The fact that people are still willing to give Funcom their money is the entire reason that companies put out garbage. If you bought a lifetime sub to this game after seeing what they have done in the past, then YOU are responisble for the state of MMO gaming today.
The fact that people are still willing to give Funcom their money is the entire reason that companies put out garbage. If you bought a lifetime sub to this game after seeing what they have done in the past, then YOU are responisble for the state of MMO gaming today.
Thanks a lot.
These are the same kind of people who actually buy justin beiber records. You and I can see no reason in hell to even fork out a single cent for such rubbish yet millions apon millions of fools do.
I have come to the conclusion that I hate the current state humanity and there needs to be a serious cull.
I pre-ordered just the base game - no lifetime sub. I sort of feel foolish for even doing that seeing how AoC released incomplete post Tortage. This is the max i'll support Funcom, and I'm not proud.
I make spreadsheets at work - I don't want to make them for the games I play.
The fact that people are still willing to give Funcom their money is the entire reason that companies put out garbage. If you bought a lifetime sub to this game after seeing what they have done in the past, then YOU are responisble for the state of MMO gaming today. Thanks a lot.
These are the same kind of people who actually buy justin beiber records. You and I can see no reason in hell to even fork out a single cent for such rubbish yet millions apon millions of fools do.
I have come to the conclusion that I hate the current state humanity and there needs to be a serious cull.
I just love it when people visit the forums for a game they aren't going to touch with a pitchfork and start flaming the people interested in the game.
The fact that people are still willing to give Funcom their money is the entire reason that companies put out garbage. If you bought a lifetime sub to this game after seeing what they have done in the past, then YOU are responisble for the state of MMO gaming today. Thanks a lot.
These are the same kind of people who actually buy justin beiber records. You and I can see no reason in hell to even fork out a single cent for such rubbish yet millions apon millions of fools do.
I have come to the conclusion that I hate the current state humanity and there needs to be a serious cull.
I just love it when people visit the forums for a game they aren't going to touch with a pitchfork and start flaming the people interested in the game.
But trolling forums is their MMO of choice, don'cha-know.
I make spreadsheets at work - I don't want to make them for the games I play.
The fact that people are still willing to give Funcom their money is the entire reason that companies put out garbage. If you bought a lifetime sub to this game after seeing what they have done in the past, then YOU are responisble for the state of MMO gaming today.
Thanks a lot.
These are the same kind of people who actually buy justin beiber records. You and I can see no reason in hell to even fork out a single cent for such rubbish yet millions apon millions of fools do.
I have come to the conclusion that I hate the current state humanity and there needs to be a serious cull.
I just love it when people visit the forums for a game they aren't going to touch with a pitchfork and start flaming the people interested in the game.
But trolling forums is their MMO of choice, don'cha-know.
Not just trolling, but someone who is upset about the "state of humanity" is advocating for the whosehale murder of people that like something different than he does. So, I guess I agree on the state of humanity, just for different reasons.
The fact that people are still willing to give Funcom their money is the entire reason that companies put out garbage. If you bought a lifetime sub to this game after seeing what they have done in the past, then YOU are responisble for the state of MMO gaming today.
Thanks a lot.
These are the same kind of people who actually buy justin beiber records. You and I can see no reason in hell to even fork out a single cent for such rubbish yet millions apon millions of fools do.
I have come to the conclusion that I hate the current state humanity and there needs to be a serious cull.
I just love it when people visit the forums for a game they aren't going to touch with a pitchfork and start flaming the people interested in the game.
But trolling forums is their MMO of choice, don'cha-know.
Not just trolling, but someone who is upset about the "state of humanity" is advocating for the whosehale murder of people that like something different than he does. So, I guess I agree on the state of humanity, just for different reasons.
With out the Trolls help, how would one tell what a good MMO is?
I remember alot of trolls showing on sites for: WoW, EQ2, DAoC, Rift and they are good games (and that is vanilla WoW).
The fact that people are still willing to give Funcom their money is the entire reason that companies put out garbage. If you bought a lifetime sub to this game after seeing what they have done in the past, then YOU are responisble for the state of MMO gaming today.
Thanks a lot.
These are the same kind of people who actually buy justin beiber records. You and I can see no reason in hell to even fork out a single cent for such rubbish yet millions apon millions of fools do.
I have come to the conclusion that I hate the current state humanity and there needs to be a serious cull.
