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Yokomohoyos

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  1. So they were paid employees after all. Made me laugh really hard!
  2. So very true. Terribly Sad, but true. EA will still make money out of SWTOR. It is just not going to be anywhere near the amount of money that they want, that is why they are lowering expectations for SWTOR. EA will make money whether we like the game or not. That is their measure of "success". They, EA / BW, in absolutely no public announcement have indicated that they care about "client satisfaction". Their measure of success is revenue / income. We are the ones that still choose or chose to give them our hard earned cash.
  3. Do yourself a favor and read the press releases from EA. SWTOR is not generating money for them in the amount that they expected. Hence, they are lowering expectations for the future and changing the price model to match the actual value of the game and it's content. Official announcement - see Page 1 Investor Information See Pages 2, 5, 7, and 8
  4. I'm sure some people are thirsty for the "Kool-aid". The franchise could have been so great. I'm glad not everyone fell for the flawed logic of less income, depleted staff = more content? They'll probably stick to a schedule of releasing "content": 1. 1-3 bug fixes 2. 2-4 tooltip corrections 3. 1-2 class balancing tweaks 4. 4-6 new real-world currency money sinks 5. 1-3 new missions 6. 1-2 Companion gear rendering issue corrections That is probably doable with limited staff and you can wash your face in fresh lettuce and dare to claim that as "content" delivery.
  5. Directly from the desk of EA: 1. Official announcement - see Page 1: "STAR WARS®: The Old Republic™ will move to a more accessible two-tiered pricing model in November. Players can chose between a $14.99 premium monthly subscription and a free-to-play model with some restrictions on content and advanced features. Players will be able to purchase upgrades with in-game currency." "Summary - Overpriced" - Clients feel that the game's price is not worth the expense. 2. Investor Information See Page 2 "The disappointing results of Star Wars: The Old Republic were largely offset by a powerful performance from Battlefield 3 Premium service – although revenue-recognition rules will push this very significant EPS driver into our fourth quarter." "Summary - EA / BW Expected better [financial] results" - The traditional equation of "Low Investment and High Return" did not materialize and instead became "Low Investment / Even Lower Return". Page 5 of that same document above: "Non-GAAP revenue for the fiscal year is expected to be between $4.10 and $4.25 billion. We are lowering the midpoint of our guidance from $4.30 billion to reflect current exchange rates and lower expectations of Star Wars." "Summary - SWTOR will not become a focus area" - Less investment will be made in the game as it's expected return is now lower than our collective initial expectations. Read all of page 7 of that same document: "First, the game many of you have been tracking closely, Star Wars: The Old Republic. Although it launched well, subscriptions have been on a declining trajectory and have now slipped below one million. Last year we announced that the breakeven point was roughly 500,000 subscribers. And while we are well above that today, that’s not good enough. The message from players exiting the game is clear – 40 percent say they were turned off by the monthly subscription. And many indicated they would come back if we offered a free-to-play model." "Summary - Can't retain subscriptions". Will not invest in keeping subscriptions either, micro transactions will be used to milk revenue from the remaining players. Now, those that subscribe will continue to experience the same game access (with some slight aesthetic currency rewards). We will penalize those that do not pay by limiting their game access. This, by the way, is in no shape or form uncommon practice in all other "Free" to play models. Page 8: "We couldn’t be more pleased with how the diversity of our business allows us to make up for a miss on one franchise with a big hit on another." "Summary - SWTOR never was our focus" - Investors, rest assured that if you continue to be an investor in EA, we have a broader portfolio of products that are indeed generating revenue, albeit not SWTOR. Let's focus on our cash cows and products that are indeed generating revenue for us aligned with our collective expectations. Lastly, the retail value of the software license will drop to $14.99, which is less than 1/3 of what I paid for the license alone. Even the developers and publishers admit that the license is overpriced for the product. Lowering the fence and allowing free to play will increase the player base and we will see more credit spammers. This is certainly something that I did see coming. As I am sure that many others did, the Legacy system and the prices more specifically is what lends itself extremely well to a free to play model. At least I got something in return for my remaining subscription. I got me some of that in-game currency, which is not available yet, by the way as the model releases in November, which is exactly the time for the next quarterly call. Still, interestingly enough, I am not able to consolidate my characters onto a single server, which is the only reason that I have not re-subscribed. The costs of the perks and other items as well as the game itself would allow me to play it more, if all characters were in one place. The whole few hours that it takes raiding all the current end-game content would actually be "grindable" if all my toons were in one place. If the game does not generate sufficient revenue, restructurings have lead to a diminished developer / engineer base, it is also not going to be possible to deliver on that gimmick that "content will be released more frequently". Seven months, that is all that this game lasted before the announcement to free to play. Holy cow. What a greedy owner they have. I don't play free to play games. 1. If you think that there are hackers now, wait until the freeloaders get in. They can hack a free game and then also embark on the credit sale market to make some real money off the free-to-play platform. 2. If you think that the quality of the player base is average or less than average, wait until the real baddies join or return for free. 3. If you think that the lag is bad, wait until there are far many more people, wait for the even worse spam, wait for the harassment, ugh it is going to get f-ugly. 4. if you think that the grind is bad, the grind on free to play games is even worse with the limitations that are embedded. 5. Lastly, the only real way to make progress on free to play games, is to actually pay for the capability to move at the pace that you want to move. 5.1. It will be so sad how some people will simply dish out money hand over fist, because for some people, paying for the content is not a big cash dump. The high-rollers will pay to win, as some people have aptly coined it. EA should have left this franchise alone. Their new CFO comes from the clothing industry. That is how much real knowledge capital they have to meddle in the video game industry. LOL, in this day and age, where most content and games are distributed online and downloaded, EA still thinks that it is in the business of packaged goods, so laughable.
