Recent string of Emails to Smedley in regards to PS1 F2P Status - Page 4

Death2All · 2013-04-22, 10:10 PM

I sent another follow up email to Smedley, no response just yet but I figured I'd let you guys know.

Dear Mr. Smedley,

By now you have undoubtedly received a number of emails in regards to Planetside 1. As I'm writing this right now, Planetside's 10th anniversary is less than one month away. I'm writing this to you to ask on behalf on the PS1 community, how keen you would be on the idea of giving away of one free month of Planetside subscription to all previous subscribers to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the game.

It is of our belief, the Planetside 1 community, that a free month given to past subscribers, would bolster populations back to high levels and potentially keep people subscribed to the game once more.

Here are just two threads, one with over 1000 views and the second nearing 1000 as we speak.

http://www.planetside-universe.com/s...332#post914332

http://forums.station.sony.com/soe/i...0061917/page-2

In these threads you can clearly see that the want from PS1 players to once again play Planetside is clearly there. Once again, the only thing keeping us from playing, is the subscription fee.

In the previous emails we exchanged, you said that "no one is playing Planetside. It's not because it's not F2P though". As evident from the two threads I linked you, and the emails you've probably received, there are a lot of people willing to play the game.

I understand that you must be very busy being the CEO of SOE and it probably takes a lot more work than we might think it does to do all of things we so desperately want, so it's not right of us to judge you for any decision you might make. Thank you for taking the time to read this and making an awesome game that been apart of mine and many others lives for the past 10 years!

Also, I have to agree with what Zulthus said. He hit the nail right on the head.

Originally Posted by Zulthus

Pretty much this ^. Everyone needs to stop assuming that nobody will ever play the game again once its F2P. It's a stupid and ridiculous assumption and acting like you could possibly know that is irritating.

Tons of people still play EverQuest 1, probably because it's F2P. There's absolutely no reason why Planetside 1 and Planetside 2 can't coexist together. By the logic I'm seeing from some people, they should just shut down EQ1 because it's 'the past' and put all of their effort into EQ2/3.

So, if you don't care about PS1 anymore and "you'll never go back to it" (which I guarantee you will once it's F2P) then you have no reason to post in this thread.

If you have no interest in playing PS once it goes F2P, simply don't post in the thread. There's no reason for it. It's not like PS1 going F2P could possibly affect PS2 in away. If you think that some how PS1 going F2P is going to interfere with PS2 then you are an idiot.

Also, updated the OP with links to the official forums thread which seems to be getting more traffic.

vieric · 2013-04-22, 10:42 PM

Personally, I would hope they open it up to everyone, past player or no. Putting up a barrier of entry, while still boosting the population significantly I don't doubt, will still keep any potential newbies to PS1 out in the cold....and frankly that's one of the most important things that need proven. They need to know if PS1 can still attract new players, not just bring back existing ones.

Death2All · 2013-04-22, 10:50 PM

Originally Posted by vieric

Personally, I would hope they open it up to everyone, past player or no. Putting up a barrier of entry, while still boosting the population significantly I don't doubt, will still keep any potential newbies to PS1 out in the cold....and frankly that's one of the most important things that need proven. They need to know if PS1 can still attract new players, not just bring back existing ones.

I'm only opposed to that because I'm concenred for the ammount of hackers that might potentially plague the game during that period. PS had a nasty hacker problem when the game allowed you to make trials, they finally removed them and most of the hackers went away.

It's another reason why I don't want the game to go fully F2P. I'm more in favor of a lowered subscription fee, for a few reasons. One, it would deter most, if not all hackers. Any hackers that were playing the game would have to be subscribed and then would have to resub an entirely new account to hack the game again.

Two, it creates a way to monetinize the game that would do a better job than any other attempt they might try to implement with the F2P transition. Cash shop, buying CR5s or BR 40s? Who knows.

I feel like $5 a month would be worth it if it keeps hackers at bay.

vieric · 2013-04-22, 11:18 PM

Not honestly sure how to respond to that one...while you are totally right with regard to the hackers, Even more so since hacking seems to be a big problem for SOE in general. I cant help but feel the game would not attract many new players and will eventually stagnate as a result. Preferable to the game dying completely by a large margin, however.

I don't by any means like the outlook I detailed above, in fact it rather angers me but I feel anyone not already versed with the game would not really be willing to invest in it without trying it first, looking as it does. graphics are irrelevant to gameplay yes, but they can absolutely make or break a first impression.

I suppose what should really be done is to get a consensus on what the community wants done...honestly every single one of us seems to have a different take on what SOE should do right now, and I feel its kind of hurting our arguments.

