Monthly Development Update - May 2015 (Yes We Rubi-Kan!)

[Oliveerz]

Great monthly letter as usual. It bugs me quite a bit that there has been no mentioning of the engine for quite some time now, though.

[MachSchau]

Nice update. However, what is going on with the engine? I currently cant play AO with this fancy laptop I have due to AO being created in 1970.

[BytEfLUSh2]

Michi did mention the engine in a reply to last month's Update:

The engine update is not dead, though it has been a while since any sort of update has been provided. I did have a paragraph or so dedicated to it in this update, but as it was lacking in substantial information, I left it out. The plans for taking things to the next stage are forming, but there is still much work to be done.

Changes beyond what was posted today are in the works, but until certain things solidify further, I do not have much to report in regards to them. I will discuss these in the future when there is more information to share.

[MachSchau]

Engine talk is always expected.

[Transform]

Michi,
Ask on behalf of my AO friends. Will there a subscription offer on upcoming 15 years anniversary? Few of them plan to come back

Cheers!

[Dysfunction]

You have been incredibly impressive Michi, nothing but good things to say about what is being changed and the speed of which the content is being driven to us. I am very glad that we got someone finally in touch with what the community wants and what will vastly improve game play for vets and newcomers alike. Thank you!!!!!

[BytEfLUSh2]

Engine talk is always expected.

Well, let's hope he will share more info in the June Update.

[doctorgore]

A few weeks a go a friend and I were discussing that the reck should be reopened as the dam is the perfect location for an under siege/taken style hostage/terrorist style raid or even transformers based droid rebellion style raid where you would need to rescue hostages from droids gone out of control. I am quite surprised by the synchronicity. From a game design point of view reusing the old unfinished assets is an excellent idea and use of resources. The pyramid is very spectacular a sight to behold. This is truly a magnificent turn of events.

Once a upon a time froobs used to seek out these zones as one would atlantis or the lost continent of MU.

[ByLogic]

Is this the no engine update Anniversary? If so congratulation. Recked on..

[Raggy]

BROKEN SHORE PYRAMID

THE RECK!

AAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaa.

<3 Michi

[Oliveerz]

Would be great to hear Michizure's opinion regarding the current subscription cost and the reasoning behind the price differences between EU and US players and why there is no equality (I'm aware of VAT taxes, but that shouldn't force some players to pay more than others).

Would be nice to hear if they ever plan to drop the cost / month down to 10 bucks, that would generate so much more activity, i guarantee.

[Aiken]

Would be great to hear Michizure's opinion regarding the current subscription cost and the reasoning behind the price differences between EU and US players and why there is no equality (I'm aware of VAT taxes, but that shouldn't force some players to pay more than others).

Would be nice to hear if they ever plan to drop the cost / month down to 10 bucks, that would generate so much more activity, i guarantee.

Very good question indeed. I also would like to hear some talk about subscription costs. Currently it is far too high and we're seeing the effects of it.

[xandramas]

Would be great to hear Michizure's opinion regarding the current subscription cost and the reasoning behind the price differences between EU and US players and why there is no equality (I'm aware of VAT taxes, but that shouldn't force some players to pay more than others).

Would be nice to hear if they ever plan to drop the cost / month down to 10 bucks, that would generate so much more activity, i guarantee.

Hear, hear - and I'm probably not the only subscriber who'd activate a dormant paid account if the subs were cheaper!

[Teknologist]

Very cool...
Keep up the great work Michi!

[Pomidor]

I have that map oO

I have trio: The Orange Box, The Map and Instruction

[Izgimmy]

Would be great to hear Michizure's opinion regarding the current subscription cost and the reasoning behind the price differences between EU and US players and why there is no equality (I'm aware of VAT taxes, but that shouldn't force some players to pay more than others).

Would be nice to hear if they ever plan to drop the cost / month down to 10 bucks, that would generate so much more activity, i guarantee.

I would, actually, like for Funcom to go even further regarding this matter. What I would like to see is this:

1) Make Anarchy Online Buy-to-Play (B2P, no opinion yet regarding pricing).
2) Scrap the froob program.
3) Offer different B2P options ("Rubi-Ka explorer (froob)", "Shadowlands investigator (sloob)", Regular (all current expansions), Collector (get some physical stuff, like t-shirts, prints etcetera), Grand Master (all future expansions included and a monthly amount of FC Points, see The Secret World)).
4) Enhance the Item Shop (offer more cosmetic variety, like weapon and armour skins (if technically possible)).
5) Release and sell expansions and mission packs more frequently (again, see The Secret World).

Just some examples.