I just love it when people visit the forums for a game they aren't going to touch with a pitchfork and start flaming the people interested in the game.
But trolling forums is their MMO of choice, don'cha-know.
Not just trolling, but someone who is upset about the "state of humanity" is advocating for the whosehale murder of people that like something different than he does. So, I guess I agree on the state of humanity, just for different reasons.
With out the Trolls help, how would one tell what a good MMO is?
I remember alot of trolls showing on sites for: WoW, EQ2, DAoC, Rift and they are good games (and that is vanilla WoW).
So thank you Trolls for your help
Actually without the ones who you call trolls (haters?), all you'd have is fanbois saying everything is peachy and could not be better in anyway, so none of the games would ever be improved out of their beta state. Also buying an LTS means your money is already gone, why would they want to improve anything you want? So you could buy some costumes from their C-store? Hmm.. sounds a lot like Star Trek Online, maybe that's what we are going here.
Actually without the ones who you call trolls (haters?), all you'd have is fanbois saying everything is peachy and could not be better in anyway, so none of the games would ever be improved out of their beta state. Also buying an LTS means your money is already gone, why would they want to improve anything you want? So you could buy some costumes from their C-store? Hmm.. sounds a lot like Star Trek Online, maybe that's what we are going here.
Not having Trolls or Fanboys would really help a lot when it comes to feedback to the developers.
Regarding the LTS there are maybe 5% who will get it of the estimated 1.3 million buyers the first year. Funcom will want to keep those 1.17 million other buyers as subscribers and will do their best to keep them.
Another thing regarding the LTS, Funcom also wants to sell expansion packs and booster packs. It's been mentioned that they have content planned for about 7 years forward when it comes to TSW. Pissing of your LTS won't make them any more money.
Buying a lifetime sub is about the LEAST useful thing you can do to encourage more/better development. From the moment you hand over your $$$, you cease to have any power.
The fact that people are still willing to give Funcom their money is the entire reason that companies put out garbage. If you bought a lifetime sub to this game after seeing what they have done in the past, then YOU are responisble for the state of MMO gaming today.
Thanks a lot.
These are the same kind of people who actually buy justin beiber records. You and I can see no reason in hell to even fork out a single cent for such rubbish yet millions apon millions of fools do.
I have come to the conclusion that I hate the current state humanity and there needs to be a serious cull.
I just love it when people visit the forums for a game they aren't going to touch with a pitchfork and start flaming the people interested in the game.
But trolling forums is their MMO of choice, don'cha-know.
Not just trolling, but someone who is upset about the "state of humanity" is advocating for the whosehale murder of people that like something different than he does. So, I guess I agree on the state of humanity, just for different reasons.
With out the Trolls help, how would one tell what a good MMO is?
I remember alot of trolls showing on sites for: WoW, EQ2, DAoC, Rift and they are good games (and that is vanilla WoW).
So thank you Trolls for your help
Actually without the ones who you call trolls (haters?), all you'd have is fanbois saying everything is peachy and could not be better in anyway, so none of the games would ever be improved out of their beta state. Also buying an LTS means your money is already gone, why would they want to improve anything you want? So you could buy some costumes from their C-store? Hmm.. sounds a lot like Star Trek Online, maybe that's what we are going here.
The Trolls are the ones that do not want, have no interest or have not ever intended to play the game, those with somuch hate for a company that they cannot stand to see any thing positive happen for them.
If you look at some of the post that happon for this and every other game on this site you find alot of this,
in turn this creats far more fanboisism.
It is a nice little circle.
Opinions in a forum of a game you have no desired to play are (IMHO) more valued in a "I do not like/hate FUNCOM and heres why" thread.
This thread is: "Who else went out on a limb to support Funcom through Lifetime?"
I didn't. I'm afraid Funcom has been placed in the same "Handle with Care" box as SOE, Activision/Blizzard and EA as far as I'm concerned. I'm not knocking TSW in any way but I'll need to see how the game launches and performs before I commit to another Funcom product.
ill never play anything that funcom has anything to do with, nevermind pay them lifetime pffffft and Z.
the conan launch still makes me throw up in my mouth...and yours. the response to the launch was even more distressing.
this is not a company that should be allowed to make games.
so give them your 200 bucks for a lifetime of crap, sure to be free to fail soon enough.
failcom can suk my nutz for a lifetime.
there, i knew there was some way i could put them in a sentence with "lifetime " and smile about it instead of checking my blood pressure
I really dont understand all this rage about AoC launch. Seriously... I have been there, the launch wasnt perfect, it had several bugs however it was fun and I loved every minute of my game. In fact, the problem was AFTER Tortage, because the game fell a little bit in quality, but opened to a bigger world, so even with that I was ok... I have been in a lot worst launch then Aoc... A LOT worst...
