ShiningKnights Posted September 21, 2013 Share Posted September 21, 2013 (edited) Let's face it. It's all about the bottom line for Bioware Austin-and there's nothing wrong with that. In the past, they said it wasn't economical to crank out class stories for all the classes. But what if...they sold the individual class stories on the Cartel Market...even if it was a for a price that was high? And perhaps gave a discount or something to subs? Would that bring in incremental revenue from the F2P segment that wouldn't normally pay? I know one of the reasons why I started playing SWTOR in the first place was because of the class stories. I'm sure many of us feel the same way. Edited September 22, 2013 by ShiningKnights Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Insidion Posted September 21, 2013 Share Posted September 21, 2013 LOL. How would you sell the class stories when you can watch each of them in their entirety on youtube.com right now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XDoggStrafe Posted September 21, 2013 Share Posted September 21, 2013 LOL. How would you sell the class stories when you can watch each of them in their entirety on youtube.com right now? I think, (I'm not trying to put words in his/her post either) that they mean selling additional expansions via the CM. Kind of like what D&D Online does at the moment, where you purchase additional content, kind of like a pick and choose system, rather than paying for the entire game/expansion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addaib Posted September 21, 2013 Share Posted September 21, 2013 That wouldn't work since the cat is already out of the bag. You however could expand on the current stories as DLC and sell that on the market. Folks like me would gladly spend some cartel coins for more quests of that nature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNahash Posted September 21, 2013 Share Posted September 21, 2013 LOL. How would you sell the class stories when you can watch each of them in their entirety on youtube.com right now? yeah... I don't think the OP's referring to the existing stories. He/She is talking about new class stories. OP, no, I'm sorry that's a bad idea. Class stories are part of what makes this game special and different than the rest. If subscribers don't get one of the few unique parts of the game that is actual content and not vanity items like dresses and nice mounts, with their subscription money, then it would be stupid to subscribe. Now, if they were to sell the stories for CC to F2P and Preferred players I don't see the problem with that, so long as the prices were pretty high. And I'd just like to point out something: It might not seem that way sometimes, but they are reading the forum to find out what we are willing to pay extra for. It happened with the Appearance Designer Kiosk - people were practically begging Bioware to add character customization for cartel coins, so they did just that. Us telling them that it's OK to charge us extra for something as important as real content (and not just a new haircolor or something) really doesn't help us as a community at all. just my 2 cents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andryah Posted September 21, 2013 Share Posted September 21, 2013 (edited) And I'd just like to point out something: It might not seem that way sometimes, but they are reading the forum to find out what we are willing to pay extra for. It happened with the Appearance Designer Kiosk - people were practically begging Bioware to add character customization for cartel coins, so they did just that. Us telling them that it's OK to charge us extra for something as important as real content (and not just a new haircolor or something) really doesn't help us as a community at all. just my 2 cents. /Agree. WHEN/IF (and personally, I think it is "when") they decide to add additional class story content... the model will be DLC-Expac. That business model is normal for the genre, and has been reaffirmed by Bioware with the release of RoTHC. The only question about business model in the future is: Will they keep DLC-Expac content direct purchase only, or will they allow Cartel Coins as a purchase method? And before someone says there is no difference....there is in fact a difference in that subscribers accumulate free CCs each month with their sub. Personally, I'd like to see them put expacs purchasable with CC.... but I'm not sure we will ever see that. Edited September 21, 2013 by Andryah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gomla Posted September 21, 2013 Share Posted September 21, 2013 Sure, they could do that. I'd gladly let other people fork out their hard earned cash and make video's of them for me to watch. Because i'm cheap. No really, I am. Imagine if I started throwing more money at gaming than I do already (I spend a lot, I blame Steam .... they keep having weekend deals and sales) my wife would have me sleeping in the shed. It's cold out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShiningKnights Posted September 22, 2013 Author Share Posted September 22, 2013 yeah... I don't think the OP's referring to the existing stories. He/She is talking about new class stories. OP, no, I'm sorry that's a bad idea. Class stories are part of what makes this game special and different than the rest. If subscribers don't get one of the few unique parts of the game that is actual content and not vanity items like dresses and nice mounts, with their subscription money, then it would be stupid to subscribe. Now, if they were to sell the stories for CC to F2P and Preferred players I don't