Actually most people aren't saying that they're quitting.. they're saying there's no reason for them to continue paying a sub. Far different statements. What most people are saying is that what you get for a sub isn't worth $15 any more, because the difference between gold and silver is so little. While some people are complaining that silver is getting more, most haven't complained that silver gets more.. but that gold isn't worth $15. So they'll drop their subs, continue to play and SoE loses out on the $15 a month. If SoE wants to keep people subbing, gold has to have enough perks to be worth $15 a month.
Yes, but based on replies in this thread, some people actually are /ragequitting over this, as irrational as that may be. Sure, I wouldn't be opposed to Gold getting more benefits at all. However, keep in mind that, outside of WoW/EVE(?), it seems to be generally accepted that subscriptions are not the best way to monetize an MMO anymore. Guild Wars 2 will not even let you subscribe to their game...I would have done it if they would have let me, but they wouldn't! As counter-intuitive as it may be, SOE may actually make more money by de-emphasizing subscriptions /shrug.
i have been away for a bit playing Rift. Rift just went F2P and reduced the subed player perks to the above changes SOE is suggesting. but with Rift F2P you can use all your spells/abilities and with a little loyalty you can use mail and the auction house. i love eq2 but cant play without all my stuff (spells, armor, mail, broker...) and $15 a month is not looking like something i would pay in EQ2 or RIFT with the perks being offered. Rift is closing in on EQ2, but still lacks and WoW went off the deep end with the panda release. EQ Next... this change has no value to me here or in Rift. the sad thing was i bought a year sub in Rift and they (without notice) turned on F2P just a month after, but would not consider a refund! i would suggest anyone considering a year sub beware!
But isn't that the point though? The value of the subscription lies with those who are purchasing it, if the gap between ftp/silver and gold is closing then the value of the gold membership will become worthless.
Yes, which is why I can kinda understand people who have months/years of Gold membership paid for in advance being a little upset. However, the value of a sub for any month prior to October 2013 is completely unaffected by this change. It makes no sense to say that SOE is giving away all those months of subscriptions. It's not as if people can go back in time and enjoy a September 2013 on a Silver account without item restrictions. Gold membership during September 2013 has meant that you don't need to buy item unlockers. Again, it's not as if SOE is refunding Silver members for all the item unlockers they have ever used. EDIT: For example: SOE is not 'giving away' the years of subscriptions we have already enjoyed.
Just means I now don't even have to spend in game plat to pay for three household accounts. The "loss" of a few minor to me perks is not worth the savings of no longer spending either money or plat. If Sony wants to give away the farm, I will accept my little piece of it with a smile and a thank you
Unfortunately, if they give so much away that they they don't get enough money, EQ2 will go away completely....
Which IMO is why you see people questioning this new direction, moreso than those who are whining about paying for services they used but will no longer need to pay for
This is it, in a nutshell. With the decrease in differentiators, there isn't any reason to keep Gold, especially for an alt account. I know I won't be renewing my alt account now. In some ways this is a discount for all players. Most who play at Gold and/or have alt accounts at gold can go to Silver without the great pain. It's a perk, kinda, for long time players who have more than one account Thinking about it, SOE wins, too, with the decrease in game changing benefits to Gold: After 1 Oct, spurious claims that "SOE won't ban [exploiter] 'cause they don't want to lose the subscription" will have even less merit than it ever has, the subscription status of accounts will matter even less. No player can attempt to whine and complain and hold any concept hostage with a claim of "I'm going to cancel my multitude of accounts and everyone I've ever exchanged 2 words with will also cancel their accounts", 'cause that won't change those accounts playability. Yes, there will still be the entitlement crowd who will declare they're some kind of special snowflake for paying $15/mo for however long. But they really never were entitled to more than a subscription to a game and that will still be their entitlement after. They weren't ever entitled to dictate the direction of the game, how other players could play, or any of the other rot I've read on the forums. Is it a "slap in the face" that there will shortly be fewer incentives for staying Gold? no, the only thing it might be is an incentive to drop to Silver. Is it a "sign SOE hates veteran players"? quite the contrary, SOE is telling all the veteran players they can continue to play but might be able to pay even less now. Gee, for those complaining about how high the Gold price was for an "aging game" this should be good news. Does it make subscriptions and Gold in the past worth less? How could it? In the past there was a different billing model for EQ2. At one time it was subscribe or not play at all and later pay for Gold or be heavily restricted. Just because the price of something changes in the future, that doesn't change its value in the past it just makes it less for the future. SHOULD SOE provide more incentives for a Gold membership? "Should" implies an obligation. They have no requirement to do so. If someone doesn't find Gold worth the price in the future, they can change to Silver and be none the worse with only minor restrictions. That doesn't -require- SOE to increase the Gold incentives. BUT, yes, if they don't increase the incentives, many won't find it of value. That still doesn't make it a requirement. My own blunt opinion is that NO ONE has the right to feel insulted by the change to the subscription model. If you don't find gold worth it in the future, that's not insulting, that's incentive to go to Silver when your pre-paid subscription runs out. I have 3 active accounts: one All Access on multi-month payment (my original EQ account that I started playing EQ2 with at launch and has been All Access since the time it was first offered), one Gold EQ2 account on multi-month recurring (also had this one from EQ to EQ2 and it had been All Access for a long time, too), and one Gold EQ account (I recently revived it to play an old EQ character of mine that I intend to transfer to my main account). After 1 Oct (and getting that character transferred), I'll have one All Access account. I won't find it insulting in the least.
