Subscription upgrade

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Brad
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Re: Subscription upgrade

Post by Brad »

I don't have a lot to add, other than to say that I'm always considering the subscription models, and made a major (and time consuming) change at players request a while back to add plat ( which included guild halls ).

When SK goes to LIVE, ( and appears in regular NL ), all of the content will be available for the $9.95 price; allowing access for multi account play as desired.

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Drewstr
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Re: Subscription upgrade

Post by Drewstr »

It isn't just SK that is the issue, Brad.

But thanks. About 9 people and 40+ accounts just told you they were done if we had to continue paying $25 a month per account. If that isn't feedback, I don't know what is. I currently pay for 6 of my own, 2 guildies, and 3 non-guildy accounts. Those are all cancelled. I know several others who have now decided the same.

Thanks anyway. Those 80+ accounts online numbers just vanished.

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Darge
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Re: Subscription upgrade

Post by Darge »

I remember 7 or so years ago when GDH came out. It was a buggy, broken mess. We, the privileged few who paid 7.50 extra a month for ugh, got to playtest it for you, Brad. Sometimes months would go by without new content, such as when we got to Medusa on the second day and found that the item to activate her didn't drop. And then weeks later when it did, she didn't drop the item to get flagged for food guardian. And then a month later when she did, food guardian may not have even been in game. And when it was, the climb up to gdh2 didn't exist. And then a month later when we got to gdh2, everything was a mess. Repeat ad nauseum for what, 2 years until we quit?

I can't even imagine what JIHAD and RAGE had to go through before our time at NL's debut, and that was a $50 buck flat fee for access then.

Even still, we paid for this. $7.50 extra a month across multiple accounts to progress. We weren't paying for multiple accounts because we just loved multiboxxing, it was because the direction of the game and the price point and features of other games in the market had already effectively decimated the population multiple times over. Guilds crumbled as friends who played dwindled.

So about 5 years later, Drew gets me to come back on a lark and I find that not only has this pay to test crap continued, the $7.50 has increased to $15 more if you had gold plan, or $20 with silver, since platinum is now the anointed plan for "early access". Of course, I'm also ignoring how this doesn't even include the reality of exp per level increasing by about 1500% after 78, making plat only NL2, with gains being nearly 6x that of Nl1, virtually mandatory.

But wait! There's some bug that's known and more or less allowed to exist so that you can play the game at a reasonable price point with perks that more or less should be standard benefits included. And so I came back. And I brought my old accounts back. And my guild mates came back. And they brought their old accounts back and paid for new ones. And it was fun, while it lasted, but that time seems to be over.

I'm not trying to put a gun to your head, Brad. You're going to do what works for your business, and I'm going to do what works for me as a consumer. But this isn't a triple A game. This is John Madden Football for the commodore 64. And maybe I'd drop 5 bucks on eBay for the original Madden on a lark for sake of nostalgia, but I damn sure wouldn't pay more for it than Madden NFL 2016, doubly so if I had to bug test it every time I tried something new in the game. And that's all I'll further say on the matter.

Those of you still trying to rage against the dying light: good luck.
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Tinke
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Re: Subscription upgrade

Post by Tinke »

Brad I'd like to let you know personally that I am grateful that you spent a lot of consuming hours fixing the billing /subscription problem that now allows the option to have acct wide ugh with platinum subscription. The hours I'm sure you worked adding legacy artwork for us that loved Drakkar the way the art was. I miss the cat fight icons rolling around in fights :/ That was classic :-) There still needs some work to be done though when it comes to subscriptions, Silver Plan: no quirks really nothing special for 4.95 . I recall when new lands came out if you wanted to play you paid A one time Fee to enter zone. Quirks are like talents sort of speak and a bonus to the game itself. Silver plan should have quirks added to the players, and keep the nork/cob lands as is? I recently came back to game myself and paid for platinum on the basis I would probably only be here a short time with the Plat subscription so expensive. I did want to play with old friends and was hoping I'd be able to explore group wise and solo. I find it tough to even survive in group past a round or two still. Now there seems to be much talk of old and recently comeing back players already leaving due to the pricing and way the subscription is set up, Which Means it would be nice if you would relook into the pricing and the way the system is set up. Not up to me, But I still believe if pricing for platinum subscription was dropped in half, you'd find more players sticking around even if it meant 1-3 accounts .
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Areyekuwe
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Re: Subscription upgrade

Post by Areyekuwe »

How about this system here:

All accounts and characters can log into the alt 1 nork, "Start Server".