  6. From the desk of EA's Corporate information: http://investors.ea.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=696785 The new Chief Financial Officer at EA comes from Levi Strauss. LOL. A clothing industry background is exactly what EA needs to run their Video Game Industry-based company. At least we rest assured that the dress environment will be more denim-casual. I hope that he can bring some fresh ideas. With regards to their Investor Call - it is to be held at 2 PM Pacific. 1. For those that have trouble understanding Fiscal Calendars and why this, today's call, is about Q1 2013, it refers to the Fiscal Financial Calendar for EA. Which is of course not one that follows the natural calendar. Look it up online so that you understand what that means. Sadly, EA closed the financial year for 2012 already, I'm very eager to know what the plans are for the future of SWTOR. 2. The claim of the exorbitant number of subs comes from the data of May 2012, which probably still includes the people who very naively subscribed for 6 months for the game, even if they have stopped playing. They still paid, and that is the only thing that investors care about. Investors do not care whether or not the people that subscribed are playing or not, just if they paid. They will care, however, whether the numbers are sustainable and what the longevity of the subscriptions is. If the longevity is not there, then other means of revenue must be provided, be it in the form of additional paid services, micro-transactions, more licenses, other fees. This is not uncommon in the MMO or gaming industry in general.
  7. I am happy for you! On the other hand, I have expectations that are not being met by this game and have unsubscribed. Quite to my detriment, I still have subscription time remaining for which I am not getting my money's worth.
  8. To whomever is attepmting to compare games that have more than five (5) years of time after having been launched to SWTOR. There is absolutely no way to justify that this game SWTOR has more end-game content than games that have been around for over five years. This game has nowere near as much total conent at all. I was able to reach the maximum level *and* gear on this game in a matter of weeks and not by playing hardcore hours as some people express that 2-3 hours per day is not hardcore by any measure. On other games, simply reaching the maximum level can take months, some of those games even have expansions with their own set of quests, mounts, gear, et. al. As I do not PvP, I am no even counting or considering a comparison between games for that aspect of the MMO experience. That I leave to those that PvP and happen to like it. So, in a nutshell, yes, please give us something interactive, please go ahead and add contet. Please go ahead and finish the Nightmare Mode for Denova Explosive Conflict. Oh wait, in the words of EA's CEO, SWTOR is "an open sore". I guess, we'll wait in line to see if and when this game will get some tender loving care. Meanwhile, I regret having paid for this without it being worthwhile.
  9. I was just reading: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=509376 In the end of that thread, there is a link to this thread. I'm still unsubbed and waiting for answers or efforts made towards the following: Any movement regarding the topic of selective transfers where people choose the servers that they will transfer to? Any news regarding to when the Nightmare Mode for Explosive Conflict / Denova will be available? How about some new content beyond the end-game grind? Lots of rumors flying around regarding more "restructuring" at Bioware and the CEO of EA also referred to SWTOR as "an open sore"... Will I get my money back if the game is cancelled before my game time expires? Perhaps I'll have to cut my losses and carry on.
