Why do MMO companies punish loyal subscribers?

[Deleted]

I was talking to a mate who I convinced to try out The Secret World this weekend. There was a competition due to the one month anniversary where if you finish 30 Quests you can get 1200 points for the Cash Shop. Not bad, huh? So I went along, did that. Woo!

But here's the thing. My mate then decided to buy the game... and recieved another 1200 points for doing so. That's roughly £12/$15 worth by the way.

Oh, you've been playing since launch? Nope, go away.

This is what baffles me about 'returning player' offers. They're not offered to the current loyal subscriber base either. Resub to Warhammer? Get some fancy exclusive tokens and items. Use a Scroll of Resurection? Have a free server/faction transfer and Level 80.

Am I saying these rewards are bad? No. What I'm saying is that they shouldn't be exclusively for people who abandoned the game and came back to it later. The people who stuck to it won't get these rewards unless they unsub for a while, if that offer even still exists. In games that do have some form of "Veterans Reward" scheme I suppose I can say fair enough, but there's a certain irony to it that these games don't offer as much "resub/buy now swag" as others. These things are hardly 'exclusive' when the company is willing to dish them out like candy to attract new and old customers, but at least offer them to the people who have stuck with the game.

/Rant Off.

[Venziir]

It's not a matter of punishment. It's a matter of luring in more people.

[Deleted]

It's not a matter of punishment. It's a matter of luring in more people.

They're luring people in whilst ignoring the people who are liable to stick around longer anyway.

You're staying subbed to our game? You get squat. You stop giving us money for a few months and we'll lay out the red carpet for you with this free swag when you get back.

[korsic]

Look at it from the companies perspective.

You are already a customer, already giving them your money. They don't need to offer you anything more to get your money. They need to put out something enticing to lure other people in and get their money.

Yes, companies are greedy. The whole point of companies is to be greedy, to turn a profit. I hope that if I ever run a company, people will call me greedy too. Greedy is successful for them.

[jadakada]

Happens all the time in other areas as well requiring a subscription or contract, look at cable and phone deals new customers get, if you try getting the same deal as a loyal customer GL. It is actually more beneficial to customers to switch companies as often as possible because you will always get the new deals, Most companies have little to no incentive for customers to stay loyal to them so we really hsould not feel loyalty to any company that doesn't offer something as good or better to stay.

[Deleted]

Look at it from the companies perspective.

You are already a customer, already giving them your money. They don't need to offer you anything more to get your money. They need to put out something enticing to lure other people in and get their money.

Yes, companies are greedy. The whole point of companies is to be greedy, to turn a profit. I hope that if I ever run a company, people will call me greedy too. Greedy is successful for them.

It's greedy, but it also doesn't make sense to give the finger to the people still giving you money.

"Hey Bob, if we cosy up to the guys already feeding us cash they'll be even more likely to stick around".

[Deleted]

Overlooking the benefits of having played the game for over a month already?

Yes, I believe you are.
Argument ignored.

[Glorious Leader]

I think they could do to reward people. Swtor did exactly that by giving people the founder title. It's okay if they do things to lure people back but I also agree some attention should be paid to those who stick around. What they can do for those people well I'm not sure. It's funny because in some cases the people playing these games really are LONG term customers right and in other business you'd get recognition for that. Not in the MMO world it seems.

[Amorac]

They're luring people in whilst ignoring the people who are liable to stick around longer anyway.

Isn't that the same when you are subscribed to a magazine? Or your ISP / phone company? Most only offer something if you're new subscriber right or renew your contract?

[Djolisimo]

It's kind of in their best financial interest. That's all there is to it.

[Bigsexxsi]

I don't think its a matter of punishment either but damn Blizzard 72 months x $14.99= A lot of money!!! Freaking grocery stores have loyalty programs. Lets reward the paying customers

[Deleted]

Overlooking the benefits of having played the game for over a month already?

Yes, I believe you are.
Argument ignored.

