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Content blackmail as a tool to keep players active
scorpex-x
Member RarePosts: 1,030
Just curious what you all think about this tactic some developers are using now. Demolishing very expensive housing, deleting characters, killing pets etc if you stop playing for 1-2 months.
Is blackmail a good way to keep people playing an MMO or a turn off for new players and vets alike?
My outlook is that it makes me far less likely to come back for major content patches if they destroy what I had last time I logged in, it also makes me less likely to get things that will end up owning me than me owing them.
Is blackmail a good way to keep people playing an MMO or a turn off for new players and vets alike?
My outlook is that it makes me far less likely to come back for major content patches if they destroy what I had last time I logged in, it also makes me less likely to get things that will end up owning me than me owing them.
Comments
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
This is standard for any game with open world housing. Ultima Online, Asheron's Call, Archeage... having the land fill up with vacant/abandoned houses makes no sense, especially if you have new players coming in.
For almost a year now, housing in each of the city states has been at max, so this cleans house and frees up locations for players that are actually playing.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
I think gaming in general would profit if people tunned down on this kind of dramatical nonesense...
There is only so much land (and property), which needs to be distributed across the entire playerbase. If you are not actively playing, you are essentially taking up space for no good reason.
This is not blackmail, but something that should have been in place since day one. If you read the thread, you will also note that the owner gets back 80% of the value - a very generous thing to do if you ask me.
They have to keep their paying customers happy so they won't leave. It's a bit of a catch 22 isn't it?
These houses can cost upto 20-50 million to get and the housing plots once lost can't be reobtained.
If you want to take a break for 2 months and cease paying your sub they demolish them.
How is it not blackmail? pay the sub or we demolish your house!
The tried to add this before and player outrage made them stop, now they are trying again. Instead of fixing the problem and making housing instanced they are punishing anyone that take a break.
If you have a house you cannot take a break, they didn't tell you this when you bought the house either.
Didn't GW2 have something, though, where if you weren't active for X amount of time then you'd need to buy the expansions? I distinctly remember something like this. I haven't played it in a long while now, though, so it didn't really make much difference to me one way or the other. I remember it was a big deal to some though.
Crazkanuk
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Azarelos - 90 Hunter - Emerald
Durnzig - 90 Paladin - Emerald
Demonicron - 90 Death Knight - Emerald Dream - US
Tankinpain - 90 Monk - Azjol-Nerub - US
Brindell - 90 Warrior - Emerald Dream - US
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Blackmail:
Pay the sub or we destroy your in-game items?
blackmail
(ˈblækˌmeɪl)Hope this helps,
All I want is the truth
Just gimme some truth
John Lennon
Though I have to say that in the case of archeage 2 weeks of absence is quite short to justify the demolition of your property.
But then again, we are talking about Archeage, the most greedy MMO in History of videogaming.
Without that bloody Cash Shop it could have been the best MMO of the decade.
If they do that, that pretty much guarantee i won't come back. There are so so many games out there, i don't play those that are in anyway inconvenient to me, or cannot be played on my schedule.
You don't have to get the bonus stuff. If you want to ... well .. that is your choice.
Marvel Heroes do that too (daily bonus). And I log on only when i want to. So what if i miss some of those .. the game is not going away any time soon.
Most games now that limit character slots actually restore the extra characters when you renew your sub or like SWOTR allow you to activate any two characters if you don't sub.
It would depend on the game if such a thing was done. If I liked the game I'd probably come back.
There are characters in games I've created that are around 12 years old now. I sometimes think about gifting them to relatives one day.
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
If you want to be competitive, you have to do it. Of course no one if forced like no one is forced to play games at all.
Instead of fixing the problem on their end they are destroying players accomplishments and items they have worked hard to obtain due to not paying them money. It means you simply cannot take a break for over a month from this game or they will destroy your accomplishments.
The system and the flaws it has are of their own making. No matter how you want to fly around the bush they are still demanding payment or destroying your ingame property, they don't even make it a decent amount like 6 months.
The fact they wanted to do this a year ago and backed down means they know it's bad but they are trying again. The only reason they are doing it is because they are using destruction of your in-game items as a way to force you to never unsub, even if you take a break.
Warframe has a similar system where your pet would die if you didn't feed it once a month (that however you didn't have to pay to login to), they don't even give you a single days free access a month to be able to retain the house. They are doing it just to extort a sub fee.
If you haven't been to the house in a month and a half and you didn't recieve any of the in-game or email notifications about the demolition, then you more than likely already quit long before the house was going to fall.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
You bought the house fully (you bought the game and expansions)
You pay a fee to be able to use the front door key to your own house.
You build an extension on the house and nobody complained at the time, they knew full well you were doing it.
You go on holiday for 2 months and come back and the person who owns the key smashed the extension down saying they made some new rules while you were away.
Is this a generational thing? Would be interesting to do a poll of how people perceive that because I'd like to identify where that line is drawn between the two distinct views:
If I do extra, then I get an extra reward.
I'm forced to do extra otherwise i will have less than others.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre