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Thoughts On Aion’s Business Model


fearemall-DN

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They are trying to listen - I get that, and I understand that Kibblez and the community team only have so much authority to make changes. However, over the course of Aion’s life, the only simple solution seems to be “Ok, let’s give the community what they want, but put it in the BCM.” Thus, p2w.

Sure, its a f2p business model, but Aion also 2 pay routes:

-Prestige model 

-BCM

As a free player, you pretty much get nowhere in the game. You have to pay to get somewhere. Or you pretty much get wrecked. So yes - free to play. But free to suck

NCSoft can make thousands of changes to make a smoother business model, increase revenue, and get more players back. Lets look at an example....

Runescape - why is Jagex doing so well and their game so popular? Because

1- they listen to their player base all the time and poll them to make decisions

2 - They put events and items in the games for free so everyone can enjoy them

3 - they offer a reasonable subscription fee that doesn’t rip their player base dry and they have no in game cash shop 

Whats the result? A popular game that makes millions of dollars and has a satisfied player base.

.....If Aion offered content for everyone with a subscription model, I guarantee they would make WAY more money than they do now. And have a much higher player base....”but they already had a subscription model before and that didn’t work out”.....ya, because it was already too late to make the switch. Players already left and NC had to make a move to get more players back at the expense of their wallets later on.

In other words, as a result of what they are doing now, they are

1- putting everything valuable behind a pay wall

2 - Not giving an incentive for players to come back

You have two methods of which players can pay to be good. And its not cheap! What’s the result? You lose players and end up having just a few people fork over their savings to keep the game alive with a huge gap in geared vs non-geared players.

Its a shame too. Aion is a great game, but this P2W model won’t go away anytime soon. Not your fault Kibbelz or Loki. I know that. But its too late anyways. People are playing many other games now and Aion has barely any hope of revival even if they did a complete u-turn and make the game fair again.

Anyways, thats enough from me. Twas fun while it lasted.

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Let's be clear, there's two versions of Runescape.

 

There's Runescape, or Runescape 3, which is a horribly P2Win game, that has been monetized to hell and back.

Then there's Oldschool Runescape, which I believe you're speaking about.  But trying to compare Aion to Oldschool Runescape isn't really a good comparison.  OSRS is a simple point and click MMO that you can pick up at any time, and is more of a grinding simulator than engaging gameplay.  It's also mostly a solo player game, meaning the majority of content you're doing is going to be doing stuff alone.  OSRS's popularity an it's appeal is being able to do it whenever you want, however you want, and you can take breaks and not have to worry about catching up doing to mostly being a solo player game.  It has a low learning curve, and many of it's players mostly still play because of the nostalgia of it.  OSRS is one of the few games who can capitalize off that nostalgia.  The only MMO similar to Aion I'm aware of that was able to capitalize on such is WoW, but they've always had 10x the playerbase Aion had.  You couldn't offer that today, because Aion was even more grindy back then than it is today, and not a lot of players want to constantly grind because they have jobs and responsibilities.

I play both games, and I play Aion when I want to be actively engaged when I play and the challenge of it, and I play OSRS when I am bored and need something to occupy my time when I'm watching a movie or something. Aion used to have a subscription model, and subscription's dropped significantly because people got older and had more responsibilities than to play an MMO with major events like sieges etc going on at set times.  In OSRS, you don't have any of that, so there's less pressure to play.

You can easily progress in Aion without having to pay a dime.  You just need to play more to do so.  You get free legendary contracts every 2 months, they gave out 2 free legendary contracts in an event just before 7.5.  What exactly do you think is hidden behind a paywall that you think you can't get to?

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2 hours ago, Hellish-DN said:

Let's be clear, there's two versions of Runescape.

 

There's Runescape, or Runescape 3, which is a horribly P2Win game, that has been monetized to hell and back.

Then there's Oldschool Runescape, which I believe you're speaking about.  But trying to compare Aion to Oldschool Runescape isn't really a good comparison.  OSRS is a simple point and click MMO that you can pick up at any time, and is more of a grinding simulator than engaging gameplay.  It's also mostly a solo player game, meaning the majority of content you're doing is going to be doing stuff alone.  OSRS's popularity an it's appeal is being able to do it whenever you want, however you want, and you can take breaks and not have to worry about catching up doing to mostly being a solo player game.  It has a low learning curve, and many of it's players mostly still play because of the nostalgia of it.  OSRS is one of the few games who can capitalize off that nostalgia.  The only MMO similar to Aion I'm aware of that was able to capitalize on such is WoW, but they've always had 10x the playerbase Aion had.  You couldn't offer that today, because Aion was even more grindy back then than it is today, and not a lot of players want to constantly grind because they have jobs and responsibilities.

I play both games, and I play Aion when I want to be actively engaged when I play and the challenge of it, and I play OSRS when I am bored and need something to occupy my time when I'm watching a movie or something. Aion used to have a subscription model, and subscription's dropped significantly because people got older and had more responsibilities than to play an MMO with major events like sieges etc going on at set times.  In OSRS, you don't have any of that, so there's less pressure to play.

