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Computer Ed Interviews Dan Stahl

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
edited September 2011 in Galactic News Network [PC]
Computer Ed talks Perfect World and more with Executive Producer Dan Stahl. Give it a listen here.


Link to the news article.
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited September 2011
    I cant get it to work?
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited September 2011
    Enjoyed the interview :)

    Also, hello there Red Ice. I see you have posted a few things before but this is the first time I have seen you :p
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited September 2011
    Caden wrote: »
    I cant get it to work?

    You have to use IE. I had the same issue in Firefox, I think...
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited September 2011
    Thanks for the link!

    Caden, are you using Firefox? It wouldn't work for me either, but worked fine when I tried IE instead.

    Edit: Oops, beaten to the punch. :p
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited September 2011
    It works fine in Chrome. :)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited September 2011
    Guys sorry, not sure what is going on. I have done a little reformatting of the post to see if that will correct the issue. I have tested with Firefox, Chrome and IE and all are now working.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited September 2011
    Just pasting my comment on the Ed blog here, so may look a bit out of place.


    Great interview. Thank you! My only issue is how much louder Ed was than Stahl. I had to have my volume up really high just to hear Stahl and then when Ed started talking, it was as if he was yelling. Either there is an issue with the record volume used for Stahl’s voice or Stahl wasn’t talking loud enough. Hopefully this is something you can look to remedy in future interviews. Never-the-less, a great informative interview and yes, as you said Ed, all of my worries have been relieved hearing that my Subscription and Paid Purchaces will remain intact.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited September 2011
    Quick note:

    Dan.. Dan, Dan, Dan.. What are we going to do with you?

    You say F2P is a wonderful thing, because it allows the game to stand on it's own merits, having content be free but cosmetics be paid..

    Dan, while an item lacks an in-game method of acquisition, it's a pay item. Announcing that there will be an in-game acquisition method doesn't change that. So the Rhode Island, and the other upcoming lower-tier ships that will have interesting consoles? Only when the method is in place can you say they aren't pay-for-power.

    And they are Pay for Power. Just because you and the rest of the Dev Team has the publicity line that it isn't, doesn't fool anybody who has tested it, or even thought about having an extra tier-top power compared to other people.

    The method has to come first, or at the same time to say they're available in-game. Nebulous future changes do not change their status now.

    As to the hybrid F2p/P2P model you're going for, I can see the draw, and the industry itself seems to be moving in that direction, so I can see how this was perhaps an inevitability for virtually everything but WoW.

    Indeed, it's likely that the model STO has followed (Debut P2P, go hybrid after initial run and real-world play has yielded important changes and updates) will be the model other games will follow (TOR, specifically).

    So I'm not mad at the model, I'm mad at the timing. Perfect World couldn't have waited until the Pre-Launch LTS' had gotten their moneys worth? Until the 2 year Anniversary?

    But here's my worry: There is, in the Asian MMO market, an unfortunate tradition of pay-for-power, items available for micro-transactions that have timers and give you Damage, Damage Resistance, or Regen Buffs. Things that unquestionably are pay-for-power, that give the edge to players with money to throw around, while claiming to be F2P and welcoming cash Strapped players, only to leave them unable to compete.

    Please, state without doublespeak (Devspeak?) that that will not happen in STO.

    Please repeat after me:

    "I, Daniel Stahl, hereby swear and affirm that STO will not adopt a pay-for-power ideology with our micro-transactions so long as I am Lead Developer."
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited September 2011
    Katic wrote: »

    So I'm not mad at the model, I'm mad at the timing. Perfect World couldn't have waited until the Pre-Launch LTS' had gotten their moneys worth? Until the 2 year Anniversary?
    You're implying a elitist hyper-class system where none should exist. That's the entire purpose of VETERAN REWARDS.
    The earlybird who paid less for LTS should expect no different treatment than the LTS subscriber who started in any following season. The LTS -> Gold level perks should be the same. The attempted calculation of time/dollars/value ratio is a non-starter, they are not equivalent or standardized. (I've read several other more eloquent posts with better logic than I can recount here.)

