News: Resolved - PS2 Region

[Gandhi]

I seriously doubt SOE would allow ProSieben to put any kind of pay2win items in their shop. They know this isn't a Korean MMO, it would destroy the game faster than the BFR update did. It's actually the thing I'm least worried about, more worrying is their habit of 'employing' random teenagers who play their games as the people who handle support tickets and their cavalier attitude toward hacking and cheating in their games.

[Mechzz]

Originally Posted by Gandhi

I seriously doubt SOE would allow ProSieben to put any kind of pay2win items in their shop. They know this isn't a Korean MMO, it would destroy the game faster than the BFR update did. It's actually the thing I'm least worried about, more worrying is their habit of 'employing' random teenagers who play their games as the people who handle support tickets and their cavalier attitude toward hacking and cheating in their games.

The FAQ that was put out says ProSieben will have the rights in Europe to alter in-game content and charge their own "similar" (= higher) prices. P2W is a valid concern, but it's probably more in P7's hands than SOE's if the contract has been signed.

P7 also don't patch and/or update even their biggest game as regularly as the home region. This too is alluded to in the FAQ. Also, this post shows late patching is happening as we speak. Look at the second post from the bottom on the first page of this thread:

http://en.alaplaya.net/forum/general...--t492435.html

BUT I Would still forgive late patching if we get access to all the servers.

I am seriously considering subbing as PS1 was my favourite game of all time, bar none. But this whole pathetic, sordid drama days before beta begins (and don't start me on that!) is really discouraging

[Gandhi]

Originally Posted by Mechzz

The FAQ that was put out says ProSieben will have the rights in Europe to alter in-game content and charge their own "similar" (= higher) prices. P2W is a valid concern, but it's probably more in P7's hands than SOE's if the contract has been signed.

Yeah I know, but I still don't think that means they have the legal right to put whatever they want in the game. In fact I'd be surprised if PSS1 actually creates any items themselves, more likely they'll consult with SOE about what they want and SOE's developers will create it for them. I'm thinking things like reskins of existing weapons (without changing any of its attributes), various culture related decals (flags for instance) that kind of thing.

SOE's profits in the EU are on the line as much as PSS1's, and SOE must know that selling power will kill the game. I agree that PSS1's past actions are pretty bad, but I just don't see how SOE could let them carry on like that for PS2 and the EQ series.

[Mechzz]

Originally Posted by Gandhi

...In fact I'd be surprised if PSS1 actually creates any items themselves, more likely they'll consult with SOE about what they want and SOE's developers will create it for them. I'm thinking things like reskins of existing weapons (without changing any of its attributes), various culture related decals (flags for instance) that kind of thing.

I hear ya, and I hope you are correct

Access to the US servers (and them to us) is the big issue here. In my old outfit we had several fantastic US players and playing as a Brit on the US servers was always a blast. To take that away from us in pursuit of short-sighted and ultimately short-terms dollars and euros by region locking is plain daft because it will simply hasten the decline of the player population through fragmentation.

[RadarX]

Originally Posted by Mechzz

I hear ya, and I hope you are correct

Access to the US servers (and them to us) is the big issue here. In my old outfit we had several fantastic US players and playing as a Brit on the US servers was always a blast. To take that away from us in pursuit of short-sighted and ultimately short-terms dollars and euros by region locking is plain daft because it will simply hasten the decline of the player population through fragmentation.

To make this 100% clear, Prosieben is a partner in distributing our games in the EU. SOE remains the sole developer of game content for PlanetSide 2 and any of our other games. If something goes in the game, it will be because we created it.

[basti]

Hokay, so lets get some text written:

The Issues: There are plenty of them, here are those that pretty much are the major ones:

Region Locking: Said plenty of times, dont do it, ever. There are loads of people from Europe playing with their US mates, and loads of US guys playing with their Euro mates. This applys to All games. Destroying those communitys is just a bad idea. But theres more!

Different account systems: This one is actually a major issue. There are actually people having an all access pass, playing DCUO on a Euro server, and EQ2 on a US server. Or playing Pirates of the burning sea on a US server, and DCUO on a EU server. ANY combination you could possibly think of, with or without all access, is possible. And forcing EU players on their own account system would simply force all those guys to buy two subscriptions, drop one game alltogether, or drop all games because of boycott. So, in fact, you loose a whole lot of people, for no good reason.

And it doesnt have to be that way!

