VIP program is going to literally cost SSG money - not a whiny quit post

[The Blonde]

Chiming in to say that I, too, find the proposed delivery scheme unacceptable.

 

[DDO Gaming]

Cordovan put it as a "log in" bonus where you HAVE to claim your rewards or you lose them,

Oh...I assumed this is like a chain-reward where everytime you login you simply claim the next reward in the chain irrespective of how long you've been away from the game.

Yo may wish to confirm this with the devs

 

[TavernBrawler]

Oh...I assumed this is like a chain-reward where everytime you login you simply claim the next reward in the chain irrespective of how long you've been away from the game.

Yo may wish to confirm this with the devs

Nope. If you do not login and claim the third month, and when you login on the fourth month you can only claim third month's rewards. So you are VIP for 4 months but you are 1 month behind in terms of rewards.

Time-based rewards in a stop-start system is a b***h and why most companies avoid it, surprised SSG with their "fantastic marketing team" took this approach.

 

[DDO Gaming]

Nope. If you do not login and claim the third month, and when you login on the fourth month you can only claim third month's rewards. So you are VIP for 4 months but you are 1 month behind in terms of rewards.

So it is chain-based but to claim the current month's rewards you need to login once that month.

Obvioulsy I cannot speak for anyone else but every month has 28+ days and I can login once per month

 

[Lacci]

They can pay for a year ... and not play six months, and not end up with the reward for being VIP for a year. So yes, they are missing out on rewards that they ... paid for.

To be fair, that has always been the case, that´s nothing specific to the loyalty rewards. If you pay for 12 months and not play 6 of them, you wasted money for 6 months.

I don´t think they´ll lose money on this. There is a certain amount of people who pay for VIP, my guess is, they will continue to do so and get something on top.
But I don´t think the loyalty program will really encourage non-VIPs to subscribe now.

 

[Shear-buckler]

However, it is not uncommon for me to get caught up in some other game for a few months - WoW, FF14, PoE, Last Epoch or even D4Bad. Because of how the VIP system is implemented as Cordovan put it as a "log in" bonus where you HAVE to claim your rewards or you lose them, I am suddenly forced with the situation where I will have to unsubscribe every time I quit or risk losing my reward due to not logging in and claiming it that month. This system is actually going to make me unsubscribe, not because I dont want to be subscribed any longer, but purely because of the risk of missing out on my bonuses.

This is a misunderstanding of the system. You don't lose the reward in that sense. You will just get the reward a month later. Unsubscribing does nothing to help that.

 

[Geezer]

I totally agree with the OP. IMHO, the whole system of having to talk to someone to get something is lame. Just like the epic destinys. Why do we have to talk to someone to acitvate the destinys we that are ours? Rewards simply used to show up in your inventory, like free raiders boxes etc. They've just added another layer of annoyance to the game and aggrivating the people that play it.

 

[Pesh]

I dont even sub and I still find it insulting.

 

[Jack Jarvis Esquire]

Not VIP myself but fwiw I completely agree with the OP.

There is a, somewhat myopic IMO, argument to say login should be encouraged but that badly misses the point that some will login, claim, and log straight back out without any additional benefit to actual play. Whilst there is nothing wrong with that behaviour, incentivising in this way is counterproductive when it hurts those who pay.

Either incentivise pay or incentivise play. Incentivising logging in is wrong headed IMO.

 

[Guntango]

This might be breaking news for some of you, but, hold on tight, and don't fall out of your chairs:

Logging in regularly and requiring a monthly fee are very common ways for MMOs to drive revenue.

In this case, if you don't log in, obtaining your reward is paused until it is convenient for you to pick it up again at a later time. That's pretty damn forgiving, given some games require you to log in at a specific time or lose your opportunity.

If you lose out because you're busy playing another game, I could not care less. That's a terrible excuse to demand a change of the game you're cheating on. Maybe at some point in an entire month, you take 46 seconds to log in, pick up your reward, and then go back to your gumare.

The real problem with the proposed VIP changes is that the rewards are neither worth paying for nor logging in for. If you're going to quit, do it for those reasons.

