Information regarding Expansion and DLC Pack Purchases

Dexella · 08-10-2012, 06:40 PM

Starting Monday, August 27th, 2012, we will no longer accept Station Cash as a payment method for Expansions and DLC Packs. Real-world currency will be the only way to purchase these products.

The reason for this is simply that these products require a high level of development resource and are therefore a substantial cost. We want to continue to run aggressive Station Cash promotions, which we know our customers love, but cannot continue to do this and protect the revenue that we need to offset these costs.

In consideration of our players who would like the opportunity to purchase current Expansion and DLC Packs with Station Cash, we are running a 50% discount on them from Friday August 10th until Sunday August 12th*.

As always, if you have questions about your Station Account or Station Cash Balance, please contact customer service at http://www.soe.com/support.

Laenai · 08-10-2012, 07:16 PM

So, let me get this straight...

We have subscriptions. We pay our regular money for subscriptions and buy fluff items from the marketplace.

You guys go F2P and give us the option of purchasing sub time and expansions AND fluff items with SC meaning we don't need subscriptions any longer.

You take away sub time meaning we can purchase expansions and fluff items with SC.

You take away expansions, meaning we're right back in the same boat that we were before it was F2P.

Is there a redname that can actually tell me what the benefit to going F2P is now? Honestly. I REALLY want to know why we're an F2P game when the only F2P features are fluff items and we're exactly back to where we were with everything else.

And, yes, I'd like to know how to get my SC back as cash from all of my accounts as I will no longer be needing any of it. I will not be purchasing any expansions for EQ2 from this point forward.

Iad · 08-10-2012, 07:21 PM

I think we all saw this coming when they removed the option to pay for a sub with SC.

Brook · 08-10-2012, 07:45 PM

Dexella wrote:

Starting Monday, August 27th, 2012, we will no longer accept Station Cash as a payment method for Expansions and DLC Packs. Real-world currency will be the only way to purchase these products.
The reason for this is simply that these products require a high level of development resource and are therefore a substantial cost. We want to continue to run aggressive Station Cash promotions, which we know our customers love, but cannot continue to do this and protect the revenue that we need to offset these costs.
In consideration of our players who would like the opportunity to purchase current Expansion and DLC Packs with Station Cash, we are running a 50% discount on them from Friday August 10th until Sunday August 12th*.
As always, if you have questions about your Station Account or Station Cash Balance, please contact customer service at http://www.soe.com/support.

How does it require a high level of development resource, the matrix is already set up and billing is basically automated?

Just feed billing through the same program you use to put stats on gear and it should take care of itself with most of us being happy.

SisterTheresa · 08-10-2012, 07:53 PM

Laenai@Oasis wrote:

So, let me get this straight...
We have subscriptions. We pay our regular money for subscriptions and buy fluff items from the marketplace.
You guys go F2P and give us the option of purchasing sub time and expansions AND fluff items with SC meaning we don't need subscriptions any longer.
You take away sub time meaning we can purchase expansions and fluff items with SC.
You take away expansions, meaning we're right back in the same boat that we were before it was F2P.
Is there a redname that can actually tell me what the benefit to going F2P is now? Honestly. I REALLY want to know why we're an F2P game when the only F2P features are fluff items and we're exactly back to where we were with everything else.
And, yes, I'd like to know how to get my SC back as cash from all of my accounts as I will no longer be needing any of it. I will not be purchasing any expansions for EQ2 from this point forward.

In all honesty, I have no clue whatsoever.

Getting subscriptions and expansions through SC ... SoE STILL got money whether it was by CC, PayPal or Cards. There are people who are cmfortable using the game cards and not their CC, whether by choice or age restriction. So yes, SoE, you are really ((add expletitive here)) your customers over with this that makes zero sense.

I know about the explination how you are "looking over the models" or something ... this is the post Piestro made about removing the SC for subs explination for EQ. Can it be justified that it is an underused feature in EQ2 as well??

So .... colour me confused.

Peogia · 08-10-2012, 08:21 PM

Dexella wrote:

Starting Monday, August 27th, 2012, we will no longer accept Station Cash as a payment method for Expansions and DLC Packs. Real-world currency will be the only way to purchase these products.

The reason for this is simply that these products require a high level of development resource and are therefore a substantial cost. We want to continue to run aggressive Station Cash promotions, which we know our customers love, but cannot continue to do this and protect the revenue that we need to offset these costs.

In consideration of our players who would like the opportunity to purchase current Expansion and DLC Packs with Station Cash, we are running a 50% discount on them from Friday August 10th until Sunday August 12th*.

As always, if you have questions about your Station Account or Station Cash Balance, please contact customer service at http://www.soe.com/support.

May I have a refund for Age of Discover

Daevin · 08-10-2012, 08:22 PM

Brace yourselfs for another population decline from whatever little population exists today. Really, these decisions to take away the ability to pay with SC for a subscription and also the expansions/dlc packs is going to hurt this game more than help it. Very bad timing with these unpopular decisions with Guild Wars 2 just around the corner.

Kaylakaze · 08-10-2012, 08:26 PM

I think I get it. I buy SC only when it's double (or triple) SC days. I also only bought my expansions during the half price sale, so effectively I paid $5 and $10 (or less) for the expansions. So what they're saying is they want to make sure they have tighter control of exactly what amount expansions are going to be sold at.

