Should have given 30 days to everyone subbed since release

[Cindron]

Dear Bioware,

Please resend another email to all these crybabies, that did not bother to reach level 50 and so have no firsthand knowledge of the problems that plagued level 50 content, an email telling them they will receive a free pet and are valued. Then we can end the qq and they can go back to being complete idiots who obviously did not receive an email so have not read firsthand what you actually said, only what they were told. Thanks for the free month and i appreciate you loving me more than these scrubs.

 

But seriously the email stated " you are one of our most active and valued HIGH LEVEL players" Nowhere did it state that other players were not valued. This is an email sent to be read by those receiving it, so why would they not take liberty with how they worded it? I mean your all the same idiots who eavesdrop on a conversation taken in private and getting butthurt about it when it has nothing to do with you!

 

A SPECIAL GIFT FOR OUR LEVEL 50 PLAYERS – 30 DAYS OF PLAY TIME ON US!

 

As a thanks for being one of our most valued players, every active account with a Level 50 character as of April 12th, 2012 at 12:00PM CDT / 5:00PM GMT, will receive thirty (30) days of game time** in appreciation for your support and loyalty.

 

Really?!? before you decide to rage and insult people you might want to read and do a little checking. This is on the front page.

 

People are upset that Bio is giving rewards based on level as though that determines loyalty or value as a customer. Give rewards for level 50 in game to those specific characters I'm all for it. But this is a serious snub to a big part of your gaming community: "Here is a free month you level 50 most valued players, rest of you we will be happy to keep taking your money and when you do hit 50 don't expect anything...too late!"

 

This is very, very bad pr bio.

[Psnacky]

I have an issue with it as well, and not because omgsomeonegotsomethingfreeandIdidn'tQQ.

 

Scenario 1: "We want to reward our loyal customers, so anyone who has had an active account, in good standing, since launch will receive 30 days free play time." Fine. I would miss out since I didn't get the game until a day or two after launch, but I can accept that.

 

Scenario 2: "We want to reward people who have been/are sticking it out at max-level while we tweak our end-game, so anyone who has a 50 as of xxx date will receive 30 days free play time." Fine. I would miss out because I do not have a level 50, but I would understand it.

 

Scenario 3: "We want to reward our level 50s because they are our most loyal players, so they will receivve 30 days free play time." Not fine. Level does NOT equate loyalty.

 

I feel that they have chosen to go with Scenario 3. While in all of the above examples I would miss out on any perks... 1 and 2 are fine, 3 I find frustrating.

 

I don't know why this is such a hard concept to grasp.

 

It isn't about the free 30 days or $15, it isn't about about someone getting something that I didn't. It is about Bioware equating loyalty and value to play style and effectively telling those who don't have 50s that they're less valuable as customers.

 

You want to reward those who have helped make the game better? Give a free month to those who have tested on the PTR and/or submitted bug reports.

 

You want to compensate bored level 50s for slow content roll out and bride them to stay? Then offer them a gift for their "patience" while you add more content to the game.

 

You want to reward the loyalty of customers? Then do so based on long-term monetary support (i.e. subscription length).

 

But most importantly, think before you post.

[rpdowning]

I have two 50s and working on my third... so I got my 30 days. However, I feel sorry for everyone that has been playing since release and didn't get free time because they are (A) alt-aholics, (B) don't have a lot of time to play, or © just like to go slow and complete EVERYTHING. If I was in your shoes, I'd be super angry.

 

They should have taken the high road by rewarding all loyal customers who paid for the game and have paid their subscription fees continuously since launch.

 

Instead, they took the low road by trying to bait their most unhappy customers (those that are already at end-game content) into sticking around a little longer.

 

 

I wasn't going to get upset with the free month thing, but the more I think about it the more unjust it seems. There must be people who leveled a 50 in the first month and unsubbed. What about everyone else who has not let a payment lapse since launch. I guess we get a founder title.

 

I think if they worded the most loyal customer thing differently it would have went over alot smoother. I don't know, I am still going to resub for another six months when the time comes anyhow.

[Magaman]

Has anyone checked their subscription renewal date???? I have no level 50's and my 6 month sub which was billed on 1/21 a month after launch, which should renew on 6/21 is actually listed as renewing on 7/17. So at least in my case I've been gotten almost a month of free time.