Personally, I feel they should convert it to a F2P premium type model of some sort, that way anyone who subs simply becomes a premium player and doesn't lose out on anything, I feel microtransations should be largely avoided, save perhaps for cosmetic items only (No guns, no insta-unlock items, nothing like that).

The exact nature of the differences would require some thought yes, but ideally should be fairly minor and balanced (no OP weapons, for starters). Still, things as that would be at SOE's discretion, not my own. It all really boils down to whether or not they can be trusted to not make it P2W.

Tialian · 2013-04-23, 12:28 AM

Personally if PS1 went f2p its the only game I would play. When I first tried it back in 2003 I thought that FPS gaming couldn't get any better. Its unfortunate that I turned out to be correct.

Ever since PS1 it seems that every new FPS looks better and better while at the same time becoming further dumbed down and shallow.

Just look at BF2 for a good example. Commander mode was pretty awesome, it would have been nice to have some sort of version of that that would work in PS1. Now look at BF3, the graphics look great and the destructible environments are awesome but there are no teamwork elements what-so-ever...not even voice chat.

PS2 in my opinion doesn't even outclass BF3, for those who put gunplay above everything else BF3 has way better gunplay than PS2. BF4 will be here shortly and all the teenagers the devs catered to with their shallow PS2 gameplay will be jumping ship for the next new shiny toy. I've said it before and I'll say it here, SOE really missed an opportunity with PS2 to really create a deep immersive game ahead of its time, just like PS1 was.

Heroes live forever, but legends never die.

Sturmhardt · 2013-04-23, 01:50 AM

First time I see Smed being right: nobody is playing ps1 and it will remain dead, no matter what. It's a niche for old ps1 lovers (I am one myself but not as delusional) and noone else.

They better focus on ps2 because that is nowhere near where I hoped it would be a year ago.

.sent via phone.

vieric · 2013-04-23, 03:37 AM

I still don't understand why everyone just assumes it will never recover without even trying first, what am I missing here?

Effective · 2013-04-23, 06:02 AM

Originally Posted by Sturmhardt

First time I see Smed being right: nobody is playing ps1 and it will remain dead, no matter what. It's a niche for old ps1 lovers (I am one myself but not as delusional) and noone else.

They better focus on ps2 because that is nowhere near where I hoped it would be a year ago.

.sent via phone.

So Smed is right that the reason no one is playing PS1 is specfically related to something that's not a 15$ month sub to a game that has 0 support, next to no one playing, and 0 new content?

You do realize how incredibly dumb that sounds right?

Wahooo · 2013-04-23, 10:48 AM

Its funny to me how the response from players unsubbing to PS1 and SWTOR were almost exactly the same but the reaction by the parent is 100% different.

In the case of SWTOR The game was lacking in so many ways and performance and PVP... it was a fun 1st time through story. Worth the purchase price as a standalone not really worth the sub money. Bioware read "They LOVE the game just can't afford it."

With PS1... Game a lot of us still love but to be honest $15 a month even if you are someone who wouldn't miss that money, it is the price of a PREMIUM game's subscription. For $15 dollars a month we expect support, development... Hell acknowledgement the game exists. Weapons and vehicles that have been in game what 6 years now were never added to the PS website. I don't know how to justify paying a premium price for an unsupported, red headed stepchild of a game, no matter how much I love it. Smed's response? "Game's Dead, no one will play it because it is old and doesn't look pretty."

I'm torn about the F2P stuff. I would love to get back on, but you need people to attract people to that game and a couple 100 world wide won't do. On top of that the hackers. If they are given free reign it will be very short lived indeed.

Sturmhardt · 2013-04-23, 11:11 AM

Originally Posted by Effective

So Smed is right that the reason no one is playing PS1 is specfically related to something that's not a 15$ month sub to a game that has 0 support, next to no one playing, and 0 new content?

You do realize how incredibly dumb that sounds right?

I don't know, you wrote that, you tell me.

The thing is they can't make money with it. It's not worth the effort for them. It would only be played by a few oldschoolers who could not get the pop high enough to live up to the game's potential. It would just be a sad story. SOE doesn't want to waste money and I get that.

.sent via phone.

Crator · 2013-04-23, 02:18 PM

Originally Posted by Sturmhardt

I don't know, you wrote that, you tell me.

The thing is they can't make money with it. It's not worth the effort for them. It would only be played by a few oldschoolers who could not get the pop high enough to live up to the game's potential. It would just be a sad story. SOE doesn't want to waste money and I get that.

.sent via phone.

