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Thread: So let me get this strait....

  1. #1

    So let me get this strait....

    So let me get this strait.... as a existing customer who has been playing for a while, and paying the monthly fees, I have to re-buy the game for $20 if I want the booster. (Or I think it supposed to be I’m paying for the booster and getting the game again for free)


    As new customer when the booster comes out I don't have to buy the game because it comes with the booster and on top of that I get a month free?


    This is a total slap in the face to your existing customer base.



    I guess one could argue that I don’t have to get the new booster, and just keep playing it the way it is. But when you think about it, it still burns me up to know that new guys are playing with the new content while I’m still playing the old game that I paid $50 for a long while ago, with $13 a month to boot just to keep playing.


    It’s a low blow no matter how you slice it. Why oh why can’t your marketing guys see how lame this is for your regular existing player base?

  2. #2
    What I don't understand is how a game like AC can do monthly content (setting a new MMORPG standard for the industry going forward) and only cost $10 a month.

    For $13 a month I’d expect more...right? If not, why does it cost more? Does Sweden mandate 2 months of vacation for everyone in the country, hence killing FC's chances to compete? If not, then what is it? Why does it cost more for less?

    That is what is really bothering me. $20 bucks doesn’t. The idea that $20 bucks will only buy me (what sounds like) a single patch worth of content is scary but everyone’s opinions vary I guess.

  3. #3
    The $20 really doesn't bother me. It's that fact that new players will be getting a free game while the existing player base (that paid $50) gets no compensation.


    Throw us a bone here Funcom. How about a month free with the purchase of the booster, or make a $10 version for existing customers.

  4. #4
    Sorry, but the distribution and price is set. We know some would prefer a booster only download, and it's just natural that people want things cheaper, but the numbers are final, I'm sure.

  5. #5
    Originally posted by Cz
    Sorry, but the distribution and price is set. We know some would prefer a booster only download, and it's just natural that people want things cheaper, but the numbers are final, I'm sure.

    Like I said.... I really don’t mind the price. It's the fact that I now feel like an ass for buying the game so early.

    I bought the game for $50 when it first came out. I had to endure a long list of problems with the game, and I paid $13 a month this whole time. Now I must pay $20 more to play the booster.

    That wouldn't be a problem except, that if I was a new player buying the new booster, I get the whole game for $20 totally patched with booster included, and a free month to boot.


    It's a great way to make me as an existing customer feel like dirt.


    I'm not blaming you Cz. I know it's not your doing, but I am voicing the opinion of not only myself but many others.
    Last edited by Hunteres; Aug 29th, 2002 at 00:56:04.

  6. #6
    Originally posted by Cz
    Sorry, but the distribution and price is set. We know some would prefer a booster only download, and it's just natural that people want things cheaper, but the numbers are final, I'm sure.
    So the powers that be at FC prefers to alienate themselves even further from their longtime players and instead trying to draw in new ones who in their turn will get the same treatment as we now get somewhere down the line, I assume...

    Sorry, but nothing is ever set until the blasted pack is done, I'm sure. And please...stop trying to make us seem cheap, money is not the issue here.
    If no one at FC sees how wrong it is not to offer the pack as a download and how upset a lot of people are that you constantly cater to new players while ignoring your "oldtimers" you will get a rude awakening one day soon, I'm afraid.

    If you rather be without my money by not offering it as a download I will happily accomodate you. I think that more players than you realise have the same feelings about this as I do.

    The more I think about this booster pack the more I dislike it, actually. It can easily be seen as a way of making people buy it out of pure peer pressure from within their faction since it is clearly aimed at big groups of players. As such it must seem like a pretty safe bet for you to get some more funds in quickly, not sure about the long run, though... Well, I for one won't bite, sorry.
    Dominata
    Member of THM

  7. #7
    Oh, I have the solution. Just throw away the full game CD when you get the box!

  8. #8
    Originally posted by Cz
    Sorry, but the distribution and price is set. We know some would prefer a booster only download, and it's just natural that people want things cheaper, but the numbers are final, I'm sure.
    I'm really sorry to hear this Cz. I've been forking out money for two accounts so far. I went out and bought the special edition, now I will have to go out and buy yet again two boxes.

