27 thoughts on “Backlash II: The Sequel — You Really Can’t Please Everyone

    1. I would like to point out that the whole ” If you liked it you should have spoke up sooner” argument is somewhat misguided, Not everyone that liked or disliked it saw it over the weekend. When i am working, I usually work 16 hours shifts Friday – Monday so i typically would not have seen any of this until today. Just so happens I am currently getting a nice long break until work starts up again for me so i was able to chime in in support of the proposed changes ( was a great benefit to me and would have served me great for a couple of years depending on what the final items available would have been, now we will never know)

  1. After a few months, those liking the 2000SC deal would by “b & m”ing about nothing left to buy… or what a bad value it was…

    I’m not sure how many high value items are on the Marketplace – it wouldn’t take long to grow bored with the selection and be at ZERO SC to buy stuff with since I wouldn’t want anything left for 2000.

    Bah. Suck it up. 500SC has been the norm. No one was complaining before the announcement that they didn’t like it. If it’s good enough last week, it’s good enough this week.

  2. If SOE read the feedback in forums and here and made changes because of that feedback I probably would have responded.. one way or the other.
    WIth the continued problems on the PVP server, Warfields not working, players sitting in BG and ruining the server , etc… I would think SOE might have changed things based on player comments .. but they don’t.
    Futile. It all feels futile and worthless.

  3. The people who buy lots of low-priced items (eg. for decorating) won’t like getting a grant for a single purchase because it looks like it’s wasting a lot of SC. The people who buy a few high-ticket items won’t like a grant of a low amount every month because they have to wait to accumulate enough for one purchase. And a grant of a large amount every month makes it so nobody has to buy SC and SOE doesn’t make any money. If you stick to SC only it’s a no-win situation: people are going to complain either way, so pick a path and go.

    If it’s possible to go beyond SC (eg. the goblin gold prizes that’re priced in both SC and GG), I’d grant one special token every month that could either be traded in for a certain amount of SC or could be used to purchase a single eligible item. That’d allow both ends of the spectrum to have it their way. You’ll still get people complaining that their favorite item isn’t instantly available, but sometimes life requires you to be patient and save up.

  4. This is one of those things where the final deal, had it been the first thing they announced, would have been pretty much all win. But they had to do a very public set of iterations on their ideas which has managed to leave a pile of people feeling like they got robbed, despite most people being better off when comparing the start point with the end result.

    And, in the end, do the incentives for being Gold or All Access sell subscriptions, or would the people who really love a given SOE game subscribe anyway?

    Or, to flip that on its end, would anybody who rage quits over this change really be somebody all that into the game in the first place?

    There are lots of things to like or dislike about the games in the SOE stable, but the idea that the Station Cash incentive is going to change my view of any actual game or make me start or stop playing seems kind of silly.

  5. When you introduce SC, F2P, P2W and any number of other incentives then try to standardize them across all your titles and realise that it will screw your new flagship AAA titles, you have a big problem.

    I think this is where Sony finds itself right now and I don’t envy them trying to sort it out. Should have kept it all separate really!

  6. I’ve been banned for 3 days now – apparently speaking the name PSS1 three times is an offense. According to the mods asking about them is ‘nonconstructive’. Not for others like Seffrid and Trevy tho , it seems.

    It’s quite funny – I get banned and for once I am actually supporting SOE.

      1. LOL ty 🙂 I’m in good company then. I remember getting a ban back then for objecting to your ban Feldon – solidarity! 🙂

        It’s a bit daft as Smed refers to the Europeans in his ‘letter’ – you’d think it would be ok to ask about it. He doesn’t name the company tho, maybe SOE are trying to get people to forget who PSS1 are.

        I’m always careful and polite in my posts too, so who knows what upset those mods – maybe they don’t understand me because I’m an alien from another continent 😉

  7. It strikes me far more that there are just people that want to complain. I would have been happier with the grant if it had wider application, but would prefer the cash on things like Player Studio and services without it.

