Eric Musco please enlight me

[LoveLovebirds]

I don't usually post on the forums(When I do, it is usually troll posts about how Juggernauts are "OP"), however, whenever I am reading topics that are usually anti-Bioware, or against Bioware's view, decision making, or anything else that they screw up, I always see you defend Bioware nobody how bad the situation is.

 

Have you ever made more than(Or at the very least) 14 posts that were not *Pro-Bioware*?

 

At this point, they could increase the Sub to $30.00, and I feel as if you would support them.

I'd like to insert my 2 credits here...

 

I spend my time on the forums while I'm not in-game. If BioWare were to raise the monthly sub to as high as $50.00 and increase cartel coin prices, Andryah would still support them.

 

I do consider myself a SWTOR Analyst, and I believe that she is the Biodrone.

[DaRoamer]

**Some will be craftable. Some will be purchased via the market directly. Some will be available in (STUPID) cartel packs. Again... this is a trivial feature. It should not require a wild goose chase and actual money to obtain.

 

It doesn't, buy them on the GTN. Do you complain this much about colour crystals too? They work the same way. Some are drops, some come from packs, some are craftable, some required special editions to buy etc.

[Twin]

Sorry, but that is totally obvious. I see it in LoL, Dota 2, etc. There are some people who will shell out loads of cash for things that do nothing but give you new and different pixels. That's okay so long as it doesn't impact game mechanics. That is exactly what the CM was: a way for people with loads of cash and/or little impulse control to throw money at BW because they like the new silver skiff without ruining game balance.

 

Yes, that is ofc obvious - the question i want an anser from BW is; How do yout justifiy milking -allready paying customers- that way, specially for game features such as character customization?

[Sir-Coffee]

I'd like to insert my 2 credits here...

 

I spend my time on the forums while I'm not in-game. If BioWare were to raise the monthly sub to as high as $50.00 and increase cartel coin prices, Andryah would still support them.

 

I do consider myself a SWTOR Analyst, and I believe that she is the Biodrone.

 

SirMarty!! Thank you for clearing everything up. I would still like to hear from Andryah, however, the fact that she could be an employee of BioWare seems logical.

[Arlbo_Nabbins]

When they charge subbed players cartel coins to do Ops, Flash Points, Warzones or anything like that, then you can freak out.

 

Until then, this whole 'they're charging us coins for OPTIONAL STUFF! omg animal farm!' freak out session is a tad bit uncalled for.

 

Optional COSMETIC stuff at that, not playable content.

[Jayshames]

Another goal we have stressed for the Cartel Market is to not use it as a method for pay to win.

 

If that's true then why is there the option to trade -as far as I know- everything from the CM?

You're practically encouraging people to play to win.

[Arlbo_Nabbins]

So share the link for prices or are you just blindly defending? Would you be OK paying 250 CC to change your eye color? If normal price was 500 CC. It most be OK since its a 50% disciunt.

 

Its 600CC for an account level unlock for Cathar, how much do you expect them to charge for a 1 off/per character cosmetic change that will get people using the re-customisation booths?

[Anzel]

It doesn't, buy them on the GTN. Do you complain this much about colour crystals too? They work the same way. Some are drops, some come from packs, some are craftable, some required special editions to buy etc.

 

OMG how stupid is the color crystal thing? I mean REALLY. First of all... only melee characters can even really see the color of their crystals. Second, who cares? It's a color. Would I pay CC for them? Sure. But just list them for like $1 FFS and be done with it. It's trivial. Jumping through rings of fire uphill both ways to change the color of your lightsaber is stupid. It's not the kind of content that warrants the kind of QQ I'm spewing.

[Lostpenguins]

Yes, that is ofc obvious - the question i want an anser from BW is; How do yout justifiy milking -allready paying customers- that way, specially for game features such as character customization?

Easy, it's cosmetic items only. These items aren't P2W so they don't upset the balance of the game. And with a complimentary amount of 500 coins a month, you can easily purchase things at 0 cost such as the Cathar race and probably the changes to character features w/out spending a dime or waiting around for months to accumulate enough coins.

 

Besides that, there's a lot of CC items that you can buy super cheap off the GTN. 1,400 CC coins for a mount? Why when I can get it for 1mil from the GTN?

 

I honestly feel this goes back to the whole Star-Belly Sneech problem. People just want what they can't have.

 

Would you have been happier if they didn't have a CM and none of the CM items existed? You'd rather have no options if it's options you don't like - once again, I'm talking about cosmetic items only.

[TheNahash]

At this point, they could increase the Sub to $30.00, and I feel as if you would support them.

 

I for one do not see the problem with this

They have every right to charge whatever they feel their game is worth and I have every right to disagree with that and leave, which I would if they were to raise the sub price to $30.