The problems with AoC in general was a lack of content in higher levels (which wasnt a problem to me who enjoy the game step by step, calmly and slow and hate to rush it). To the people who plays MMO only to improve levels, the AoC was really a great deception (and this is a big mistake from Funcom). for me , personally, the great sin from Funcom was the false promises made BEFORE the launch (and that scares me about TSW as well). AoC promised the heaven on earth (or hell when you die, I do remember ) but only delivered a good and fun game... I really do not understand all this rage against Aoc, really... I can totally understand the rage against NGE (SWG) but not against AoC launch, bumpy as it could be, it was really fun and, specially, different in combat of everything we saw until there....
TBH I can't see why anyone would buy a LTS before playing it...not just this game but any MMO. Plus, you can buy a LTS after the game launches. IMO play your 30 days that come with the box and then decide.
Buying a lifetime sub is about the LEAST useful thing you can do to encourage more/better development. From the moment you hand over your $$$, you cease to have any power.
It's not really that black 'n white.
By purchasing LTS you support the development and the publisher in a way that actually shows. If the developer can give figures of how many people bought LTS straight out of the trust for the company it makes the situation more stable and makes the publisher gain more trust towards the developer. Given more room to the developer they are more free to keep developing the game in the way they planned without worrying about making huge profits.
The players who buy LTS are usually also huge fans (one could say the biggest fans) of the game and will promote the game to their friends (both IRL and Interwebz) aswell as take on these huge debates on different forums to whiteknight/fanboi the crap out of the game. Just because the player is not paying monthly after those 2~years doesn't mean he or she is not a worthy asset to the developers. Especially in this case since the game will have outfit cash shop (which is mostly likely used by the lifetimers) it's definately a good thing to keep the LTSers happy.
I can understand where this straight up economical point of view (EVERYTHING IS ABOUT MONEY AND NUMBERS) comes but do get rational and understand that life aswell as business isn't always black 'n white.
P.S Saying devs must do this 'n that or "I'l unsub!!!" is not power. It's "power".
Buying a lifetime sub is about the LEAST useful thing you can do to encourage more/better development. From the moment you hand over your $$$, you cease to have any power.
It's not really that black 'n white.
By purchasing LTS you support the development and the publisher in a way that actually shows. If the developer can give figures of how many people bought LTS straight out of the trust for the company it makes the situation more stable and makes the publisher gain more trust towards the developer. Given more room to the developer they are more free to keep developing the game in the way they planned without worrying about making huge profits.
The players who buy LTS are usually also huge fans (one could say the biggest fans) of the game and will promote the game to their friends (both IRL and Interwebz) aswell as take on these huge debates on different forums to whiteknight/fanboi the crap out of the game. Just because the player is not paying monthly after those 2~years doesn't mean he or she is not a worthy asset to the developers. Especially in this case since the game will have outfit cash shop (which is mostly likely used by the lifetimers) it's definately a good thing to keep the LTSers happy.
I can understand where this straight up economical point of view (EVERYTHING IS ABOUT MONEY AND NUMBERS) comes but do get rational and understand that life aswell as business isn't always black 'n white.
P.S Saying devs must do this 'n that or "I'l unsub!!!" is not power. It's "power".
ill never play anything that funcom has anything to do with, nevermind pay them lifetime pffffft and Z.
the conan launch still makes me throw up in my mouth...and yours. the response to the launch was even more distressing.
this is not a company that should be allowed to make games.
so give them your 200 bucks for a lifetime of crap, sure to be free to fail soon enough.
failcom can suk my nutz for a lifetime.
there, i knew there was some way i could put them in a sentence with "lifetime " and smile about it instead of checking my blood pressure
I really dont understand all this rage about AoC launch. Seriously... I have been there, the launch wasnt perfect, it had several bugs however it was fun and I loved every minute of my game. In fact, the problem was AFTER Tortage, because the game fell a little bit in quality, but opened to a bigger world, so even with that I was ok... I have been in a lot worst launch then Aoc... A LOT worst...
