Is the Subscriber Reward Program officially defunct?

[Aowin]

One of the major incentives and features I enjoyed greatly about KOTFE was the various rewards that were provided to SWTOR's most loyal fan base on a monthly basis (especially the HK bonus chapter). It seemed as if that would continue with the initial subscriber rewards for KOTET (Shae Vizla), but that was apparently premature thinking.

 

Unless I am mistaken, this entire system has been abandoned for the rest of KOTET in favor of Galactic Command being the main incentive for subscribing. I personally see this as a mistake as I don't consider this "incentive" as a reward, but rather a punishment if I refuse to maintain my subscription.

 

Just based on what appears to be the projected road map until the next expansion, BioWare will release a new operation boss, maybe a new daily area, and bring back a companion or two each major update. That, in my opinion, is just not a lot of content or a lot of incentive to stay subscribed.

 

I recognize BioWare is trying to appeal to as many demographics as possible. However, the lack of resources and lack of manpower is definitely showing. If they can't even manage to provide an operation in its entirety, or do any substantial new story, without having the budget for a new expansion, I think spreading their resources too thin ultimately hurts the game overall.

 

If this kind of content is really all I have to look forward to until the next expansion, I may just unsubscribe and come back later once there is something to actually do. Subscriber rewards would have been an extra perk to help motivate me to stick around, but I just have little interest in doing dailies, getting back one companion, and killing one raid boss every couple of months.

 

It's a shame considering I really liked BioWare's commitment to refocus on storytelling and really highlighting what makes this MMO different from the rest. KOTET seems to be a step backwards, and not necessarily for the better. I'm not sure anyone is really getting what they wanted, especially the raiders who have been demanding a new operation for years.

Edited February 6, 2017 by Aowin

[fushnchips]

One thing I liked about FFXIV is you got rewards for being a SUB and some of that stuff was awesome and even if you stopped subbing and then you resub months later you start off again where u were before you unsub.

 

I would like to see something in SWTOR that gives subscribers something great to look forward to as being a sub and the longer you are a sub the better the items and these shouldn't be reskins or remodels of current in game projects.

 

Mounts, pets, outfits but no companions unless it's like a 3year+ item.

[Aowin]

One thing I liked about FFXIV is you got rewards for being a SUB and some of that stuff was awesome and even if you stopped subbing and then you resub months later you start off again where u were before you unsub.

 

I would like to see something in SWTOR that gives subscribers something great to look forward to as being a sub and the longer you are a sub the better the items and these shouldn't be reskins or remodels of current in game projects.

 

Mounts, pets, outfits but no companions unless it's like a 3year+ item.

 

What you are referring to is a veteran reward system, not a subscriber reward system. The former rewards players for being a subscriber for a certain period of time while the latter rewards players for being a subscriber currently.

 

Personally I prefer the latter as the former is unfair to the most newest members who may never get to the highest rewards (the game will likely shut down at some point). With a subscriber reward program, it's fair game to everybody.

 

Unfortunately, we don't have any sort of reward incentive for maintaining a subscription at the moment. All that we will have is Galactic Command and presumably access to these new daily areas that BioWare is creating. That, in my opinion, will be a grave mistake.

[dr_mike]

Unfortunately, we don't have any sort of reward incentive for maintaining a subscription at the moment.

 

Maybe it had something to do with the many many threads stating that whatever they got, they just trashed or shoved into the banks never to look at again?

 

I liked the occasional mount but I have no need or want for any of the HK parts they gave out.

Edited February 6, 2017 by dr_mike

[Aowin]

Maybe it had something to do with the many many threads stating that whatever they got, they just trashed or shoved into the banks never to look at again?

 

I liked the occasional mount but I have no need or want for any of the HK parts they gave out.

 

I'm aware some of the subscriber rewards weren't the best. That being said, some of the subscriber rewards, such as the HK bonus chapter, were amazing. There was nothing wrong with the system, itself. The issue was the quality of the rewards BioWare was providing. All BioWare needed to do was provide higher quality rewards and nobody would have complained. You don't completely toss out a perfectly fine system because of some poor choices on the part of the development team.

 

I'm sure we can both agree that getting something is far better than getting nothing, which is our current predicament.

[Kawiki]

Content would be reward enough for me.

