i have a concern

[Poo]

i have a concern.

ive had a ipad for the a couple years as well do my wife and kids.
and ive been noticing a pattern over the last 2-3 years with games on these devices.
(i know, nothing to do with uo..... or does it..... keep reading)
so it seems that every game you buy or get for free all seem to follow the same blueprint.
get you to play, make it impossible to play the game without you buying or upgrading with in app purchases.

so i was playing a game the other day and i thought to myself.... the poor kids that are growing up now, they dont get games like we did when we where young.
youd buy the game, it had everything ya needed to play the game and life was good.
now you buy the game, then you need to keep buying crystals or ammo or better stuff or more turn or whatever.
so you play the game for a week or 2, then you realize its gonna cost a lot of money to get to where ya want so you never play it again and move onto the another game.

so how does this tie into UO.
im glad you asked.
so i was disgusted with Candy Crush (i know! i have kids, they got it and i had to try it!)
so i was disgusted with Candy Crush and have been grinding every couple hours on one level trying to get 3 stars and thought.... ill be damned if im gonna buy anything to help me get past this.
all of a sudden it hit me like a brick..... didnt the dev's say a couple times now that one thing they wanted to bring into UO was in game purchases?
at the time i was like, "meh"
i buy so little from the orgin store that i didnt care.
but what if that was NOT what they where talking about.....
yup, your catching on now to where im going with this now arnt ya......
what if they where gonna change the game so you HAD to purchase in game stuff just to play?

think about it.
how do current games make money.
app games charge you for everything ya want and need, there are many games that its impossible to even do without purchases.
so if UO wanted to cash in on this (literally) what would they do.... start making items and stuff to do that you need to purchase in game items to be able to even do!

ya.
that kinda turns things around, eh?
now, this is just speculation on my part, Bonnie said she wanted to have in game purchase but never said to what extent.
so its easy to draw a speculative line from one to the other, no?

i tell ya, ive been here since they flicked on the "open" sign but ill walk away if they do that.
we get new stuff so rarely that if i had to start paying every time they added something or every time i wanted to do something id be so out the door.

just thought id post this rambling thought in case some dev is lurking and this topic im sure has come up in brainstorming sessions at the office.

 

[Poo]

there is a difference between paying $10 for an expansion, a one time hit, and having to pay $1 for every time i wanted to go a in game quest.
or having to buy a pass book with 20 tickets in it and have to use one ever night when i wanted to go do the new big quest.

pay as you go is just yucky!

 

[kelmo]

My thoughts are that Bonnie just wishes to take all the UO items already for sale from Origin and make it possible to purchase with in game systems. That was the way I interpreted her statements at any rate.

I hope this discussion does not turn into a flame fest. I will give it a chance...

 

[Dot_Warner]

I'm hoping that we get an "in game store" that allows us to get everything that is currently on Origin and everything that was on UOGamecodes.com and Asian UO site. I hope its easy to use and allows us to purchase multiples of things.

If they bring in micro transactions and more pay-to-win BS... then we have big, big problems.

 

[Snakeman]

Let's hope Kelmo that's what she ment & not like how Poo (and I have to somewhat agree with him on this) thinks it may go. For if it does there might just be putting the nail in to far this time to take it out....

 

[kelmo]

I am not a mind reader... I have 2 ex wives to prove that.

The Dev Team has been pretty clear that FTP is not on the stove or even on the shopping list.

 

[The Zog historian]

True F2P "churn 'em and burn 'em" is meant for games with much shorter life cycles than UO and other subscription-based games. If it ever happens, we know UO's done, and EA's just maximizing revenue before pulling the plug.

 

[Uvtha]

there is a difference between paying $10 for an expansion, a one time hit, and having to pay $1 for every time i wanted to go a in game quest.
or having to buy a pass book with 20 tickets in it and have to use one ever night when i wanted to go do the new big quest.

pay as you go is just yucky!

Don't worry. Unless the game went free to play they would really have zero incentive to put up invasive pay to proceed blocks. They are already getting a subscription fee, coercing people to pay just to keep playing would just make people quit.

When they say in game item shop, I think they just mean stuff you can currently buy on the uo store, like the content packs and all the dyes and other deco stuff.