The problems with AoC in general was a lack of content in higher levels (which wasnt a problem to me who enjoy the game step by step, calmly and slow and hate to rush it). To the people who plays MMO only to improve levels, the AoC was really a great deception (and this is a big mistake from Funcom). for me , personally, the great sin from Funcom was the false promises made BEFORE the launch (and that scares me about TSW as well). AoC promised the heaven on earth (or hell when you die, I do remember ) but only delivered a good and fun game... I really do not understand all this rage against Aoc, really... I can totally understand the rage against NGE (SWG) but not against AoC launch, bumpy as it could be, it was really fun and, specially, different in combat of everything we saw until there....
its been a while since ive allowed myself to even think about that game or its incompetent devs and totalitarian forum mods and non existant customer support so forgive me if my details are off or i leave out some meaty tidbit full of fail juice but i seem to remember the following fondly:
class balancing in the first month, even before they addressed server issues and way before they stopped blaming the players computers for everything that went wrong.
the first 6 days of maybe ill get online today....nope, not today
the forum nazis deleting every post that was critical of the game, its support, or its lack of content. if you were there for launch then i am sure you remember the venom and hatred spewed forth from even the most mild mannered gamers. it was trollapolooza for a while too. fanbois were ridiculed for breakfast lunch diner and snack times. there was simply no defending the game, its overhyped launch, its incredibly expensive CE, or the total unpreparedness.
a fail crafting system that produced neiter useful items, nor income stream
teh game was in development for half a lifetime and in closed beta for longer. they needed to get the basics right. they failed hard. they were more concerned with an NDA then player feedback from beta. and no wonder. if no NDA we all would have known to save our money.
normally when i have a bad experience wtih a company, i can chalk it up to a bad day, untrained employees or a plethora of other minor things that will allow me to justify giving them another chance to improve. with funcom, i wouldnt care if they fired everyone responsible for that mess of bad code and worse hardware, changed their name and started making dummy-proof browser games, they simply screwed up too hard and too often. even a rebrand and relaunch with a banner stating "now with extra ponies and unicorns and rainbow sauce" would not tempt me to spend your money on the trash they put out. instead they donkey punched all of you who paid lifetime and went free to fail. LOL
so that should answer why i hate that company. wow, felt kinda good to trot out that memory and take it for a spin.
There's really not enough info out to justify a lifetime sub, the fact that they even offer it as a pre purchase is suspect in my opinion. At least try the game before you jump in with both feet, you owe it to the memory of all the players burnt in the past with this kind of shady deal!
Yeah the lifetime sub might work out great, but then again it might not. You lose nothing by waiting, but it sends a message that this kind of thing is lame and played out.
Handing over money for a lifetime sub pre release for what will become a F2P game down the line anyway, you can count on it. Funcom will follow the rest of the market with the F2P models for all their games as by 2015 F2P will be very much the norm and gamers costumed to spending what they think a MMO is worth to them, not handing money up front first.
I thought it was obvious that life time subs exist for only one reason: to trap players who might otherwise scarper once they found out a game wasn't as good as it's been hyped to be (a double warning sign for games with 'Star' in the title). If they were confident it was good enough, they wouldn't need to be trap players in this way. But ye know, there's a lot of gullible people out there who are easily beguiled by carefully editted promo videos and that's what they're counting on. Caveat Emptor.
I thought it was obvious that life time subs exist for only one reason: to trap players who might otherwise scarper once they found out a game wasn't as good as it's been hyped to be (a double warning sign for games with 'Star' in the title). If they were confident it was good enough, they wouldn't need to be trap players in this way. But ye know, there's a lot of gullible people out there who are easily beguiled by carefully editted promo videos and that's what they're counting on. Caveat Emptor.
So in your opinion if you buy LTS you are forced to play that game and can't possible play anything else during the LTS?
Sure if you buy LTS you are willing to overlook more faults in the game than usual but only to the extent that is reasonable. For me, even though I bought the LTS, I will definately accept my losses and walk away if the game is that horrible. The theme/difficulty/skill system is enough for me to keep playing though :J
I thought it was obvious that life time subs exist for only one reason: to trap players who might otherwise scarper once they found out a game wasn't as good as it's been hyped to be (a double warning sign for games with 'Star' in the title). If they were confident it was good enough, they wouldn't need to be trap players in this way. But ye know, there's a lot of gullible people out there who are easily beguiled by carefully editted promo videos and that's what they're counting on. Caveat Emptor.
