[Replacement Poll] What do you think of the new VIP Membership system?

bk1234

[MOD MIC ON] This poll is replacing an original poll created by MBurn7 of the same name which was removed by the mod team due to some biased options. All of the comments and OP's original text have been moved to this poll so the discussion can continue. Please remember when creating polls to maintain a neutral tone in your options. (Forum Rule 13) We apologize for the inconvenience of having to vote again. [MOD MIC OFF]

@Mburn7 said: 

I'm seeing (and feeling) some strong emotions about the VIP Membership system that was just announced.

So, lets compile them in poll form!  Yay polls!

Dropspot

I don't have a problem with it, but I won't be participating.

I am F2P. I never spent anything and had countless hours of entertainment for free. I will be around basically while I think the F2P environment is decent enough for me to keep having my joy.

I want them to have money for sustain the game so it can live and I can play. I don't feel the VIP plans are more pay to win than what we already have nor that it gives substantial advantage to paying customers that they couldn't achieve today. 

EvilDead

Pay-to-win is a bit of stretch although certainly VIP is cheaper than the current purchase options and better overall rewards for your dollar. I would give 10-15/month for a stable good game. Would feel a lot more comfortable with $9.99/month personally and would likely pay it myself.

The $30 mark is way to high for a mobile game. Even PC based subscription games haven't hit that mark and there is not enough content in this game to justify that high of a monthly fee. There are those who will pay it and more power to them.

VIP can help new players which is a good concept, but those who have been here for a few years with a wealth of gems won't be needing VIP. So they're likely looking for revenue from new/newer players. 

FindingHeart8

I am against this and it will affect my engagement in the game. (Please explain.)

I always believed that one of MTGPQs most charming qualities is that you couldn't just *buy* your way to victory.  Sure, a few of the right purchases could tilt the odds in your favor, but ultimately it came down to skill and strategy, making the most of what you had and fighting your way to the top.  Almost everyone I've met on these forums, regardless of whether I agree with their general perspective, has shown to be intelligent players who worked hard to get where they are in this game.

In one move Octagon took RT away from us and announced that they're turning this game into it's opposite, a game no longer based on strategy or skill, but those with the deepest pockets.  An alienation of free to play players.  You now will have to pay *significant* monthly fees just to keep up competitively.

If Octagon was ever to listen to it's community, now is the time.  This is one of the most drastic changes they could implement, with the greatest fallouts if they dismiss the will of the players.

I hope they listen, I hope they learn.

Mburn7

I am against this and it will affect my engagement in the game. (Please explain.)

EvilDead said:

Pay-to-win is a bit of stretch although certainly VIP is cheaper than the current purchase options and better overall rewards for your dollar. I would give 10-15/month for a stable good game. Would feel a lot more comfortable with $9.99/month personally and would likely pay it myself.

The $30 mark is way to high for a mobile game. Even PC based subscription games haven't hit that mark and there is not enough content in this game to justify that high of a monthly fee. There are those who will pay it and more power to them.

VIP can help new players which is a good concept, but those who have been here for a few years with a wealth of gems won't be needing VIP. So they're likely looking for revenue from new/newer players. 

I just see "craftable masterpieces" and I think pay-to-win.  I've played other mobile games where the "SS Tier" cards or whatever they are called are only available to paying players.  I absolutely despise those games.  
Now with the "exclusive bundles", "craftable masterpieces", and "early access to new content" I see this game making a hard turn toward that kind of game.  Hence, the pay-to-win tag.  Am I really so off base with that assessment?

James13

I don't have a problem with it, but I won't be participating.

Is crafting masterpieces really off that much from the current system where they are readily available in EPs?  Especially when you look and see it requires 6 continuous months of VIP to access that.

I just got 3 masterpieces this morning from crafted out EPs.

It's not for me, personally.  Some people requested this and they delivered.

I don't see it providing anything P2W.  Price points seem in line with existing bundles providing similar goods.

I don't anticipate this existing to change my experience in any way.

jtwood

I'm not a fan, but I'll see how it plays out.

At the risk of flaming, this seems like a silly perspective:

I am against this and will be seriously ramping down my playing because of it

Why would you play less because someone else is offering to pay for a game?

If you want to play less, do it because they remove features, functionality, or enjoyment.

But just putting in a subscription system alone doesn't seem like a reason to change your gaming habit.

Magic123

jtwood said:

At the risk of flaming, this seems like a silly perspective:

I am against this and will be seriously ramping down my playing because of it

Why would you play less because someone else is offering to pay for a game?

If you want to play less, do it because they remove features, functionality, or enjoyment.

But just putting in a subscription system alone doesn't seem like a reason to change your gaming habit.

Removing the best event in the whole game, and then saying you can get back 1/3 of what that event gave you every month IF you payed $30/mo... Yes, thats why you would stop playing.

Mburn7

I am against this and it will affect my engagement in the game. (Please explain.)

jtwood said:

At the risk of flaming, this seems like a silly perspective:

I am against this and will be seriously ramping down my playing because of it

Why would you play less because someone else is offering to pay for a game?

If you want to play less, do it because they remove features, functionality, or enjoyment.

But just putting in a subscription system alone doesn't seem like a reason to change your gaming habit.

Personally I don't like playing a game where the only way to access the entire game or to do well in events is to pay money.  If the entire game isn't accessible to a free to play player (or with a 1-time "full version" payment) than I don't like playing that game.  I'm not paying $30 a month to play a mobile game, or even $5 a month.

This is, of course, just my personal opinion.  You have a right to feel differently (hence the wide variety of poll options)

wereotter

I am against this and it will affect my engagement in the game. (Please explain.)

They already ask you to pay for planeswalkers, for exclusive cards, and other bundles. Additionally they have the shop set up to pay to buy crystals. I think paying to be able to pay less and get other benefits will really hurt the game.