You can easily progress in Aion without having to pay a dime.  You just need to play more to do so.  You get free legendary contracts every 2 months, they gave out 2 free legendary contracts in an event just before 7.5.  What exactly do you think is hidden behind a paywall that you think you can't get to?

I really hate when people state ways you get this and get that but fail to remember one of the biggest offenders in this game.. RNG... Again the thing that reduces whatever materials etc you have earned and can turn months of progress into nothing in less than it took to gain said materials. Do you know the percentage to get legendary contracts and even worse ultimate transformations without events or p2w? I do and they are very low. I have 8 toons who I ran through luna everyday and I only crafted the transformation boxes for 3 months. I never got 1 legendary and got ancients and guess what.. My first legendary contract was from the very first afk event last Christmas. We can get a legendary contract every 2 months. Wow omg that's great.. But then you need to use 6 or 4 to have a better chance to get an ultimate transformation contract.. That's 8 months or 12 months to go for a try that will most likely fail. There's nothing "easy" about that unless you and I have different meaning for the word easy. Or you can hope to be lucky and get an ultimate transformation with only 2 legendary contracts. I wouldn't hold my breath for that.

Also stating "You just need to play more to do so". Yes because everyone has the same amount of time in their lives to "just play more". Some people have time and still aren't close to be fully geared as someone who throws cash at the bcm. And let's not get started on daeva skills and stigmas skill. Let me guess.. We can "easily" get those as well right? I don't know if you are p2w and will not make any assumptions. Also one of the things wrong with this game are the people who already are fully geared and basically go "I have all my items and if you don't well too bad".. That's why the community can never seem to get it together. I don't see how it''s fun for anyone go into instances and open world and demolish badly geared people but hey I digress it might be fun for some people.

By the time most of us "catch up" it's already a new patch with new items etc that we can't reach again.

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You don't need an ultimate transformation to be good at Aion.  Even doing P2win doesn't guarantee an ultimate transformation. 

Daevonion skills?  You can literally get like 6 or more skills per week just by crafting, (that's not even considering using alts to check instances like IDD to get more).  

AOA easy=3 marks
BE EZ= 2 marks
BE NM= 4 marks
SL EZ= 4 marks
SL NM= 8 marks
Eso=7-21 marks
PF=4 marks
IDD= 2 marks

So that's roughly 6 skills per week you can craft to + up skills, not including AOA NM.  Stigma stones, you can buy on alts using kinah, 2 per week, as well as getting 8 from Katalam/Demaha using XP marks.
 

My point is, even if they do make it easier to progress those things, the gap will still get bigger, because the people who play more will still progress more than you.  You can't play a competitive game like Aion, not play for years, and come back and expect to be just as strong as everyone else.  You can't play any MMO like that.  People who play more will make more progress, that's always been every game ever.

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1 hour ago, fearemall-DN said:

NCSoft can make thousands of changes to make a smoother business model, increase revenue, and get more players back. Lets look at an example....

Runescape - why is Jagex doing so well and their game so popular? Because

1- they listen to their player base all the time and poll them to make decisions

2 - They put events and items in the games for free so everyone can enjoy them

3 - they offer a reasonable subscription fee that doesn’t rip their player base dry and they have no in game cash shop 

Whats the result? A popular game that makes millions of dollars and has a satisfied player base.

.....If Aion offered content for everyone with a subscription model, I guarantee they would make WAY more money than they do now. And have a much higher player base....”but they already had a subscription model before and that didn’t work out”.....ya, because it was already too late to make the switch. Players already left and NC had to make a move to get more players back at the expense of their wallets later on.

Uh... which game? Both their games had thousands of players leave. 

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2 hours ago, Hellish-DN said:

You don't need an ultimate transformation to be good at Aion.  Even doing P2win doesn't guarantee an ultimate transformation. 

Daevonion skills?  You can literally get like 6 or more skills per week just by crafting, (that's not even considering using alts to check instances like IDD to get more).  

AOA easy=3 marks
BE EZ= 2 marks
BE NM= 4 marks
SL EZ= 4 marks
SL NM= 8 marks
Eso=7-21 marks
PF=4 marks
IDD= 2 marks

So that's roughly 6 skills per week you can craft to + up skills, not including AOA NM.  Stigma stones, you can buy on alts using kinah, 2 per week, as well as getting 8 from Katalam/Demaha using XP marks.
 

My point is, even if they do make it easier to progress those things, the gap will still get bigger, because the people who play more will still progress more than you.  You can't play a competitive game like Aion, not play for years, and come back and expect to be just as strong as everyone else.  You can't play any MMO like that.  People who play more will make more progress, that's always been every game ever.