So in your opinion if you buy LTS you are forced to play that game and can't possible play anything else during the LTS?
Sure if you buy LTS you are willing to overlook more faults in the game than usual but only to the extent that is reasonable. For me, even though I bought the LTS, I will definately accept my losses and walk away if the game is that horrible. The theme/difficulty/skill system is enough for me to keep playing though :J
You can play whatever you want but they already have your money so you don't really matter anymore. It's not like you can "vote" with your wallet or anything. No matter what happens to the game, you're basically a passive observer.
They didn't so much trap you as a player, they've trapped your money from going anywhere. See with a regular subscription plan, if you cancel, Funcom does not get anymore of your money. With a lifetime, they've gotten as much money out of you as they can get upfront. Sure, you can stop playing any time but your money is not going anywhere.
There's a slight flaw in your logic. The game has a cash shop for convienience and cosmetic items. The people who already have paid for their monthlies (i.e LTS) are the most likely consumers to spend money in their cash shop. TSW will also sell expansions and if it goes F2P they'll have more items available at the cash shop for more potential spending.
I can also roam around the internet/city streets telling everyone I spent 200$ on a LTS for a horrible game and the devs are just shitting on me since they already got my money. I can also stop supporting the game by simply deleting it and never mentioning it to anyone.
The truth is that a single subscriber has zero saying in any of the development choices. Even if you "vote with your wallet" and stop subscribing because the game is bad, it doesn't actually make a difference. If you actually want to support the company at crucial steps and have faith in the game and their development you are better off paying those 200$'s upfront. It makes a lot larger impact than stopping your subscription after a month or two.
There's a slight flaw in your logic. The game has a cash shop for convienience and cosmetic items. The people who already have paid for their monthlies (i.e LTS) are the most likely consumers to spend money in their cash shop. TSW will also sell expansions and if it goes F2P they'll have more items available at the cash shop for more potential spending.
I can also roam around the internet/city streets telling everyone I spent 200$ on a LTS for a horrible game and the devs are just shitting on me since they already got my money. I can also stop supporting the game by simply deleting it and never mentioning it to anyone.
The truth is that a single subscriber has zero saying in any of the development choices. Even if you "vote with your wallet" and stop subscribing because the game is bad, it doesn't actually make a difference. If you actually want to support the company at crucial steps and have faith in the game and their development you are better off paying those 200$'s upfront. It makes a lot larger impact than stopping your subscription after a month or two.
Making profit isn't all about raw math.
A single subscriber means little but you weren't the only one who purchased a lifetime sub. See, it's a little known fact that MMORPGs lose a large chunk of their subscribers right after the first month, generally caused by unrealized hype and expectations, resulting in a pretty significant loss of money. Lifetime subscriptions mitigate that loss.
Funcom wants to keep you subscribed to their game, that is how they make money, right? And when a large group stops paying subscription fees, it lets the developers know that something is wrong with their product and they need to fix it ASAP. When you purchase a lifetime sub and then stop playing for whatever reason, your loss is not felt because they already have your money.
As far as that whole "support the developer" thing, you're making impact but at the wrong time. You're giving them a large chunk of money before you had a chance to experience the product. You're basically giving them money based on faith. Being that you payed your money before you got the product, your feedback doesn't matter after the product launches because there is no interest in keeping you playing.
There's a slight flaw in your logic. The game has a cash shop for convienience and cosmetic items. The people who already have paid for their monthlies (i.e LTS) are the most likely consumers to spend money in their cash shop. TSW will also sell expansions and if it goes F2P they'll have more items available at the cash shop for more potential spending. I can also roam around the internet/city streets telling everyone I spent 200$ on a LTS for a horrible game and the devs are just shitting on me since they already got my money. I can also stop supporting the game by simply deleting it and never mentioning it to anyone. The truth is that a single subscriber has zero saying in any of the development choices. Even if you "vote with your wallet" and stop subscribing because the game is bad, it doesn't actually make a difference. If you actually want to support the company at crucial steps and have faith in the game and their development you are better off paying those 200$'s upfront. It makes a lot larger impact than stopping your subscription after a month or two. Making profit isn't all about raw math.