  10. We've seen this coming for a while now. Six-month subscriptions are u for those that joined at launch, plus the thirty days given to those that reached level 50. Reduced income generation and no real strategic thinking results in layoffs as the sole source of reduced expenses. This results in a product that is not supported to the subscriber's expectation and as a result also reduces income further (in the form of even more dubscriptions lost). The market absorbs this information as earnings are announced. Stockholders want answers, EA mumbles and fumbles, stockholders sell stock, EA's stock value continues to plummet. EA cannot get capital, again less than stellar strategic thinking results in a deepening of the vicious cycle and more layoffs's. People cannot pay because they don't have money, yadda yadda. A problem cannot be solved by the same way of thinking that caused it... what else is new? Such high hopes, unmet, sigh - what else is out there...
  11. I hope that F2P does not happen before my subscription ends. I am pretty sure that EA / BW being the greedy bunch that they are, they would not refund my remaining subscription or credit 'coinage' to my electronic SWTOR wallet. F2P is not bad as long as there is some actual content. Now the execution of it needs to be polished. I recommend checking out business models similar to Perfect World International. Their model is free to play and they turned it to an art form. They got money from me, because they know how to execute it well. Hint, Hint, charging people to unlock a race will not win you money. Charging people to unlocka world will not win you money.
  12. Thank you for posting this information. Some of the comments on the forum thread are flat out hilarious. I am so glad that I unsubbed. I am still waiting to see if the developers for this game BW and EA actually turn this around. Seeing as how the CEO of EA and by extension BW as it is a subsidiary of EA, is comparing it's business mode to Zynga and trying to advertise that EA, as a whole is doing "phenomenally well" while the SWTOR fans suffer from the "open sore" that this is tells me exactly where us the unfortunate subscribers fall in the priorities scheme for the publisher and co-developer for this game, EA. Not very high indeed. The last product that EA was involved in that actually met my expectations was Might & Magic for Sega Genesis. Heroes of Might & Magic VI for the PC was also enjoyable at least for me. At least I am happy to know now, where i stand with regards to my subscription and what it matters to EA. A tiny drop in a bucket for which they are grateful and will not address as this game SW:TOR is just a minuscule component of their project portfolio. A CEO claiming that investors do not understand the gaming industry...? SEC is who needs to understand how your numbers work. Bottom line, if you are not profitable, your stock will continue to show it. Investors believe in a product and they, wait for it, invest in it. As they no longer believe in a product gues what, they stop investing in it. EA gets less funds from investors as a result. Best of luck trying to salvage the circus of a Public Relations that you made for yourself Mr. CEO. Perhaps you should "invest" in some media training classes / seminars, you need them. Or step down from your post before your current investors / Board of Directors ask you to do so. Seems like you have enough money to retire safely. Stop messing around with franchises that you evidently do not understand. Maybe you did pick the wrong industry. If MMOs are so hard to compete in if they are not FtP, then why charge so much money for a product of sub-par quality and sub-par support? Goodbye.
  13. I am going to correct you in the interest of keeping this free from falacies. EA does not make both games. EA is the publisher for both games, not the developer. EA and BW are co-developers for SW:TOR. EA is the publisher for both SW:TOR and TSW. Funcom is the sole developer of TSW. In order to put it simply, imagine that games are books. Publishers take care of the marketing of the product and the developers are responsible for the content of the product.
  14. I wholeheartedly agree with your solution. That would be an effective way to change behaviours.
  15. Hi, I am in a similar boat for different reasons. I already unsubscribed, I have time remaining, but I am not playing this game anymore. I have read volumes on feedback about the game, it's technology platform, features, plans for the future, receptiveness, layoffs, employee attrition, stakeholder interest, expectations from the community, time to market, content, lack of difficulty in the game (the game and end content are too easy), and several other aspects. I am currently playing a game that launched on 7/3 and it is phenomenal - it even has a lifetime subscription available at a reasonable rate, far lower than what I paid for that "Other Game That Shall Not BE Named" and just under triple what I already paid for SWTOR. It is an MMO that actually gets you to use your grey matter and move away from the stagnant spoon-fed nonsense that "so-called" and "allegedly" popular titles offer. The game that I am playing is certainly not a game for all tastes and categorically not a game that should be the first MMO that a new MMO player takes up. For me, the game SWTOR is not worth the money and I have let BW / EA know that they could get my money if they addressed the specific issues that I reported to them in the appropriate forums, i.e. on the terminate subscription section where they asked for feedback. Even the gold-spammers have left the game. At least I have not seen any gold-spammers in over a month before I stopped playing. I return to the forums and the website only to see if there are any strides made by BW / EA towards the items that the community has asked for and have not received actual responses from BW on them or heard about whether if / when some of the features will be added. I was very naive and subscribed to a term far longer than I should have for this game (SWTOR), you still have time to not repeat my mistake. Enjoy your leisure time wherever your mouse-clicks and keystrokes take you.
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