 

I don't know if this is time from free weekends or downtime but it's there.

[Dayln]

I also have no problem with them deciding to reward people with level 50 characters, for exactly the reasons you say.

 

What I do have a problem with is BW posting on their website that those players with level 50 characters are their "most valued players".

 

If I don't feel valued then I expect BW will not care if I choose to unsubscribe.

 

Although I understand what you are saying, to be honest I am a slave to my enjoyment level, I honestly don’t care if Bioware "values' someone more than me ( and I don’t for a moment think that is what they meant )

 

I have told each and every one of my kids why they are individually and uniquely so very special to me, the difference is my kids didn’t go share notes with one another about what I said to them. Which is what you are seeing here, just because a player that has a 50 is one of their most valued players, doesn’t mean you aren’t as well.

 

I am a slave to my enjoyment level, as long as I am having fun, I subscribe, when I am no longer having fun, I unsub. It is that simple

 

So far... I am having a blast.

[WillCaedes]

Dear Bioware,

 

Before I begin, let me state in no way shape or form do I actually hate you all. I simply hate how your doing things. Its very frustrating as a customer. Anyways, on to the rant.

 

Look, I've been a loyal customer ever since the game came out in December. I kept my mouth shut through the ability delays. Suffered through the agonizing random FPS dips and Memory Leaks that came in the UI. I suffered through the ORIGINAL UI you guys released back in December. Hell I've even kept my subscription open since December too! But, this Bioware...what you have just done completely takes the cake. (No the cake is not a lie, it is simply a pie masquerading as a cake!)

 

 

As I began to play the game, within two days of playing it after Christmas I had noticed people were already hitting 50. Which amazed me. And then all of the sudden the server which I was a part of seemed to start dying out, slowly it became harder and harder to get a group together just to do Flashpoints or Heroics. I began to lose my drive to complete my current class so I swapped factions. THAT didn't work either so I began to hop servers looking for my best fit. I happened upon "The Fatman" in January and began to play a Juggernaut up to 31 there.

 

Got tired of being ganked on Tatooine (herp derp my bad for picking a PVP server right?) so I moved to my current server Canderous Ordo. My highest character right now is a level 24 Sith Juggernaut, and I have a sprinkling of alts because I like flavor in my MMO diet when it comes to playing a game. Plus on top of that I suppose you could say I'm an altaholic which....is the whole point of the Legacy System, to experience other story lines and unlock their species/customization other bonuses?

 

 

 

Anyways long story short, as a casual player who has ADD and bounces around from toon to toon when I get bored, and on top of the server issues (which I will admit Bioware had little to no control over) AND College... I just haven't had the time, or the reason to grind to level 50. I like to savor my content, instead of blowing through it in 4 days and spend the rest of my paid subscription time on the forums QQ'ing about how awful Bioware is or how much the game "sucks".

 

 

So, when I heard "30 free days of Game Time" I was like, "Hurray! More gas money for next month!" And then I read the fine print...., only for level 50's. Now if Bioware was trying to Foster a sense of community creating a rift by rising one group of players over another is a bad way to go about it in my opinion. Granted, I am not going to go up to a level 50 and gripe at them for their 30 free days of content, I will not treat them any differently than I do already. But, as a loyal customer for four months, now going on five, I feel SHAFTED!! And I sincerely doubt I am the ONLY casual player to feel like this.

 

 

Let me get this straight, you thought it would help keep subs up by PAYING level 50's to stay, mow through all your content at the same speed which they already did, be it in a different faction, class, race or whatever. And then have them spend the next month on that fresh level 50 spamming in fleet for HM's or Operations. Or struggling to find a premade PVP group? And once they get bored with THAT, they are right back to where some of them go with the threats of unsubbing on the forums, the QQ about the End-Game content. (Another reason why I have yet to hit 50, fear of the End-Game)

 

And then, you give us "Loyal" customers who haven't already hit level 50 a free....what was it again...tauntaun pet? If... I wanted a chibi cutesy pet thing to follow me around and annoy me... I'd go play a Korean Grind fest for some animeish looking animal.

