Wesley/Flimbo meltdown

[SashaFierce]

With the new Reim system rollouts, Premium Memberships are no longer eligible for $40 per month to experience all of Reim. When Reim was released three months ago, I was convinced to upgrade to a Premium Membership based on the fact that "new and exciting changes" were coming and that I'd be able to run Reim once per night. Now those new and exciting changes are released, and $40 per month is not good enough to experience them. We are now told that we have to spend simucoins on top of that in order to play. There is no other game in this genre that has a two tiered subscription up to $40 per month and does not allow you access to all content. This is a small step towards poor marketing practices, but one that needs a message sent now rather than later, because each rollout in this fashion devalues your $40 per month just a little bit more.

I have downgraded my Premium Membership back to Standard using the email at the bottom of this post. I would advise you to do the same, or at least refrain from purchasing simucoins to run the new Reim Defense system.

My email to billing is as follows:
-------------------------------


Please downgrade my account, *********, from Premium to Standard starting next month.

We were told three months ago that if we upgraded to Premium memberships, Reim would be available to run once per day and that there were new exciting changes in the works. These new exciting changes were put in, and now we have been told that our $40 per month is no longer sufficient for all mechanical aspects of the game to be available. I would like to convey the message that devaluing my $40 per month by making this change which requires microtransactions on top of a two tiered subscription system is unacceptable. I intend to do so by paying Simutronics less, and will be advising others to do the same.

This required transaction to unlock all mechanical content is a baby step and only a small devaluation at current, but it is best to send the message that this kind of shady marketing practice is unacceptable now rather than later, before you devalue the subscription further with future rollouts of this type. No other game in this genre offers a two tiered subscription plan, one of which costs $40, and still requires microtransactions on top in order to unlock all mechanical content.

Regards,

Chad D. Lippincott
Ratchet Design Studio
***-***-****

http://forums.play.net/forums/GemSto...ts)/view/15227

That one is another marketing ploy, VANRASN39, and one I'm not taking issue with because it's not out of line with the rest of the industry's practices. It's a little shady, the way it's structured, but most properties that have a microtransaction system have some form of it. It's based around an idea that drug dealers have been using for years. "The first hit is free.". It gets you into the simucoin store, and it gives you that first hit free to spend. You'll note that it gives you just under the price point for some of the most popular items, such as the 30 day encumbrance reduction, which if you're a financially responsible person already paying a $40 subscription, you might not otherwise take note of. But now, for just $5 more per month investment, your halfling can now carry 130 pounds instead of 30! And sure, if you've got the willpower you can use that every two months and just have great encumbrance every other month, but the idea is once you get that taste, you're gonna want some more of it. And it's just $5 extra.

And now you're converted to spending $45 per month instead of $40. Marketing succeeded.

And yes, that consideration also applies to Reim defense. You'll get your couple runs per month, but your friends, they're all buying orbs! You don't want to get left behind, do you? And it's just another $10 a month to keep up with them. And now you're spending $50 per month instead of $40. Marketing succeeded.

And again, I don't take issue with THAT system, because it's an industry standard at this point.

But $40 per month and not having full mechanical access? That's what I take issue with. And like I said, this is just a baby step, testing the waters. But if it proves to be viable, it opens the door to be done more and more and more.

http://forums.play.net/forums/GemSto...ts)/view/15234

And yet three months ago Reim access was touted as a Premium Perk, which got me to convert, and now it's only partially a premium perk. A small change that once accepted by the general populace will open the door for it to be done more and more and more.

Now Player Shops are equally as ambiguously worded, which leads me to worry.

So I've expressed my concern in the most viable way possible in a capitalist environment, which is to pay $25 per month less rather than "just that $10 more to get my fix" that they've asked for.

I advise anyone who feels similarly to do the same to discourage marketing tactics like this in the future, lest your subscription becomes less and less valuable with each small rollout.

Good news. There's no need to ask what IF my argument was something and then argue against a hypothetical. My argument is here, in my posts. And that wasn't it.

I'll say one more bit before I let this matter lie and just be satisfied with my own lack of paying extra.

For more than a decade, I paid my subscription fees while they weren't being put into Gemstone development, and instead were being dumped in a hole labeled Heroes Journey.

And then I paid my subscription fees while they were being dumped in a hole labeled Tiny Heroes.

And then I paid my subscription fees while they were being dumped in a hole labeled Dragons of Elanthia.

And now a new parent company has acquired Simutronics, put a good person in charge of its development, and started actually actively developing content for Gemstone. For that I'm thankful.

But to say that my continued, premium subscription fees through the years are now somehow not good enough for the new content, while I happily paid for vaporware development for decades? That's a slap in the face. And I won't stand for it. And I'll express that concern with dollars.

You should too.