newchemicals

Originally Posted by srmalloy

No more /facepalm than three minutes with four different people saying "Pull Nightstar back to the middle of the courts" as the fight against her remains fixed at the northeast corner of the courts on a BAF...

Originally Posted by Arguss

. I wish the devs would force people to play the new content, or at least offer some concrete incentive to..

Originally Posted by ClawsandEffect

First off, I'm not thrilled about the hybrid business model Paragon Studios is going with. But it's going to happen whether I like it or not, so I'm not going to waste time complaining pointlessly about it. I'll wait and see how it plays out before making any decisions regarding my account status.

That's not what I wanted to address here though.

With the number of posts I've seen concerning character transfers to the VIP server, it concerns me that there is going to be a large exodus of VIP players moving to a server that free players can't access. This is potentially a very bad thing.

First, if enough currently subscribed players move their primary gaming activities to the VIP server, it is going to leave a false impression on new F2P players that the game is a lot more dead than it really is. With the "going F2P means the game is dying" impression that they may have already, logging in to find very few subscribed players and a lot of free players will just reinforce that impression. If a free player gets the impression that the game is in danger of going under, they will be much less likely to spend any money on it.

Second, those free players that stick around long enough to realize that a lot of people are on a server they can't access, it is going to make them feel like we don't think they are good enough to hang out with us. I know *I'd* get that impression if I started playing and the veterans seemed to be avoiding me by playing on a server I can't play on. I don't think I'd be too keen on playing a game in which I feel like a second class citizen. (and sadly enough, it seems that some people are already seeing free players that way, and they don't even exist yet)

Third, it is going to be hard enough for free players to get any questions they have answered without the more knowledgeable players being completely out of their reach. They can only talk in Local, Help, and Team chat. I'd be happy to answer questions myself, but if I'm super jumping through a zone the odds of me hearing a new player asking a question in Local aren't very good.

And lastly, the rush to go to the VIP server has me concerned about the quality of the community in general.

Granted, I understand that some people may be doing it to consolidate a multi-server SG, or to play with friends who have their main on another server. But, I really have to wonder how many people are wanting to do it just to not be bothered by the free players. That doesn't sound much like the "helpful and friendly community" I've come to love about this game. To be honest, it sounds more like the "collection of elitist snobs" I was afraid this game would turn into if we went to a free to play business model.

If that's the way the community evolves (or devolves) I'm going to be sad indeed, because it will mean one of my last reasons for sticking around as long as I have will have gone away.

So, please, take some of those things into consideration before deciding to jump ship to the VIP server and leaving all the free players to fend for themselves.