Solution: Avoid different account systems. There is no need for them. Pro7 support stuff could be easily integrated into the already existing Station support. The community team could be integrated into the existing forums and commnity outlets as well, even across the border. And the cash? Well, you know where people are coming from, you know what servers are EU and what are US. So its rather easy to figure out what cash goes where.

While this would be much more complicated for both SOE and Pro7, it would be rather perfect of all the players. We wouldnt need to adjust to anything, in fact, nothing would change for us. But we would get more support stuff, and a crapload of new players thanks to EU advertising.

IF you guys can somehow pull this off, everyone wins.

[ThGlump]

Originally Posted by basti

Solution: Avoid different account systems. There is no need for them. Pro7 support stuff could be easily integrated into the already existing Station support. The community team could be integrated into the existing forums and commnity outlets as well, even across the border. And the cash? Well, you know where people are coming from, you know what servers are EU and what are US. So its rather easy to figure out what cash goes where.

Basti for president (or rather SOE CEO). If they do this, they solve everything, even region locking, which is there only to force EU players into pro7 accounts. With this there is no need for region lock.

[Azren]

Originally Posted by RadarX

To make this 100% clear, Prosieben is a partner in distributing our games in the EU. SOE remains the sole developer of game content for PlanetSide 2 and any of our other games. If something goes in the game, it will be because we created it.

That may sound good, but who is to say you won't create payToWin items specifically for Pro7 PS2 version? What we want is security that all the items EU shop has are the very same as the NA one.

[Wakken]

Originally Posted by ThGlump

Basti for president (or rather SOE CEO). If they do this, they solve everything, even region locking, which is there only to force EU players into pro7 accounts. With this there is no need for region lock.

Basti for president!

[Vancha]

Originally Posted by basti

Solution: Avoid different account systems. There is no need for them. Pro7 support stuff could be easily integrated into the already existing Station support. The community team could be integrated into the existing forums and commnity outlets as well, even across the border. And the cash? Well, you know where people are coming from, you know what servers are EU and what are US. So its rather easy to figure out what cash goes where.

While this would be much more complicated for both SOE and Pro7, it would be rather perfect of all the players. We wouldnt need to adjust to anything, in fact, nothing would change for us. But we would get more support stuff, and a crapload of new players thanks to EU advertising.

IF you guys can somehow pull this off, everyone wins.

I really wish they'd tell us why they can't do this. No offensive to Basti, but this is the common sense implementation. I expect this is what most people had in mind when they first heard of the PSS1 partnership.

[ThGlump]

Originally Posted by Vancha

I really wish they'd tell us why they can't do this. No offensive to Basti, but this is the common sense implementation. I expect this is what most people had in mind when they first heard of the PSS1 partnership.

Thats what most of us hoped from a start. Pro7 for advertising, community support, and they get part from shop. But at soe they dont have common sense so someone with one need to tell them this solution.

[Kran De Loy]

Originally Posted by RadarX

To make this 100% clear, Prosieben is a partner in distributing our games in the EU. SOE remains the sole developer of game content for PlanetSide 2 and any of our other games. If something goes in the game, it will be because we created it.

Thank you Radar for responding and trying to reassure us, but Azren has a point.

Originally Posted by Azren

That may sound good, but who is to say you won't create payToWin items specifically for Pro7 PS2 version? What we want is security that all the items EU shop has are the very same as the NA one.

[RadarX]

Originally Posted by Kran De Loy

Thank you Radar for responding and trying to reassure us, but Azren has a point.

The security of our EU customers is important to us because ultimately we are making our game for them as well. We will continue to work with Prosieben and provide our expertise on security especially in regards to user information.

There are currently no plans to have people playing two different versions of PlanetSide 2. What you are describing is a massive shift in mechanics which would require essentially two games be made.

[Kran De Loy]

Originally Posted by RadarX

The security of our EU customers is important to us because ultimately we are making our game for them as well. We will continue to work with Prosieben as and provide our expertise on security especially in regards to user information.

There are currently no plans to have people playing two different versions of PlanetSide 2. What you are describing is a massive shift in mechanics which would require essentially two games be made.

[Shogun]

thanks a lot for pointing that out!

so we got positive answers on almost all issues that came up.

only thing that still bothers me is the 90day inactivity erasing. i know it´s just an emergency clause and may not even be used, but it just being there scares me. i know my luck... i level up my char for a long time, then i have a car accident and cannot play for 92 days and pro7 meets it´s database capacity and decides to delete me. all process gone. that´s a thing even SOE never did to its customers!