Can we not buy this 'Expansion' with Cartel Coins?

[Guancyto]

To answer the question posed here about purchasing Rise of the Hutt Cartel:

 

We'd like to clarify that Rise of the Hutt Cartel will be available for purchase through SWTOR.com/buy only, and there won't be an option to purchase it using Cartel Coins.

 

Hey, thank you for posting this. I'm not happy about the answer at all, but I'm much happier that you came out and gave us one.

[Eillack]

Sad to think what the future of "content" releases will be for TOR...

[lordtwig]

I just want to thank Bioware (Allison) for coming out and nipping in the bud the rumor that we would be able to buy the expansion with Cartel Coins. It is this kind of proactive approach that will prevent rage and tears in the future.

 

Personally I have no problem with buying an expansion for this game. The $10 price point is more than reasonable, however I feel there is not nearly enough information to make a purchase at this time. I will continue to watch the updates and see if it grows into something worth buying. I believe it will be eventually, but we will see.

[Kazaganthis]

But BioWare said that all content would be free to subscribers.

They didn't say expansions would be free to subscribers.

But this isn't an expansion.

Yes, it's an expansion. It's, at the very least, a new planet with 5 levels.

But it's not a full 10 levels.

Neither is MoP

But MoP has a new race, a new class and pet battles.

MoP also costs $40, this costs 1/4 of that for subscribers.

But it won't come in a boxed version.

Seriously?

 

The price for subscribers is really not bad at all for what we'll be getting. The only thing that bothers me is that it's not available with Cartel Coins, although maybe by the time it goes live BioWare will change their decision and it will be.

 

This isnt an expansion. Its a content update. Even Ohlen said so. Try again.

They said at e3 we wouldnt be charged for Makeb. Try again.

Its one planet that will take 2 hours to do, be linear as all **** and has no class story. Try again.

[Shingara]

Im sorry where did i mention that? or whats the relevance? Really Im interested in where you are going with your subscriber based fast food model, not sure what its got to do with someone paying $5 for a burger and gaining gratification which was my point but please go on.

 

The relevance is your trying to state that somehow buying at mcdonalds is the same as buying for swtor, f2p players may work on that system but Subscribers do not, so if your going to try and compare it to something atleast try and compare it to something relevant.

Edited December 19, 2012 by Shingara

[vian]

To answer the question posed here about purchasing Rise of the Hutt Cartel:

 

We'd like to clarify that Rise of the Hutt Cartel will be available for purchase through SWTOR.com/buy only, and there won't be an option to purchase it using Cartel Coins.

 

So, what's the point of the Cartel Coins a subscriber gets, in the long run? There's only so much decorative fluff a person can buy, and the boosts and such are going for a song on my server's GTN. This is ugly money-grubbing stuff, and smacks of desperation.

 

Even if there wasn't initially an option to purchase it, surely Bw/EA can see that some people might be tempted back if it became a CC purchase down the track?

[Taorus]

So, what's the point of the Cartel Coins a subscriber gets, in the long run? There's only so much decorative fluff a person can buy, and the boosts and such are going for a song on my server's GTN. This is ugly money-grubbing stuff, and smacks of desperation.

 

Even if there wasn't initially an option to purchase it, surely Bw/EA can see that some people might be tempted back if it became a CC purchase down the track?

 

Welcome, you have entered the...Hickman Zone. Where subscribers are ATMs...with feet.

[vian]

Welcome, you have entered the...Hickman Zone. Where subscribers are ATMs...with feet.

 

Hmmm ... wasn't Hickman asking for feedback on the changes. I suppose we'd better go give him some. I get the distinct impression his brief is "See how much gouging you can get away with; sure it'll drive this game into the ground, but we'll know the consumer's pain point for the next one."

 

And I say that as someone who actually enjoys the game, and will be sorry when people are driven off by this financial experimentation.

[Shingara]

Hmmm ... wasn't Hickman asking for feedback on the changes. I suppose we'd better go give him some. I get the distinct impression his brief is "See how much gouging you can get away with; sure it'll drive this game into the ground, but we'll know the consumer's pain point for the next one."