 

[Flagg]

F2P comes in many flavors. I think it is useless to confuse F2P of PC gaming world and F2P of mobile devices together. Almost ridiculously fair models of PC world (League of Legends, Team Fortress 2, Hearthstone. even Star Wars: The Old Republic) have nothing to do with the cynical let's-rip-kids-off arsehole fest that is going on mobile devices(Candy Crush, new Dungeon Keeper)

Way UO has handled it's cash shop has always astonished me. Imagine how much money they've lost over the years due to how easy it is to forget the shop is there. The store makes a fine cash cow. People buy loads of these items. Char tokens, soul stones, Xfer tokens.. they sell pretty well. And yet, " the store" is buried in depths of Origin..and it actually kept selling bugged codes for I don't even know how long. .Lol.D:
It is insane. Hope they fix it soon.

 

[Wenchkin]

There will always be games out to extract every dollar they can from micro transactions. But there are always others where that isn't the case. Often many are charging for your impatience, and while EA themselves didn't cash in on this with UO as much as they could, the third party sites do. Besides, UO doesn't need to do these micro transactions with the subs as high as they are. If you play for months acquiring the things you want by yourself, you're paying a sub throughout the period instead. Total up what UO cost you over the years and it soon feels insane. And you still don't own UO, because you still have to pay a sub to log-in. I wish UO was one of those dodgy F2P games, it would've been cheaper

As for games that you pay for once, there should be some on the ipads just as there is on Android. I have a whole game library thanks to Humblebundle and some from Amazon on my Kindle, even my Linux pc is stuffed with the things lol. So it's more a case of checking the reviews and utterly avoid the worst publishers. You can still buy games and not pay after that, just shop wisely. I don't know Apple stuff at all, but if the choices are naff, it's not expensive to get a little android or Linux in the mix and let the kids mess about under the hood too.

Wenchy

 

[popps]

what if they where gonna change the game so you HAD to purchase in game stuff just to play?

Me ?

No matter how much I can like UO I'd stop playing for good. It would be sad, after so many years of playing it, but I would definately not want to get into that.

So, as far as I am concerned, I'd be out of it.

 

[popps]

When they say in game item shop, I think they just mean stuff you can currently buy on the uo store, like the content packs and all the dyes and other deco stuff.

What I think would be VERY nice and VERY handy, would be a special NPC IN-GAME, that one could go to while logged into the game and purchase UO Codes items for real money but WITHOUT having to go to a web site for that, just while playing Ultima Online....

For example, say that I am playing Ultima Online, am logged in, and for whatever reason need a Legacy Token for a full soulstone need I am right in that moment.

Rather then having to do it external to UO, I just walk up that special NPC, select from its list the Legacy token I want and buy it (the NPC gives me the actual Legacy token and not a code to use...). The NPC will then proceed to charge the cost of my purchase onto my credit card that pays currently for that account's monthly subscription.

Of course, this would only be possible for accounts which pay for subscription fees using a credit card and not game time.....

Imagine how usefull and handy such an in game purchasing system could be for many items like the enhancing tool charges, transfer tokens, legacy tokens and many other....

 

[Petra Fyde]

I'm no mind reader, but thinking of what I know of Mesanna, my feeling is that her aim is to come up with an alternative to the frustration many of us have met with when dealing with Origin store. Given that they either can't, or won't, make all items available in all regions, I've a suspicion she has been as frustrated with the darn thing as we have and is seeking a better alternative for all of us.
With the teams frequent and adamant denials of any plan to go 'free' to play, I'm pretty sure 'pay to win' is not the aim.

 

[MalagAste]

I have to agree with Petra on this one. I'm fairly sure that they just want to alleviate all the woes of trying to buy things thru the Origin store.

 

[popps]

I'm no mind reader, but thinking of what I know of Mesanna, my feeling is that her aim is to come up with an alternative to the frustration many of us have met with when dealing with Origin store. Given that they either can't, or won't, make all items available in all regions, I've a suspicion she has been as frustrated with the darn thing as we have and is seeking a better alternative for all of us.
With the teams frequent and adamant denials of any plan to go 'free' to play, I'm pretty sure 'pay to win' is not the aim.

