2014 Membership - Update from Smed

Been out on the road for a few days, came back and this!! Excellent news, thank you SOE for listening to the concerns of your customers, really appreciated.

Point 5 however really grabs my attention. Can we get a hint? Anything? Please tell me EU customer can use their SOE account to play EQN!

The issue with this logic is that the initial debate on the 2k voucher indicated there wouldn't be any 'voucher friendly bundles' since bundles were already listed as excluded (which could also be taken to mean armor crates as well as those are bundles of individual items). Also there was no talk of a per game reward at first, it wasn't until a mere couple of hours before they changed to the 500SC claimable that they said there would be a voucher per game played, or that the subs were going to be multiple games. By then most had given feedback and likely the change announced shortly after to go to the 500SC was based on discussion from the original announcement, and not based on the small amount of feedback they got before their meeting after the revised offering. I was still hesitant after the revised offer and honestly still prefer the 500SC flexibility. As others have stated and myself before, there's not a lot of stuff between 500SC and 2k SC other than mounts and houses and like others I mostly spend my SC on smaller purchases that don't even hit the 500SC mark. I also only play EQ2 so the per game voucher didn't really add any value to me.

I think.
we already have double tokens for Gold.
lets bump that up to double status for guild for Golds as well

I really like this idea.

Haven't yet got confirmation If it is a "use it or lose it" offer or not, but if it is, it would be nice to get an email message warning me of the deadline to claim it by. 7-14 days before the deadline sounds fair, but if not, please do so for those in the military and others whose job calls them away for extensive periods of time. I also like the idea someone else gave to provide a way to claim outside the game, like some kind of cellphone app.

yes it is ("at least if use it or lose it" for you is "either claim it or don't get it") - see the 1st posting:

We're keeping the 500 SC included with the subscription instead of going to the "pick an item" system. We heard you. You didn't like the change. The only change we are making is that we're now going to make you claim it monthly. You can still hoard it though I realize this is a bit of a pain but honestly it's the best compromise we could come up with that solves the problems I mentioned in the other thread.

Thank you for trying to help, but it does not say for certain that " you will have to claim it for that month, or it goes away", so to me it is still is maybe so, maybe not, and that is why I am asking for clarification from RadarX.

To answer your question: Houses, vitality potions, EXP potions, additional character slots, AA potions, gender potions, race potions, appearance armor....

All of those things I can get with a 2k voucher (assuming SoE didn't plan on jacking up the prices if they launched the 2k voucher change) in exchange for 1 month's subscription. Most of those items require multiple months of my subscription money to get those items if I don't pad my SC wallet with cards from Walmart.

So his blanket statement doesn't apply to everyone like he wrote.

the quote is from the first post of this thread made by smed so you can pretty much take it to the bank that it will be that way

It's very clear. Specifically, it said that you have to claim it monthly or it goes away; however, you can still hoard it. So, it's not really 'use it or lose it,' it's more 'claim it or lose it.'

I didn't say it applies to everyone -- it's a general statement; there's always exceptions.

All of those things you *think* you might've been able to get with the voucher. We don't know for sure what items would have been excluded and they never elaborated. They changed it back to the 500 sc so fast after announcing that they'd be allowing the 2k for player studio and possibly bundles, that it became moot. However, most people believe that services would have been excluded -- nearly everything you mentioned that you'd want to spend it on.

Hey, if they allowed services and features, then I can't see very many people having a problem with the 2k voucher system.

I personally think that they should've elaborated and given us feedback before they flipflopped -- I would like to have known more about the exclusions.

And most people don't work for SoE.

I saw someone mention a poll - was there one? I'd like to vote.

What I wish they'd do at this point is come up with 2 complete proposals, one based on a use-it-or-lose-it 2k/month coupon and the other on a 500/month that you can keep scheme. Both with all the details fleshed out, including any marketplace exclusions, and put it to a vote.

I assume both schemes would include some change from the current scheme, so that both would achieve Sony's goals around revenue, taxes, accounting, etc. I'd expect the vote to be merely advisory, of course.

Then sony could make the best decision based on a combination of input from the most vocal as well as the "silent majority" (to dredge up a 40 year old phrase), and of course also including their own internal/non-public considerations.

If I were doing it I'd probably not publish the exact results of the poll, but only some statement like "survey respondents were <narrowly/broadly/significantly/almost unanimously> in favor of option <1|2>, and based on that, forum feedback and our internal discussions we decided to go with option <1|2>"

Not that you should listen to me tell you how to run your business or anything, it's just a suggestion from someone with no experience in managing customers, but a lot of experience in being one.

That's not the point. They said that there would be exclusions, specifically player studio and bundles -- other exclusions may apply. So still, you only think you would've been able to get all those services. No one knows for sure, and they haven't told us.

Yes, so until we actually had this come through, we'd only have sale examples to go by. Such as the recent rebate sale, where I believe services were excluded.

People weren't pulling the "services will likely be excluded" argument out of thin air. True, since the idea was reverted we will never know for sure either way. But that means you are speculating as much as anyone else, and while you may have been willing to take that risk (as was I, honestly), those who weren't spoke more quickly and vehemently.

Considering that they listened to the community and took the reasoning behind the opposition into consideration, it's possible that they would've been amenable to our suggestions. Pretty quickly they decided to allow player studio and were looking at bundles.

and don't forget with their proposed item in every game to let all of the SOE community vote on it not just EQ 2 players you never know we could have new players attracted to our community or some of us may venture out into theirs. SOE Don't just take care of use they have quite a few games so why should a small percentage of EQ 2 players get to ruin it for everybody?

You do realize there as a large outcry against the initial change on EQ2, EQ1, Vanguard & Planetside 2 forums? It was not just the EQ2 players who were not in favor of the original proposal that was mailed out & announced on the forums.


SOE handled it badly. The whole thing could have been done differently & neither side would have become as irritated as they did.

Finora beat me ....

Yeah it was hardly just the EQ2 players that were upset.
Glad you think we pull that much weight but sadly we don't

I would like to say thank you for listening and in my humble opinion these are actual benefits and will be keeping my sub gold