Customer Service Announcement: Gold Membership

I don't think Sony is seeing past the fact that yes I might spend my 500 free SC on Player Studio items but I might spend another $10 after trying those items to finish off a housing project and I don't believe I am alone in this.

there is the occasional illusion that comes out. That how ever is it from market place.

I was thinking about all this, and if SOE gave me the choice between the old system (500sc/month) and the new one (single item up to 2000sc/month) each month, then most of the time I would take the 2000sc capped item, but sometimes the 500sc.

But it depends on what all is included, and if some of the lower priced items could be bundled into a more interesting pack.

Either way, I still see it as a perk considering all you have to do for it is have a recurring subscription.

This part right here is incredibly shady business. you sold people on getting 500 SC a month and some people purchased a long term commitment that you are now changing. I really want to know how you can justify this (you on a PR level, and execs on a business level). You're basically saying "you've maintained you end of the contract, yet we're doing what we want regardless of what we said before".

Shame on you SoE, you're quickly becoming the Customer Service equivalent of EA's Marketing Dept.

What Phancy seems to have focused on is not the eaxct meaning for what was originally said, I am not saying that it is any of the player designers faults personally. What I said was it is a problem resulting from Player Studio itself. Don't get me wrong I like some of the designs I have seen, but it is not something I am going to spend SC on, even if that SC is provided freely. The issue still revolves around tax as it was stated earlier.

Looking back I could easily find a dozen or so comments to quote where people have said they spend/spent X amount on SC just to use for Player Studio stuff for their houses etc. The point and how it relates to tax and even Player Studio deals with exactly what has been said, sorry but I am going to borrow your own statement IceSy because you laid it out better than I did earlier.

In essence and how what I said was meant, this is in part because of Player Studio, at least for two avenues of reasoning.
First, from a business standpoint; players who only use the FREE stipend of 500SC monthly on Player Studio items, are in essence costing SOE money in order to pay the Player Designers.
Secondly, the first reason causes SOE not only to be accountable to the Players, but also to have to pay taxes on those same items, for sales that generated NO ACTUAL INCOME, (however because SOE has to pay the designer for sales rendered the entire transaction becomes taxable).

So with all due respect to the Player Studio designers, I am sorry you people face a very bleak outlook because of the current SC proposal, but in all fairness, I do not think it should be SOE's job to foot the bill on top of paying you for items you create.

If they wanted to do this any other way, they could always have made it where the 500SC could not even have ever been used to purchase Player Studio items to begin with.

Ok but what you are failing to accept and understand is as follows. SOE already had payment plans in effect for exact amounts, since the free perk of SC was added, I don't recall those rates changing since then. So in essence IF you only decided to become a gold member AFTER the perk was added, I hate to tell you but you were not sold anything that was not already beng granted. So you really have no right to question, complain, or argue.

Again SOE could just as easily choose to terminate ANY and ALL perks that are being given out currently. They want to make a change to why something is being done then you also agreed to that when you accepted the EULA.

Sorry folks, this is why it is best to read those things before you hit the ACCEPT button.

If Sony would consider possibly adding options other than 500 SC a month (but still allow that to be an option) I'm sure people would be more than happy - even just being asked what they would like instead.

First of all for this to work your gonna have to separate your Station cash into 3 tiers:

Bronze (can only be used to purchase Marketplace Goods - Bronze Marked)
Silver (can only be used to purchase Silver Marked goods)
Gold (can be used to purchase anything - No need to mark things Gold - unless they can ONLY be purchased with Gold SC)

For instance:

A) 500 Bronze SC a month w/ 12 month Rollover (expires every year) OR
B) 2000 Silver SC usable every month (expires at the end of the month) OR
C) A Mystery Bundle (can contain random things every month, XP potions, Ornaments, Special rare Housing items, etc) Can even make this item quest-able each and every month to add a bit more content to the game. Maybe even add rares to these bundles - like with LoN cards - which make them more desirable.
D) Add the option to buy 24 hours of "Platinum" game time in the marketplace. Having a Platinum account grants a special xp bonus, crafting bonus, chance for rare items on named, higher chance for rare mobs in Heroic Instances, Double Currency for Heroic Missions, and several other bonus's that make it desirable to use - but not to have on all the time. Make it worth 500 SC.

