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Rewards Program Update (and Release 66 Rewards)

Discussion in 'Announcements' started by DarkStarr, May 28, 2019.

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  1. Lained

    Lained Avatar

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  2. Earl Atogrim von Draken

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    Bah. Didn't read the 5 pages. I imagine a lot of rage and doom and gloom. So I just wanted to drop by and say I like the change. Not my kind of rewards for r66 but, hey, they change every month and different levels sounds like a nice idea.
    A lot of people demanded some kind of vanity sub years ago already. So, here it is.
     
  3. Earl Atogrim von Draken

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    I am sorry if this comes across a bit sore but I suggest you write it down in bullet points and post it here. A lot of us don't have the time or the Energy to search your streams for vital information.
     
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  4. Kara Brae

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    I took the time out to search the livestream for the information. From 00:23:43 to 00:32:50 you talked about the changes to the subscription and stretch goals, but I heard no mention of the decision to deny subscribers their paid-for benefits if they failed to log on within the monthly window. At that point you turned to answering questions and I couldn't listen to any more.

    Maybe I would have learned more had I listened to the entire livestream, which was over an hour, but even during the aforementioned 10 minutes, there was a lot of idle time and friendly chatter that wasn't related to the topic. There was no guarantee that the topic would come up again. In my experience I can only listen to SOTA livestreams when I am doing something else and can listen to the livestream running in the background. If the livestream switches to some important gameplay demonstration I can turn my attention to the computer screen for a few minutes.

    For the record, I want to say that from a customer's perspective it is a bad decision for me to be denied any benefits which I subscribed to and paid for simply for not logging on during the monthly window of time.

    Other than that I have no objection to the changes.
     
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  5. Time Lord

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    We all know what happened to the last guy who said this...
    [​IMG]
    Please challenge your imagination for something better...
    [​IMG]
    More game in new directions would be a good thing...

    Is our game in this much of a fight?
    :rolleyes: It's become a valid question :confused:
    :eek: Be careful not to kill the baby...
    and make certain we can afford it!
    ~Time Lord~o_O
     
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  6. Fenrus MacRath

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    What if its a zombie baby? Is that cool?
     
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  7. Time Lord

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    I'll buy more SOTA seedinvest stock for that stretch goal :D~TL~
     
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  8. oplek

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    That's the thing... they keep making a series of decisions that are about fine tuning their business operations, without a lot of consideration that these decisions are often anti-consumer. If I recall correctly, the concept of the subscription system was born out of a desire to be automatically opted into the telethon rewards, because people kept missing them. That was the point.

    Chris mentioned a few times that this generates a lot of customer service tickets for them. I get it... there's some logistical issues they struggle with. There's more than one way to pet a cat, and so maybe instead try to address why that's the case, instead of taking anti-consumer actions? That's indicating that there's other problems elsewhere.
     
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  9. Stryker Sparhawk

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    And what exactly did you say?

    This is more of a request for information for those who cannot watch a 2 to 4 hour stream everyday
     
    Last edited: May 29, 2019
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  10. Anpu

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    Personally I’m fine with this change, for me. I just have one subscription to the rewards program. I mainly subscribe just for the COTO’s. The occasional nice deco items were also nice (like the dungeon pieces).

    I’d much rather the art assets time be spent more on new stuff for the game. The unique rewards are fine, but really I just want the COTO’s and potions. We really need more stuff to the game. Like the missing Obsidian Chainmail and leather armor. And many other things.
     
  11. Daxxe Diggler

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    I've been too busy to even play the game much lately, let alone listen to livestreams that last hours. For me, the only chance of getting game related info has been browsing these forums and I'm finding that info is becoming extremely scarce lately. It seems like Chris and his streams are the only sources available for good info.

    I remember when I used to praise this Dev team for keeping us informed with planned schedules, monthly steams with multiple Devs keeping us updated with what they are working on, healthy forum conversations and feedback, and most importantly (to me) Devs dedicated to bug hunting and fixes (R.I.P. Attenwood and Lexie). That's when I had faith that this project was going to succeed no matter what!

    While I appreciate that @Chris does take the time to stream and show us some of the upcoming changes and things he's working on... I simply don't have the time to dedicate to watching them. So, I feel like the important information is being withheld from everyone but a select few who have the time to watch them. The rest of us are left in the dark.

    Like others stated before me here, I think that important changes (like this one) should be announced and explained here in the forums and not just in a livestream. For one thing, many of us simply can't watch the stream even after the fact, let alone while it's happening. Not being there when the topic is discussed doesn't give us the opportunity to give feedback on the idea until it's too late.

    I have not had a chance to see the stream where Chris explains this, so I am giving an uninformed opinion here...

    I can't see how this change will improve funding for the game. The sub price is almost double what people had to pay before to get the stretch goals, and not only that, you are limiting them to 3 items? I know stretch goals haven't been as good as they used to be and we only get a few now anyway... but at least there was a chance to get more than 3 items before (and usually the higher tier things were more desirable). And those who can't afford to subscribe monthly would pitch in occasionally if there was a good crop of rewards they liked. Now I fear that people are not going to fork over twice as much every month to receive less items than usual. In fact, I'm considering cancelling my subscription now with these changes.

    Maybe this will save them some time and manpower to work on other things... but they also need the funding to continue or else there won't be anyone left to work on other things.
     
