Your player investment & EoC
Entry posted by Death2max
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Hello Alex and Jeff,
I have also sent this to Mark Gerhard via Facebook.
This is a long discourse, but it is not a rant. It is intended to help you understand from a customer perspective what large changes such as the introduction of EoC to Runescape means, and to give you some insight into the impact the game has on people's lives. Please read it, I believe you will get some value from actively listening to your customers.
Let me start by saying I am 46 years old, have been a paid member for 4 years and have a (previously) 134cb main & a 51cb pure. I understand that I am not the demographic you are aiming for. Over those years, I have, however, paid you over $4,600 in fees on my main, $2,000 on my pure, and spent over $3,000 on sof and sols. And that's just my accounts, not including the kids. I enjoy the "timeout" Runie gives me after work, the fact that I can lose myself in it and forget the worries of work, and I have always felt that the money is well spent.
I met my current partner (also 46) on your game (6 year paid member, 138cb main & a 60cb pure, has also paid you over $10,000 in his time). While I understand meeting others in this way is frowned upon, it has been the best thing that has ever happened to me. We have many common interests, and I would not change it for the world, I would do anything for him. So your game has had a major impact on both of our lives. Between us, we have 6 kids from 10 to 17 years of age. All up, we have over 10 accounts, 6 of which are paid members for over 4 years.
Eoc is geared towards the kids. They all love it, I have seen the renewed interest, and being a business analyst for an IT firm myself, I can see the value in this strategy for Jagex. I do understand the need to bring the game back into the present, and do not begrudge the change from this perspective at all. Our kids ARE your main demographic & so they should be.
Having said that, EoC has taken ALL of the pleasure out of playing the game for my partner and myself. We both tried & hated beta, but decided to hang out & give it a go. It took us both 1 week. He has cancelled his 2 paid accounts, and I am about to do the same for both of mine. My high combat friends are all dropping off like flies. The abilities are way too overpowered, leaving us slower oldies at a major disadvantage, and the amount of bugs in the release is appalling for a game that has been in beta for over 3 months. The option to just close the action bar DOES NOT WORK against either pvms or pvps who are using abilities, leaving us at a significant disadvantage & taking away all the enjoyment. The only equivalent I can think of follows: have been a loyal paying customer of a firm providing you an excellent electricity supply for four years, but they have recenty brought in a change. Now, you can have a trickle of your former full service, enough to run the fridge, and i you want more to watch the TV, you have to hit a button on the wall every 5 seconds. There are no options to return to your previous levels of service. Ask yourselves, are you happy? Will you look for other supply options?
I have no issue with the introduction of the EoC abilities for your future, but please respect your existing client base, and provide a non-eoc world or two where Momentum is permanently enabled & all other abilities are disabled. I know there is additional development / testing and ongoing support required when you have multiple configurations such as I am asking for, but I do not ask for the removal of EoC, just continued support for continued enjoyment of a game that I pay for.
To be honest, Jagex would also gain other benefits of non-eoc worlds. It would separate the mature players from the kids, allowing you over time to slowly wean us off the game by leaving out further updates. It would also help you to understand how many of us there are right now, how important we are in your current client base, and how many of us truly dislike the EoC abilities. I know you don't want us in the big picture, but most of us have been loyal fans for a long period, pay you a lot, AND play a major role in raising the young minds you ARE aiming at! You have a duty to continue providing a game we can play based on our years of support.
I don't want you to remove EoC, I applaud that as an organisation you can recognise when change is required, and adapt to it quickly. I just want you to accept responsibility for the expectations you have set with your existing clients. I FULLY expect you to provide me with continued pleasure from a game I enjoy & pay good money to enjoy. At the moment, this is not happening. Unfortunately, if I don't receive a response, I will be leaving completely & finding an alternative. The kids have already started looking for something for me, as they don't believe you will listen. I really hope you do.
Kind regards,
Hello Alex and Jeff,
I have also sent this to Mark Gerhard via Facebook.
This is a long discourse, but it is not a rant. It is intended to help you understand from a customer perspective what large changes such as the introduction of EoC to Runescape means, and to give you some insight into the impact the game has on people's lives. Please read it, I believe you will get some value from actively listening to your customers.
Let me start by saying I am 46 years old, have been a paid member for 4 years and have a (previously) 134cb main & a 51cb pure. I understand that I am not the demographic you are aiming for. Over those years, I have, however, paid you over $4,600 in fees on my main, $2,000 on my pure, and spent over $3,000 on sof and sols. And that's just my accounts, not including the kids. I enjoy the "timeout" Runie gives me after work, the fact that I can lose myself in it and forget the worries of work, and I have always felt that the money is well spent.
I met my current partner (also 46) on your game (6 year paid member, 138cb main & a 60cb pure, has also paid you over $10,000 in his time). While I understand meeting others in this way is frowned upon, it has been the best thing that has ever happened to me. We have many common interests, and I would not change it for the world, I would do anything for him. So your game has had a major impact on both of our lives. Between us, we have 6 kids from 10 to 17 years of age. All up, we have over 10 accounts, 6 of which are paid members for over 4 years.
Eoc is geared towards the kids. They all love it, I have seen the renewed interest, and being a business analyst for an IT firm myself, I can see the value in this strategy for Jagex. I do understand the need to bring the game back into the present, and do not begrudge the change from this perspective at all. Our kids ARE your main demographic & so they should be.
Having said that, EoC has taken ALL of the pleasure out of playing the game for my partner and myself. We both tried & hated beta, but decided to hang out & give it a go. It took us both 1 week. He has cancelled his 2 paid accounts, and I am about to do the same for both of mine. My high combat friends are all dropping off like flies. The abilities are way too overpowered, leaving us slower oldies at a major disadvantage, and the amount of bugs in the release is appalling for a game that has been in beta for over 3 months. The option to just close the action bar DOES NOT WORK against either pvms or pvps who are using abilities, leaving us at a significant disadvantage & taking away all the enjoyment. The only equivalent I can think of follows:
I have no issue with the introduction of the EoC abilities for your future, but please respect your existing client base, and provide a non-eoc world or two where Momentum is permanently enabled & all other abilities are disabled. I know there is additional development / testing and ongoing support required when you have multiple configurations such as I am asking for, but I do not ask for the removal of EoC, just continued support for continued enjoyment of a game that I pay for.
To be honest, Jagex would also gain other benefits of non-eoc worlds. It would separate the mature players from the kids, allowing you over time to slowly wean us off the game by leaving out further updates. It would also help you to understand how many of us there are right now, how important we are in your current client base, and how many of us truly dislike the EoC abilities. I know you don't want us in the big picture, but most of us have been loyal fans for a long period, pay you a lot, AND play a major role in raising the young minds you ARE aiming at! You have a duty to continue providing a game we can play based on our years of support.
I don't want you to remove EoC, I applaud that as an organisation you can recognise when change is required, and adapt to it quickly. I just want you to accept responsibility for the expectations you have set with your existing clients. I FULLY expect you to provide me with continued pleasure from a game I enjoy & pay good money to enjoy. At the moment, this is not happening. Unfortunately, if I don't receive a response, I will be leaving completely & finding an alternative. The kids have already started looking for something for me, as they don't believe you will listen. I really hope you do.
Kind regards,
Long & loyal Member
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