Don't worry, in another month, they'll be announcing you can't use SC for anything anymore. And a month after that, they'll announce that only subscribers are allowed in the game on weekends. Then they'll keep increasing "subscriber only" time until only 3 F2P players are allowed to be logged in at a time and they're not allowed to be over level 10.

m1ndtrix · 08-10-2012, 08:38 PM

Crap, now I have like 60 dollars in Sation Cash and nothing really to buy with it. I want to support SOE, but buying cosmetic items has always seemed very silly to me. I'm also terrible at CCG. So I'm left with no way to spend this money on actual content.

I'm usually good at keeping my money away from the "cash traps" that are so prevelant in gaming now (Xbox Live Points, Steam Wallet, etc.), but this time I got burned. Lesson learned.

Dreamaria · 08-10-2012, 09:01 PM

It's actually very easy to understand from SoE's point of veiw.

People buy SC at discount prices (say you buy it on double SC weekend), meaning you pay half of what you would normally have. Then you save it and buy a $50 expansion with it, meaning SoE only got half of the value of the expansion - easy enough to understand why SoE would want all their money for the work...they have to pay their employees with something...and I don't think cookies will work.

Secondly those that have reoccuring subscriptions get a bonus 500 sc per month they have it reoccur...IE save it up and buy your expansion filling in the rest...meaning again SoE gets cut short on what they would normally get from an expansion.

The point of business..make money. Though I do feel bad for those that uploaded sc and have little spend it on, I personally have a fair amount and nothing snags me on the market...and I have 7 alts to put appearance gear on SMILEY

jjlo69 · 08-10-2012, 09:06 PM

well im gonna play the bad guy here on this .. it just closes another loop hole of players paying plat for SC to buy things that overall will hurt the soe's pocket book.. lets face it $20.00 worth of smed cash = what 300-1k plat depending on the server(note this is a complete estimate on my part) so if an exp comes out that roughly 4999 you could basicly spend 600-2k plat or even goto wall mart and but a couple of the 2k card for $15 and buying the expansion for 30 bucks respectively. plus with the pss1 merge hapening soon europe players will not be able to get the expansion via what every pss1 is called

Darktreem · 08-10-2012, 09:22 PM

Dreamaria wrote:

It's actually very easy to understand from SoE's point of veiw.
People buy SC at discount prices (say you buy it on double SC weekend), meaning you pay half of what you would normally have. Then you save it and buy a $50 expansion with it, meaning SoE only got half of the value of the expansion - easy enough to understand why SoE would want all their money for the work...they have to pay their employees with something...and I don't think cookies will work.
Secondly those that have reoccuring subscriptions get a bonus 500 sc per month they have it reoccur...IE save it up and buy your expansion filling in the rest...meaning again SoE gets cut short on what they would normally get from an expansion.
The point of business..make money. Though I do feel bad for those that uploaded sc and have little spend it on, I personally have a fair amount and nothing snags me on the market...and I have 7 alts to put appearance gear on

I do find that the expansions for EQ2 are a bit expensive to begin with. AoD collectors edition cost about £30 at 50%, so would be £60 at normal price. The most expensive expansion for LOTRO due in Sep costs £45. I am a bit annoyed with Turbine now, as they stated that when the game was going F2P you could buy the expansions with Turbine points, but now the latest expansion can only be bought with real money. So Turbine is doing the same it seems.

I bet this change is a negative side effect to the PSS1 parternship. They are not getting enough subs now from cancelled EU players, they now have to get the money back elsewhere.

Spakka · 08-10-2012, 09:32 PM

I am absolutely disgusted at this announcement, I have never bought fluff items or anything else with SC except for subs and xpacs. I have 6,800 Sc now that I purchased when both these items were available in the marketplace and the intention was to use it for only those items. There should be some sort of breach of implied contract here.

What if SOE were to yank all items from the market place so you can buy nothing at all with SC, leaving people with heavily funded wallets and nothing to buy? There is no difference in principle.

I could see a case for making an announcement that all future purchases of SC would not be able to buy subs/xpacs but to hugely promote the sale of SC and later remove the ability to buy subs/xpacs from people who had already purchased SC when these items were available on the marketplace (and no indication they would ever not be available) is outright fraudulent if you ask me.

GusEQ · 08-10-2012, 10:05 PM

I also saw this coming after they removed non-recurring.

Admittedly I was also frugal when it came to sc, cashing in only on bonus days...

What bothers me though, is that they would have implemented this in the first place without understanding the basic mentality of consumers in that yes....they prefer to save money where they can.

I mean what exactly went on in their heads when they went in this direction in the first place? To walk back on this now really is a slap in the face to people who loaded up on sc.

So they claim that in order to maintain their bonus sc days they needed to do this...because of how much players love it, yet they completely ignore a huge part of why players love(d) sc bonus days....being able to spend it on practical things. Now the bonus days really mean a whole lot less now that it is restricted to fluff items.

