MC Withdraw 3 month subscription

[soltangris 42]

Hey, if they're having money problems, it's completely illogical to push prices up. This is stated in every economics book or article I've read. When you need to sell more of your product, you make discounts, not raise prices!

I'm on the optimistic side here. I think they are indeed reconsidering their whole PO strategy, and it might end up being lots of good news for those that weren't willing to subscribe.

[littlesquare.dot 0]

Originally posted by: soltangris

Hey, if they're having money problems, it's completely illogical to push prices up. This is stated in every economics book or article I've read. When you need to sell more of your product, you make discounts, not raise prices! quote>

There are so many variables involved..   you've over-simplified things.

[Sainty 0]

Originally posted by: soltangris

Hey, if they're having money problems, it's completely illogical to push prices up. This is stated in every economics book or article I've read. When you need to sell more of your product, you make discounts, not raise prices!quote>

You have probably misunderstood the books and articles. Selling more doesnt automaticly give you more money. It will just give you bigger group of consumers, and in some cases - higher costs. And discounts is not economy, its marketing. And that what Monte is doing by lowering the price on the boxes. The box is also a product that no longer have a big ongoing cost, compared to the MMO part.

They are trying to introduce the game to as many as they can, and hope that a bigger amount of players will get hooked and therefore pay whats needed to play online. If that fails, they might get a group of players that are ready to pay more for the game compared to the older players. They might get a lower player base at the end, but they may actually make more money.

PS: In economy, when your income is going down the toilet, you never lower the price of your product - you lower the expenses. And raise your prices next. If you reflect a little around your self, you will probably notice that lots of people are unemployed today and at the same time common goods has been more expensive, like milk, meat and vegitables.

edited for content.

[City Planner 121]

Heck, I'm surprised to hear that it's only got a 1 week trial of the planet offering to begin with. It want's to call itself an MMO, then it should act like one and provide the first month free, not one week. That's really cheaping out.

As for this lost 2 and 3 month option, it's seems to me likely that they see the end of the run for the PO and don't want to have to tie themselves to 3 months down the road, instead do a one month sub so they can shut the doors after just one last month when ever that month actually is (or maybe not), just my guesses.

Or perhaps they are getting too many chargebacks or declined credit cards for the 3 month charge so they feel it's better to charge a one month subscription since many cards will let a small overdraft charge go through so that they can charge their customers a huge overdraft type of fee on the credit card for loaning the consumer only a small amount of money.

Either way, it seems from the outside looking in on MC, that they are simply doing everything wrong and are setting themselves up to failure.

I honestly can't imagine them removing the 2 and 3 month sub for positive reasons, you simply don't do that.  The explanation given makes no sence at all, perhaps it's translation issues, or maybe it's simply whitewash which is what I would have to guess it is.

With the game on the weekend sale at Impulse for $19.99 it seems they are looking for a quick influx of cash from people that were sitting on the fence and wouldn't pay full price, so add 2 and 2 together and you get financial crunch in my humblest of opinions, and that is all that my post is... An Opinion.

[AlemanXL 0]

Trying a little optimism, it is possible that whatever they are planning will happen within the next month, and to avoid problems with people taking out 2 and 3 month subs, they've removed them for the present. Could be a major change to the PO system *shrugs* , but it's all just speculation. And I think we can all agree that it's the lack of communication that's the real problem, things like this should be announced, preferably beforehand.

[moaku 74]

*Awaken dream mode on*

To keep in the optimistic way, maybe they prepare something like making full PO free for everyone since 2010 and totally switch their economic approach to some DLC stuff, counting on GEM sales and on "Itemshop"/"Store"/Whatever you like to call that, but a webpage where you can buy in game content

*Awaken dream mode off*

Even if a such thing would greatly surprise me, it's still a possibility for a such removal... i'm surprised no1 even mentionned it within those 65 unrest posts

Anyway, as AlemanXL stated, we should know what's behind this next month at worst.

Just don't resubscribe when your offer expire if you're not happy with pricing"at the moment it expire conditions, and resubscribe later if things feels more fair to you... Check their website or the launcher news each few days to stay tuned on it and just wait for what you think is "acceptable conditions".

[Sainty 0]

@City Planner

I dont think that they are removing the 2 and 3 month option, I think that they will replace that with a higher price later on, or the same one. They are either testing us customers right now, or they are just wanting to make extra cash during december. Or both. December is the month that you make massive amount of advertising, cuz of x-mas, but also b cuz lots of people are free from work and at home - so its a good reason to have "raise the price" by taking away the discount for a shorter period of time.

