Hello fellow Telonians! It’s been a few months since my last Producer letter, but I’m happy to announce that we’re approaching the final stretch of our free-to-play conversion – or as we call it, Free to Play. Your Way. As a company, we’re focused on giving players choices so we’re thrilled to be this much closer to offering our players even more flexibility with their gameplay experiences. Over the past few months, you’ve probably noticed a significant increase in game updates by our team. We’ve been tweaking and improving upon existing content, but we’ve also been burning the midnight oil in preparation of our upcoming free-to-play launch. Over the next several weeks, as we begin publishing new content to the Test server, we’ll share details with the Vanguard community about previewing and how to help test the upcoming changes. So let’s talk about what we have in store for today, as well as the next several weeks leading up to our free-to-play launch! Today, we’ve released our free-to-play feature matrix and FAQ (available here) including answers to some of your previous questions, along with information about the upcoming free-to-play transition. A huge thank you to the Vanguard community for your ongoing and helpful feedback (we really are listening so please keep sending us your thoughts!). Your feedback combined with our previous experience transitioning legacy games over to our Free to Play. Your Way model contributed to the development of what we think is the best free-to-play strategy for Vanguard and our players in that we will be providing the most compelling offer for both free and subscribing players. Many of the matrix features may look familiar as they closely mirror Sony Online Entertainment’s other free-to-play games in that we’re offering more flexible options for every type of player, however, there are a few differences; most obvious being the number of membership tiers. Aside from our free-to-play offering, we determined it was in the best interest of our players to eliminate the Silver membership and instead provide primarily a Gold membership offering. In doing so, we’ve moved a few elements which would normally fall under a subscription category, and opened them up to the players for free. Over the next several weeks, we expect to begin rolling out a number of improvements throughout the game, in preparation for our free-to-play launch. And, as I mentioned earlier, we’ll need your help testing these changes in order to refine and finalize our improvements so expect to see many of our developers recruiting your help in the Vanguard forums soon! Lastly, I want to answer the question I’m sure is at the top of your lists – the release date. We are planning our free-to-play transition this summer and as much as we’d love to share a specific date with all of you, we want to make sure we take the appropriate time to test and do this right so that way we’re ultimately delivering the best possible experience to our players. As I mentioned in my last Producer letter, we assembled our team with only the most passionate Vanguard developers. Therefore, you can rest assured that they’ve fought tooth and nail to acquire as much polish time as possible! ☺ Again, thank you all for your feedback and continued devotion to the game, and as always, please visit the Vanguard forums for the latest news and game updates. We’ll see you online! Andy
Hello! Very good news! I have followed for game a long time. I very much hope for the revival of the game. Tell us please when will you add PVP? Many players believe that this is a very interesting game mode. Good luck! P.S. Sorry for my English)))
Fels69 wrote: That right there. When are you readding the Team FFA or FFA pvp servers? To me Vanguard is not Vanguard if it's not played with PVP and this is why I have never resubscribed. I have 15 people ready to try out Vanguard and they keep asking if the PVP servers will be back. Only thing I see horribly bad about the free to play model (besides the obvious lack of PVP that was removed ages ago) is that one of Vanguard's greatest features, the multitude of races/classes you can be is capped, that in my opionion is one of the biggest draws to Vanguard, much like EQ2. You're shooting yourself in the knee expecting people to pay for classes/races in a game that you aren't even giving them the option to try out, most of which don't shine until the mid 20s or later. Also the gear restriction to just common items? You serious? I know i've been out of game for awhile but that will just make free players a hinderance in any actual dungeon. As much as I would love to be stocked full of people again , paying and free players on a pvp server, the free to play model could be better.
