 more accounts to gold.

Okay, lots of information from Smed…that’s a good thing. After reading over the entire thing, I think I have a possible solution that fits in with the goals and reasoning that Smed provided. If you find this possible solution useful and/or viable, feel free to use it…consider it my contribution back to the games I enjoy.
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In looking at the overall goals, and stated problems, I had to reorganize the order to better solve each individual problem, while solving overall problems in a cascade fashion. In other words, solving one small factor helps solve other factors after it.

First issue: Disparity between console titles and PC titles.
An understandable issue, so let’s fix it. Remove Station Cash from all PC titles as a directly usable in-game currency. Console games don’t currently use Station Cash, so that’s a non-issue. Station Cash remains purchasable via the SOE websites, and via consumable cards from retailers.

Station Cash, instead of being usable across all games, becomes a base currency connected to your Station Account, and cannot be used in ANY game until manually assigned TO a game by the player. For example, I have 5000 Station Cash connected to my Station Account. I can transfer any portion of that balance to EQ2 via the Station Cash management webpage. Once transferred to a particular game, it converts to currency usable by that game (Console or PC) and becomes locked to that game, and cannot be transferred back to the Station Account Balance. ALL Station Cash is directly purchased by the player, and is always ‘deposited’ to the main Station Account balance.

(This is similar to the method used by Cryptic with Zen, which must be transferred after purchase to the game of the player’s choice, and becomes locked to that game after transfer).

Second Issue: Accrual of SC balances for people not playing or spending.
This would be solved by handling the first issue above. Because SC would now have to be purchased by the player and transferred to their chosen game, there’s no longer a balance accrued by someone who isn’t directly buying SC in the first place, and it’s unlikely that a player is going to buy SC without the intention of spending it somewhere. And that SC balance would be connected directly to the player’s Station Account, which theoretically should make it easier to track and manage.

Third issue: Letting players buy larger items on the Marketplace.
Assuming that this is part of a subscriber benefit (which is a good thing), let’s make it easier to implement, easy to manage, and easy to handle across games and platforms. At the same time, let’s keep the ability for players to spend that benefit as they like.

Using DCUO as an example, give each game a Loyalty Point currency system. DCUO already has Loyalty Points, which is why I’m using it as an example. Divide the solution into several steps, as follows:

1. Convert all marketplace ‘prices’ to the Loyalty Currency in each game (this already exists in DCUO for the PlayStation consoles).
2. Implement a hard cap (say 12000) to the amount of Loyalty Currency a player can hold in game at one time, regardless of source (this avoids the accrual issue above).
3. Award 1000 Loyalty Currency per game, per month of active subscription, up to the hard cap. Awards that would go beyond hard cap are forfeit, while transfers of SC would be denied without loss of SC (This encourages spending, implements the positive change Smed mentioned, and still entices players to save up, or purchase additional in-game currency with SC).

Fourth Issue: Universal All Access Subscription Plans
This is a smart move for SOE, as it encourages people to branch out and try the other SOE games, because they already have Gold-level access and can experience new or existing games without restriction. Even if they never actually play the game, it’s there for them.
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Now I’ll admit this proposed solution comes in one session sitting in front of Word, from just one brain…my own. I’m sure there’s a lot that would have to be done behind the scenes to make this solution happen…things I’m not fully aware of, because I’m not on the inside at SOE. But it seems to make sense to me, and appears (to me) to unify and streamline the Station Cash system across all games, and all platforms. Yes, it adds an extra step or two before players can actually use their purchased Station Cash in their preferred games, but I don’t see that as a major inconvenience for anyone on the player side, and I see it as a huge benefit on the maintenance and management side for SOE.

I sincerely hope this helps, and I’ll continue watching as this continues to unfold and evolve.

I would prefer to keep the SC benefit on a monthly accruing basis, even if it is the 500. Sure we can get some spiffy stuff but those credit disappear and we can't get the items we want that are more expensive (i.e. 4000SC for add-ons like BL package) without dumping yet more money into the game. Why not up the monthly SC credit to 750 a month as eventually there will be nothing to buy at 2000SC a month and its useless unless we play other games outside the EQ series.

I'd wager it is a problem in the quarterly/annual reporting. I've seen this in other financials, including, say, vacation and miles -- a lot of accrued SC starts to look like a liability from a balance sheet perspective, and limits their flexibility. Remember, SC purchased in/rewarded by one game (in this case EQ2) can be spent in any game, including future ones. That has the potential to limit their longterm earning potential now that they've moved entirely to a FTP/Station Cash model. It's sure to be giving the financial guys nightmares, and in the end Smedley and SOE have to keep Sony happy with the financials they report upstream. I seriously doubt we'll see triple (or possibly even double) cash ever again, too big an overhang.

The tax facts from Smed helped clear up some things, so that's good. Thanks for the transparency there, Smed.

But SOE still seems to be taking this opportunity to add SC exclusions (by virtue of price versus this new 2000 SC coupon's worth, and also just coming up with a list of things you can no longer buy with your subscription's gratis SC compared to before when you could save up and buy most anything). It still seems a shift toward getting people to pay out-of-pocket for services, new cash shop things and the other popular items. It pushes this subscription benefit further into "fluff" territory.

