budr99 wrote:
1) Do you feel level a maximum level of 21 is enough time for a potential subscriber to determine if this is the right game for them?
No.
And I would probably not have subscribed to continue the test. And by 21, I would not have been won over yet. I was on the fence till I got into the higher levels of both harvesting and combat and saw what one could do with more specialized skills and stanzas.
I think this is a mistake of the first order. It is an SOE-style move. Taking stuff away from players, especially free stuff, is basically the #1 "don't" of the MMORPG dos and don'ts list. They're making a very serious error here.
I do not understand their reasons for doing this. I find it hard to believe that they are going to get a single subscription to "continue on the island" that they would not have gotten from people going to the mainland. They can't seriously believe that most people who just play the trial to 51 (the current practical limit now) and never buy the game, would suddenly have bought it if the limit were lowered to 21. My guess is, they think that they will get tons and tons of 1-monthers, who subscribe at 21, and cancel at 51, and figure that's better than people who never subscribe.
But that won't happen. Nobody who would've given up at 51, is going to subscribe at 21. No one who is not sure if he wants to buy the game, is going to buy it by making him LESS sure (by giving him less time). They need to win people over. Ryzom is a very unusual game and it takes a lot of getting used to. It took me till the 30s to be sure I even wanted to subscribe. I would NOT have paid just to find out if I wanted to pay for it. And neither will anyone else.
2) Do you think it is fair/not fair for people above level 21 in any of the skills that are still on Silan to essentially be 'locked out' of adventuring that skill until they upgrade to a full subscription?
I won't bother to debate whether it is "fair", because Nevrax owns the game and they are under no obligation (pending a change to wording of their ads) to offer anything free.
However, I think their decision is bone-headed, and I think they are making a very serious mistake of the first order, as I have said.
Nevrax needs to make sure they do not under-estimate how many players have joined their game because they seemed like they were different from the other MMORPG companies out there. This sort of thing just makes them look like a smaller, less powerful version of SOE.
3) Do you think there could be some mis-advertising by offering a unlimited free trial and now changing the rules of that free trial mid-stream?
From a legal standpoint, no... if the time horizon remains unlimited it is not technically false advertising. They could easily argue that the XP restrictions (after a certain level you couldn't get any on the island because stuff was too low) already provided a sort of limit, as well as geographical limits (island only) and stanza limits. All they are doing is changing those limits from essentially 51 to 21.
However, from an ethical standpoint, I would object to them continuing to refer to it as an "unlimited" trial, especially if it is limited within the island itself (that is, some island players who have paid, can get some skills, and those who have not, cannot). It is hair-splitting in this case to say it is "still unlimited" when, regardless of legal definitions, by most
players' definitions this would not be anything remotely like an unlimited trial. So yes, I think they should re-name or re-word it.
But instead, I wish they would just re-
think it and go back to the original way they had it.
4) After a while, the people on Silan that are above level 21 will either join the mainland, or leave the game. Do you think this could affect they experience of individuals seeking help or guidance on Silan as the more developed characters move off to bigger and better things? (such as advice, guidance, buying better quality crafted items, etc)
I think it could create a vacuum. People right now stay on Silan into their 30s-40s or more (I was 50 in 2 skills) before paying. It is practical to do so right now (pre-this-new-patch). And I think it provides a nice resource of people who are still new, but are local to the island and somewhat experienced. Indeed, I was having vid card issues so I waited to subscribe until I solved those (mostly because I could not be sure I'd even be able to use my system to play Ryzom for a few weeks and didn't want to pay for a game I could not play). As a level 40-something in most skills, I provided tons and tons of help to true newbs, even though I wasn't yet a vet. It was fun to help, and it turned me into a regular helper -- a habit I have continued on the mainland.
By doing this level 21 divide, they are now going to probably see most people either stop at 21, just as they are starting to learn the ropes, or move to the mainland right after 21 (why stay on the island if you are paying for the full game?)... which will suck nearly all the "experienced newbies" out of the island, and make the newbie experience that much worse.
This isn't a topic to suggest one thing or the other. Just wondering what people's opinions are on the changes.
My opinion is that this is not a good change, and frankly, shame on Nevrax for doing it. It seems like a greedy SOE ploy to grub money from players rather than something that is truly good for the game, and as the greedy SOE ploys have proven time and time again -- they do not work. Players can see through this. They will see immediately that this is a way to make the trial virtually useless, and force people to pay to try the game. And let's face it, they are not going to pay to try this game when they can try any of the other major MMORPGs in a much less limited fashion, for free.
Ryzom is not a big-name game with big-name money behind it. It's a small, struggling game. It's a GOOD game. The trial has sucked in many people, including me, because it was free, and was extensive, and thus worth the time and energy to DL and learn. If they turn it into a tiny mini-game, most of the potential customers will not bother. I sure wouldn't have. They won't gain customers by doing this -- they will lose them.
It's a bad move and they need to re-think it. Frankly I hope they see the number of trial accounts plummet and the number of upgrades to full plummet, right away and unambiguously, and realize it's a mistake, and change it back.
C
