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Folgrin

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Posts posted by Folgrin

    Gameplay specific subscription - PvP or PvE an "a la carte" option

    in Suggestion Box

    Posted

    I made a thread about improving subscription numbers and we came up with an interesting idea. We call it the a la carte option, where for $5 a month you would get access to the part of the game you are focusing on. For PvE players they would have full access to either their class story, flashes points, or Ops passes for a month. If they want more than one they can pay an additional $5 dollars until they realize that $15 bucks a month is the better way to go.

     

    That way you build value for people that do not care for subscriptions or are price sensitive.

     

    For PvP you would get access to ranked and I ranked warzones as well as world people events and areas. This option works well for those that only focus on pvp. For those players paying $15 solely for pvp play is unfair and over priced.

     

    As far as crafting is concerned for $5 you would only have full access to all crew skills on one character.

     

    Just an idea, hope it helps! Personally I'd love to see this for pvp'era. I think it would help the pvp community bolster their numbers. And drive some additional revenue. Also I feel people that are subscribing now would feel to limited but this method and stick to their $15 bucks a month standard.

     

    One other idea as far as pvp is concerned is to decrease the CC cost of the weekly passes to 100 Cartel tokens so that $5 basically gives you access.

    F2P access is not creating a positive experience - we are losing potential

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    How many people buy the new hot game for $60, zerg and finish it in 2 days never to touch it again?

     

    LOTS

     

    Starbucks coffees, usually around $6 each. Skip 2 1/2 cups a coffee that month, sub paid.

     

    Smoker? A pack of smokes averages $8-10 bucks per. Smoke a few less cigs for a few days, your lungs will thank you.

     

    Like non home cooked meals? Quarter pounder meal is $6+.

     

    Like to throw back a few with your friends on the weekends? 12 pack of beer around $10. If you go to a pub, ONE beer runs from $5-10.

     

    All these things listed are pretty much one shot spend and consume.

     

    But $15 for 30 days entertainment access is "Too much!!!!!!!!!"

     

    Keep in mind I'm not one of those "this is too much people!" I'm just trying to find a way to overcome the monthly $15 bucks objection. For some reason a lot ppl i talk with are opposed to that. I suppose maybe they're thinking after 4 months they paid for the game but they still keep paying to play it.

    F2P access is not creating a positive experience - we are losing potential

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by Folgrin

    Nope. F2P and Preferred players can queue for WZs with a player that is subbed without restriction. They can even run Group Ranked as long as one of the players on their team is subbed.

     

    I was not aware of that! That's awesome! Between that and the 7 day which I do forget about from time to time. I just resent that to my buddies. That may be it. /thread? Haha

     

    I do think the a la carte idea would be interesting though.

    F2P access is not creating a positive experience - we are losing potential

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    What do they need a Weekly Pass for? If they queue for WZs with you, they can run WZs forever even if they are F2P. They can even run Group Ranked.

     

    It's Free-to-Play. They are paying nothing. They are lucky to play the game at all. If they want Sprint unlocked, pay to have it unlocked. Just subbing for one month gets them Preferred which is a step up from F2P and they get 500 CC to spend any way they want at a later time.

     

    Everybody wants free stuff. Nobody wants to pay for it. It's like Bernie Sanders' ghost...

     

    I was under the impression they only get a fixed number of warzones a week like 3 or 4.

    F2P access is not creating a positive experience - we are losing potential

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Quick question OP, did any I'd your friends click s Referral link before they started? It gives you 7days of sub lvl play free along with a bunch of goodies f2p/preferred can use.

     

     

    This link will break the referral system down in detail..

    http://www.swtor.com/info/friends

     

    Of course! Thats a great option, sometimes its hard to connect and play do to scheduling with just 1 week. But that does work really well otherwise!

     

    Also....

     

     

     

    I'm sorry....but if $15 a month is considered a "large commitment" then you shouldn't be playing games. I was making $100 a weekend cutting yards at age 12. My 14yr old daughter made $200 last weekend braiding hair.

     

    If they think $15 is a lot, then they need to step they hustle game up.

