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Not Vet Rewards, Not More Lifer Perks -- Loyalty Rewards

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
I've suggested this around but the game is a bit young for vet rewards. I'm more than happy with lifer perks.

I think the rewards system that should be based around consecutive months' subscription to reward "sticking it out" through the rough patches. The big problem with MMOs big and small is the tendency for people to duck out or wait for it to be finished/perfect/polished.

I think what would bypass that and help encourage retention through the rough patches is to establish a rewards program that encourages staying subbed in addition to current efforts to promote content and activity.
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Agreed. We got our ponies, and they're very nice ponies and we appreciate them very much, but now it's time to work on encouraging retention.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    syberghost wrote: »
    Agreed. We got our ponies, and they're very nice ponies and we appreciate them very much, but now it's time to work on encouraging retention.

    Sounds great, most every other MMO I have played have Vet rewards for being subbed for certain periods of time.

    The only problem is that these type of rewards do not come out the first 2-3 months a game is out, they usually hit after the 4-6 month mark, mainly due to the devs working on actual content, bug fixes and such (that was why the devs created the LTS perks on their own personal time).


    I know that the monthly, quarterly and yearly subbers deserve cool stuff to, but keeping the focus on improving certain aspects of the game is a lot better use of their time, at least for the next couple of months.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Though, you probably should amment the title, as lifers would get everything anyway.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    I fully support this but i think the best retention method is to get borg space fixed first, theres no point in giving everyone fluff if their pulling their hair out trying to run RA missions
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    'Id hate for it to be consecutive months. But I guess its better than nothing.

    I may very well stop paying for awhile because I may be playing something else. I mean, I cant just pay for STO if Im not playing it.

    I would hope that the rewards were given for total time paid for. Even if I take a break for awhile it would still be nice to get a reward.

    But maybe thats asking too much. *shrugs*
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    'Id hate for it to be consecutive months. But I guess its better than nothing.

    I may very well stop paying for awhile because I may be playing something else. I mean, I cant just pay for STO if Im not playing it.

    I would hope that the rewards were given for total time paid for. Even if I take a break for awhile it would still be nice to get a reward.

    But maybe thats asking too much. *shrugs*

    you can stop playing it, just keep paying for it :D

    its not like theres any other mmos out soon worth paying for
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    akridine wrote: »
    you can stop playing it, just keep paying for it :D

    its not like theres any other mmos out soon worth paying for

    Errrrr......no. I dont really want to pay for it every month if Im not playing it that month. That seems kind of off to me.

    Id rather them add the total time up that Ive subbed for and get rewarded for that. Returning players should get rewards as well I think.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Vet rewards are just that,, rewards for having been subscribed for consecutive x number of months. CoH does 3 month spreads, Aion does monthly.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Vet rewards are just that,, rewards for having been subscribed for consecutive x number of months. CoH does 3 month spreads, Aion does monthly.

    Well then I may as well buy a lifetime sub, or get no rewards at all I guess. :(
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Well then I may as well buy a lifetime sub, or get no rewards at all I guess. :(

    unfortunatly all mmo's work on how many months you pay for, thats why their called loyalty bonuses
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    I agree it should be for months subed. Thats what the rewards are for to keep people that pay.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    akridine wrote: »
    unfortunatly all mmo's work on how many months you pay for, thats why their called loyalty bonuses

    Well Im all for it anyways. I probably wont ever see one myself, but it would be a great thank you for playing to everyone else. :o
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Well Im all for it anyways. I probably wont ever see one myself, but it would be a great thank you for playing to everyone else. :o

    its a great idea, lets hope when they do come out they'll back date the time you've spent so you get some goodies when you come back :)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Veteran rewards are rarely consecutive. Thus, if you subscribe for three months, leave for two, come back for one, leave again for four, and come back for two more, you will still have accumulated six months of time toward veteran rewards over that year.

    I wouldn't be against an extra bonus for consecutive months, but it would be harder to accomplish. If anything, I'd put an upper limit on it. Either twelve or twenty-four months. It's a good way to encourage people to stick around, but make the treadmill too long and you risk people giving up before they even get on.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Tilarium wrote: »
    Though, you probably should amment the title, as lifers would get everything anyway.