 

A non grindy, non RNG gearing system is enough of a reward.

 

It's time they got back to making actual content not one and done chapters/story. I like the story but it has no longevity for what I suspect is the vast majority of the player base.

Edited February 6, 2017 by Kawiki

[Aowin]

Content would be reward enough for me.

 

A non grindy, non RNG gearing system is enough of a reward.

 

It's time they got back to making actual content not one and done chapters/story. I like the story but it has no longevity for what I suspect is the vast majority of the player base.

 

I wouldn't expect large amounts of content until the release of a new expansion.

 

Galactic Command will never be what you want it to be.

 

What is "actual content" is a matter of interpretation. I, personally, prefer BioWare storytelling over generic daily zones and repetitive raids. The simple truth is none of the content in this game really has longevity, which is why Galactic Command was created.

 

If I had to guess, BioWare simply does not have the staff or the budget to do anything ambitious outside of new expansions.

[DanNV]

This game has NEVER had good subscriber rewards, why would it start now? I have all of them through today. None of them are worth having.

 

Your current reward is the never ending grind of GC for gear you may or may not ever get. But, it's "exciting", just ask Ben.

[Aowin]

This game has NEVER had good subscriber rewards, why would it start now? I have all of them through today. None of them are worth having.

 

Your current reward is the never ending grind of GC for gear you may or may not ever get. But, it's "exciting", just ask Ben.

 

Agree to disagree. I enjoyed the companions, the bonus chapter, and some of the mounts as subscriber rewards. The rest I could have done without, but that doesn't mean BioWare should remove the entire system.

 

Galactic Command is not a reward. It's a means of progression, which makes it silly to remove the actual reward program. I understand you are being facetious, but again something is better than nothing. Right now, we are getting next to nothing.

[jimmorrisson]

Substantial rewards over regular filler rewards.

 

Monthly subscriber rewards were stopped seemingly after forums complaints over what could be described as 'filler" - HK themed gear (HK themed ship droid customization, helmet (which was legacy then removed), weapons) and then their was the Eternal Patroller mount.

Edited February 6, 2017 by jimmorrisson

[gabigool]

Quality, timely and supported content of all types is all the "sub reward" I want.

[Aowin]

Monthly subscriber rewards were stopped seemingly after forums complaints over what could be described as 'filler" - HK themed gear (HK themed ship droid customization, helmet (which was legacy then removed), weapons) and then their was the Eternal Patroller mount.

 

That might make sense if there weren't any subscriber rewards for KOTET, which there were. We received Shae Vizla, the rapid transport walker, and early access. To my knowledge, everybody was pretty happy about those rewards, especially Shae Vizla. Again, it just seems odd that this program would disappear entirely without BioWare even mentioning it. I think many would argue the program definitely got better over time compared to what it was originally.

[Aowin]

Quality, timely and supported content of all types is all the "sub reward" I want.

 

Then I suppose the next question is whether or not a new daily zone, one raid boss, and a few companions returning every few months meets your requirements of "quality, timely, and supported content of all types."

[DanNV]

Galactic Command is not a reward. It's a means of progression

 

No, GC isn't a means of progression. Progression implies working toward a goal, following known steps. GC is a lottery with very low odds of getting anything. SWTOR used to have a progression system, it no longer does. It does have a great system for gambling addicts, so maybe that is the market BWA is looking for now.

[Aowin]

No, GC isn't a means of progression. Progression implies working toward a goal, following known steps. GC is a lottery with very low odds of getting anything. SWTOR used to have a progression system, it no longer does. It does have a great system for gambling addicts, so maybe that is the market BWA is looking for now.

 

Whether you like GC or not is irrelevant. It is the progression system of the game. It is how you achieve the BiS gear. There are no other methods. Regardless, my point is progression should never be used as a reward. Progression is a foundation for any quality RPG. A reward is extra incentive that merely sweetens that foundation further, and now that is entirely lacking from SWTOR. Based on the fact BioWare hasn't even mentioned a return to the subscriber reward in the foreseeable future, that leads me to conclude it's officially dead.

[dr_mike]

Then I suppose the next question is whether or not a new daily zone, one raid boss, and a few companions returning every few months meets your requirements of "quality, timely, and supported content of all types."

