They're giving away in-game items, most of which are going to inactive accounts. These were items that were already available in game prior to this charade so it's not like doing any of this cost them a dime.
In return, they're getting publicity from every MMO site on the net despite having the WORST launch (can we even call it a launch?) in MMO history. This isn't 'making good', this is fleecing MMO sites for free advertising.
I'd be shocked if the whole thing wasn't planned.
It resulted in major potential sales that were lost on the dolphin mount alone
I know folks who've bought 600 boxes and have not gotten the dolphin mount drop - and now every patron has it.
If you for one second think that this has not cost XL and Trion a HUGE loss in potential revenue - it's a major F' up by them.
A planned loss of sales - yeah that makes a lot of sense.
If done correctly, this should not have caused any loss of sales.... but could have increased sales. If they gave these to accounts that had lapsed, and had left, then they didnt lose anything (as the account was gone anyways). Getting them to return could have gotten them to return to spending.
However, I do agree that they didnt do this in a reasonable manner, and that based on this... we can also assume that they didnt target accounts reasonably either.
So glad XL/AA never got a cent from me, I feel bad for those that spent $$$ on AA. I spent more money flushing my toilette. Seriously, my heart bleeds.
I don't see what the big deal is supposed to be.I claimed my free stuff yesterday and immediately deleted everything related to the Library as that doesn't interest me. The potions and glider skin went in my vault, leaving just the Dolphin that might be some use. However, after trying it out for a few minutes I can't fathom out what that use might be. It's slower than a clipper so no use for trading except maybe to slip into an enemy port undetected. I can't really see myself using it.
Originally posted by Charlie.Cheswick This game is nothing more than a casino desguised as an MMO, which is sad bbecause the MMO portion of the game is not bad.
This.
Truth is, Archeage could have been quite a revolutionary game. It had some really great ideas, and ship combat was fresh and fantastic, though buggy like so much of the game. ArcheAge was fundamentally torn between two design philosophies. On the one hand, they made all normal (vertical) progression exceedingly fast to fall in line with the themepark rush to end-game mentality, then item progression was the polar opposite due to excessive RNG.
Failing to properly pace all progression compromised the gradual, long-term, rewarding and immersive virtual world feel that the game could have had and replaced it with the feeling of a generic, inorganic cash grab... which is exactly what it turned out to be.
Originally posted by Horusra Why should the paying and non-paying not be segregated?
Dividing the playerbase is just a bad idea. Without the free players being able to access content, the paying players usually don't have enough people to do the content they want, so they leave, and it creates a sense of elitism in the community. When paying players treat free players like crap, the free players are less likely to stick around, which leads to less free players turning into paying players, which means even less players for paying players to play with, so more paying players leave... repeat until the game shuts down due to lack of funds.
MMORPGs did just fine without free players back in the day of sub only MMOs, they can still do well without free players today.
I don't understand all this problem with Archage, I admit i couldent play it more than 10 min it was booring but who ever likes free to play ez mmo-s should play it and stfu.
You want a AAA super fun mmo that last 2 ,3 years like vanilla wow and trully free
for that they would have to spend 100 mill and than more to sustain server, i dont see any logic in this industry or players expectation
If they really wanted to give this game a chance, they would eliminate all the RNG crap in the item shop. As long as it is there, the game is a casino first.
The execs at Trion should write a book on "How to fail at making a video game".
It caused me to log back in after a month or so. Library passes start the countdown as soon as you collect so those will likely go to waste. But I was happy to get something for all the money I spent on AA.
I am glad to get a dolphin. I wanted one and I had basically written it off as a possiblity.
But it doesn't fix the core problem. Trion's gamble boxes are horrible. The worst I have seen. Too expensive. Too low of odds. Worthless consolation items.
Comments
If done correctly, this should not have caused any loss of sales.... but could have increased sales. If they gave these to accounts that had lapsed, and had left, then they didnt lose anything (as the account was gone anyways). Getting them to return could have gotten them to return to spending.
However, I do agree that they didnt do this in a reasonable manner, and that based on this... we can also assume that they didnt target accounts reasonably either.
This.
Truth is, Archeage could have been quite a revolutionary game. It had some really great ideas, and ship combat was fresh and fantastic, though buggy like so much of the game. ArcheAge was fundamentally torn between two design philosophies. On the one hand, they made all normal (vertical) progression exceedingly fast to fall in line with the themepark rush to end-game mentality, then item progression was the polar opposite due to excessive RNG.
Failing to properly pace all progression compromised the gradual, long-term, rewarding and immersive virtual world feel that the game could have had and replaced it with the feeling of a generic, inorganic cash grab... which is exactly what it turned out to be.
First PC Game: Pool of Radiance July 10th, 1990. First MMO: Everquest April 23, 1999
MMORPGs did just fine without free players back in the day of sub only MMOs, they can still do well without free players today.
I don't understand all this problem with Archage, I admit i couldent play it more than 10 min it was booring but who ever likes free to play ez mmo-s should play it and stfu.
You want a AAA super fun mmo that last 2 ,3 years like vanilla wow and trully free
for that they would have to spend 100 mill and than more to sustain server, i dont see any logic in this industry or players expectation
More Failtrion issues, nada new move along.
Ask yourself WHY it was boring and that might help give you your answer. Possibly.
Or at least AN answer. Archeage doesn't have just one singular problem, after all.
If they really wanted to give this game a chance, they would eliminate all the RNG crap in the item shop. As long as it is there, the game is a casino first.
The execs at Trion should write a book on "How to fail at making a video game".
It caused me to log back in after a month or so. Library passes start the countdown as soon as you collect so those will likely go to waste. But I was happy to get something for all the money I spent on AA.
I am glad to get a dolphin. I wanted one and I had basically written it off as a possiblity.
But it doesn't fix the core problem. Trion's gamble boxes are horrible. The worst I have seen. Too expensive. Too low of odds. Worthless consolation items.
All die, so die well.