    A company can't segregate their customers based on timing. Again, that's what Veteran Rewards are for. A membership level is a membership level. My money is just as good as yours, I just didn't give it to them all at once.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited September 2011
    This interview really answered a lot of my concerns for STO. Glad to know there's a brighter future for both Cryptic and Perfect World. :)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited September 2011
    I came away from the interview with a very positive feel about this move. I would have loved, as we all would have, to have gotten some details of what the move to F2P means but I understand they are not ready yet.

    The general impression I am left with is that this was not planned to happen as quick as it is. I would say they were likely a few weeks away from when they planned to make this public. That being said this is obviously not a sudden move.

    F2P gets a bad rap in the US and one that frankly is not deserved. This is due to cultural standards. I mean you tell someone they are getting something for free and then tend to wonder what is wrong with it, at least in the US. So when a company has been using a business model that makes more sense to us culturally and then moves to F2P the natural reaction is to think they have somehow failed.

    F2P is not the venue of failure, look at games like Tabula Rasa, that is failure. F2P is a strategic move that is being embraced by more and more MMOs and other games as well every day. It has proven again and again that it creates a larger customer based and generates more income. Doubt that, look at Perfect World, a company built on the F2P model and they are growing and growing fast.

    For me this move is not something I see as scary or the hammer falling. It is instead a move I think makes a lot of sense and I am excited about the future of STO due to it.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited September 2011
    Katic wrote: »
    Quick note:

    Dan.. Dan, Dan, Dan.. What are we going to do with you?

    You say F2P is a wonderful thing, because it allows the game to stand on it's own merits, having content be free but cosmetics be paid..

    Dan, while an item lacks an in-game method of acquisition, it's a pay item. Announcing that there will be an in-game acquisition method doesn't change that. So the Rhode Island, and the other upcoming lower-tier ships that will have interesting consoles? Only when the method is in place can you say they aren't pay-for-power.

    And they are Pay for Power. Just because you and the rest of the Dev Team has the publicity line that it isn't, doesn't fool anybody who has tested it, or even thought about having an extra tier-top power compared to other people.

    The method has to come first, or at the same time to say they're available in-game. Nebulous future changes do not change their status now.

    As to the hybrid F2p/P2P model you're going for, I can see the draw, and the industry itself seems to be moving in that direction, so I can see how this was perhaps an inevitability for virtually everything but WoW.

    Indeed, it's likely that the model STO has followed (Debut P2P, go hybrid after initial run and real-world play has yielded important changes and updates) will be the model other games will follow (TOR, specifically).

    So I'm not mad at the model, I'm mad at the timing. Perfect World couldn't have waited until the Pre-Launch LTS' had gotten their moneys worth? Until the 2 year Anniversary?

    But here's my worry: There is, in the Asian MMO market, an unfortunate tradition of pay-for-power, items available for micro-transactions that have timers and give you Damage, Damage Resistance, or Regen Buffs. Things that unquestionably are pay-for-power, that give the edge to players with money to throw around, while claiming to be F2P and welcoming cash Strapped players, only to leave them unable to compete.

    Please, state without doublespeak (Devspeak?) that that will not happen in STO.

    Please repeat after me:

    "I, Daniel Stahl, hereby swear and affirm that STO will not adopt a pay-for-power ideology with our micro-transactions so long as I am Lead Developer."

    You obviously missed the announcement elsewhere about the Trade Dilithium that is currently in development testing as we speak, based on reading this. The name might change, but people are supposed to be able to trade them for C-Store points, thus making everything in the C-Store available for an in-game commodity, not just for cash. What the "exchange rate" will be and how this exchange is done is being hammered out right now, and I would not be surprised if it went online at least at the same time as F2P.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited September 2011
    Brackynews wrote: »
    You're implying a elitist hyper-class system where none should exist. That's the entire purpose of VETERAN REWARDS.
    The earlybird who paid less for LTS should expect no different treatment than the LTS subscriber who started in any following season. The LTS -> Gold level perks should be the same. The attempted calculation of time/dollars/value ratio is a non-starter, they are not equivalent or standardized. (I've read several other more eloquent posts with better logic than I can recount here.)