 

Might be nice but (edit: I doubt it) won't happen again as a sub award. There was a fair amount of backlash over the extra HK sub chapter, both because folks who say they qualified didn't receive it and folks who didn;t receive it assumed that they were going to get it later.

 

It's also how much effort BW can put into this. Takes a single artist a few hours if that to come up with a piece of armour. An extra area takes more than one employee and some effort and time to come up with.

 

And just to throw out a link to STO's sub awards as a comparison - http://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/3026853

 

edit: It's screaming brat day once again here at the library. Please excuse typos.

Edited February 6, 2017 by dr_mike

[Edyn]

I really don't care about the current subscriber rewards at all as I just don't care for what's being considered as rewards. For me, they're too specific, e.g. a specific mount I'd never use (I mean, Zakuulan walker on Fleet? C'mon...) or a certain Companion I really don't care about because it would be just a skin that doesn't come with any real personality, conversations or Companion quests.

 

The HK chapter was neat, but when I saw the husb run through it (I didn't qualify) I thought it would have been great to have that as part of a content patch to show that they're rolling out real actual content to the masses, but newp - just subs who qualified. I'm not butthurt about not being able to do chapter, as I got to watch the husb and I can just catch it on YouTube or whatever, but the fact that content that interesting and comprehensive was rolled out as a mere subscriber award baffles me. This isn't some reskinned mount or generic Companion here and there are so many players out there who would have really enjoyed participating in the story and lore in that chapter.

 

For me, a subscriber award/perk would be like getting my pick of list of the things you can directly buy with CC coins off the CM, or my choice of a selection of mounts, or armor, etc. Heck, get the vast BW reskinnning team to work on making them unqiue for subscribers to choose from each time there's an award thingy going on. Let subscribers know what's in this big box of goodies and they are more likely to be motivated to stay subscribed for the next goodie they know that's in the box - and no, not RNG box, a pick from the box. My best friend stays subbed to FF14 even when he's not playing so that he can have access to their veteran reward outfits and little fun trinkets that he knows he will get down the line, as they will be there waiting for him when he goes back to play again after his break. He knows ahead of time what he will be getting, so he has the incentive to keep his account open to get it. I, on the other hand, wouldn't hesitate for half a second to unsub here if I was ready for a break. Missed a chapter? YouTube. Missed a mount? Don't care. Missed a Companion? Don't care... Quinn's coming back.

Edited February 6, 2017 by Edyn

[Aowin]

Might be nice but (edit: I doubt it) won't happen again as a sub award. There was a fair amount of backlash over the extra HK sub chapter, both because folks who say they qualified didn't receive it and folks who didn;t receive it assumed that they were going to get it later.

 

It's also how much effort BW can put into this. Takes a single artist a few hours if that to come up with a piece of armour. An extra area takes more than one employee and some effort and time to come up with.

 

And just to throw out a link to STO's sub awards as a comparison - http://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/3026853

 

edit: It's screaming brat day once again here at the library. Please excuse typos.

 

I'm just going to assume you misquoted my post as you are responding to the HK chapter and not what is actually BioWare's future plans for major updates in SWTOR.

 

I don't think there was any real backlash on the HK bonus chapter, as BioWare was upfront about how to obtain it and the fact that it would remain exclusive as a subscriber reward. The only ones who were "upset" were those who either knew they didn't qualify and complained anyway or those who came after the fact and heard about the HK bonus chapter after its release.

 

Would that extra effort to give something to those who actually pay a monthly fee to the game be so unreasonable? I personally do not think so.

 

Veteran Rewards =/= Subscriber Rewards. I'm familiar with Veteran Rewards because I played SWG for many years. I absolutely loathed that system as some players were never able to get some of the highest rewards. It's all entirely based on how old your account is, which is inherently bad for newer subscribers.

[Aowin]

I really don't care about the current subscriber rewards at all as I just don't care for what's being considered as rewards. For me, they're too specific, e.g. a specific mount I'd never use (I mean, Zakuulan walker on Fleet? C'mon...) or a certain Companion I really don't care about because it would be just a skin that doesn't come with any real personality, conversations or Companion quests.

