36 replies to this topic

[Syllogy]

m, on 18 September 2013 - 01:20 AM, said:

If you pay for a month of service they shouldn't disconnect you automatically for being idle. End of story. They are wrong.

If you pay for a month of service, you get a month of service from Date "A" to Date "B".

Just because you don't use it doesn't mean you are entitled to extend that service just because you didn't use it between those dates.

[Syllogy]

m, on 18 September 2013 - 09:31 AM, said:

You do know what you are responding to right?? Or are you trying to be proactive on these forums by responding and quoting anything?

If my session of Mechwarrior Online is IDLE at the loadout screen and I pay for Premium time, it should NOT disconnect. The same can be said about paying for cable tv. If I pay for cable, and I leave the tv on 24/7, the service should NOT disconnect because I left it on.

Know who you are talking to and the topic you are talking about.

When you activate Premium Time it starts the countdown whether you are playing or not. It has always been this way.

Using your example, the same thing happens for Cable TV. You are still billed for the entire month, regardless of how much time you actually spend watching it.

I know quite a bit about this subject, and if you are someone I should know about, enlighten me.

[12Bravo]

Even though I am starting to find this "m" guy rather repugnant, he is talking about being kicked off the server for being idle. I think he means that if you are paying a premium this shouldn't happen.

[WarHippy]

m, on 18 September 2013 - 01:20 AM, said:

If you pay for a month of service they shouldn't disconnect you automatically for being idle. End of story. They are wrong.

I don't understand why this matters. Just log back in when you sit down at the computer again. Maybe I missed something, but this is a total nonissue.

[Pendraco]

I am not sure why it matters if your disconnected or idle, your not making any use of premium time in either state. But if it really does matter to you, try tabbing into Mechlab........I am not positive, but I don't think I have ever been "Logged-out" while being idle in there.

Cheers!

Edited by Pendraco, 18 September 2013 - 11:19 AM.

[Sandpit]

Otto Cannon, on 17 September 2013 - 06:43 AM, said:

The extra that you get paid for being on call should more than cover any lost premium time. If you're not getting paid more for being on call then it's time to find another job. I do sympathise with you, but I've wasted premium myself and don't blame PGI for it.

Those opposing this and posting irrelevant and trolling like this one above me, why do you care? How would it affect your game in a negative connotation? So a player has an idea, posts said idea, and people insult him, insult his job, etc. Instead of posting anything relevant and/or constructive. I think this would be a cool idea and definitely be a huge incentive to the more casual player to spend money on this game. It appears that that is not a good thing to some on here though.....

[Sandpit]

I would also like to note to those posting examples of every other type of bill you pay on life not operating like this, why would you care? Will it change your game in any way shape or form? Will it detract from your enjoyment of the game? Will it alter your ability to play the game? No, no it will not.

[Toong]

This has been brought up on the forums many, many times before. It'd be nice to be able to pause the timer, but I can totally understand why it isn't allowed. PGI have said multiple times that this feature isn't on the drawing board (Time you get in special deals like the founder's packages or project Phoenix, thankfully, doesn't start until you activate it though).

I have a hard time disagreeing with PGI's standpoint. After all, how many other games with premium have you known to allow you to turn it on and off? Even old subscription-based games didn't stop the timer.

[Sandpit]

Toong, on 20 September 2013 - 10:53 PM, said:

This has been brought up on the forums many, many times before. It'd be nice to be able to pause the timer, but I can totally understand why it isn't allowed. PGI have said multiple times that this feature isn't on the drawing board (Time you get in special deals like the founder's packages or project Phoenix, thankfully, doesn't start until you activate it though).

I have a hard time disagreeing with PGI's standpoint. After all, how many other games with premium have you known to allow you to turn it on and off? Even old subscription-based games didn't stop the timer.

This equates to the old adage "That's the way it's always been done" which really isn't a good reason to do anything. This kind of idea is more for the casual player who might buy 1 day of premium time here and there when they have free time to play due to busy work and lifestyles. You honestly don't see the benefit of telling that demographic "hey we understand that some of our players can't dedicate large amounts is time to gaming sessions so here you go because we want to make certain things more accessible to you" or how those casual players might be more inclined to make small transactions for small increments of premium time with a stop timer? Not to mention you could easily limit these kinds of transactions to once a week or only able to stop the timer x amount of times before it begins running continuously? If I can come up with those ideas in 30 seconds you are gong to try and convince me that a multi-million dollar company and dev team can't over the course of a few years?

[Toong]

Sandpit, on 20 September 2013 - 11:10 PM, said:

This equates to the old adage "That's the way it's always been done" which really isn't a good reason to do anything. This kind of idea is more for the casual player who might buy 1 day of premium time here and there when they have free time to play due to busy work and lifestyles. You honestly don't see the benefit of telling that demographic "hey we understand that some of our players can't dedicate large amounts is time to gaming sessions so here you go because we want to make certain things more accessible to you" or how those casual players might be more inclined to make small transactions for small increments of premium time with a stop timer? Not to mention you could easily limit these kinds of transactions to once a week or only able to stop the timer x amount of times before it begins running continuously? If I can come up with those ideas in 30 seconds you are gong to try and convince me that a multi-million dollar company and dev team can't over the course of a few years?