OMG!! I get an increase in coin drops and mount speed!!?? What a huge slap ion the face!!! Seriously, the bonuses are lame, but who cares? It's more than I'm getting now. My daughter is getting more on her silver account too. You can't even give people something without some people throwing hissy fits.
Quabi, you do take quotes out of context. I was not referring to all the years we have already enjoyed, I was talking about the difference in remaining a subscriber vs. a f2p or silver account. Everything that kept me paying for a sub is now being given away free of charge to anyone and everyone, so why sub anymore?
So many people say this, but how many have even tried playing silver after being subbed for so long? I have and I still see some value left in gold.
I posted my opinions on the other thread. After speaking with some of my guildies, it seems a lot of us will be dropping our sub and going silver. 150 SC for 5 spell unlocks isn't a bad deal. What was offered and even some of the member suggested things don't really make it worth it to maintain a subscription. Fluff just doesn't appeal to me, 15% coin increase and 10% mount run speed really means nothing when there isn't really anything to spend plat on anymore.
Yep. That was the plan even before the announcement was made. Now that it's been made I'll probably play more than I would have.
This mean 1 of 2 things. 1) The marketplace is making enough to support the game. 2) EQ2 is being left to go stagnant.
if they change mind and give gold subscribers in-game-bonus such as extra hp/power or extra CB/pot or such things, then pretty much it can widen gap in performance of players at different account status. so such bonus have to stay pretty much trivial while as paying real money player; they want more actual incentives for $15. this contradicts. so i throw "lower gold sub prices" at SoE. less than half of current prices maybe. they reduced contents n updates so that fewer devs can sustain bare minimum on top of already reduced numbers of devs lol. so lower solid income from gold sub can sustain devs too i think this is just part of their plan to have eq2 gold subscribers a slow death or near death and consolidate servers n sell old equipment then make players move into EQN because paying customers have more say than FTPlay players in an ideal world
I've been here since 2005 as well, a paying member. Always had Station Access so I've just played on, mostly oblivious to the changes like this. I think Gold's day is coming. The economy is still recovering so I'm sure SOE doesn't have the staff they'd like. This leads to prioritization which usually means the quickest income possible. It seems to me it's easier to have free upgrade to silver easier than to get gold members, so that would probably be the place to start: bring more free to the game while the old free sees reason to upgrade. Quick income. I think they haven't fully planned the gold changes out yet and that's why we're not hearing anything yet. Anyway, I know most folk will grumble but very few Golds will be canceling their accounts; if we're paying I'm sure we have a lot of characters on our accounts we don't want to stop playing. Or whatever reason...we'll keep paying. If, however, my theory proves false, then, yes, I think it would warrant leaving for another game. By then, EQ Next will be available...dangit! They got my wallet again.
This is a pretty good change for me. I'm mostly Silver now and I hated unlocking gear. I already paid for the xpac and it just felt lame that I had to unlock gear from content I already bought. That sort of deflated motivation for me to keep buying xpacs and to even keep playing. Every once in a while I'll buy gold pretty much just for the AA slider and to a lesser extent the other perks. My favorite other perk Gold offers is the broker. This change was enough to motivate me to download the game again (I just replaced my hard drives with SSDs) and actually kind of get excited about playing and leveling again. One thing people might consider is that SoE might be experimenting with removing the subscription altogether. Dragon's Prophet has no sub option (that I know of). I also play another game and I really like their sub option when I'm focusing on that game. I think it's one of the best sub/premium options any F2P game offers. Here is what that game offers (maybe SoE could incorporate some of these in Gold here): 1. Daily xp/rep/gold/pvp-favor bonus - lasts one hour and is like 25%. 2. Dungeon reward bonuses. 3. Special Mounts - This is a mount skin that rotates periodically that is only available to subscribed players. 4. Fast Travel - An atlas with instant teleports to most hubs. 5. Fluff head piece. 6. Dungeon / Raid instance cooldowns cut in half. 7. Double the number of dailies available. 8. 10 lockbox keys per month. 9. NPC summons (broker, vendors, storage) - summon in the field. 10. Store discounts on select items - about 25 - 30%. 11. 3 Spellbind boxes that have to do with enchantment preservation. You don't get game cash which I think is a good thing, but the perks are nice because they buff a player that is playing hard. The Elite status isn't required to actually play. You can enjoy the game free and spend some money in the shop if you want to, but if you're playing hard or focused, then the sub is worth it in my opinion. Maybe SoE could reexamine their sub and try to focus it such that it benefits a focused or dedicated player better.
