^^ this pretty much covers it.
as a log on to get it mechanic. It's kinda .. yes well.
Thank you for the nice costumes. I do like the goggles. If I remember to log on to both accts when It's available, i may get them.
Trailturtle
for Silver players;
Resource max limit tokens- like they have in STO
We have a heck of a lot of buying and selling due to costumes and items in game, it makes sense to encourage your players to collect
currently they are limited to cheap items or trying to trade for keys, so they build up a load of resources but can't really use them, without a buying partner, to get the item for them or to sell an item for them.
I'd like to emphasize that this is a bonus. We're not saying the subscription is only given value by this costume piece -- a number of you are telling us, month after month, that you like the subscriptions and the benefits they provide. We like when players are happy with a service we provide (and I like when my revenue stream is a consistent, happily large number :biggrin:), so we're making the subscriptions a little more valuable for the exact same price.
A silver player is just as important to us, and we'll reach out to them in a number of other ways, but we also want to look out for the gold players and make sure they're enjoying their benefits.
If Cryptic just wanted to add this in as a bonus, why don't the costume bits just magically show up in the tailor every month for gold / lts? And why make it limited time? There is a reason why you have to actually log into the game, walk over to a vendor, and click to get the pieces.
First of all, it forces you to actually log into the game. More important in the case of LTS members who are probably leaving, never to return. Having the game look populated means that new people are less likely to see this as a game on it's death bed and stick around instead of 1 hour and gone. Another thing, is if you are bothering to log into the game for this stupid costume bit, you might actually play the game for a bit. If you play the game for a bit, you might drop some money on the cash shop.
Heaven forbid they toss together a quick gimmick that might actually make some people consider logging in to spend some time playing their game. What a bunch of sneaky jerks.
You guys know the drill by now -- our plans are always within scope (so no new zones or level cap), but I can say some cool stuff is on its way. The dev team has hit their stride, and while they're cranking out awesome C-Store releases like the Tactical Armor and the Smoke Aura, they're hard at work on new non-monetization content as well. Stay tuned, heroes...
OMG and they're working on other stuff as well! They can fiddle around with more than one project at once and they're tossing us a bone while we wait. I'm stunned.
If anything is ever proof of the constant of the CO player base, this thread is it. The same players that whined and complained about a lack of things that define gold subscription are here now whining and complaining they are getting something to define gold subscription. And they wonder why the devs don't seem to want to do anything for this player base.
I was thinking almost the same exact thought word-for-word.
Trailturtle even took time out to write a thoughtful post and gave the EXACT reasoning for the new vendor.. and not five-minutes later there was a negative post that completely ignored the reasoning given.
Look folks it's not rocket science. Gold members get a little perk to thank them for being subscribers. It distinguishes Gold somewhat from silver. It's not game breaking, purely cosmetic. And if if it encourages people to keep subbing.. well that's good news for us all.
If it's meant to be a perk for gold members - that's nice of them, I'll certainly be getting these pieces.
However, locking costume parts away behind a "Oh, you can't ever get XYZ", is really bad form (See: all the legacy unlocks that still haven't been re-added). And now is the time to tell them that, while the feature isn't live and they can still change their mind.
If they want it to only ever be available to gold members - that's fine, I don't mind that.
But I still think these parts should be available later, not exclusive to a specific time window. If they want to encourage people to log in and get them immediately, then don't make them come up again until two years later, charge an exorbitant amount of Q for picking up parts you missed (and still lock it to only gold members if that's what floats their boat).
It's incredibly frustrating to see a neat costume on someone else, ask "Hey, what's piece XYZ that you're using? I don't recognize that!" and be told "Oh, that's a legacy power replacer drop; you can't get that," or "Oh, that's from a year-old lockbox; you can't get that," or "Oh, that's one of the drops they removed from NemCon, you can't get that". Adding "Oh, you weren't subscribed last month, you can't get that" is a step in the wrong direction.
The costume creator is one of the biggest things this game has going for it. They shouldn't be doing things that will make people frustrated with it.
Look folks it's not rocket science. Gold members get a little perk to thank them for being subscribers. It distinguishes Gold somewhat from silver.
I don't think there is any misunderstanding of what this is for any side of the topic.
A large number of the "negative" posts in this thread have been wanting for a way for *future* golds to still have access to these costume parts. Holding that opinion is not being ungrateful for the parts, or not understanding that they are a nice bonus. It might even be considered a salute to how valuable these components are considered that people just don't go "Meh, parts, whatever" and move on.
I'd like to emphasize that this is a bonus. We're not saying the subscription is only given value by this costume piece -- a number of you are telling us, month after month, that you like the subscriptions and the benefits they provide. We like when players are happy with a service we provide (and I like when my revenue stream is a consistent, happily large number :biggrin:), so we're making the subscriptions a little more valuable for the exact same price.
