As Regards the new Quest structure
I have been playing GOH for almost the entirety of its release, 8+ years now. I was drawn to the game by its strategy aspects that rely more on planning and less on just stats: a well-designed squad can hit well above its weight. I was never really drawn to buying photons, but have, from time to time. I acknowledge that if you allow “free play” that the company is entitled to sell stuff for profit. Gaming is not an altruistic business. That said:
Heretofore the game has allowed heavy payers to advance orders of magnitude more quickly than non-payers. That is fair. Sooner or later, any “free player” is going to wind up buying stuff. The game encourages this by providing low-cost (relatively) purchases that help without giving one the advantage that a player who forks out a couple hundred dollars a month gets. Also fair (-ish).
Over the last couple of years, however, not only have “free-ish players” been increasingly disadvantaged, but the prices to play have become increasingly onerous, apparently catering to Oligarch-level or Saudi Prince level players. The latest build, however, has gone outright darkside. Players not prepared to fork out $20 a pop are not allowed to advance in game events beyond the lowest levels. Galactic Chalenge, for example, focused on certain squads, awarding max prizes only to specific teams, but a player could possibly go through all levels getting minimal prizes, at least something. The current build allows one to fight through the levels, but awards no prizes whatsoever beyond Tier 4 unless one pays $20 to $40 for the privilege, with no guarantees of being able to do any better. This is ludicrous.
All of the major events currently are tracked by how much someone is willing to pay to get the “best” prizes. In one respect, that’s okay, but the prices charged are absolutely absurd. I routinely pay probably $10 to $20 roughly a month, which I consider fair enough to play the game. Characters and events designed to cost several hundred dollars, however, are totally absurd, and I could afford to pay it.
Clearly, the spreadsheet managers of GOH are trying to force anyone who is not willing to pay a few hundred dollars a month out of the game. Since almost everyone pays to some extent, this seems a questionable business model at best.
Ultimately, however, it will be successful: long-time players like myself will start to leave the game, and once that starts, support for GOH will erode rapidly. Your current business model is not illegal, but it is worse. A pricing policy that drives customers away is stupid..