I want to start by stating that I'm greatly anticpating the release of Vanguard F2P and hope it becomes a wild success. I played in beta, I bought the CE, lost interest quickly after release, but I look forward to returning and experiencing Telon as it should have been. That being said, after my experiences with SOE's other F2P conversions, I do have a few thoughts and concerns. I use the term 'premium' player from here on out to describe someone like me, who prefers microtransactions in lieu of subscribing, and has spent money on the game in some form (original purchase, expansion purchase, previous subscription, or marketplace purchase). I prefer the al a carte F2P model to a recurring subscription fee for several reasons (to provide some insight): With high market saturation, I play a number of MMOGs and I just can't afford to have so many concurrent subscriptions. I jump around from game to game, and often won't subscribe because I know I won't receive the full value of my subscription before I move on to something else. I often don't get the chance to check out new content/fixes/patches for various games requiring a subscription, because I don't want to pay for an enitre month of access. Managing multiple subscriptions to games becomes a headache. With F2P, I can buy what I want, only what I want, when I want it, and spend as much or as little as I please. (Tipsy gamers make for big spenders...) Purchasing items/upgrades/unlocks from a microtransaction marketplace gives the feeling of ownership (I bought it, it's mine, I'll always have it) as opposed to rental (I have it until my subscription ends). Last but not least, a persistant world should be persistantly accessible for its residents. If not done properly however, I think a F2P conversion can be disasterous to a game's reputation and longevity. The most important thing to remember (in my opinion): ALL game content (classes, races, quests, zones, items, etc) and services (mail, broker, etc), everything, should be available to all players, regardless of wether they pay a subscription fee, or buy it from the store. There should be absolutely nothing available to subscrbers that isn't also available to premium players (especially when we often spend more money). As a F2P advocate, I felt the EverQuest2 conversion was ABYSMAL, and after inspecting the Vanguard matrix, I forsee much the same occuring. Here are my thoughts on each (assuming they're reasonably priced): Player Character Races: I'd buy races, but by requiring the purchase of certain races, you're possibly preventing players from connecting with their character and becoming engrossed in the game (and wanting to spend money!). Player Character Classes: I'd buy classes. Player Character Levels: N/A Player Character Slots: I'd buy character slots. Premium players should receive additional slots. Remember the more character slots I have, the more characters I can roll and the more things I'll need to buy Gold Limit: I'd buy this if it's a one-time account level upgrade, however I'd feel burned if I didn't get this for free as a past subscriber and purchaser though. I smell RMT prevention. Quest Count: Should be an account upgrade. Items: Seriously don't do this. I won't purchase item unlockers becuase I see equiping items as a very fundamental gameplay element which I shouldn't need to pay for. Bag Slots: I'd buy bag slots. Broker System: TERRIBLE idea! All players should have full broker access (which you want for a healthy economy!). Broker tokens are a sick joke. Mentoring: N/A Banks: I'd buy account bank storage increases. Character bank storage should be earnable in-game with the option to purchase it if you don't want to earn it. Caravans: I'd buy account access to this. Brotherhoods: I'd buy account access to this. Housing: I'd buy account access to this. Possibly per character if it were cheap enough. Fishing: Seriously? Of all the things you could charge for... fishing? Just give it to us. In-game Mail: Another terrible idea. Don't limit my ability to communicate with other players, that's why people play online games! Think of better ways to prevent RMT spam that doesn't upset your customers. Chat: Same as in-game mail, only doubly so. Guild Function: I'd buy an item that allows me to start a guild. Customer Service: Your customer service isn't great as it is, I think it's only fair for premium players to receive it when needed for anything game-related. In-game Popup Advertising: This is the WORST F***ING IDEA EVER. Yes, I already know I have the option of subscribing, you remind me every time I open the game, and close the game, and open the store, and visit the webpage. No, I choose not to, so LEAVE ME THE F*** alone. (Sorry, but this one really gets to me!) I'll pay for access to content like classes and quest packs, unique mounts, account upgrades and such, but don't nickel and dime me on basic game functionality like mail, chat, and the broker. I have given more money to Turbine then to SOE simply because they charge for things I want to buy. Just a few thoughts and ideas. Best of luck to Vanguard in the coming months, you've got an amazing opportunity to make this gem shine!