The benefits of being a subscriber are nice but, adding a costume piece that's locked behind a subscription and a time period doesn't really do anything to add value to a subscription. This is a pretty blatant attempt to get more people to subscribe and, it won't work. While some people may, others simply won't care and then there's the people this will piss off and annoy because they'll know that even if they do subscribe, they'll never be able to get pieces they might have been willing to pay money for. It may help Cryptic generate income but, it'll also help them not generate income. As a former subscriber that canceled their sub, I can tell you right now that this is not enough to get me to resub.
A silver player is just as important to us, and we'll reach out to them in a number of other ways, but we also want to look out for the gold players and make sure they're enjoying their benefits.
Gold players already have numerous benefits including, free character slots, free costume slots, no cap on their resources, free retcon tokens, freeform character slots available for free, at least one zone that's exclusive to them, free costume sets, a monthly stipend to use on your store, a free hideout and, the ability to recolor their powers however they want. If that's not enough to get someone to pay a monthly fee, adding one costume piece that's also behind a time lock and will never be available again is not going to do it and, once again, it will actually discourage some people from spending money since they'll know there are things they'll simply never be able to get no matter how much money they spend.
If Cryptic wants to encourage people to spend money and was smart, they'd follow the system used on Rift and give bonus rewards to players for making purchases on the item store, as well as allow the player to track how many purchases they've made. Give away small items like a pair of goggles, item buffs, and low end catalysts at the lower end of the spectrum and, as it progresses, the rewards get increasingly better. They could give away something like an exclusive vehicle and rank 9 catalysts for the high end spenders. Give someone the task of finishing hideouts and adding the other two rooms they're supposed to have then lock them behind such a system and some people would be racing to make enough purchases to unlock them, gold or silver.
One. If they add new content to play next month along with this Gold Bonus, that justifies only the first month.
Two. Why not just add them permanently for anyone in a subscribed status and skip the Gold Bonus vendor step entirely? Its not accessible when silver but free to use while subscribed.
Three. Make the "bonus" lost costume pieces from power replacers instead of NEW ones.
*dusts hands off*
Alright I'm done trying to fight this. Its obviously not going to change otherwise.
Cool though that would be... eminently not feasible, the resource allocation wouldn't make any sense. Making an entire themed costume set just for golds wouldn't have enough returns, especially given that golds basically get a free set a month with the stipend.
The nice thing about this incentive program is that it's pretty easy for the devs to come up with an idea -- "Wouldn't speedster goggles be cool?" -- and they can make them, polish them, and release them. They don't have to invest the extra time designing an entire costume set as well. Gold players get something awesome, the dev team doesn't have to take too much time away from upcoming content, it's very efficient.
We like when players are happy with a service we provide (and I like when my revenue stream is a consistent, happily large number :biggrin:), so we're making the subscriptions a little more valuable for the exact same price.
You guys know the drill by now -- our plans are always within scope (so no new zones or level cap), but I can say some cool stuff is on its way. The dev team has hit their stride, and while they're cranking out awesome C-Store releases like the Tactical Armor and the Smoke Aura, they're hard at work on new non-monetization content as well. Stay tuned, heroes...
These 2 I need clarification on, you like to keep the player base happy, then why has there not been any work done for this game getting the foundry. Why has this game been allowed to linger in mediocrity, when sto launched and it had the same issue, but unlike co sto was allowed to get better?
Again, I like the concept, I just think the time limit is a bad idea. Future subscribers, but only subscripers/lts, should be able to get the costume pieces as well. We have enough costume pieces that are no longer attainable as it is without adding more.
____________________________________
That Dork In The Suspenders, signing out.
The benefits of being a subscriber are nice but, adding a costume piece that's locked behind a subscription and a time period doesn't really do anything to add value to a subscription.
Again, I like the concept, I just think the time limit is a bad idea. Future subscribers, but only subscripers/lts, should be able to get the costume pieces as well. We have enough costume pieces that are no longer attainable as it is without adding more.
People don't leave because there's nothing to wear, they leave because there's nothing to do. This retention mechanic does NOTHING to change that.
......
Knowing all of that, yes, I hate this retention mechanic because it doesn't do anything to solve the actual issues with the game and player population.
That's how I have been feeling for a while, too much wardrobe but not party to attend to.
My guessing this is to coerce intermitent subscribers in keeping their subscription continuosly.
Again, I like the concept, I just think the time limit is a bad idea. Future subscribers, but only subscripers/lts, should be able to get the costume pieces as well. We have enough costume pieces that are no longer attainable as it is without adding more.
Yeah I agree that the time limit sucks. I understand it being a bonus for subbing.. but now knowing that it's something I will for sure miss out on because of being unable to sub and won't have any chance of obtaining at a later date makes it rather disappointing overall. I don't mind being a Silver right now because I have slowly been working on obtaining the costume sets I had while gold and have accepted playing as an AT on my main (I do miss her FF, but I'm NOT getting a FF slot to start over), but this limited bonus just bugs the costume part collector in me.
@Aleatha1011 in CO | Keeper of the Cheesecake since Nov. 2011| Bunni BOT is on PRIMUS! | Come check out my deviantart page!
Lifers and Golds: crap, suck it up, login, grab free loots. Do this once every 30 days and you get all the loots...not a difficult concept.