So they might be thinking to implement "in-game" something like what I hoped for in the post above yours (#12)?

 

[Wenchkin]

It's possible Popps, however they'd have to secure it so someone with access to your account couldn't acquire a lot of tokens at your expense Like if a parent paid for their child's account or whatever. The convenience needs to be secure which might be awkward to code. But they can't think about things like pay to win if they haven't got a reliable system to take the money from us.

After that, who knows what may or may not be added to the store. There are already tokens for advanced characters for example, and to instantly bond pets. So they might add more items like that or they might not. Considering illegal sites have sold items to players for years, it would probably be safer for some players to buy direct from Broadsword. At least the money goes to the game and not some sweatshop or scripter farming items.

Wenchy

 

[CovenantX]

I'm pretty sure 'pay to win' is not the aim.

Not to derail the thread at all, but it's funny you should mention that.

Forged Metal of Artifacts - available in-game. (even if you buy it from an npc for 3-5 millions per charge.)

IMO, I think the devs should focus on bug fixing, new content (expansions approximately one every 2-3 years), & improving the overall quality of the game, servers/lag issues, art (for both clients). The store should only sell account upgrades, and tokens - transfer, gender/name/race change, & Soul stones.

I was never a fan of spending more cash on in-game-items.

Paying for Gametime, expansions/boosters, and additional account upgrades are enough imo.

 

[PlayerSkillFTW]

Imagine how much money they've lost over the years due to how easy it is to forget the shop is there.

Imagine how much money they've lost to sites selling duped Origin Store items for cheaper than the Origin Store. Duping has gotten so bad, that the dupers are undercutting EA themselves.

 

[Poo]

i think that ship has sailed.
i know more then half of the websites are gone now that use to sell stuff uber cheap.
the market just isnt there anymore.

 

[virtualhabitat]

I can't imagine how they could ever make this work, they can't even operate simple shopping cart software on the origin store website.

 

[kelmo]

Origin is EA's baby...

 

[Winter]

Huh... it's funny the impressions people take away from Bonnie's statement.

My take on it was they were looking for a way to use in-game credit card purchases for the Origin store items. I can't recall the game, but it is possible to use a credit card in-game without ever logging into a website to make these purchases... it is actually very slick and works well.

I am probably very mistaken after reading other comments, but that is what I heard from Bonnie.

 

[kelmo]

In my opinion.

Origin is more geared for console single purchases, I believe. A system that does not understand the need to buy one thing for every account.

 

[G.v.P]

My thoughts are that Bonnie just wishes to take all the UO items already for sale from Origin and make it possible to purchase with in game systems. That was the way I interpreted her statements at any rate.

I hope this discussion does not turn into a flame fest. I will give it a chance...

"Maybe I should give fireTV a chance. You can watch shows for as little as $1.99 or $2.99 a month. That's less than UO! Plus it'll give me a chance to study the habits of Gary Busey some more, so I can finally direct that biopic I've always wanted."

"Well, Keanu asked me about making a biopic, but I calmly responded, 'I need to keep using UO's search until I can find Gary Busey.' I've found myself on Google, Altavista, Yahoo!, Craig's List, Amazon's fireTV, and I talked to Mesanna and she said I should try again in an hour, but it's an hour later, then a day, then a week, then a century. You can't tie Busey down to a biopic when there's 'searching for Busey' to do. Hey, how come you can't dye your underwear in UO?"

 

[Winter]

... Hey, how come you can't dye your underwear in UO?"

Once, my miner was loaded with a full pack of fresh ingots, and accidently recalled to Yew gate in Felucca. I'm pretty sure my underwear is permanently dyed brown now.

 

[Ludes]

Has anyone ever heard "Why" some things that people want to buy aren't available anymore? Or why some things are available some places but not others?

I've always been curious about this.

 

[Lady Storm]

Well the OP gave the very best reason to NOT go F2P I have ever heard...
Think on this one kiddies..
How long do you think you or any new player woudl stay in UO if you had to buy your way to play the game?
Not long.
I have heard of those F2P's going down in use. Candy crush is just the best example.

 

[Martell]

F2P mobile and F2P PC games follow different models and aren't comparable. As someone else already pointed out, there are extremely successful f2p PC games that don't demand cash to be good (look no farther than LoL, DOA, Free UO servers, etc.)