Peogia · 08-10-2012, 10:07 PM

Dreamaria wrote:

It's actually very easy to understand from My point of veiw.
People buy SC at discount prices (say you buy it on double SC weekend), meaning you pay half of what you would normally have. Then you save it and buy a $50 expansion with it, meaning SoE only got half of the value of the expansion - easy enough to understand why SoE would want all their money for the work...they have to pay their employees with something...and I don't think cookies will work.
Secondly those that have reoccuring subscriptions get a bonus 500 sc per month they have it reoccur...IE save it up and buy your expansion filling in the rest...meaning again SoE gets cut short on what they would normally get from an expansion.
All of this only amounts to poor very bad budgeting who is watching those check books
The point of business..make money. Though I do feel bad for those that uploaded sc and have little spend it on, I personally have a fair amount and nothing snags me on the market...and I have 7 alts to put appearance gear on
This is just an easy way to increase profit with out having to lift a finger by saying the sony money you purchased from sony is now worthless & "none refundable", please reinsert your Credit Card to complete any further transactions with sony as they no longer accept there own currency anymore

If I have but only one complaint about Age of Discovery it would be mercenaries.

GusEQ · 08-10-2012, 10:10 PM

One alternative I would have been more accepting of would have been only restricting the most new expansion to real world currency.

People who play the game extensively would more than likely end up paying them in full, and it would probably get more new people to buy sc cards during promotions if they could use the sc to purchase older xpacks.

SlashnGut · 08-10-2012, 10:33 PM

Development of the game costs money - understandable

However, instead of stopping people from using SC an easy fix would have been the below:

Expansion: $39.99 if paid for with cash

$69.99 or $99.99 if paid for with SC

Those who wish to use SC to make the purchase due to lack of a credit card or not wanting to use their credit card could still do so it would just cost more. They woud still have to buy the SC and would need to buy more of it in order to make the purchase. The above is just an example but would not be that hard to set up and would appease the ones who want to use SC, or should anyway. Can't please everyone all the time and all.

Buffalo · 08-10-2012, 10:35 PM

A very easy solution to me. Just quit the game and find something new.

Avirodar · 08-11-2012, 02:19 AM

Dexella wrote:

Starting Monday, August 27th, 2012, we will no longer accept Station Cash as a payment method for Expansions and DLC Packs. Real-world currency will be the only way to purchase these products.

The reason for this is simply that these products require a high level of development resource and are therefore a substantial cost. We want to continue to run aggressive Station Cash promotions, which we know our customers love, but cannot continue to do this and protect the revenue that we need to offset these costs.

In consideration of our players who would like the opportunity to purchase current Expansion and DLC Packs with Station Cash, we are running a 50% discount on them from Friday August 10th until Sunday August 12th*.

As always, if you have questions about your Station Account or Station Cash Balance, please contact customer service at http://www.soe.com/support.

A very effective solution to this was proposed when subscriptions were removed from the MarketPlace.Add a secondary figure for SC, called Bonus Station Cash (BSC). Basic examples include...A 1500 walmart card gives : 1500SC, 500BSC A 1500 walmart card on triple redemption day gives : 1500SC, 4500BSCBuying 5000 SC on a double SC promo day gives : 5000SC, 5000BSCThe 500SC per month, for being a gold recurring subscriber would be changed to 500BSC per month.Make it so expansions and subs can only be purchased with SC, not BSC.Use judgement as to whether or not expansions/subscriptions should be included in half price promotions.SOE could start doing that, as of the 27th of August. What ever people already have, they have as "SC", but from the 27th Aug, any SC redemptions would be put in relevant categories.At least, that is what I would do, if I was wanting to provide a reasonable solution for both new and existing customers, while retaining functionality of the MarketPlace systems.Edit: change to include the 500 per month for recurring subs.

Aneova · 08-11-2012, 02:49 AM

They likely got tired of giving away expansions to the folks who sit on the free monthly SC for having the appropriate subscription.

Kinya · 08-11-2012, 05:47 AM

I would like to know, how can I get a refund for Station Cash I bought in order to buy next x-pac with it. I am not going to spend SC for any fluff items.

I would like to get my money back pls. On all 4 accounts.

theriatis · 08-11-2012, 06:17 AM

Hi,

is it possible to gift someone the Expansions ?

Regards, theriatis.

Avirodar · 08-11-2012, 06:29 AM

theriatis wrote:

Hi,
is it possible to gift someone the Expansions ?
Regards, theriatis.

No it is not.

General_Info · 08-11-2012, 07:01 AM

Kaylakaze wrote:

I think I get it. I buy SC only when it's double (or triple) SC days. I also only bought my expansions during the half price sale, so effectively I paid $5 and $10 (or less) for the expansions. So what they're saying is they want to make sure they have tighter control of exactly what amount expansions are going to be sold at.

This is why they are changing it. like you i purchased SC on a double SC weekend however i didn't buy the expacs on a half-price day. i spent 1000 free SC along with $25 and i got both expansions.

If you dont own ether expansions and you dont mind the standard edition the two day half-price sale is a good deal buying both for $30 (or less if you have SC from double, triple SC weekends or rebate sales)

Juravael · 08-11-2012, 08:37 AM

And what about those of us that stocked up on SC for the expansion this fall? I do not need any of the expansions that are current for any of my three remaining accounts and there is nothing else on the marketplace that I would buy.

Otatop · 08-11-2012, 10:38 AM

Dexella wrote:

Starting Monday, August 27th, 2012, we will no longer accept Station Cash as a payment method for Expansions and DLC Packs. Real-world currency will be the only way to purchase these products.

The reason for this is simply that these products require a high level of development resource and are therefore a substantial cost. We want to continue to run aggressive Station Cash promotions, which we know our customers love, but cannot continue to do this and protect the revenue that we need to offset these costs.