The imagination really is the limit here (Go figure in an IMAGINARY world). There are so many better choices than FORCING something on Your player base - because of an Error Accounting made.

If you can add 2 or 3 Options that add variables and excitement and ultimately make the GAME more enjoyable - even if they don't necessarily affect game play directly - you will have a win/win on your hands.

I understand what you are go after here, but since I roam the servers and visit fellow players,. I can assure you that SOE is making a nice profit off of PS. Enough to offset the small amount that may be consumed by the 500 free SC the gold members receive each month, and players tend to spend MORE than the free 500 SC to buy more items. What you also may not know, is that any and all fees related to item sales through the MP (PS made items) are taken out before any "profit cuts". Also, with our skills improving, dev time needed to get items ready are minimal, plus,. they are not allowed to make any changes to our items. So if something needs tweeked,.. we have to do it. Yes, they do have dev time / pay into the items,.. but not as you might think. All in all, PS is making a good profit for SOE and has the potential to make an even bigger profit. PS is not a time or $$ pit for SOE, and they know this. In reality, they are not "footing the bill" for us,.. we are helping to make them money.

Just because someone CAN do something, doesn't mean they SHOULD do it. I could start a credit card company, offer great rates and on top of that offer free points each month as a perk than 8 months later change that perk. Think people would be excited about that? It's the same here.

People see SoE as an industry leader and think "they should also be a leader in things such as customer service, development, as well as honoring their agreements to the consumer" well in the last 5 years it has been almost the exact opposite. They should especially honor those who signed up for year long or more as those people already paid under the assumption they would get everything SoE offered them. Than again, this is SoE, they are going to do what they want regardless. Doesn't mean it isn't shady each time they do it and lose more and more respect from even their playerbase.

I accept and concede about the limits of my direct knowledge on the matter. However, you can see and agree that the FREE SC being used for Player Studio should have been excluded from the beginning.

As I recal you did thank Phancy for their great support.

But take notice to the exact nature of how and what Phancy said.

This in particular supports what and why I said it.

So to address another point of interest:

Regardless of HOW/WHAT SOE decides to do, they really need to keep in mind that granting a 2000SC limit could also backfire on them if they DO NOT exclude Player Studio from the equation, IF they allow items with a low value to be purchased as stacks or shopping cart purchases.

Rather than one 2000 SC bonus per month, I'd much prefer 3x500 SC bonus per month. Why? I have multiple characters on multiple servers and would prefer not to have to go cold-turkey on my Adventure Potion II addition. If they insist on a single 2000 SC bonus, then how about some new bundles -- 1x Adventure Potion III, 1x Adventure Potion II and 1x Shared Adventure Potion I? Or implement the ability to 'build your own' bundles, especially with expendables and housing items.

An alternative idea would be a bundle of 6x Adventure Potion II, but items currently No Trade can be traded to other characters on the same account. (Either via the Parcel system or via the Shared Bank slots)

Thank you very little for forcing us to use our monthly SC when you see fit. If you (SOE) think for a second that we do not see through what you are trying to implement you are dead wrong. You have basically removed the ability to save up and buy the items that are really wanted with in the game, ie bags larger than 28 slots, and other high end items. Your changes to the Gold membership ensure that players will have to spend real dollars to get the best items and I for one do not like it one bit. This change is nothing more than an attempt to boost SOE's profits from SC purchases. STUFF IT!

Draego and Icesy I may have misrepresented myself.

First Draego, I think I got what you're saying and yes we seem to be pretty close to on the exact same page. I walked away from the thread right when you all actually 'got into it'.

IceSy knows of what she speaks. And I do wonder if you saying "this doesn't have to do with Player Studio" has any information behind it that I don't know.