A single subscriber means little but you weren't the only one who purchased a lifetime sub. See, it's a little known fact that MMORPGs lose a large chunk of their subscribers right after the first month, generally caused by unrealized hype and expectations, resulting in a pretty significant loss of money. Lifetime subscriptions mitigate that loss.
Funcom wants to keep you subscribed to their game, that is how they make money, right? And when a large group stops paying subscription fees, it lets the developers know that something is wrong with their product and they need to fix it ASAP. When you purchase a lifetime sub and then stop playing for whatever reason, your loss is not felt because they already have your money.
As far as that whole "support the developer" thing, you're making impact but at the wrong time. You're giving them a large chunk of money before you had a chance to experience the product. You're basically giving them money based on faith. Being that you payed your money before you got the product, your feedback doesn't matter after the product launches because there is no interest in keeping you playing.
Pretty naive thinking. Funcom knows most people dont buy lifetime time subs. So if 1 % does they still have to please the other 99%. You make it sound like funcom is taking your money then giving up on the game. Buisness wise that does not make sense
Comments
The fact that people are still willing to give Funcom their money is the entire reason that companies put out garbage. If you bought a lifetime sub to this game after seeing what they have done in the past, then YOU are responisble for the state of MMO gaming today.
Thanks a lot.
These are the same kind of people who actually buy justin beiber records. You and I can see no reason in hell to even fork out a single cent for such rubbish yet millions apon millions of fools do.
I have come to the conclusion that I hate the current state humanity and there needs to be a serious cull.
I pre-ordered just the base game - no lifetime sub. I sort of feel foolish for even doing that seeing how AoC released incomplete post Tortage. This is the max i'll support Funcom, and I'm not proud.
I make spreadsheets at work - I don't want to make them for the games I play.
These are the same kind of people who actually buy justin beiber records. You and I can see no reason in hell to even fork out a single cent for such rubbish yet millions apon millions of fools do.
I have come to the conclusion that I hate the current state humanity and there needs to be a serious cull.
I just love it when people visit the forums for a game they aren't going to touch with a pitchfork and start flaming the people interested in the game.These are the same kind of people who actually buy justin beiber records. You and I can see no reason in hell to even fork out a single cent for such rubbish yet millions apon millions of fools do.
I have come to the conclusion that I hate the current state humanity and there needs to be a serious cull.
I just love it when people visit the forums for a game they aren't going to touch with a pitchfork and start flaming the people interested in the game.
But trolling forums is their MMO of choice, don'cha-know.I make spreadsheets at work - I don't want to make them for the games I play.
Not just trolling, but someone who is upset about the "state of humanity" is advocating for the whosehale murder of people that like something different than he does. So, I guess I agree on the state of humanity, just for different reasons.
With out the Trolls help, how would one tell what a good MMO is?
I remember alot of trolls showing on sites for: WoW, EQ2, DAoC, Rift and they are good games (and that is vanilla WoW).
So thank you Trolls for your help
Actually without the ones who you call trolls (haters?), all you'd have is fanbois saying everything is peachy and could not be better in anyway, so none of the games would ever be improved out of their beta state. Also buying an LTS means your money is already gone, why would they want to improve anything you want? So you could buy some costumes from their C-store? Hmm.. sounds a lot like Star Trek Online, maybe that's what we are going here.
Not having Trolls or Fanboys would really help a lot when it comes to feedback to the developers.
Regarding the LTS there are maybe 5% who will get it of the estimated 1.3 million buyers the first year. Funcom will want to keep those 1.17 million other buyers as subscribers and will do their best to keep them.
Another thing regarding the LTS, Funcom also wants to sell expansion packs and booster packs. It's been mentioned that they have content planned for about 7 years forward when it comes to TSW. Pissing of your LTS won't make them any more money.
As someone else said...
Buying a lifetime sub is about the LEAST useful thing you can do to encourage more/better development. From the moment you hand over your $$$, you cease to have any power.
The Trolls are the ones that do not want, have no interest or have not ever intended to play the game, those with somuch hate for a company that they cannot stand to see any thing positive happen for them.
If you look at some of the post that happon for this and every other game on this site you find alot of this,
in turn this creats far more fanboisism.
It is a nice little circle.
Opinions in a forum of a game you have no desired to play are (IMHO) more valued in a "I do not like/hate FUNCOM and heres why" thread.
This thread is: "Who else went out on a limb to support Funcom through Lifetime?"
So back on topic we should go.