 

[GrizzlyOso]

The real problem with the proposed VIP changes is that the rewards are neither worth paying for nor logging in for. If you're going to quit, do it for those reasons.

This is exactly right. And even worse , they actually put effort into this. They could’ve just bumped xp by 5% a year ago , instead they took a year, spent actual time on this , and somehow came out with something pretty universally hated.

 

[Genkiba]

Forumites: The rewards are terrible!

Also forumites: Don't take away/delay my terrible rewards!

This being ssgs answer to things really should surprise no one at this point in any way shape or form...... but stans will be stans...

And haters will hate.

 

[Fallout47]

I just wanted to post, of course in the hopes that it might get changed, my concerns with the new VIP system.

I am not here to debate the contents of the rewards, whether they are worth it or not or whatever, that is everyones own personal value choice. My problem is the fundamental implementation of the new VIP system and how its going to be a hassle for me and lose SSG money.

I have been VIP for many years, basically probably nearly uninterrupted for 7 years with the possible exception of a period of time when my account was compromised and it took a while to get it back. I dont play DDO non stop, I get bored, other games come along, etc, but I never unsub. This game has been my home for a long time and will continue to be, and its always been worth it for me to maintain my subscription so I can come back at any time, no effort, take a look, play a day, play a week, whatever, and support my favourite game.

However, it is not uncommon for me to get caught up in some other game for a few months - WoW, FF14, PoE, Last Epoch or even D4Bad. Because of how the VIP system is implemented as Cordovan put it as a "log in" bonus where you HAVE to claim your rewards or you lose them, I am suddenly forced with the situation where I will have to unsubscribe every time I quit or risk losing my reward due to not logging in and claiming it that month. This system is actually going to make me unsubscribe, not because I dont want to be subscribed any longer, but purely because of the risk of missing out on my bonuses.

Please SSG, change the way the rewards are implemented - let players claim them as they earn them at any time, dont force us to talk to an NPC or lose our rewards. The dragon year stuff is already annoying enough.

Maybe they should add a new feature to the VIP program, if you don't log in for the month you aren't charged for the month =P
Or, perhaps, have a customer support person talk to each player, each month, in order to collect your monthly sub. Just sayin.

 

[Falkor]

They put effort into this ... lol.

It wouldn't be that hard to make the rewards retroactive. But that might require some actual effort.

Can we expect SSG to do anything but SSG?

 

[GrizzlyOso]

Forumites: The rewards are terrible!

Also forumites: Don't take away/delay my terrible rewards!


And haters will hate.

Genkiba: simplify things to absurdity and assume everyone on the forums is the same as everyone else on the forums.

Really adding to the forums.

 

[DDO Gaming]

The real problem with the proposed VIP changes is that the rewards are neither worth paying for nor logging in for. If you're going to quit, do it for those reasons.

That's a seperate argument entitrely. Value is always in the eye of the beholder

 

[DDO Gaming]

Personally I would say VIP++ doesn't particularly benefit me thus doesn't impact my decision to resub. And truthbetold I suspect most naysayers fall in that category, you guys will still resub but not because VIP++ entices you

 

[Guntango]

That's a seperate argument entitrely. Value is always in the eye of the beholder

Some beholders are better at understanding value than others.

 

[Sarlona Raiding]

I like claiming rewards vs. adding them to inventory. I just agree with the OP that you shouldn't lose a reward if you get busy for a month and can't login. My guess is it's just easier to code vs. having to customize it by person.

 

[erethizon1]

The system as is isn't horrible. If you stay subbed and leave for 5 months you are no worse off than when you leave for 5 months before this update while staying subbed.

That said, it should be better. What SSG should encourage is for a person that knows they are going to be deployed for 2 years to say, "I know I cannot play or even log in for the next 2 years, but if I don't cancel, I'll have accumulated 24 rewards when I get back." The main point of this system as I understood it was to encourage people to stay subbed even when they are not playing. Making them log in once a month discourages this. Let them disappear for 5 years, paying SSG the entire time, and come back to 60 accumulated rewards. That is what is going to encourage the highest percentage of people to stayed subbed permanently.