I would acknowledge that it is their game and therefore their decision to make, no matter how stupid or not I think it is, I would say goodbye to my toons and move on.

 

I certainly wouldn't cry about it in the forum, though

 

I find it hard to understand how some people cannot move from the past. The game was subscription based and now it's Freemium. We pay to keep the conveniences we had and others that are being added and we have to pay extra for cosmetic stuff that we don't need but would like to have.

 

How can some people simply choose to ignore these simple facts and fail to realize that Bioware is a company that needs to make money to keep the game alive, is beyond me.

 

The Cartel Market has been in the game for months now and people are still surprised that they are filling it up with (cosmetic) stuff, every chance they get. They act like it doesn't exist, but for Bioware it's a huge source of income.

When the game F2P everyone knew the Cartel Market was coming. Neither crying about something you knew before it was implemented nor remaining in a game that you feel is "milking you" seems quite smart.

 

Would you rather see lvl 31 armorings in the Cartel Market instead of fluffy little pets and recolored armor sets?

[chuixupu]

More choice is good but it does mean that if I want to pick the original choices I make + the new ones I have to spend more money or take something away that I did before.

 

They aren't taking away your customization options that you have when you first create a character.

 

The kiosk will allow you to change things individually on a sliding scale. You don't pay for the features you already have, only changes. So say you want to add a tattoo. You only pay for adding the tattoo.

 

On your original character creation, everything that you had the option to choose will be there like normal.

Edited April 30, 2013 by chuixupu

[Andryah]

I don't usually post on the forums(When I do, it is usually troll posts about how Juggernauts are "OP"), however, whenever I am reading topics that are usually anti-Bioware, or against Bioware's view, decision making, or anything else that they screw up, I always see you defend Bioware nobody how bad the situation is.

 

So in other words.. you only post to troll people you disagree with. I see. Bravo.

 

Btw... I don't see this topic as anit-bioware (interesting that you do). I see a vocal discussion from both sides of an issue that concerns some players, including clarifying comment from the Community Manager.

 

Now, for some objectivity.... insert the word somtimes in place of always and you can be taken seriously. Many topics I never comment on at all, even genuine anti-Bioware ones.

 

Have you ever made more than(Or at the very least) 14 posts that were not *Pro-Bioware*?

 

Yes, I have indeed. Your inability, or unwillingness, to see this shows me that you posted just to attack me and have no real interest in my actual post history.... just the parts that are convenient for you to prosecute an attack. How sweet of you.

 

So sorry that I am not negative nelly enough for you and will not follow you like a lemming to the cliffs of anxiety.

Edited April 30, 2013 by Andryah

[Arlbo_Nabbins]

That is not the point of my post. The point of my post is not warzones or flashpoints. The point is future content. Not all games out there charge for future content. You may want to do some digging around because you are wrong. Not all MMOs charge for future content. I log into GW2 a lot and they are constantly updating content, fun enjoyable content and guess what, oh my gosh, it's FREE. Yup, they are an MMO and their content is FREE.

 

And BW are continually updating content and guess what, its FREE to subscribers (just as they said it would be before F2P happened).

[LoveLovebirds]

So in other words.. you only post to troll people you disagree with. I see. Bravo.

 

Btw... I don't see this topic as anit-bioware (interesting that you do). I see a vocal discussion from both sides of an issue that concerns some players, including clarifying comment from the Community Manager.

 

Now, for some objectivity.... insert the word somtimes in place of always and you can be taken seriously. Many topics I never comment on at all, even genuine anti-Bioware ones.

 

 

 

Yes, I have indeed. Your inability, or unwillingness, to see this shows me that you posted just to attack me and have no real interest in my actual post history.... just the parts that are convenient for you to prosecute an attack. How sweet of you.

Andryah baby,

 

None of that is no excuse. A lot of us know you work for BioWare. It's on your LinkedIn account.

[Arlbo_Nabbins]

As stated on various page us Sub get a, b, c, d, e and f features.

In 2.1 we lose c feature but according to Eric post its OK because will change those page so c feature isn't list. So does this mean that 2.2 we are going to lose e features and its OK as long as they update their pages.

 

No we don't lose c, we keep c as it has always been for subs we just don't get g (which is new) for free.

[WarheartZero]

Apparently most people are flat out to stupid to understand what he said. Cartel market = cash. Sub + free monthly cartel means Bioware is giving you money back in the shape of cartel coins. Bioware has already given you coins to get this for free with your sub. If you spend them else where that's your problem, otherwise what you did buy you'd be paying for....so you got those items for free!. I sub and bioware gives me money back every month in the shape of cartel coins. And I will get discounts on most things other big mmos charge for and don't give players discounts. redoing my character and race have not been free in most big mmos on the market.