/rant off
I didn't. I'm afraid Funcom has been placed in the same "Handle with Care" box as SOE, Activision/Blizzard and EA as far as I'm concerned. I'm not knocking TSW in any way but I'll need to see how the game launches and performs before I commit to another Funcom product.
I hope it does well but I'll wait and see first.
I really dont understand all this rage about AoC launch. Seriously... I have been there, the launch wasnt perfect, it had several bugs however it was fun and I loved every minute of my game. In fact, the problem was AFTER Tortage, because the game fell a little bit in quality, but opened to a bigger world, so even with that I was ok... I have been in a lot worst launch then Aoc... A LOT worst...
The problems with AoC in general was a lack of content in higher levels (which wasnt a problem to me who enjoy the game step by step, calmly and slow and hate to rush it). To the people who plays MMO only to improve levels, the AoC was really a great deception (and this is a big mistake from Funcom). for me , personally, the great sin from Funcom was the false promises made BEFORE the launch (and that scares me about TSW as well). AoC promised the heaven on earth (or hell when you die, I do remember
) but only delivered a good and fun game... I really do not understand all this rage against Aoc, really... I can totally understand the rage against NGE (SWG) but not against AoC launch, bumpy as it could be, it was really fun and, specially, different in combat of everything we saw until there....
TBH I can't see why anyone would buy a LTS before playing it...not just this game but any MMO. Plus, you can buy a LTS after the game launches. IMO play your 30 days that come with the box and then decide.
It's not really that black 'n white.
By purchasing LTS you support the development and the publisher in a way that actually shows. If the developer can give figures of how many people bought LTS straight out of the trust for the company it makes the situation more stable and makes the publisher gain more trust towards the developer. Given more room to the developer they are more free to keep developing the game in the way they planned without worrying about making huge profits.
The players who buy LTS are usually also huge fans (one could say the biggest fans) of the game and will promote the game to their friends (both IRL and Interwebz) aswell as take on these huge debates on different forums to whiteknight/fanboi the crap out of the game. Just because the player is not paying monthly after those 2~years doesn't mean he or she is not a worthy asset to the developers. Especially in this case since the game will have outfit cash shop (which is mostly likely used by the lifetimers) it's definately a good thing to keep the LTSers happy.
I can understand where this straight up economical point of view (EVERYTHING IS ABOUT MONEY AND NUMBERS) comes but do get rational and understand that life aswell as business isn't always black 'n white.
P.S Saying devs must do this 'n that or "I'l unsub!!!" is not power. It's "power".
--Everything is true--
+1 Very Well said
its been a while since ive allowed myself to even think about that game or its incompetent devs and totalitarian forum mods and non existant customer support so forgive me if my details are off or i leave out some meaty tidbit full of fail juice but i seem to remember the following fondly:
class balancing in the first month, even before they addressed server issues and way before they stopped blaming the players computers for everything that went wrong.
the first 6 days of maybe ill get online today....nope, not today
the forum nazis deleting every post that was critical of the game, its support, or its lack of content. if you were there for launch then i am sure you remember the venom and hatred spewed forth from even the most mild mannered gamers. it was trollapolooza for a while too. fanbois were ridiculed for breakfast lunch diner and snack times. there was simply no defending the game, its overhyped launch, its incredibly expensive CE, or the total unpreparedness.
a fail crafting system that produced neiter useful items, nor income stream
teh game was in development for half a lifetime and in closed beta for longer. they needed to get the basics right. they failed hard. they were more concerned with an NDA then player feedback from beta. and no wonder. if no NDA we all would have known to save our money.
normally when i have a bad experience wtih a company, i can chalk it up to a bad day, untrained employees or a plethora of other minor things that will allow me to justify giving them another chance to improve. with funcom, i wouldnt care if they fired everyone responsible for that mess of bad code and worse hardware, changed their name and started making dummy-proof browser games, they simply screwed up too hard and too often. even a rebrand and relaunch with a banner stating "now with extra ponies and unicorns and rainbow sauce" would not tempt me to spend your money on the trash they put out. instead they donkey punched all of you who paid lifetime and went free to fail. LOL
so that should answer why i hate that company. wow, felt kinda good to trot out that memory and take it for a spin.
There's really not enough info out to justify a lifetime sub, the fact that they even offer it as a pre purchase is suspect in my opinion. At least try the game before you jump in with both feet, you owe it to the memory of all the players burnt in the past with this kind of shady deal!