    Like I said in another post, I don't mind paying for the booster, but I would enjoy nothaving to buy two boxes just for the sake of having two keys.
    If these figures are final, I probably will, because of the fact that we have grown too involved in the game, but the sentiment stays the same: Why make people with multiple accounts buy a box several times over when you could also sell the key through the web? Make it the same price, I don't care about that, but why let people pay for an extra box, thus basically have them pay for something they will not use? I know that one of the boxes will stay fully intact, except for the opening of the box to get to the key for the booster...
    ACCOUNT STATUS
    Cancelled
    This account was cancelled at:
    2004-05-10 06:47:01
    It will remain playable until : 2004-09-20 08:20:45

    Time for RL now


    Meet Fluffy

  9. #9
    What's the big deal? Isn't it kind of normal for online game's to release expansions that include the original game? I thought Everquest did that, although i never really played it so i can't be sure. Plus, to the people that say they wasted money by buying it a year ago because they could have saved the $50. Its pretty normal for a game to go down in price. If you had bought it only 6 months ago you could have gotten it $30 cheaper. But you didn't, and neitheir did I. Why? Because we wanted to play it then, not a year from then.

    I don't really see a problem.
    Click Click BOOM

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  10. #10
    Originally posted by BoomDoom
    What's the big deal? Isn't it kind of normal for online game's to release expansions that include the original game? I thought Everquest did that, although i never really played it so i can't be sure. Plus, to the people that say they wasted money by buying it a year ago because they could have saved the $50. Its pretty normal for a game to go down in price. If you had bought it only 6 months ago you could have gotten it $30 cheaper. But you didn't, and neitheir did I. Why? Because we wanted to play it then, not a year from then.

    I don't really see a problem.
    Some of EQs expansions required that you already have the game client and account. Some of EQs expansions included a full game client and account key.
    History admires the wise, but it elevates the brave. - Edmund Morris

    The first faults are theirs that commit them, the second theirs that permit them. - Unknown

    Did you ever get the feeling that the world had an abundance of idiots? And that God had arranged for you to meet every single one of them before you died? - Kuroshio

  11. #11
    The problem BoomDoom is that this is not an expansion, it's a booster pack. Not nearly as much new content as an expansion and also supposed to be a regular feature of AO if I understand correctly.
    Will we be expected to pay $19.95 for each and every booster pack and will we get the game client every time as well? Everquest at least gives people an option to buy only the expansion or different bundles at a cheaper price, but that is not the point here.
    The point has more to do with respect and appreciation of your customers, something that FC seems to lack atm.
    This is forced marketing, something that I as an adult detest to have crammed down my throat. In order to justify a price tag of $19.95 they make a nice little box and include the original client so we can "start a second account or give it to a friend..."
    Yeah right, fat chance.

    They blatantly disregard us, the existing player base, in their scrabble for new subscribers. Some of us have been here from day one, lived through all nerfs, horrible patches and the atrocious launch and now we are supposed to buy the game all over again? Sorry, not me.
    Dominata
    Member of THM

  12. #12

    Thumbs down

    The price is fixed. Until the market adjusts the pricing.

  13. #13
    If im not completely wrong the land control feature was supposed to be a part of the game. I read it in the planning for about 6 month ago.
    How come I have to pay for the feature?

    I know everything is set but I was really looking forward to that feature.

    However AO is the best..... So I guess ill take the slaps.

  14. #14

    On the topic and on comparison

    quote:
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Originally posted by BoomDoom
    What's the big deal? Isn't it kind of normal for online game's to release expansions that include the original game? I thought Everquest did that, although i never really played it so i can't be sure. Plus, to the people that say they wasted money by buying it a year ago because they could have saved the $50. Its pretty normal for a game to go down in price. If you had bought it only 6 months ago you could have gotten it $30 cheaper. But you didn't, and neitheir did I. Why? Because we wanted to play it then, not a year from then.

    I don't really see a problem.
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------



    Some of EQs expansions required that you already have the game client and account. Some of EQs expansions included a full game client and account key.
    I lost my original gamebox to EQ but still had the reg codes for the other 3 expansions so I just loaded up from kunark and went to the next and the game itself patches (all the missing files) from the first box.

    EQ does require you to purchase box after box but these are expansions and the expansions DO NOT include the former game. You are probably referring to combination boxes that Verant puts out whereby you can purchase the entire gameset - they did this three times.