Haphazard Golds: check the costume pieces that are coming out. If you don't like it, don't sub and save your bux for a piece you DO want.
Silvers: Dear Silvers, suck it. Love, the costume gods.
I mean, sunglasses are meh, but it's a start in the right direction...just wait til the monthly piece is something truly amazing.
If you "really" want subs though, make the foundry, then make it gold only access. Everybody subs, Champions Online wins the internets. You have to do something drastic to get people to sub now. New powersets only available to golds, new power slots or additional advantages to powers, new content/dungeons available only golds. Things like that. Either that, or make these next few costume pieces AWESOME!
Remember: Half the people you know are below average...
Do not correct a fool, for he will hate you for it. Correct a wise man, for he will appreciate you for it.
Don't be like the Qularr. They would not last one round in the Interstellar Galactic Arena...
Enjoy your sunglasses, Pumpkin. I'm sure they'll come in handy for the 4th of July Fireworks Lockbox EXTRAVAGANZAAAAAAA!
PS: I hope you are never put in charge of any business decision ever dealing with anything in the game industry.
Well it's good you never have been, honestly Sterga. You would have probably bankrupted several major businesses by now. But, by July there will be a new costume piece for golds, so that means glasses in June, and whatever in July and if it keeps going that's a new costume a month. Something that is also successfully used in The Secret World.
I am sorry you want to be butthurt because you don't want to subscribe and think it's unfair people that subscribe get a special perk. Oh noes. Customer appreciation, for loyalty of being subscribed to the game. Such a terrible idea... oh wait no it isn't because it is only seen as bad by people believing they are owed something for nothing.
Something that is also successfully used in The Secret World.
That's not actually accurate. In TSW, you can get items that were offered in the past. In fact, they make a specific point to rerelease exclusive items at other times just so people that missed out before can still have a chance at getting them.
I just think the items should be free for a month, then go into a tab for sale [still only to golds] at a modest in game gold price [maybe 10 G?], and month three to a more expensive price in gold [like 100-200 G or something annoying, but not bank-breaking], and on month four charge Questionite [something high, like 100,000q] and finally fall off on the beginning of the fifth month. This allows plenty of time for people who take a break or have RL issues crop up to still get the items.
Then maybe once every year those items could be packaged in a zen C store pack as "Gold Bonus pack 1!" and the next year of items become "Gold Bonus pack 2" and so on. As a C-store for zen pack, anyone could buy them, of course.
This way even if someone has to miss a month or two, there are options for grabbing the ones you may have briefly missed, and even if you don't grab them then long on down the line, anyone will be able to get them eventually. All at a moderate profit to Cryptic as well, and nobody can complain about them being forever locked behind a time wall, just temporarily.
I just think the items should be free for a month, then go into a tab for sale [still only to golds] at a modest in game gold price [maybe 10 G?], and month three to a more expensive price in gold [like 100-200 G or something annoying, but not bank-breaking], and on month four charge Questionite [something high, like 100,000q] and finally fall off on the beginning of the fifth month. This allows plenty of time for people who take a break or have RL issues crop up to still get the items.
Then maybe once every year those items could be packaged in a zen C store pack as "Gold Bonus pack 1!" and the next year of items become "Gold Bonus pack 2" and so on. As a C-store for zen pack, anyone could buy them, of course.
This way even if someone has to miss a month or two, there are options for grabbing the ones you may have briefly missed, and even if you don't grab them then long on down the line, anyone will be able to get them eventually. All at a moderate profit to Cryptic as well, and nobody can complain about them being forever locked behind a time wall, just temporarily.
I like this idea, it would make sense for those who can't be on or miss out on a month (or more) to play catch up either via G (if they re sub) or via the Z Store. It would also keep the interest of new subscribers (for example a year down the road someone is new to the game and subs) to be able to collect a lot of costume parts.
@Aleatha1011 in CO | Keeper of the Cheesecake since Nov. 2011| Bunni BOT is on PRIMUS! | Come check out my deviantart page!
That's not actually accurate. In TSW, you can get items that were offered in the past. In fact, they make a specific point to rerelease exclusive items at other times just so people that missed out before can still have a chance at getting them.
The way they do it isn't exactly that, and personally, I think exclusive should remain exclusive. Plain and simple. Again if you want it, sub up. Otherwise, you don't want it. It's as simple as that.
The way they do it isn't exactly that, and personally, I think exclusive should remain exclusive. Plain and simple. Again if you want it, sub up. Otherwise, you don't want it. It's as simple as that.
I totally agree. Not everyone gets everything. That's okay--I don't think I'll ever get the full PvP perks and awards. I'm okay with that, even though they include some costume pieces.
I just think the items should be free for a month, then go into a tab for sale [still only to golds] at a modest in game gold price [maybe 10 G?], and month three to a more expensive price in gold [like 100-200 G or something annoying, but not bank-breaking], and on month four charge Questionite [something high, like 100,000q] and finally fall off on the beginning of the fifth month. This allows plenty of time for people who take a break or have RL issues crop up to still get the items.
