Shae Vizla Launch Updates

[TrixxieTriss]

IMO, the most basic marketing & business approach to free transfers is what I suggested last week. 

Set a date like 29th February to be subscribed too. And send out an email right now to every account they have on file to tell everyone. That alone will drive interest & sales. Especially to APAC players sitting on the fence to subscribe or been waiting for transfers to come back.

But I would take it one step further & call it a promo & drop some other goodies for returning subscribers & also current subscribers. Then I’d try & get some free advertising through my journalistic connections in the industry. Maybe give out some free subscriptions & CC’s to the journalists to get them to run some new APAC server launch articles in the region. 

Id also do a seperate dev stream the week of the transfers to hype it up as APAC players returning home. Do some more give aways & show the devs playing with some of the game’s influencers & returning APAC players.

Lastly, I’d throw a bone to the APAC community that can’t afford to subscribe at the moment or who are sitting on the fence. I’d give 2-4 free transfers to Preferred status geolocated APAC players & 1 free transfer to FTP geolocated APAC players. 

There are so many other marketing opportunities here too for all players. But these would be the bare minimum to drive subscription sales. If they wanted to do some CC promo’s on the side, it wouldn’t hurt either. Especially if they coordinate that with 50% off collections sale.

 

 

Edited February 17 by TrixxieTriss

[TrixxieTriss]

27 minutes ago, Nommaz said:

surely anyone higher would not have made this many mistakes.

Unless they’ve got a marketing department seperate to the swtor team or have had marketing/sales experience, then they’re just as likely to not understand too. You might be surprised to know the amount of “higher ups” I’ve seen in my career(s) who don’t understand the need for basic marketing is a huge. Usually they were promoted from within the companies & were never exposed to it. “Higher up”doesn’t always mean infallible. 

Edited February 17 by TrixxieTriss

[Nommaz]

11 minutes ago, TrixxieTriss said:

Set a date like 29th January to be subscribed too.

Did you mean Feb?

 

[TrixxieTriss]

2 minutes ago, Nommaz said:

Did you mean Feb?

 

Yes, good pick up. I’ll edit now. Still having my morning tea in bed. 

[TrixxieTriss]

Also, those worried that free transfers for Preferred or FTP would flood the server with excess credits, should realise they can only have 1 million credits at a time on those accounts.

Id also consider permanently adding 1 free transfer per month to the subscription bundle. The same as subscribers get 500cc a month. This would add value back into the subscriptions & help incentivise people to sub. And if 1 transfer per month is too much for BS, maybe make it 1 transfer per 60 days. 

I also think BS’s 15 million credit cap is still too low. IMO, the minimum should be 25 million and is the sweet spot that most APAC players seem to agree with (if they have to have a cap). I really hope @KeithKanneg @JackieKo & @EricMusco are still reading & taking in this feed back so changes can still be made.

I had another idea too, but it might be a bit too far for BS to do it. They could give returning subscribers 500-1000 cartel coins as a one off promo. These would be players who haven’t been subscribed since the APAC server opened or maybe not subscribed for over 6-12 months.

Lastly, the subscription costs for APAC players needs to be looked at too. The other regions pay a flat rate subscription each month that doesn’t change based on exchange rates. Now we have an APAC server again, we should be granted the same courtesy instead of it potentially changing each month. Wether it’s $20AUD/NZD or better yet, $15AUD/NZD (the same as WoW & FFXIV), APAC players shouldn’t need to look up the exchange rate to know what their sub will cost each month. 

Edited February 17 by TrixxieTriss

[Avatarless]

I just don't understand why the transfers aren't free for at least current subscribers.

At the moment you can freely transfer between the two US servers, why wouldn't they offer the bare minimum to repopulate the new Oceanic server?

  I haven't played the game seriously since my characters were moved to a US server as my ping is normally 400-600ms. I've remained unsubscribed for years since there wasn't anything related to multiplayer that I could realistically hope to accomplish with that much lag. Now there is a chance to come back and do those things but they are now locked behind what I consider an unreasonable paywall (especially considering my characters were moved to a US server out of my control and now I'm expected to pay to have them moved back?!).