Then each character/ slot on the account in order to go anywhere like Guild hall, Aleria, NL, Cobrahn needs a $5 a month subscription.

This way if you want to own 5 accounts but run only 5 characters in NL2 you would pay $25 a month.
And if you want to play only single character everywhere you would pay $5 a month. They rest of the characters can be comfortably parked in Steel Flower

If however you are an old timer and want to log in and stand at portals or alt 1 to see what the latest gear passes by, it is free to do so.


The key points are: there must be a way for old accounts to log in for free.

If you want to play, you must be able to enjoy it and price should be reasonable. One account, one character = $5.... (1 account, 4 characters =$20, 4 accounts, 16 characters=$80...)
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dragonmage
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Title: Arg!

Re: Subscription upgrade

Post by dragonmage »

I play 2 main accounts with another 3-4 accounts i pay for off and on. I usually keep my main two on silver if i'm not playing actively because i enjoy logging in every so often just see whats going on. With new content out i feel require to pay at least 3 of my accounts (barb,pally,healer). Thats 75$ a month for the minimum. I have 6 accounts, no way can I justify paying 150$ a month for any game. The extra perks of plat are nice, but not necessary, this most recent time coming back what i've noticed has become necessary is NL2. While i agree with the scaling back of prices you've made it quite obvious you have no intentions of doing so. So at least allow a gold subscription to go to NL2. They can then access all content and not feel like they have to pay for a plat account just to play with their friends.

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Mars
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Re: Subscription upgrade

Post by Mars »

this topic was moved as it really does not apply to Sullen Keep, but is general game related.

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Pancho
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Re: Subscription upgrade

Post by Pancho »

Brad wrote: When SK goes to LIVE, ( and appears in regular NL ), all of the content will be available for the $9.95 price; allowing access for multi account play as desired.
$9.95 for accessing SK in NL-1 or NL-2?

Lucky2
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Re: Subscription upgrade

Post by Lucky2 »

Has this ever been reviewed and the pricing scale talked about amongst the admins/brad?

edit: what about even introducing a platinum discount plan full price first account 1/2 price second 1/3 price third 1/4 price 4th etc?
Last edited by Lucky2 on Wed May 13, 2020 9:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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dragonmage
Posts: 47
Joined: Mon May 31, 2004 1:58 am
Title: Arg!

Re: Subscription upgrade

Post by dragonmage »

Its been four years since this thread was started. Nothing has changed, except the number of accounts being logged in has gone down. Any chance of possibly reevaluating the pricing now?

Personally i am paying for 4 accounts, 2 gold and 2 silver. I'd gladly pay all platinum if it were 9.95.

max|pic
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Re: Subscription upgrade

Post by max|pic »

The price is the reason I don't play. A game that requires multiple accounts to play and gives so many bonuses that makes the game pay to win/compete with 1980s graphics is just not something I can see myself paying 100 to 150 a month.
To get basic quirks costs 10$ a month. Well, you can't play single account. So CHEAPEST you can conceivably play is 30$ a month. Do you realize what you can play with a minimum of 30 a month budget? If you play a minimum of 3 accounts and want to compete, you do 3 platinum accounts for 75 a month. Even then due to player base you might not be able to solo content you need, so you add 2 to 3 more because there are not enough people around to level with. At 150 a month, think of what you can do instead...
For a 2D game to play, it should not be more expensive than any other game in EXISTENCE. If platinum benefits were scaled back where they didn't matter, that would be one thing. But I played 6 accounts, and I could never see myself paying more than 40 a month on this very, very outdated game ever again. And at that point, I don't want to feel like my 6 to 8 accounts equal 2 accounts due to the bonuses those two get from lining brads pockets. Extra bonuses should come from things that do not increase that accounts power, just little nice bonuses for convenience. Guild hall is not even a convenience because certain points, you need it to max hps/eps and check your % to next skill.
I and many others would love to come back to this game, but Brad will never change and likes a few accounts paying 25 each instead of a high population paying a fraction of 25.

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