[rsd6000 8]

its common like starting the sale - eg 50% off but i agree its better if they put advance warning

so eg on dream land undergound - you go in station - and you see no warning about removal of 2 monthly tickets or 3 monthly - its means problems and people just simply go out of station straight away - means losing the people to use underground

if there was warning in advace - eg: you see posters about removal of those - so you give a time to change or buy different ticket

[City Planner 121]

In my opinion, if they reinstate the 2 and 3 month option at the same price they are cutting their own throat. That would be a sure sign that they are out to take as much money from their players as they possibly can, and while that is what business is all about, doing it in this manner would be underhanded and dirty. So dirty that if I were them I'd never be able to wash the stench off of me.

I had speculated that they are doing this so that they can raise the prices, but it doesn't make sense to actually remove the option if you are simply going to raise the price, if you are going to raise the price then you simply raise the price period. They are fooling around with this and their bean counters didn't even realize that this would cause another backlash in the small community that they already have (speculated). However, if one wants a game to tinker around with and thinks the same line that I do that $20.00 won't even buy dinner at a nice restaurant then now is the time to grab it digitally from Impulse. I'm tempted to do so, but it makes my stomach feel really sour when I think about doing so with all the shenanigans they have pulled since the original announcement of what this title was going to be all about.

Anyway, to me their announcement in this thread just leaves creates more questions than it does to quell them. You don't remove a price structure because of all the feedback you get,

If you got feedback that requires changing the price structure then you wait until you are ready to change it, and then you change it. This stinks that they are up to something they don't want to tell the players because they feel they will lose more of their player base and really can't afford to do that (again, speculated)

[mentarman 14]

I never said it would get cheaper, I personally think there is something bigger in the works than just varying the price of the PO. Sounds like a major shift in strategy to me, so I'm hoping it is a shift for the better. To me, I don't see how this can be just a money grab, it doesn't make any sense for any term longer than a month. So to me it only makes sense if their concern is not the price, but the term of the subscription, because they are planning big changes during the period of the longer-term subscription.

But again, that is like everyone else's opinion, speculation at this point based on an ambiguous message from the developers. Some people seem determined to see the absolute worst in MC. I know there is disappointment at various levels about various things, but I personally don't let that be a poison that taints anything they say or do. I do tend to be a more optimistic person, but obviously a big part of MC's problems all along has been communication. Like I said, I'm not getting my hopes up, it could mean a lot of things, but personally I see a more fundamental change to the PO plan than just whether or not you'll get a discount for a longer subscription.

[chkltcow 0]

Originally posted by: mentarman Some people seem determined to see the absolute worst in MC.

quote>

At this point, have they given us reason to see any other way?  As I said in the thread, I haven't even touched the game in weeks but I pop my head in here once every week or two to see if anything has improved... and it seems like every time I do there has been some other collosal failure on MC's part.  When the biggest recurring complaint about the game has been the utter lack of communication from MC, and their communication on this is little more than an acknowledgement of "Yup, we suspended it".... how do you expect people to react?

[USA_Pride 49]

They really need to get something in place soon. I would imagine many people are getting CXL for the holidays and MC is going to want to have a long-term subscription option so that people can get it that.

[pete1061 0]

This is all just blind speculation.

But given MC's track record, whatever they are planning will likely have an aspect of suckyness to it.

They are probably suspending the discounted subscriptions in order to milk as much cash out of those who get this game for christmas.

Which means we probably won't see a return of the 2 & 3 month subscriptions until mid to late january, likely, at a higher price.

They could also be considering a "sims 3, nickel and dime you to death" microtransaction model where we can purchase individual buildings and add-ons.

But since MC is consistently a day late and a dollar short with their vague and cryptic explanations, we are all left guessing.

[bobrobertsnz 0]

I like to hope for the positive and could also post a scenario where MC decided to change something in the PO, and didnt want to make changes that half way thru someones 3 month subscription making them feel just as bad....so by limiting it to one month blocks, it allows them to tweak and perhaps redesign the way the PO works...without annoying the 3 month people...

imagine the forum---I just signed up for 3 months, and now they do this!!!!.....

this is just my guess, and is not a statement of fact.

[Androv 6]

That sounds like a reasonable reason to be getting rid of 2 and 3 months.... but I feel it's unlikely

[Cthuulhu 0]

I really wish MC would toss us a bone here. Theres a ton of fiction and story telling going on surrounding this pricing/subscription change. Most of it is very well grounded in what gamers have seen in past online economies. This ordeal seems to be more of a drama surrounding communication than one of money, as a few dollars more per month is very obviously worth the hard work already done... Not to mention the potential of this game. Sure customization is lacking for all of you very talented sc4 peeps out there, but really, with the current set up as is, I would love to see regular expansion packs include contest winners from great custom designers who are allowed interaction with the game module via sheer brilliance, mixed with a much more user friendly, lightweight, fun console.

