2014 Membership Benefit Update

Folks I want to ensure your feedback is read. In order to help with that I'm going to ask you please stay on topic. This thread is dedicated to an upcoming Station Cash change. Any discussion outside of that could be moderated.

Well surely, given the magnitude of the situation, and the fact you "fully anticipated" the disgruntled members, why would you announce these changes in the manner that you did? THEN say

"We absolutely agree which is why we are looking at additional changes to Gold Membership. Double Tokens was part 1 and you'll see more to come when we can provide more details."

Why not simply say, Hey, we want to change such and such, for these reasons, what would you guys find acceptable. Or don't say anything until you can give us the whole story. Just an idea.

Im starting to get the horrible feeling that no one at SoE knows WTF to do tbh...

My opinions, take it or leave it!

Cx~

How is this not bad news? We will no longer have control over whether or not we can save the bonus we get for being a paid subscriber...it's use or lose! I have no doubt that new and exciting items added to the marketplace will cost 2100 SC or higher, thus would force paying subscribers to pay more to obtain. This entire thing is being spun to "SELL" your most loyal members onto an idea that was known in advance it wouldn't sit well...hence your comment in a previous post that such backlash was expected. Before the holidays we were led to believe that paying subscribers were going to get better rewards for the price they pay...just because you say "here, this is a better reward" doesn't mean it is. Can't you understand by the feedback here that this is not the right decision?

Do you rember a long time ago there was no Free to play either

So you all but pay the sub as charity to SOE (a business) because you like the game? I guess that's what SOE are hoping. Because you get the game for free - its only the extras the really make the difference between f2p and Subscribers. You can buy various upgrades for a single one-off payment that bump it almost equivalent to Gold, and tokens to use the broker. The differences once a small initial outlay is factored in are minimal, even more so if your toons are already max (so XP boosts don't matter much) and well kitted out/mastered. And even more so if you don't raid.

Wanting value for money is not entitlement.

We all like/love the game - that's why we are here. But if SOE are going to continue offering a paid subscription it really does need to offer more than just the game itself these days, thanks to f2p.

while i agree with you in part, keep in mind that most of us are not privy to the inner financial workings of SOE either their profit gains or losses.

i get why they won't tell us that. but if we don't know what's happening then we cannot respond in a manner that might be more in keeping with that knowledge.

so for now we do know the sub is being changed, many of us know we don't like the current proposed change, and we are waiting currently to hear whether there have been any additions or modifications to their original plan.

In regards to the Station Cash change, my reoccurring subscription has been cancelled. Thanks for the heads up.

I see where you are coming from, I just respectfully disagree. There are items you get for gold membership as a service and things you do not get as FTP. In the business world, we call these deliverables. If you are getting the promised deliverables, then you are getting what you are paying for. Wanting more is perfectly fine and its the responsibility of the business to continue to make those deliverables more appealing year after year. In the end, you have to keep providing more for the same price in order to stay competitive.

In retrospect, now I am not sure if I disagreed or agreed with you. I am perfectly happy paying for my 4 accounts because I am more than satisfied with the product. That however is my opinion and I do not speak for anyone other than myself.

My apologies if this has already been suggested.........
Maybe make kronos good for either a subscription or X amount of SC. Could maybe increase the sales of kronos or at least mitigate the mass switching from gold to silver.

i think you might have misunderstod, i spending habits did not turn away from player made items. but did simply state that the 500SC alotment was more often than not used to procure player made items, and that when those 500 wasn't adequate that SC cards was used. It did point out that with the lack of freedom and lack of the initial 500, it was more than doubtful that the above poster would acquire any additional SC via card purchases because .. the trust was not ... shall we say breached?

I agree, 2000 a month would only be good to buy mounts or houses, I also buy small things for my houses. I have almost all of them which I have bought so I don´t see any real benefit and yet I do see a waste of SC every month....unless I get every house for each and every alt. Not a good idea at ALL. Please take our plea into account and change that. Thank you!

Before I begin I will first say that I am not one to post on forums...
Also, I am also one of those suckers who has paid for Gold Membership for a LONG time, and I do NOT LIKE this change, for most of the same reasons already spelled out by others. I love EQ2, it is my first - only - and LAST EVER MMORPG game. Time-sink, wallet raider, family & friends nemesis . . . . well, you get it. LOL

What does being Gold really get you that isn't part of Silver/F2P??
More character slots (not even double) = if I want more then I'll buy slots
Master level spells/abilities = I don't raid so I don't care
Permanent Double tokens = YAY!
Increased loot coin = Meh (at best)
Increased mount speed = BLAH (as if flying & 130%-150% aren't sufficient to get around?)
Five FREE booster packs for LoN = Meh (a chance at in-game loot, but most often items I don't want/need)
500SC for FREE = WOOT !! (no restrictions) VS 2000SC for FREE = semi-woot (WITH restrictions)
Did I miss anything?

