See I knew this was coming yall told me no way. So does this also mean I was right about no more loot locks? So we can always play what our league and friends without having replays on us and still progress? I'm guessing a new gear system is in place for this move and no more end game
Really lol, I'd expect better from you, if you're going to argue this with me. It is taking something away from members in the fact that the cost of DLC access is incorporated into membership price. Giving the episode away for free without discounting the price means that members are now paying for DLC access despite the fact it is actually free... In terms of the announcement, yes, I think they should have had membership perk announcements ready to make at the same time they've announced this, it's that simple.
Will there still be a level-agnostic Event version, since buying endgame gear from the vendors has been gated by CR up until now? I'm glad to see that you're experimenting with a true F2P model for the game. I'm guessing that either micro-transactions will increase (though not for progression, I would hope), or that the Membership benefits will be ramped up to a level that compensates for the free DLC? There may well be other options I haven't considered, but those are the most obvious revenue streams to me? I'm going to be optimistic and go for the latter .
Membership benefits are far beyond episodes, you get access to all powers, lair system, shield, utility belt (And I hope they make this 4 things free for all in the future too, after the membership updates and with a proper refund to those who bought it), bonus stabilizers, lockbox keys, vault, broker, replays, gifts... Free players have nothing like that. Membership needs a change and I gave them a lot of suggestions like you probably did as well, but this is so minor I don't know how can someone complain about it, even more when they explained why they are doing it in the first place. If it takes 1 month or 4 for them to change subscription does it really matter? I mean, almost nobody subs to get access to the episode.
Wow.... people always find a reason to complain. Get something free and the people cry about it. Be happy and move on. I pay just like most of you, and I am all for a free episode; let someone else have a freebie for once!
The problem is that these episodes don't just last 3 months anymore... and even 3 months is a long time to give something away when people pay month to month. Episodes now last 6 months or more at this point in the game. They are giving half a year away and still expect people to not give up memberships for that timeframe... What about the people who paid for lifetime and the free content lessens the return of the lifetime membership.
Why are so many people complaining? Episodes were never a huge incentive in the first place and we've had Open Episodes for a whole year at this point. It isn't as big of a deal as you're making it out to be.
I want to say this is good but the issue is that the membership update shouldve been at the same time im sure the membership update will be fantastic.
We just went through a whole year with Open Episodes, which seems to still be going. This (long overdue) Membership Benefits update is set to come in the Summer (months away). They're giving away one episode in the interim. Why exactly am I supposed to be freaking out or breaking out the pitchfork and torches? I am asking legitimately.
It's not about how big or how little the perk is, it's the mere fact they're removing a perk regardless of how big with just a vague, "oh we've got you trust us we'll sort out sometime this summer". Let's say for example they decided to free up the cash cap entirely or made it so all players could buy legends characters with marks, there would be free players celebrating and then there would be members asking "what..." The complaints are not unreasonable.
There is a lot of merit in wanting the membership update before a free episode, but ultimately we decided that we wanted to give away our 40th for free and learn more about what that membership update could/should be. There are issues either way, and we see this single-free-episode as an opportunity to get your feedback and make a new membership offering better than it might otherwise have been. Let me clarify a few things: This only impacts Episode 40. Full access to every other episode still requires purchase or membership. This doesn't change the structure or content of this or any future episodes. We are looking forward to sharing and discussing the future membership update once it exists in a more concrete form. Also, current membership benefits include far more than just access to episode 40 - access to all episodes, $10 in currency grants, unlimited cash cap, slots, and much more. Paying for membership during 40 vs. during 39 gets you the exact same experience - it's just others who are not paying also have access to this one episode - and you will perhaps have more friends to play with. All that is to say, there's quite a difference between what we are doing with 40 - not requiring a purchase for one episode - versus what some of the comments seem to imply - as if we are removing episode access from membership and requiring some other purchase elsewhere to have the same benefit, which is not at all what is happening.
Lots of people seem to have already jumped on the Membership Benefits issue so I'm going to go off into a different direction: Will there be anything in place to keep the sandbox area(s?) from being another another spamfest for the gold spammers or will it be CR restricted?
Depends on what the new benefits are, and whether the person who purchased lifetime membership finds them equally valuable to probably one of the main two pillars of subscribing. It's roughly the same as if DCUO suddenly removed the cash cap completely, at least from my POV.
Why do you feel bad for us? We still get our marketplace cash every month. And our replays. And extra stabilizer drops. And whatever else I'm forgetting I get every month. And now maybe there will be more players on for us to group up with.
One major thing i love about this idea is that as you said we will have more people/friends to play the episode content with which is very imporant.
I get that you are trying to be hyperbolic but I have updates tracked since ep31 (mostly so I know when to expect bonus weekends) and no episode has been 6 months let alone more. Legion has been long and if it drops at the end of April it will be the only episode that lasted 6 months. However I'll predict mid April. The only other one that was close was ep36 which like Legion went over the Winter break, along with number 3 JLD also over the winter break. Most other eps were around the usual 3-4 months. For the record: Episode:31 - 111 days (about 3.7 months) Episode:32 - 113 days (about 3.77 months) Episode:33 - 140 days (about 4.67 months) Episode:34 - 168 days (about 5.6 months) Episode:35 - 84 days (about 2.8 months) Episode:36 - 133 days (about 4.43 months) Episode:37 - 105 days (about 3.5 months) Episode:38 - 85 days (about 2.83 months) Episode:39 - 174 days (about 5.8 months)* *assuming it drops on or around April 15th Now all that aside, with regards to the original post as someone who's had a pretty consistent sub since launch I would expect some sort of additional compensation if this is the model moving forward. But as they've already said they are re-working that so I'll keep from grabbing my pitchfork and torch until I hear more on what their plans are.
I think what people may be wondering (not all people may care) is whether this is a test run for other free episodes going forward or just a one off thing. Thanks for your transparency about all this, as well. It's nice.
I think DCUO is severely underestimating this announcement. I barely ever play any "old" content because there isn't really any incentive to do so. My time is limited and I either play new content or another game entirely. You don't really get anything out of old content because of the relevancy bands that were introduced eons ago. Even league prestige is diminished when you go back more than 1 DLC. Using old content to justify this move is a very weak argument.
Agreed, especially given that my impression has been that a disproportionate number of the forum posters are also subs (and I could be very wrong there) this feels like especially poor planning with regards to the messaging. As I said above I'll reserve judgement but I think they should have anticipated the push-back and at least gave a broad sense of what they are thinking about for the membership model.
The Episode will be free...the cash cap will remain until the changes are announced and implemented. Some people won't care about that, some will. In the meanwhile if people feel the way they seem to in this announcement and decide not to renew their subs for this period, the company will get a good look at what the game will be like with less subs (no matter how many people drop their subs it won't be everyone). Seems to me they are anticipating some drops...and then they'll have some information that will help them proceed forward with whatever they ultimately decide.