The game as is has issues with the hardcores and softcores, it really only seems to be drawing lightweight city specialized geeks like myself. It would be fantastic to see more developmental impact from the basement city junkies who have been developing city building strategies for years ( so long as it it balanced with the game ideals which tend to target current technological boundaries), but it also means that the game would lend itself to more social aspects than it currently does.

I love this game, it's like a user unfriendly sc4 with a chat interface that I don't use but a few times a week...

XL has hit a ton of problems with past city sims head on, but lets face it, even the biggest fan cannot say that its easy to build a specialized city of over say... 2 million people and carry on any type of conversation. Its horrific really. I can't keep track of any of my conversations because as soon as I need to "maintain" contracts for trade to create growth i see that irritating lag bug, which causes antisocial activity. I'm not downing MC, im just saying that I'd be happy to pay more per month for an independant chat server. Its hard to care about your world when you get it in 15 liine chunks...

As for the old school Maxis fans... MC has done a horrible job adressing your needs for self satisfaction... They should take the high road in development and accept monthly, if not weekly building advice. Anyone who has developed a large city via plop method knows that there is a huge lack of elite high density, high tech high density and low rise executive high density buildings available. Unlike many companies, MC has direct access to free art that they could use to enhance thier product AND target a reluctant audience at once, it seems so obvious to me that they should please thier biggest enemies by accepting their free contibutions to please their current fan base even more while pacifying those who are fighting against them,,,

The most bitterly disapointing part of this ordeal is the stubborness of it all. Monte Cristo not releasing information or even communication... The best City Sim developers boycotting the new stat. quo.... Its so irritating to the casual gamer who is really just looking forward to the positives of the whole mix... The improved graphics and data processing power since the days of SC4, 2, SC etc... Of course a subscription issuue is sort of huge, but I really don't see, and this is strictly opinion, why we can't turn it into a very big positive, with a profitable entertainment/gaming company working with a very enthusiastic, well informed information/development base that only wants to contribute.

XL could reach a new level of success if it could draw in the private developers, AND create an easier social atmosphere much like the social mechanics on world of warcraft. If XL allowed private art/building developent/expansion of primary building options AND a more flexable, fun social engine I would be happy to pay up to $14.99 per month. obviously theres a bit of work between me and the the 15 dollar a month package, but the petty squabbling that has become the next gen of city simming really isn't doing anything for the commercial development of this genre OR the paying yet less hardcore current fanbase...

[Cujo58 0]

I've already seen this game in the bargain bin,less than 2 month's after it's release.

And,once again,MC is acting true to form.

Once you've bought the game...they're done with you...

The sad part is,this time,they're going all out to bankrupt themselves through their ineptitude.

What a marketing disaster! Buy the game,pay a fee,go online, so that they can tell you what you're going to get...SOMEDAY?

Don't agree with me? Then by all means,keep paying that fee!!!

[TomSe001 0]

Absurd move. I don't even see the big deal with multiplayer in this kind of game and am happy to pay for proper expansions to transportation and mass transit content on the single player part. But not with a monthly fee this high.

I'm currently very disappointed in having bought the game just by these actions (the game in itself looks great). In the beginning MC involved everyone during the making of the game using polls etc so it was really all about involving the community. Now they thank the community by removing the better deals on subscription and letting us remain in the dark on upcoming changes... Feeling ripped off...

[AlemanXL 0]

I'm guessing here, but does this not make sense ? -

The majority of mmo's are free 2 play with dlc or micro transactions. Moving to this model solves a couple of they're problems and would possibly increase revenue.

1. The disilussioned solo plyers will be able to get the extra content, giving mc the equivalent of a sub payment from them.

2. Increased players on PO as it's now free, hopefully giving them and the game longer term survival.

I am guessing here, but this seems like a logical solution, they've tried the monthly sub model, so the other option is free 2 play. Many solo players have expressed there wish to pay to download/unlock the extra content.

So more happy players, and the equivalent of monthly payment from PO and solo players.

So they have restricted PO sub offer to 1 month while they change over.

hope I'm right.

[Jezus53 18]

There is definitely a lot of MC bashing in here. And even worse, there's quite a bit of mod editing. IS it really that hard to keep your language clean? I know it doesn't just slip out because you are typing, it's easily reviewable and you have to think about what your typing. Anyways, just saying let's keep it clean in here okay.