All I want to do is remain subscribed and be able to play the game fully again.

If I have to remain on a US server and deal with the lag there is no reason to remain subscribed or return to the game in any serious manner.

Edited February 18 by Avatarless

[TrixxieTriss]

36 minutes ago, Avatarless said:

If I have to remain on a US server and deal with the lag there is no reason to remain subscribed or return to the game in any serious manner.

They have announced 16 free transfers for subscribers who’ve been subbed since 2nd January. So you won’t have to stay on the US servers (as long as you fit those requirements). 

What we are trying to get them to do is loosen those requirements as a forward date, not aback date. That way people won’t miss out who only started subscribing after the 2nd January.

Back dating it is a bad idea. So if we can get them to forward date it instead to say, 29th February, then it will be more fair & bring in more subscribers who would miss out otherwise. And if they do that and an email out to everyone now announcing it, it’s more likely to grow the server population than their current backwards thinking idea.

Edited February 18 by TrixxieTriss

[Avatarless]

24 minutes ago, TrixxieTriss said:

They have announced 16 free transfers for subscribers who’ve been subbed since 2nd January. So you won’t have to stay on the US servers (as long as you fit those requirements). 

 Unfortunately I do not meet those requirements. 

  I was waiting to hear when transfers were going to be available before re-subscribing, alas not expecting to hear that I was supposed to have been subscribed at the start of January to even be eligible.

I have only just now re-subscribed for one month only, my sub is already cancelled again.
I would have subscribed for 6 months if I was eligible for free transfers as I would be playing the game to it's fullest again with the characters I've grown attached to back on my home region server. I don't even care about the credit cap, I just want my original characters back where they came from on a server where I can actually participate in multiplayer activities without having to deal with horrendous lag.

 For now though, I guess I'm back to logging in once or twice a month to run around for a hour on an old character purely for nostalgia's sake as a free solo player and nothing more.

 

Edited February 18 by Avatarless

[FrontLineFodder]

27 minutes ago, Avatarless said:

 Unfortunately I do not meet those requirements. 

  I was waiting to hear when transfers were going to be available before re-subscribing, alas not expecting to hear that I was supposed to have been subscribed at the start of January to even be eligible.

I have only just now re-subscribed for one month only, my sub is already cancelled again.
I would have subscribed for 6 months if I was eligible for free transfers as I would be playing the game to it's fullest again with the characters I've grown attached to back on my home region server. I don't even care about the credit cap, I just want my original characters back where they came from on a server where I can actually participate in multiplayer activities without having to deal with horrendous lag.

 For now though, I guess I'm back to logging in once or twice a month to run around for a hour on an old character purely for nostalgia's sake as a free solo player and nothing more.

 

at least you'll have a low ping on the server.

[TrixxieTriss]

32 minutes ago, Avatarless said:

I have only just now re-subscribed for one month only, my sub is already cancelled again.
I would have subscribed for 6 months if I was eligible for free transfers as I would be playing the game to it's fullest again with the characters I've grown attached to back on my home region server

This 👆is exactly why BS needs to reassess their idea & make it a forward date to subscribe too, not a backwards date that was added in retrospect.

You’re also not the first APAC player I’ve talked to about this, that are in this situation. There are many APAC players like yourself that now feel dudded by the dev team. It’s why many APAC players are feeling like 2nd class citizens in the game at the moment. 

It would go a long way to help easing that bad feeling people have if @KeithKannegcontinues to make positive changes & improves the situation to be more fair to ALL APAC players. 

[Nommaz]

This is from the discord.

"I was so ready to resub as soon as transfers opened. Alas, looks like it just wont happen for me. Not gonna pay to move all my chars
Pretty wild stuff. Can't remember seeing such a wonky new server process take place in any other mmo"
And this guy is a streamer...

