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If SOE really wanted us to fork out some money, they should make us advertise:

Should be removed for members and those who buy any amount of station cash (in the month they purchase the SC).

This ad system if far too obnoxious. I know I am not saying anything new but this needs to be reiterated by as many people as possible to get the point across.

I can't imagine how a new player must feel after logging in to this game and seeing all of this spam everywhere. If removing the button is not the direction SOE wants to head then be prepared for some players to head in ANOTHER direction.

At one point I was a subscribing member. Long enough to be at Auraxium for a some time. Game play was generally good, the program running smoothly on my computer and enough friends and enemies online to keep things interesting and entertaining. Spending SC here and there on things that looked like a wise investment given my play style and preferences was no big deal.

Then camo changed. That in and of itself was annoying, and as soon as I saw it I decided I would not buy any more SC for the purpose of buying camo. I admit, I felt a little screwed that my camo was suddenly no longer really camo, but that wasn't the worst part. The worst part of the camo change was the game's lead artist popping up and basically saying "I don't see what's wrong here, so tough sh*t, it ain't changing". That was a rather d*ck move on his part, and seriously soured me. Terrible community relations, right there.

Then, with increasing frequency, new patches were put in to live play that kept adjusting and readjusting things, including numerous things that didn't need to be adjusted at all (and were noticeably worse afterwards). It is as if some of the changes were never actually tested.

Then, with each new patch came a slew of new bugs, some of which were merely irritating, some of which were pretty serious obstacles to enjoyable game play. Subsequent patches would *sometimes* fix these bugs. PU1 and PU2 admittedly seemed to go very smoothly, but nearly every patch since has broken something.

It didn't end there. The more I payed attention to forumside and reddit, the more it became apparent that the devs were rarely responding to general community concerns. What they did respond to (and still seem to) were the thoughts and concerns of a select few players, regardless of the community at large. That is bothersome.

The final straw came when I sat back one day, and thought about the changes that had been made to the game since I began. The frequency, the content, and the community discussion and response all played a role in my considerations. Then it dawned on me:

I was paying SOE money for a slight numerical advantage in an open beta of a game that was just finished enough to look like a final product, but not actually finished. I immediately cancelled my account, and decided to stop buying SC at all.

Now, there is a constant pressure from SOE to upgrade my membership, to pay them again. It's even intruding in to game play itself, with ads popping up while I'm in the middle of combat.

I know I can upgrade my membership. I'm sure everyone that plays PS2 is aware of that option. I even had an upgraded membership at one point.

Problem is, there is no reason for me to do so. Why would I pay money for a broken game? Why would I pay money for a game that keeps on being broken in new ways every week or so? Why would I pay money for perfectly good and functional items within that game that can be changed on a dev's whim? The last few patches have done tremendous damage to the game, not only because they outright broke significant parts of game play, but also because several things were changed without being listed in the patch notes (a rather shady move), as well as the fact that one significant patch was shoved on to live after only 3 days on test during a period when many people couldn't even log on to test to see what it was about. My faith, and I'm sure the faith of others, in the devs and other who are working on this game, has been seriously shaken and damaged. These rushed changes also speak to there being a hard deadline, most likely the PS2 release on the PS4.

Maybe, MAYBE, once the game stabilizes and is no longer regularly broken by patches and updates, and the devs stop constantly altering and "balancing" things, and become more responsive to the community as a whole it will be worth getting a sub again. Right now, no. No it is not. When I pay money I want to know what I am paying for will remain relatively the same over time, and not have it change unpredictably with little to no notice on a weekly basis.

I enjoy playing the game (when I can find a decent fight), but I am getting tired of having to compensate for bugs, announced and unannounced changes, and unwanted/unnecessary "balancing".

TL;DR

The game is a broken open beta that is begging me in an irritating and somewhat invasive fashion to buy digital goods and services that either are broken, will likely be broken, or can easily be broken or altered with little to no warning and for little to no reason. I had a membership, but cancelled it after realizing I was paying good money to beta test a PS4 game when I could be doing it at no expense to myself beyond time and electricity costs. I enjoy playing it, but the negatives are starting to outweigh the positives and until that changes I will not spend another red cent on it.

Seriously, at this point, this is a good idea. Just give it for free to everyone, and i guarantee you, every player UNBps (UPGRADE NOW BUTTONS per second) and UNBet (UPGRADE NOW BUTTON exposure time) will be 10000x highier than it is now, without annoying anyone.

EDIT:
Also, this would be a nice way to tangle April's Fool, this misfire and saving face by turning it into kind of self-mocking joke.

While i still think notification-ads that look similar to squad invitations/friend requests etc. are intrusive (if i don't see it quickly enough i never know if it's unwanted spam i can ignore or an actual notification - and that will make players only angry, not compel them to buy stuff) and i also think it's making the game look more cheap, i appreciate the feedback and adjustments. Props for that.

As mentioned, you should also consider removing notifications completely for auraxium members, it doesn't seem right to get these when you allready subscribed.

Sorry to inform you guys, but SOE have a long history of believing that people who post on their forums are a "Small but vocal minority".

In other words, they dont give a *** what you think.