see the problem with that, so long as the prices were pretty high. And I'd just like to point out something: It might not seem that way sometimes, but they are reading the forum to find out what we are willing to pay extra for. It happened with the Appearance Designer Kiosk - people were practically begging Bioware to add character customization for cartel coins, so they did just that. Us telling them that it's OK to charge us extra for something as important as real content (and not just a new haircolor or something) really doesn't help us as a community at all. just my 2 cents. Yes, I meant selling expansion class stories. Also, that's exactly what I meant for your second point. The subs would already get it. But the F2P and preferred would have to buy it on the CM to get it. Personally, I think if they did the cost benefit analysis, they would come out ahead on incremental topline. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elstaar Posted September 22, 2013 Share Posted September 22, 2013 (edited) well, this is not right way for the game to improve and will infuriate most of subscribers. they already tried to sell some datacrons with little bits of story as a part of their gambling packs. seeding expansions on cartel market as direct unlock for f2p/preferred should be fine, though. Edited September 22, 2013 by elstaar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hadoken Posted September 22, 2013 Share Posted September 22, 2013 Like we really need more to ***** about at this point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fantazm Posted September 22, 2013 Share Posted September 22, 2013 moaning about things that haven't and probably won't happen. Brilliant. Find a hobby or something mate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heal-To-Full Posted September 22, 2013 Share Posted September 22, 2013 The only question about business model in the future is: Will they keep DLC-Expac content direct purchase only, or will they allow Cartel Coins as a purchase method? And before someone says there is no difference....there is in fact a difference in that subscribers accumulate free CCs each month with their sub. Personally, I'd like to see them put expacs purchasable with CC.... but I'm not sure we will ever see that. It's hardly a long stretch. Considering that the DLC became free to subs eventually, and future ones are also likely to, it's not so different to allow them to be purchased with long-accumulated coins. For a $10/$20 priced pack like Makeb, we'd probably be looking at 2,500 to 3,000 coins, considering Treek, considering $40 for 5,500 coins, and considering it has to cost more than can be realistically collected via achievement rewards. The big question is not so much CM purchases as being possible to transfer in-game like PLEXes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heal-To-Full Posted September 22, 2013 Share Posted September 22, 2013 (edited) But what if...they sold the individual class stories on the Cartel Market...even if it was a for a price that was high? And perhaps gave a discount or something to subs? Terrible idea. Adding "cartel market" to a commercially terrible idea doesn't make it commercially viable. Remember that once content is produced, it costs the same to let a thousand or a million people use it. The point of CM is that it sells optional things that have small impact on the perception of the game as a whole. Giving everyone [insert any CM item] would produce no publicity and perception gain and very little long-term player enjoyment - we want these items in part for their exclusivity. This isn't the case with class stories. Class stories are masterpieces compared to the rest of this game. They produce high amounts of player enjoyment and publicity gain. Player enjoyment is a good thing, because it keeps subs subbing, it makes them invite more people. The best way to make profit with Revan Robes is to sell them individually. Robes are cheap to make, valuable only to some players, and exclusivity matters. The best way to make profit with class stories is to have everyone play them. Class stories are expensive to make. Maximum player base maximizes their effect of getting more players and selling more subscriptions. Restricting access to them means letting good content and its potential positive effects go to waste. Charging for Makeb might have been a mistake in the first place. But then the expansion was almost strictly endgame content, and it was a whole lot of endgame content. You couldn't continue as an endgame player without it, which forced people to buy it regardless of their preferences. PvP? PvE? Casual? Need it either way. Class stories are something people can realistically pass on or "maybe later" it, however good they are. Class stories are the bait; Cartel packs are the hook. Edited September 22, 2013 by Heal-To-Full Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damask_Rose Posted September 22, 2013 Share Posted September 22, 2013 As much as I hate the idea of content on the CM, if the choice is between zero class content (which is what they are saying is now the case) and paying extra for it, I'll pay extra to get the content I want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alec_Fortescue Posted September 22, 2013 Share Posted September 22, 2013 http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=668871&highlight=class+story+packs Suggested something similar to make class stories sold in a same manner as Makeb or Mass Effect/Dragon Age DLC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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