Extortion of returning players

[peter_plankskull]

why should it drive people away.

 

1)Referral links do give a free transfer if you haven't used one before.

 

2) Transfers in this game are cheaper then most MMO's (WoW's for instance are $25, unless your going from a high pop server to a low pop server that is on a list each month) Transfers here are about $10 so far cheaper.

 

3)With leveling as easy as it is now, making a new character on a Populated server should never be an issue.

 

Telling everyone to start almost largely over is not a acceptable method imo. People invest A LOT of time into their stuff, things like guild ships and strongholds will be gone entirely and from scratch, and with the latest event encouraging you to re roll at least 8 alts, those transfers are going to stack up.

 

Not to mention if you want to bring WoW... they have cross server queue everything so their would be no point in moving servers really.

[DarthWoad]

4) there are ample existing threads about concerns over server transfers and "dead servers" that you could have used to present your opinion, but no.. you had to have your very own thread I guess.

 

Tip: learn what words actually mean if you are going to use them.

 

*A few moments later*

 

You appear to only want to complain and condemn

Edited October 2, 2016 by DarthWoad

[DarthWoad]

Good points. I suggest that you ignore the comments of people that for whatever reason would rather attack players in a attempt to defend EA and the game.

 

 

 

I noticed that you did not dispute the idea that EA is using promotions to lure players back, or that they are being lured back to dead servers.

 

Instead you seem to suggest that they were stupid because they did not research server activity before resubbing, and then you rubbed their nose in the fact that they missed the long lasting 90cc sale.

 

Next, you suggest that they could avail themselves of the one free transfer that they can get by using someone's referral link without first learning how many characters they may want to move, or taking into consideration the total cost that they may face if they wanted all of their characters to be on one server.

 

And then repeat your "you should have done your research" message, and insult them again with your "learn what words actually mean ..." quote.

 

I can only guess why you took this approach in your response, but I find your insults offensive, and I wish that you wouldn't use them when you make your points.

 

I completely agree with everything you've said.

 

Quoted for truth...

 

/agree

/agree with this assessment

 

IMO etc. etc....

[DarthWoad]

Nowhere in my post did I attack the OP, nor call him names, nor call him "stupid" (your words, not mine). Go back and read my post, this time without colored shades on.

 

He started a thread in the forum complaining about being "extorted" by the studio. And clearly.. he leapt at the promotion he received, without even casually checking to see if the game is even still alive, much less what the status of his old server might be OR what this "new content" he was told about actually is. I, like others, have pushed back on his rhetoric.... whereas, you doubled down on his rhetoric. I even offered him a number of fairly reasonable solutions to his current dilemma, though he has now made it clear he is not interested in effecting remedies that are within his grasp.

 

I know you have an axe to grind on this MMO, and have for a long time now. That's fine, but don't expect others to join you in your feelings. It's a forum. To expect unanimous agreement on any topic is kind of silly in my view.

 

Don't like it, put me on /ignore.

 

Exactly. Don't like it? Put him on ignore. Take your own advice. Exly did a perfectly accurate assessment of your response.

 

I don't even care if people use the wrong word, I don't care if someone posts something that's already been posted before, I have more important things to worry about tbh.

Edited October 2, 2016 by DarthWoad

[CrazyCT]

Exactly. Don't like it? Put him on ignore. Take your own advice. Exly did a perfectly accurate assessment of your response.

 

I don't even care if people use the wrong word, I don't care if someone posts something that's already been posted before, I have more important things to worry about tbh.

 

And if you didn't like Andryah's response (especially having more important things to worry about), you could just have ignored it, instead of ........... ah, crap, irony-ception

[peter_plankskull]

And if you didn't like Andryah's response (especially having more important things to worry about), you could just have ignored it, instead of ........... ah, crap, irony-ception

 

...Th... dat was the point of Woads post... irony... Andryah has put him on ignore because he didn't like his posts, although I will admit he tends to go after him quite a bit, and part of me feels like he brought it onto himself, but even I think Woad goes too far.

[Shivax]

Sure.. it's all the studios fault.

It is.

From my part they asked subscription to be able to play mmo game. I did, came to game, cant play it as mmo.

Edited October 2, 2016 by Shivax

[peter_plankskull]

It is.

From my part they asked subscription to be able to play mmo game. I did, came to game, cant play it as mmo.

 

Bu...but...but use the forum!!11! IT'S STILL A MMO TO ME11!1!

[tummiswtor]

What's the point of going everyone to move to most populated server if this server will die anyway in few weeks if there's no new content. Its just short-range action.

[peter_plankskull]

What's the point of going everyone to move to most populated server if this server will die anyway in few weeks if there's no new content. Its just short-range action.

 

I realize the game is in a sad place right now in playable content, but by no means would I say the game is dying. Doing bad? Maybe. Dying? No. Harby isn't going anytime soon at least.

