Just a quick question about the F2P feature matrix

There is the matrix. The question is... well, its a two parter.

Part 1: For the devs, knowing what you know now, would you like to make any changes or updates to the F2P matrix?

Part 2 : Why in the name of Lucifer Morningstar do the iterative DLCs not increase the in game currency cap so that players can at least take advantage of being able to repair after a bad night of raiding and maybe have enough cash to take advantage of the previous tier of mods (like DLC 10 increasing the in game currency cap so that the player would have enough money to buy DLC 9 mods).

Part 2b : Is it even worth the player's and the community's time to talk about this subject? It strains credulity that F2P launched in 2011 and there has been no productive feedback to the F2P model.

No.

Correct me if I'm wrong, I'm in no way an expert on this matter, but don't f2p guys cost the devs money in terms of server space? If my assumption is right then f2p should be the last subject the devs should spend time and work resources on. (they spend money on ppl not paying)
Keeping customers happy so they might sub up eventually is a nice thing, but are they really customers if they don't pay for services? @_@ It's hard to draw a line.

And since you only have to buy contnet worth of 5 bucks it's hard to not become prem eventually anyway. xD

I would offer my opinion on this subject.....but it would be about the 5,000th time I've done so.


Just....don't expect the best of reactions here. Seriously.

Good luck.

I do in fact think there needs to be changes to the f2p aspect.

1. If after 30 days you have not spent $5 your acct is locked, then will be deleted after another 30 days to free up a name

2. As premium you need to spend $5 per quarter or you drop to f2p & #1 kicks in.

I think free to play is designed to hook you in, it's confidence in the product that you'll want to spend at least £5.00 or subscribe. To keep going and get the most out of your experience. The problem arises when some free to play customers expect the same level of experience as someone paying £10 a month, and that's not a fair or practical thing to ask. The game needs our money to continue, it relies on our financial investment. If we could all play free of charge we would. As for premium, I understand it's limits especially the cash cap, but partially agree that with the purchase of a dlc pack there should be a small raise in cash limit such as £100 per dlc bought. An amount to make things easier but not too significant to really deter subbing. I've subbed since launch and I'm sympathetic to this issue but understand the practicality for it.

Its really not that difficult. Basically, if I see something I want in the cash shop, I buy it. Unless I can buy it off of the auction house, then I buy it from the auction house.

Basically, there is more than one model to it. They all have their drawbacks. As far as spending money, please refer to part 2(a) of the question. I'm talking about spending money. I like to be able to spend money on things I like. Its a good feeling.

Just to be clear here. Take SWTOR for example. I put in like $15. $5 for premium. $10 for their first xpac. I bought close to 300 dollars worth of microtransactions from other players. Total net for the developer was close to $300 just for me playing the game for a bit and helping my friends out. And if you're going to say "But you didn't actually spend those dollars", then you just don't understand how economics work.

The way DCUO is structured presently with that feature matrix, what you are saying is probably true because they only get 1 of 10 people that download the game to convert, probably lower, and then the F2P people quit because they just can't gain traction and that means player attrition is sky high. Like week 1 of the F2P launch they had 3 million downloads. How many of those 3 million are still active players? Of those active players left over from F2P launch, how many of them are still free or premium members and have never subscribed to legendary service?

What I'm saying is that if they took another pass at it that they could get a second bite at the F2P apple (third? fourth? whatever). Also, if you can convince people that refused to subscribe to start buying DLC packs..., that is somewhere between $10 and $100 a head. So saying "BUT YOU GUYS AREN'T PAYING MONEY" just doesn't make any sense.

Also, data warehousing is cheap. Else they wouldn't have kept the legacy forums. Network bandwidth is cheap for the time being, so the main cost is the gigantor initial download and other customer acquisition costs. If you're spending $6 to acquire a customer and they're paying you $10 because they want to play the celestial power type or the hard light power type, are you losing money?

Oh wow yet another "increase the money cap" thread. Can a mod just please lock this one down? We know how this will go down anyways.

Nice.

Here is what I'm asking for specifically.

Have one two hour meeting after the next GU is polished to reexamine the F2P model.

I'd be willing to bet dollars to doughnuts that they'll come to the same conclusion I did, and that was adding a 4th tier in between legendary and premium, lets call it "Heroic", and that to access it you need to own... shall we say 60% of the DLCs, that the player attrition rates would drop quite a bit.