If the game were to become PvE only, then this is a non-issue, but considering so much content is PvP, it feels like the possibility is there that if you’re not paying, you stand more of a risk to lose matches against those who are simply by how many more resources they had compared to you.

I will have to see how this plays out, but I don’t want to end up with some Clash of Clans type of scenario where even though the game is technically free to play, the only way to win is to pay. 

Theros

The nerf in existing content is a low blow. It's an attempt to force people to subscribe to VIP. The VIP should be add-on to make getting things even faster for people willing to pay. 
I wont buy it because I see no value to me. VIP to me doesn't value for the price veteran or not. 
@jtwood The sad thing is that 3.4 will change  gaming habit of many by nerfing and/or removing what was great about the game. Otherwise people wouldn't care.

tfg76

I'd prefer a system where F2P was mostly "trial only", while the game paid for itself by a smaller monthly subscription, say $5. I'd gladly pay that for the entertainment value, but would also expect a refund whenever there are breaking bugs.

Magic123

for FREE Rising tensions gives you this much a month:
400 gold
400 pinks
20 packs
10,000 orbs

PAYING $30 for VIP you this much a month:
400 gold
150 pinks
8 packs
4 non-dupe rares
1 non-dupe mythic

the top one looks better, and its also FREE, why would you downgrade to PAYING $30 a month, for lower rewards... 

EvilDead

Mburn7 said:

I just see "craftable masterpieces" and I think pay-to-win.  I've played other mobile games where the "SS Tier" cards or whatever they are called are only available to paying players.  I absolutely despise those games.  
Now with the "exclusive bundles", "craftable masterpieces", and "early access to new content" I see this game making a hard turn toward that kind of game.  Hence, the pay-to-win tag.  Am I really so off base with that assessment?

I see your point but I will say that people are doing something similar today with new sets. They have so much saved up that they craft all the Mythics and then use their purple gems to get all the Masterpieces. Now they have been playing the game forever but is it fair they can do that and new players cannot? Maybe they earned it with their tenure?

It levels the playing field for those who want to spend the money.

Personally, I wish they would fix everything that needs to be fixed before trying to implement VIP. But from a business perspective, developing a game costs money. They're in business to make money, so I get it.

madwren

I'm not a fan, but I'll see how it plays out.

I don't mind the existence of a subscription model. It largely won't affect me.

What I do mind is the removal of RT.  Subscription models should augment an already equitable reward pool.  They shouldn't replace it. 

The combination of the two creates very poor optics and is yet another marketing failure.

Azerack

I like it, but there are some things I would like to see adjusted.

Since Marvel's PQ game already has a VIP option in place, I wasn't surprised, I guess. But the price range is DRASTICALLY different between the two.

They have $9.99 and you get daily rewards in addition to their daily mission rewards.

We have either $15 or $30 and... yeah you get some stuff, but is it really $15 or $30 worth?

Mind you, I HAVE seen some crazy MMORPG's out there that are willing to charge over $40 just for one costume skin, but.... 

KageTora

I don't have a problem with it, but I won't be participating.

I'm free to play, but am not against a VIP system. A lot of mobile games have it, and there's nothing inherently wrong with that. In fact, I've subscribed to a few before. 

Will I ever pony up on mtgpq? Hell. No. This game is not worth playing unless you're going free to play, in my personal view. It's too unstable and too buggy. There's is BARELY any new content and it is highly irregular. The competitive scene is stale (again, due to lack of new coalition events), and so there's absolutely no point in wasting your hard earned money in getting more cards because there's nowhere to use them.

The Dev team does not talk, listen or care about the community, they blindly push forward with their game plan (or lack thereof?) and, at this point, are just being shady with the cash grabbing - removing RT, thus decreasing our daily rewards, only to try and make it seem like this VIP system to be more rewarding and necessary when, in direct comparison, RT alone was more rewarding. 

And above all of that, the rewards are way, way, WAY out of line with the amount of money being charged. Definitely not worth it. You guys are seriously overestimating the value of your game. At this point, it's cheaper, more fun and
rewarding to just play Arena.

Nope. Nope, nope, nope.

EDIT: it's not included in the voting option, but I'm likely also ending uo giving up this game, not because of the VIP system per se but because of the disappearance of RT and the sheer lack of disrespect it exhibits towards us as a loyal community that actuality have been putting up with a lot of "tinykitty". 

Tremayne

Magic123 said:

for FREE Rising tensions gives you this much a month:
400 gold
400 pinks
20 packs
10,000 orbs

PAYING $30 for VIP you this much a month:
400 gold
150 pinks
8 packs
4 non-dupe rares
1 non-dupe mythic

the top one looks better, and its also FREE, why would you downgrade to PAYING $30 a month, for lower rewards... 

I actually think your comparison is a bit off, because you have forgotten to convert the 8 boosters, 4 rares and 1 mythic to resources.
By my math these correspond to
520 golds
400 + 480 pinks

so the totals are
920 golds
1030 pinks

however you have also forgotten to do the same with the free RT, so that is another 1400 golds (assuming 10 newest and 10 standard boosters) making the totals of free RT
1800 golds
400 pinks
10k orbs

This makes the comparison easier to follow, though it may not change your opinion of the VIP system.

Unknown

This content has been removed.

wereotter

I am against this and it will affect my engagement in the game. (Please explain.)

madwren said:

I don't mind the existence of a subscription model. It largely won't affect me.

What I do mind is the removal of RT.  Subscription models should augment an already equitable reward pool.  They shouldn't replace it. 

The combination of the two creates very poor optics and is yet another marketing failure.

I must have missed this. Did they announce/confirm that the event is dead? I thought it was just missing the last two days. 

Unknown

This content has been removed.