    A vet rewards system which excludes lifers is silly. Lifers should have to wait like everyone else but it's not like we even have the choice of paying a monthly fee to get access to such a system. The whole point of selling lifetime accounts becomes suspect if you exclude rewards from lifers.

    The typical vet rewards system doesn't credit you for time you didn't play but also lets you stack time. I'm suggesting that people who leave for six months with the plans to come back when it's better reduce subscriber revenues and make it harder for the developer to justify/afford the development resources to make it better.

    You can't say there's NOTHING to do in a given month with 1-2 STFs added every month.

    Specifically, I think vet rewards systems should reset when you unsub. The operative word in my proposal being CONSECUTIVE subscriptions. The whole reason why they're trying to thank lifers right now is because we agreed to stick around for two years worth of gameplay all at once, with no breaks due to "lack of content". That's why year subscriptions cost less and many have argued they deserve rewards too.

    Loyalty means sticking with the game when content is light. So rather than a cumulative system (one that adds up how many months you subscribe), I'm proposing a consecutive reward system that awards you solely based on back to back months subscribed, with increasingly better rewards, and it resets when you cancel.

    For example, say they just made it a C-Store points bonus. Say you get:

    50 Cryptic Points at the end of the first month

    60 CP for the second month

    80 CP for the third month

    110 CP for the fourth month

    150 CP for the fifth month

    200 CP for the sixth month

    260 CP for the seventh month

    330 CP for the eighth month

    410 CP for the ninth month

    500 CP for the tenth month

    600 CP for the eleventh month

    Ultra-Special Reward Package for the One Year Mark + 600 CP

    600 CP every month thereafter and a special reward every 6-12 months.

    Progress resets when you unsub and you get a warning on your account management page about it.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    I think an activity monitor perhaps.

    To hell with where the money comes from. Simply put, Did player A meet a minumum monthly activity time vs player B
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    I think once I hit 20 months ($300) worth of consequetive play, I should get the same perks as a Lifer.

    I just can't bring myself to plop down $300 in one transaction for a game that could go poof 2 years from now. I'm a veteran of Earth & Beyond, it was a great game (forward looking for its time) and yet its plug was pulled by EA (eventhough it was turning a profit).
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    I think an activity monitor perhaps.

    To hell with where the money comes from. Simply put, Did player A meet a minumum monthly activity time vs player B

    Activity costs money. It costs bandwidth and it costs development resources.

    Subscriptions make money.

    Beyond that, there is the issue of quality of activity.

    If they're going to do that, perhaps what they should look at is simply having a cosmetic reward tied to each STF that is ONLY available for completing it in the first 30 days it's live. Or having some kind of reward (seasonal content, etc.) that is only offered once a year during that month or is only offered once. Miss a month and you miss the chance at the reward for at least a year, possibly forever.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Blodveard wrote: »
    I think once I hit 20 months ($300) worth of consequetive play, I should get the same perks as a Lifer.

    I just can't bring myself to plop down $300 in one transaction for a game that could go poof 2 years from now. I'm a veteran of Earth & Beyond, it was a great game (forward looking for its time) and yet its plug was pulled by EA (eventhough it was turning a profit).

    I can agree with this, honestly, but I think there need to be waypoints along the way and it doesn't stop somebody from taking time off. I knew when I played City of Heroes that if I took a month off, I'd be a month behind in my vet rewards goals but that I'd get there eventually. What Cryptic needs now is to make people stick around through the lean months.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Soupgoblin wrote: »
    Sounds great, most every other MMO I have played have Vet rewards for being subbed for certain periods of time.

    And Cryptic were one of the first companies to do that. Not the first, but one of the first. BTW, you'll find that once an MMO adds those, you stop getting the threads disappointed that they don't have them yet, and start getting the threads complaining that Vet rewards will destroy the game.

    Or you can be like EVE, and start those threads in advance in the hopes of preventing Vet rewards. :D
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