[jedip_enguin]

Extortion

[BobTheTeepo]

Only 10% of the player base actively uses the forums, and with so little communication im not surprised, although I am glad Eric posted a bit last week. Yes, the information is out their, but we have no official statement and only peoples subjective opinions on the matter which we have discussed, and because of that, the forums can't be used as reliable information if a server is dead or not. We still have plenty of people on the forums going "No... Jung Ma is fine! don't transfer us!!!" when to others its beyond dead, it's a grave at this point.

.

 

People don't need to use the forums to see which servers are dead or alive. They can log in, within the game itself. Servers losing population has been a thing that has happened in a lot of MMOs since MMOs became a thing. It's normal, not unexpected if you're informed. Bioware shouldn't have to lay out what is common knowledge, or even just plain common sense.

 

There are also other sites that track ToR's server population status. So if someone claims Jung Ma is alive, a simple google search refutes that claim:

http://www.torstatus.net/begeren-colony/history/7d#!/jung-ma/history/30d

Jung Ma is "light" literally always.

 

So people CAN inform themselves in a reasonably timely fashion. They are not forced, nor tricked, in any way. The information is publicly available (indeed the ToR trackers track information directly FROM Bioware most likely) to anyone wanting to know.

 

To the rest of the thread, perhaps server transfers should be lowered or a GW2-like megaserver should be put in place, I don't know. But, servers dying and server transfer fees are both the industry norm, the only time a free transfer is to be *expected* is when a server is closed and only those from that server. People not realizing this, or being upset by this, is due either to being irrational or not educating yourself on the subject before coming to conclusions. It's just that simple.

Edited October 2, 2016 by BobTheTeepo

[robertthebard]

Exactly. Don't like it? Put him on ignore. Take your own advice. Exly did a perfectly accurate assessment of your response.

 

I don't even care if people use the wrong word, I don't care if someone posts something that's already been posted before, I have more important things to worry about tbh.

 

Like worrying about if other people care about these things? It's funny, to me, that the OP makes a thread claiming that he was "extorted" into resubbing. I kept wondering who at BW or EA showed up at his house with a shotgun making him spend his money on the game. So, to be kind, he starts a thread on so much hyperbole, then gets mad when people call him on it. To top it off, the wagons have now circled, and everyone's on the "I've been extorted into paying for the game" bandwagon? Garbage in, garbage out, is the expression.

 

Intelligent people coming back and seeing this thread? They won't even open it. They'll go "well, I'm pretty sure that neither BW nor EA are going around beating people up to make 'em sub, so not much point in paying any attention to that". Reading the OP, the "showing up at his house to "extort" him" is, gasp, they sent him an email. How's he feel when the mailman/woman delivers mail to his house? Is he calling the cops every day?

 

This is my thought process on the topic title. I mean, the mailperson actually has to be physically near his house to deliver, it must be a terrifying experience for him, yes?

[Andryah]

However I will admit I wouldn't exactly call out Bioware on "extortion" of returning players, but giving them a lack of attention? Certainly.

 

Something we can agree on.

[Aowin]

Extortion? That suggests BioWare is forcing you to pay it. I think the word you are looking for is "fraud," but even that is really a stretch. You had the means and the capacity to check your server well before you paid any money. Not to mention, there are a variety of ways to rectify your issue, such as clicking a referral link. I do agree there is a current issue with the population of some of the servers, but it was your own shortsightedness and lack of planning that ultimately slighted you.

[Pietrastor]

Sure.. it's all the studios fault.

 

Let's think. Who's job it is to create & maintain stable populater environment required in a massively-multiplayer game?

 

Could it POSSIBLY be the studio's job to do it and the players shouldn't be even thinking about it for a second??? Nahh no way, it's totally not Bioware's job. Clearly the playerbase should be solving population issues itself!

Edited October 2, 2016 by Pietrastor

[Andryah]

Let's think. Who's job it is to create & maintain stable populater environment required in a massively-multiplayer game?

 

Could it POSSIBLY be the studio's job to do it and the players shouldn't be even thinking about it for a second??? Nahh no way, it's totally not Bioware's job. Clearly the playerbase should be solving population issues itself!

 

You forgot your { }

 

As I noted earlier.. there is blame on both sides of things here, and most everywhere, for most everything.

 

Let's think.... whose responsibility is it to properly evaluate an offer of goods or services before hitting the purchase button?

ca·ve·at emp·tor

 

/ˌkavēˌät ˈem(p)ˌtôr/

 

noun: caveat emptor

 

the principle that the buyer alone is responsible for checking the quality and suitability of goods before a purchase is made.

 

Common sense for the consumer. You know why? Because we live in an imperfect world of imperfect products and services. Ignore basic fact, at your own peril.

Edited October 2, 2016 by Andryah

[DarthScruffy]

Returning players, lured by promotional material for the new content, are finding themselves trapped in dead servers; servers in which the entire active population could well be counted on fingers and toes. This totally nullifies the MMO experience, making pvp, group pve, and player interaction nearly impossible, and forces these returning players to either start from scratch on a new server, buy a maxed out character, or pay out the nose to transfer their characters to a server where multiplayer in any form is actually possible. This is an extremely lame tactic for extorting additional money from returning players, and that's precisely what it is, as there's no other reason to keep dead servers open.