Doesn't really have to cost them anything. As others have already stated they could give PS2 subbed accounts access to the game as well as old vets. And perhaps allow the reserves (trial accounts) again, although I have my reservations on that one due to hackers. The rest of what you said is mere speculation on your part. You wouldn't really know if only a few people would play it or not until they actually do these things.

MasterChief096 · 2013-04-23, 02:47 PM

Originally Posted by Sturmhardt

I don't know, you wrote that, you tell me.

The thing is they can't make money with it. It's not worth the effort for them. It would only be played by a few oldschoolers who could not get the pop high enough to live up to the game's potential. It would just be a sad story. SOE doesn't want to waste money and I get that.

.sent via phone.

Everquest is doing fine with its old-school player-base and I doubt SOE's primary source of income is that game.

PlanetSide 1 has ONE server. ONE server needs about 1000 active players. There are probably more than that that would come back. Most people who want PlanetSide 1 don't even check PS2 forums anymore.

MasterChief096 · 2013-04-23, 03:06 PM

Going to be uploading two videos soon for advertising PlanetSide's 10 Year Anniversary on May 20th. I would have liked to make them better but college hasn't given me enough time so I have to stick with the renditions that I have.

If you guys could share them among as many PlanetSide players and communities as possible that would be awesome!

Either this will earn us a free month for the anniversary, proving to SOE that enough players are still interested, or we'll all have to sub to celebrate, also proving that there is interest.

Hopefully SOE supports the event and flags all accounts with a month's worth of time.

- CCM "MasterChief096" - Emerald, The Fighting 27th

basti · 2013-04-23, 03:18 PM

Originally Posted by vieric

I still don't understand why everyone just assumes it will never recover without even trying first, what am I missing here?

You are missing the facts.

I told you guys several times already that its not as simple as just making it cost no money.

First of all, the engine would need an overhaul. The 9 year thing showed pretty clearly whats going on: Lots of people crashed or had terrible FPS, even tho the game is 9 years old and we all should have 358073258725 FPS with our rigs these days.
Not to mention all the folks who couldnt even get the game to launch.

Then, the obvious problem that PS1 had all the time: Cheaters. We all should remember the Barcode folks, but those are just the obvious ones. There were Tons of ROF/COF hackers around. The game would need not just a pretty heavy change in how it handles stuff on the client, but also a few dedicated GMs to monitor and ban cheaters.

And that stuff costs money. So the game cant just go F2P without ever wanting any cash from anyone. SOE is still a business, if the game doesnt earn them a dime but costs quite a bunch of cash, then theres a problem.
Means they have to come up with a way to make cash out of a F2P PS1. Now think hard: What exactly could they sell for cash that requires no constant dedicated staff? Exactly: Nothing. PS1 has nothing that it could sell. So you would need to put stuff in, like camos, vehicle cosmetics and what not. But heres the next problem: The game doesnt support that stuff. Means even more changes to the very core of the game and the engine need to be made in order for F2P to work.

All that work on a 9+ year old engine with apparently extremly terrible documentation, and lacking tools.

And about the whole "try it first" thing: We already did. It was the 9 year annvisary. In light of PS2s annoucment and upcoming beta, PS1 got players again. Thanks to Noble from AT and a whole bunch of Outfits and players, the game lid up quite a bit. Thanks to SOE giving us a free month, the game went crazy for the weekend. But what happend then? It went quiet again rather quickly, with pops dropping from 6 full poplocks for each faction to just one, even tho the free month was still going!

PS1 is gone folks, its over. Put down your rose tinted glasses and realize that the glory days of us doing Galdrops on Dagda, Andvari or whatever other base, hour long genholds and crazy tower fights are just gone. They are gone for several years now, and only PS2s announcment and the 9 year annvisary gave us a quick blast of the past. And thats the only thing we will ever get: A yearly blast of the past.

basti · 2013-04-23, 03:23 PM

Originally Posted by MasterChief096

Going to be uploading two videos soon for advertising PlanetSide's 10 Year Anniversary on May 20th. I would have liked to make them better but college hasn't given me enough time so I have to stick with the renditions that I have.

If you guys could share them among as many PlanetSide players and communities as possible that would be awesome!

Either this will earn us a free month for the anniversary, proving to SOE that enough players are still interested, or we'll all have to sub to celebrate, also proving that there is interest.

Hopefully SOE supports the event and flags all accounts with a month's worth of time.

- CCM "MasterChief096" - Emerald, The Fighting 27th

Hold your pants, its not that simple. The 9 year event was a whole lot of preperation, and a good chunk of luck. I suggest you talk with Noble, he may already plan something.

I do hope it takes off again. Las year was fun, and it would be a good chance to remember some stuff.