[Scottik]

I would, actually, like for Funcom to go even further regarding this matter. What I would like to see is this:

1) Make Anarchy Online Buy-to-Play (B2P, no opinion yet regarding pricing).
2) Scrap the froob program.
3) Offer different B2P options ("Rubi-Ka explorer (froob)", "Shadowlands investigator (sloob)", Regular (all current expansions), Collector (get some physical stuff, like t-shirts, prints etcetera), Grand Master (all future expansions included and a monthly amount of FC Points, see The Secret World)).
4) Enhance the Item Shop (offer more cosmetic variety, like weapon and armour skins (if technically possible)).
5) Release and sell expansions and mission packs more frequently (again, see The Secret World).

Just some examples.

Not sure why there're some players so eager to cancel froob program. It might not be as lively as it once used to be, but it's still the main 'source' of new player. And it also is the only way to store larger amount of items, aka bank mules. Not to mention many paid player, including myself, do enjoy froob experience which also allows me to sneak peak at what's new when my paid account is frozen.

As for B2P option, I'm fan of that but at the same time I think it wouldn't work for AO very well. AO is an old game and no matter what devs do we're never gonna see bunchload of new players buying the game. It's just not gonna happen. And forcing current subscribers to pay for the game they've already paid for (multiple times in most cases) would be suicidal move.

FC simply needs to lower subscription cost down to 5$/month (world-wide) and and lower prices in item shop. And keep the froob program as it is.

[haxi]

Not sure why there're some players so eager to cancel froob program. It might not be as lively as it once used to be, but it's still the main 'source' of new player. And it also is the only way to store larger amount of items, aka bank mules. Not to mention many paid player, including myself, do enjoy froob experience which also allows me to sneak peak at what's new when my paid account is frozen.

As for B2P option, I'm fan of that but at the same time I think it wouldn't work for AO very well. AO is an old game and no matter what devs do we're never gonna see bunchload of new players buying the game. It's just not gonna happen. And forcing current subscribers to pay for the game they've already paid for (multiple times in most cases) would be suicidal move.

FC simply needs to lower subscription cost down to 5$/month (world-wide) and and lower prices in item shop. And keep the froob program as it is.

$5 per month sounds about right for AO. Itemshop has been overpriced from day one.

[Teknologist]

I'm sure $5 per month would bring some people in, mostly old players and a few new ones. However I doubt the new numbers would equal the current profits from the current subscription price. The new engine might help attract the numbers needed to do that.

Don't get me wrong, I would love to pay less, but I doubt it makes sense to Funcom.

I myself, would love a Lifetime sub option. I have already paid many times that already. 4 accounts x 14 years, plus all expansions... A lot of it was monthly... ouch!

If the Item shop prices came down, I think they would see an increase in purchases. That and more items. Many more items! But please not the same stuff available for Veterans. What's the point in having 406 points if anyone can buy the same stuff for $$? Variations of the same items I'm OK with. Recall beacons for instance are too useful to be Veteran only. However I think the Veteran points should be able to be used in the Item shop as well.

[Izgimmy]

Not sure why there're some players so eager to cancel froob program. It might not be as lively as it once used to be, but it's still the main 'source' of new player. And it also is the only way to store larger amount of items, aka bank mules. Not to mention many paid player, including myself, do enjoy froob experience which also allows me to sneak peak at what's new when my paid account is frozen.[...]

I wouldn't say I'm eager to scrap the froob program, I just think there are better alternatives nowadays. As others have mentioned, simply lowering the subscription cost, without any short-term guarantee of an equivalent income, sounds a bit far-fetched. Don't get me wrong, I would love to cut my monthly cost from 17 EUR to 5 EUR, or even 10 EUR, but I honestly don't think that's going to happen (unless as a last resort from Funcom, but let's not hope it comes to that). Maybe a hybrid model would suit Anarchy Online? The best of both worlds?

But back to the froob program. A rough estimate - I cannot back this up, just a personal hunch - says that basically 75-80 % of all existing froob accounts are mule accounts or inactive accounts. If Funcom were to develop and implement a shared bank (account wide), holding a reasonable amount of slots, then there would be no more need for mule accounts. A basic shared bank could be part of any paid account, with options to expand the number of available slots through the Item Shop; win-win.

Regarding the froob experience. How about a classic 30-day trial? If you are still undecided after 30 days, Anarchy Online is probably not for you. But if you want to continue, how about paying a small one-time fee, like 5 EUR / 6 USD, to get the "Rubi-Ka Explorer"? It would support the game financially (no subscription cost, but full access to the Item Shop, GMI, mail etcetera) without pushing away those interested in continuing the game (I think).