 

So, instead of raging about it, because I sincerely doubt Bioware will actually change anything. I won't make threats of unsubbing (I still enjoy the game enough to keep paying), I won't blame level 50's, or the Dev's. I will just calmly, and politely make a small suggestion Bioware:

 

If your going to give 30 days of game time to a select group, stop and reconsider. How might this look to our typical/casual player base? How might this look to our altaholic player base (which if I'm thinking correctly the process of rolling alts is how Bioware is going to make its money in the long run with this game). Either make the next 30 days of free play deal open to all players subbed before a certain date, or don't bother giving 30 days of free play at all. Frankly Bioware, at the end of the day and at the end of this situation, you paying level 50s with 30 days of free play, you just wind up looking really really desperate in my books.

/rant

 

 

Alright well, I've said my bit. To any Bioware employee I may have accidently offended, my bad. To the other paying customers who pre-ordered or subbed since Decemember and DO NOT have a level 50 (dear God I hope I'm not the only one) feel free to chime in unless they decide to lock this thread.

Edited April 13, 2012 by WillCaedes

[BadOrb]

Some people actually don't max out their characters until the level cap goes up , ever heard of that? TBH when I found out about legacy at the guild summit that was the only time I actually thought of maxing one character out , but I didn't want it to be my BH as well I didn't see flame throwers been a good thing for all my family tree.

 

Now one of my other characters on the same server is a Commando , but he plays in a party of 3 regular players , so all three of us aren't on a lot because of work etc , he is creeping up there finally but its also a party of 2 smugglers and me , try that out , its bloody tough. We only worked out recently , last few days that a lot of missions have extra mobs within a party of 3 , like champions every min etc.

 

I don't like soloing mmo's too much but I have two solo characters now , one beign the BH i mentioned , which I would have stopped at 49 anyways. The other one is a low level sniper.

 

My other main character Sith Warrior plays in a party of 2 , but due to arguments etc , they haven't quite made it to 50 hes 48.

 

Played since before release , never unsubbed , love the game , but no freebee , seems a bit odd really. All this end game talk on a newish mmo is odd to me , you get to end game and play an alt , is the way i play , or even get lots of characters to 49 then wait for the cap to go up. Mind you I don't pvp , not my thing in an mmo.

 

cheers,

 

Badorb.

[overgrower]

this sucks about the game time. I am sitting here thinking o cool i get a free 30 days and check my email to find out i have no email about the situation. So i go and look when my account was activated after being down for 2 weeks because i moved and had no internet. I had been trying for 3 days to activate my account and could not do so because they keept denying my card and finally get it activated through paypal on the 13th lame.

 

 

O ya for all those people who say Europe internet is better then the USA its a lie. The best i can get for internet is DSL 6000 which blows. Germany is smaller then texas and i cant even get the same internet i had there.

[DarthRik]

Dear Bioware,

 

Before I begin, let me state in no way shape or form do I actually hate you all. I simply hate how your doing things. Its very frustrating as a customer. Anyways, on to the rant.

 

Look, I've been a loyal customer ever since the game came out in December. I kept my mouth shut through the ability delays. Suffered through the agonizing random FPS dips and Memory Leaks that came in the UI. I suffered through the ORIGINAL UI you guys released back in December. Hell I've even kept my subscription open since December too! But, this Bioware...what you have just done completely takes the cake. (No the cake is not a lie, it is simply a pie masquerading as a cake!)

 

 

As I began to play the game, within two days of playing it after Christmas I had noticed people were already hitting 50. Which amazed me. And then all of the sudden the server which I was a part of seemed to start dying out, slowly it became harder and harder to get a group together just to do Flashpoints or Heroics. I began to lose my drive to complete my current class so I swapped factions. THAT didn't work either so I began to hop servers looking for my best fit. I happened upon "The Fatman" in January and began to play a Juggernaut up to 31 there.

 

Got tired of being ganked on Tatooine (herp derp my bad for picking a PVP server right?) so I moved to my current server Canderous Ordo. My highest character right now is a level 24 Sith Juggernaut, and I have a sprinkling of alts because I like flavor in my MMO diet when it comes to playing a game. Plus on top of that I suppose you could say I'm an altaholic which....is the whole point of the Legacy System, to experience other story lines and unlock their species/customization other bonuses?

