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Comments
As far as the first part goes, there are definitely characters that people have opinions about that are difficult to nigh impossible to change. People get reputations and they can follow them, and I can see why retirement might be a better option than slogging up that hill. As for the second part, that's entirely valid even if I don't totally understand it, my understanding isn't necessary.
I'm as down on the perceived cash-grabs and skinflinting (purely from my perspective, and I realise it's a business and they need money to continue, etc etc) but this is one of the more beneficial things I feel that they've done even with a loss involved. This allows people to continue to be customers without being tied to a certain name and a certain reputation or storyline.
Some of those characters were prominent, some weren't, and a couple might only be missed by the people that I interacted with and those people themselves have been dormant for quite some time now.
Do I have any regrets so far? Nope. If anything, I'll probably just miss some of the customisations that I've designed in the past because some were pretty nifty. And I took note of all those to look back on if I really want to reminisce.
I'm pretty thankful that character retirement is a thing. It gives myself and others who really have no intention of ever playing some characters again a way to them go and get a little something back from the investment. It's a far better option than just opening up characters that have bought credits to be able to suicide. For all intents and purposes, at least the characters are still in game to be referenced or talked about, and how is that any different to the folks that quit playing?
Just because you don't like a concept or approve of it, doesn't mean that you should lay down restrictions that impact the actions of others. People are responsible for the decisions that they make, and if they act in haste due to some emotional trauma (Lord knows I've done more than my fair share of that in the past), it's on them and not you.
And for the sake of the OP, RIP Ila al Ashtad.
When I heard about retirement, I was playing WoW. Why? Because I could start a new character/class there and have no more investment than $15/month. My combined characters I could retire in IRE? HALF of their value was 17k credits. JUST HALF. I did not have the money to build up the characters I had previously built up, and the sheer thought of the investment was enough to make me reluctant to truly make the nose dive into IRE again. Now I'm playing a character with all the toys I remember enjoying (and then some), and not worried about how I can shift my budget around to fit in 1k+ credit purchases. I still plan to do the Iron Elite, but I don't have to break my bank to do so.
I will always disagree that it is a company's responsibility to ensure their customers don't make stupid decisions. If retirement had been announced in an unethical manner, or the credit values of characters wildly fluctuated every week or so, I'd strongly agree with any arguments that retirement was a bad idea. However, @Sarapis and @Tecton have been very transparent with the intent of retirement, how it works, and any and all adjustments they make. Even more, when you do retire a character, you are told over and over and over and OVER that you are losing access permanently. They even build a time period into the retirement to give you time to think about it before you actually log in and type "retire character confirm."
Will there likely be a handful or more people who decided that retirement was wrong for them in the next three months? Probably. But the terms and conditions were made very clear. If they chose to ignore them, the fault lies on no one but the person who ignored them. I work customer service, right now, for a large wireless company. Every day, I talk to people who didn't read about buyer's remorse, didn't read the fine print on insurance claims, didn't investigate their coverage before moving their service. And every day, these same people blame us for their laziness.
For the TL;DR: If retirement is not for you, don't utilize it. If it is, awesome. It gives us a reset button and an opportunity to not feel like we, as long term customers, are starting from step one. If you retire and regret it? Well, that's why you get time before you sign the dotted line.
I am one of the (I assume) many who are thrilled with this development, considering the comments about how wildly successful it has been since it was announced. Like many others I have been playing one IRE game or another for the last 15 years. I have had a couple of characters who lived out what I felt was their story, and there was nothing more that would have really given me pleasure in playing them further. I have had others that I felt were bullied or harassed into early abandonment, because let's face it, people can be jerks in these games. And, some other times I have simply given up wanting to play with a tiny, non-fluctuating player base.
So, as opposed to wasted investments that I would lament over - knowing that I would never, ever return to that character again - coupled with frustration over how much money I had put into them in my earlier years where money wasn't as much of an object, I'm pleased to be able to sign those virtual lives away and call it done. Some have been arguably more difficult than others to let go of, and then some I could not retire fast enough.
For those choosing not to retire their "main" character, I can imagine it is difficult to see people you either cared about, or felt offered something to your personal game play suddenly be gone forever. I for one am -glad- there are still so many people who have chosen not to retire, like @Aerek who is a walking font of knowledge within the Shield House which I chose to join. The game (all of them) need a healthy dose of older characters, but they have also needed an influx of new players or returning players that would not have returned if not for the retirement option.
So rather than get upset at a system and call it unfair, remember that there is more than one side to that opinion, and that the vast majority of us who have decided to take part in the character retirement are highly unlikely to regret the decision we've made. Sure, there will be some who maybe don't get what they want out of this new character, that would then regret their decision to retire their old one(s), but I'm willing to bet most of us are adults who knew what we were signing up for when we hit RETIRE CHARACTER, and then signed on 24 hours later to finish it with a variance of trepidation and good riddance.
No other new feature has drawn me in quite like retirement has. It is an outstanding business move.
I feel the exact same way, there is no way I would make a new char and spent the same $$$ on them as Rinzai, however getting the chance to regain a huge pile of those which will make a new character fun, has me really excited to play again, with a new class, new city, new story. I will no doubt also spent a little money here and there on the game (iron elite again) where I never would with out this choice.
Just can't wait to get started.
I feel a bit guilty even posting this, to be honest. I know there are some players whose IC spouses left without a word. That must be terrible because first you have to deal with their disappearance from your gaming life, but then you have to roleplay it too. :skull:
Not only do I still get to share in the player behind Kaie's new gaming adventures OOCly, but he made sure to leave on an incredibly positive note for my character and many of those he enjoyed gaming with in Achaea.
In my mind, I imagine the narthex of a cathedral or a sacred grove, where each extinguished life creates a new votive whose flame burns eternally within the space.
Album of Bluef during her time in Achaea
Results of disembowel testing | Knight limb counter | GMCP AB files
But the suggestion points to the issue I was raising: Unless you put effort into it, there is a real lack of any roleplay surrounding this latest change to Achaea for the characters left behind. It would be nice if that were different.
If Bluef ever retired (which she can't because the Tharosian Estates would POOF - Sorry, folks!), I'd either roleplay something big or send Cyrene's messenger to someone with cryptic last words.
Album of Bluef during her time in Achaea
I'd be very interested in seeing a few numbers. What's the retirement character shift between all the IREs? How many dormant players have returned? Etc?
I completely understand if you don't want to answer that. My curiosity is burning, hehe.
Those aren't the kind of numbers we'd share, sorry!
3... 3 and 10ish... Respectively
I miss gaming though, I miss @Aurora and so many people in Achaea. Looking forward to making a come back in a week or two.
Message 18741
bye
Maybe it's just me. Just seems like a very self-centric view, esp. when these people are retiring because they are done playing that character and presumably aren't having fun with them anymore.