In consideration of our players who would like the opportunity to purchase current Expansion and DLC Packs with Station Cash, we are running a 50% discount on them from Friday August 10th until Sunday August 12th*.

As always, if you have questions about your Station Account or Station Cash Balance, please contact customer service at http://www.soe.com/support.

You seem to have an asterisk on this... whats that about? Leave something out or is it a typo?

Katz · 08-11-2012, 11:33 AM

Avirodar@Oasis wrote:

Dexella wrote:
Starting Monday, August 27th, 2012, we will no longer accept Station Cash as a payment method for Expansions and DLC Packs. Real-world currency will be the only way to purchase these products.

The reason for this is simply that these products require a high level of development resource and are therefore a substantial cost. We want to continue to run aggressive Station Cash promotions, which we know our customers love, but cannot continue to do this and protect the revenue that we need to offset these costs.

In consideration of our players who would like the opportunity to purchase current Expansion and DLC Packs with Station Cash, we are running a 50% discount on them from Friday August 10th until Sunday August 12th*.

As always, if you have questions about your Station Account or Station Cash Balance, please contact customer service at http://www.soe.com/support.
A very effective solution to this was proposed when subscriptions were removed from the MarketPlace.Add a secondary figure for SC, called Bonus Station Cash (BSC). Basic examples include...A 1500 walmart card gives : 1500SC, 500BSC A 1500 walmart card on triple redemption day gives : 1500SC, 4500BSCBuying 5000 SC on a double SC promo day gives : 5000SC, 5000BSCThe 500SC per month, for being a gold recurring subscriber would be changed to 500BSC per month.Make it so expansions and subs can only be purchased with SC, not BSC.Use judgement as to whether or not expansions/subscriptions should be included in half price promotions.SOE could start doing that, as of the 27th of August. What ever people already have, they have as "SC", but from the 27th Aug, any SC redemptions would be put in relevant categories.At least, that is what I would do, if I was wanting to provide a reasonable solution for both new and existing customers, while retaining functionality of the MarketPlace systems.Edit: change to include the 500 per month for recurring subs.

That seems a better solution.

General_Info · 08-11-2012, 12:31 PM

removing expacs from the marketpalce is a much simpler change then splitting the SC into two types. Besides they can still run half price sales on the expansions through RMT.

zehly · 08-11-2012, 06:01 PM

I totally get your move here. Makes perfect sense. Closing a loop hole that you should have never had in the first place, but that was also difficult to avoid not having. Triple SC Weekend + 50% Weekend = Bad Business (tm) for subscriptions and expansions. Works great on the fluff items, the consumables, etc. All I ask is that since you want to be "aggressive", could you please get "aggressive" in marking down those prices on said consumables (vitality, XP, and research-time reduction, please). I don't mind paying full price for an expansion. Love the game. Don't mind ya charging my credit card monthly, either. All for it. But please make the grind less painful, and give me more sexy instant gratification.

Rectale · 08-11-2012, 06:36 PM

Dexella wrote:

Starting Monday, August 27th, 2012, we will no longer accept Station Cash as a payment method for Expansions and DLC Packs. Real-world currency will be the only way to purchase these products.

The reason for this is simply that these products require a high level of development resource and are therefore a substantial cost. We want to continue to run aggressive Station Cash promotions, which we know our customers love, but cannot continue to do this and protect the revenue that we need to offset these costs.

In consideration of our players who would like the opportunity to purchase current Expansion and DLC Packs with Station Cash, we are running a 50% discount on them from Friday August 10th until Sunday August 12th*.

As always, if you have questions about your Station Account or Station Cash Balance, please contact customer service at http://www.soe.com/support.

You are in all honesty the worst 'entertainment' company I have ever had the misfortune to be involved with.

08-10-2012, 06:40 PM	#1
Dexella Community Relations Join Date: Jun 2012 Posts: 477	Starting Monday, August 27th, 2012, we will no longer accept Station Cash as a payment method for Expansions and DLC Packs. Real-world currency will be the only way to purchase these products. The reason for this is simply that these products require a high level of development resource and are therefore a substantial cost. We want to continue to run aggressive Station Cash promotions, which we know our customers love, but cannot continue to do this and protect the revenue that we need to offset these costs. In consideration of our players who would like the opportunity to purchase current Expansion and DLC Packs with Station Cash, we are running a 50% discount on them from Friday August 10th until Sunday August 12th. As always, if you have questions about your Station Account or Station Cash Balance, please contact customer service at http://www.soe.com/support. __________________ Dexella* Community Relations Manager

08-10-2012, 07:16 PM	#2
Laenai Server: Oasis Guild: Tyranny Rank: Raider Loremaster Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 634	So, let me get this straight... We have subscriptions. We pay our regular money for subscriptions and buy fluff items from the marketplace. You guys go F2P and give us the option of purchasing sub time and expansions AND fluff items with SC meaning we don't need subscriptions any longer. You take away sub time meaning we can purchase expansions and fluff items with SC. You take away expansions, meaning we're right back in the same boat that we were before it was F2P. Is there a redname that can actually tell me what the benefit to going F2P is now? Honestly. I REALLY want to know why we're an F2P game when the only F2P features are fluff items and we're exactly back to where we were with everything else. And, yes, I'd like to know how to get my SC back as cash from all of my accounts as I will no longer be needing any of it. I will not be purchasing any expansions for EQ2 from this point forward. __________________