It would also have the same effect as what Maxx_Watt is asking for with none of the downsides his solution proposed, and also allow some new packaging opportunities for bundling of the content.

Yeah, because I'm sure they never discussed this before. I bet they are so glad you came along and made them realize that they should look at their monetization strategy. I often wonder why nobody has ever put forward ideas similar to this in the past. Surely, a company that has been making MMO's for a long time like SOE needs random forum posters teaching them how to monetize their game.

This kind of response is just.....seriously unnecessary.

When you said f2p model I thought you ment the account status "free". And thus the matrix meaning the access to game properties. (ie cash cap, no trades) for ftp accounts. I missunderstood you there.

Acquisition is important, but how much more do you want to make available to f2p and prems? They have a fine big demo of the game free to download, with the options to buy expansions if they don't want or can't to dish out a sub.

"I like to be able to spend money on things I like. Its a good feeling." I take it you like this game, why not buy a sub then?
It's all about the prem cash cap after all. I indeed did missunderstood the OP....

Perhaps, but this guy wants the devs to have a meeting as if they've never thoroughly discussed this before. And he is being arrogant in how sure he is that they would come to the exact same conclusion as he has. I don't stick up for the devs often but this is too much. The devs aren't children, they're not amateurs. Maybe I would be more receptive if this idea hasn't already been brought up dozens of times.

The Matrix above no longer exists on the dcuniverseonline.com website.
That image is from September 2011. I bet your cable or satellite lineup Matrix has changed since September 2011.

Currently only All Access membership is listed on the DC Universe Online website:
https://www.dcuniverseonline.com/shop/membership

It appears now that a player is either an All Access member or they are not.

I see your point, and I most definitely concede that this horse is a rotting corpse at this point. It's just depressing to see these kinds of debates on the forums is all. I wish there was a better way of getting a point across.

To the OP: He's right, you know, this topic has been a thing for almost as long as F2P and prem around. You can look up any of the massive, massively long threads detailing this very issue in depth and detail if you want, but I can guarantee you that because of the amount of time that topic has spent on the forums, the community at large is quite exasperated with it, no matter where your opinion might lie.

I might disagree wholeheartedly with Ice here in regards to the core issue regarding the premium, but I do agree that is an issue that really just does not warrant any further conversation.

I can almost guarantee you that you won't get anything else other than hate posts and an eventual flame thread. Just my thoughts. Still good points, though.

F2P already gives players way too much as it is. And Premium? Well, I'll never understand people that play as premium. But, there are a lot of them so that model must work.

Actually, I think F2P should get less. By the time they realize they need to spend money to get a better experience/progress, they have invested too much time. Then they start to complain. F2P should not be able to get past T1 gear.

Fact of the matter is that they have two different models of ownership for players.

Renting and owning. If I rent my membership, I don't need to own anything. No need to buy DLC.

If I want to own the DLC though, and pay them to purchase it, I'm getting the poo end of the stick because I'm still stuck at a currency cap that blocks my progress.

IF it is as most of you guys and gals think it is, e.g. "F2P already gives players way too much as it is."
Then I agree with you. Take away the ability to purchase DLC so the false dichotomy can go away along with the expectation that I can do anything besides subscribe to enjoy the game.

Well, sort of. I want them to examine it as if they've never played the game before. I'm sure they have the data to support changing the model and they also probably could also produce the data to support not changing the model. They can make the data support whatever they want.

Do you think maybe there is a good reason that it keeps coming up? Same reason you keep seeing commercials saying you should wear your seat belt when in an automobile. Because its just a good idea.

What is the highest a real F2P player can get to? Is it T3 and everything beyond that DLC stuff?

https://forums.station.sony.com/dcuo/index.php?threads/most-accomplished-free-to-play-player.177091/

Pretty sure F2P can get to 84+ CR. That's why they keep dropping the CR requirements of T5 stuff.

I may be wrong though. But I still say full T1 gear is a s far as they should be able to go.

This ideology is most likely why SOE has decided to abandon the Free, Premium, and Legendary marketing strategy and adopt a "Member non-member" strategy going forward. The Premium business model gave people the false sense of ownership.

This is an online game. We are all paying for access to the content on the game servers. If DCUO shuts down the servers tomorrow, you have absolutely nothing. Please do not be deluded to believe that anything is owned.