Wish I had kept that 50 on my account

Posted on April 13, 2012 by SynCaine

Busy day at work means you just get a link.

/agree with Paragus

Only question left is who came up with this? The Mythic failures, or the “Sundays are busy” crew?

Put me down for $5 on white shades.

About SynCaine

Former hardcore raider turned casual gamer.
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39 Responses to Wish I had kept that 50 on my account

  1. Aerynne says:
    April 13, 2012 at 2:03 pm

    I cannot read Paragus’s comment (curse the filter at work), but I think the free month for 50’s makes perfect sense. As Bioware has repeated asserted, SWTOR is all about the journey and exploring alternate class stories, not rushing to end game. So, of course they want to reward those players who did exactly that! Oh, wait….

  2. Ralex says:
    April 13, 2012 at 2:06 pm

    Free month for 50’s = higher reported sub # for earnings call.

  3. lordboink says:
    April 13, 2012 at 2:08 pm

    Syncaine is too busy pushing the INQ values agenda in EVE of promoting suicide, so I decided to write his blog for him today.

  4. Zyref says:
    April 13, 2012 at 2:18 pm

    That is pretty much what happens when you have a story based game, and the story ends.

  5. bonedead says:
    April 13, 2012 at 2:48 pm

    I’m not makin an account to comment on Paragus’ thing so I’ll just do it here. The reason imo they want the 50s and not the guy with multiple 40s is because the 50s probably canceled because of being 50 and disappointed with what there is to do at 50. The guy with multiple 40s did not cancel because of this. Since their 1.2 patch just came out and added some crap (honestly don’t know more than a new bg?) primarily for level 50 players. Wambamthankyamaam

    Also, wiener.

  6. bhagpuss says:
    April 13, 2012 at 2:55 pm

    Several bloggers in my Reader are generally very positive toward TOR. They’re subbed and still playing and enjoying the game, not coincidentally because they have multiple alts and haven’t yet reached 50.

    They aren’t impressed. There’s only one legitimate interpretation of the phrase “most valued” for anyone who doesn’t fit the criteria: they are less valued. This isn’t an implication or an inference, it’s an unequivocal statement. People, surprise, don’t appreciate being told that although they pay the same as another customer, their custom is less valuable to the company that’s getting the money.

    Marketing disaster aside, this is pretty much what everyone that didn’t drink the Kool Aid said would happen to a story-based MMO. The main surprises are how fast it’s happening and how ineptly it’s being handled.

  7. Aidan P. says:
    April 13, 2012 at 3:07 pm

    From my immediate circle of friends, those who had been playing SWTOR, are back playing Eve.

    • Aidan P. says:
      April 13, 2012 at 3:08 pm

      Forgot to include, several of them came back because Eve offered them 30 days free to resub (about a month ago)…

      :)

  8. Wilhelm Arcturus says:
    April 13, 2012 at 3:56 pm

    It is hard to read about that promotion and not visualize somebody in a conference room looking at the subscription numbers analysis and saying, “Crap, when people hit level cap, they unsubscribe! We have to put the brakes on that while we finish up some more end-game content!”

    And so we end up with the public message, “If you ran through the game straight to level cap, you are our most valuable customers!”

  9. spinks says:
    April 13, 2012 at 3:57 pm

    Sorry, can’t take blog posts seriously that use the phrase “slap across the face.”

    Obviously in a themepark game, the max level characters are needed for group activities like raids, high level PvP et al. They actually are more valuable in that sense than soloing altoholics, because they’re providing content to other players, however much people don’t like to admit it.

    • SynCaine says:
      April 13, 2012 at 3:58 pm

      How much is EAWare paying you?

      • I PVP Blog Comments says:
        April 14, 2012 at 1:55 pm

        If I’d have to wager a guess, a lot less than Aventurine is paying for you.

        Hardcore Casual, it’s the Fox News of MMO blogs – both “fair” and “balanced”.

        • Kobeathris says:
          April 14, 2012 at 5:23 pm

          Because aventurine makes Eve, amiright?

        • Wilhelm Arcturus says:
          April 14, 2012 at 7:42 pm

          A blog that follows the bias of its author! How insightful of you to notice! How cutting are your remarks! Good job! I am sure nobody could have figured this out without your help.

          Please, continue your work! Point out more blogs that betray the opinions on their authors! This rare and insidious phenomena must be exposed!

          You must be so proud on what must have been your first day on the internet!

        • Cyndre says:
          April 15, 2012 at 6:30 am

          BLOGS ARE NEWS SITES. AND SRS BSNSS! NO BIAS ALLOWED.

        • Sand says:
          April 16, 2012 at 11:05 am

          looks like Wilhelm beat your ass at blog comment pvp, son.

        • I PVP Blog Comments says:
          April 16, 2012 at 11:40 am

          You nerds can rage all you want but it doesn’t change the fact that I’m right.

          Little snot-nosed twerps like Wilhelm there should know what they say about people in glass houses before he makes moronic comments like that in the future. I’m pretty sure that he’s too daft to notice how that’s relevant in this case, but hopefully some other member of the Syncaine fanclub may help him understand.

      • spinks says:
        April 15, 2012 at 8:02 am

        Let’s not bring logic into this. In fact, let’s just quote from some of your old posts instead.

        “About EVE, and sub MMOs in general: While CCP’s goal is ultimately to get as many subscribers as possible, this is by no means accomplished by catering to the casual majority at the expense of the die-hard minority. Again, one SynCaine is worth 30 Casual-Calvins (formerly known as Casual Billy). And not only that, but one SynCaine keeps those 30 Casual-Calvins playing for months/years, where if left to their own devices the Calvins would “run out of content” in a month, while also failing to attract a single friend.”