IMO all the OP has done is show just how far out of sync UO players (at least those that are vocal on stratics) are with modern day gaming. Way to show your age...

 

[Poo]

i stopped being concerned with my age when my youngest kid took me to town in Mario Cart.
nothing more humbling then losing to your kid in a video game that your good at!!!

 

[cazador]

I always find it funny that most people take the worst possible scenario route..candy crush is pay to win so that's what FTP is...uh..K!

A lot of games use FTP and they work very well with very little pay to win..but just imagine having to pay 1.99 Everytime u wish to enter ter Mur..oh goshhhh


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Lady Storm]

Martell didnt your dad tell you to never make a comment about a ladys age?
If you want to keep your head on in rl kiddo refrain from ever making that mistake.
As for my age or any other in this game... be thankfull we are that age kiddo.
Who do you think has paid to keep this game going?

As for the F2P, its not the way but the mode its written.. they are mainly for ipads and tablets or phones.. things kids use on the go and some of us elder statesmen & women who use said devices. Short term play... I cant see anyone doing Exodus on one....

Say what you will, I dont think it is the way to go for UO.

 

[Wenchkin]

Martell didnt your dad tell you to never make a comment about a ladys age?
If you want to keep your head on in rl kiddo refrain from ever making that mistake.
As for my age or any other in this game... be thankfull we are that age kiddo.
Who do you think has paid to keep this game going?

Maybe if you didn't address everyone here as kiddo and variations thereof, nobody would feel the need to turn it around and mention your age. If you don't like people treating you like you're old, perhaps it's time to stop calling them kiddo...

Incidentally UO has been kept going by many people, not just you.

As for the F2P, its not the way but the mode its written.. they are mainly for ipads and tablets or phones.. things kids use on the go and some of us elder statesmen & women who use said devices. Short term play... I cant see anyone doing Exodus on one....

Say what you will, I dont think it is the way to go for UO.

A tablet or phone is just a smaller form factor than the traditional PC. Even a tiny cheap tablet has as much power as some of the PCs running UO today. Many tablets can work with keyboards, monitors and mice just like a normal computer now. Technology shrunk and games can work just as well on different devices. Not just short term play either. TBH my desktop PCs have been shrinking in size for years, lower power consumption too. My partner has a few mini PCs that fit in the palm of your hand. He has a biscuit tin with this motley collection of baby things running assorted operating systems from a SD card. Probably needs to get out more and stop playing with geek toys, but hey ho

F2P and other payment models are like anything in gaming, they change and evolve. There are good companies alongside the scam artists, they just don't tend to get into the headlines for good behaviour.

The problem arises when other games that compete with UO adapt their pricing structures, marketing etc. And they aren't con artists. Yet UO stays the same. You don't have a profitable business then put your feet up. I'd be a lady of leisure if that was the case UO needs marketing and if that brings newbies in then great. But there really isn't an option of business as usual in gaming IMHO. You watch your competitors and try to stay ahead of their tactics with ones of your own. Even 80 year old farmers are diversifying these days and those are families who did the same thing for generations. Business isn't easy nowadays.

Wenchy

 

[popps]

F2P and other payment models are like anything in gaming, they change and evolve. There are good companies alongside the scam artists, they just don't tend to get into the headlines for good behaviour.

The problem arises when other games that compete with UO adapt their pricing structures, marketing etc. And they aren't con artists. Yet UO stays the same. You don't have a profitable business then put your feet up. I'd be a lady of leisure if that was the case UO needs marketing and if that brings newbies in then great. But there really isn't an option of business as usual in gaming IMHO. You watch your competitors and try to stay ahead of their tactics with ones of your own. Even 80 year old farmers are diversifying these days and those are families who did the same thing for generations. Business isn't easy nowadays.

Wenchy

Well, I may well be wrong in my thinking but if other games evolve into a price structure that diverts from a monthly fee, that does not necessarily mean that it is a good thing for me.....

Personally, I do not like free to play nor any price structure where I might feel pressed to buy stuff with real money to advance in the game. I prefer much more the monthly subscription structure where I can make my decision whether I can afford to pay a monthly fee for a game, and then I play it whenever I have time and make my advances in the game through game play.....