08-10-2012, 07:45 PM	#4
Brook Tester Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 1,336	Dexella wrote: Starting Monday, August 27th, 2012, we will no longer accept Station Cash as a payment method for Expansions and DLC Packs. Real-world currency will be the only way to purchase these products. The reason for this is simply that these products require a high level of development resource and are therefore a substantial cost. We want to continue to run aggressive Station Cash promotions, which we know our customers love, but cannot continue to do this and protect the revenue that we need to offset these costs. In consideration of our players who would like the opportunity to purchase current Expansion and DLC Packs with Station Cash, we are running a 50% discount on them from Friday August 10th until Sunday August 12th*. As always, if you have questions about your Station Account or Station Cash Balance, please contact customer service at http://www.soe.com/support. How does it require a high level of development resource, the matrix is already set up and billing is basically automated? Just feed billing through the same program you use to put stats on gear and it should take care of itself with most of us being happy. __________________ But seriously, you're the kind of guy that zones into gears without a healer and spends the whole match talking about the fact there isn't a healer instead of contributing. I hate you, and everyone like you that plays this game. Please spend less time whining and more time winning, it contributes to the general growth of the game and makes gameplay more enjoyable for all.

08-10-2012, 07:53 PM	#5
SisterTheresa The Vigilant Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 1,250	Laenai@Oasis wrote: So, let me get this straight... We have subscriptions. We pay our regular money for subscriptions and buy fluff items from the marketplace. You guys go F2P and give us the option of purchasing sub time and expansions AND fluff items with SC meaning we don't need subscriptions any longer. You take away sub time meaning we can purchase expansions and fluff items with SC. You take away expansions, meaning we're right back in the same boat that we were before it was F2P. Is there a redname that can actually tell me what the benefit to going F2P is now? Honestly. I REALLY want to know why we're an F2P game when the only F2P features are fluff items and we're exactly back to where we were with everything else. And, yes, I'd like to know how to get my SC back as cash from all of my accounts as I will no longer be needing any of it. I will not be purchasing any expansions for EQ2 from this point forward. In all honesty, I have no clue whatsoever. Getting subscriptions and expansions through SC ... SoE STILL got money whether it was by CC, PayPal or Cards. There are people who are cmfortable using the game cards and not their CC, whether by choice or age restriction. So yes, SoE, you are really ((add expletitive here)) your customers over with this that makes zero sense. I know about the explination how you are "looking over the models" or something ... this is the post Piestro made about removing the SC for subs explination for EQ. Can it be justified that it is an underused feature in EQ2 as well?? So .... colour me confused. __________________

08-10-2012, 08:21 PM	#6
Peogia Loremaster Join Date: Jul 2010 Posts: 928	Dexella wrote: Starting Monday, August 27th, 2012, we will no longer accept Station Cash as a payment method for Expansions and DLC Packs. Real-world currency will be the only way to purchase these products. The reason for this is simply that these products require a high level of development resource and are therefore a substantial cost. We want to continue to run aggressive Station Cash promotions, which we know our customers love, but cannot continue to do this and protect the revenue that we need to offset these costs. In consideration of our players who would like the opportunity to purchase current Expansion and DLC Packs with Station Cash, we are running a 50% discount on them from Friday August 10th until Sunday August 12th*. As always, if you have questions about your Station Account or Station Cash Balance, please contact customer service at http://www.soe.com/support. May I have a refund for Age of Discover __________________ The FBI is encouraging users to visit a website run by its security partner, http://www.dcwg.org , that will inform them whether they're infected and explain how to fix the problem. After July 9, infected users won't be able to connect to the Internet.

08-10-2012, 07:21 PM	#3
Iad Loremaster Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 250	I think we all saw this coming when they removed the option to pay for a sub with SC.

08-10-2012, 08:22 PM	#7
Daevin Server: Antonia Bayle Loremaster Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 7	Brace yourselfs for another population decline from whatever little population exists today. Really, these decisions to take away the ability to pay with SC for a subscription and also the expansions/dlc packs is going to hurt this game more than help it. Very bad timing with these unpopular decisions with Guild Wars 2 just around the corner.

08-10-2012, 08:26 PM	#8
Kaylakaze Journeyman Join Date: Jul 2012 Posts: 1	I think I get it. I buy SC only when it's double (or triple) SC days. I also only bought my expansions during the half price sale, so effectively I paid $5 and $10 (or less) for the expansions. So what they're saying is they want to make sure they have tighter control of exactly what amount expansions are going to be sold at. Don't worry, in another month, they'll be announcing you can't use SC for anything anymore. And a month after that, they'll announce that only subscribers are allowed in the game on weekends. Then they'll keep increasing "subscriber only" time until only 3 F2P players are allowed to be logged in at a time and they're not allowed to be over level 10.

08-10-2012, 08:38 PM	#9
m1ndtrix Loremaster Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Columbus, OH Posts: 5	Crap, now I have like 60 dollars in Sation Cash and nothing really to buy with it. I want to support SOE, but buying cosmetic items has always seemed very silly to me. I'm also terrible at CCG. So I'm left with no way to spend this money on actual content. I'm usually good at keeping my money away from the "cash traps" that are so prevelant in gaming now (Xbox Live Points, Steam Wallet, etc.), but this time I got burned. Lesson learned.

