Subs Increase - Merged Threads

[old.Vae]

Originally posted by Cadire

The increase itself is very small, and I'll no doubt pay it until I ding 50 with one of my chars (about March 2004 I think).

Most companies would explain why this increase is required, but no reasons are given. Hopefully it will mean ingame reps as suggested above.

The increase is small in that it is only say £1.67 per month increase (on 3 month basis) but in % terms I would say 30% is pretty large! I think most people will just accept it though as they are addicted and think well it's only a small increase.

For my part I am renewing both my accounts now for 3 months - after that well I think it'll be time to move on.

 

[Jupitus]

... never argue with an accountant ...

/waves at Vae

ello my friend!!!

 

[Esoteric]

Fair enough Tohtori, not moanin just saying thats it and gl hope you have tiddly winks with you in emain.

 

[Xandax]

Well for me it is not as much a matter of finding the money or not - it is I refuse to pay more for the lousy service that GOA has given us pretty much since the start.

This is just the final drop that will make sure my account isn't renewed.

It isn't the amount (per se) - it is the principle

 

[old.Vae]

Originally posted by old.Tohtori
First off... get out of the gutter. I work, i pay, if you got married then don't come crying to me when your wife shouts "nerf!" on your daoc fun and don't you call me a brat because i say that the cost of a milk carton isn't that big of an increase in payment.

If you want to Mr Scrooge McDuck then piss off and go play Lineage with the rest of the HUK HUK because it's free and leave the people who don't think re-using toilet paper will save the world to enjoy the game.

And you wonder why you have a reputation as a twat with comments like that! What about the people with little money e.g. the teenagers or unemployed or those in lowly paid jobs - I suppose they don't matter do they?!

Anyway the point is not the absolute monetary cost but the % amount which is the principle of the matter especially as they are doing nothing to justify the extra increase. If they were to get the patches up to speed and introduce ingame CSR as per the US then there might be justification but so far we've seen nothing from GOA regarding any justification.

 

[Cadire]

I think most people will just accept it though as they are addicted and think well it's only a small increase

That is a big factor in post pricing of online games like this I guess.

Don't get me wrong, as stated in my previous post, 33% is a large percentage increase, even if the actual amount is small.

No doubt more information will be forthcoming .

 

[Esoteric]

If they had 3rd server in UK I might just be that much more addicted to hold on, but nah /quit in may june. Enjoy the summer sun and hop on to swg or something else.

 

[Jupitus]

Originally posted by Xandax
Well for me it is not as much a matter of finding the money or not - it is I refuse to pay more for the lousy service that GOA has given us pretty much since the start.

I won't try and argue that having ingame support isn't a good thing, but given that was their decision I think GOA have taken steady steps to run this game well.

Server up time is excellent with very little downtime, they are actually catching up a bit with the US in terms of patches (1.60 is now in test for the E&E team, so can't be too far off I would think) and the response times when people do use RightWhenever although variable are generally improving IMHO.

Sure some people have had issues along the way, but when you bear in mind that most people don't say jack shit when everything is fine, I think most people are probably quite happy. Remember - only a very small % of players write on these boards so don't expect a fair representation of the player base mood from comments here.

Oh.. and I am a customer support manager, so STFU and stop moaning

"This job would be ok if it wasn't for all these bloody customers"

 

[old.Tohtori]

Originally posted by old.Vae
And you wonder why you have a reputation as a twat with comments like that! What about the people with little money e.g. the teenagers or unemployed or those in lowly paid jobs - I suppose they don't matter do they?!

Umm...hmm...

*looks at others*

He really wants me to answer that?

*nods*

Ok. Ahem....

Reputation as a twat? Well, atleast i flame those who flame me and not stick my nose up another discussions butt.

And when it comes to students: If their daddy ain't paying for it anyway, then get a job. I paid for my expenses with a job.