 

You realize you don't have to pay for 6 months of sub fees at once. If it made enough sense to walk through the door, you could always let it lapse the next month and there's no harm. If you jump all in based on promotional materials alone, you have no one to blame but yourself. I may still go preferred in the future based on Oct. 7, but I certainly knew what I was paying for up to that point and don't feel cheated in the least.

[DarthWoad]

You forgot your { }

 

As I noted earlier.. there is blame on both sides of things here, and most everywhere, for most everything.

 

Let's think.... whose responsibility is it to properly evaluate an offer of goods or services before hitting the purchase button?

 

 

Common sense for the consumer. You know why? Because we live in an imperfect world of imperfect products and services. Ignore basic fact, at your own peril.

Did you quote the wrong person? Everything you've said is irrelevant to what you quoted.

 

What on earth does consumer decisions have to do with developers maintaining server populations?

Edited October 2, 2016 by DarthWoad

[Pietrastor]

You forgot your { }

 

As I noted earlier.. there is blame on both sides of things here, and most everywhere, for most everything.

 

Let's think.... whose responsibility is it to properly evaluate an offer of goods or services before hitting the purchase button?

 

 

Common sense for the consumer. You know why? Because we live in an imperfect world of imperfect products and services. Ignore basic fact, at your own peril.

Butterfly, this is not a debate on climate change. This is a service the developer should maintain as functional in all of its components as possibly. No if, no buts. It's Bioware's job to provide balanced population for any existing or potential customer. Period.

 

And not doing hours-long research on every aspect of any product before purchase is not a free-pass for the product creator to do nothing and continue to act as if everything's alright.

 

Not to mention, tons of those who "evaluated" are now left stranded on dead servers even thought they DID research and all before purchasing the product. It is simply that Bioware did nothing to prevent, soften and ultimately reverse the uneven population issue that continued to develop. And no, there is absolutely no reason why Player A should be paying for server transfers while Player B doesn't need to just because Player A's server died. NOT due to their fault, it was Bioware's fault.

 

Again, what's the point of defending Bioware on this issue? You're not helping the game or giving good feedback that would encourage Bioware to act on the issue. You're arguing for the sake of it, happy that the game's population is declining due to Bioware's inaction. Sucha fan.

Edited October 2, 2016 by Pietrastor

[DarthWoad]

This is a service the developer should maintain as functional in all of its components as possibly. No if, no buts. It's Bioware's job to provide balanced population for any existing or potential customer. Period.

 

This is 100% true. This is common knowledge. I'm quoting this so people can read the facts. The developer is absolutely responsible for maintaining it's game, for sorting out server populations. That is a simple fact.

 

Again, what's the point of defending Bioware on this issue?

 

I've been asking him the same question for years. He is convinced that it's the players fault.

 

It's the players fault they go on dead servers. It's the players fault they don't move servers. It's the players fault they missed the 90cc transfers....it goes on and on. The studio is never at fault judging from his replies.

Edited October 2, 2016 by DarthWoad

[Andryah]

Again, what's the point of defending Bioware on this issue? You're not helping the game or giving good feedback that would encourage Bioware to act on the issue. You're arguing for the sake of it, happy that the game's population is declining due to Bioware's inaction. Sucha fan.

 

Other then the complete and utterly false hyperbole on the part of the OP, nothing.

 

At least I admit there is fault on both sides of the question. In this topic, there is fault on both sides, but the OP wants all fault to rest with the studio. {Yep.. he has no responsibility to look out for his own interests as a consumer}.

 

You are the one arguing for the sake of arguing. By all means continue to support and argue in favor of complete fabrications and lies about this being "extortion" by the studio.

Edited October 2, 2016 by Andryah

[Andryah]

You realize you don't have to pay for 6 months of sub fees at once. If it made enough sense to walk through the door, you could always let it lapse the next month and there's no harm. If you jump all in based on promotional materials alone, you have no one to blame but yourself. I may still go preferred in the future based on Oct. 7, but I certainly knew what I was paying for up to that point and don't feel cheated in the least.

 

Exactly.

[DarthWoad]

double post ignore Edited October 2, 2016 by DarthWoad

[DarthWoad]

Other then the complete and utterly false hyperbole on the part of the OP, nothing.

 

At least I admit there is fault on both sides of the question. In this topic, there is fault on both sides, but the OP wants all fault to rest with the studio. {Yep.. he has no responsibility to look out for his own interests as a consumer}.

 

 

That's becuse all fault DOES rest with the studio. No question about it.

 

You are the one arguing for the sake of arguing.

 

Let me quote you on that...

 

 

4) there are ample existing threads about concerns over server transfers and "dead servers" that you could have used to present your opinion, but no.. you had to have your very own thread I guess.

 

Tip: learn what words actually mean if you are going to use them.

 

I've just invalidated your argument by quoting you. But let me guess...you're going to tell me it's my opinion and it's just my own interpretation of your words?

Edited October 2, 2016 by DarthWoad