Hey everyone, Today I wanted to analyze Eternal Crusade's current subscription business model & ask the community if they are not subscribers, why not? So as of right now for $10.00 a month, subscribers get the following: Monthly Subscription Point Bundle Every month, you will receive an increasing amount of Rogue Trader Points to attribute in the Rogue Trader: First 3 months: 10,000 points (0% Bonus) Months 4-6: 12,000 points (20% Bonus) Months 7-9: 14,000 points (40% Bonus) Months 10+: 16,000 points (60% Bonus) What does this mean exactly? Well, for each month you are a subscriber & pay $10.00 you get the above benefits that increase to a maximum of 16,000 pts per month that can be used on items located in the Rogue Trader. Is this a good deal? Well, lets look at another similar MMOFPS's subscription business model for comparison. Seeing as EC is very similar to Planetside 2 in nature lets use that as our comparison. Planetside 2 Subscription Model 10% off all marketplace transactions Free monthly 500 station cash claim Exclusive promotions/offers +50% more experience +3% experience for every member in your squad +24-48 passive certification points per day +50% resources Monthly double exp Log-in queue priority Access to members only daily sale Three additional character slots Three additional custom loadouts Now at a glance you will think Planetside 2's membership is superior just by the volume of benefits, but that is not true. Many of the benefits that are apart of the Planetside 2 subscription actually have a VERY negative impact on the game & push it very close to P2W. Lets analyze the different benefits of each with the information we currently have available. With PS2's business model new subscribers get 10% off all marketplace purchases. Sounds good right? Well not if the prices are inflated to start with to account for said membership so that they are expensive even with membership. I would rather not have said benefit & just have prices that are more reasonable for everyone. Free 500 SC. Not bad. This generally equates to 1-2 items depending on whether or not its a new release, whether the items are on sale etc. +50% experience. There are going to be conflicting opinions on this. Some will believe its P2W, others not so. Provided all upgrades available to players do not yield a increase in power, accelerating the time in which it takes to unlock said upgrades "shouldn't" be P2W. HOWEVER, it will mean there will be players blazing through character progression 50%+ faster than other players which will vastly accelerate their "end game". Despite their technically being no end game per say, character progression plays a large part in motivating a players participation in the game. If they unlock everything too quickly, it often leads to declining interest. +24-48 certs per day. This is similar to above in that it accelerates a players path to "end game". Whether or not that is a bad thing I will leave that up to people to decide for themselves. +50% resources, this one right here is simply game breaking. It essentially allows members to use 50% more combat multipliers &/or consumables to that of a non-subscriber. This benefit alone has created such a power disparity alone in PS2 that imo is a P2W feature & has no place in something like Eternal Crusade. Monthly double exp is similar to the exp benefits I described above in that it accelerates a players path to end game. Log-in priority is a nice benefit during peak hours. If your someone who plays off-hours, you will likely benefit less from this. Daily sales are a nice benefit, but again I would prefer reasonable prices for all, not just nice sale prices for subscribers. Character slots/loadouts are helpful. With EC's subscription model new subscribers receive NO benefit for the first 3 months. For $10.00 anyone can purchase 2 squig bundles that yield 5000 pts each (10,000). That is not a very appealing incentive to get new players to subscribe. The only real draw to becoming a subscriber in EC is the additional 6,000 pts you receive each month after being a subscriber for 10+ months. What does 6,000 pts net you? Well generally speaking about .6 (little over half) of an item on the rogue trader. Most items are roughly 10,000pts+. So as a long term subscriber you are looking at 1.6 items to purchase each month vs a non-subscriber who can flat out purchase 1 item per month. Is the .6 after 10+ months worth your $10.00 monthly investment? That is up for the player to decide. Am I a subscriber? Yes. I do hope hope though that Behaviour takes another look at the subscription model however, as I personally feel it lacks value. For now I am doing it more so to support the game than because I am interested in what it provides.
A $10.00 bill is still a $10.00 bill at the end of the day however. I'm just not convinced that .6 increased points after 10 months is enough to convince most players to forfeit money that could be spent elsewhere. I would consider myself pretty frivolous with my income, so imagine how those who are frugal will consider the subscription model.
as far as I understand it, in general there are (micro)transactions and subscriptions in games, to accomodate players who dont have a lot of time to spend in game, in order for them to still see and experience all the game has to offer. so people who let's say have a tough job and make many hours a week, and therefor make more money, can spend some of that money should they like, to level faster during the limited time their agenda allows them to play. for people who are still in school, and basically anyone with more free time, well, they can simply put in more hours ingame and level that way. for them there is no direct need to partake in microtransactions. I'm pretty sure, this was originally the idea in general. What goes wrong in that approach is that it doesnt take into acount the vast hordes of younger kids who get money from their parents, so they can be parked in front of their computers, or the vast hordes of nolifers, basementdwellers etc, who end up doing both: spending a ton of money, AND hours in game. as long as Be sticks to the pay2becool principle i dont see much problems, sure, you'll see in the short term people who level up like mad in no time, but after the first 6months to a year it should even out a bit (fully levelled out/ maxed out players vs new player chars) as ive mentioned before on this forum, i play WoT and i think i once spend 3 euros on it in 3 years time. unlike what many people think its NOT pay to win, then again im very patient and if i have to wait for 6 months to finally unlock something, then thats fine.
Store isnt finished, they can always give you more points. Or just stop the sub and give you lots of points for participating.
I'm aware its still a work in progress, I'm just giving feedback. If you watch Angry Joe's Planetside 2 review, you'll notice one of the things he brings up is the overall lack of value in the membership. If PS2's membership lacks value, will he see differently with EC's subscription model?
because the EC subscription is not a real subscription but is intended to be a fidelity discount that give extra point.
Im not subscribed cause i dont like subscriptions in general, nor am i in a financial position to cough up even those 10$ with all the other expenses breathing down my neck. When theres something really cool in the shop ill go ahead and succeed in saving here and there.
I think the subscription system is just there as a means of investing a small amount of cash into the game over a long period of time for a 60% boost in RTP. Correct me if I am wrong but if you simply buy the subscription don't you eventually get the same benefits a person who bought a founders pack gets? If so then that is the reason for the subscriptions, its less of an incentive program and more for those who don't have the cash to get a founder pack up front.