 

 

 

Anyways long story short, as a casual player who has ADD and bounces around from toon to toon when I get bored, and on top of the server issues (which I will admit Bioware had little to no control over) AND College... I just haven't had the time, or the reason to grind to level 50. I like to savor my content, instead of blowing through it in 4 days and spend the rest of my paid subscription time on the forums QQ'ing about how awful Bioware is or how much the game "sucks".

 

 

So, when I heard "30 free days of Game Time" I was like, "Hurray! More gas money for next month!" And then I read the fine print...., only for level 50's. Now if Bioware was trying to Foster a sense of community creating a rift by rising one group of players over another is a bad way to go about it in my opinion. Granted, I am not going to go up to a level 50 and gripe at them for their 30 free days of content, I will not treat them any differently than I do already. But, as a loyal customer for four months, now going on five, I feel SHAFTED!! And I sincerely doubt I am the ONLY casual player to feel like this.

 

 

Let me get this straight, you thought it would help keep subs up by PAYING level 50's to stay, mow through all your content at the same speed which they already did, be it in a different faction, class, race or whatever. And then have them spend the next month on that fresh level 50 spamming in fleet for HM's or Operations. Or struggling to find a premade PVP group? And once they get bored with THAT, they are right back to where some of them go with the threats of unsubbing on the forums, the QQ about the End-Game content. (Another reason why I have yet to hit 50, fear of the End-Game)

 

And then, you give us "Loyal" customers who haven't already hit level 50 a free....what was it again...tauntaun pet? If... I wanted a chibi cutesy pet thing to follow me around and annoy me... I'd go play a Korean Grind fest for some animeish looking animal.

 

So, instead of raging about it, because I sincerely doubt Bioware will actually change anything. I won't make threats of unsubbing (I still enjoy the game enough to keep paying), I won't blame level 50's, or the Dev's. I will just calmly, and politely make a small suggestion Bioware:

 

If your going to give 30 days of game time to a select group, stop and reconsider. How might this look to our typical/casual player base? How might this look to our altaholic player base (which if I'm thinking correctly the process of rolling alts is how Bioware is going to make its money in the long run with this game). Either make the next 30 days of free play deal open to all players subbed before a certain date, or don't bother giving 30 days of free play at all. Frankly Bioware, at the end of the day and at the end of this situation, you paying level 50s with 30 days of free play, you just wind up looking really really desperate in my books.

/rant

 

 

Alright well, I've said my bit. To any Bioware employee I may have accidently offended, my bad. To the other paying customers who pre-ordered or subbed since Decemember and DO NOT have a level 50 (dear God I hope I'm not the only one) feel free to chime in unless they decide to lock this thread.

 

as you can see from this thread dude you are not alone, also i posted in your open letter thread before they closed it

[Thaneos]

So you've been here for over half a year, and you couldn't even level 1 character to 50? Even if you play 30 minutes a day you should've been 50 already.

 

A valued customer of an mmorpg game is an active player in my eyes.

 

Grabbing all datacrons takes 1 day. Noone gets codexes, maxing a crafting skill takes a few hours.

 

Whatever you did, it wasn't playing the game, it's called slacking, and slackers don't win.

 

 

Some players have this thing called real life. My best friend pre-ordered the game before I did, has subbed since day one (even when he took 2 months off because game was so buggy and almost unplayable) So having a family and 2 small kids he can't get on and play as much as I did for example. Is that slacking??

 

Your comment just goes to show how ignorant you are, anyone who has been here since day 1 regardless of toon level should get this 30 days imho

[WillCaedes]

as you can see from this thread dude you are not alone, also i posted in your open letter thread before they closed it

 

Yeah man I saw, thanks for the support, figured I would go ahead and move the post to here since they shut me down over there.

[darknessglow]

Dear Bioware,

(Snip. Read the full post, definitely worth reviewing)

 

This accurately describes the complaints listed here and I think it fits a lot of people's situation. Not specifically my own but I know plenty of people in this.

[Fuzzytoad]

I have a theory.

 

When this PR thing went down, there were probably thoughts among the BW devs/csrs that something like this might happen, so they came up with a backup plan.

 

 

During the downtime for the non-patch we get this morning, they closely monitored the forum looking for a thread like this one.