Let me say this again. You stating what people can do is making it seem as I, or some other random Joe has the same amount of time to spend on Aion. There's nothing complicated about understanding that Player 1 can spend 8 hrs a day on Aion but Player 2 can only spend 3 hours. A game that goes "You have to play x amount of hours" every day, is a game that will not last long. Especially if it's a ridiculous amount of hours. Let along a game that decides "Welp you rolled a 6 trying to enchant your gear so out of 35 stones you gained in a month, 6 succeeded but you still haven't max enchanted your gear".

Point 2. There was no reasonable way to gain exp. That is why this event was introduced because Ncwest even stated they saw the problem and introduced this event and will try to find other ways to increase the gain of exp. You do realize everyone is not full +15, even +10 on pvp gear or pve so they have to choose between 8 marks or crafting stones to enchant their gear. 

Point 3. Going back to point 2 some people aren't pve geared to do some instances. Again if you are, that is great but you're assuming everyone is. Some of those instances are easy yes but the ones that do require gear will limit the ways you can gain items. Ask most f2p players etc how many AOAs they have done. Spoiler alert, not many if any at all. I don't know about asmo side but whenever I am on, I hardly see groups for stuff like AOA etc.

Do you need an ultimate transformation to be good.... in pve.. No sir you don't. Pvp yes you do. Especially if you run into someone with one. Unless you like burying twice as slow as them, running twice as slow as them and missing 200+ pvp attack and def. Again the ones that are max geared are usually the one out pvping. 

No one is asking for stuff to be handed out to them for free. We just want actual help to have a guarantee way to get items even if it takes a few months. RNG often prevents this. Those who spend tons have chances at more materials plus what you can get as a f2p player. You say say their options are unlimited while ours isn't. That's the big difference.

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I can say, as someone who has played since the closed Betas, that I can understand your frustration with the current business model.

 

But I will also say, that in these over 11 years now of playing this game, these past few months with Kibbelz and Loki have been the most progressive this game has seen. 

The sheer level of communication, transparency, and action being taken is unheard of compared to the entirety of this past decade. 

 

Also understand that limitations have greatly reduced since launch, and that we have a genuine team actually working for the positive betterment of the game right now.
There are a lot of things to fix for NA Aion to become more suitable with current NA MMO's and to be able to attract and retain a population, but the biggest step is currently being achieved right now, and that's people inside actually communicating and working towards progress. There is a lot to fix, but let's not bombard them with requests. This is not something that can be done overnight, in a week, or in a month, possibly even a year or two. Do let them continue to work with us to better this game. It's one step at a time though. 

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6 hours ago, Hellish-DN said:

You don't need an ultimate transformation to be good at Aion.  Even doing P2win doesn't guarantee an ultimate transformation. 

Daevonion skills?  You can literally get like 6 or more skills per week just by crafting, (that's not even considering using alts to check instances like IDD to get more).  

AOA easy=3 marks
BE EZ= 2 marks
BE NM= 4 marks
SL EZ= 4 marks
SL NM= 8 marks
Eso=7-21 marks
PF=4 marks
IDD= 2 marks

So that's roughly 6 skills per week you can craft to + up skills, not including AOA NM.  Stigma stones, you can buy on alts using kinah, 2 per week, as well as getting 8 from Katalam/Demaha using XP marks.
 

My point is, even if they do make it easier to progress those things, the gap will still get bigger, because the people who play more will still progress more than you.  You can't play a competitive game like Aion, not play for years, and come back and expect to be just as strong as everyone else.  You can't play any MMO like that.  People who play more will make more progress, that's always been every game ever.

Totally Agree!

But...

The problem of this game is not the Bussiness model (Gameforge, KR server and RU server are worst in this topic) the problem with this game is the Content. Yes, you read well, the Content is the real problem here.

The developers of this game dont have nothing better ideas to do, that just reinforce the same things every patch: New PVE Set&Weapons, New PVP Set&Weapon and Skills, New Items with Stats (Like Emblem). STOP DOING THAT! Damn it. With this kind of things the developers Broke the game every patch and they make the game so BORING now. Its Boring! Start to Farming again and again every patch the same things we already have but with "another Level or Reinforce". Where are your employees with creativity? I starting doubt if NCsoft have this section in his company LOL. ¿What happen? ¿Do you only use the creativity for develop things can made money? I know the world of MMORPGS and games are business, but if you Force the players in this way, you know what? IT'S A BAD PRODUCT! Yes, Aion now is a BAD PRODUCT, Bad Products dont make money. The CEO of NCsoft dont know this simple idea? If you rubbish the game, money its over, simple!

I don't know why I write this. It's like trying to heal a dead person with medicine. And the worst thing of all, its not Only NCsoft and Aion, the whole Industry of MMORPGS have the same bad concept of development: "Always breaking the game with supposed to be a new stuff, but we already have!"

 

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I said this before and you could make Aion a decent game in the current MMORPG drought with less than 10 system changes. Unfortunately the reality is you would lose over 30% of the money they make from big wallet warriors so this is not in their best interest because that 30% loss is like the worth of 800 players subscribing yearly VS no certainty players will come back and make up for that loss.

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