08-10-2012, 09:01 PM	#10
Dreamaria Loremaster Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 121	It's actually very easy to understand from SoE's point of veiw. People buy SC at discount prices (say you buy it on double SC weekend), meaning you pay half of what you would normally have. Then you save it and buy a $50 expansion with it, meaning SoE only got half of the value of the expansion - easy enough to understand why SoE would want all their money for the work...they have to pay their employees with something...and I don't think cookies will work. Secondly those that have reoccuring subscriptions get a bonus 500 sc per month they have it reoccur...IE save it up and buy your expansion filling in the rest...meaning again SoE gets cut short on what they would normally get from an expansion. The point of business..make money. Though I do feel bad for those that uploaded sc and have little spend it on, I personally have a fair amount and nothing snags me on the market...and I have 7 alts to put appearance gear on

08-10-2012, 09:06 PM	#11
jjlo69 Loremaster Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 364	well im gonna play the bad guy here on this .. it just closes another loop hole of players paying plat for SC to buy things that overall will hurt the soe's pocket book.. lets face it $20.00 worth of smed cash = what 300-1k plat depending on the server(note this is a complete estimate on my part) so if an exp comes out that roughly 4999 you could basicly spend 600-2k plat or even goto wall mart and but a couple of the 2k card for $15 and buying the expansion for 30 bucks respectively. plus with the pss1 merge hapening soon europe players will not be able to get the expansion via what every pss1 is called

08-10-2012, 09:22 PM	#12
Darktreem Loremaster Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 64	Dreamaria wrote: It's actually very easy to understand from SoE's point of veiw. People buy SC at discount prices (say you buy it on double SC weekend), meaning you pay half of what you would normally have. Then you save it and buy a $50 expansion with it, meaning SoE only got half of the value of the expansion - easy enough to understand why SoE would want all their money for the work...they have to pay their employees with something...and I don't think cookies will work. Secondly those that have reoccuring subscriptions get a bonus 500 sc per month they have it reoccur...IE save it up and buy your expansion filling in the rest...meaning again SoE gets cut short on what they would normally get from an expansion. The point of business..make money. Though I do feel bad for those that uploaded sc and have little spend it on, I personally have a fair amount and nothing snags me on the market...and I have 7 alts to put appearance gear on I do find that the expansions for EQ2 are a bit expensive to begin with. AoD collectors edition cost about £30 at 50%, so would be £60 at normal price. The most expensive expansion for LOTRO due in Sep costs £45. I am a bit annoyed with Turbine now, as they stated that when the game was going F2P you could buy the expansions with Turbine points, but now the latest expansion can only be bought with real money. So Turbine is doing the same it seems. I bet this change is a negative side effect to the PSS1 parternship. They are not getting enough subs now from cancelled EU players, they now have to get the money back elsewhere.

08-10-2012, 09:32 PM	#13
Spakka Loremaster Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 150	I am absolutely disgusted at this announcement, I have never bought fluff items or anything else with SC except for subs and xpacs. I have 6,800 Sc now that I purchased when both these items were available in the marketplace and the intention was to use it for only those items. There should be some sort of breach of implied contract here. What if SOE were to yank all items from the market place so you can buy nothing at all with SC, leaving people with heavily funded wallets and nothing to buy? There is no difference in principle. I could see a case for making an announcement that all future purchases of SC would not be able to buy subs/xpacs but to hugely promote the sale of SC and later remove the ability to buy subs/xpacs from people who had already purchased SC when these items were available on the marketplace (and no indication they would ever not be available) is outright fraudulent if you ask me.

08-10-2012, 10:05 PM	#14
GusEQ Loremaster Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 8	I also saw this coming after they removed non-recurring. Admittedly I was also frugal when it came to sc, cashing in only on bonus days... What bothers me though, is that they would have implemented this in the first place without understanding the basic mentality of consumers in that yes....they prefer to save money where they can. I mean what exactly went on in their heads when they went in this direction in the first place? To walk back on this now really is a slap in the face to people who loaded up on sc. So they claim that in order to maintain their bonus sc days they needed to do this...because of how much players love it, yet they completely ignore a huge part of why players love(d) sc bonus days....being able to spend it on practical things. Now the bonus days really mean a whole lot less now that it is restricted to fluff items.

08-10-2012, 10:07 PM	#15
Peogia Loremaster Join Date: Jul 2010 Posts: 928	Dreamaria wrote: It's actually very easy to understand from My point of veiw. People buy SC at discount prices (say you buy it on double SC weekend), meaning you pay half of what you would normally have. Then you save it and buy a $50 expansion with it, meaning SoE only got half of the value of the expansion - easy enough to understand why SoE would want all their money for the work...they have to pay their employees with something...and I don't think cookies will work. Secondly those that have reoccuring subscriptions get a bonus 500 sc per month they have it reoccur...IE save it up and buy your expansion filling in the rest...meaning again SoE gets cut short on what they would normally get from an expansion. All of this only amounts to poor very bad budgeting who is watching those check books The point of business..make money. Though I do feel bad for those that uploaded sc and have little spend it on, I personally have a fair amount and nothing snags me on the market...and I have 7 alts to put appearance gear on This is just an easy way to increase profit with out having to lift a finger by saying the sony money you purchased from sony is now worthless & "none refundable", please reinsert your Credit Card to complete any further transactions with sony as they no longer accept there own currency anymore If I have but only one complaint about Age of Discovery it would be mercenaries. __________________ The FBI is encouraging users to visit a website run by its security partner, http://www.dcwg.org , that will inform them whether they're infected and explain how to fix the problem. After July 9, infected users won't be able to connect to the Internet.