 

The HK chapter was neat, but when I saw the husb run through it (I didn't qualify) I thought it would have been great to have that as part of a content patch to show that they're rolling out real actual content to the masses, but newp - just subs who qualified. I'm not butthurt about not being able to do chapter, as I got to watch the husb and I can just catch it on YouTube or whatever, but the fact that content that interesting and comprehensive was rolled out as a mere subscriber award baffles me. This isn't some reskinned mount or generic Companion here and there are so many players out there who would have really enjoyed participating in the story and lore in that chapter.

 

For me, a subscriber award/perk would be like getting my pick of list of the things you can directly buy with CC coins off the CM, or my choice of a selection of mounts, or armor, etc. Heck, get the vast BW reskinnning team to work on making them unqiue for subscribers to choose from each time there's an award thingy going on. Let subscribers know what's in this big box of goodies and they are more likely to be motivated to stay subscribed for the next goodie they know that's in the box - and no, not RNG box, a pick from the box. My best friend stays subbed to FF14 even when he's not playing so that he can have access to their veteran reward outfits and little fun trinkets that he knows he will get down the line, as they will be there waiting for him when he goes back to play again after his break. He knows ahead of time what he will be getting, so he has the incentive to keep his account open to get it. I, on the other hand, wouldn't hesitate for half a second to unsub here if I was ready for a break. Missed a chapter? YouTube. Missed a mount? Don't care. Missed a Companion? Don't care... Quinn's coming back.

 

That's fair, although I personally enjoyed Nico and Shae as additions. They were actually already major characters in the Old Republic lore and not just completely random.

 

I definitely understand your perspective and it's definitely a bummer to miss out on what I believe was the best subscriber reward. That being said, it is meant to be a subscriber reward and it should have value. The fact that some folks were upset about not getting it proves it had value and that it was something many wanted. If subscriber rewards were just items nobody cared about, then the entire system would be pointless. I'd love to see more bonus chapters, as they are ultimately just filler and don't change the main plot in any way.

 

I don't like veteran rewards, but I understand the idea of having certainty in what you are getting. I think having access to CM items is a very interesting idea, but one BioWare would never endorse. There is just no way BioWare would ever let subscribers have the option to choose some of the rarest items on the CM. That would undermine all of the revenue BioWare receives from people spending hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars on cartel coins.

Edited February 6, 2017 by Aowin

[Zasszz]

Its a problem about exclusive content. Giving things to only paying customers is what corporations do. But when you offer a F2P product you piss off possible customers that cant ever get any of the past content like the unique mounts, decorations or one chapter.

Why not offer those on the cartel market? People would love it. Subscribers would be at no disadvantage because they payed for it already.

 

But no, after all the really crappy rewards like the poster decoration and ship droid customizations they didnt redesign the system, they just silently closed it. They always choose the worse option. Thats the only consistancy they are consistant about.

[Edyn]

That's fair, although I personally enjoyed Nico and Shae as additions. They were actually already major characters in the Old Republic lore and not just completely random.

While Nico and Shae are part of the story, they still seemed hollow to me as Companions, like you'll never get to really know them as a person... their past, their demons, etc., as you did with your vanilla Companions. This is the same reason why I don't really really care much about any of the KOTFE/ET Companions - they just seem hollow.

I definitely understand your perspective and it's definitely a bummer to miss out on what I believe was the best subscriber reward. That being said, it is meant to be a subscriber reward and it should have value. The fact that some folks were upset about not getting it proves it had value and that it was something many wanted. If subscriber rewards were just items nobody cared about, then the entire system would be pointless. I'd love to see more bonus chapters, as they are ultimately just filler and don't change the main plot in any way.

It definitely shows value; however, every other sub MMO I've played has their story as something all subscribers can access as long as they are subscribed, and so SWTOR players missed out on something that every other game/competitor out there would have given them as part of their sub. LIke I said, I'm not personally butthurt about not being able to play the chapter, but since denying access to story based off of a condition being subscribed during a certain time in the past probably resulted in many players experiencing SWTOR culture shock, especially if they came from other MMOs.

 

This is straight form the peanut gallery, but at this point, I feel that if BW could have figured out a way to have put the HK story chapter in a CM Crate without looking like blatant ****wads, they would have done so.

 

I don't like veteran rewards, but I understand the idea of having certainty in what you are getting. I think having access to CM items is a very interesting idea, but one BioWare would never endorse. There is just no way BioWare would ever let subscribers have the option to choose some of the most rarest items on the CM. That would undermine all of the revenue they receive from people spending hundreds, if not thousands of dollars of cartel coins.