I must disagree with the mob, however - paying a subscription fee to play does NOT automatically include a purchase of SC, it was GIVEN FREELY by SOE. It was a perk added as an incentive to increase paid memberships. They are not required to give it, and are entitled to take it away. If you disagree with that, then go back and read your EULA again. However, they are NOT taking it away - they are simply modifying the terms of what you are being given, AT NO ADDITIONAL COST TO YOU for being a recurring-payment subscriber. Would you also be a disgruntled mob if they announced taking away your FREE booster packs for LoN? You aren't paying for those either, btw.

BUT, SOE has to make a profit on EQ2 or THE GAME WILL DIE. With EQN coming out soon (pukes on the anime cartoon style & jumps over the puddle of muck) and being totally SC transaction oriented (or I have misread what little I have read about it), they cannot continue to give out free SC to subscribers that can be used across multiple games if the older games are to survive and the new are to make a profit. That's just business logic (and also previously mentioned). This logical also applies to the idea of a "Legacy" membership unless there is a SC equivalent currency created for each game that is game-specific which can also be used in the SC marketplace

That said - given what I have read so far (20 pages+), the community is NOT happy with this and there seems to be very little coming down the pipeline to appease the mobs. The only thing that seems logical as a fix is making that 2000SC spendable as we see fit, on multiple items with a list of exclusions, and any unspent at the end of the month vanishes. Create a shopping cart, take items we CAN buy with it and CREATE bundles so people can get up to 2k spent in one purchase.

I am seriously considering dropping to Silver over this as are MANY others, only because I do not adventure much and there is no real benefit to Gold for me OTHER than the free 500SC & hope for a decent loot card in the monthly LoN boosters.... Again, as others have stated - if you're going to just do away with all paid memberships eventually, JUST DO IT and stop shooting rubber bullets at your customers.

I do love having all the DCUO dlc as it comes out, I wont deny I would love to see everything in the adventurer feature unlock bundle and the current expansion be included in our subs with the station cash change for eq2. I also realize that would be useless to people that already purchased those and i am at a lose on how to make it just as appealing to them.

I got a good feeling about the upcoming details to be revealed though.

Rumors are running wild in game. Several people have told me that all their station cash will be wiped out when this change occurs. I really think that a clear post that addresses all the speculation would be wise.

In the absence of facts, rumor is running rampant.

We'll be addressing what we can as soon as possible but unless you see an official post regarding something, I would assume it's false until stated otherwise. The SOE Post Tracker will quickly allow you to keep up with any such announcements.

I have read a lot of the comments posted here and am a long time subscriber ( EQ2 since launch and EQ before EQ2). I played before SC was even a glimmer in their eyes. For most of us, small purchases are a perk of the 500 SC perk given or save up like I did for the Haunted House prestige home. I did take a bit to log in and peruse the SC offerings and very little except for houses and mounts can be purchased to take full advantage of the 2000 SC offered on a monthly basis. I think a better solution would be ( since this is not being greeted warmly) would be to offer the 2000 SC and allow the player to buy what they want up to that limit. I think that would appease most people here. I don't have a problem with it going poof monthly (gives one a reason to log in from time to time). There also needs to be better communication as to what is going to happen to already accrued SC ( be it bought or accrued through the subscription) and if there is a difference in this 2000SC ( token etc.) or if it is lumped into the SC pile. For me, I would like it to be differentiated in some form so I know which is which. I do not use SC a lot but when I do, it's usually to upgrade my son's Silver sub, or I hoard up the accrued SC from my recurring subscription (which is probably what they want to avoid ). We also need more information on what is excluded and what is not. I fully understand the Player Studio items being excluded, makes perfect business sense and I have no issue with that. I am also not ready to kill my subscription over this until I see more. It was a good value when I started and is still a good value, SC bonus or not. Just my 2 cp .

a link to that tracker would be appreciated

Just tell those people that are spreading the rumours to come to the forums and read the thread. Easy solved.

It's right at the top of the page in the bar under the EQ2 logo.

You can find the RSS feed right here.