2014 Membership Update - News from Smed!

Discussion in 'News and Announcements' started by SOE_Brasse, Jan 6, 2014.

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  1. SOE_Brasse New Member

    Hello all!

    We wanted to let you know that we collected a metric ton of feedback and suggestions regarding the membership update - which we announced on Friday, far in advance of the February implementation date. Thank you one and all for your input!
    Today, Smed posted to PS2 Reddit to discuss the changes, your concerns and feedback, along with his personal response. We wanted to share the information across all games at Smed's recommendation, because it applies to all of our titles. Smed's original Reddit post can be found here: http://www.reddit.com/r/Planetside/comments/1ukdxb/regarding_the_changes_to_our_subscription_plans/


    Please continue to contribute to the discussion as we evolve our services!
    ~Brasse

    "Hello everyone,

    I hope you all had a Happy New Year! we're here back working hard to make cool stuff.
    I wanted to give a little more insight into our thinking regarding the changes to the upcoming subscription plan.
    I have been personally reading every post I can find about it and I understand there is a lot of FUD out there around it. So let me clear some things up and let you in on some of our thinking process.

    Goals
    The goals of our plan are very simple. Let players buy anything they want up to 2000 SC. It's fair to say that there aren't a lot of high priced items in the Planetside 2 shop, but that's kind of a good thing too. It's just when you look at it from the perspective of someone who's plan is changing they are right to ask "why is this good for me?".
    We are discussing the feedback we've been getting and we are making some decisions regarding this today. Particularly around Player Studio items (yeah that was a bad idea) and we're talking about bundles as well. I promise that we are listening.

    Why did we make this change? There were a few reasons really. First and foremost we wanted to let players get some of the larger items on the marketplace. People complain the other way on this all the time - they complain that the 500SC isn't enough for them to buy enough stuff. So we thought this would be a positive change.

    Second - it helps us deal with some internal issues regarding accrual of balances of SC for people who aren't playing or spending. There are a lot of people who play and have SC in their wallets and don't spend it ever.. this accrues over time and it's a problem. Before the jaded among you cry out that this is really the most important reason - please don't judge just yet. It's actually not but I don't want to hide the fact that it's a part of it.

    Third - we have a problem with a disparity between our console titles (which can't use Station Cash) and our PC Games. We can't do the same kind of promotions as easily on the PS3 and PS4. We're a lot more limited because we can't use Station Cash on there. So when we have a 3x sale on SC we have to do something different for our console titles. It's a pain in the neck to deal with this.

    Forth - And this is very important -
    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 (this applies to PC titles only btw).. all for the current $14.99 a month. That's a benefit most companies simply can't offer because they don't have our portfolio of games. The goal would be to let you pick an item in each game you play. Some of you might say "well who cares..I only play Planetside 2. How is that a benefit to me?" My answer is simple - we've got a great lineup of games, some of which aren't announced yet that cater to a lot of players. We have EQN and EQNL coming along with other..... games... that PS2 players might just like :)

    I will do my best to keep up with this thread and answer questions as much as I can (a bit AMA style).
    Smed"
  2. Koneko Augur

    thanks for the news
  3. Phancy Elder

    Sounds to me like thank you for pages of Feedback that we are definately going to ignore.
    I will continue to play EQ........not buy a thing in Marketplace with my own cash ever again......
    not subscribe to EQN and probably buy your monthly freebie just so I can hit the delete button.

    I hope you all had a Happy New Year! we're here back working hard to make cool stuff.

    The issue was you were not making cool stuff for housing. Player Studio was and if you care
    to check my payment history I was actually buying station cash based on things I could try out for free.
    Your Marketplace gives no dimensions and in alot of cases misleading previews.

    Thank you for the news that has made up my mind regarding any future purchases.
    nekokirei likes this.
  4. EverChanter Augur


    Will you be offering refunds for the remainder of our subscriptions for those of us who do not prefer the new system?



    [–]j_smedley[S] [score hidden] 43 minutes ago

    yes.
    Terminat likes this.
  5. Geroblue Augur

    I have a problem dealing with different rules in multiple games, so I only play one game. I still don't like the one item 200SC purchase per month. It simply doesn't work for me. I use SC to help multiple characters on multiple servers.

    I spent 45 dollars times 12 months, plus over 1000 dollars in SC cards in 2012 on EQ. Not much in the overall cash flow, but I doubt very much I'll be spending anything like that in 2014 on EQ. I don't spend SC every month.

    This announced change still doens't work for me, too vague anyway. And I'm not talking about the other games for the one cheaper fee.

    I don't think you understand why people are upset.
  6. Axxius Augur

    How about implementing the "Fourth and very important" at the same time as this change? "Considering" doesn't mean it's going to happen.
    Leeroy Jenkins likes this.
  7. Xenophon Luclin Server

    Many of us do not have the time to invest in multiple games. (It even implies that we will be compelled to not only dump more time but more money into other games). I don't see how this is a perk. You could offer a "Platinum" service with a different package and keep "Gold" as is or with minor adjustments.
    nekokirei likes this.
  8. Crystilla Augur

    Smed, thanks for the post

    However some of the questions I saw in the large EQ thread which haven't been answered (either by omission or accidental) which would help clear things up even more include:

    1. How will the 2000 SC work? Can you buy multiple things a month that lead up to a maximum of 2000 SC or do you only get 1 item and if you pick a 100 SC item, you're out 1900 SC worth of options?
    2. What happens to those whose payment plans already included this as part of the promotion they signed up for?
    3. Is there consideration that military players (as mentioned in the other thread) are definitely hurt by this change? Now, I say 'hurt' as in the value has gone down versus what existed previously, not up.
    4. Not so much a question but more making sure things like Player Studio are thought out carefully.
    5. Given that you mentioned the All Access Pass may be granted to all players automatically, can you possibly share what percentage of the playing population now has All access? Would be interesting to know what % of total SoE game players has it AND what % of EQ game players has it.
    IceSy and nekokirei like this.
  9. Derd Augur

    I wonder what the thread length would be if they'd gave you all 2000 sc a month for one purchase and were changing it to 500 a month. Knowing the way these boards work I bet it would easily be as long as a nasty with closing accounts and tales of how many months you'd be waiting to buy that new pony now.
  10. EverChanter Augur


    Will you be offering refunds for the remainder of our subscriptions for those of us who do not prefer the new system?