 

Sorry Eric most people don't understand which way is up and can't add together what your trying to explain. If I go back to Aion, Tera, WOW, I will pay, with no discount, for changing race or redoing character customization. You are actually giving me real money back in the form of cartel coins every month, thank you. You've been very fair.

 

I think people forget that gaming is a Entertainment BUSINESS.

[Benets]

so this 2.1 is usless. Only option you need to buy to get? A new species? Duh, but you need to pay for it?

Usless content

[Andryah]

Andryah baby,

 

None of that is no excuse. A lot of us know you work for BioWare. It's on your LinkedIn account.

 

Odd... because my linked account has no such reference. Are you referring perhaps to that urban legend circulated on the internet last summer by somebody pretending to be me and claiming to be somebody else? LOL... so easily duped I see.

 

And here I thought you were careful with your facts before pontificating.

Edited April 30, 2013 by Andryah

[Pistols]

50,000 Subbed accounts per server!

 

Edited April 30, 2013 by Pistols

[WarheartZero]

Odd... because my linked account has no such reference. Are you referring perhaps to that urban legend circulated on the internet last summer by somebody pretending to be me and claiming to be somebody else? LOL... so easily duped I see.

 

And here I thought you were careful with your facts before pontificating.

 

Remember if its on the Internet it must be true Lolol

[TheNahash]

Apparently most people are flat out to stupid to understand what he said. Cartel market = cash. Sub + free monthly cartel means Bioware is giving you money back in the shape of cartel coins. Bioware has already given you coins to get this for free with your sub. If you spend them else where that's your problem, otherwise what you did buy you'd be paying for....so you got those items for free!. I sub and bioware gives me money back every month in the shape of cartel coins. And I will get discounts on most things other big mmos charge for and don't give players discounts. redoing my character and race have not been free in most big mmos on the market.

 

Sorry Eric most people don't understand which way is up and can't add together what your trying to explain. If I go back to Aion, Tera, WOW, I will pay, with no discount, for changing race or redoing character customization. You are actually giving me real money back in the form of cartel coins every month, thank you. You've been very fair.

 

I think people forget that gaming is a Entertainment BUSINESS.

 

You could keep saying that all day and people would still choose to ignore simple facts.

The funniest thing about this is that people who are so anti-CM and keep saying that they don't support the Cartel Market or ever buy anything from it are usually the first ones to claim that the CC they get for free are not enough... sigh...

 

I miss the 90s, before DLCs, Markets and, most importantly, entitled gamers who refuse to keep up with the changes.

Back then gamers were fewer, nerdier and looked down on but they were loyal and patient with games full of bugs that somehow didn't seem so "end of the world" important as they seem to today's gamers. There was no trolling for the sake of trolling, it wasn't considered fun to pay for a game only to cry about every single thing you don't like.

Edited April 30, 2013 by TheNahash

[Andryah]

Remember if its on the Internet it must be true Lolol

 

It was indeed hilarious to watch. Silly people.

[Soluss]

Hey everyone,

 

There is clearly some frustration around this but I believe there are also some misconceptions about Cathar and our intent for subscribers so I wanted to hopefully clarify some of that for you. One thing we have stressed before and one thing we will continue to do with the Cartel Market is to use it for customization and convenience options. Another goal we have stressed for the Cartel Market is to not use it as a method for pay to win.

 

Game Update 2.1 does introduce entirely new customization options, like the Cathar, which will require Cartel Coins in order to gain access to. Although I understand your frustration around this, we always take into consideration when pricing Cartel Market items that all subscribers receive a monthly grant of Cartel Coins. For example, if you are currently a subscriber who has a security key active on your account, you will be able to outright purchase Cathar with just one month’s worth of Cartel Coins. We also try to give you as much notice as possible around new features like this so that if it is your desire to purchase these unlocks, you will be able to do so solely through saving your monthly Cartel Coin grant.

 

What I think is a misconception is that this is setting a precedence that we are going to take things away from subscribers. I cannot stress enough that this is simply not something we ever intend to do. The features and functions that you pay for right now as a subscriber will remain in place. We would not, for example, suddenly require you to pay for an unlock to run more Flashpoints. On the flipside of this though, the intent of the Cartel Market is to continually add new and fun cosmetic and convenience features and in some circumstances, subscribers will have to pay Cartel Coins to access these as well. I just want to specifically call out that we will keep these cosmetic as we would certainly not want to place any of our players at a disadvantage for not spending money, AKA not implementing pay-to-win.

 

One thing I do want to call out for Game Update 2.1, which you will see more details on in the future (from both us and from fan sites) is that subscribers will see a substantial discount on some of the features being implemented in Game Update 2.1, such as Appearance Designer. Not only was your monthly grant kept in mind when pricing the items themselves, but overall things are far cheaper for you as a subscriber than a free-to-play or preferred status player.