Then maybe once every year those items could be packaged in a zen C store pack as "Gold Bonus pack 1!" and the next year of items become "Gold Bonus pack 2" and so on. As a C-store for zen pack, anyone could buy them, of course.
This way even if someone has to miss a month or two, there are options for grabbing the ones you may have briefly missed, and even if you don't grab them then long on down the line, anyone will be able to get them eventually. All at a moderate profit to Cryptic as well, and nobody can complain about them being forever locked behind a time wall, just temporarily.
Even leaving the items up for a hard questionite sum (20k) after their first month of being free would be beneficial to Cryptic without adding more items to the lost forever costume list. Players would be more willing to subscribe every few months to spend the Q on every missed free piece during the months where nothing is happening in the game.
The way they do it isn't exactly that, and personally, I think exclusive should remain exclusive. Plain and simple. Again if you want it, sub up. Otherwise, you don't want it. It's as simple as that.
Actually, it is exactly that. Pieces that were offered in the past are made available again at a later date and, as much as I'd like to get some of these exclusive pieces, I'm not about to spend $15 a month for one costume piece on a game that has such limited content. There's far better ways for them to entice people into spending money on this game than offering them 1 trinket a month that no one will ever be able to get again.
I totally agree. Not everyone gets everything. That's okay--I don't think I'll ever get the full PvP perks and awards. I'm okay with that, even though they include some costume pieces.
Again, everyone doesn't get everything.
You're comparing something that can be earned in game by any player at any time to something you have to spend real money on and only get one month per each costume piece to get before that one is gone forever. That's a pretty bad comparison.
it is only seen as bad by people believing they are owed something for nothing.
I really don't see how the notion of letting subscribers in the future pay to get things that are free now is the same thing as wanting something for nothing. Requesting a way to give CO money to acquire a "free" item feels more like the opposite.
I'm getting the item now (well Sunday anyway) because I sub now. That I think future supporters of CO (or current ones that just don't have the cash handy right now) should have an opportunity to purchase these things when they do have the funds doesn't indicate that I feel I am "owed" anything. And I don't feel they are owed anything either, I just would like them to have the chance to give the game more cash when the time comes.
And I would hope that the game getting more money would be considered a good thing by somebody.
It pains me to agree with the championshewolf, but the degree of whining here about an additional, unexpected, small reward for Gold subscribers is eye-roll inducing.
Yes, it would be nice if the harsher details of capitalism were unnecessary and you could join the Fruit-of-the-Month club just for a month and get the last 12-months worth of delicious benefits that you'd missed. But I'm afraid that's a little unrealistic. Cryptic has perfectly understandable reasons to want to incentivize players to a) maintain a subscription and b) log on once in a while. If folks are unable to do that for whatever reason, missing out on a costume piece that they never expected to receive anyway is not the end of the world.
Frankly, I'm mildly pleased to see Cryptic trying out the more traditional benefits-for-subscription model again for a change, rather than the ungodly lockbox-related schemes.
P.S. Dearest Sterga, if these things are tradeable, you are welcome to have my speedster goggles or whatever. Have your people call my people.
LTS since 2009. Author of ACT parser module for CO. Founder of Rampagers. Resident curmudgeon.
"Without data, you're just another person with an opinion." -- W. Edwards Deming
How about this for an all-around win solution: First month- free to subscribers (and, yes, I'm hoping free for LTS as well, thank you very much...); second month: 10Z to subs; double per month after. In other words, if you miss it but you want it, 1st month would only cost you 10Z; 2nd month: 20Z, 3rd month: 40Z, 4th month: 80Z and on and on until a single costume piece cost as much as the national debt. Not exclusive, but a strong incentive to keep your subscription current and log in periodically, at least.
Well it's good you never have been, honestly Sterga. You would have probably bankrupted several major businesses by now. But, by July there will be a new costume piece for golds, so that means glasses in June, and whatever in July and if it keeps going that's a new costume a month. Something that is also successfully used in The Secret World.
I am sorry you want to be butthurt because you don't want to subscribe and think it's unfair people that subscribe get a special perk. Oh noes. Customer appreciation, for loyalty of being subscribed to the game. Such a terrible idea... oh wait no it isn't because it is only seen as bad by people believing they are owed something for nothing.
LOL! I'm not subbed because it would be incredibly irresponsible for me to waste money on a stupid video game when I'm still getting things sorted from my recent homelessness. I hate to break this to you, but there are things in the world that are FAR more important than a pretend item in a video game.
YOU enjoy those sunglasses. I'll be focused on how awesome the rest of this year is going to be for me. And thanks for the laugh.
PS: I don't want the glasses or any of the costume bits. Thanks for the offer, though.
I was out of town the weekend they gave out the Lemurian diving helmets, and it annoys me greatly that I'll never be able to get them again.
Even though I sub anyway, if someone looks through the list of these pieces and sees one they missed forever it would probably be just as frustrating. It's already frustrating enough looking through the pages of weapon/costume unlocks that got yanked in the On Alert patch and never put back in like they were supposed to, most notably the ones tied to perk unlocks that were bind on pickup and untradeable as a result.
