It should stand to reason that pre-ordering an MMO should result in nothing but benefit; at least compared to someone who purchases it within the next few months. Over the weekend Atari offered Star Trek Online at a discounted rate of $10 off plus 60 days of additional free gameplay (for a total of 90 days). I would expect this kind of promotion to run a year or more after release, but certainly not 3 weeks after launch. Are players upset about this? You bet. They take it as a virtual slap in the face. Wait, it gets worse. Due to the tremendous outrage of the current player-base and the numerous posts that followed, Atari rescinded the offer from their website. Not only did they cancel the promotion, but they also canceled the extra 60 day deal they had made with players who purchased it over the weekend. This reminds me of a Dilbert cartoon, and that did not play out well for the consumer.
Atari broke one of my rules of operating an MMO; “For every new player award, there shall be a veteran reward”. Keeping players is important, so it is good business to reward existing players with something of equal or better value than what you are awarding new players. Now the question is raised of who is actually responsible for this. Atari published the deal, so personally I am resting the blame on them. Whether or not Cryptic Studios is completely exonerable, they are taking most of the flak. At the time of writing, they have not released a statement. At its neonatal stage, the last thing Star Trek Online needs is more controversy. I would like to hear your opinions though, and we promise not to ban you for it.
Nothing Atari/Cryptic does durprises me at all anymore. I will never buy a game from them and I am sure I am not the only one feeling this way.
I recall them discounting Champions Online huge a couple weeks after release too. I think it was 50% off at Amazon?
Thestache is correct. I’ve documented some of the shenanigans that Atari/Cryptic has pulled in the past here on MMOCrunch. In fact, what the companies did with Champions Online scared me from buying Star Trek Online day 1.
People argue that because consumer electronics prices drop like rocks just weeks after release MMOG should be able to do the same. But you aren’t a subscriber in the electronics market. You don’t have the opportunity to hit them in the wallet like you do here. Players are right to be upset for the very reason you point out, give incentives for new and returning.
Honestly, could the timing be any worse for such bad PR? Right as the initial batch of purchasers have their free month end.
They also said they would refund lifetime subs until the 3rd of this month. I called in today, the 1st, to get my refund. The customer service rep told me they were no longer issuing refunds on lifetime subs and that he had been told about the change from the ‘higher ups’ that morning.
Related? Almost positive.
Not only they make the offer disappear and canceled those extra 60 days, now they tell that never happened.
Quoting:
“Hello, We understand your frustration. While you may have seen or heard about a special that Atari offered as a temporary incentive to order the game through them, it is not a permanent change. In addition, the special being offered does NOT include any extra free game time. It is the same 30 day free trial, but indeed the cost of the game is temporarily $10 cheaper through Atari’s website if ordering directly. The special is not going to be available forever or to replace previous subscriptions. If you feel differently about the issue or have further concerns, we encourage you to contact Atari directly at http://www.atari.com/ – they have a community section for open discussion as well. We thank you for your understanding in this manner. Regards, Cryptic Studios Support”
I’m sorry but “I Don’t Get It” and I am proud of that fact!
Well, you’ll be pleased to know this article is linked to the official forums now, along with TTH’s article and some other one.
I’m glad this is being covered here.
It’s completely unacceptable for them to get away with this.
To say this game has not meet expectations is a very, very big understatement.
The overall quality of both the game, and how Atari handle their customers is abysmal.
It’s fuel on an already blazing fire and it’s only going to get worse.
They are also banning players for speaking about it. i got banned about 3 hours ago. And i am just one of the many players who got banned.
This is my first and last cryptic product. If they were giving away free lifetime subs i would not go back.
I feel sorry for the lifetimers because today they abruptly cut off refunds for lifetimers. And yes some of those people got banned for protesting that.
You should go check out the general board on cryptis star trek website. Go back between 5-15 pages back and you can see for yourself.
At this point, they should really do just about anything they can to get current players to stay in the game, given their complete lack of anything for endgame players and total lack of depth in game play for *everyone.*
They’d be better off giving everyone 60 days free of game play, with the promise of a great big content patch by the end of it, than rescinding the offer for new players. They need to do some major things to keep their player base happy and bat away all the internet-wide antipathy toward their needs-an-internet-connection game and company.