If your pay is low or you're unemployed. Maybe you need to do something else then to play a game. Like, find a job? Do yours better and get a raise?

So as an answer to your:

What about the people with little money e.g. the teenagers or unemployed or those in lowly paid jobs - I suppose they don't matter do they?!


They matter as much as a stick of poo in the island of cadapacos. Nobody knows where it is, nobody cares if it's there tomowrrow and even the natives ain't touching it.

So no.

 

[)nick(]

It is good business sense in the short term because they will reap in more money from people who will continue to renew after the 5th, I very much doubt this price increase will mean 30% of the accounts will be terminated. Further the people who will renew today will do so for a longer term than they might have done if this price increase hadn't been anounced.

Good job GOA! A shame your customer service sense isn't on the same level.

 

[jonstone]

Real nice to see Tohtori post what equates to a "cry more n00b" post about someone elses RL. Some people can be real inconsiderate pricks at times

 

[Flimgoblin]

the patching speed has vastly improved from what we first had - hopefully this means they're hiring more staff = faster patches, or paying for the new server clusters they're buying.

Or maybe someone missed the price of something out when they worked out their original figures.

Hell for all we know Mythic's decided to charge em more for the game

6 quid more a month (3 accounts - me, the gf and the smite-bot - I failed miserably to make a buffbot) won't kill me I suppose. Be nice to get a bit more explanation though.

 

[Solid]

Tohtori you seem to be seeing this as a per player change and so consider it not much of a change.

30% Increase is a whopping hike regardless, considering the actual increase in revenue that GOA will generate, its plainly obvious they arent doing it cos their Expenses have risen 30%.

Its also obvious 30% Increase in revenue is not a direct result of an improved service because we the userbase haven't seen any such improvements.

Which begs the Question why exactly ARE they making such a heft price rise?

All seems to point at Greed???

Tohtori I assume your the type of person who doesnt mind rising taxes year on year even tho said government doesnt really show you personally any true benefits/gain, or perhaps your a smoker who's ciggarettes go up in price like mad but doesnt complain cos well, it aint gonna stop you smoking?

Everything is not so freaking black and white, there are larger differences than just a single user being £2 more out of pocket a month.

Bottom line is GOA have done nothing to justify a price rise and will not get a thumbs up from the user base.

On the other hand, if I saw performance improvements, better customer service, better patching, increased player pops and more server choices across the board, such a proce rise would PERHAPS be justified.

Considering the users have not seen any of the above improvements, and in manay cases seen detrimental changes over time, how can you justify it?

BOGGLE BOGGLE BOGGLE

Kinda glad my acc is closing in 5 days now

 

[fatgit]

for the increased price, may aswell play on the US servers, have ingame support, lates patches, access to pendragon & coop servers etc.

For me it's simple economics. I have a certain amount to spend on internet access/gaming/pc each month, and I wont go over that budget (been there, done that, paying it off still )

Would help if GOA at least had decent customer support

 

[CliffyG]

Not happy with it, not the actual amount of increase in money but the %. Thats a bloody hefty increase with absolutely no service increase whatsoever. No it won't break the bank but it pisses me off that little bit extra and leaves me less loyal to the game when there are plenty of alternatives on the horizon.

 

[Jupitus]

Originally posted by old.Vae
If they were to get the patches up to speed and introduce ingame CSR as per the US then there might be justification but so far we've seen nothing from GOA regarding any justification.

As per other post, 1.60 not far off which doesn't put them that far behind the US. Personally, I think the events would be one of the key differentiating factors that alot of players would enjoy, but the epic campaign has not lived up to it's promise. With breaks during busy behind the scenes periods it has sometimes ground to a halt and become a series of broken up events with the story getting lost along the way. Better, in my opinion, would be to put that resource into creating more numerous one off events or shorter campaign stories with huge epic beasts to kill and lots of people running around hysterically talking to the funny staff that so and so gave them, etc etc etc

I'm rambling today, sorry

 

[Gabrial]

Wow - not seen such as plonker as Tohtori in ages!