After Beta testing this game I never thought it was complete enough for me to justify paying per month, let alone buying the game. Why would I pay for an incomplete game? I would never buy a house at full price if I still needed to put in the insulation, dry wall, etc. When it's complete, I'll buy it. As for the monthly subscription, it never seemed worth it. All you are really doing is trading tokens with some one. How hard can that possibly be on a server? Then again, I did crash my schools servers after transferring a folder containing 2400 pictures of a rubber ducky to everyone's account, but that's beyond the point. The point is, 1)I understand the memory leak in beta, I do not understand it in a finished product. I would never buy a new car that leaked gas, same for a game. 2) I a monthly subscription of 10 bucks to transfer tokens? Come on. 3) Canceling 2 and 3 month subcriptions without telling anyone. Imagine this. You wake up in the morning to hear on the news that 150,000 troops from you country are invading another country. But wait, there was never any vote in congress, or any talk to the people. The president just went ahead and did it. Or on a smaller scale, what if you were going to work and you have to cross a toll bridge. Lets say you have Fasttrak (for those that don't know what that is, it's a sensor that goes in you car so instead stopping to pay each time, it just senses when you pass and charges you every month). But this particular day you go they decided to get rid of Fastrak without telling you. Well no you're stuck at a toll window without any cash. What my main problem is the lack of communication, as so many have said before me.

And I'd like to direct this to anyone who works for MC. Why did you just remove it? Why didn't you warn everyone first or during? Did you really think that removing the options first then telling people later was a great idea? Do you not know that people will come up with their own stories and they usually end up being worst case, as this thread proves. Next time think before you just go and do something. Another example. During the beta, you shut down the servers on Wednesday. It was fine, it was for weekly updates. But this time you didn't send out an email. The forums were full of complaints and curious users. What we want is for you to tell the users BEFORE you do something. That's all. Is that too much to ask for?

[littlesquare.dot 0]

Originally posted by: City Planner

it seems from the outside looking in on MC, that they are simply doing everything wrong and are setting themselves up to failure.quote>

yup.

[TomSe001 0]

Originally posted by: AlemanXL

I'm guessing here, but does this not make sense ? -

The majority of mmo's are free 2 play with dlc or micro transactions. Moving to this model solves a couple of they're problems and would possibly increase revenue.

1. The disilussioned solo plyers will be able to get the extra content, giving mc the equivalent of a sub payment from them.

2. Increased players on PO as it's now free, hopefully giving them and the game longer term survival.

I am guessing here, but this seems like a logical solution, they've tried the monthly sub model, so the other option is free 2 play. Many solo players have expressed there wish to pay to download/unlock the extra content.

So more happy players, and the equivalent of monthly payment from PO and solo players.

So they have restricted PO sub offer to 1 month while they change over.

hope I'm right.quote>

I too hope you are right!

[DazzaDazza 30]

It dose if you look at it. People have a think about it; use your brains for once, and Please

obviously they have a date they they are working to, and they don't wont any 3 or 2 mouth subscription past that date. And they wont all subscription to end at a certain date, so they can bring in a new payment plain buy the look of what Mathew said in the post. If you can't work that out then...........

By the look of your logo there USA_Pride "Po'd over PO just sayk NO"

I don't see why you care so much, your obviously not going to buy the PO. You say it is poor Customer relations infact it is the other way round. They have listed to all your complaints and they are working toward fixing it.

Before we stat to act like this again

lets see what they have to offer, if it is not good, then buy all mean, complain, I will probably join you, 

but lets just wait and see, it could be a good thing     

[joesipp 0]

Exactly my thoughts.

Originally posted by: pipvac

I enjoy Cities XL, and from the start subscribed to the 3 month deal. The value for money aspect of the online content was always dubious, but I was happy to be part of the initial uptake and investment. This was, in my small way, my contribution to the game's on going development, to where it should have been at release.

The removal of the three month subscription, without any adjustment to the monthly rate (an effective price increase of 175%), has pushed the value for money element of this game from just about acceptable, to over priced. Its not a question of whether I can afford it, its a measure of whether it offers value for money at the price asked.

To be clear to MC. I will NOT be renewing my subscription to Cities XL at this pricing level.

I wish MC well in their future endeavour with this game, and hope that their strategy going forward enables them to make this product viable. I regret that I do not represent the target customer for this new strategy.quote>

[USA_Pride 49]

Originally posted by: mrdazza_460By the look of your logo there USA_Pride "Po'd over PO just sayk NO"

I don't see why you care so much, your obviously not going to buy the PO. You say it is poor Customer relations infact it is the other way round. They have listed to all your complaints and they are working toward fixing it.quote>

Right now there is virtually no info.  I've been calling the PO a scam, sham, and a money grab.  Well guess what, with a 50% price jump it looks like I am right.  They got people to buy the game, then got them to subscribe, then unlike most products that have prices that go down over time, they have actually raised it.