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Actually, this is about Cryptic adding a half-assed retention mechanic. Aren't people tired of that yet? Isn't there enough half-finish and forgotten stuff in the game? This could have been so much better, an opportunity to add something to the game that was exclusive and profitable that didn't repeat mistakes that have been made.
I suggested something similar a few months ago, so this idea can only lead to bankruptcy. It was fun Cryptic, but you're doomed now.
Should change this thread to Player whine-fest. That's all that comes from these type of topic, just another reason for people to say how terrible a job cryptic is doing.
It's something free for people who pay. The End. Nothing more, nothing less.
I love to go through threads like these and sit here in awe of just how many people can make something that's really meant to be a bonus out to be the worst thing in the world.
They are available for a price. It's called a subscription. If you want the costume bits, get a sub simple as that. If you don't want to sub, then you don't want the costume bits. And no, I don't think it's harsh that you have 30 days to get one costume piece each month for the price of having a subscription.
I agree with this completely. In other news, Satan is having his cloven hooves fitted for ice skates.
Yes, this is a retention strategy. In case anyone forgot, running a MMO is a business - not a charity. The idea is to get LTS's to log in every month and subbers to keep paying regularly. Everyone's ideas for "fixing" this situation completely undermines the purpose of the giveaway.
My hope is that this will be a vehicle for them to reintroduce some if not all of the lost costume parts. It certainly would reduce the work required to come up with a new piece each month. There are some of those pieces I would pay good money for as it is.
And lastly, keep in mind Cryptic's definition of "exclusive". I don't think anyone has anything to worry about.
I love to go through threads like these and sit here in awe of just how many people can make something that's really meant to be a bonus out to be the worst thing in the world.
So out of curiosity, how many people in this thread *have* indicated that this feature is the "worst thing in the world" or even the "worst thing in CO lately". While there are exceptions I mostly see people on the "negative" end (some of who still are positive about the new feature in general) saying the approach could use some refinement, or that it won't achieve its goals. That's hardly to the scale of negativity or emotional investment in the issue that you and certain others are implying is present.
So out of curiosity, how many people in this thread *have* indicated that this feature is the "worst thing in the world" or even the "worst thing in CO lately". While there are exceptions I mostly see people on the "negative" end (some of who still are positive about the new feature in general) saying the approach could use some refinement, or that it won't achieve its goals. That's hardly to the scale of negativity or emotional investment in the issue that you and certain others are implying is present..
I suggested something similar a few months ago, so this idea can only lead to bankruptcy. It was fun Cryptic, but you're doomed now.
If that's not a load of hyperbole, I'm not sure what is anymore. Granted, I kinda blew the number of people that actually do this out of proportion in my initial post and I apologize for that.
Possible Solutions:
Let the costume pieces remain in the vendor but add an ever increasing price onto older pieces as newer ones are added.
What are your thoughts?
Free for the month it's introduced and then purchasable from the Q-Store any point afterwards would be fine by me, but then the devs would have to introduce Gold-Only purchasing to the Q-Store.
Side-note: Think CO's Dev team could let me go play with some of their toys for a bit? I'd love to go in and help out if I could. And yes, I am quite serious.
I think it's silly people get so bent out of shape over a THIRTY day time frame. Some months you even have a 31 day window...however, February is only going to give you a 28 day window so you better be on the ball that month.
Really, if you can't login for over a month at a time, then you should accept you will miss out on things. However, if you 'choose' not to login for over 30 days at a time, then I would assume other things are just more important and you probably won't miss whatever it was anyways.
Needless to say, it's happening, and I'm pretty excited to see what is in store in the months ahead. So bring on the free stuffs for golds!
Remember: Half the people you know are below average...
Do not correct a fool, for he will hate you for it. Correct a wise man, for he will appreciate you for it.
Don't be like the Qularr. They would not last one round in the Interstellar Galactic Arena...
My end line on this topic is I have said what I wanted to about it, I do actually hope it works well in whatever format it is in (as I want CO to get more revenue and thus hopefully justify more resources), and I can't wait till tomorrow to grab the groovy new glasses.
Then we can begin the estimating of what will come next... I'm pretty sure it won't be previously released parts (since the stuff being new and fresh has been mentioned) and its been made clear it won't be sets, so I don't even know what one-offs to be hoping for. A more insectoid alien foot (i.e. one without a heel)? A really long hairstyle? A parrot as a shoulder piece? So many possibilities when it doesn't have to actually relate to anything. The mind boggles.
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as a log on to get it mechanic. It's kinda .. yes well.
Thank you for the nice costumes. I do like the goggles. If I remember to log on to both accts when It's available, i may get them.
Trailturtle
for Silver players;
Resource max limit tokens- like they have in STO
We have a heck of a lot of buying and selling due to costumes and items in game, it makes sense to encourage your players to collect
currently they are limited to cheap items or trying to trade for keys, so they build up a load of resources but can't really use them, without a buying partner, to get the item for them or to sell an item for them.
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Heaven forbid they toss together a quick gimmick that might actually make some people consider logging in to spend some time playing their game. What a bunch of sneaky jerks.