  12. Browncoat Jayson

    Browncoat Jayson Legend of the Hearth

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    I listed to the first 45 minutes of the stream, and while @Chris did discuss the changes, I don't think it addressed the concerns here. Here are the points I heard:
    • The rewards are changing to always be ~3 items per month, instead of a variable number based on stretching.
    • They do not feel that stretching actually helped raise more funds. (I'd echo the same as above; when the goals were "good" they hit 100k+, while more recently only ~30k or so was raised.)
    • Needing to create art after the stretch goals were hit, instead of up front, caused a lot of support tickets asking "where is my stuff". On the other hand, being able to log in immediately and get your rewards items would be a "feel-good" moment. (The most pressing issue to me is that there is no way to see what you are "owed" easily, and that all requires manual back-end work.)
    • The reward items will be themed each month, and try to include the high-desired items each time. Things like emotes, decorations, wearables, pets, replenishing boxes, etc. Each should offer a mix, and will switch it up each month.
    • Chris is going to see about getting "any store purchase" as an alternative to pledge rewards to get the monthly items. (That goes against the "exclusive" text on the Rewards Program, i.e. "Exclusive Monthly Reward Items (~ 3 per month)", but perhaps they can modify that a bit; "Automatic access to the Exclusive Monthly Reward Items (~3 per month)" to indicate these are not exclusive to the Rewards Program, but to the month...)
    • (I didn't hear a good reason for not delivering the reward items just like CotOs, instead of requiring a monthly login.)
    After that, he started talking about artifacts and the new dungeon (Tartarus) that he was working on. I'll finish the steam later.
     
  13. Warrior B'Patrick

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    Greetings all. I would like to add my understanding and comments to the post. First some history. Telethon/Livestreams were once very profitable for port. This was done mostly by buying things in the add-on store for real world money and was driven by the rewards offered during that release. Port then changed the add-on store and moved almost all items to the COTO merchants. This left Livestream donations to COTO purchases and a small set of other items. Once this change was made the totals were usually 60k or less. One special note is that all livestream rewards were trade able and sell able.

    So my understanding of the situation starting in R66 are these:
    1. The current subscription rewards will be the same. If you give $9 a month
    • 900 Gold Crowns of the Obsidians every month
    • Exclusive Monthly Reward Items (~ 3 per month)
    • Exclusive Title every 3 months
      • 3 Months: Keeper of the Faith
      • 6 Months: Keeper of the Word
      • 9 Months: Keeper of the Vow
      • 12 Months: Keeper of the Flame
      • 15 Months: Keeper of the Oath
      • 18 Months: Keeper of the Pledge
    • Pick any Dye 12 Pack every 6 months
    • Pick any three of the 7 Obsidian Potions every month
    2. Stretch goals have been changed to a set number of items with no independent goal to achieve.If you subscribe you will get these as a monthly login reward during the month they were offered. If you do not log in during that time you will not get the monthly reward. Not only is this a big change and removed the desire to help raise the Livestream goals to get that special reward but as Log in rewards like May's reward it is now account bound and you can not trade or sell it.

    3. If you log in during any of the livestreams and either type in the phrase of the month or buy something in the add-on store of $10 or more you will be entered into the prize giveaway for that livestream. No guarantee of wining though.

    Edit: I am happy to say that the Subscriber Reward Bundle (Livestream Rewards) are not account bound. You are able to trade and sell as you wish. Thank you Port.
     
    Last edited: May 30, 2019
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  14. Arkah EMPstrike

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  15. Browncoat Jayson

    Browncoat Jayson Legend of the Hearth

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    The May reward is for returning players, not part of the Rewards Program. There is no reason to think the reward items will not be tradeable; if that is part of the change, it will be something to be upset about.

    I've long said that the new items that are added to the Crown Shop also need to go on the Add-On Store page for that month. At least then there is something to spend new money on, and provides a place for players to browse what has been added, without jumping into the game. Yes, having a huge storefront was a turn-off for potential players, but having nothing there is just as bad. Currently, your choices are to buy Crowns, buy a Rewards subscription, or buy a Make-A-Difference item. At least that last one I can usually convince myself is worth the cost of admission.

    Please, @DarkStarr, add the Crown Shop new releases to the Add-On Store for a month! Help us help you.
     
  16. Boris Mondragon

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    If you want people excited alternate a Cloth/Leather/Chain/Plate Armor set each month. In my case throw in the 1972 convertible Cadillac Eldorado. R/Boris/El Pirata
     
  17. jiirc

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    I can’t see why they would want to put any items, other than cotos and excluding the pledge bundles, on the web. The reason for the change was to remove the pay to win stigma attached to the game because items were on the web. Adding items back to web store would reinforce that stigma once again. I can’t ever see them putting items sold 8n the crown store on the web ever again.
     
  18. oplek

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    One thing I'll say about this... before the in-game store, I was spending more on telethons. Even if I was after some in-game gold, it was more effective than COTOs to buy something popular in the web store (which was webstore only), and sell it in game. My mentality was also, "while I'm here I may as well get something interesting... hmm... that's $10 more. Fine, let's do this"
    • Then they moved all that to the store, and my purchases reduced to the minimum amount to qualify. The interest in upping my spending vanished.
    • Then they axed the $5 COTO option, further shedding buyers. My interest in purchasing had waned below this threshold, by this point.
    • Now they're axing stretch goals altogether, and making it possible to miss out on what people paid for.
    It's been a series of steps reducing the revenue.
     
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  19. Browncoat Jayson

    Browncoat Jayson Legend of the Hearth

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    No, the issue wasn't that there were things on the web, its that EVERYTHING was on the web. It was overwhelming, which said that anything worth having was only available for cash. Having a small number of items, rotating monthly, would not give this impression. In fact, it would help promote new items and show off what some of the cool new models look like.
     
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  20. Brighton Rock

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