Think I finally found someone with absolutely nothing usefull to add to the conversation so I'll stick you on ignore - once I figure out how it works.

Just to reiterate what other people have said - 33% is a massive increase. Imagine if petrol went up 33% - thats only 79p a litre atm. Wow! 33% of 79.9p! You can afford that!

 

[Meatballs]

Yey capitalism

 

[Coren]

French inflation must be rediculously high currently.

 

[Hargh]

Maybe the issue is that so far its been very cheap. I don't think it's too much total but it is a massive rise taken on it's own.
Too many ppl are writing too many lines which means i'm not reading everyone's posts.

 

[Xandax]

Originally posted by Meatballs
Yey capitalism

Nothing wrong with capitalisme.
We get the choice to renew or stop.

If it had been communisme or something we would be force to keep playing just so there would be people on the server.

Free market - with SW:G and EVE and others in the horizone.

So I actually don't think it is good buisness what GOA is doing - good buisness would be to incorperate some more service and then ask for money.
With the other mmorpgs getting closer and their communities beginning to build up - this is a bold and dangerous move.
And who's to say that prices will not rise again when the other games hit the market.

 

[old.Normengast]

<<>>
Hello,

More than a year after its launch, Dark Age of Camelot is going through a new evaluation of its subscription prices, while remaining the cheapest 2nd generation MMORPG on the market (from 9.16 € per month).
This change of tariffs will take effect at the 5th of May 2003 onwards, and will affect the subscriptions signed after this date.
The subscriptions still valid before the revaluation will not be affected until they are renewed, after the 5th of May 2003 onwards.

From this date the new subscription tariffs will be :

1 month subscription : 8£ or 12€
3 months subscription : 22£ or 32€ (less than 11 € per month)
6 months subscription : 41£ or 60€ (10€ per month)

On this occasion we have decided to create a new type of subscription, 12 months for 75£ or 110€ (9.16€ per month).

Sincerely yours,

The DAoC Europe Team.
<<>>

Indeed, a little bit of explanation would be in order here. Of course, we agree prices are vulnerable to change when we accept the terms of agreement but that doesn't mean they should do it just like that imo.

Ociri.

Btw all renewals and subscriptions BEFORE 5th of May 2003 are unaffected.

 

[old.Tohtori]

I'm luved!

Ok, time for an indepth answer for all you lovely people:

Esoteric: Flamed you because you called me a brat. That was over before it even started. Agreed to disagree per say.

Jonstone: I don't say "cry more n00b". I'm far from 3l337 but i am saying i don't care about some wanker in the UK who cries "injustice" for a minor increase in pay. 3£..count what it takes away daily. Oh my what a ripoff. I don't care about others, i'm cold that way, i like the war as an entertainment, so sue me.

Solid: Yes, i don't cry for justice for minor ups in prices. There are also those times when prices go down so...not one to complain on how others charge, if i feel it's too much i will leave and leave it at that. But what's wrong with greed, if you had the chance to raise your income by 30% without it effecting directly to you, would you? I think you would.

Gabrial: Well, i really couldn't care less about someone i don't know putting me into ignore. Have fun.

And to all in all: If you never cast a flame on others, do keep on flaming me. If you do, then do it in a bit more original way then just saying "blonker, twat, zhiibazhaaba". I don't think i started calling people names here now did i?

 

[old.Normengast]

Agree Tohori, but it's not about the price increase which - per month - is not that high. But % it is almost one third, and on top of that withouth any further comment or reasons.

I think we are entitled to at least one reason why it went up. I don't care personally about the increase, I am free to stop paying.

Ociri.

 

[granny]

Originally posted by Solid
Its also obvious 30% Increase in revenue is not a direct result of an improved service because we the userbase haven't seen any such improvements.

