Announce post #3060: Membership Upgrades

Autoposter

2/6/2020 at 19:51
Tiur, the Gnosis
Everyone
Membership Upgrades

Aetolia is now offering three new membership options for your enjoyment.

Players may purchase 3, 6, and 12 month memberships.

The primary benefit of these new membership options is that your characters will receive all rewards up front. The rewards which are instantly advanced are the XP bonus, iron coins, and membership credits. Daily lessons are unchanged.

For example, if you purchase the 6 month membership you will immediately move to the 25% xp bonus, receive 120 iron coins, and have 675 membership credits applied to your account (100, 105, 110, 115, 120, 125 credits).

If your account already had a membership running, it will pick up the rewards from your current threshold, and it will NOT start all over from the beginning.

IMPORTANT: All memberships are recurring and will automatically renew at the end of the 1, 3, 6, or 12 month period.


HOW TO UPGRADE
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In order to upgrade your membership, you will need to jump through some hoops. Please follow the list below.

1. Cancel your current membership at http://www.aetolia.com/credits?page=cancel. If your membership is via PayPal, you will have to visit their site.

2. When your current membership expires, you may sign back up at http://www.aetolia.com/credits?page=membership.

3. You will get messages from the game when your membership expires and can view your membership status with the command CREDIT REPORT.

Note: We have a short grace period on signing back up to your membership without losing your benefit levels, so if you miss by a few days, don't worry too much.

If you have any questions or problems, please email at jeremy@ironrealms.com.

Penned by my hand on Kinsday, the 11th of Variach, in the year 486 MA.

Moxie

I wanted to clarify, will the amount of max credits you'll be receiving a month cap at 125? Currently, I'm seeing mine at 145 after about a year of paying.

Tekias

Tiur

It caps out at 150. It just so happens the example only went for 6 months.

Azarae

So to clarify, even though the subscription rewards you in a single lump sum, you are only billed the $25.00 monthly, for the duration of it?

Rhine

No, you are billed for however many months you purchase up front. So if you do the 12 month subscription, you are billed $299.88 now and recieve the benefits of 12 months immediately.

Zaila

And to continue rhine's example: the ongoing benefits would also be locked in for those 12 months without further payments. So, you'd still have the XP boon, daily lessons, bonus on purchased credits, etc.

Hawa

just gonna... point you all to the discussion Achaeans are having about this same thing, since it appears to be an IRE-wide initiative

leaving aside my concern that IRE et al's takeaway will be "those unicorns aetolians shouldn't get IC with their memberships anymore!", i think a lot of what's being said there is really relevant. particularly the first couple pages, although stick around for the conspiracy theories surfacing on page 4 if you like a bit of spice in your discourse. lots of legitimate concerns, and Jumpy (jeremy? i forget which of the corporate dudes that is) being... a bit tactless. think it's stuff all IRE players should be concerned about, though.

Tiur

Please note that Achaea does not translate to Aetolia 100%. Their prices are different ingame, and the credit economy is managed differently. Iron Crowns aren't going anywhere, I like them. I do need to do more with them, now that I think about it! I think Achaeans also seem to see evil intent too quickly!

This initiative began in Aetolia, btw. A player asked if they could frontload the membership, and I thought we'd at least look into it. We needed to upgrade memberships anyway as they were a huge headache for me. A TON of discussion went into why/how, and we ended up on this middle path. It's frontloaded, so it's a bonus to help newer people keep up/jumpstart. It's not more expensive, it's not less.

Achaea clearly has a bunch of other concerns... I don't think they are part of Aetolia. We're better than them anyway.

I will say, contrary to a lot of opinions there, Jeremy and Matt have listened to all of my ideas and given a number of them a fair shake. A number of them have to with ease of entry and accessibility vs credit usage. Some coming soon!

(I feel like maybe a huge talk about how the game are managed could be had. Will consider that sometime.)

Hawa

tbc i think aetolia is much better in numerous ways, but while i know and appreciate that you, Tiur, work hard to milk as much bang into every buck as you possibly can, i think it's still not hard to see how some of the concerns translate. i suspect the reasons they translate are because of policy that's above your paygrade, so to speak.

the big thing that people repeatedly brought up in the achaea thread: simply in terms of price points, IRE players pay more than consumers are accustomed to paying, and for literally everything, whether promotional items or subscriptions. what we actually get at those price points is also considerably less, although this becomes harder to quantify.

i won't speculate here about why aetolia's apparently allowed greater freedom to try things because i frankly don't have access to data, just my suspicions and inferences. i'm not interested in a witch hunt or stoking discontent, after all. i just find the discussion echoed some of my thoughts at times, including my initial reaction to this announcement post.

to end on a positive note, aetolia is unequivocally a better game than achaea - even in spite of my return! pretty amazing, if you ask me.

