DEV BoyC wrote:Guys, we heard you.
EP selling in any form has been canned. The idea is bound to raise its head from time to time, but we got the picture.
However we'd still like to give a larger incentive for players to go from a trial account to the first subscription - what are your thoughts on giving a bunch of EP to players subscribing from a trial account? Of course however much this EP is, it'd be retroactively granted to all accounts that have ever subscribed.
As for ICE, it's in the works.
Depends how much- looking at it from the point of someone who gets the Kickstarter- that's 20,000 EP From scratch, another 20,000 from the Kickstarter and then however much (10,000? 20,000?) from your first subscription- that's over 40,000 for someone who could literally have been in-game less than an hour.
As a first-subscription boon, sure. It would, at the least, cheer up those of us who haven't got access to the Kickstarter still (not even going to start on that again)- but as said, it still depends on the amount. I'm taking a wild stab at it being 20,000- which would mean with the above taken into account we're looking at 60,000 EP for a "new" player. Everyone else has well spelled out their feelings on that kind of EP being thrown around by a new player- though I would say in fairness at least you can backtrack and re-do your mistakes over a period of time.
However- if we're looking at the introduction of ICE as well- technically a new player could jump almost immediately into a ridiculously-above-tier 'Bot and never even look at the first couple of tiers of 'Bot- thereby wasting the effort of having them in the first place.
Remedies for this kind of thing could be worked out- however restricting players from the get-go is a dangerous thing- most will be confused with a hint of enthusiasm for something new- but having to slog through a series of "training days" (so to speak) where there is a limit placed on them would drive them away. A balance has to be sought.
Personally, I don't give a monkeys' whatnots what gets decided upon- it's fair to say all the "experienced" players and Vets' will be up in arms against more potential EP-Gain from little to no effort, which is fair enough and I understand the viewpoint. I also understand newer players that get a quick handle on things being frustrated by having to wait for EP to accumulate in order to get what they're after- which you get in just about every game anyway.
To the point though- I don't see a problem with a "First Sub EP-Boost" or such- whether this is in the form of a lump sum or 15 days of accelerated EP gain (say, 2 points per minute instead or similar)- it all depends on how much EP we're talking. I wouldn't mind some more coming my way but then, unlike a great number of people iv'e seen- I don't run more than one account. Call it silly or not that expensive, but I personally don't enjoy playing Perpetuum on several clients. I did it with EVE for a while and it was alright for mining- but then I enjoy getting out and actively "DOING" something.
I say to hell with it- Go for it. ICE is already in the works which is great- let's see some form of EP with the first Sub- if nothing else it will encourage new players to join. Nevermind that many will at least get most of what they could possibly want in the way of extensions with all the EP floating about.