Just make it B2P already and be done with it. At least that way we won’t have to deal with this token nonsense like Korea. If it’s just going to be the exact same layout, why the hell should we even consider playing the NA version? You can already play the KR version in English anyway.
I really thought you guys were going to do something about this, but it seems I was mistaken. Instead, you’d rather keep it “F2P” while screwing over the free players. You have many people here that have already stated they’d be willing to pay X amount for the game if it came to that. I’d just say put a $30 price tag on it and most will feel comfortable about that price as long as it means they don’t have to jump through hoops to trade and all that.
Instead, this Founder’s Pack or whatever is just going to be a bandaid for the real problem. Once the dust has cleared and they’re left needing more tokens later, they’ll realize how unprofessional this is. In the end, despite making changes to their original plan, it still looks like they’re trying to just make as much money as they can off the playerbase before letting it tank.
It’s not like they don’t know how this was received in the KR version. They can clearly see how many players have left that one and how often it goes down in MMO rankings in Korea. Hell, I remember a multitude of threads on the BBS talking about how the game was doomed, showed pictures of burning trees, badmouthing the company for being so selfish/greedy, suggesting people play other games, etc.
We’re going to have the same kind of backlash here when the ■■■■ hits the fan (it has sort of started already) as new players come to the game when it officially launches and realizes all of the restrictions to such basic features. At least RO didn’t go P2W until years later… This seems to be doing it right from the get-go.
Welp, guess it’s time to stop suggesting this game to friends at this rate. You guys could have had something great here, but I don’t know how you honestly expect to compete with the likes of other MMOs out there right now with such limitations that even archaic MMOs have as standard features (see: trading, storage, etc.). The playerbase itself is already small enough in NA (and you’re only making the playerbase even smaller by keeping quiet about the EU issue, despite this being the “International” version) as it is, so you’d think you would want to try to appeal to your fans instead of alienating them even further with these ridiculous sets of limitations.
You managed to turn a game that could have lasted well over a year into something people will dump a few months into and move on to something else. This is exactly why I see this as a money game. If you guys cared about long term plans, you’d see exactly why your “plan” is a problem. Sure, it helps you in the short term of things because it gives you a bit of money before people realize how ridiculous this is and decides to stop playing and/or tell their friends about your schemes.
I guess at this rate, all I can do now is hope that the JP version somehow rectifies these issues that plague the KR and NA versions.