08-10-2012, 10:10 PM	#16
GusEQ Loremaster Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 8	One alternative I would have been more accepting of would have been only restricting the most new expansion to real world currency. People who play the game extensively would more than likely end up paying them in full, and it would probably get more new people to buy sc cards during promotions if they could use the sc to purchase older xpacks.

08-10-2012, 10:33 PM	#17
SlashnGut Loremaster Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 236	Development of the game costs money - understandable However, instead of stopping people from using SC an easy fix would have been the below: Expansion: $39.99 if paid for with cash $69.99 or $99.99 if paid for with SC Those who wish to use SC to make the purchase due to lack of a credit card or not wanting to use their credit card could still do so it would just cost more. They woud still have to buy the SC and would need to buy more of it in order to make the purchase. The above is just an example but would not be that hard to set up and would appease the ones who want to use SC, or should anyway. Can't please everyone all the time and all. __________________ Hakdagutz 92 Guardian/92 Weaponsmith Sucha 92 Conjuror/92 Sage Mrshal 92 Monk/92 Carpenter Bloodwingg 92 Necromancer/92 Tailor Tior 92 Warlock/92 Provisioner Holyer 92 Paladin/92 Armoror Grogg 90 Berserker/92 Alchemist Etat 90 Bruiser/92 Jeweler Dawizz 90 Wizard/92 Woodworker Punting 90 Brigand Kountdracula 90 Dirge Omgiman 92 Warden

08-10-2012, 10:35 PM	#18
Buffalo Loremaster Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: China Posts: 2	A very easy solution to me. Just quit the game and find something new.

08-11-2012, 02:19 AM	#19
Avirodar Server: Oasis Guild: Tyranny Rank: Champion Loremaster Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 2,035	Dexella wrote: Starting Monday, August 27th, 2012, we will no longer accept Station Cash as a payment method for Expansions and DLC Packs. Real-world currency will be the only way to purchase these products. The reason for this is simply that these products require a high level of development resource and are therefore a substantial cost. We want to continue to run aggressive Station Cash promotions, which we know our customers love, but cannot continue to do this and protect the revenue that we need to offset these costs. In consideration of our players who would like the opportunity to purchase current Expansion and DLC Packs with Station Cash, we are running a 50% discount on them from Friday August 10th until Sunday August 12th. As always, if you have questions about your Station Account or Station Cash Balance, please contact customer service at http://www.soe.com/support. A very effective solution to this was proposed when subscriptions were removed from the MarketPlace.Add a secondary figure for SC, called Bonus Station Cash (BSC*). Basic examples include...A 1500 walmart card gives : 1500SC, 500BSC A 1500 walmart card on triple redemption day gives : 1500SC, 4500BSCBuying 5000 SC on a double SC promo day gives : 5000SC, 5000BSCThe 500SC per month, for being a gold recurring subscriber would be changed to 500BSC per month.Make it so expansions and subs can only be purchased with SC, not BSC.Use judgement as to whether or not expansions/subscriptions should be included in half price promotions.SOE could start doing that, as of the 27th of August. What ever people already have, they have as "SC", but from the 27th Aug, any SC redemptions would be put in relevant categories.At least, that is what I would do, if I was wanting to provide a reasonable solution for both new and existing customers, while retaining functionality of the MarketPlace systems.Edit: change to include the 500 per month for recurring subs. __________________ Templar of Oasis

08-11-2012, 02:49 AM	#20
Aneova Server: Kithicor Guild: Masters of the Universe Rank: Raider Loremaster Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 1,027	They likely got tired of giving away expansions to the folks who sit on the free monthly SC for having the appropriate subscription. __________________ http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/posts/list.m?topic_id=438341 Originally Posted by Smed: I've been a regular lurker on this site for a while but I wanted to step in here and dispel something that's just plain not true - I don't have my name highlighted here, but anyone that doubts it's me can email me at jsmedley@soe.sony.com and I'll happily reply. We aren't going to be allowing RMT in any way, shape or form on the non-exchange enabled EQ II servers. Period. End of statement. In any event, I wanted to stop in and at least set the record straight - you aren't going to be seeing RMT allowed on the non-exchange enabled servers. John Smedley President, Sony Online Entertainment

08-11-2012, 05:47 AM	#21
Kinya Server: Splitpaw Guild: Runnyeye Raiding Club Rank: Boss Fansite Staff Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 86	I would like to know, how can I get a refund for Station Cash I bought in order to buy next x-pac with it. I am not going to spend SC for any fluff items. I would like to get my money back pls. On all 4 accounts. __________________ http://babagra.pl - Polish Everquest 2 Fansite

08-11-2012, 06:17 AM	#22
theriatis Loremaster Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 927	Hi, is it possible to gift someone the Expansions ? Regards, theriatis. __________________ If you're laughing at my (english) grammar, just try writing in my language; i need a good laugh now and then, too

08-11-2012, 06:29 AM	#23
Avirodar Server: Oasis Guild: Tyranny Rank: Champion Loremaster Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 2,035	theriatis wrote: Hi, is it possible to gift someone the Expansions ? Regards, theriatis. No it is not. __________________ Templar of Oasis