I mostly meant it's not surprising. I didn't really mean it as a reason for accepting it, though I still think the current system is fine.

I get why it's attractive, but I think being able to pause your time, even once a week, would make premium time far less profitable. As it stands now, I think the cost of purchasing premium time is plenty fair, so doing anything to make those prices translate into less profit, I see as a problem. I want PGI to make money because I want more features and content for this game.

The idea of being able to stop and start it once a week has also been mentioned lots of times, but I think asking for this feature kind of begs the question: if you need to stop and start your time, why are you buying it right now in the first place? In the case of losing a day, stopping the time wouldn't really help much. If you purchased a month, being able to stop it up to four times lends itself to abuse. And only allowing the time to be stopped so many times in total leads to a logistics and UI nightmare. How do you decide which time has used up its "pauses?" How do you communicate this to the player? Things like that.

One thing I AM in favor of, though, is the option to buy premium time on a per-match basis, with the assumption that doing so would be much less cost effective. That way people with unpredictable schedules can get full use out of their purchase, while people who opt for time get a bit of a discount.

[Appogee]

Never going to happen. Otherwise, a year of PT would last effectively forever.

[Sandpit]

Toong, on 20 September 2013 - 11:27 PM, said:

I mostly meant it's not surprising. I didn't really mean it as a reason for accepting it, though I still think the current system is fine.

I get why it's attractive, but I think being able to pause your time, even once a week, would make premium time far less profitable. As it stands now, I think the cost of purchasing premium time is plenty fair, so doing anything to make those prices translate into less profit, I see as a problem. I want PGI to make money because I want more features and content for this game.

The idea of being able to stop and start it once a week has also been mentioned lots of times, but I think asking for this feature kind of begs the question: if you need to stop and start your time, why are you buying it right now in the first place? In the case of losing a day, stopping the time wouldn't really help much. If you purchased a month, being able to stop it up to four times lends itself to abuse. And only allowing the time to be stopped so many times in total leads to a logistics and UI nightmare. How do you decide which time has used up its "pauses?" How do you communicate this to the player? Things like that.

One thing I AM in favor of, though, is the option to buy premium time on a per-match basis, with the assumption that doing so would be much less cost effective. That way people with unpredictable schedules can get full use out of their purchase, while people who opt for time get a bit of a discount.

Again in my idea it would be microtransactions. I'm talking about those that purchase it a day at a time. You're not going to open it up for abuse in that scenario because it's just not cost effective. As it stands right now they're losing potential money by not allowing those players in this demographic to feel comfortable buying it for a myriad of reasons along with those I mentioned above. Wallets all across this game are closing up right now so anything they can do to increase viability of aplayer spending money is a good thing. I actually love your idea of buying premium on a per game basis and it would probably be pretty popular amongst certain players but might be TOO micro for some as that could become a tedious cycle so it wouldn't be for everyone just as my idea wouldn't fit everyone's play style.

[Sandpit]

Appogee, on 20 September 2013 - 11:32 PM, said:

Never going to happen. Otherwise, a year of PT would last effectively forever.

Again you're going to an extreme. I'm not talking about making a timer stop available for large chunks of premium time as those players buying in large quantities aren't going to legitimately fall into the category of player I am talking about here. People take examples to be absolutes too often. You can adjust limits and such to eliminate the opportunity for abuse. Have it limited to small time amounts and limits the number of times it can be switched on and off as needed to eliminate the type of abuse you're talking anout

[Appogee]

I'd love it. But it will never happen.

PGI will never undermine their own revenue stream in this way. And let's face it, time after time they demonstrate their resistance to changing things in the way their customers want.

The answer PGI would give - if they ever read their own forums and bothered to respond to what their customers think - would be:..

"Our Premium Time is competitively priced relative to other F2P titles, and big discounts are offered on longer periods. So players can afford to leave the timer running and not be bothered by needing to turn if off.''

There you go. Next topic please.

Edited by Appogee, 20 September 2013 - 11:51 PM.

[Kissamies]

Yes, this is why I have traditionally disliked monthly fees and have only once ever bough premium time for anything. If I'm playing for time, I get the feeling that I have to use that time or I'm wasting it, even if it's just trivial sums. That might lead to playing the game even when I don't really want to. I'm silly like that.

[Sandpit]

Kissamies, on 21 September 2013 - 06:41 AM, said:

Yes, this is why I have traditionally disliked monthly fees and have only once ever bough premium time for anything. If I'm playing for time, I get the feeling that I have to use that time or I'm wasting it, even if it's just trivial sums. That might lead to playing the game even when I don't really want to. I'm silly like that.

And I'm sure there are plenty others like you that would drop a couple of bucks here and there if they had this option. I'm not one of them personally but I still think this would be a good idea

[Arkey Ark]

Well I think Aion Online has the login system which makes it very convenient. If they have a cool enough game they won't need to worry about people not coming back. Also In Puzzle Pirates the badges which is essential to gameplay have a login decay so you can quit for a year and jump back in without spending more money.