I just do not see myself playing any game that does not offer a monthly subscription which entitles me to the FULL content available for the game or at least to the overall vast majority of it leaving out only marginal items as purchaseable on a side, not really needed to advance in the game and even in that case, the cost for these items should be very marginal and affordable by all players.

Bottom line is, my cup of tea when it comes to online multiplayer games, are games that drive most if not all of their resources through monthly subscriptions.

Even UO, that I have been playing for many years, if it became free to play, it would see me out of it for good....

I do not want to pay to have a house and then to have a mount and then for some special items to go hunting and then for some resources which I need for my crafting and then for this and then for that....

No thanks, I like the monthly fee pays for it all, end of the story.

That's at least as I see it.

 

[Martell]

Martell didnt your dad tell you to never make a comment about a ladys age?
If you want to keep your head on in rl kiddo refrain from ever making that mistake.
As for my age or any other in this game... be thankfull we are that age kiddo.
Who do you think has paid to keep this game going?

As for the F2P, its not the way but the mode its written.. they are mainly for ipads and tablets or phones.. things kids use on the go and some of us elder statesmen & women who use said devices. Short term play... I cant see anyone doing Exodus on one....

Say what you will, I dont think it is the way to go for UO.

Why do you automatically equate F2P with playing on a tablet or phone? There are F2P games that run only on PC and are highly successful doing so.

There are free UO servers with bigger populations than any UO shard and they've existed for years without your money. Prodo UO could exist just as well.

Another problem with stratics posters (besides being old and out of touch with gaming), they care too much about what people say on the internet (complain about gen chat as if its gamebreaking) and hate change (unless it means new deco items and other pixelated junk).

 

[kelmo]

Let's not make this personal.

 

[Wenchkin]

Well, I may well be wrong in my thinking but if other games evolve into a price structure that diverts from a monthly fee, that does not necessarily mean that it is a good thing for me.....

Likewise, a model that doesn't suit you can be perfect for the next player. That's why different options are a good thing

Personally, I do not like free to play nor any price structure where I might feel pressed to buy stuff with real money to advance in the game. I prefer much more the monthly subscription structure where I can make my decision whether I can afford to pay a monthly fee for a game, and then I play it whenever I have time and make my advances in the game through game play.....

Well that's fine for your situation. However some of us can't always know when we have gaming time. I often pay a month in UO and play maybe a few hours because work gets busy. Then the month I don't pay I have plenty of gaming time. Just my luck hehehe. But that's how it is for some of us. So the subscription suits you but it is totally unsuitable for me. And it wouldn't hurt you at all if there was a new option to pay a week at a time instead of a whole month. It just gives a huge flexibility boost for players like myself.

I just do not see myself playing any game that does not offer a monthly subscription which entitles me to the FULL content available for the game or at least to the overall vast majority of it leaving out only marginal items as purchaseable on a side, not really needed to advance in the game and even in that case, the cost for these items should be very marginal and affordable by all players.

Not every game model is the same. You seem to think that it is either a subscription or some nighmare scenario where you are paying for everything. There is a lot of stuff between those two points. Some games you buy in their entirety before you login and you pay no further subscription. Others may ask you for money if you want to finish something really quickly, but the normal player doesn't even notice that because they don't mind waiting a few seconds.

Even UO, that I have been playing for many years, if it became free to play, it would see me out of it for good....
I do not want to pay to have a house and then to have a mount and then for some special items to go hunting and then for some resources which I need for my crafting and then for this and then for that....

No thanks, I like the monthly fee pays for it all, end of the story.

But the thing is Popps, you do pay to have a house, mount and all those other things. The difference with a subscription is that no matter how much you've paid over the years, as soon as you stop paying you cannot access those things, because you pay in advance for a month's access to them. Some players prefer something more flexible than that.

And when it comes to a choice between adapting to a change which means UO can thrive or staying the same and UO declines, I'd choose to adapt. UO is an amazing game, but it's not immune to competition etc. I think we all remember yelling at EA to advertise UO over the years, because it was obviously hurting the game. I'd love to see Broadsword market and manage the game 10 times better than EA and reap the success they deserve.