 

And I say that as someone who actually enjoys the game, and will be sorry when people are driven off by this financial experimentation.

 

if this were an experiment or blunder i might agree that feedback is whats needed, but can you guess who it was that nuked warhammer.

 

I honestly think paul the octopus would do a better job, and he is dead.

Edited December 19, 2012 by Shingara

[lokdron]

We can't buy makeb with cartel coins!? Lets not forget the fact that it is not expanding class stories. *sigh*

 

 

...............................

 

Bioware it looks like other mmo's are starting to wave at me please change this decision before I may consider going over there to finally say hello. -.-

[LegendaryBlade]

We can't buy makeb with cartel coins!? Lets not forget the fact that it is not expanding class stories. *sigh*

 

 

...............................

 

Bioware it looks like other mmo's are starting to wave at me please change this decision before I may consider going over there to finally say hello. -.-

 

I highly recommend STO, although recently Secret World went Buy 2 Play so you get the entire game for the initial purchase. Also of note FFXIV: Realm Reborn is looking really good. While EA refuses to accept their MMO is a blunder, Square pulled theirs down and completely remade it.

[GarfieldJL]

http://www.examiner.com/article/ea-and-bioware-go-back-on-promise-to-release-makeb-free-to-subscribers This has been posted repeatedly. The video around the 5 minute mark. He specifically starts discussing Makeb and says it is going to be the largest "non-expansion piece of content" ever released. The moderator compares it to large, free expansion for other MMOs and he confirms that it will rival them (well he says "It's a whole planet" because he can't make any less vague of a promise than that).

 

It was a non-expansion, which by your own admission we are supposed to get for free for our sub money (and Bioware stated this too when f2p was released).

 

So to get around this 'free content updates' problem, they slapped expansion on what was originally called a non-expansion, and are charging for it.

 

Wouldn't this then qualify as false advertising then?

[ConradLionhart]

To answer the question posed here about purchasing Rise of the Hutt Cartel:

 

We'd like to clarify that Rise of the Hutt Cartel will be available for purchase through SWTOR.com/buy only, and there won't be an option to purchase it using Cartel Coins.

 

It would be nice if it was possible to purchase future content with Cartel Coins.

[Goretzu]

And there goes the last straw. There is nothing currently in the cartel store I am interested in. If I can't buy expansions with what I've saved up there is no reason in me parting with any more money for this game.

 

/Unsubscribed.

 

It is pretty bad when you can't use Cartel Coins for new content.

[Goretzu]

Hmmm ... wasn't Hickman asking for feedback on the changes. I suppose we'd better go give him some. I get the distinct impression his brief is "See how much gouging you can get away with; sure it'll drive this game into the ground, but we'll know the consumer's pain point for the next one."

 

And I say that as someone who actually enjoys the game, and will be sorry when people are driven off by this financial experimentation.

 

 

This does seem to have been the policy since F2P.

 

Basically in the less than 2 months since F2P the very worst fear about F2P (the sort of things many said would and could "never" happen) have alreadly almost all come true.

 

I'm astounded and appalled equally by what Bioware EA is trying to get away with already.

[Devlonir]

To answer the question posed here about purchasing Rise of the Hutt Cartel:

 

We'd like to clarify that Rise of the Hutt Cartel will be available for purchase through SWTOR.com/buy only, and there won't be an option to purchase it using Cartel Coins.

 

I must honestly say that, despite me understanding many decisions (even the one where the early access is via their own payment method), this decisions really is probably the worse one made so far. Most here will probably call me a raving fanboi as I often do defend many of your decisions and try to be reasonable about them. Playing Devil's Advocate so to speak.

 

But the decision to remove this expac from your Cartel Store is really the worst kind of decision you can make. You are basicly removing one more reason to subscribe and are, therefore, removing reasons for people to keep supporting you and not just using the F2P version of the game.

 

I am personally all okay with having to buy the early access seperately. As that is it's own product. But not being able to eventually buy it in the Cartel Store once it goes live is something I see no reason for from both a technical and business point of view. Well, besides the obvious "We want everyone to pay extra real money and not save up Cartel Coins for this."