I hope like the others that they are drastically re-working the Scam Offer, but until we have something tangible the current reality is a 50% price raise for all the loyal customers.

I'm sitting back with a big grin on my face because had I actually bought into the PO I'd be rather upset right now.

[site400 12]

Originally posted by: Sainty

Originally posted by: soltangris

Hey, if they're having money problems, it's completely illogical to push prices up. This is stated in every economics book or article I've read. When you need to sell more of your product, you make discounts, not raise prices!quote>

You have probably misunderstood the books and articles. Selling more doesnt automaticly give you more money. It will just give you bigger group of consumers, and in some cases - higher costs. And discounts is not economy, its marketing. And that what Monte is doing by lowering the price on the boxes. The box is also a product that no longer have a big ongoing cost, compared to the MMO part.

PS: In economy, when your income is going down the toilet, you never lower the price of your product - you lower the expenses. And raise your prices next. If you reflect a little around your self, you will probably notice that lots of people are unemployed today and at the same time common goods has been more expensive, like milk, meat and vegitables.

quote>

Actually, it would benefit MC more if they lowered their prices.  Remember, this isn't a car they're trying to sell, its a subscription.  In that case, the whole point is to get as many subscribers as possible, which would mean that a lower price with a greater number of subscribers trumps a higher price with fewer subscribers.

As we all know, the PO is already over-priced.  Raising prices further will have a negative effect.  Consider: 100 people subscribe to PO at the 3-month rate, equal to about $6 a month (or $600 total).  You can be sure as *#*$ that if the price were raised to the single month price $10 (a 40% increase), at least 50% of the subscribers will discontinue service (including myself).  This leaves you with 300 subscribers paying $300 a month. 

However, if the PO were decreased to $3.50 (a 40% decrease), I bet you would easily double, maybe even triple, your subscription rate.  200 or 300 subscribers would equal $700 or $1,050.

As I said at the top, higher prices are a benefit to single-purchase items, but a monthly fee (aka subscription) service benefits more from a lower fee, especially (and this is key), when the current rate is already deemed as to expensive.

P.S. The rising prices of food are not because the manufacturers just decided to raise the price...you can thank biofuels for the steep rise.  Farmers are electing to sell their corn crops to ethanol producers rather than sell them to feed producers because they can make more money.  This in turn raises the cost per head of cattle as the feed costs more to purchase, which in turn raises the cost of each slaughtered animal.  And the ball keeps rolling down hill, all the way to the grocery store.  Same goes for milk.  Fruits & Veggies...beats me!

Finally, if your statement about never lowering the price of goods in a bad economic environment were true, then why are the sales during this time of year some of the deepest discounts on record? 

[DazzaDazza 30]

"a scam", ummmm if that's what you think then you are ignorant, do you buy pay T.V, they have monthly subscriptions, 99% of the cannels are full of crap and is not worth buying it, dose that mean Pay T.V is a scam?, you can chooses to watch Free T.V, if you wont, it is there, but if you chooses you can get extra channels, for a price,

Pay T.V prices changes all the time, a scam is something where you buy a product and get nothing in return, in CXL you get a game MMO game in return, that is not a scam, please if you won't to take MC to court for running a scam then by all means, you will get laugh out of courtroom, technically hey should be taking you to court for defamation, you can't go round can call things a scam when they are clearly not.

[mentarman 14]

Originally posted by: USA_Pride

I'm sitting back with a big grin on my face because had I actually bought into the PO I'd be rather upset right now.quote>

How is this a situation that makes you happy? Just sounds like glee at something you didn't care for anyway having a further problem.

[bobrobertsnz 0]

mrdazza_460 I agree with your posts, and admire your positive attitude....

[AlemanXL 0]

If they are planning on just raising the price, they would have just done so by now, but removing the longer term subs suggests the are looking at something else.

They'll know how many units they sold, and after the first 2 months they'll have an idea of the percentage of people who are/have subscribed. With the backlash the game has received, I suspect the number of subscribers is not what they'd hoped for.

They perhaps underestimated the number of people who would still want to play solo, but would appear willing to pay regularly for the extra content.

So I still think that they are re-working the model, free2play with optional dlc, and if sensible continuiung subs, with free content, this would most likely increase the after sales income closer to the level they were hoping for.

This is also perhaps why they haven't said anything (although it's no excuse), they are still working it out, they don't know exactly what they're going to do, so can't tell us what they are going to do.

Don't they have a habit of going silent while they work things out fully, and then make announcements?