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Blaze The Aion Ender -> RE: =ED= Compensation - January 24, 2013 (2/1/2013 18:22:05)
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quote:
Wow.
Just wow. I don't understand AE can call this whole situation with enhancements any sort of fair. I can see that Titan and the gang are attempting to make the game more fair and less pay-to-win, but approaching the issue of enhancements like this is, in my opinion, not the way to go. When enhancements first came out, they provided a pretty significant advantage over the unenhanced player, which was nice, but they were STUPID expensive. I've purchased 3 sets of 50$ varium packages, and I remember spending almost all of it on enhancements. I know that enhancements were available for credits, but for someone that doesn't even have the time to play everyday, varium enhancements were the way to go. It was almost like one was forced to buy only a single core set of weapons and spend the rest of your varium on enhancements. Was that really what AE intended with enhancements? I don't know. However,I don't regret spending my money on enhancements, because they helped me to win, and I felt that they were worth it. Now, coming back to ED from a 6 month hiatus, I can now see that AE is having a sort of refund system for enhancements, and eliminating them from the game altogether.
WHAT?
Let me put it to you like this. If you buy a good, you expect to receive its full value over the time that you have it. Now, imagine that you purchase a good, and you enjoy it, but one day, the seller decides to take the good away from you and only provide 30% in compensation of the original price. I understand that there is the concept of diminishing utility over time: as you use the product, over time, the value of the product decreases. However, 30%? Is that even fair considering that I purchased enhancements in good faith, as in a consumer-producer relationship? Honestly, the refund should equate to something ingame equivalent in value to the enhancements purchased. The new cores sound nice, how about you make a sort of points system based on purchased enhancements that one could use to buy cores with? I am completely fine with ingame compensation, but what AE is doing in this case seems to me to be underhanded theft. Simple as that.
Many on this forum seem to think that we should be thankful for even this refund, but those that do don't seem to realize this: When we purchase enhancements, we purchase them in the faith that we will be receiving our money's worth. However, what AE has just done is taken away our purchase and all of its value. We get no ingame compensation in terms of strength, just 30% of our purchase price. I have read the clause that Trans was referring to, and I understand what it says. What I can’t understand is, how can AE, considering that they expect us to buy varium with the intent of using it, not refund it in a honest manner? While AE is not required to refund us 100% in any case, the fact that they expect us to continue to purchase varium indicates that they intend to create some sort of relationship with you, the consumer. All the DN’s, tweets, FB pages, they are all created with this intent. This obviously means that AE should treat the consumer with respect and courtesy in the case of refunding purchases, should they not? You know how the sellback feature works? Well, what AE seems to be doing now is FORCING us to sell our enhancements. I am fine with that, and I am willing to sacrifice in the name of balance. I am NOT, however, willing to sacrifice 70% for the sake of nameless others.
Note:
The case about the ingame economy seems like a pile of crap to me. There is NO INGAME ECONOMY. If there is no trade, no value associated with items between players, how is there an economy? With unlimited resources(items) and unlimited amounts of currency(varium), the economy in ED is nonexistent. The only "economy" suffering in this case seems to be AE’s wallet.
In closing, I would like to say that I have been a faithful AE gamer for many years. I have played almost every single one of AE’s games and purchased some form of membership, DA, etc. in almost all of them(HS, AQ, DF, AQW, ED). Originally, AE seemed like a great company: small, efficient, friendly, but most of all, connected to their player-base in a way that no other company was. The weekly DN’s, the frequent contests, they all exuded vitality and the strappings of a well-run company. However, AE has begun to slowly slip in my view. Mostly with the onset of AQW, I realized that AE games are EXPENSIVE. No matter what, the constant release of new items ensures that money is spent. I am fine with spending money. However, I am not fine with spending money and then having 70% of it disappear in a fit of greed when I purchased AE’s product in good faith, that I would realize the full value on my purchase.
I hope you all can see my point of view.
When I heard they would be compensating us for our stolen enhancements, I figured I would be getting 100% back
I was expecting a MINIMUM of 80% back
The 30% felt like a smack in the face, but oh well, I am done buying varium now, I had decided that when that DN came out
And I hadn't thought of that thing about AE becoming a bigger, less connected company
I remember in 08, before AQW came out, I loved Cysero on DF, and on that games design notes
Then, when I realised how much money I was throwing away on a game that was made almost entirely for money, I quit
Something needs to happen, they need someone to remind them why they got such an audience: the interaction and the respect
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