pay wall on the first map expansion?

lmaooo bro thinks the devs are actually gonna add something interesting that the players would want 😭😭😭

Even if it’s temporary, it’s still a paywall. If access to a specific area is tied to the skate. Pass, and the skate. Pass costs SVB — which can be bought with real money — then that’s monetized access. That’s a microtransaction gate. They even removed the sticker from their discord "No Map Areas Locked Behind Paywall" clear indicator and a middle finger to everyone who believed in this game. 

To any devs that may be reading this, please don't click off of this post because of the negativity in the first few paragraphs. I'm just very frustrated and I truly do wish to help with my feedback below.

The announcement yesterday of the Isle of Grom being accessible in Season 3 might have been the final nail in the coffin for this game that was already being buried alive. People have been asking for OVER A YEAR to be able to return to the Isle of Grom, so finally having the option to do that is wonderful. However, instead of just allowing us to fast travel to it, or ride a ferry to it (like in the tutorial), instead you decide to lock it behind a paywall for THIRTY ONE DAYS.

This is BLATANT false advertising. Three years ago, in a youtube video titled "The Board Room | skate." it was stated that there were "hard ground rules" to follow. One of these rules was "No map areas locked behind paywall." The premium skate. pass is exactly that, a paywall. I don't know what other benefits the premium pass might have, and even though its only for a month, this still goes against what was stated prior. 

This coupled with the tix change from last week, makes it seem like the devs at Full Circle are actively trying to kill off the game. These two changes are very disheartening as a diehard skate fan and as someone who geniunely wants this game to be good and successful. Especially since in many ways Season 2 was a huge step in the right direction. I have played many live service games, but I don't think I have ever seen one this consumer unfriendly, to the point where it seems they want people to stop playing. It also could just be EA's hand forcing these horrid changes.

Please reconsider not only the Isle of Grom paywalling, but also the tix rollover change. Both of these changes actively hurt the game and will reduce player interest in the game. I've already lost interest in playing for the rest of Season 2 because of the tix change.

Always one step forward, two steps back with this game :(

Regardless, I'm looking  forward to Season 3's new Tattoos, Park Builder, and Soundtrack additions. I'm even excited to go back to the Isle of Grom, despite the terrible paywalling decision, as I've been waiting for that since the first day I playtested.

To any skate. devs reading this, 
I'm not really upset with you personally. I know making games is hard work, and Full Circle isn't some massive studio with near limitless resources, I get that. Honestly I'm really happy to be able to play a skate game on current hardware, even if it's a far cry from the quality of Skate 2. I'm also thankful I had the opportunity to play it six months before launch as an insider, even if it seems like all my feedback was ignored. It's unreasonable to assume the team wants the game to be considered bad by many that have played it. But, it seems like for every good addition to the game, there are just as many, if not more bad decisions to go along with it.

From an outsider perspective, it seems like the tix change and Isle of Grom paywalling is being done in an attempt to increase revenue. No tix at the start of the season = more people buying tix, paywalled early access to a new part of the map = more people buying premium pass. Depending on the other benefits besides the Isle of Grom, I'll probably be getting the premium pass anyway. But regardless, I don't think that it will have the effects ya'll are hoping for, especially the tix change. The vast majority of people aren't as willing as I am to spend money on this game (I've spent $85 so far, with more to come) because the average player isn't a diehard skate fan that knows this game is the last hope for a franchise they love. The tix change specifically hurts the people that are most likely to spend money on the game. I was stockpiling tix from tasks/challenges, so I could immediately buy the skate. pass next season and get through the first few pages instantly. Taking away these tix from the dedicated players that grind the game like myself, isn't going to make them buy more, it'll do the opposite. 

There are a few ways I think you should be focusing on to increase SVB sales:

First, standardize prices based on cosmetic models, removing rarities (except branded). Example: all pairs of old skools should be 500, not have some be 900 and some be 500, same thing with half cabs, or any other cosmetic that has multiple colorways. The same goes for branded board arts, they should all be 300, instead of sometimes being 400.

Second, make skate. original cosmetics (non-branded) more worth their value. All skate. original cosmetics should be cheaper than branded cosmetics in the same slot. Example: Branded Board arts range between 300-400, original board arts range from 150-250. This is typically how it is currently, but I think originals being half the price of branded items is a good balance, since there are always going to be more originals than branded items. These pricing discrepancies will be especially prevalent with the upcoming "Items on Demand" catalogue (which will be a great addition btw). 