 

Please reconsider this decision as you have announced to do with the "Spaceship Parts pricing vs ingame effort required" decision.

[MentalCase]

To quote a lot of people: "This is the final straw!"

 

You said that uhmm... how many times now? Going free-to-play? The Cartel Market? The holiday items?

[Jammari]

To answer the question posed here about purchasing Rise of the Hutt Cartel:

 

We'd like to clarify that Rise of the Hutt Cartel will be available for purchase through SWTOR.com/buy only, and there won't be an option to purchase it using Cartel Coins.

 

Let the mass account cancellations begin! Can not believe you are trying to sell us content that you told us would be free!

[Devlonir]

Let the mass account cancellations begin! Can not believe you are trying to sell us content that you told us would be free!

 

And this... is still a false statement unless if you decided to not listen to anything else except 1 statement made during E3 in June.

 

So yeah.. the false advertisement point is still not valid.

 

"But he promised me a pony!"

Edited December 19, 2012 by Devlonir

[Eaglec]

To quote a lot of people: "This is the final straw!"

 

You said that uhmm... how many times now? Going free-to-play? The Cartel Market? The holiday items?

 

Yeah, people have been saying that since launch... and then leaving.

http://venturebeat.com/2012/07/31/tracking-star-wars-the-old-republics-declining-subscribers/

[Goretzu]

To quote a lot of people: "This is the final straw!"

 

You said that uhmm... how many times now? Going free-to-play? The Cartel Market? The holiday items?

 

For more than 2,000,000 people who have tried SWTOR and then left there WAS a final straw.

 

If only they'd stayed who knows where SWTOR may have been.

[CrusherKing]

To answer the question posed here about purchasing Rise of the Hutt Cartel:

 

We'd like to clarify that Rise of the Hutt Cartel will be available for purchase through SWTOR.com/buy only, and there won't be an option to purchase it using Cartel Coins.

 

I wont buy it, I do not trust it when you have to pay digitally and not getting a physicall copy.

 

The cartel would be much more easier

[KyaniteD]

Save those McDonald Mc Doubles for 10 days and you got yourself a sale!

 

I wish people would stop with these ridiculous comparisons. I don't eat at McDonald's at all because it's too expensive.

 

I subscribed when it was the only way to play the game. During Beta and the first month I enjoyed it so much that I was willing to pay a tenth of my monthly disposable income for this hobby. When F2P was announced they did everything to make us believe subs get the care-free all-inclusive deal. (Even if, in hindsight, I see that they have been quite careful with their actual wording. But the aim was clearly to make us believe we have nothing to worry about if we are subscribers.) Right now, as a subscriber, I feel like I get the short end of the stick.

 

During the marketing research discussions in spring, they asked us if and how much we would pay for Makeb and what we would expect from it. I said I'd pay maybe $3-5, but most in my group said they wouldn't pay for it at all. As so many other decisions since then, it's just another one that completely ignores what I heard players say, wish for and warn about back then. (My group was willing to pay $40-50 for a WoW-style game expansion, though.)

 

Seeing how so many defend EAWare's decisions now, I guess the player base is changing, in fact, has changed already, and I, too, may be making room for the new generation soon.

Edited December 19, 2012 by KyaniteD

[Goretzu]

And this... is still a false statement unless if you decided to not listen to anything else except 1 statement made during E3 in June.

 

So yeah.. the false advertisement point is still not valid.

 

"But he promised me a pony!"

 

To be fair if someone promised you a pony and then didn't give you one what would the acceptable behaviour be?

 

I understand that things change, however that doesn't change what was promised, so people have every right to be a bit peeved (especially if they don't follow the game closely and this is the first time they've heard it - me I was certain it would be paid for the first time they said they were "thinking" about it).

 

But to furthermore then cash grab and not allow Cashshop coins to be used is just plain below the belt.

[Slurmez]

To quote a lot of people: "This is the final straw!"

 

You said that uhmm... how many times now? Going free-to-play? The Cartel Market? The holiday items?

 

Wow, you documented all those people? I mean it couldnt have been OTHER people who said that previously right?