General Discussion

Originally posted by Zorvan

 

Originally posted by TheChronic

to Sony Online Entertainement:

maybe you guys should first off fix NGE-StarwarsGalaxies before you step into another area, cause you know you guys screwed about 500.000 mmorpg players, do you really think we are so easy forgetting?

the SOE-hate-factor is strong with this one...

 

Ever notice how the SOE bashers keep raising that number everytime they post? 200,000/300,000/500,000, etc.

Before you know it, they'll claim SWG pre-cu had more subscribers than WoW to justify their "cause".

The NGE cost them 200,000 SWG players, and that is conservative.  But SOE has lost roughly 500K players since 2005, that is a fact.  EQ/EQ2 have dropped almost as bad as SWG has in subs, though both are still north of 100K, they just had more to lose to begin with.

The NGE proved to everyone who was a SOE customer what the character of SOE management was, so I would not think it a stretch that there were a fair amount of EQ players who drifted away because of it as well.

Originally posted by eric_w66

I personally think F2P/Microtransactions SUCK.

Why? If its free to play, it opens the door to every cheese head griefer (PvP or otherwise) who just wants to ruin the fun for everyone else using whatever tactics are available.

If its Microtransaction, it means you'll have to pay... and pay.... and pay.... to keep up. And with Smed's quote about it:

"We believe very strongly that this is the future of MMO gaming, but we also know that it is something that players have an issue with... There's going to be an aftermarket, and we want to control it so that players don't get duped into having something switched out from them."

He concluded by saying that he thought that the online subscription model would continue to decline. "We do believe that if you allow people to play for free, in many cases they will choose to spend more than you would think so," summarized Smedley.

So, in other words, its nothing more than a gimmick to generate more cash, not make the game any better. What Smedley is so short sightedly seeing not however, is the massive "LOSS" of paying subscribers because of how few people enjoy paying out the nose all the time (more than a month's sub worth).

I personally think they should offer a microtransaction option where you pay a flat fee monthly and get access to all items and areas.

Oh wait, that's a subscription model!!! lol.

I'd challenge Smedley to a bet with the Agency:

Have a choice:

1) Subscribe (~15 bucks a month), get everything in the game available normally, and you play on "subscriber" servers.

2) Free To Play, and Microtransactions, but you have to play on the F2P servers only.

Which would do better? I think we all know which.

Let's face the facts here...  Microtransactions = We want MORE than your $15/month.  Given that this is a company that already once defrauded it's customers over an expansion that they knew would have half it's features ripped out within days of release, and worse, had to give refunds because of it (it's harder to get a refund out of SOE than a free drink out of Scrooge), I would be willing to bet that the flat fee subs get screwed, and the pay as you go server players end up getting greater benefits...  IF they pay more than $15 a month...

How can we trust the Devs to be honest, when THEY control the loot drops, etc, to NOT make highly desired items in a microtransaction game EXTREMELY rare, while allowing you to BUY the item with real money?

Simply put, given the shady past of SOE, I don't.

Originally posted by openedge1

Even better...check out this vid

http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/18205

Uh...that actually looks really good...animation is the key here...the visuals may be more WoW like, but the animations are quite realistic, and it looked very smooth..Good UI is also key! and the FPS style just looks like a winner.

I have added this to my watch list!

Later

That was awesome, you are right the animation are amazing.  I hope this will be good.

Originally posted by salvaje

 

 

The NGE cost them 200,000 SWG players, and that is conservative.  But SOE has lost roughly 500K players since 2005, that is a fact.  EQ/EQ2 have dropped almost as bad as SWG has in subs, though both are still north of 100K, they just had more to lose to begin with.

Can you please share the data involved that makes you aware of actual sub numbers? I prefer hard data from a reliable source than ....say...you? I can throw numbers around also..

The NGE proved to everyone who was a SOE customer what the character of SOE management was, so I would not think it a stretch that there were a fair amount of EQ players who drifted away because of it as well.