What benefits exactly? It's not exactly taxing to play the damn game, especially in its early, buggier, less-content plenty state.

[Remilia]

It's as venziir said.

It's a of business practice, bad or not (depends on how you want to look at it). They want people to play and get paid.
There's not much to it, and as long as it's not game changing where it gives you some super awesome item or whatever of super awesome.

I prefer EQ2's veteran reward as it gives vets things, but at the same time the new players can also get some weird things too. Everyone wins.

[Mammoon]

My friend told me this story about this one company that did kinda of like a "sign up for a year, get our next game free" kind of thing.

They got like a million people to sign up for it, it was crazy.

And the way they reward those loyal customers was to not release any new content for 1 year, then release the next expansion for the game about 1 month before your "year pass" runs out, that way you have to keep paying if you actual want new content (not to mention the only new content is gated so you really have to keep paying if you want to see it). Oh, and that free game, turns out it wasn't all it was hyped up to be.

People were so sure that this company wouldn't screw over the million people who were their loyal customers who signed up... they were sure that the company would release new content after a few months (like the company said the plan was, every 1.5 years)...

But who knows, just what a friend told me. Probably wasn't an MMO company who did this, so not really sure why I posted.

[Ferocity]

It's not a matter of punishment. It's a matter of luring in more people.

That's true. But keeping loyal customers is also very important.

I wish same WoW had something like "Remember a Friend" promotions and veteran rewards, where it would award mounts and other benefits (including non-cosmetical) to their loyal customers. In example, you were subscribed to WoW for over 4 years - you get a benefit of unlimited free Character/Faction Transfer. You were subscribed to WoW for over 5 years - you get 5% buff to your stats and 5% increased unmounted and mounted speed. You were subscribed to WoW for over 6 years - you have individual/non-shared drops in group instances. Etc.

Edit: There aren't much really long-term customers in same WoW due to some issues. Making it so new player would have some advantage over old player (even if in term of cosmetic thing like mount) is not really ethically correct. From other side, if old customers see great advantage coming after 1 more year of their loyalty, they have more reasons to continue play, rather than leaving game with thought - I can resubscribe at any point in the future and probably with some benefits like "Scroll of Resurrection"...

[philefluxx]

Business 101: new subscribers and resubscribes are more important to continued revenue streams than current subscribers that need no incentive.

Many companies will acknowledge current customers with gifts and bonuses. But in the recent years a real "loyal" subscriber base isnt nearly as big or profitable as drawing people back in or for the first time. Cell phone companies are a perfect example.

[Veyne]

I've never understood this mindset. I never understood it when people were bitching because THEY wanted an instant 80 too when Blizzard did the whole Scroll of Resurrection thing. Not getting the exact same damn thing as everyone else isn't punishment. They're not taking anything away from you.

[NotFunny008]

I don't mean to sound harsh but they don't have to do anything for long term subscribers because you guys don't have to will power to unsubscribe. Just admit it, you guys are addicted, you guys are already slaves to the game. You will continue to subscribe even if they punch you in the face over and over.

[Ferocity]

I've never understood this mindset. I never understood it when people were bitching because THEY wanted an instant 80 too when Blizzard did the whole Scroll of Resurrection thing. Not getting the exact same damn thing as everyone else isn't punishment. They're not taking anything away from you.

They aren't taking anything away from you, but they also give something to others, who were less loyal than you. I don't think people really bitched about instant 80. It's about the fact. Giving 1-time FCM to less loyal customers holds quite a ground for justified "bitching" (I never was a part of all this "bitching" though).

[Sj]

I don't mean to sound harsh but they don't have to do anything for long term subscribers because you guys don't have to will power to unsubscribe. Just admit it, you guys are addicted, you guys are already slaves to the game. You will continue to subscribe even if they punch you in the face over and over.

Let's not generalize so much Not all of us that play are addicted. We're doing good at staying on topic, let's make sure not to devolve into personal attacks. Thanks!