Wenchy

 

[Lady Storm]

Wenchy I do understand your position and Martell's.
Understand this... I and many who started UO in the early days had it drilled into our heads that it is a bannable offence to even have go look at a "Free shard" much less play there. And as far as I know no Dev has ever said its ok to go do so.
I am truly sorry Wenchy that the time you have free is not there when you pay to play.
We all have had that happen where our free time is so small you just need it to breath.
I and every other UO player pays every month when EA lets us... play time or no...
Its the hazzard of living in this day and age.

Martell..
I understand there are F2P for the pc, some very successful ones too by all I have seen touted by others.
They were structured for that operation of game pay/play.
Those games who have changed to that style I dont know if any thrive or not...
Al I know is....
UO was not.
It's a 17 year old game with alot still going for it.
I see why some would like it to go this route... the thinking is that free would mean a rather large influx of players.
Not to mention all sorts of money being paid for what ever is needed in that format of play.
Can you guarantee it?
I dont think you can. All it would take is little or no influx of enough cash to put the game down for the count.
I dont want to trust in a object I can not see nor count on to keep this game afloat.
Where do you think that would leave the paying players who now support the game?
Many of us who have paid all these years are not stuck we just dont see the outcome as brightly as you do.
Some of us old fuddyduddys here and in UO are not so un tech savy as you picture us.
AS I said above to Wenchy EA made it quite clear early on that those "Free Shards" could and would if detected get you banned.
I cant tell you of how many I have been invited to join...
Many touting I could have all I have in UO and even more all I need to do is join them.
I even know of a guild right now in UO that has its own private server...
The idea though is if not for EA's UO those free shard would not exsist.
They got their model from UO and early on you needed to have at least 1 paid for account to play....
IDK about now but why would I take that risk to know?

 

[popps]

And when it comes to a choice between adapting to a change which means UO can thrive or staying the same and UO declines, I'd choose to adapt. UO is an amazing game, but it's not immune to competition etc. I think we all remember yelling at EA to advertise UO over the years, because it was obviously hurting the game. I'd love to see Broadsword market and manage the game 10 times better than EA and reap the success they deserve.

Wenchy

One thing is adapting maintaining the current pricing system and adding some other "on a side", another is changing the structure of the pricing system, entirely...

For example, you mentioned weekly payments for subscriptions. I have no problem with that as long as that does not change the current paying structure possible with monthly, I think 3 months and then 6 monthly payments with the longest terms of course offering largest discounts (because they provide a steadier income for the game, it makes sense, doesn't it.. ?). It would be an extra paying term added, the weekly payment.

Of course, the weeks not being paid for should not count towards active status account or in regards to house refreshing status...

I am also not against selling codes for items outside of the time subscription fees as long as these items are not necessary to advance with the game or to be competitive. For example, I find the enhancing tool one such item because it does give too much competitive power..... luckily, though, it is not priced outrageously and it is pretty much the only one which really gives that extra power so, I can live with it. But if they became too many items needed to be purchased external of the subscription to remain competitive in the game or they became too expensive, then I would sure have a problem with it.....

I will most likely not be getting into SotA, for example, as it is my understanding that it will depend not on a standard subscription fee to play it (that grants full access to all of its content) but instead on items and other stuff that as a player I would need to buy in order to proceed in my game play. Not to mention the fact that I do not like the newest approach to being able to have extra characters slots (a 2nd and a 3rd) which I think will not make crafting much viable since most players will now be self sufficient in their crafting needs using the additional characters.

Bottom line is, I am not necessarily against different ways of pricing game play as long as they are in addition to a weekly or monthly or tri-monthly or 6-monthly subscription pricing that provides FULL access to any and all items and aspects of the game.

 

[RockoNV]

The micro-transaction model is lucrative for the games that use it. Examples of this are LOTRO and SWTOR. However, this model applied to UO would tend to lessen the charm of the game and playability. I don't want to buy keys to kill Mel.

 

[popps]

I am truly sorry Wenchy that the time you have free is not there when you pay to play.
We all have had that happen where our free time is so small you just need it to breath.
I and every other UO player pays every month when EA lets us... play time or no...
Its the hazzard of living in this day and age.