     

    "Large commitment" may have been on the strong side. What I mean is $15 recurring, to gamers thats like 1.5 full games in a six month period. Seems thats how some gamers make their choices, $60 bucks here or there, then they weigh whats worth it.

     

    Again just suggesting we take a look at what we are doing to see if we can come up with some new ideas. For my part i've been sold for 6 years lol

    F2P access is not creating a positive experience - we are losing potential

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Okay. You properly gleaned the gist of my modest proposal for an a la carte alternative: set the prices so that acquiring access to even half the game would cost more than a subscription. Would that apply to players like your friends? My point of confusion is that a player can be unwilling to pay $15 for the entire game (hence, prompting you to start this thread), yet that same player would rather pay the $15 than suffer a series of smaller fees to access the parts of the game he wants? I would expect SWTOR is either worth $15 to a player, or it isn't, regardless how that $15 is structured.

     

    The mindset would be a gradual increase. For instance, if I was interested in PvP I'd buy a $5 monthly package allowing me unlimited WZ's for a month. Maybe I'd get bored or be curious about operations or flashpoints and want to branch out. Oh no another $5?! Well now I have enough interest/exposure and I can see the value in a $15 subscription.

    F2P access is not creating a positive experience - we are losing potential

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by Folgrin

    Thank you for your detailed reply!

     

    Your friend does not understand what "pay to win" means.

    Absolutely, the point being he was frustrated and confused. He did not enjoy his experience. This is a dude that used to work as a manager for game spot works comic con booths each year. I take his assessment to heart being that he is knowledgeable about the industry.

     

    Your buddy is free to enjoy nearly every other aspect of SWTOR, including the original eight class stories (which are pretty nice). Does he think F2P should get all the access subscribers get? I'm guessing he's not miffed over missing out on Hide Helmet and Unify Colors. He wants total and unfettered access to the one part of SWTOR he enjoys. That's easily obtained: subscribe.

    He's a pvp'er like myself, and wants to play with me. He frankly has no interest in any of those other options at the moment. So the a la carte option a would be a good fit for that scenario. But F2P in a sense worked well in that he is interested. I suppose the problem here is he just wants PVP at not the full suite of swtor. Keep in my he was more patient than most. Literally playing once a week to get a feel for pvp. Most people I'd argue arent that patient or would get distracted with another game in the meantime.

     

    I have no objection to SWTOR implementing an a la carte alternative to the $15 subscription. Pay $5 for PvP access ... and JUST PvP access. Pay another $5 for class stories. Another $5 for access to OPs and FPs. Kick in a fiver for planet missions. Five more dollars for "appearance options" like Hide Helmet, Unify Colors, and an Outfit Tab. Oh yeah ... $5 for access to "travel" skills like Sprint, Quick Travel, and Speeder Pilot.

     

    Im thinking this would be the best route, nickle and dime them for each part so it makes more sense from a financial perspective to subscribe. But for the hardcore pvp or pve'ers they have what they want. $5 is more reasonable and i'd bet people would object less to that and create a more steady stream of revenue as opposed to a sporadic $15 just for pvp or pve solely.

    F2P access is not creating a positive experience - we are losing potential

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by Folgrin

    Of course it was never meant to be a positive experience. Never heard of Zynga's "fun pain" concept ?

     

    True enough, but I can only speak to my experience. It is simply not working from what i'm seeing. None of my friends in RL are playing the game with me. They're huge star wars fans and they didn't get hooked because their experience was unpleasant. They got the "pain" but no "fun". If they dont have fun whats their incentive to subscribe? So maybe its time to play with some new ideas or tweak the current system, all im saying.

    F2P access is not creating a positive experience - we are losing potential

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Exactly, if I got more of this game for free, why would I even bother with a sub, expanding the F2P model is more likely to make this game LOOSE subscribers rather than getting new ones to sub. Maybe, just maybe some preferred restrictions could be changed, like a slightly higher credits cap or a slightly higher ops and, WZ and FP's allowance (not unlimited though).

     

    Good point! Unlimited should be reserved for subscribers, thats a really good selling point for us.