 Again, can you share the experiences of those 500k customers as well so we know what their thoughts are? I understand certain peoples motives...you hate what happened to SWG...great, yet, you cannot push this feeling toward their other games...as they have NOT made those same mistakes...for example EQ2...which has improved 10 fold sinces it's inception...and as well have taken Vanguard and actually made it...playable..

No..I personally think you don't have an agenda

Visit my blog at www.soesucks.net

Oh...never mind

 

Salvaje,

    Your Eq and especially your EQ2 numbers assumptions and numbers are totally inaccurate.  This game has dramatically increased in population in the last year with 2 excellent expansions, and numerous changes since release that have made it 1000 times better.  Unless you have accurate, verifiable numbers to throw around, I would suggest you don't use them, because no matter how valid your argument may be, it will perceived as SOE bashing regardless of content when it is full of numerical and factual inaccuracies.

Originally posted by TheChronic

to Sony Online Entertainement:

maybe you guys should first off fix NGE-StarwarsGalaxies before you step into another area, cause you know you guys screwed about 500.000 mmorpg players, do you really think we are so easy forgetting?

the SOE-hate-factor is strong with this one...

Actually ummm no its not.  Aside from the 30 or 40 of you people that hang out around here most of the world has done what most people normally do... THEY HAVE GOTTEN OVER IT.  So, You spend you days around here spewing anti SOE hate and the rest of us have gotten on with our lives.    Hmmm, I'm perfectly happy not having all you rabid swg's SOE hater kids in my game.  Lets take a poll.  Who here is happy they WONT be playing this game? 

Originally posted by Rollotamasi

Originally posted by TheChronic

to Sony Online Entertainement:

maybe you guys should first off fix NGE-StarwarsGalaxies before you step into another area, cause you know you guys screwed about 500.000 mmorpg players, do you really think we are so easy forgetting?

the SOE-hate-factor is strong with this one...

Actually ummm no its not.  Aside from the 30 or 40 of you people that hang out around here most of the world has done what most people normally do... THEY HAVE GOTTEN OVER IT.  So, You spend you days around here spewing anti SOE hate and the rest of us have gotten on with our lives.    Hmmm, I'm perfectly happy not having all you rabid swg's SOE hater kids in my game.  Lets take a poll.  Who here is happy they WONT be playing this game? 

I'd say more like 10 and their alts.

mmogdata.voig.com

Add up SOE's numbers from Mid-2005.  Add up their numbers today.  You will see that they lost 200K+ from SWG, more than that from EQ1, and EQ2 is also down by a ton.  You will see more than 500K in lost subscribers.

This is why they are so desperate for the Agency and the DCMMO. DCMMO, btw is seen internally as THE game that must hit it big to save the company and, consequently, is being horribly micromanaged and can't keep a Dev team together as a result.  You know what kind of game that is likely to produce.

Fact of the matter is, of all the major MMO publishers, only SOE not once, but TWICE made radical changes to a top game (had over 250K subs at the time) and did so in a space of less than half a year.  Anyone thinking of playing a game of theirs needs to know this and consider it.  It's a lot easier to believe that something like that will be done again than for it to have been done once.

Not to mention that SOE has been caught in other ethical lapses as well (such as the unfinished EQ expansion that had content deliberately gated off that they hadn't even finished before release), according to a report made by a volunteer GM...

Of all the companies that would mess with so-called "microtransactions" SOE is the one least trustworthy (well, other than PE) to handle such a thing honestly.  Because they will NOT be able to restrain their greed, soon as Agency players discover that they HAVE to pay more than $15/month to compete in the game (and they will) the game will fail, even if it is good.  It very well might be.  SOE has come up with great games and ideas in the past, usually only to ruin them later.  I just don't trust them to not gate progress to the point where you MUST pay real money for it, and not to manipulate loot drop rates and spawns to move people towards that. 

My challenge to SOE:  Prove to me that you can be trusted, and how can you when the same management is in place without change that made all the mistakes and ethical lapses in the past?