    [–]j_smedley[S] [score hidden] 43 minutes ago

    yes.
  11. Putrify Elder

    Thanks for this context. The initial reaction didn't freak me out, as I play the game for the game, and the free extras--while nice--weren't the reason I came back to EQ, nor the reason I continue playing.

    Like many, I think the 500SC/month probably fits what I wanted to do more often (in my case, get LoN cards just looking for loot--or potions), but it's virtual money for virtual items/services, and I can live with whatever freebies you decide to give or not give.

    I like the idea of 2,000/month, use-it-or-loose it. The suggestion I would have that hopefully would please more people is this: more bundles of items in the SC store.

    Just bundle potions, LoN card packs (maybe more "tournament" packs?), whatever and make the bundles available for 2,000, and the perceived value will hopefully cool down some of the flames from the entitled people.
  12. Piestro Augur

    We're going to have more news, this was just a start.


    Have you read the thread on reddit? I think you might be pleasantly surprised.
  13. Bigbear Augur

    my main issue I have with this NEW plan is what business is it of yours if we don't play for a few months and want our 500 sc to build up... as long as soe is still getting their money from a sub... we shouldn't be forced to log in and spend that sc.. we should be able to save our SC and spend it anyway we want ..

    me and my wife have 6 recurring gold accounts together... they are paid by the year... if we decide to take a month or two off of EQ or any game for whatever reason that is our business and soe shouldn't care if we let our sc sit there... you already got our money

    one suggestion I might make is that instead of this NEW plan or yours ...change it to just give us our SC all upfront when our accounts renew... if you decide to keep it 500sc a month... then when u charge our credit cards.... give us 6k sc then no more free sc... or if you want to give us more then fine but give it at renewal then be done with it
    Geroblue and Bishhop like this.
  14. Tobynn Augur

    I know a grand total of zero people that have ever complained about banking 500 per month until they had accumulated enough to buy anything at all offered in the Marketplace, even the most expensive item.
    Melanippe and Axxius like this.
  15. melemayhem Journeyman

    i actually like the idea of 2000 sc a month to be used than the 500sc a month i dont get what pple complaining about, id much rather have 2ksc to buy an idem, than have wait 4 months to acrue 2k sc, I really like the game pass idea, ive played eq since kurnak, never had a break or tried any other games as had some much invested into eq, be fun to try a diff game for free, will u get game pass if gold even if membership is paid with krono?
  16. Phancy Elder

    Piestro I did read the post.

    What I see is a post for Planetside 2 and not one regarding Everquest Marketplace specifically.
    Geroblue and Yyin like this.
  17. MasterMagnus The Oracle of AllHigh

    Thanks for some more news on this.

    I do note:
    -I was already paying $15 a month and able to play Everquest, Everquest II, Planetside2, FreeRealms and Vanguard. Hey by the way why hasn't there been a mention of FreeRealms when they use Station Cash too? And I'm sure Player Studio will never be coming to Vanguard either.

    I was already involved in all the games my computer was capable of playing.

    Glad to hear you intend to possibly add DCUO (oh and some 'un-named' titles), maybe Clone Wars?
    Still doesn't seem to be adding value.

    -So not only will Player Studio items NOT be appearing on the PS4 version of PS2, but it's likely we won't be seeing 3x SC sales in any of the games because it's 'harder' for you accommodate providing value to the console?

    "I'm gonna need you to bear the brunt of this issue that we were too short sighted to foresee, mmmmmkay that'd be great."

    I don't even think I want to know what he means by this.

    Yeah I was just dyeing to get hero's forge on my stupid alts, 1 per month.

    Great to see you're trying, but I see nothing here to make me want to re-sub, just more questions than answers.
    Geroblue and IceSy like this.
  18. Axxius Augur

    Seeing that Smed was talking primarily to the PS2 players, maybe it's the case there. I'm sure the situation varies greatly from game to game.

    The EQ1 thread on the subject grew to 480 posts, of which exactly ONE player said that this new plan will work for him better than the old one, and the rest of that thread is filled with disapproval, bitterness, ragequitting/account cancellations, etc. (that's after the mods removed threats of legal action and other extreme stuff). I think Smed meant "reading every post" only from the PS2 community, but it would be very nice if he remembered about the game that started it all and read the EQ posts too.

    Which brings the question: should SOE approach all its games the same? I totally believe that in some games the use-or-lose one-item-only 2000 SC may be better than the simple 500 SC/mo. But not in EQ, at least not for most players. Why not make a game-specific bonus for each game that would be optimal for most players in that particular game?
  19. Phancy Elder

    You might get to "play" the games included in your subscription but you would have to pay for expansions.
    Not a deal as far as I am concerned.
    Axxius likes this.
  20. Bloodmoons New Member

    My question is if I buy SC with real money/credit card/Wal-mart card.

    Will this SC be reset to zero also?

    Also how will they know the difference with SC that has been bought / or was given per month?
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