That does not bother me at all to keep paying even if I do not have much time to play. It has happened for months on end already when I could not play at all and yet I was paying for my account anyways.
Does not bother me at all because when I decided I could afford my monthly payments for UO I just knew that this would have been whether I could play 24/7 or never in a whole month.
Besides, I cannot even recall how many things I spent money for in my life without really using them much, like cloths only used once and then forgotten in some wardrobe and what not. It is not unusual, I would guess, in one's own life, to spend money on something which then gets underused.
Why would this be such a big deal for a game's subscription fee ?

Also, I'd rather prefer to see a few NEW players paying a subscription to play Ultima Online and so providing steady resources for UO's development then seeing lots of new players playing UO for free because of free to play (and thus bringing nothing or little to UO itself) and then perhaps buying gold or game items from who knows where for real money thus not helping much UO.......

No, thanks, I am a die hard monthly subscription gamer, sorry......

 

[Lady Storm]

Ok here is something many have experenced but has not really been accounted for in the way EA has handled sales.
Many of us have had issues with the Origin Store, Billing, and the prior web store as well.
It is a super hastle to buy from them...
I woudl hazzard to guess many purchases went undone and revenue lost to EA.
EA seems oblivious to the facts and has turned a deaf ear to requests for fixing the very well documented troubles their system has.
The numbers of players who have quit over the account billing alone would fill a second shard to capasity!
The sales lost due to CC's being locked up for turning on accounts after you have done a mear 3 accounts is just the tip of the EA iceburg.
This falls over into the Origin Store as well.
Unless you do alot of what to me is unnessassary steps to buy more then 1 item per shopping trip the same 3 purchases will lock up your card faster then a New York minute.
Mesanna said they will try to adress this.
If time is money... then EA has no consept of time.

 

[Wenchkin]

That does not bother me at all to keep paying even if I do not have much time to play. It has happened for months on end already when I could not play at all and yet I was paying for my account anyways.
Does not bother me at all because when I decided I could afford my monthly payments for UO I just knew that this would have been whether I could play 24/7 or never in a whole month.
Besides, I cannot even recall how many things I spent money for in my life without really using them much, like cloths only used once and then forgotten in some wardrobe and what not. It is not unusual, I would guess, in one's own life, to spend money on something which then gets underused.
Why would this be such a big deal for a game's subscription fee ?

Because some of us don't have the same lifestyle and budgeting style that you do. I'm self-employed, so no monthly salary. Instead I have to balance my incomings and outgoings sensibly every month. Both for my business and personal money. If I'm not going to use something, I would rather have the money in the bank to buy something that I will use and enjoy. Or add it to savings for any emergencies or buying something really special instead. It means I've got savings, zero debt and I really enjoy the luxuries that I do buy. Including UO when time permits

Also, I'd rather prefer to see a few NEW players paying a subscription to play Ultima Online and so providing steady resources for UO's development then seeing lots of new players playing UO for free because of free to play (and thus bringing nothing or little to UO itself) and then perhaps buying gold or game items from who knows where for real money thus not helping much UO.......

No, thanks, I am a die hard monthly subscription gamer, sorry......

Firstly I would ask is our shard population increasing or decreasing? Are we currently attracting enough newbies and returning players to compensate for those who leave the game? Are shards getting any busier (and I don't mean Atlantic )

If it's increasing then that's great. We can always build on that, but things are moving in the right direction.

In our case I think we are possibly losing a few more than we're bringing in. So we aren't attracting the newbies and returning customers and that means they're not paying money into UO. So let's say we start with marketing, that's usually a good start. If that's enough then fantastic! But it might not be.

We could add in the weekly subscription I mentioned and a cheaper annual one too. Give people flexibility and affordability for long term subscribers and that would obviously help. There are options besides F2P, but I think some people see red when someone mentions F2P just as an option on the table. UO could come up with a great range of options to suit players of all kinds, which is what I'd love to see. We all want UO to succeed but everyone has different ideas of what they like and compromises they'd be willing to make.