 

When the whole thing blew up in their face, they put the plan into motion:

 

1. bring up the servers with a seemingly screwed-up patch that basically broke the 1.2 update.

 

2. bring the servers back down and initiate a maintenance period that's extremely long and during a time which players aren't accustomed to.

 

3. Let everyone rage and suffer withdrawal. Continue monitoring this thread(and others like it).

 

4. Bring the servers back up, fixed and all shiny. Include a Launcher message about how important, valuable and loyal ALL the players are.

 

5. Give all players a 7-day gift for loyally putting up with the Friday the 13th patch debacle because we're all equally valuable to them.

 

6. Never mention the 30 days they gave to level 50s or the week they gave to former subs.

[Basperios]

Honestly I think I deserve a free month for having to put up with the gross incompetence that was today's patch.

 

I am in the same boat as a lot of people posting in this thread been a subscriber since launch got accepted for beta but didn't get to play it due to work. I feel totally discriminated against over this. Here is a preemptive thanks for the pet, at this rate you will be lucky if I am still subscribed to accept it on the 24th.

[Cearbhall]

Has anyone checked their subscription renewal date???? I have no level 50's and my 6 month sub which was billed on 1/21 a month after launch, which should renew on 6/21 is actually listed as renewing on 7/17. So at least in my case I've been gotten almost a month of free time.

 

I don't know if this is time from free weekends or downtime but it's there.

 

I noticed the same thing when I discontinued my recurring 6 month sub last night, might be a bug?

[Ghredok]

MMO gaming is always a learning experience for developers. That's because things can always happen in the middle of a patching/maintenance. There is a reason we have a thing called software development. MMO games are just a very very complex version of it. It is always a problem, sometimes easily fixed, sometimes not. The fact is, we should all take it in stride. We may want to game on something, but if programming conflicts happen during a patch/maintenance. We have to deal with it accordingly. It's not like you get into a car accident and don't have to deal with the consequences of the accident happening in the first place right? This is just a part of MMO gaming. You take the good with the bad, if it is a product you enjoy, you'll accept that while annoying, it is something that CAN happen and always will in some form or another.

 

Something I mentioned in a different thread about this. Honestly folks, of course it's not fun to have to wait for the game to be up and running. Now let's face the obvious facts, no matter how much we may wish for everything to always go smoothly, it's not going to happen because making and maintaining a large player base MMO is not an exact science. Human error is the reason things will go awry. Thinking that it should be perfect is.....well I'm just going to come right out and say it, idiotic.

[darknessglow]

Honestly I think I deserve a free month for having to put up with the gross incompetence that was today's patch.

 

I am in the same boat as a lot of people posting in this thread been a subscriber since launch got accepted for beta but didn't get to play it due to work. I feel totally discriminated against over this. Here is a preemptive thanks for the pet, at this rate you will be lucky if I am still subscribed to accept it on the 24th.

 

For today's patch we are getting an extention of 1 day which I think is fair considering its only taking up part, albeit a good chunk, of the day. 7 Days is a bit excessive for one patch.

[Rebornlos]

wow, feet still in there? good to see you go boy, be stubborn /fistpump

 

dot get all self righteous on me and claim i dont know what im mad about, learn to read. and yes, read back in the thread, it will make you look a little brighter when you can respond on topic and in a meaningful manner.

 

the freebie isnt the important part (i actually supported it silly) its the way they handed it out that was the problem. which you know if you took the time to read instead of bashing your head on the wall. but here, let me help you up, and heres a cookie for your troubles. come back again soon yeah?

 

I do not have to read back to be on topic, especially since the topic is the original post and not the 100 + pages of crybabies afterwards.

 

I never said you dont know what you are mad about I said if. you obviously do not understand what people are actually typing which probably explains why you also feel that something meant as a perk to others must be a slight to you even though nowhere did they actually make a slight at those that did not receive the perk. Nowhere did bioware actually say we do not feel our other customers are loyal..you just infered that because you are crybabies.

 

I always find it amusing how stupid people are and how they claim others have said something that was never actually written or said out load. just because it is in your head does not make it reality. But continue to qq like little kids its amusing.