Hawa

Tiur said:

Iron Crowns aren't going anywhere, I like them. I do need to do more with them, now that I think about it!

on this note: bring back tattoo stamps imo

Drystin

Hawa said:

Iron Crowns aren't going anywhere, I like them. I do need to do more with them, now that I think about it!

on this note: bring back tattoo stamps imo

Omg yes please! Think of the children! 

Fezzix

Something something venom rag.

Go on. Ban me.

Czcienn

Hawa's post is pretty much on point. I spend a lot more money than I should on Aetolia, and it is clear that what is offered in Aetolia (aside from one particular promo recently *coughstockingscough*) is better than what Achaea offers. But even then, Aetolia doesn't exist within an IRE vacuum. The truth is even within the gaming niche things are a lot cheaper and more available than they were when Achaea and this pricing model was first introduced. Even the closest counterparts within the MMO genre that have micro transactions don't require players to pay hundreds of dollars just for relatively tiny upgrades, or a sizeable monetary or time investment to really truly get started. Yes, I understand some people can have a lot of fun without paying a cent, but those people probably don't engage in some of the more mechanical and competitive aspects of the game on a regular basis, at least until they invest the time to grinding out what is needed.

Back onto this particular topic specifically, I was a bit perplexed as to why the 12 month plan didn't offer any incentive other than the front loading. Every single example of subscription-based services/products that offered multiple durations I can think of offers a (usually significant) discount or additional incentive for paying up front. I know this is not a decision Tiur or anyone else here has any say in, but it really does speak to simply how arrogant the IRE top management is with regards to its relationship with its customers.

Tiur

To be transparent: I started this, and was involved in a lot of its decisions. But the context was different. I had a player ask how many $'s it would cost to frontload a year membership. I do not really do special deals, but it seemed something that we COULD do fairly. So we made it an option. It wasn't really meant to compare to other game's models. Also, I didn't have any input into cost. Just that it shouldn't be MORE expensive. I think the failure was in the presentation, not the idea.

The idea wasn't to entice people to buy year membership. It was just a way to give them to people who didn't want to wait. There's always this argument that time in-game shouldn't = mechanical advantage, etc.

Iazamat

It wasn't really meant to compare to other game's models.

When other games have adopted these models - and arguably make them far more enticing and fairer to the consumer (yearly access to visual MMOs are cheaper by far, and that's just one example) - they are going to be compared whether IRE intends them to or not. IRE doesn't exist in a vacuum, and the fact that IRE manages to convince people to pay for a text game in 2020 is amazing, especially when $20 games can provide endless entertainment. IRE needs to do better, despite what their intent may have been.

Tiur

I don't think that's fair to the higher ups. Yes, of course you can ask for a better membership. Compare it to other things, whatever. But the vitriol and comparisons are not valid complaints against the change that WAS made. They're a separate topic. I suppose, in Achaea, maybe they've hated the membership and this just came as an affront to them?

Someone asked for a product. The product was made. It was not the product people who did not ask wanted. That does not mean it was a bad product, even if it compares unfavorably with other, similar things. It was literally a request that was met. If the complaints and rants were because the deal was awful and wasn't what was expected, etc... I could see anger.

There could be an argument that people have asked for a better membership, deals on longer terms, etc... but they didn't ask -me-. I was asked for what was made, and I brought it to our President and CEO, and the team made it happen. I dunno, maybe I should have written the post for all the games, and included the reasoning? I feel bad that people are mad at Jeremy, I was unaware of the Achaean side of the discussion and never brought up their thoughts. I only advocate for you guys.

Anyway, if people have similarly vitriolic responses to something in Aetolia, do bring them to me. We can find some data, or run numbers, etc. I have no power over a lot of what the company does, as I am just a Producer, but I can champion causes. (As a note, I cannot provide Aetolia's breakdown in costs, expenditures, etc.) Admittedly, I do tend towards increasing the purchasing power of what exists over altering our current currency models, but I am not incapable of bending.

Do note that IRE heard and we'll be changing the memberships further! I had nothing to do with that, so I can't claim any credit. I'm just waiting for code before I announce things.