[Tarlen]

On 2/17/2024 at 5:27 PM, TrixxieTriss said:

I had another idea too, but it might be a bit too far for BS to do it. They could give returning subscribers 500-1000 cartel coins as a one off promo. These would be players who haven’t been subscribed since the APAC server opened or maybe not subscribed for over 6-12 months.

@TrixxieTriss Do you mean as a one time added bonus on top of the 500 complimentary CC every time someone subs?

Another option could also be to reduce the amount of free transfers from 16 to 8 and double the credit limit from 15m to 30m, that would then bring the same amount over, but those who want more would have to pay money to do so which would bump up the monthly revenue for the company by players wanting to transfer more credits over.

I still don't think it's that big of an issue, >200m would still take a relatively long time for even a progression raider to burn through on repairs which seems to be the primary concern.

Doubt anything more will be adjusted by the Devs considering the lack of responses here. The asia pacific community is too small to be concerned about. The consensus on their end will be the fact that they gave us an oceanic server should be good enough. Can't get blood from a stone.

[TrixxieTriss]

5 minutes ago, Tarlen said:

Do you mean as a one time added bonus on top of the 500 complimentary CC every time someone subs?

Yes, as a one time bonus as part of a Promo for returning APAC players during the promo time frame. So not every time someone resubs. This would be a one off situation. 

[Nommaz]

5 minutes ago, Tarlen said:

Another option could also be to reduce the amount of free transfers from 16 to 8 and double the credit limit from 15m to 30m

I still believe it should be tied to legacy not character, I don't want to transfer a heap of toons I have no plans on playing, rather than the ones I started, it was always just going to be two and I was going to continue on these newer ones, but if I want more$$ I have to transfer more, seems a bit daft to me, in making me transfer more it means I won't be levelling and keeping the lower game alive while doing so, I suspect there are others in the same boat. 

[SoraRaida]

20 minutes ago, Tarlen said:

The asia pacific community is too small to be concerned about.

Then they wouldn't have created an APAC server in the first place. There's a population here and they know it, and yet, they're making this a "fresh start" server because obviously, that's more important.

Edited February 18 by SoraRaida

[TrixxieTriss]

4 minutes ago, Nommaz said:

I still believe it should be tied to legacy not character

Yes, I’ve suggested this since December. So my suggestion is they make the legacy cap 400 million. Then people could decide to transfer 1 or 16 characters & still get the same amount of credits. 

[TrixxieTriss]

8 minutes ago, SoraRaida said:

Then they wouldn't have created an APAC server in the first place. There's a population here and they know it, yet for some reason, they aren't catering them.

I believe it’s because they have no idea how to cater to us or more importantly how to market to us. 

[Tarlen]

12 minutes ago, Nommaz said:

I still believe it should be tied to legacy not character

Oh for sure, i agree with that, however the reason I haven't bothered suggesting it is because it's likely the coding wouldn't allow something like this.

It's probably something to do with how legacy transfers work, they likely can't split what can and can't be moved with legacy.

12 minutes ago, SoraRaida said:

Then they wouldn't have created an APAC server in the first place. There's a population here and they know it, yet for some reason, they aren't catering them.

Not necessarily. There might be enough to warrant providing a server but at the same time, they likely have data to see what both sides of the community wants. Not everyone would post in these forums. There has to be a middle ground, it can't always be everything that 1 side of the other wants.

Whether you believe the community split over this discussion or not, it seems that the devs see 2 sides and try and cater to both. If a group doesn't like it, then they don't need to transfer. I've got more credits than what I can bring over and less characters than the free transfer amount provided but it is what it is, It's only credits which I can eventually get back and it's still more than what I would need to raid with.

[SoraRaida]

Just now, Tarlen said:

Not everyone would post in these forums.

Yea, only subs can post on these forums. Stupid rule. F2P and Preferred players don't even get a say in this topic.

 

1 minute ago, Tarlen said:

There has to be a middle ground, it can't always be everything that 1 side of the other wants.