There seems to be a lot of banning going on at the Cryptic forums. One person started a thread regarding the topic, and it got stickied. Later he got banned, but still stickied. I cannot imagine that any other response than the one being presented was expected by Atari or Cryptic.
Atari/Cryptic wanted to pull a fast one, unfortunately for them the gaming community has taken notice and stuff like this should NOT BE ACCEPTABLE! Either it be a game or another product.
They want their money and they want it now.
Personally I purchased the game yesterday, only to have the 60 day deal yanked. I’m less than pleased and will never ever deal with Atari again.
Not to mention this really damaged my view of the Star Trek franchise because they choose to partner with such a shady outfit (Atari).
Let’s get one thing straight here people. with regards to this SPECIFIC incident, this is 100% ATARI – Cryptic studios had nothing to do with the offer, changeing the offer or anything other than being forced to keep news of it off their boards (that may also be because of atari). Atari is the game’s publisher. they and CBS made cryptic RUSH the game and release before they (Cryptic) wanted to – as a game maker when given a choice to release by febuary, or have the game cancled, they choose to release a rushed product early. the game shows the cut-backs that were made, but at least they are trying. please wtih this 60-day bs remember that was via ATARI.COM – NOT STARTREKONLINE.COM or CRYPTIC,COM. that’s not to say cryptic hasn’t made bad moves, but in this incident this is 100% atari.
let’s throw dirt in the right direction.
No it is not grendell and you know it Atari is cryptic and cryptic is atari. Cryptic is just the coding arm of now so the blame gets placed on all parties involved.
Not to mention, the lead designer on STO at Cryptic is the one saying that we just “don’t get it.”
This has just been a debacle from the get go, offer the deal and piss off current players then pull the deal and piss off potential future players. They just can’t win. I personally have no beef with Cryptic other then I don’t think the game should have launched when it did.. The game is only a quarter of the way done, even though that decision was mainly Atari’s call. I personally enjoy the game but I can see it for what it is, and unfinished product to occupy my time until TOR hits shelves.
betaboo:
you do realize that Cryptic was a game designer long before they allowed atari to buy them out?
Your comment is like someone saying that if EA decides to cancel Mass Effect and never sell it again – it’s bioware’s fault that it happens.
Reputake:
let me clarify that statement, as you apparently are one of the ones who do NOT get it…. “You have subscribed to a service that delivers a universe unending, and we shall see that universe populated with compelling content or, by the Prophets, we will die trying.
Some people get that. Some people don’t. We’re here for those that do.”
as you’ll notice he uses the phrase “by the prophets”. now, if you’re a huge fan of st: DS9, you’ll remember that the prophets were the focus of the religion of Bajor, and played a huge part in the series overall. the fact that Craig used that phrase was a rally cry for the star trek faithful/fanatics to let them know that cryptic was doing the best they can with the limitations set by atari and the rush job on the game. his conclusion to the statement is to let everyone know that he realizes not everyone playing the game was\is a star trek fan\trekkie, but the company’s focus for the game is going to be aimed at the trek fanbase more so than anyone else….
Grendell spin it however you like but the truth is out there.
And i am a huge fan of Star trek but i wont let that cloud my better judgment as it has obviously clouded yours.
I don’t buy the “get it” explanation to be honest. Besides the fact the other devs were whining about how they wouldn’t even communicate anymore because they thought the players were mean to them.
Actually, this is exactly the problem with current MMO’s. They listen to too many oppinions and are so afraid to do anything that the product is a fail no matter. If you go to the car lot and pre-order a new model car and then lease it first day it’s out, you don’t get the special that they run a month after launch to lease more cars.. Folks are going to drive publishers to require contracts for a year at a time so people don’t have a fit and back out because they didn’t get something that someone else did.
The MMO community really needs to sit back and take a look as to where the genre is going. Most new MMOs are doing Micro-Pay, and even some old MMOs are switching to it. Pretty soon that will be the only way we get to play, and let me assure you, it will cost a lot more than $14.99 US to be competative. The same people who cried because they didn’t get a free month when someone else did, be crying about an empty bank account.
i think we should all be thankful that some of the big publishers didn’t do what they eanted and push the MMO standard sub up to $24.99 US. At $14.99 US a month, it’s a very cheap and enjoyable hobby. So let’s enjoy it for what it’s worth and not ruin it for everyone else.