I completely agree with what the poster above me said, especially that everything that is available to the subscribers should also be purchasable. People(myself included) are far more willing to spend money on micro-transactions than on a subscription. That said I am really looking forward to getting back to Vanguard(probably spending more money that I should in the cash shop) however things like the item limitation kinda turn me off, I could potentially understand blocking the highest tier however common is just plain ridiculous.
I really hope this helps VG! It's an amazing game, and compared to anything else the scenery has reminded me more of adventuring as a kid in the outdoors than anything else, which is absolutely sureal when you think about it, at least where I grew up. The game is definitly the closest to the way an MMORPG should be as I've seen. Beautiful, immense, fantasy-but realistic in a way. You can go miles without seeing wandering bears every 15 feet! (or what have you). I only found a good community that worked for my schedule for a short time and unfortunately during a time in my life that was beyond busy, so I was never able to go much beyond simple quests and endless exploring. After all of the merges and losing most of my characters/house and build materials etc and not knowing anyone anymore I only logged in here and there being an all-access member to wander the scenery. The UO/SWG style housing was one of my favorite things about the game that really sets it apart from any modern generation game - real world housing - no instances! It's yours=very cool. With large populations also probably the most difficult thing to pull off and keep people happy. Back then as a casual player it took me forever to find my first plot, and a bit longer to find the money, materials and friends to pull it all together - it's a super complicated process imo. And that was a 1 room little cabin, but it was mine on a nice shady spot on an island I do hope this feature gets optimized and the inability to pay rent for a short time / server merge / etc, to delete it all should be tweaked. I'm also thinking that would not be in the best interest of SOE since I'm pretty sure - at least in EQ2 i think they make a huge portion of their SC profit off of house items. More info on what SC will offer would be great too, having already been burned on All-Access after years of membership once EQ2 went F2W, I mean F2P urWay, many times makes me trepidacious on going back. Being a hardcore/moderate raider in EQ2 with a personally strong community, knowing i can enjoy VG again on a casual basis would be a nice re-intro for me and maybe a welcome change to something newly needed. Citadelli
I see only two big issues with the matrix. Items - needs to be yellow for F2P. You've got the Heroic/Legendary carrot - but new players will flip if they can't at least equip blues and yellows. This is probably the most important thing to change - given the number of blue and yellow quest rewards. Chat channels - you need one regional chat available to F2P players - Qualia/Thestra/KojanNewbie - whatever . New players have to have a way to ask for help in global chat otherwise you'll get endless /tells from them. Everything else is meh - though you might consider a silver membership at 4.99 that adds Mail. Broker, Cap to 2plat and a couple of races (goblins & raki maybe?) but not necessary. The real changes that need to happen are in the game itself - slowed down leveling, no more reindeer outside of xmas, etc.
The item equip thing is a bad idea. As soon as someone learns they can't use the item, they don't look at it as a f2p game. They look at it as a gimped trial mode. You need to entice players. This will not entice them. Best way to do the Freemium model is this: 1. Restricted Classes (one of each type) 2. Restricted Races (just humans or something) 3. Limited Bank Slots 4. Limited Character Slots (just 2 or 3) 5. Limited Inventory Slots 6. Inability to create guilds (can still join) 7. Inability to buy housing 8. Inability to own a boat 9. No rested XP bonus 10. Limited Broker (less auctions at once, etc) 11. No Player Mail (to cut down on mules) A person can still advance and get to the endgame this way. It would be harder. It would take a little longer. Still, they could do it. This POSSIBILITY will entice them. If they get drawn in, they will want more. Conversely, telling someone to play for free but then not letting them ever get a higher tier item will just turn them away not draw them in. Also, add vanity microtansactions to both account types (Additional character creation options like more hair-dos, visual mods, etc). This way you can get paying folks like me to throw in more cash for cosmetic vanity stuff.