 

I know that just the principle that subscribers are being charged for Cathar is causing some of your frustrations, but I hope that I could at least explain a bit about why and to help alleviate any concerns that we would ever take something away from subscribers.

 

-eric

 

Let me explain what I have an issue with. Mind you, I could be completely off base because Update 2.1 could come with other things that have not been mentioned yet. If in fact that Update 2.1 is only comming with the cartel race and a pay per change slider thingy, we are essentially screwed out of a content update.

 

Content updates are suppose to come approximately every 6-8 weeks. This was your stated goal when F2P launched. It was also said that subscribers would never pay for those content updates. Those content updates are part of what we recieve for being a subscriber. If Update 2.1 only includes cartel items then I dont consider it an update at all. There is no content comming or atleast there is no non pay content comming.

 

I really hope you have more up your sleeve for this update because it would surely tick me the wrong way to find out that one of our 6-8 week updates is nothing more then a cartel market update. Thats where I have a problem. I couldnt care less that you add a race in the market and charge for it. I kinda do think its lame to pay for appearance changes but I can ignore that and still enjoy the game. Losing out on a free content update though, I do care about. Especially since the last 6-8 week content update was the Makeb expansion. Sure some will say well 2.0 was released along side of it but without buying the expansion, you essentially got nothing out of 2.0 except for maybe nerfed skill trees.

[Arlbo_Nabbins]

I guess the fact that they can bring the servers down, just after a patch and during the day, to remove Bolster from Ilum to prevent 20's from gaining some XP, yet they can't fix this after weeks, leads me to think that they are very capable of "quick" fixes...but it seems to only be the case when there's a bug that benefits the players. Their silence on the whole bolster/augment exploit is deafening - the PvP team should be reassigned imo as they've more than demonstrated their inability to look beyond "metrics".

 

Why would you think that the Ilum bolster tell us anything about bug fixing? The Ilum bolster was already something they could turn on and off, they turned it on for the Gree event and turned it off when it ended.

 

There was no coding bug to be fixed there, they just changed the Gree event so that it no longer turned Ilum bolstering on.

Edited April 30, 2013 by Arlbo_Nabbins

[Nerdcommando]

Hey everyone,

 

There is clearly some frustration around this but I believe there are also some misconceptions about Cathar and our intent for subscribers so I wanted to hopefully clarify some of that for you. One thing we have stressed before and one thing we will continue to do with the Cartel Market is to use it for customization and convenience options. Another goal we have stressed for the Cartel Market is to not use it as a method for pay to win.

 

Game Update 2.1 does introduce entirely new customization options, like the Cathar, which will require Cartel Coins in order to gain access to. Although I understand your frustration around this, we always take into consideration when pricing Cartel Market items that all subscribers receive a monthly grant of Cartel Coins. For example, if you are currently a subscriber who has a security key active on your account, you will be able to outright purchase Cathar with just one month’s worth of Cartel Coins. We also try to give you as much notice as possible around new features like this so that if it is your desire to purchase these unlocks, you will be able to do so solely through saving your monthly Cartel Coin grant.

 

I know that just the principle that subscribers are being charged for Cathar is causing some of your frustrations, but I hope that I could at least explain a bit about why and to help alleviate any concerns that we would ever take something away from subscribers.

 

-eric

 

Two things Mr. Musco (fyi - what a fun last name to have attached to Mr.).

1) I get my cc allowance as a suscriber and its fun and fine. When you add features in that require me to use my entire months allotment I lose the ability to get anything else from the market for that month. So its like your stealing my ability to buy my single Cartel Pack and random legacy feature.

 

2) Having it cost the same to unlock the race as an option for people who dont want to level one to 50 first is all fine and dandy - but to make it so that if I wanted to unlock as a legacy through game play (like all the other races) I can't.

 

Thats where the frustration lies with from suscribers. This should be an option for any brand spanking new trooper I make (or anything else that fits with lore). If it was introduced as a new race than it should be available like any other race in the game.

 

This presentation (and everything is in the presentation) is that we are being stiffed. And sure legally speaking we are not; but it feels that way. And that feeling is everything. It also feels like like this should have been part of the expansion and that buying ROTHC meant that I got access to it as well as this barber shop feature. And that feeling leads to one conclusion - that features were pulled from ROTHC so the developers could bring us "new content" at this regular pace. So I paid for a product ahead of time only for a bunch of execs to sit around a table and ask

" What features can we pull out of the expansion and then sell to our customers twice"

That instead of launching an entirely new product BW intends to nickel and dime us. Squeeze every last penny from me.

Lastly if there are now features of the game that I can not have without CC's then you need to implement a way to exchange in game currency for CC coins. It can be a ludicrous amount; but still as a suscriber there should be no part of the game I cannot gain access to through in game play.