Ignoring your customers? : Othor Games

» Sat Jan 18, 2014 8:50 pm

I have been fan of Zenimax/Bethesda titles for a long time. For well over 15 years, in fact. From the very first time I saw a friend playing the original Fallout, I was hooked. I immediately got a copy of my own and went from there. At present, my game library has more titles from Zenimax/Bethesda than from any other developer - by a large margin. Recently I encountered something that really didn't sit well with me at all, and I am sure I am not the only one with this bitter taste in my mouth over it.

The fact is, there are several people who have voiced their concerns with the buy and subscribe to play business model chosen by the devs. Should you post about this in the forums, your thread is locked (literally) in minutes with the following message:

"Until there is more official information available, we aren't allowing payment system discussions. When the sub was announced, they said there would be discounts and other methods of payments. Since there hasn't been anything more released, there isn't much that can be discussed. You have to buy the game, one month is included with the purchase, and one month without discounts runs $15 [or $14.99]. Whether multiple months can be purchased and what the price is, no one knows yet."

here is the URL of one such thread, as I can't post links here -

^(http)forums.gamesas .com /topic/1484061-b2p-or-p2p-either-or-not-both-and-here-is-why/?hl=%2Bb2p+%2Bor+%2Bp2p+%2Bnot+%2Bboth#entry23253732

(remove spaces before and after .com)

- Look at the time stamps. Locked in under 10 minutes. (yes, I linked my own post. This is because there is no question that I have permission to quote or cite my own thread.)

There are a few issues with this.

First, the fact that the above statement is a lie. They announced roughly 6 months ago the pricing for the game, and has already been discussed at length on the net .

Proof - youtube .com /watch?v=e2C-nZPNhiI ( remove spaces before and after .com ) - look at the date submitted. 8-23-13.

Do they think we are stupid? Do they think we live under rocks and have no access to youtube? One would think that if we have internet access to play ESO, we can also use it to keep up on their announcements, watch promo videos, etc. Zenimax/Bethesda. We are not the fools you seem to take us for.

Secondly, the devs act as they hold all the cards here. Have they forgotten that WE are their customers? If not for us, they would be nothing more that some geek working in his garage. In fact, it is us, the customers, that made Zenimax and Bethesda what they are. OUR patronage. OUR money. Their millions come from US. I am appalled at the treatment of the very people, like myself, who been customers for well over a decade.

Think about it, devs, if you continue to blatantly lie to and ignore your customers when we try speaking to you, our wallets can just as easily ignore you come release. There are plenty of other devs out there who actually care about what their paying customers want. I have no issue letting my wallet be my voice, and choosing to instead give my money to someone who actually wants it enough to listen to the very customers they are trying to woo. I am sure I will be able to play ESO in a few months when it has failed and become free to play if yoiu continue to trat us with this blatant ignorance. You would only have yourselves to blame for this. You should have listened to your customers. If you think I am playing for even a moment ask the devs of SWTOR, Rift, Secret World, and so many others how well it worked out for them. We the customers let our wallets speak to them, too.

I am sure that this thread will be locked or even removed just as fast as the one I linked to serve as an example. Doing so would only prove that Zenimax / Bethesda is afraid of the voices of their customers. Please, Zenimax / Bethesda, all of you - from the guy in the mail room to the CEO, to the shareholders - take a moment to ask yourselves where you would be without us, the millions of gamers in the US alone. Without us, you would simply not exist.

Please, listen to your customers.

» Sun Jan 19, 2014 4:44 am

The devs have nothing to do with the payment model; they make the game. The fact is that they are making what they think is the best decision for them and complaining on a forum isn't going to help because it's just a mouthy minority for all they know. Now if you want to argue, as some intelligent people have, that the model is questionable, then go ahead. There are just as many who think it's the right way to go. Subscription numbers will eventually say who was right. However, I can't see how you are saying that a company being up front about what the product will cost you months before you'll be buying it is treating customers badly, no matter how many pretty colours you use for your text.

» Sun Jan 19, 2014 12:03 am

The threads are being closed until there is more info on the subject. ie: plans for discounts multiple months, sub packages, the issue on the consoles (Having to pay MS and Sony for online accesss as well as the Sub).

Fact is, the threads when they were permitted were just degenerating into bickering between a handful of the same posters. Nothing new was being covered.

edit: Seems this thread is more some sort of rant about having had your previous thread closed.

» Sat Jan 18, 2014 9:11 pm

yes, indeed ZOS should hire marketing guys who just talk to people and confirm that they are devs and they are listening. That would really make you happy.

» Sun Jan 19, 2014 5:06 am

This is just another moan at the payment model, boring.

» Sun Jan 19, 2014 7:26 am

The mods know its subsription but we cant really discuss that because there is nothing to discuss and any subscription "discussions" go down really fast.

» Sat Jan 18, 2014 5:35 pm

AH93 and JPP,... at least read it before trolling.

» Sun Jan 19, 2014 12:17 am

Not trolling whatsoever, Bethesda/ZOS owe us nothing, if you don't like the way they are doing things then don't buy the products.
The model they are planning is the best way to go with the content release schedule they have planned.
Let's leave it at that before this gets messy.

» Sun Jan 19, 2014 7:17 am

but its true you are just moaning at the payment model as AH93 said. also if you cant afford 15 $ a month(50 cents a day) then you have bigger financial problems to worry about.

» Sun Jan 19, 2014 12:19 am

Not entirely true, without us, the paying customers, they wouldn't be a company at all. Without them, we, the customer would still be doing just fine. That being said, you clearly didnt read beyond the first couple lines. In fact, NOT ONCE did I even mention the payment model here. I only noted that we gamers ( you know, the very source of their money - ie their whole reason for being) get silenced for trying to have a say in what we will or wont pay for something. You would have known that had your attention been able to last more than a minute.

» Sat Jan 18, 2014 5:10 pm

payment model threads aren't allowed, and btw your name could be offensive to some

» Sat Jan 18, 2014 4:05 pm

You've not paid anything yet, therefore you aren't a customer. Just to clear that one up!

(sorry, meant in good humour!)

» Sun Jan 19, 2014 5:19 am

Then yes, it would seem this thread is more a moan at your thread being closed. It was actually closed -like the others- for good reasons. If you seek out and read some of the earlier threads you'd understand.

They just got out of control with people bickering over the value of one payment plan over another and rehashing the same stuff over and over.

» Sun Jan 19, 2014 6:14 am

This went well, and accusing members of trolling is not a good idea.