    And unlike a lot of studios, they did actually lay out some of their reasons, which I give them credit for (even if they didn’t just come out and say “because we monetize it all), even if I may not agree with them all.

    Though i’m willing to bet that Plan B was laid out before hand, given how quickly they turned around on it.

  8. Goes to show SOE shouldn’t piss off the PAYING customers…..bottom line is FTP and Silver already get far too much for virtually nothing so the reasons for remaining or becoming Gold is shrinking away day by day …I still think they need to re-evaluate what they give PAYING players versus the others.

  9. @Zzzz’z Aren’t most of us both, like drivers are also pedestrians? I’ve had an All Access account since they were invented but I also have several Silver accounts.

    On the PSS1 thing, where does this leave those of us on Access, going forward? Last I remember there was an agreement that Access accounts would continue to be honored by and paid to SOE not PSS1, at least until such time as PSS1 could offer an equivalent. With this change there will effectively no longer be an Access level of subscription so how does that promise stand?

    Either way, it’s going to save me money. Either I’ll be paying SOE the new, cheaper rate or I’ll be playing as a free player from now on.

    1. That’s basically what I asked about and got banned for being unconstructive. Whilst I find it quite funny to get banned on the one occasion in my whole life I’ve been happy with and defending SOE, it also makes me nervous as to why it was such a twitchy subject – just what did I say…….

  10. Thanks for this article – I got a good kick out of reading it. I was one of the ones who was very disappointed in the change to the 2000sc voucher. I went on the forums and submitted my feedback in a constructive manner.

    I also read through the countless other posts of people who were also against the change. I read a lot of funny comments that day, but I literally don’t remember one post of someone who was in favor of this voucher. It is amusing to see them crying now.

    I’m actually very happy with Smed and SOE right now and very much look forward to my gold membership becoming an all access one. Now how many times have I been able to say that over the years???????

  11. These people want to be able to sell the 500SC over getting free large items… I really hope the people at SOE see that and change the free 500SC to something that will make what you buy with them be account bound only (Can not gift the items from the free 500SC per month – Almost make it HAHA_Srew_You_SC) so people can not sell the items they buy with the SC for plat or even real money

    1. That is plain wrong. I would never buy SC and I ever have agreed with it or the fluff items. It’s not something I would ever have a heart attack and ragequite over though. I saved all mine last year and gifted a reindeer to my gf. Your ‘pound of flesh’ attitude would have prevented me from doing that. Who is anybody to say what other people can and can’t do with something that is legit saved?

  12. SOE’s only win on this would have been to announce that the double token stuff is being made permanent and 10% discount is the market without restriction in exchange for the 500 SC perk. Just take the SC stuff out of play entirely and give it a couple of months to let the winning settle enough to see the ongoing impact.
    Would you trade 500SC you get for free each month for double tokens and a 10% discount on everything? How about triple tokens? How about free merc unlocks? What’s your REAL (not inflated) price to make the change happily (or at least silently)? We all have one.

  13. On the part of why did i not whine because everyone was whining about it. Well who knew they were going to change it back until they did. I liked the change so i saw no reason to whine about it.

  14. It seems to me that we have two basic camps here. One camp likes big ticket items, and would have loved the 2k voucher good for a single item (exclusions apply). The other camp rarely buys big-ticket items, preferring low(er) priced items, so the 500SC deal (with no exclusions) is a better deal.

    I will admit, I am in the second camp. If I really want a big ticket item I can use SC I have saved or actually buy (!) more SC to cover the difference. With the proposed 2k voucher, there were too many limits for my likes. The value of the 2k voucher could not be extended with additional SC to buy a 21k-35k item. The 2k voucher could only be used for one item, whether that item costs 50SC or 2kSC, or anything in between. The 2k voucher was a “use it or loose it” deal, so no chance of saving up for a big item.

    Given all those limits, the 500SC (where I can use it and / or save as I decide) is a much better deal.

    As always, this is just my personal opinion.

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