    ==

    Booster Pack

    Now I can't find my original box but I'm going to guess that the price for registration (today) is the same as the price for the game CD back then. It lists as 19.95 on AOs website. They do say that if you have trouble you can still purchase the reg code and then they will ship the CD for 4.95. Okay if the price of the registration today is the same price as the CD back then - then the difference is only 4.95 to update your old CD to a new more complete CD. So taking that into account the Booster Pack costs $14.95.

    Now then the question here is did Funcom put enough content in the booster pack (aside from the main game) that warrants $14.95? I haven't really seen a full list of what will be on the content CD besides the main game.

    Hey CZ, you want to provide a content list (music/data etc.) that will be on the booster pack so that some of us can get a full idea of what is on the CD exactly?

  15. #15
    Originally posted by natallian
    It's the fact that I now feel like an ass for buying the game so early.
    Welcome to the real world!

    Stuff like this happens all the time. If you feel that having had the ability to play all this time does not offset the having to wait for the price to come down, or some more appealing bundle to *maybe* arrive in the future, then you should *always* wait before buying things, as price reductions and new bundles are simply part of "real life".

    Let's see, I paid like $40 for NOLF. Now, it's $15 and comes with a "bonus music CD" and a "bonus mission". Is that a "slap in my face" for having bought it "back then"? No - it's "the real world" and how pricing and packages change over time. Meanwhile, I got to enjoy playing it earlier.

    Starcraft: Expensive and no "bonuses" when it first came out. But I didn't buy it then. Now, a combo box for $20 that has like 2 or 3 "expansions". So I get to play it now, cheaper, and with "more" than the original buyers. (I am now on the "opposite" side of the situation from NOLF). Slap in the face to those early buyers? No - "real life" again, and that's how it works. They got to play it earlier.

    Let's see... Ahh, years ago I bought a VCR that had better features and cost more. Now those features are cheap and available everywhere. Slap in my face? No. "real life" again. I got to use the better features earlier.

    When I was a kid, there was a seperate postage for "Airmail". Cost more but you knew your letter would probably get there faster. Today lots of "normal First Class" mail is transported by air with no special postage on it. Slap in the face to those early "Airmail" stamp purchasers? No. "Real world" again.

    Used to be you paid more for a TV with a "remote". Nowadays, remotes (and TV's) are comparatively much cheaper. Slap in the face to those early "remote control" buyers? "Real world" again.

    The examples could go on and on. Hopefully somebody gets the point.

    Maybe a lot of the complainers are children that simply don't yet realize that is how "the real world" is, and seeing it in AO is their first exposure - hence they think this is some strange anomaly that Funcom is pulling off. Well, this type of thing is quite normal in "the real world", so I guess with AO it's as good a time for them to learn it as anytime.

    What you will learn is that "time = money". In more ways than you might think. In the above examples (and the AO Booster Pack), it is that your "time" (ability to play it sooner, and longer) offsets your "money" that you spent back then.

    Welcome to the real world!

    Cheers,
    Martek

  16. #16

    )( lovely

    |quote|
    Maybe a lot of the complainers are children that simply don't yet realize that is how "the real world" is, and seeing it in AO is their first exposure - hence they think this is some strange anomaly that Funcom is pulling off. Well, this type of thing is quite normal in "the real world", so I guess with AO it's as good a time for them to learn it as anytime.

    What you will learn is that "time = money". In more ways than you might think. In the above examples (and the AO Booster Pack), it is that your "time" (ability to play it sooner, and longer) offsets your "money" that you spent back then.

    Welcome to the real world!

    |quote|

    finally, some1 says!
    i agree with you Martek, cheers >)

    even if i dont have time to play(almost), i will buy the booster pack , i will buy every expansion that Fc releases, just because the game is good, nad getting better.


    cheers

  17. #17

    Speaking of the real world

    In the real world if you cut performance on your product you get gobbled up.

    In the real world if you market something that is lackluster, unproductive to make money, you get gobbled up.

    In the real world where time does equal money, when your money isn't spent correctly and the company spending it wastes both your time and their own, they go under.

    In the real world you create a product that is good or you create a product that is not so good. I think Funcom already showed which side they are on IMHO - and with all the customers leaving it just goes to show that in the real world when you fail to produce you just don't survive.

    Will funcom survive? I seriously doubt it.

