Quote:
Originally Posted by Miroh
Regardless of what I decide in the end, I feel justified in voicing my opinion about a game that I have played for a long time now.
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You have to remember that SOE is not a "person" making logical decisions, it's a corporation (or a divison of) making marketing decisions (which is likely based on a whole lot of data and a bit of psychology).
Current customers, regardless of how much they bitch or complain, regardless of how many times they
threaten to quit, are
current... paying... customers. In other words... they've got your money (and mine) already, even if it's only until the end of the month.
Customers who have canceled their accounts... whatever their reasons...
are no longer paying customers.
So, does SOE spend money to make the game more enjoyable for those that remain? That would be the logical option but it also would not garuntee an increase in subscriptions (which affects their bottom line). If they spent the time and money necessary to address a lot of the hot topics on the table (raiding, the entire RoK expansion, etc.), do you think enough people would come back to offset the costs?
Personally, I don't. I think option 2, the easier option, the option SOE chose, provides them with more potential revenue with little to no expenditure on their part. All they have to do is give canceled subscribers the option to get 2 months free. True, that's still "costing" them something... but it's more like revenue "not realized" as oppose to an actual cost (as in a budgetary expenditure). If 1000 people re-up their accounts and only 100 stay after the two months, it will be less costly to SOE in the short, than fixing the multitude of issues that concern the 10000 current players. Now the game still blows
and they have another 100 subscribers.
In the long run... those 100 players that stayed after the promo may decide to cancel later... but that's later.
As a "person", I reread my post (the one I'm writing) and have to laugh at the absurdity of the logic (or lack thereof). But when I put myself in the shoes of a big company, it makes perfect sense. It's a business decision.
I like playing EQ2. I have yet to find another game that fill's the MMO niche as well as EQ2 does for me and I've been a paying customer for the better part of 3.5 years (since it launched in 2004). In that time I've had many ups and downs where the game is concerned but at the end of the day, it's just a game (at least as far as I am concerned). I would love it if SOE would better address some of the pressing issues but I've learned not to have high expectations. One day, I'll log in and ask myself "why?" On that day, I'll probably cancel my accounts permanently but until I reach that day I plan to roll with the punches. I fully accept that because I am a "paying" customer (with 3 accounts no less), I will always be in the "we got ya" category in SOE's books. *shrugs* So be it.
These are just my opinions. I base none of this on fact, only observations.
Re: Free Gameplay for Inactive Accounts?
