Is the Subscriber Reward Program officially defunct?

[gabigool]

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."

 

Far more so than the garbage we've been served since 4.0.

 

Edit: To be fair, I can't speak to its timeliness or its quality yet. But it certainly reflects variance, which has been catastrophically lacking.

 

As such, I look at it as nothing more than a positive first step.

Edited February 6, 2017 by gabigool

[craggy]

I'd be fine with Subscriber rewards eventually being offered for sale on the Cartel Market. Maybe 6-9 months down the line. Early and "free" access to otherwise chargeable content would seem a fine reward, and the knowledge that they've eventually be able to make money off them might encourage Bioware to do things a bit fancier than some of the months.

 

There were no doubt some rewards that left me less whelmed than others. I'm not much of a pet collector, for example, and a couple of the mounts have left me cold, but I like knowing that when I start a new character I've a few weapons and outfit options as well as a range of mounts to choose from, all without worrying about Legacy or mailing stuff. The HK chapter felt like a really special treat, but more of those going forward would be great fun.

 

Otherwise, I'd be good with some recoloured or reskinned animal mounts or beast or droid companions, some more Zakuul stuff (how about a Zakuul Knight companion? or an Eternal Throne mount or something, for the new "Alliance Commander"?) or maybe even a re-release of some of the more classic Cartel Market or Cartel Pack armour sets? The occasional fancy decoration or speeder is fine too, as are weapon skins, but these are some suggestions I think would make subscribers feel properly rewarded, and if they planned it well they could keep things fresh and interesting enough that people would want to stay subbed every month for the rewards even if (maybe especially if) a lot of it was slight recolours or re-releases of stuff that's already made.

[Andryah]

I'd be fine with Subscriber rewards eventually being offered for sale on the Cartel Market. Maybe 6-9 months down the line. Early and "free" access to otherwise chargeable content would seem a fine reward, and the knowledge that they've eventually be able to make money off them might encourage Bioware to do things a bit fancier than some of the months.

 

Problem is... there are literally billions of CCs in circulation that were never actually directly purchased. [A lot of players for example.. peddle their referral link left and right.. and as such are sitting on large piles of coins they never paid for].

 

I'm fine if they allow them to be purchased for real dollars directly at some point... as long as it's priced relative to what actual players who took advantage of the incentives paid. But I don't see this happening.

[craggy]

Problem is... there are literally billions of CCs in circulation that were never actually directly purchased. [A lot of players for example.. peddle their referral link left and right.. and as such are sitting on large piles of coins they never paid for].

 

I'm fine if they allow them to be purchased for real dollars directly at some point... as long as it's priced relative to what actual players who took advantage of the incentives paid. But I don't see this happening.

 

the pricing on the Cartel Market has little to no relation to what a real dollar is worth. $40 for a Hypercrate...on a good day... ? ! Coins are way overpriced. WAY OVERPRICED. Now maybe if everyone who bought a ticket to see a Star Wars film was a player. Maybe if half of that. But I do sometimes feel like Bioware/EA are sitting in a corner shop, trying to sell corned beef for Kobe steak prices with their CM stuff. Hell, I'd probably buy a few Hypercrates a month if they were priced reasonably, instead of the price of a whole other game for maybe a few hours of enjoyment, if we're being very generous, that is basically all aesthetic. I do love to play dress up but there's only so much I'm willing to pay for Malibu Stacy's new hat.

[Aowin]

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.

 

The entire point of the game is to subscribe. Having exclusive subscriber rewards should encourage more subscribers rather than push them away. It's an incentive.

 

Offering these kinds of content on the CM would merely invalidate the point of a subscriber reward program. Again, the whole point is to have exclusive content for subscribers.

 

I don't know if the subscriber reward program is permanently "closed." However, I don't believe we'll see it's return until the next expansion given the new direction KOTET has taken the game.

 

In my opinion, that's a grave mistake considering there isn't a lot of reasons for someone to maintain a subscription at this point.

[Aowin]

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.

 

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 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.

 

That's a fair point. Truth be told, BioWare just doesn't have to resources to really develop companions outside of expansions. Even then, as you indicated, you'll never have the actual companion dialogue options that were present in the base game. Those just aren't financially feasible. Really, companions are just another way of providing diversity for the player base.

 

Had SWTOR went the B2P route rather than the F2P route, I believe your idea would make more sense. At the same time, I think the intent was for BioWare to try and maintain active subscribers for as long as they could during certain periods of time. The goal was to reward those players who stuck around, rather than the ones who would not sub for the entire year and then sub for the last chapter and get everything.

 

I understand now. That idea has a lot of merit. I'm not sure if BioWare would be willing to put that amount of effort into a subscriber reward program, but it would be a step in the right direction. I still like the idea of more bonus chapters and companions, but I understand that's not popular for everyone.

[Aowin]

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.

 

I don't see why BioWare ever would, much in the same way they'll never re-release Nico or HK-55. By doing so it merely invalidates the whole point of being subscribed for those long periods of time that BioWare mandated to have access to the content.

 

What BioWare was trying to avoid were those folks who waited the entire year to sub for the last chapter of KOTFE, getting everything for the price of $15. BioWare was attempting to reward those who paid for the entire year.

[Aowin]

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.

 

You can still customize Shae. You are just restricted to her lore-friendly mandalorian sets. There's always Master Ranos, of which you can put anything on her.

 

I, too, hope subscriber rewards aren't a thing of the past. I don't think we'll see them return until the next expansion, sadly.

[Aowin]

I'd be fine with Subscriber rewards eventually being offered for sale on the Cartel Market. Maybe 6-9 months down the line. Early and "free" access to otherwise chargeable content would seem a fine reward, and the knowledge that they've eventually be able to make money off them might encourage Bioware to do things a bit fancier than some of the months.

 

There were no doubt some rewards that left me less whelmed than others. I'm not much of a pet collector, for example, and a couple of the mounts have left me cold, but I like knowing that when I start a new character I've a few weapons and outfit options as well as a range of mounts to choose from, all without worrying about Legacy or mailing stuff. The HK chapter felt like a really special treat, but more of those going forward would be great fun.

 

Otherwise, I'd be good with some recoloured or reskinned animal mounts or beast or droid companions, some more Zakuul stuff (how about a Zakuul Knight companion? or an Eternal Throne mount or something, for the new "Alliance Commander"?) or maybe even a re-release of some of the more classic Cartel Market or Cartel Pack armour sets? The occasional fancy decoration or speeder is fine too, as are weapon skins, but these are some suggestions I think would make subscribers feel properly rewarded, and if they planned it well they could keep things fresh and interesting enough that people would want to stay subbed every month for the rewards even if (maybe especially if) a lot of it was slight recolours or re-releases of stuff that's already made.

 

I suppose having it released many months later would be fine as long as the price of purchase is relatively steep to incentivize subscribing and it if encourages BioWare to create more rewarding items for subscribers.

 

It's just nice to know there is something to look forward to every month rather than having nothing and hoping that the little content offered in the next update holds one over until the next update. As it stands with BioWare's current approach, it would probably make more financial sense to unsubscribe, wait quite a few months, then subscribe for one month and do everything that BioWare has offered over the course of half a year or so.

 

Of course, that's not what BioWare wants. They want to maintain subscribers rather than folks only subscribing during certain periods of the year. This is why I think a subscriber reward program is necessary and not having it will ultimately lead to a larger dip in concurrent subscriptions.