  18. #18
    Originally posted by Martek-SLAG
    Welcome to the real world!

    Stuff like this happens all the time. If you feel that having had the ability to play all this time does not offset the having to wait for the price to come down, or some more appealing bundle to *maybe* arrive in the future, then you should *always* wait before buying things, as price reductions and new bundles are simply part of "real life".

    Let's see, I paid like $40 for NOLF. Now, it's $15 and comes with a "bonus music CD" and a "bonus mission". Is that a "slap in my face" for having bought it "back then"? No - it's "the real world" and how pricing and packages change over time. Meanwhile, I got to enjoy playing it earlier.

    Starcraft: Expensive and no "bonuses" when it first came out. But I didn't buy it then. Now, a combo box for $20 that has like 2 or 3 "expansions". So I get to play it now, cheaper, and with "more" than the original buyers. (I am now on the "opposite" side of the situation from NOLF). Slap in the face to those early buyers? No - "real life" again, and that's how it works. They got to play it earlier.

    Let's see... Ahh, years ago I bought a VCR that had better features and cost more. Now those features are cheap and available everywhere. Slap in my face? No. "real life" again. I got to use the better features earlier.

    When I was a kid, there was a seperate postage for "Airmail". Cost more but you knew your letter would probably get there faster. Today lots of "normal First Class" mail is transported by air with no special postage on it. Slap in the face to those early "Airmail" stamp purchasers? No. "Real world" again.

    Used to be you paid more for a TV with a "remote". Nowadays, remotes (and TV's) are comparatively much cheaper. Slap in the face to those early "remote control" buyers? "Real world" again.

    The examples could go on and on. Hopefully somebody gets the point.

    Maybe a lot of the complainers are children that simply don't yet realize that is how "the real world" is, and seeing it in AO is their first exposure - hence they think this is some strange anomaly that Funcom is pulling off. Well, this type of thing is quite normal in "the real world", so I guess with AO it's as good a time for them to learn it as anytime.

    What you will learn is that "time = money". In more ways than you might think. In the above examples (and the AO Booster Pack), it is that your "time" (ability to play it sooner, and longer) offsets your "money" that you spent back then.

    Welcome to the real world!

    Cheers,
    Martek



    There is a huge difference here that over looked. AO is a product that not only do you purchase, but have to pay to play. None of those things you listed can even be used to campair.

    I got NOFL when it first came out. By the time the new version with the new bonus CD came out, I was done with the the game and could care less.

    I could go down your list and pick it apart, for not even being worthy of a comparison. But I'm not going to bore the hell out of everyone.

    I laid it out very simple. New people to AO are getting a huge bonus, and a working game with a booster pack for only $20. While us old timers have spent the $50 plus for me it's been a year so that's $13 x 12 months = $156 and now I must pay $20 more for a part of the game that was supposed to be in place already (land control).

    What part of this don't you get?

  19. #19
    It is actually not the money, as many people have said. This may sound strange to some but if they offered the exact same package for $20 but removed the 1 month free CD key (keep the CD in there, nice backup) then I would not have a problem with it. As it stands now, marketing a 'booster' (to enhance, or in addition to) along with the client and free month is nothing but forced marketing. I will not be forced into anything. You want to sell small 'boosters' to enhance the game play, great, let me but that, not a full suite of software. It sounds strange but due to the addition of the CD key I will NOT be buying this software package.
    Zepto
    President to the Order of Kauket
    NanoTechnician

  20. #20
    Originally posted by natallian
    What part of this don't you get?
    The only part I don't get (since you directly quoted me and are asking me), is; why don't you get it?

    Let's see... hmmm.. I pay monthly for telephone service (much like I pay monthly for AO). I also purchased my telephone from the phone company (they still have that option if you want it).

    The phones they sell today have more features and are cheaper than the one I bought. Yet, I am a paying subscriber. Slap to my face? No. Again, the real world.

    You can dance around to come up with "flaws" in any analogy. And you seem intent on doing so. And I could dance back to come up with new ones that are "better".

    But like you say, "I'm not going to bore the hell out of everyone".

    You seem to want to believe it is unfair.

    I don't think it is unfair. Further, I think it is how the "real world" is, and I think you are missing that.

    I agree to disagree with you on this topic.

    Cheers,
    Martek

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