OMG and they're working on other stuff as well! They can fiddle around with more than one project at once and they're tossing us a bone while we wait. I'm stunned.
I was thinking almost the same exact thought word-for-word.
Trailturtle even took time out to write a thoughtful post and gave the EXACT reasoning for the new vendor.. and not five-minutes later there was a negative post that completely ignored the reasoning given.
Look folks it's not rocket science. Gold members get a little perk to thank them for being subscribers. It distinguishes Gold somewhat from silver. It's not game breaking, purely cosmetic. And if if it encourages people to keep subbing.. well that's good news for us all.
However, locking costume parts away behind a "Oh, you can't ever get XYZ", is really bad form (See: all the legacy unlocks that still haven't been re-added). And now is the time to tell them that, while the feature isn't live and they can still change their mind.
If they want it to only ever be available to gold members - that's fine, I don't mind that.
But I still think these parts should be available later, not exclusive to a specific time window. If they want to encourage people to log in and get them immediately, then don't make them come up again until two years later, charge an exorbitant amount of Q for picking up parts you missed (and still lock it to only gold members if that's what floats their boat).
It's incredibly frustrating to see a neat costume on someone else, ask "Hey, what's piece XYZ that you're using? I don't recognize that!" and be told "Oh, that's a legacy power replacer drop; you can't get that," or "Oh, that's from a year-old lockbox; you can't get that," or "Oh, that's one of the drops they removed from NemCon, you can't get that". Adding "Oh, you weren't subscribed last month, you can't get that" is a step in the wrong direction.
The costume creator is one of the biggest things this game has going for it. They shouldn't be doing things that will make people frustrated with it.
A large number of the "negative" posts in this thread have been wanting for a way for *future* golds to still have access to these costume parts. Holding that opinion is not being ungrateful for the parts, or not understanding that they are a nice bonus. It might even be considered a salute to how valuable these components are considered that people just don't go "Meh, parts, whatever" and move on.
Gold players already have numerous benefits including, free character slots, free costume slots, no cap on their resources, free retcon tokens, freeform character slots available for free, at least one zone that's exclusive to them, free costume sets, a monthly stipend to use on your store, a free hideout and, the ability to recolor their powers however they want. If that's not enough to get someone to pay a monthly fee, adding one costume piece that's also behind a time lock and will never be available again is not going to do it and, once again, it will actually discourage some people from spending money since they'll know there are things they'll simply never be able to get no matter how much money they spend.
If Cryptic wants to encourage people to spend money and was smart, they'd follow the system used on Rift and give bonus rewards to players for making purchases on the item store, as well as allow the player to track how many purchases they've made. Give away small items like a pair of goggles, item buffs, and low end catalysts at the lower end of the spectrum and, as it progresses, the rewards get increasingly better. They could give away something like an exclusive vehicle and rank 9 catalysts for the high end spenders. Give someone the task of finishing hideouts and adding the other two rooms they're supposed to have then lock them behind such a system and some people would be racing to make enough purchases to unlock them, gold or silver.
Two. Why not just add them permanently for anyone in a subscribed status and skip the Gold Bonus vendor step entirely? Its not accessible when silver but free to use while subscribed.
Three. Make the "bonus" lost costume pieces from power replacers instead of NEW ones.
*dusts hands off*
Alright I'm done trying to fight this. Its obviously not going to change otherwise.
These 2 I need clarification on, you like to keep the player base happy, then why has there not been any work done for this game getting the foundry. Why has this game been allowed to linger in mediocrity, when sto launched and it had the same issue, but unlike co sto was allowed to get better?
That Dork In The Suspenders, signing out.
WARNING: Not An Actual Internet Reviewer
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lol....of course it does.
Click here to check out my costumes/milleniumguardian (MG) in-game/We need more tights, stances and moods
It'll certainly add annoyance value
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That's how I have been feeling for a while, too much wardrobe but not party to attend to.
My guessing this is to coerce intermitent subscribers in keeping their subscription continuosly.
Yeah I agree that the time limit sucks. I understand it being a bonus for subbing.. but now knowing that it's something I will for sure miss out on because of being unable to sub and won't have any chance of obtaining at a later date makes it rather disappointing overall. I don't mind being a Silver right now because I have slowly been working on obtaining the costume sets I had while gold and have accepted playing as an AT on my main (I do miss her FF, but I'm NOT getting a FF slot to start over), but this limited bonus just bugs the costume part collector in me.
@Aleatha1011 in CO | Keeper of the Cheesecake since Nov. 2011| Bunni BOT is on PRIMUS! | Come check out my deviantart page!
Lifers and Golds: crap, suck it up, login, grab free loots. Do this once every 30 days and you get all the loots...not a difficult concept.
Haphazard Golds: check the costume pieces that are coming out. If you don't like it, don't sub and save your bux for a piece you DO want.
Silvers: Dear Silvers, suck it. Love, the costume gods.
I mean, sunglasses are meh, but it's a start in the right direction...just wait til the monthly piece is something truly amazing.