But if we have these conversations then I think it's fantastic because it's better to brainstorm ideas to fix stuff than sit complaining that it's broken and shards are empty

Wenchy

 

[Wenchkin]

Ok here is something many have experenced but has not really been accounted for in the way EA has handled sales.
Many of us have had issues with the Origin Store, Billing, and the prior web store as well.
It is a super hastle to buy from them...
I woudl hazzard to guess many purchases went undone and revenue lost to EA.
EA seems oblivious to the facts and has turned a deaf ear to requests for fixing the very well documented troubles their system has.
The numbers of players who have quit over the account billing alone would fill a second shard to capasity!
The sales lost due to CC's being locked up for turning on accounts after you have done a mear 3 accounts is just the tip of the EA iceburg.
This falls over into the Origin Store as well.
Unless you do alot of what to me is unnessassary steps to buy more then 1 item per shopping trip the same 3 purchases will lock up your card faster then a New York minute.
Mesanna said they will try to adress this.
If time is money... then EA has no consept of time.

*nods* I know my fella has had several fights with account management so it's certainly not helping one little bit. People have to be able to give you money. We've both had the system decline cards after a month's subscription when nothing is wrong, so it seems that problem might still be around too. Fella had a panic thinking his bank had been emptied till I explained yet another UO "feature" heh. Poor guy

I suspect there's some obligation to use EA's Origin and the customer management thing until they can find another provider or make their own system from scratch. I've no idea how long it would take for Broadsword to get another system in place, but I do hope they get it sorted soon. Especially if the Steam listing happens soon - you don't want a rush of new customers hitting that system all at once *cringe*

Wenchy

 

[Lady Storm]

Exactly!
There must be an accounting program or developer who can design one that is easy to use and can handle the load of player needs but is secure.
There are alot of accounting program designers out there Broadsword could go shopping for one that fits UO and DoAC player needs.
The only thing I liked about the Management Page we have was the total list of accounts listed to me ..now had that been modifyed for single transaction for actavation of any and or all accounts that one page would have made it a dream to use... but the nightmare that is our current billing is painfull to use and a nightmare for new people to navagate.
I dislike chopping up my accounts into different e mails, and the notification of said workings to my e mails are so vague that you cant tell what account its on! How the hell can you safeguard your own accounts if they dont tell you what account is being "changed".
Perhaps a "Live" company you can do ether on web or phone.
The only problem is we have unsavory people in the world who wil take "fishing" for info to new levels. thus indangering our accounts.

 

[The Zog historian]

I dislike chopping up my accounts into different e mails, and the notification of said workings to my e mails are so vague that you cant tell what account its on! How the hell can you safeguard your own accounts if they dont tell you what account is being "changed".

A login is made more secure when the login ID is unknown to others and cannot be determined readily. I know it's difficult when you have multiple accounts, but I for one am glad that account names are not sent out in the clear.

 

[Lady Storm]

I got a "change to your account" notice in my email.
How the hell am I to know which account it was refering to if some sort id of that account is not given.
If it had some clue not related to the account info like a id tag for e mail use only.
That would help greatly.
Perhaps we can pick one character name from the account for e mail to id the account.

 

[The Zog historian]

Was it a change you made, or something on their end? What I'd set up is a type of brief message system on the site, which a lot of credit card companies do. Log into account management, and then you can see the full message along with the account name. People would just have to be careful to avoid phishing attempts.

 

[Smoot]

All UO would have to do to to go F2P and be successful on steam is have an unlimited trial period. Any way to maximize profits beyond that is up to broadsword.

Blowing off the idea of F2P without proper research is just stubborn and out of touch with successful modern games of the variety of UO.

 

[G.v.P]

F2P mobile and F2P PC games follow different models and aren't comparable. As someone else already pointed out, there are extremely successful f2p PC games that don't demand cash to be good (look no farther than LoL, DOA, Free UO servers, etc.)

^^yep. but even so, you can throw out the MOBAs. maybe compare the free servers, but can't do that in depth here.

 

[Flagg]

^^yep. but even so, you can throw out the MOBAs. maybe compare the free servers, but can't do that in depth here.

I'm, not sure why MOBAs would make a disposable example here. At any rate, vast majority of current MMORPGs are either FreetoPlay or BuytoPlay(omg, both of these are such dumb terms.) I recon they make pretty relevant examples from our POV. Guild Wars 2,The Secret World, even SW:TOR are all extremely lenient and fair towards non-subscribers.