[Pesh]

You are one of our most active and valued high level players and we know you have been waiting patiently for Game Update 1.2: Legacy. To show our appreciation, check out all the great new features this update has to offer-on us. We will be adding an additional 30 days of game time to your account at no charge*. The free 30 days will appear on your account by April 24, 11:59PM CDT, April 25, 4:59AM GMT.

 

As an added bonus, we will be awarding all active subscribers an in-game Legacy reward, the Legacy Tauntaun Ram Pet**, as our way of saying thanks for your support. The Tauntaun Ram Pet will be delivered to you via in-game mail by April 24, 2012, 11:59PM CDT/ April 25, 2012, 4:59AM GMT.

 

This is directly from the email they have sent... it says "You are one of our most active and valued high level players".

 

This does not mean other players are not valued, it simply means I am an active player who is valued.

 

I get it you feel you should be valued cause you paid since December (so have I), and you are. But the player base they need to appeal to is their active players.

 

I am sorry but if you do not have a 50 at this point, you are not very active in the MMO community. It really comes down to that.

 

Bioware did not say only their valued players are getting a free month.

 

Bioware did say their most active and valued players will be getting a free month.

 

People need to stop being so sensitive.

 

----

 

And for those who are complaining about paying $15 bucks.... well why are you playing a this game if money is that tight?

Edited April 13, 2012 by Pesh

[Dayln]

I still don’t understand why I am supposed to be upset, I don’t have a 50 toon, and I am fine with them giving extra time to folks whose updates for the level of their toons didn’t go as well as it did for the updates for the levels of my toons.

 

What is the problem again?

[TavaraCap]

*Facepalm* Again with the EA bashing, if only you knew how much Bioware hate EA you would not make that uneducated comment.

 

And what exactly does my post have anything to do with Bioware's position on EA? Apparently you need to learn to read, and I'm sure everyone at Bioware hates EA, but unfortunately the grunts don't make the decisions on free months of play.

[Phlakaton]

This is directly from the email they have sent... it says "You are one of our most active and valued high level players".

 

This does not mean other players are not valued, it simply means I am an active player who is valued.

 

I get it you feel you should be valued cause you paid since December (so have I), and you are. But the player base they need to appeal to is their active players.

 

I am sorry but if you do not have a 50 at this point, you are not very active in the MMO community. It really comes down to that.

 

Bioware did not say only their valued players are getting a free month.

 

Bioware did say their most active and valued players will be getting a free month.

 

People need to stop being so sensitive.

 

----

 

And for those who are complaining about paying $15 bucks.... well why are you playing a this game if money is that tight?

 

I could EASILY have two 50s or more with the time I spent playing ALL my characters (alts) - so saying I'm not some uber active player is horsehockey pal.

[Thaneos]

This is directly from the email they have sent... it says "You are one of our most active and valued high level players".

 

This does not mean other players are not valued, it simply means I am an active player who is valued.

 

I get it you feel you should be valued cause you paid since December (so have I), and you are. But the player base they need to appeal to is their active players.

 

I am sorry but if you do not have a 50 at this point, you are not very active in the MMO community. It really comes down to that.

 

Bioware did not say only their valued players are getting a free month.

 

Bioware did say their most active and valued players will be getting a free month.

 

People need to stop being so sensitive.

 

----

 

And for those who are complaining about paying $15 bucks.... well why are you playing a this game if money is that tight?

 

I had a level 50 3 days into the ega. I quit playing about a month and a half later for lack of content and just to many damn bugs ( still payed for my sub tho )

 

So not what you would term an "active" player but I still get my 30 days. Like I said earlier , everyone who has been around since day one and paying should get this 30 days free.

[DarthSithdious]

Wow, just read this and this get me mad.

 

I've been an avid support of BW/EA because the game has great story for each of the characters....even with the skilled artistic design of the worlds to such great details. That is why I have many alts and none at 50.....so why exclude people because they have not reach 50?

 

This is gotta be a management decision that is full of baloney and really STUPID!!!!

[Elhanan]

Simply because one is not part of the set (or sub-set) of people receiving some benefit from the company does not equate to that same person being penalized. If my employer wants to give my co-worker a bonus does not mean they dislike my work; simply are choosing to reward another for reasons of their own.

 

Perhaps one needs to take a break and re-prioritize life if they believe they are owed or entitled to much of anything beyond the product itself.