If you "really" want subs though, make the foundry, then make it gold only access. Everybody subs, Champions Online wins the internets. You have to do something drastic to get people to sub now. New powersets only available to golds, new power slots or additional advantages to powers, new content/dungeons available only golds. Things like that. Either that, or make these next few costume pieces AWESOME!
Remember: Half the people you know are below average...
Do not correct a fool, for he will hate you for it. Correct a wise man, for he will appreciate you for it.
Don't be like the Qularr. They would not last one round in the Interstellar Galactic Arena...
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Enjoy your sunglasses, Pumpkin. I'm sure they'll come in handy for the 4th of July Fireworks Lockbox EXTRAVAGANZAAAAAAA!
PS: I hope you are never put in charge of any business decision ever dealing with anything in the game industry.
[at]riviania Member since Aug 2009
Well it's good you never have been, honestly Sterga. You would have probably bankrupted several major businesses by now. But, by July there will be a new costume piece for golds, so that means glasses in June, and whatever in July and if it keeps going that's a new costume a month. Something that is also successfully used in The Secret World.
I am sorry you want to be butthurt because you don't want to subscribe and think it's unfair people that subscribe get a special perk. Oh noes. Customer appreciation, for loyalty of being subscribed to the game. Such a terrible idea... oh wait no it isn't because it is only seen as bad by people believing they are owed something for nothing.
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There are subscribers in this thread who think its a bad idea (in its currently described implementation at least)..
'Caine, miss you bud. Fly high.
That's not actually accurate. In TSW, you can get items that were offered in the past. In fact, they make a specific point to rerelease exclusive items at other times just so people that missed out before can still have a chance at getting them.
Then maybe once every year those items could be packaged in a zen C store pack as "Gold Bonus pack 1!" and the next year of items become "Gold Bonus pack 2" and so on. As a C-store for zen pack, anyone could buy them, of course.
This way even if someone has to miss a month or two, there are options for grabbing the ones you may have briefly missed, and even if you don't grab them then long on down the line, anyone will be able to get them eventually. All at a moderate profit to Cryptic as well, and nobody can complain about them being forever locked behind a time wall, just temporarily.
I like this idea, it would make sense for those who can't be on or miss out on a month (or more) to play catch up either via G (if they re sub) or via the Z Store. It would also keep the interest of new subscribers (for example a year down the road someone is new to the game and subs) to be able to collect a lot of costume parts.
@Aleatha1011 in CO | Keeper of the Cheesecake since Nov. 2011| Bunni BOT is on PRIMUS! | Come check out my deviantart page!
The way they do it isn't exactly that, and personally, I think exclusive should remain exclusive. Plain and simple. Again if you want it, sub up. Otherwise, you don't want it. It's as simple as that.
Silverspar on PRIMUS
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I totally agree. Not everyone gets everything. That's okay--I don't think I'll ever get the full PvP perks and awards. I'm okay with that, even though they include some costume pieces.
Again, everyone doesn't get everything.
Whoever you are, be that person one hundred percent. Don't compromise on your identity.
Even leaving the items up for a hard questionite sum (20k) after their first month of being free would be beneficial to Cryptic without adding more items to the lost forever costume list. Players would be more willing to subscribe every few months to spend the Q on every missed free piece during the months where nothing is happening in the game.
Actually, it is exactly that. Pieces that were offered in the past are made available again at a later date and, as much as I'd like to get some of these exclusive pieces, I'm not about to spend $15 a month for one costume piece on a game that has such limited content. There's far better ways for them to entice people into spending money on this game than offering them 1 trinket a month that no one will ever be able to get again.
You're comparing something that can be earned in game by any player at any time to something you have to spend real money on and only get one month per each costume piece to get before that one is gone forever. That's a pretty bad comparison.
I really don't see how the notion of letting subscribers in the future pay to get things that are free now is the same thing as wanting something for nothing. Requesting a way to give CO money to acquire a "free" item feels more like the opposite.
I'm getting the item now (well Sunday anyway) because I sub now. That I think future supporters of CO (or current ones that just don't have the cash handy right now) should have an opportunity to purchase these things when they do have the funds doesn't indicate that I feel I am "owed" anything. And I don't feel they are owed anything either, I just would like them to have the chance to give the game more cash when the time comes.
And I would hope that the game getting more money would be considered a good thing by somebody.
Other than the championship type belts, aren't a lot of those compiled in the purchasable Luchadore set ?
Yes, it would be nice if the harsher details of capitalism were unnecessary and you could join the Fruit-of-the-Month club just for a month and get the last 12-months worth of delicious benefits that you'd missed. But I'm afraid that's a little unrealistic. Cryptic has perfectly understandable reasons to want to incentivize players to a) maintain a subscription and b) log on once in a while. If folks are unable to do that for whatever reason, missing out on a costume piece that they never expected to receive anyway is not the end of the world.
Frankly, I'm mildly pleased to see Cryptic trying out the more traditional benefits-for-subscription model again for a change, rather than the ungodly lockbox-related schemes.
P.S. Dearest Sterga, if these things are tradeable, you are welcome to have my speedster goggles or whatever. Have your people call my people.