 

I was thinking access on a very limited basis: access to either things you can straight up purchase with CC, not via CM Crates, such as weapon and armor skins as well as Stronghold Decor, or make a new, completely separate section of items that only subscribers can pick from. Whether BW runs their subscriber reward promotion every 90 days or whatever regular interval they choose, at least people will know exactly what they're getting for their sub. I do understand that BW wouldn't want to undermine the value of their CM, so maybe this could still be an avenue to reasonably reward faithful subscribers, especially if they offer things that aren't included on the CM or in CM Crates. Just thinking of options is all.

Edited February 6, 2017 by Edyn

[TUXs]

Agree to disagree. I enjoyed the companions, the bonus chapter, and some of the mounts as subscriber rewards. The rest I could have done without, but that doesn't mean BioWare should remove the entire system.

The bonus chapter should be released as content. I found it quite enjoyable with a few new twists on how we play...I hope they release it to those who missed it.

[ImmortalLowlife]

That might make sense if there weren't any subscriber rewards for KOTET, which there were. We received Shae Vizla, the rapid transport walker, and early access. To my knowledge, everybody was pretty happy about those rewards, especially Shae Vizla. Again, it just seems odd that this program would disappear entirely without BioWare even mentioning it. I think many would argue the program definitely got better over time compared to what it was originally.

 

Key word.... WAS.

Shae was great until they took away the ability to put her in armor of our choosing. Now she's just another useless companion who I don't even bother to unlock or use anymore.

 

On topic... While the sub rewards were hit or miss, I liked most of them. I hope they're not giving up on that system.

[jimmorrisson]

That might make sense if there weren't any subscriber rewards for KOTET, which there were. We received Shae Vizla, the rapid transport walker, and early access.

 

That might make sense except you missed REGUAR, FILLER and MONTHLY

 

Substantial rewards over regular filler rewards.

Monthly subscriber rewards

 

I would rather have SUBSTANTIAL (awesome) subscriber gifts (KOTOR Swoop, Nico, Nico gear, HK, etc) OVER regular/monthly filler gifts (Eternal Patroller)

Edited February 6, 2017 by jimmorrisson

[Andryah]

Monthly subscriber rewards were stopped seemingly after forums complaints over what could be described as 'filler" - HK themed gear (HK themed ship droid customization, helmet (which was legacy then removed), weapons) and then their was the Eternal Patroller mount.

 

Not picking on you specifically, just using your statement for a moment here......

 

I know I get heat for being serious about semantics and context in the forum, but here is a clear case where being imprecise results in much talking past one another instead of discussing the broader topic of "rewards".

 

The is one, and only one subscriber reward in this game currently ----> your monthly cartel coin grant

 

The things people are stating as "subscriber rewards" are actually marketing incentives to encourage players to subscribe in advance of coming content. In some cases these also apply to advance purchases of expacs as well.

There IS a difference.

 

As for MMOs in general....

 

Some provide "veteran rewards" which are generally tiered and based on how long you have been subscribed.

 

Some provide "appreciation rewards" from time to time.. like the recent one here for those who had remained continuously subscribed since launch. We also had one in the first year where players who had advanced characters to a certain point by X date were granted a free months subscription on top of their active subscription.

 

Some provide "incentive rewards" which generally provide some perk for subscribing at certain points in time, or purchasing an expac before a certain point in time. These are actually limited time, fixed terms of eligibility Marketing promotions.

 

Some provide "subscriber rewards", which in this MMO is your monthly cartel coins. This sort of subscriber reward is more common in MMOs that use a blended access model that allows subs and nonsubs access to the game.

 

With regard to the exact reward and whether players like it, don't like it, want something else, just use it as a platform to rant, etc....... this will always come down to personal tastes and likes/dislikes. As a forum community, we will never broadly agree in any particular discussion.... which is fine in my view. Why some people double down and get salty because others disagree with them (and explain plainly why) ... I really don't get. Are folks like this really this combative about everything in life, or is it just the freedom that anonymity gives turns some how into a license to parade as a major stock holder in the company that sells Summers Eve.

Edited February 6, 2017 by Andryah