To be clear, what I meant by "Player Studio" and taxes (which was mentioned by Piestro) having to do with this decision is this: yes put on your tinfoil hats
(I think) After enough data was gathered (sales amounting to over a year) SOE discovered "wow the player studio stuff is selling better than our stuff"
AND in addition to that the legal tax year guys said "Oh yeah by the way, your payout to these 'player studio' people can NOT be deducted as an expense of doing business, and so guess what, we have to pay more tax on the overwhelming success of the Player Studio program than we expected." THEN someone in corporate HAD THEIR SAY™

And to this point.

Sure I concede that would have been a better plan for them. But they didn't do that did they?

I can understand from a certain viewpoint about the taxes and all that with SC.. however, as a paying member for over 10 years each month (since I can't afford a 3, 6 or 12 month sub.) I do pay for a gold membership.. I feel as I've poured so much money into this game already those people who have been playing and paying for that long should be "grand-fathered in". I think SoE should go back to the boards, I know this would take a while but those who have paid for over 10 years and have been loyal to payment should receive the 500 SC each month and allow it to accumulate.. every player has not played as long as some, so given the tax reasons maybe there could be a compromise depending on how long the player has paid/played without a problem with their payments going through. It's just an idea.. it wouldn't generate every single player with a gold account but only for those who have put enough years in as a loyal player of EverQuest. Piestro, I believe a lot of these people like myself deserve something in return for over 10 years of dedication for paying each and every month as a gold account. Please go back to the conference room on this.. most players are not happy with what is going on.

Thank you for clearing that up Piestro.. I appreciate that.. will there be anything that cannot be bought in the Marketplace then given the fact there is a 2000 SC cap, once per month? If so, can you please let us know what those items are (the ones that cost 2000 or less just to clarify that)? Much appreciated.

Piesto has said nothing like this has been addressed, so try not to worry about potions.. for now at least until they post something new of what you can and cannot purchase.

i really enjoyed getting away from the grind to just relax and play around with my houses, sometimes that was all i did here for weeks to relax away from rl when i could get a little time to do so, and the creative items being made for the houses now made it soo much more fun

SOE is a for-profit enterprise. In order to stay in business, they must bring in more money than their costs. IIRC, they had to reduce staff a few months ago. Why? Because they needed to reduce costs to maintain profitability. While I am also not pleased with the change, I respect their decision. Today, I could choose to cancel my subscription. If the EQ business becomes unprofitable for long enough, they will do the cancellation for me -- i.e. they could just shut down!

I wonder how close it came to that prior to F2P. You don't seriously think they chose that model because they love us and didn't want to harsh us by making us pay to play? They did it to SURVIVE! With all its warts, I still prefer EQ over what became of Star Wars Galaxies (which IMO was far superior to EQ prior to the ill-fated Combat Upgrade). Today NOBODY can enjoy that experience -- at any price. Same fate will come to EQ if players don't spend enough "real" money.

I'll accept whatever changes they make - until the day I decide what I get isn't worth what I pay. Then I'll unsubscribe and go to playing dominoes or something... That is how business works, kiddies.

"We appreciate our customers, especially our valued members, and therefore are excited to bring you this additional value."
If that was the case, you have been failing for 13 years. when you introduced the krono for a higher rate than a normal gold membership cost that has no benefit to it other then gold. To me that say's you are not thinking of the players but your own pocket book. I can go to walmart an get a card that gives me more benefit then the krono. Krono user's have been left out in the cold because you are greedy. And now you force everyone of your loyal customers to swallow this bull. How far you have fallen soe. it's bad enough you have basically killed grouping in eq1 instead of merging populated servers to allow for groups to be attainable again, you focus on padding the problem with a shiny new problem. Get back to basics and make the game fun again. Back in 01 was probably the best time I ever had in eq, you required a group to do anything. <-- that's basics that's fun i'm out.

many of us don't have a walmart in our area that sells the game cards with 500 sc, ingame on my server they are now selling them for 350k to 450k each ... resellers are buying up all of the krono in barter for 320k+ and selling them for 400k+ ... most all that are being sold now are at least 320k+ and ppl are offering 335k+ in general chat

that is crazy and now we see this on our recurring subs too