It is sad that this comes up the same day that I wrote my DAW post. (Also, the procrastination bug hit me again regarding the 20 Days thing, sorry.)
Unfortunately, this is the perfect day to cover this. BioWare announced earlier today that all currently active accounts with a level 50 character will be getting a free 30 days at the end of their current billing period. Even though I have been paying and playing regularly since the headstart, because I have chosen to explore multiple alts and storylines, I do not have a level 50 character. Therefore, I am excluded from this reward for "loyalty."
As I have on occasion in the past, I was going to rail against elitist behavior in the gaming community, the idea that a certain way of playing is superior to others. The PvPers who think that PvE is Stoopid and vice-versa. The folks who think the "the game doesn't even start until endgame." I play frequently and for long periods of time, almost every evening, in fact. My style of play happens to differ from all the rest. FULL DISCLOSURE: I have been known to rant about other playstyles myself. I try not to do that any more. As long as other players are enjoying themselves, who am I to say they are wrong.
The elitist jerks (hey, they use that term without irony, so will I) who tell other players, "L2P n00b or GTFO," can suck it, as far as I am concerned. But it's one thing coming from other players, it's another thing entirely when the game company slaps a set of loyal customers in the face and says essentially, "You fuckin' suck," however inadvertent that slap is.
I am withholding long-term judgment, assuming this was a not-well-thought-out scheme on the part of BioWare, and that they will fix it. But there are other games on the horizon, and since BioWare has shown no loyalty to me, I see no current need to show any loyalty to them.
Edit: Ok, the first version of this comment was perhaps a wee bit over the top...
ReplyDeleteI do have one 50, so I don't have a horse in this race. That said...imo limiting the reward to players with a level 50 toon, even though they know damn well who has been subbed since launch and they know damn well a lot of those players don't have a 50, and calling it a "loyalty reward" is absolutely insulting.
They are basically saying "if you aren't in the endgame yet you don't deserve a free month regardless of how long you have been playing." Which is a pretty ironic stance to take in an MMO that is much more about the leveling game than the end game.
Aww, I didn't see anything worng with it. :P
ReplyDeleteNot to put too fine a point on it, but lets look at some numbers. BW has bandied about the 200 hour figure for storyline completion/max level. Its been 125 days since launch. So "loyal customers" are those who spend at least 100 minutes a day playing a single character. Seems legit. :-p
ReplyDeleteOf course I think they recently expanded this to include anyone who had Legacy level 6 and above....which basically softened the curve a bit but was still crappy.
Honestly, this is just a poorly thought out scheme. Either you give free time to everyone or not at all. Another rookie move by Bioware....
Yes, As I commented on your post, I still have a ton of work (because that is what it will be) to get my own toons to Legacy 6 as well as help Sctrz, who frankly doesn't have the same level of free time time as me this week. Nevermind that we've both ben playing quite a bit or the fact that we are PAYING customers, and have been since before launch.
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