Yeah the lifetime sub might work out great, but then again it might not. You lose nothing by waiting, but it sends a message that this kind of thing is lame and played out.
Handing over money for a lifetime sub pre release for what will become a F2P game down the line anyway, you can count on it. Funcom will follow the rest of the market with the F2P models for all their games as by 2015 F2P will be very much the norm and gamers costumed to spending what they think a MMO is worth to them, not handing money up front first.
I thought it was obvious that life time subs exist for only one reason: to trap players who might otherwise scarper once they found out a game wasn't as good as it's been hyped to be (a double warning sign for games with 'Star' in the title). If they were confident it was good enough, they wouldn't need to be trap players in this way. But ye know, there's a lot of gullible people out there who are easily beguiled by carefully editted promo videos and that's what they're counting on. Caveat Emptor.
So in your opinion if you buy LTS you are forced to play that game and can't possible play anything else during the LTS?
Sure if you buy LTS you are willing to overlook more faults in the game than usual but only to the extent that is reasonable. For me, even though I bought the LTS, I will definately accept my losses and walk away if the game is that horrible. The theme/difficulty/skill system is enough for me to keep playing though :J
You can play whatever you want but they already have your money so you don't really matter anymore. It's not like you can "vote" with your wallet or anything. No matter what happens to the game, you're basically a passive observer.
They didn't so much trap you as a player, they've trapped your money from going anywhere. See with a regular subscription plan, if you cancel, Funcom does not get anymore of your money. With a lifetime, they've gotten as much money out of you as they can get upfront. Sure, you can stop playing any time but your money is not going anywhere.
There's a slight flaw in your logic. The game has a cash shop for convienience and cosmetic items. The people who already have paid for their monthlies (i.e LTS) are the most likely consumers to spend money in their cash shop. TSW will also sell expansions and if it goes F2P they'll have more items available at the cash shop for more potential spending.
I can also roam around the internet/city streets telling everyone I spent 200$ on a LTS for a horrible game and the devs are just shitting on me since they already got my money. I can also stop supporting the game by simply deleting it and never mentioning it to anyone.
The truth is that a single subscriber has zero saying in any of the development choices. Even if you "vote with your wallet" and stop subscribing because the game is bad, it doesn't actually make a difference. If you actually want to support the company at crucial steps and have faith in the game and their development you are better off paying those 200$'s upfront. It makes a lot larger impact than stopping your subscription after a month or two.
Making profit isn't all about raw math.
A single subscriber means little but you weren't the only one who purchased a lifetime sub. See, it's a little known fact that MMORPGs lose a large chunk of their subscribers right after the first month, generally caused by unrealized hype and expectations, resulting in a pretty significant loss of money. Lifetime subscriptions mitigate that loss.
Funcom wants to keep you subscribed to their game, that is how they make money, right? And when a large group stops paying subscription fees, it lets the developers know that something is wrong with their product and they need to fix it ASAP. When you purchase a lifetime sub and then stop playing for whatever reason, your loss is not felt because they already have your money.
As far as that whole "support the developer" thing, you're making impact but at the wrong time. You're giving them a large chunk of money before you had a chance to experience the product. You're basically giving them money based on faith. Being that you payed your money before you got the product, your feedback doesn't matter after the product launches because there is no interest in keeping you playing.
A single subscriber means little but you weren't the only one who purchased a lifetime sub. See, it's a little known fact that MMORPGs lose a large chunk of their subscribers right after the first month, generally caused by unrealized hype and expectations, resulting in a pretty significant loss of money. Lifetime subscriptions mitigate that loss.
Funcom wants to keep you subscribed to their game, that is how they make money, right? And when a large group stops paying subscription fees, it lets the developers know that something is wrong with their product and they need to fix it ASAP. When you purchase a lifetime sub and then stop playing for whatever reason, your loss is not felt because they already have your money.
As far as that whole "support the developer" thing, you're making impact but at the wrong time. You're giving them a large chunk of money before you had a chance to experience the product. You're basically giving them money based on faith. Being that you payed your money before you got the product, your feedback doesn't matter after the product launches because there is no interest in keeping you playing.
Pretty naive thinking. Funcom knows most people dont buy lifetime time subs. So if 1 % does they still have to please the other 99%. You make it sound like funcom is taking your money then giving up on the game. Buisness wise that does not make sense