"Without data, you're just another person with an opinion." -- W. Edwards Deming
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LOL! I'm not subbed because it would be incredibly irresponsible for me to waste money on a stupid video game when I'm still getting things sorted from my recent homelessness. I hate to break this to you, but there are things in the world that are FAR more important than a pretend item in a video game.
YOU enjoy those sunglasses. I'll be focused on how awesome the rest of this year is going to be for me. And thanks for the laugh.
PS: I don't want the glasses or any of the costume bits. Thanks for the offer, though.
[at]riviania Member since Aug 2009
Even though I sub anyway, if someone looks through the list of these pieces and sees one they missed forever it would probably be just as frustrating. It's already frustrating enough looking through the pages of weapon/costume unlocks that got yanked in the On Alert patch and never put back in like they were supposed to, most notably the ones tied to perk unlocks that were bind on pickup and untradeable as a result.
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If you can't find $15 a month for some costume pieces you want, then you probably have larger problems than complaining about it on a mmo forum.
@Sterga:
Yes, there is a reason I play video games and not work on them :biggrin:
However, if you want to scrub out as a silver, then by all means do so. You are going to miss out on some cool stuff...like this: :cool:
@subscribers:
If you can't spend 5 minutes logging in to grab the costume piece every 30 days, then it obviously wasn't that important to you.
Remember: Half the people you know are below average...
Do not correct a fool, for he will hate you for it. Correct a wise man, for he will appreciate you for it.
Don't be like the Qularr. They would not last one round in the Interstellar Galactic Arena...
Handle @brayv
This pretty much sums it up.
Click here to check out my costumes/milleniumguardian (MG) in-game/We need more tights, stances and moods
Could we do a weapon or two like this?
I suggested something similar a few months ago, so this idea can only lead to bankruptcy. It was fun Cryptic, but you're doomed now.
[at]riviania Member since Aug 2009
It's something free for people who pay. The End. Nothing more, nothing less.
Bravo, guys. You did not disappoint me.
I agree with this completely. In other news, Satan is having his cloven hooves fitted for ice skates.
Yes, this is a retention strategy. In case anyone forgot, running a MMO is a business - not a charity. The idea is to get LTS's to log in every month and subbers to keep paying regularly. Everyone's ideas for "fixing" this situation completely undermines the purpose of the giveaway.
My hope is that this will be a vehicle for them to reintroduce some if not all of the lost costume parts. It certainly would reduce the work required to come up with a new piece each month. There are some of those pieces I would pay good money for as it is.
And lastly, keep in mind Cryptic's definition of "exclusive". I don't think anyone has anything to worry about.
So out of curiosity, how many people in this thread *have* indicated that this feature is the "worst thing in the world" or even the "worst thing in CO lately". While there are exceptions I mostly see people on the "negative" end (some of who still are positive about the new feature in general) saying the approach could use some refinement, or that it won't achieve its goals. That's hardly to the scale of negativity or emotional investment in the issue that you and certain others are implying is present.
Shotguns in particular would be nice to see some extra options under.
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Although that clip can also be said to be a summary of forum threads at times...
Then what's this?
If that's not a load of hyperbole, I'm not sure what is anymore. Granted, I kinda blew the number of people that actually do this out of proportion in my initial post and I apologize for that.
Free for the month it's introduced and then purchasable from the Q-Store any point afterwards would be fine by me, but then the devs would have to introduce Gold-Only purchasing to the Q-Store.
Side-note: Think CO's Dev team could let me go play with some of their toys for a bit? I'd love to go in and help out if I could. And yes, I am quite serious.
And I will always be @DZPlayer122.
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Really, if you can't login for over a month at a time, then you should accept you will miss out on things. However, if you 'choose' not to login for over 30 days at a time, then I would assume other things are just more important and you probably won't miss whatever it was anyways.
Needless to say, it's happening, and I'm pretty excited to see what is in store in the months ahead. So bring on the free stuffs for golds!
Remember: Half the people you know are below average...
Do not correct a fool, for he will hate you for it. Correct a wise man, for he will appreciate you for it.
Don't be like the Qularr. They would not last one round in the Interstellar Galactic Arena...
Handle @brayv
"Hey, here's some glasses or something." Sure, I might not use all the pieces, but one or two things exclusive to Gold Members would be awesome.
Yes, well I did say "While there are exceptions".
My end line on this topic is I have said what I wanted to about it, I do actually hope it works well in whatever format it is in (as I want CO to get more revenue and thus hopefully justify more resources), and I can't wait till tomorrow to grab the groovy new glasses.
Then we can begin the estimating of what will come next... I'm pretty sure it won't be previously released parts (since the stuff being new and fresh has been mentioned) and its been made clear it won't be sets, so I don't even know what one-offs to be hoping for. A more insectoid alien foot (i.e. one without a heel)? A really long hairstyle? A parrot as a shoulder piece? So many possibilities when it doesn't have to actually relate to anything. The mind boggles.
The majority of new players don't even know what Freeform is and what it provides. We need Dev blogs or tutorial videos sponsored by Cryptic.