Why does there need to be a middle ground in the first place? It's so obvious Star Forge has the most players and a "fresh start" server in the US would bring in the most money, so why in the heck did BS use a new APAC server for "fresh start"? It just doesn't make any damn sense.

[Tarlen]

6 minutes ago, SoraRaida said:

Why does there need to be a middle ground in the first place? It's so obvious Star Forge has the most players and a "fresh start" server in the US would bring in the most money, so why in the heck did BS use a new APAC server for "fresh start"? It just doesn't make any damn sense.

Because it's not fair to cater to only 1 side, that's why.

I don't think they see SV as a fresh start server, but as it's developed over time they have decided, especially after feedback, that they don't want the current economy to be ruined.

Maybe because of the low amount of credits currently on the server, they make more money from Cartel Market from the region spending more to obtain more credits?

There could be plenty of reasons why the restrictions are in place, I think creating an insane amount of inflation during an influx of transfers isn't ideal especially as it can affect returning players since opening SV and also promote credit buying from credit sellers which the company obviously loses out on as people would then spend less of CC and CM purchases to sell for credits.

We will never be privy to all the reasons why, but I think trying to keep a check on inflation is a fair reason. I personally stopped playing when we lost oceanic servers Initially as combat on higher ping felt scuffed (significantly less smooth than WoW on 180ms). However i returned last year and played for a few months out of boredom and during that time I generated something like 8bn in credits from GTN before I stopped playing again until SV opened. Since playing on SV I think I've generated around 12-15m in credits which I've spent on strongholds, crafting etc which is significantly less. I think this low level of inflation is also bad so there does need to be an increase since in past patches they changed credit costs of repairs/travel etc based on character level (likely done due to inflation on the other servers) which obviously has a negative impact for a new server.

I can view it from both sides, and while I don't fully agree with everything they want to do, It's still good enough and not enough of a concern to warrant a constant amount of complaining over. But that's just my PoV. I'd still prefer to be playing on a low ping server than on an inflated server and having more credits than I need just because "high number looks good".

Inflation will increase over time as it's only natural, and likely once it does increase, transfer restrictions will likely be adjusted. Just save a transfer or 2 in this instance for the future just in case.

[TrixxieTriss]

15 minutes ago, SoraRaida said:

Yea, only subs can post on these forums. Stupid rule. F2P and Preferred players don't even get a say in this topic

Most games that rely on a cash shop to prop up a game, don’t have such harsh restrictions on who can post on official forums. They are essentially depriving themselves of valuable player feedback & those players of a community resource. 

[Avatarless]

16 minutes ago, Tarlen said:

Because it's not fair to cater to only 1 side, that's why.

I don't think they see SV as a fresh start server, but as it's developed over time they have decided, especially after feedback, that they don't want the current economy to be ruined.

 

  I'm sorry, but any game that allows you to buy items with real money then resell them for in game currency has no stable economy on any server. It's only a matter of time before SV is no different than the rest because of the Cartel Market.

[Tarlen]

3 minutes ago, Avatarless said:

  I'm sorry, but any game that allows you to buy items with real money then resell them for in game currency has no stable economy on any server. It's only a matter of time before SV is no different than the rest because of the Cartel Market.

I agree, but the difference is time. It took a very long time for the levels of inflation we see today on the US servers. The old apac server never saw those levels of inflation when it was around from memory, and those servers lasted around 1 year before they got closed due to diminishing subscriptions.

From memory there was also major issues when they opened with transferring characters from the US to oceanic servers as well.

Will the Cartel Market cause inflation? Most definitely, but for the time being with the current restrictions imposed it will inflate slower and the game will likely generate more revenue on people trying to get more credits, and it will also appease the group of people who don't want the same levels of inflation as the US servers thus being the option they choose.

If SV fails, it won't be any concern to BS as there's no major investment in opening it to begin with since it's a cloud server not a physical server. They can just close it, mark it as a failed idea and move on.