Have to disagree there. I started playing DoaC about 18 months ago (roughly) and stopped 9 months ago. Just started playing it again when SI came out and the difference between than and now is, franky, huge. Patches are a LOT faster now than they used to be and even RightNow, though not on a par with the in-game appeals available in the US, has improved in response times enourmously from a year ago.

If you've been playing continuously all that time you probably don't notice the difference in the same way that you don't notice yourself getting taller when you're 10 yrs old but your auntie who sees you once a year says "gosh haven't you grown!" every christmas.

My first thought when I saw this increase was "30%!?! WTF! No way!" but on reflection it's an increase of £5/month per account (if you pay for 3 months at a time) which is really not massive (for me anyway, I understand that it is too much for some people). And given that this is the first increase since launch it's pretty good.

 

[mid_Efour]

1stly id like to say to all those people quitting.......
can i have your stuff? lol

2ndly i find it sad that they chose not to announce this more publicly and allow a whine like this to build up

3rdly its not alot of money- if u really cant afford to play for financial reasons then i pity you i really do PM me first 3 to do so get £1 (please add £2 p&p)

4thly they are a business and i dont think they would do this without a reason/analysis of effects if 200 people quit it dosnt really even make an impact. people saying they wont renew subscriptions on principle? Well you clearly didnt like the game/starting to get brored by now.

5thly Perhaps they have already forseen the downfall of DaoC as a whole withing the next 3 months? (probably the most common subs term?) SWG and others on the horizon, time to milk us all for what we are worth! Perhaps the accounting section made these changes to compensate for the (delayed) release of SWG ? lol

6thly shame to see some old skool players leave, but i seen all this before in mmporgs the cycle continues

7thly Ingame support? just like all mmorpg ingame support it would consist of..
a)2 kids/idiots/1337 d00ds Pming GMs to whine how each other was abusing bugs/cheats/hacks to gain the upperhand. I find it refreshing this euro version dosnt have that.
b)People asking if the delve value*2 is directly related to dex-quickness or STR-CON*2.2 of lvl and other rediculously nonsense about game code that wasnt even designed by the guy they are asking...
...The one time i have been messed up by a bug(fell thru the floor into nomans land under jordheim ) I was moved by Kemor withing 20 minutes of my call for help.,,
Sure there are bugs where you lose items but this isnt goas fault either, blame Mythic-But- feel free to complain just dont expect a soloution.

8thly MAKE THE CRAFTING SYSTEM MORE INTERESTING SO I DONT POST ON BW ALL THE TIME


edited for 9thly i dont care if a compant makes 30% more profit capitalism is imoral(sp) in the first place and if you dont agree all move to cuba

 

[old.Tohtori]

Forgot to mention... we had quite low prices to start with.

Think about that before shouting "goa bastids".

 

[Alrindel]

Mythic
One month : $12.95/month (12.08 euros)
Three months : $11.95/month (11.15 euros)
Six months : $10.95/month (10.22 euros)

GOA
One month : 12 euros/month
Three months : 10.67 euros/month
Six months : 10 euros/month
Twelve months : 9.16 euros/month

(1 EUR = 1.07176 USD as of 2003.04.04 10:41:24 GMT)

 

[granny]

Originally posted by old.Tohtori
so sue me.

Ah that age-old americanism which translates as "I'm a git and I know it and I don't care".

 

[talen_sun]

In the defence of GoA...

EQ Euro Servers = £8 a month (if memory serves)
DAoC Euro Servers = Soon to be £8 a month.

Where would you like your money to go??

3 and a bit Pints down the pub (part of a nights fun)
A couple of PC mags? Couple of hours wasted
30/31 days of DAoC
30/31 days of EQ

Yes, agreed, in principle, £2 a month extra isn't really a strain on pocket, but the percentage rise does take the piss.

Anyway, paying for 12 months @£75 works out to £6.25 a month. 25p more than paying for it monthly now...