    F2P access is not creating a positive experience - we are losing potential

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by Folgrin
    *added suggestion

    Its a bit long but bare with me this one time :o

     

    Just to preface my situation I am a subscriber, but I am trying to bring my friends that have never played Swtor before into the game. I've been running into the same problem with several of my friends and bringing them into our world.

     

    I'm a PvP'er so I push pvp aspect of the game because thats what I enjoy about Swtor the most. My buddies are fairly like minded so theres no issue there. The real problem comes with warzone access and access to little things. For instance a friend of mine played till about level 9 until he couldn't stand not having "Sprint" enabled. It literally frustrated him so much he could handle it and he quit and I cant get him back. "F**k this pay to win stuff, im out!". Have not played with him since.

     

    Another buddy of mine was shocked when he discovered he could only play about 3 warzones a week. "Whats the point of these pvp quests, if I cant even get access to them. This isnt Free to play if I cant play!"

     

    So whats the problem here? Obviously the objective is to acquire more subscribers, so EA can profit and we all can keep playing. The issue is the F2P model is not currently generating enough interest and creating a good experience to motivate people to subscribe. Truthfully $15 a month in this day and age is a large commitment for most gamers. So creating proper motivation to subscribe is what needs to be addressed imho.

     

    Couple ideas: firstly dont create a negative experience for F2P. Enable Sprint, enable *higher warzone/space mission/flashpoint access. However minimize the XP and rewards that they receive, perhaps display the xp and rewards that a subscriber WOULD receive but only give them the bare minimum to let them process slowly (simular to what we have now, but more dramatic). The idea is to create a grind, so they are subtlety pushed to subscribe. Also maybe not allow them to wear special armor and cosmetics (Cartel market armor, unify colors, hide helmet), this will annoy people but not impact actual game play, so thats a motivator to subscribe. Basically the idea would be, they are having fun but its becoming more work then fun with the xp and rewards being so minimal. That way subscribers and non subscribers can actively play together and help bring non subscribers into the fold because they cant keep up. I CANNOT do this with the present system period. Help me bring my friends in Bioware/EA! I

     

    Or perhaps a smaller monthly fee. Another issue is, I cant even bring back buddies that I used to play with, they simply say $15 bucks a month isn't worth it to me. Perhaps something like $5 a month for unlimited warzone or $5 a month for flashpoint/OPS access. This way they get access to what their play style (PvP or PvE) at a more cost effective and easier to digest fee, for people that haven't played mmo's for years or more cost sensitive.

     

    I've played since beta, I created my account in like October 2010. This game has made a HUGE amount of progress and I'm very pleased with the constant effort and attention to detail. The game IS getting better and better with age. However the incentive is not there for bring new people in. This is my attempt to change the current F2P paradigm for the success of this game. Hope this helps, and if its been mentioned before then it will simply serve as a reminder.

     

    Thanks for reading!

    Am I the only one who hates KOTFE?

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by Folgrin

    *SPOILER*

     

     

    Im still deciding if I like it or not. Personally sith lore is interesting to me and the emperor was fascinating. Until he abandoned us like red headed bastard children. I honestly dont really understand the logistics of running two empires across a galaxy at the same time doesn't really make sense. I guess we'll see how it turns out.

     

    Combat wise im getting really tired of fighting a million sky trooper's. I feel like thats all I do, they should really decrease the amount of spawns for them.

    This is why I am NOT quitting SW

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Pretty much have to agree with OP. It just seems this is the way games work. With a patch of this magnitude there's bound to be some issues that they cant foresee when all the systems interact with each other live, not to mention they just dont have enough testers on the PTS. I mean take Blizzard and Diablo 3 for example. Diablo 3 isnt even launching with PvP because its all jacked up. So there is another big gaming company that doesnt meet the masses demands because its impossible. Point being this is part of the process and thats the way it goes. Am I happy about it, no of course not. But I understand that games take time to mature so to speak. And it does suck I cant play, but I play because I enjoy the game. Not to mention they hooked me up with a free month so that makes up for all the down time for me.
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