Third, and most importantly, allow individual items to be purchased from bundles, and discount the rest of the bundle accordingly. There have been many cases where I really like an item in a bundle and would absolutely purchase it if it was sold on its own, but don't want to spend the equivalent of $15-$20 for that one item. Example: The grim reaper bundle has an awesome deck in it that I would love to skate on, but I don't care for the rest of the bundles items, so I'm not going to spend $25 for a singular deck that would otherwise be between 300-500 SVB.

If you read this far, thank you
Have a good day/night, whover you are

They have no reason to be more player friendly if players simply throw more money at them.

I want my time in the game to be respected and these new moves show it's not. 

The fact that you have to grind to access the TUTORIAL section or pay every season is comically stupid. 

Stop alienating your fan base! Your players numbers are hanging by a thread and your course of action is  to lock tutorial island behind a paywall 🤦🏻‍♂️ And don’t act like this is a whole new area just because you added a tiny piece of land to the the already existing island. It’s greed plain and simple. Live service models have ruined modern gaming. Nobody wanted this. Your core audience are adults who grew up playing Skate 1-3. Instead you’ve marketed the game towards Fortnite kids. Well guess what, Fortnite kids wants Fortnite, not skate…

Hey,

New sk8r here. Just got my first premium pass. Seems like everyone is pretty salty about the "24hr pass" thing. The playerbase is already "a little thin" as reported by many sk8rs, is splitting us into 2 separate locations going to be worth it? It seems dumb to get access to this (nearly identical) tutorial island right at the beginning of the game, then a few months later try to re-sell it to us as NEW?

I'm confused. We go there. We sk8 that place for awhile in tutorial. We finish our challenges and move on with our life. Eventually we want to go back. Can't? How were we there to begin with? How is this not possible? Can we not put a little shortcut on the map to take us there?

And now you want to re-release it to us, as a "new place!" for money or in-game currency? Then it's not unlocked for good and all sk8rs rejoice? I'm confused here. You guys add a lil separate area on the bottom right and now that's worth $?

Yikes ya'll woulda been better off release flat fun island than this one

It absolutely is a pay wall because of how short lived the pass it. As someone who loves the franchise but only plays casually it's such a slap in the face. I love the idea of locking the area to progression HOWEVER, having to earn 500 rip chips every day takes the biscuit. It probably takes me 15 minutes to grind the daily tasks if I focus on it specifically but let's say I want to hop on for a quick half hour after work and skate grom, I wouldn't be able to unless I already had rip chips. Why not make it a full scale mission with a mini story to get there, so it actually feels like an achievement and let the credit card kids buy their way if they want?!

Honestly, I understand that it's early access and this may not be the case forever but after such a long wait for skate to return they keep slapping us in the face.

What's mad is they shot themselves in both feet on this because this has taken all of the attention away from the fact they actually made a good decision (you read that right!) by provided free clothing for everyone to choose from! This was one of the biggest gripes since day one and so was the clinicial feel and they said they are making the streets grittier too! But because of their stupidity and tonedeafness they haven't received any praise for it because. It's one baby step forward, one olympic world record long jump back!

If it's there you can go there. I am guessing the island is not "there"

"Our goal remains the same. We want skate. to be a game that keeps growing and improving with our community for a very long time. Early Access is about building the foundation for that future. "

This literally screams that the longevity of the game is not in mind. It reminds me of crypto scam that is about to get rug pulled 

The player base is laughably low and EA states :

As games are replaced with newer titles, the number of players still enjoying the games that have been live for some time dwindles to a level – typically fewer than 1% of all peak online players across all EA titles – where it’s no longer feasible to continue the behind-the-scenes work involved with keeping the online services for these games up and running.

The game is really close to the 1% mark. 

 Bad decision after bad decision this has turned into a laughing stock and mockery of "skate culture" EA was pushing so hard. 

Also changing the FAQ page is also hilarious and a scumbag move 

Discord still hasn't stop clowning this and all previous decisions same for instagram. 

Are devs wearing a blindfold or and they willingly milking this game for every penny possible ready to pull the rug ?

Player base from steam charts

"Your core audience are adults who grew up playing Skate 1-3"

This. Whoever chose to prioritize fortnite kids over adults with discretionary income needs to be fired immediately. What a colossally moronic decision. 

I was in middle school when the first Skate came out and I've been playing the franchise steadily ever since. That's almost two decades of playing these games. I'm now in my 30's with a healthy amount of disposable income and I would have no problem spending hundreds of dollars on this game if they offered me something worth buying.