08-11-2012, 07:01 AM	#24
General_Info Lord Join Date: Jun 2011 Posts: 658	Kaylakaze wrote: I think I get it. I buy SC only when it's double (or triple) SC days. I also only bought my expansions during the half price sale, so effectively I paid $5 and $10 (or less) for the expansions. So what they're saying is they want to make sure they have tighter control of exactly what amount expansions are going to be sold at. This is why they are changing it. like you i purchased SC on a double SC weekend however i didn't buy the expacs on a half-price day. i spent 1000 free SC along with $25 and i got both expansions. If you dont own ether expansions and you dont mind the standard edition the two day half-price sale is a good deal buying both for $30 (or less if you have SC from double, triple SC weekends or rebate sales) __________________

08-11-2012, 08:37 AM	#25
Juravael Loremaster Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 997	And what about those of us that stocked up on SC for the expansion this fall? I do not need any of the expansions that are current for any of my three remaining accounts and there is nothing else on the marketplace that I would buy.

08-11-2012, 10:38 AM	#26
Otatop Guardian Join Date: Aug 2011 Posts: 3	Dexella wrote: Starting Monday, August 27th, 2012, we will no longer accept Station Cash as a payment method for Expansions and DLC Packs. Real-world currency will be the only way to purchase these products. The reason for this is simply that these products require a high level of development resource and are therefore a substantial cost. We want to continue to run aggressive Station Cash promotions, which we know our customers love, but cannot continue to do this and protect the revenue that we need to offset these costs. In consideration of our players who would like the opportunity to purchase current Expansion and DLC Packs with Station Cash, we are running a 50% discount on them from Friday August 10th until *Sunday August 12th.** As always, if you have questions about your Station Account or Station Cash Balance, please contact customer service at http://www.soe.com/support. You seem to have an asterisk on this... whats that about? Leave something out or is it a typo?

08-11-2012, 11:33 AM	#27
Katz Loremaster Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 2,601	Avirodar@Oasis wrote: Dexella wrote: Starting Monday, August 27th, 2012, we will no longer accept Station Cash as a payment method for Expansions and DLC Packs. Real-world currency will be the only way to purchase these products. The reason for this is simply that these products require a high level of development resource and are therefore a substantial cost. We want to continue to run aggressive Station Cash promotions, which we know our customers love, but cannot continue to do this and protect the revenue that we need to offset these costs. In consideration of our players who would like the opportunity to purchase current Expansion and DLC Packs with Station Cash, we are running a 50% discount on them from Friday August 10th until Sunday August 12th. As always, if you have questions about your Station Account or Station Cash Balance, please contact customer service at http://www.soe.com/support. A very effective solution to this was proposed when subscriptions were removed from the MarketPlace.Add a secondary figure for SC, called Bonus Station Cash (BSC*). Basic examples include...A 1500 walmart card gives : 1500SC, 500BSC A 1500 walmart card on triple redemption day gives : 1500SC, 4500BSCBuying 5000 SC on a double SC promo day gives : 5000SC, 5000BSCThe 500SC per month, for being a gold recurring subscriber would be changed to 500BSC per month.Make it so expansions and subs can only be purchased with SC, not BSC.Use judgement as to whether or not expansions/subscriptions should be included in half price promotions.SOE could start doing that, as of the 27th of August. What ever people already have, they have as "SC", but from the 27th Aug, any SC redemptions would be put in relevant categories.At least, that is what I would do, if I was wanting to provide a reasonable solution for both new and existing customers, while retaining functionality of the MarketPlace systems.Edit: change to include the 500 per month for recurring subs. That seems a better solution.

08-11-2012, 12:31 PM	#28
General_Info Lord Join Date: Jun 2011 Posts: 658	removing expacs from the marketpalce is a much simpler change then splitting the SC into two types. Besides they can still run half price sales on the expansions through RMT. __________________

08-11-2012, 06:01 PM	#29
zehly Loremaster Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: USA Posts: 78	I totally get your move here. Makes perfect sense. Closing a loop hole that you should have never had in the first place, but that was also difficult to avoid not having. Triple SC Weekend + 50% Weekend = Bad Business (tm) for subscriptions and expansions. Works great on the fluff items, the consumables, etc. All I ask is that since you want to be "aggressive", could you please get "aggressive" in marking down those prices on said consumables (vitality, XP, and research-time reduction, please). I don't mind paying full price for an expansion. Love the game. Don't mind ya charging my credit card monthly, either. All for it. But please make the grind less painful, and give me more sexy instant gratification. __________________ Count Xehl, 92/320 Illusionist Savior Niekko, 92/320 Templar Sir Trixle, ??/??? Brigand

08-11-2012, 06:36 PM	#30
Rectale Seer Join Date: Nov 2011 Posts: 59	Dexella wrote: Starting Monday, August 27th, 2012, we will no longer accept Station Cash as a payment method for Expansions and DLC Packs. Real-world currency will be the only way to purchase these products. The reason for this is simply that these products require a high level of development resource and are therefore a substantial cost. We want to continue to run aggressive Station Cash promotions, which we know our customers love, but cannot continue to do this and protect the revenue that we need to offset these costs. In consideration of our players who would like the opportunity to purchase current Expansion and DLC Packs with Station Cash, we are running a 50% discount on them from Friday August 10th until Sunday August 12th*. As always, if you have questions about your Station Account or Station Cash Balance, please contact customer service at http://www.soe.com/support. You are in all honesty the worst 'entertainment' company I have ever had the misfortune to be involved with.