        When you wrote that, you felt that proactive/ active endgame players were worth more than ‘casual calvins’. What changed?

        • SynCaine says:
          April 15, 2012 at 10:14 am

          Not a single SynCaine is playing SW:TOR. And even if one was, he can’t play in any way other than to stay on the rails and follow Calvin. To take a quote talking about the ultimate sandbox MMO and try to apply it to a game more linear than WoW… well I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume EAWare is paying you, and part of that payment requires you to make silly comments.

          Come on Spinks, you are not some first-day MMO noob here, you should know better.

        • spinks says:
          April 15, 2012 at 10:40 am

          When you say “Sub MMOs in general” I assume you mean sub MMOs in general; the vast majority of which are not sandboxes.

          But OK, back off from the statement if you like. I do think guild and raid leaders in themepark games fill the same function though.

        • SynCaine says:
          April 15, 2012 at 11:55 am

          No backing off. Since day one I’ve said SW:TOR is not an MMO. It’s a monthly sRPG. Been pretty consistent with that here.

    • Kobeathris says:
      April 13, 2012 at 4:06 pm

      I can see that in a game that is primarily about raiding and high level pvp (although, in that case, why have the leveling game? It’s just wasted content). I don’t think it makes any sense though in a game that is supposed to be about the story.

    • Wilhelm Arcturus says:
      April 13, 2012 at 4:13 pm

      First, what you are saying seems to beg the question. If level 50s are leaving to the point you have to throw them a bone, I would have to question as to whether there is enough decent content available for them to help fill out. If the group activities were good, they would be playing them, not leaving.

      Second, whether or not your value analysis is true, it seems like a bad PR move to publicly announce, “I know you all pay the same monthly fee, but this group of players here, they are the most valuable, so we’re giving them a freebie!”

      • bhagpuss says:
        April 13, 2012 at 4:38 pm

        “They actually are more valuable in that sense than soloing altoholics, because they’re providing content to other players”

        Even if this was true (which I don’t agree that it is) you sure as heck don’t come out and say it! You do your damndest to make sure that *all* your players believe they are the most valued, unless you have actually decided you don’t want their business any more.

        PR isn’t about telling the truth, for heaven’s sakes!

        • Shadow says:
          April 13, 2012 at 6:14 pm

          Basically this. Community will retain players in an MMO far beyond the worth of a game. If all the high-end community is jumping ship at the end of the game, it means two things. No community and no worthwhile game.

    • Devore says:
      April 13, 2012 at 5:57 pm

      This is a thinly veiled attempt at retaining players to make quarterly numbers look better. The “most valuable customer” is just marketing speak. If these level 50 players were fully engaged in the community and providing this supposed “content” to other players, they would keep subscribing. But they are given the free month because they are NOT subscribing. If the goal is to have more max level players, maybe they should provide more exciting and worthwhile end game content for leveling players to look forward to and hurry up.

    • Ulvheart says:
      April 13, 2012 at 7:31 pm

      I actually think this is a sop to the PvP crowd that were let down by the failed delivery on the rated Warfronts – level 50 only content. Nice bonus to those of us who PvE though.

      I don’t see level 50 players creating content for anyone but other level 50s and that’s mostly self-sustaining within guilds.

      also, rofl at failcaine’s bitchy comment: Ad Hom when you have no argument to make.

      You do realise you’re not allowed to actually like the game around these parts don’t you Spinks?

  11. silvertemplar says:
    April 14, 2012 at 2:02 am

    Even though Bioware changed this reward now to include more players, i can clearly see this was a BUSINESS decision based on the LACK of active subs at lvl 50.

    Simply put : If you are below lvl 50, you are still ACTIVE and PAYING.

    If you are lvl 50, you have most likely stopped playing said character or no longer subscribing.

    So, if you think about it logically, it’s a win-win type of promotion for Bioware. The current levelers will still pay, the lvl 50s who weren’t paying anyway, might return and get drawn into whatever new changes they made to the endgame which in turn might be a catalyst to longer term subscribing.

    I’m sure there’s some sort of social theory somewhere that if enough people are doing something , more will join simply based on other people being part of it (facebook effect?), despite the features or lack thereof . World of Warcraft became essentially that, and which is why it is still going, they hit that social attraction point .

  12. anon@google.com says:
    April 14, 2012 at 6:43 am

    Lets not mince with words.

    This whole game smacks as an attempt to make money
    (esp. now gaming is bigger than the film industry)

    This is not a game made as a dream to fulfill the potential
    of using computing to games.

  13. Sullas says:
    April 14, 2012 at 7:22 am

    Nicely responsive of the TOR Doctors to improve the deal. I do think, as someone said above, the original decision had a lot to do with 1.2 not delivering rated warzones, as a gift to disappointed PvPing 50s, but could also represent going long on the improvements in 1.2 and upcoming storyline extensions.

    I think this idea that every promotion is a sign of weakness suffers from a particularly foul case of confirmation bias. It is occasionally good PR to increase goodwill rather than stave off resentment.

  14. Bernard says:
    April 15, 2012 at 11:50 pm

    Syn, sorry you missed this promotion.

    I have a friend code you can use if you want to take a break from sandbox srs bsns. Drop me a mail.

    • Kobeathris says:
      April 16, 2012 at 1:14 pm

      See, now this is a good comment, I PVP Blog comments, please take note.

      +1 would lol again.

  15. lordboink says:
    April 17, 2012 at 7:56 am

    Do you have a lot of closet TOR fans reading this blog? I’ve got TOR fans coming out of the woodwork over on my mmorpg.com blog since you linked this here.

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