No big company overly cares about the concerns of apac communities because they generate significantly less profit than other countries. They will do things here and there like with SV opening because it may generate more than it costs which is still a net positive and makes them look better as well but that's basically the extent of it. If a company like Blizzard rarely caters and constantly ignores the oceanic player base while having a lot more oceanic subs than SWTOR, do you really think BS will?

It's a pipe dream to have all demands met when our community is as small as it is.

[emperorruby]

@KeithKanneg there should be a subscriber reward for the new apac player all subscribers get it to make them want to subscribe the16 free transfers is to give time for older players and march date was a forward dated placeholder  

Edited February 18 by emperorruby

[Nommaz]

1 hour ago, Tarlen said:

especially after feedback, that they don't want the current economy to be ruined.

Which was the fresh start server people, those of us that just want to move back home couldn't give a rats @$$

1 hour ago, Tarlen said:

I don't think they see SV as a fresh start server

Sure they do and that's how all this started...
 

1 hour ago, Tarlen said:

Because it's not fair to cater to only 1 side

You mean APAC players on an Apac server? LOL why not?

1 hour ago, Tarlen said:

as it can affect returning players since opening SV

How does it affect new players? seriously its A GTN issue, there is nothing that a new player touches that is affected by it.
However, a new player is negatively affected by the severe procedures BS have in place to fight inflation on other servers that has transferred over to SV.
 

1 hour ago, Tarlen said:

and also promote credit buying from credit sellers

If anything keeping the credits out of the server and the cots high would do far more to promote the credit sellers than anything else, as people keep running out!
 

1 hour ago, Tarlen said:

Just save a transfer or 2 in this instance for the future just in case.

to give BS more money in CC... gottcha.
 

1 hour ago, TrixxieTriss said:

Most games that rely on a cash shop to prop up a game, don’t have such harsh restrictions on who can post on official forums. They are essentially depriving themselves of valuable player feedback & those players of a community resource. 

Yup, not surprising though.

1 hour ago, Avatarless said:

It's only a matter of time before SV is no different than the rest because of the Cartel Market.

This is 100% on point, it is an issue thats related to the ease of selling things you can buy for real cash, and these rules are not going to change that, I foresaw this all the way back at the beginning, it's really not that hard to see.

 

54 minutes ago, Tarlen said:

It took a very long time for the levels of inflation we see today on the US servers.

No it really didn't, if you left for a year and came back the difference was astronomical..

 

55 minutes ago, Tarlen said:

From memory there was also major issues when they opened with transferring characters from the US to oceanic servers as well.

Such as?

 

 

56 minutes ago, Tarlen said:

appease the group of people who don't want the same levels of inflation as the US servers

So fresh start players, on a regional server, they should not get a lookin.

57 minutes ago, Tarlen said:

If SV fails, it won't be any concern to BS as there's no major investment in opening it to begin with since it's a cloud server not a physical server. They can just close it, mark it as a failed idea and move on.

if SV fails it will be 100% on BS due to the handling and I daresay the damage with the APAC region will be immense. 
They have an opportunity here, if they choose to kill it for the sake of fresh start server people that's on them, not us.

 

 

59 minutes ago, Tarlen said:

is still a net positive and makes them look better as well

Not handled the way they are it doesn't make them look good at all! Far from a positive.
 

59 minutes ago, Tarlen said:

It's a pipe dream to have all demands met when our community is as small as it is.

LOL yet there is plenty of other games that have OCE servers from new and added...
 

1 hour ago, Tarlen said:

No big company overly cares about the concerns of apac communities

And there-in lies the problem, obviously some do, Blizz who you seem to have issues with have had OCE severs for years, games like last epoch which are brand new have OCE servers off the bat, the issue isn't big company wide, its BS wide at this point it time, or at least it's how it feels. 

 

1 hour ago, Tarlen said:

It's a pipe dream to have all demands met when our community is as small as it is.

By all you mean not using a retroactive date for free transfers and maybe increasing the credit limits, do you honestly believe these are too much to ask for? if so, I am glad you are not in a position to decide that for us.