After yesterday's patch and all the crap that came with it my brother just quit and uninstalled the game, I said it's abit harsh but he said he's fed up with the constant problems and content getting pushed back month after month, the update now was just the last straw. We also introduced a couple of friends who have also just quit think they are abit cheeses off too. Well done SOE well done.

So I've already spent about 100$ on this game, but 'cause I'm not a premium member now I have popups? In game? Are you serious?

Yeah, I think I'm just gonna play something else until those go away.

SOE. I am not your target customer for a sub.

If I chose to buy a one off itll be because you made the benefits especially worthwhile with good sales planning, such as at Xmas, not because you bully me with adverts.

By forcing heavy handed advertising in my face you jeopardise a small but continual stream of Station Cash coming from me.

I prefer to spend the money I have and not tie myself down with agreements for the future. That is my customer profile and if you SOE cant respect that then im sure you wont mind if I dont buy any more SC.

Finally, SOE, limiting membership (including stipend) to credit card only and ignoring paypal, paysafe, payment cards, steam wallet and many other payment vehicles you are shooting yourself in the foot while you shoot yourself in the foot with this ad campaign.

Please WAKE UP! for the sake of us all.

Exactly what i though, that is an incredible idea!

I've spent over $100 into this game which is the cost of most limited edition games fresh off the market with a season pass. If you feel the need to antagonize me for not getting a subscription, you're wrong.

I don't care if it's just once in a game session. Players who contribute to your game should not be pestered for not subscribing to it. It's disgusting.

Excellent idea!

"Other players that dies in this fashion also bought these weapons ..."

Some advertising is just part and parcel in a F2P/microtransaction game. It doesn't particularly bother me to have an extra button on the deployment screen or whatever in space that wasn't being used for anything anyway.

The 'upgrade now' popup is kinda mindblowing though; there's really no excuse for stuff like that to intrude on the actual gameplay environment. Maybe I'm more spiteful than most people, but that popup makes me want to not subscribe just to stick it to whoever came up with the idea.

I have a hard time imagining that it's effective, either. I mean who's in the middle of playing, sees the upgrade button, clicks it, then thinks 'oh man lemme whip out my CC and sign up for a membership'? Anybody? I'm sure the number of sales generated that way is being tracked, and I can't believe the number is very big.

Hi, first time forum goer here. Been playing and enjoying for a little awhile now. I don't mind ads, I get it and an occasional reminder of sales is a good thing. I recently purchased some stuffs. When I got the pop up though, I'm in the middle of fighting and the ad is designed to look just like the squad invites. As a newer player I clicky the Y and get directed to a browser in THE MIDDLE OF MY GAMEPLAY. I become less willing to give you positive results when you frustrate me. Please stahp. Fanks

After spending hundreds of dollars, in addition to being a monthly auraxium subscriber since launch, I find your ingame advertising/pop-up scheme offensive.

An almost universal benefit of paying a monthly subscription to a FTP game is the elimination of advertising and pop-ups. You have broken a generally accepted agreement and are "pissing off" your highest revenue customers.

I would cancel my monthy sub in protest if it would actually give me a refund. Instead I will make sure it doesn't renew if SOE doesn't revise or remove the ingame distractions..

This "annoy your players to profit" approach makes me very nervous about the future of PS2. It seems short sighted, lazy, and desperate, we deserve better.

This seems like a blatant admission that memberships have fallen off. Trying to lock people into long memberships (since those make the most sense if subscribing anyway) just before a revamp of the subscription system doesn't suggest anything good.

Is that a fact? Well here's a direction I'm going to go as a result of your 'plan'. I'm quitting PS2 for good.
I previously had 'some' interest in this game, despite it's numerous issues, not limited to game play, balancing and optimization, but now your invasive marketing strategy has completely worn out my patience.

Good day.

An addendum of sorts.

IF the brains behind the in-game advertising are thinking along the lines of "we don't care about being liked, we care about being paid," they need to understand that only works in the B2B market. Even there, it only works for stuff people absolutely must have in order to carry on business. You can sell routers and operating systems this way to businesses who need those things. They'll grumble and still buy. It's part of the business world that we all deal with. It's also a strategy that only the very best can employ. If your product is on the B list, you don't get to play Grumble and Pay.

But it absolutely does not work in the *consumer* marketplace. Nobody needs your game. It is a discretionary purchase for entertainment purposes. We're not IBM and you're not Bill Gates.

My short list of business rules, developed over 15 years of experience as a businessman:

1. Never save money in front of the customer.
2. Never make the customer wait to give you money.
3. Never sell at the cash register (see number 2)
4. No business is better than bad business.
5. You have to prove yourself every day to keep a customer.
6. You only have to screw up once to lose a customer.
7. There is always somebody who does it better than you.
8. People should have to work in the trenches for 5 years before managing anything, 10 if they have an MBA.
9. Cutting costs and making money are two entirely different things.
10. If you haven't screwed up real bad at least once, you're not trying hard enough.

If you want the full list, well... you know what to do. Upgrade now.

Not enough emphasis is being placed on the sales. It started as double xp being the incentive for membership when it's the 1sc sales that should have been trumpeted instead. You should start running a split test with replacing the loading screen ad for double xp with an ad highlighting your actual sales. Then split test cutting out the obtrusive pop ups in conjunction with the prior moves.

I won't even charge you for my marketing consultation