If SOE wants more income, they could focus on reinvigorating open PvP server Nagafen. I'll bet Prestige characters and 280AA baubles would sell like hotcakes there if only every level range of players were populated again. Try making it so that people can no longer level lock (cannot shut XP gain completely off), or alternatively you could eliminate zone level restrictions, and you will have more than a scraggly population of L39 locked twinks who scare the newbies away and some capped L95s with no one in between. If people of any level could go in and clean out the locked twinks when they start griefing, those locked L39s would start to level in a hurry. No one would bother locking anymore, and the population would rise in every level tier.

Nice post Torryn Woodsrunner.

Sadly it will fall on deaf ears. SoE has already decided to go ahead with their plan and they won't change anything.

You only options if you don't like the new terms is to drop the Gold subscription.

OK so Smed posted on a board I don't read and it still sounds like 1 item for up too 2k SC. That does not help me at all. SOE you forced SC on us, you put in Mercenary lock 100 sc, you put in instant revive, so forth and so on. The fact that you have forced us to use SC for in game stuff is a problem. Now your like OK you can have one ITEM for up to 2k SC. That means if I want to buy several smaller items I got to cash up the dough. Do we not see the problem? Also why is Smed not posting here but posting on a board that has nothing to do with EQ2? Now were going to have all access for 14.95, what happens to those of us who sub in multi-month subs? I am still very confused by all of this, and extra games do nothing for me at all.

I would like to first say that i have been a subscriber to EQ2 from 2009 and over the years i have seen more and more changes that have made the community suffer.. SOE claims to be making changes for the better and moving forward. But let’s face it their not...listening to the community would require them to actually take into account what people actually say...not the guys you gather in a conference room and ask how they can make EQ2 better...

my thoughts:
"Let players buy anything they want up to 2000 SC"

Not so much a good idea...aren’t SC cards ($15USD) 1500/2000SC? SOE can’t afford to make them anymore? -15$ for them per player...

"It helps us deal with some internal issues regarding accrual of balances of SC for people who aren't playing or spending."

Why does it matter what people do with their SC? if you didn’t want it stockpiled you shouldn’t have added a monthly 500SC give away or Double SC/triple SC sales...or even just put a cap on how much you could have...again not too smart SOE...

"We have a problem with a disparity between our console titles (which can't use Station Cash) and our PC Games."

Yep...sounds like a personal problem...why should the community suffer for your lack of ability?

"We are considering (and are likely going to move forward with) a plan that means if you subscribe to one of our games you are a subscriber to all our games"

Don’t get me wrong it’s nice to be able to play all of the games just for paying for one but why? 15$x2, 3, 4, etc... Is much better than 15$x1...doesn’t SOE need our money? Lol

"The goal would be to let you pick an item in each game you play."

That would make buying SC obsolete...

I’m sure SOE generates a nice income from SC sales i don’t know why they would want to eliminate that...

One of the biggest mistakes SOE made with EQ2 was going free to play...

going free to play took away a lot from the game and allowed for every tom dick and harry to play for as long as they wanted without buying anything or paying for sub...now anyone can play to 95 for nothing...

That makes business easier for plat farmers and krono sellers to flourish ruining the games economy and taking even more money away from SOE...

But on the other hand...
The Lush Fields of Antonica still look nice...

if you want players to stick around you have to have more content for us to enjoy...
add changes to the pre existing zones(not recycle them)...come up with new stuff...
keep us busy and having fun...encourage grouping and make grouping dynamics fun...
Dungeon finder...fix it...
allow people to be able to interact cross server...
or for a lot of fun...merge the servers into 1 shard server and allow the population to interact...
other games have done it and it wouldnt be hard for SOE to do it...and dont dare think about adding a server queue to login either...i refuse to be number 4,592 in line to login with a wait time of 4 hours..LOL
update the server population numbers to be realistic...
i know back in the day servers claimed to be 100k+ but i seriously doubt they are that high...

Well, i know this is going to show as if i'm a noob..but i'm not. I started out on eq1 back in 1997 1998? (some where in there) then when eq2 came out..i went straight to that. I took a break for several years. etc. There have been alot of changes to the game since it first came out. Most good..some bad. Humans by nature do not like change, as we are creatures of habit. At this time in my life, I cannot afford to pay multiple monthly subs. ok..so you say eventually down the road gold members will be able to access all your games, but they still have to buy the expansions. Well like most of us, I live on a strict budget. I cant afford that. So this benefit of access to all the games, really doesnt do me any good, nor others. I understand you dont want people to stock pile up their sc. I myself would save up for 3 months to buy a house..ok..so now i dont have to. But now you have made it impossible to get the smaller amount items with our sc. Why do you have to limit the number of things we get, when we are getting low amount things? This is play money. Its not like your the bank and we are withdrawing our total savings. There are low sc items that we cant make, but would like to add to our homes, etc. guess thats my 2 cents.