Hobbits to Isengard - Q/A with Sapience notes on what was said

[Nyrion]

Agreed.

They're also saying by making this 'clarification' that sales of HD were horrible.

I suspect this is more a case of 'seeing what you want to see'.

[Namesse]

I suspect this is more a case of 'seeing what you want to see'.

Perhaps.

To continue the epic you need to do the previous book, which can only be done with buying HD; that's fine, they don't always give an on-ramp for every book.

To do the Fangorn quests, it seems that Sapience is saying you still need to buy HD, it's not an independent quest pack, although subscribers will not have to pay extra for it beyond their HD purchase. So yes, I am jumping to the conclusion that they're actively gating content behind HD because it didn't sell well.

Why do you think they're gating an update behind a paid expansion rather than have the update as an independent purchase?

[frickinmuck]

If you guys want to discuss this issue in greater depth, could you please make a separate post elsewhere (and link to it from here if you like)? I know how these conversations can go and I don't want my Q&A buried under pages of discussion of something that's not central to the Q&A.

[Mar-Evayave]

If you guys want to discuss this issue in greater depth, could you please make a separate post elsewhere (and link to it from here if you like)? I know how these conversations can go and I don't want my Q&A buried under pages of discussion of something that's not central to the Q&A.

Aside from having fun with Sapience during the actual runs, this whole thing is about Q/A. Asking questions, getting answers. How is it not central, then, to ask a question about one of the answers?

I also do not want to see this Q/A thread disappear under a dozen pages of back-and-forth "discussion". I still want an answer about what seems to be a very big thing.

[frickinmuck]

Aside from having fun with Sapience during the actual runs, this whole thing is about Q/A. Asking questions, getting answers. How is it not central, then, to ask a question about one of the answers?

I also do not want to see this Q/A thread disappear under a dozen pages of back-and-forth "discussion". I still want an answer about what seems to be a very big thing.

Yes, but if there is more to be said about this in this thread, I'd greatly prefer it to come from Sapience or another blue name than see an avalanche of argumentative or speculative comments from players. That's all I'm saying. Not trying to shut anyone down, here - there's nothing stopping people from discussing this in greater depth elsewhere, and linking people here to there if they want. I just don't want people to have to wade through pages of discussion of one issue to get to the "meat" of what this thread is for.

[Mar-Evayave]

Yes, but if there is more to be said about this in this thread, I'd greatly prefer it to come from Sapience or another blue name than see an avalanche of argumentative or speculative comments from players. That's all I'm saying. Not trying to shut anyone down, here - there's nothing stopping people from discussing this in greater depth elsewhere, and linking people here to there if they want. I just don't want people to have to wade through pages of discussion of one issue to get to the "meat" of what this thread is for.

Oh, I know that. You are one of the last people I'd imagine trying to shut anyone down. I just wanted to make it clear that, while I still very much want an answer from Sapience, I also don't want any argumentation. I didn't make my initial post on the matter to spark a debate or even any discussion at all. It was a very specific question directed to Sapience specifically. The next Hobbit run isn't for another 2 weeks, so the forums are currently the only way to ask at the moment. As such, it's hard to direct questions specifically to Sapience and avoid some measure of "discussion".

At this point, it still seems vaguely worded to me. Until Sapience gives a clear statement (is the quest pack free to VIPs and purchasable by others as previously stated, or was it false advertising and it's actually tied 100% into the HD xpac), there is little purpose in further discussion. Any "outrage" (and I use that term loosely; no matter what the outcome, I'd hope any further discussion could remain civil) should come after such a statement. Because, as you say, until them it's a world of speculation and semantics.

[Mar-Evayave]

Apologies in advance for the double-post, but as it has been an hour I wanted to be sure those interested saw this (instead of editing my previous post and risking them missing it).

Watching the U13 video on MMO Reporter (I'd recommend everyone watch it -- it's a neat vid). Here is something Rowan shares (and I'll try to quote word for word as best I can):

Unknown voice: Will update cost non-VIPs who have purchased the expansion already?
Rowan: So, the expansion... basically the gate for this update is the expansion pack. This is an extension of Helm's Deep and has the conclusion of Helm's Deep. Um, as Jeff was saying its-its really about closing the Volume III storyline, uh, and concluding, uh, the threat of Saruman. Uh, so if you purchased Helm's Deep all of this is free. Uh, and yes, we're thinking of VIPs and we will definitely have, uh, free content for VIPs, uh, later in the year as well.

While I'm still disappointed that at least a little false advertising seems to be playing a role (it was stated before that all of the quarterly regions would be free to VIPs; now at least one will not), but I do at least recognize the reasoning. I don't agree with it at all, but I do recognize and understand (to a degree) what they are shooting for. Of course, to that I might say, "Well then why not lock Lorien into Moria, Enedwaith into Mirkwood, Great River into Dunland, or Wildermore into East Rohan?" It worked fine with all of those, and the epics played a big role there as well. I see where the reasoning is coming from -- I just don't agree with it. It tastes strongly of trying to get more people to buy (and run extensively) the HD xpac.

I seriously hope that future content (and yes, xpacs) are not locked so far into the epic. So far it seems to not only make the epics not free, but also the between-xpac quest packs not free (for VIPs) either. It seems to be making all new content entirely tied into the expansions.

[Thurallor]

Until Sapience gives a clear statement (is the quest pack free to VIPs and purchasable by others as previously stated, or was it false advertising and it's actually tied 100% into the HD xpac), there is little purpose in further discussion.

Why is a change in marketing strategy "false advertising"? As far as I know, no customers have spent any money on this update yet. So you have not been cheated. At worst, you could cite "broken promises", but until you put your money on the table, intentions are not obligations.