    A company can't segregate their customers based on timing. Again, that's what Veteran Rewards are for. A membership level is a membership level. My money is just as good as yours, I just didn't give it to them all at once.

    QFT I've seen a huge division among the lifers about the F2P model being adopted, and the one commonality I see in the naysayers has been simply an ignorance towards what the Premium/Gold paid member benefits will likely be, and a (to be blunt) stupid assumption that they'll get no better than the free members. I wish people would actually look at what's been done before with Champions Online and other games then use the brains they were born with to actually put 2 & 2 together to realize that they are still getting an awesome deal, and it's actually getting better. With F2P, they are paying nothing more, and will likely even be getting free C-Store points every month, saving them even more cash.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited September 2011
    QFT I've seen a huge division among the lifers about the F2P model being adopted, and the one commonality I see in the naysayers has been simply an ignorance towards what the Premium/Gold paid member benefits will likely be, and a (to be blunt) stupid assumption that they'll get no better than the free members. I wish people would actually look at what's been done before with Champions Online and other games then use the brains they were born with to actually put 2 & 2 together to realize that they are still getting an awesome deal, and it's actually getting better. With F2P, they are paying nothing more, and will likely even be getting free C-Store points every month, saving them even more cash.

    ++ plus one
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited September 2011
    people fear what they dont understand and many people dont understand the f2p hybrid model. they only hear 'free to play' and jump to conclusions and its clear that they have not experienced it with other games and have gotten angry over something they probably would not do if they had all the facts.

    thats not to say every single person will be happy even with all the facts, but hating it when you have all the facts is one thing, but hating it before they understand it is another. i suggest people at least wait for the FAQ next week before they panic.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited September 2011
    people fear what they dont understand and many people dont understand the f2p hybrid model. they only hear 'free to play' and jump to conclusions and its clear that they have not experienced it with other games and have gotten angry over something they probably would not do if they had all the facts.
    .

    We discussed this on Sundays show, I believe it is a cultural thing personally. The F2P model is not only successful in Asia but accepted as a normal. However in the western cultures we have a hard time understanding how something moving from costing money to basically being free is actually going to make an income so in our eyes it is a failure.

    This BTW has been proven in quite a few titles as being far from the truth.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited September 2011
    people fear what they dont understand and many people dont understand the f2p hybrid model. they only hear 'free to play' and jump to conclusions and its clear that they have not experienced it with other games and have gotten angry over something they probably would not do if they had all the facts.

    thats not to say every single person will be happy even with all the facts, but hating it when you have all the facts is one thing, but hating it before they understand it is another. i suggest people at least wait for the FAQ next week before they panic.

    I understand what you are saying....and you may have different expernice with the F2P model but there are a lot of us here state side that have seen our games go from improving to dieing. I personally am angry at what I am hearing and seeing on the forums from official post. To know that by me paying a $15 a month since the game went live and I was here during open beta, to see in that people that play for free will be able to do everything I can with only a couple of exceptions. So yes I am angry and feel betrayed, what They ahve done is made this a PVP game for sure and the rest of us that want to do PVE are screwed!!!! So I will hang in there and see what will happen but I am tellling you and the whole Cryptic Bunch all the way to the CEO there are people like me and we will drop you all like a hot potateo if this game begins to S@#$!!! SO I feel that my loyalty been stepped on, everytime I have stood up and said wait and see it will get better, for that I say now I been TRIBBLE. So Lead Programer if you think I am wrong PM amd tell me why I should be excited and thankful we are going that way. I will give you my word anything you say to me will stay with me. But I am sure I will hear nothing from you other than you killing my account for my negativity.
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