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

[mbartol]

why would you VIP for 2 years without logging in once? VIP is supposed to cater for regular gamers

Because some people play sporadically, and can’t always predict when they can or cannot play. Paying one month at a time costs nearly twice as much as an annual subscription.

There are enough edge cases where a player may not have the opportunity to login for a month or more. I don’t see the need for these players to miss out on the full number of items that they paid for.

I am not arguing about the value of any of the monthly items. I am simply saying that anyone that pays for a subscription should receive the items without having the arbitrary hoop to jump through.

 

[Shear-buckler]

Actually it does. If you are subscribed for 4 months and you miss picking up month 3 when month 4 rolls around then you would get month 3 reward. If you unsubscribed after month 2 and then resubscribe for month 4 you would still get the month 3 reward but you would not have paid for a month that you received no reward.

Well yeah if you subscribe only for the monthly reward but don't log in and claim the reward you lose the reward. That was not the claim I responded to.

 

[Genkiba]

Should a player that pays for 12 months be guaranteed to get the 12 items they paid for?

They are guaranteed to get the items. They just won't get them all at once.

 

[mbartol]

They are guaranteed to get the items. They just won't get them all at once.

If someone gets a one year subscription and is unable to login for a month for whatever reason, then they will only receive 11 of the items out of the 12 months.
They would be required to sub for a 13th month to get the mount (assuming they only missed one month).

 

[thunderwolf]

sorry guys ssg is with daybreak now they dont give a dam about us now . this log in or you loos it is what daybreak dose this is why ill not sub or spend any money again on this game seeing you can get every thing free now and they care more for non supporters. ha i went back to my gold box D&D games loving it and its free

 

[erethizon1]

why would you VIP for 2 years without logging in once? VIP is supposed to cater for regular gamers

People pay for subscriptions they don't use, or barely, use all the time. DDO should take advantage of this behavioral pattern as much as they possibly can. Someone that contributes financially to DDO without contributing to the lag, is a great customer.

 

[Shear-buckler]

If someone gets a one year subscription and is unable to login for a month for whatever reason, then they will only receive 11 of the items out of the 12 months.
They would be required to sub for a 13th month to get the mount (assuming they only missed one month).

So just like the weekly gold dice works. It's not an issue, encouraging players to log on is perfectly reasonable to do.

 

[GrizzlyOso]

So just like the weekly gold dice works. It's not an issue, encouraging players to log on is perfectly reasonable to do.

First of all , this encourages players to log on MONTHLY. No one was mad about the daily rolls , remember ?

Second , missing a month and then not getting your super special year long “gift” after a year of sub ? Stupid.

Especially given it’s basically the only semi cool thing offered.

Especially especially given the free rewards right next to it, that came out before it, don’t do that.

 

[mbartol]

So just like the weekly gold dice works. It's not an issue, encouraging players to log on is perfectly reasonable to do.

It’s similar to the gold rolls (either daily or weekly) in that it encourages periodic logins. However, gold rolls are independent of previous rolls—unlike the monthly prizes.

Missing a month (for whatever reason) results in you losing out on the prizes on the back end of your subscription duration.

 

[Shear-buckler]

It’s similar to the gold rolls (either daily or weekly) in that it encourages periodic logins. However, gold rolls are independent of previous rolls—unlike the monthly prizes.

Missing a month (for whatever reason) results in you losing out on the prizes on the back end of your subscription duration.

Yes but that will be equally true if you unsub for the missed month. To unsub to not miss out on the reward makes just as much sense as unsubing to not miss out on your gold rolls.

 

[mbartol]

Not really, because subscribing monthly costs nearly double the cost of an annual subscription.

Also, not everyone knows ahead of time that something will prevent them from logging (broken computer for instance).

 

[Shear-buckler]

Not really, because subscribing monthly costs nearly double the cost of an annual subscription.

Also, not everyone knows ahead of time that something will prevent them from logging (broken computer for instance).

Still, encouraging log on is perfectly reasonable. To get the rewards you have to pay for VIP AND log on. It's perfectly clear at the point of purchase that that's whats required. Out of all the problems with this system, requiring players to actually log on to the game is not one of them.

 

[mbartol]

I agree that encouraging logging in is good, but missing out on unique prizes that were paid for is not.

 

[popejubal]

why would you VIP for 2 years without logging in once? VIP is supposed to cater for regular gamers

Why do I have a gym membership?

 

[The Delusionist]

I suspect this implementation was based on the very loud feedback many of us provided to the dev team after MoTU, Shadowfell and Ravenloft. Each of these expansions loads an item into your inventory that explodes about 5,000,000 items you have to clean out/deal with whenever you create a new character.

I'm a huge fan of the NPC mechanic to turn-in/claim rewards. I wonder if it is a limitation of the tech to only allow you to turn in 1 month at a time. It certainly would be nice if folks who paid for VIP for 6 months or 8 months could claim any rewards they miss if they can't log in for a few months. But, if that isn't possible, given the choice between item that explodes my inventory and the NPC turn in, I prefer the NPC turn in.

I believe SSG could add dialogue to give all missing rewards until now - it likely isn't a tech limitation. HCL has a ton of reward claims in the hall of heroes, and there is a claim all button for upper tier expansion packs. If I had to guess, this is a way to boost engagement metrics so they can tell investors or the publisher that their active logins are higher, which might be important for securing funds for big investment projects (like artists for ui scaling) down the line.

 

[Shear-buckler]

I agree that encouraging logging in is good, but missing out on unique prizes that were paid for is not.

If you buy tickets to a show and don't show up, do you expect to get a refund?

If you want the reward you failed to earn by not logging in you can still get it by resubbing. If at that point you only sub for a month and miss out on the 12m discount that is, again, on you.

 

[Guntango]

Why do I have a gym membership?

So that you can go to the gym if you want to.

 

[DDO Gaming]

Why do I have a gym membership?

to kid yourself. Its a psychological thing. And I believe medical experts have written papers on this

 

[Ptalon]

I was VIP when I was in the Navy. I could not log in every month while I was at sea. Some of our sailors and deployed military can be unable to log in for over a year.

Also applies for many other jobs.

 

[mbartol]

If you buy tickets to a show and don't show up, do you expect to get a refund?

If you want the reward you failed to earn by not logging in you can still get it by resubbing. If at that point you only sub for a month and miss out on the 12m discount that is, again, on you.

I’ve had airfare refunded many times. Usually in the form of a credit, but have had my credit card refunded on more than one occasion.

I’m not asking for a refund from SSG, though. I just believe that if you paid for all 12 items, you should be able to receive all 12 items.