Iazamat

Someone asked for a product. The product was made. It was not the product people who did not ask wanted. That does not mean it was a bad product, even if it compares unfavorably with other, similar things. It was literally a request that was met. If the complaints and rants were because the deal was awful and wasn't what was expected, etc... I could see anger.

From a customer standpoint, this is such a strange argument and defense. As customers, we're offered products all the time that we didn't ask for, believe could be better, and provide feedback about - and just because feedback is upset doesn't mean it isn't reasonable, these aren't mutually exclusive things. Simply because it wasn't made for the people that were mad doesn't mean they don't get to be mad - perhaps they've always wanted yearly subscriptions, never spoken with anyone who had the power to make it happen, and IRE had finally acquiesced only to, well... drop the ball. Again, IRE doesn't exist in a vacuum. These models have been used for years to better degrees, and IRE lacking foresight in this specific situation doesn't shield them from criticism or anger.

Thankfully, due to upset voices, IRE has received the message loud and clear. Here's hoping they do better in the future.

Edit: And I want to make it clear, I DO NOT ADVOCATE VITRIOLIC AND TOXIC RESPONSES. However, we can be upset and air our grievances - you yourself have made it very clear in the past that just because we see something doesn't mean it exists. An angry response doesn't mean it's vitriolic.

Tiur

Perhaps I'm reading anger that isn't there, sorry! I am just concerned that Jeremy took flak for something I worked on. I wasn't even aware of the potential for Achaea's response. I do think opening with a better deal would have been a broader want, and could have been a missed opportunity, I was just really surprised at the way it was presented.

Here's hoping everyone does better in the future.

Seurimas

For what it's worth, I see Achaea did reduced rates for larger packages, as was also discussed here. That's very much in line with what you'd expect from a subscription model (any subscription, not just video games) offering different periods.

There's plenty of merits to that approach. There's other common options to consider besides, or in addition, to that, like bonus rewards (e.g. +5/+15/+35 coins for 3/6/12 months, if you're looking for ideas 😛), or special offers (e.g. switch to the yearly plan and get a one time bonus artifact X).

I get this wasn't meant to be much, but it's going to be part of your membership strategy for the foreseeable future, right? So make the most of it and get people thinking seriously about some enticing options of supporting this game.

Ithink we can also all appreciate that this is a small game that has the luxury of listening to its fans and responding quickly, so no one should be too bent out of shape it wasn't necessarily perfect right from the get go!

Czcienn

The thread was initially just people voicing their disappointment in the lack of incentives for paying up front. They only started giving Jeremy flak with his honestly arrogant and belittling responses to his customers. It went from people saying they don't see any reason to subscribe to the longer options to people saying they were outright cancelling their existing subscriptions.

"we cannot give more bang for the buck"? Given that the prices have now been reduced for the longer subscriptions, clearly this argument was BS and he was rightly called out for it, so don't worry about it Tiur, this had nothing to do with you.

Koda

Having read that thread in Achaea, Tiur, you're doing totally fine here. Agreeing with Czcibor that Jeremy's flak was almost entirely a result of some not-so-carefully crafted responses on their thread, whereas you've been transparent and responsive here.

"Heh. Yes, membership numbers are fine."

..Definitely came across as not so great at all when the playerbase was clearly not happy with some of the responses given. Considering the amount of money (and time) people spend on this game (/IRE) over the years they play it, it's seen as more of a long-term investment. Just like when your RL investments see some potential shakiness to them, you justifiably get concerned. If I wasn't satisfied with something in my portfolio and my broker laughed at it and pushed back instead of hearing out/acknowledging my concerns, I would be looking to take my money and time elsewhere. Seems the people in Achaea were putting their money where their mouths were when they didn't feel they were being heard.

Tiur

Okay, thanks! Changes still incoming!

Tiur

ANNOUNCE:

If you do buy a multi-month membership and don't immediately see the rewards, msg me! Something is wrong with our billing service, and I'm having to manually process things.

Bulrok

God. Achaea had a chance to undo their own stupid mistakes and lower the cost of their game and instead all they did was whine about how cheap ours is and want exclusivity for the membership discount to make up for it. Reminds me of every time someones bashing is good in Aet, and people want to nerf it instead of elevating their own.

Czcienn

So do we need to wait until the current month expires before we'll be able to get the rewards if we choose to renew at a higher tier?

Tiur

Pretty much! I mean, I can force it if you want me to, but that will reduce its time a smidge, as it'll start on the day I force.

I do like that we're the greener side of the fence. I like not being the big kid of the block, we can do w/e and call it an experiment!