I wish for a new account system.

[Beefcake]

I really really wish HTC would upgrade or change the account system so that a person could unsubscribe for a month or two and not lose all their perks, achievements, and other assorted data. Due to a lack of time I usually only play 3-4 months out of the year, usually when a scenario is going on, and every single time I resub I have to start a new account and begin at square one.

Once this update is done I hope HTC will focus a little time on this, thank you.

[Karnak]

Agreed.

[CASHEW]

I really really wish HTC would upgrade or change the account system so that a person could unsubscribe for a month or two and not lose all their perks, achievements, and other assorted data. Due to a lack of time I usually only play 3-4 months out of the year, usually when a scenario is going on, and every single time I resub I have to start a new account and begin at square one.

Once this update is done I hope HTC will focus a little time on this, thank you.

Why should they store your information for free??? SOunds like a joke to me. You pay for the item you receive.

[Karnak]

Why should they store your information for free??? SOunds like a joke to me. You pay for the item you receive.

Tell that to just about every other MMO out there, or many internet business applications.  HTC is the only one I interact with that does not retain my information.  If I were to start playing EverQuest again they still have my characters from more than a decade ago waiting for me.

[rvflyer]

I really really wish HTC would upgrade or change the account system so that a person could unsubscribe for a month or two and not lose all their perks, achievements, and other assorted data. Due to a lack of time I usually only play 3-4 months out of the year, usually when a scenario is going on, and every single time I resub I have to start a new account and begin at square one.

Once this update is done I hope HTC will focus a little time on this, thank you.

Stupid idea, they don't know if you are coming back or not, frankly I don't want any MMO to retain my information if I am not currently using it. 

[Tilt]

Why should they store your information for free??? SOunds like a joke to me. You pay for the item you receive.

The easier it is to return the more likely we return. My problem with most service companies is they retain my data whether I wish them to or not.

An alternative pay as you play model for dip in/out players may keep many an account open and still provide revenue beside the standard subscription model. Obviouslypriced such that subscription would offer the lowest cost base for the vast majority of customers.

[Karnak]

Stupid idea, they don't know if you are coming back or not, frankly I don't want any MMO to retain my information if I am not currently using it. 

Why not?

I am much more likely to return to an MMO if my characters are retained than if I have to start from scratch.

Why would you not want your character data retained?  There isn't any need to retain the credit card data.

[bozon]

HTC could allow a "suspend account" option instead of canceling it. At least for a limited time, for players who take a break. A very large number of player keep coming and going and back again over the years. I did not care much about my perks, but others do.

The only issue with this is that they may block their callsign. I am sure HTC can arrange it that you lose your call sign when suspending and asked to choose a new on (same one if it is not taken) when reactivating.

[Beefcake]

As Karnak already stated, almost every other online game I've ever played stores the players data. Last year I downloaded Everquest, a game I haven't played in 10 years...let me repeat that, 10 years, I logged in and all my characters were still there. The same goes for WOW, Planetside, Pirates of the Burning Sea, etc, etc, etc. I'm not trying to sound rude but this is not a stupid idea, HTC is the only gaming company I do business with that does not store my players account data after a cancellation. I'd like for that to change.

To be honest I probably would play more if I had an account that was constant and not reset everytime. One of the turn offs for me is having to restart from scratch trying to earn points to fly a plane or having to start the grind for an achievement all over again.

One other thing, I'm not asking for personal data like credit cards to be retained but only the players game data, scores, perk points, achievements, etc.

[ImADot]

The big difference between those games and this one is: the skill and attributes of your "character" in this game is all up to you, not some arbitrary value based on how much grinding you've done. Retaining your "character" here won't let you come back any different from using a new one. And you don't (shouldn't) need perks to play and have fun.

 

[DocBrown]

Many games also keep that information around so they can sell it.  It is probably a good revenue stream for many companies.  Those who provide "free" games absolutely do it.

To my knowledge, HTC has never sold any information they have gathered.  The system they use is not designed for that.  The fact they toss information away, instead of keeping it and selling it is a positive in my book.

It is an odd conundrum.  People enjoy the anonymity of posting on bulletin boards behind fake information, yet readily give up any and all of their real information so companies can make money off it by selling it to anyone who will pay for it.

I do not have a problem with HTC wiping out my record.  It is my choice to delete the account and they do make it easy to do, unlike some other companies.

[Karnak]

The big difference between those games and this one is: the skill and attributes of your "character" in this game is all up to you, not some arbitrary value based on how much grinding you've done. Retaining your "character" here won't let you come back any different from using a new one. And you don't (shouldn't) need perks to play and have fun.

 

My perks and my achievements were earned by me.  I shouldn't have to re-earn them.  What somebody has fun with is up to them and you lose nothing by allowing old players to come back with their earned stuff intact.

Many games also keep that information around so they can sell it.  It is probably a good revenue stream for many companies.  Those who provide "free" games absolutely do it.

To my knowledge, HTC has never sold any information they have gathered.  The system they use is not designed for that.  The fact they toss information away, instead of keeping it and selling it is a positive in my book.

It is an odd conundrum.  People enjoy the anonymity of posting on bulletin boards behind fake information, yet readily give up any and all of their real information so companies can make money off it by selling it to anyone who will pay for it.

I do not have a problem with HTC wiping out my record.  It is my choice to delete the account and they do make it easy to do, unlike some other companies.

That is by no means universal.  All of the games I am referring to, in my case, were subscription based when I played them.  World of Warcraft still is (and that isn't likely to change anytime soon) yet they have never sold my information.  I've dealt with iEntertainment Network, Sony Online Entertainment, HitechCreations, Mythic, Playnet.com, Blizzard Entertainment, Trion Worlds and Carbine Studios as far as paid subscriptions to online games.  I've never received spam from a third party as a result of any of those accounts.

I don't think anybody here is talking about Farmville crap.

[pembquist]

AH2 doesn't have a very big subscription base. I can't imagine on the expense side that having another player on or off makes any difference at all. I imagine the reason that this idea is unattractive is that it removes much incentive to subscribe for anything longer than a month at a time. The math probably wouldn't work at 15 dollars a month if everyone payed only 4 months out of the year.

I don't know how many subscribers there are but looking at arena numbers I wouldn't be surprised if you told me it was less than 700. 700 at 15 is only 126,000 a year gross. There are 5 people on the masthead, rent, taxes etc. etc. The last year my friend worked for a game company he was making over 250,000 plus bonus, plus stock as an EMPLOYEE!

I realize that this might seem irrelevant since you are the customer and normally you don't make buying decisions based upon the producers financials but usually on quality and price, but if you think about it, 15 dollars is chickenfeed for the product. You can't get it anywhere else because nobody else is interested in getting paid so little for the amount of work involved.

From my perspective the people that are paying their subscription for a full year are subsidizing the players who dip in and out as it is. It only seems fair that there be some benefit to distinguish between the ones paying full freight vs the ones who don't.

Maybe as part of some comprehensive strategy with funding it would be a good idea but I'm not sure it is worth whatever piddling extra revenue it would generate vs what it would cost in changes to subscriber behavior.

[Karnak]

It has to be well over 700, but you are right that subscriber behavior, which we do not have data on but HTC might, is certainly a factor.

[Ack-Ack]

Why should they store your information for free??? SOunds like a joke to me. You pay for the item you receive.

Why not?  I don't know of one MMO game that erases your data if you've been inactive for any period of time.  For example, I can log into WoW and access my character that I haven't played in 5 years and still have whatever items on it when I left on my character.

ack-ack