Iron Elite Membership Updates!

Utianima

ANNOUNCE NEWS #5177                                      (02/07/2020 at 18:39)  

From   : Nicola

To     : Everyone

Subject: Iron Elite Membership Updates!

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Achaea is now offering three new membership options for your enjoyment!

You can purchase 3, 6, and 12 month memberships.

The primary benefit of these new membership options is that your characters will receive most

rewards up front. The rewards which are instantly advanced are the XP bonus, and membership credits. 

Daily lessons are unchanged.

For example, if you purchase the 6 month membership you will immediately move to the 25% xp bonus

and have 675 membership credits applied to your account (100, 105, 110, 115, 120, 125 credits).

If your account already had a membership running, and was within the grace period when the new

membership is purchased, it will pick up the rewards from your current threshold, and it will NOT 

start all over from the beginning.

IMPORTANT: All memberships are recurring, and will automatically renew at the end of the 1, 3, 6, or

12 month period.

Note: If you purchased a 3 month membership, the automatic renew will be for another 3 month period,

the same for 6 months, will renew for another 6 months, and so on for 12.

Upgrading Your Membership

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To upgrade your existing membership from 1 type to another package:

1. Cancel your current membership at: http://www.achaea.com/credits?page=cancel

   If your membership is via PayPal, you will have to visit your Paypal account and cancel it from

there.

2. Wait for your current membership to expire.

   You will get messages from the game when your membership expires and can view your membership

status with the command CREDIT REPORT.

IMPORTANT: All memberships are recurring, and will automatically renew at the end of the 1, 3, 6, or

12 month period.

3. When your current membership expires, you may sign back up at   

http://www.achaea.com/credits?page=membership

Note: There is a 30 day grace period once a membership goes inactive during which you can renew your

membership without losing your previously accrued benefit levels.

If you have any questions or problems, please email support@achaea.com and we will do our best to

answer!

Penned by My hand on the 16th of Mayan, in the year 821 AF.

What do you think? Discuss!

Utianima

@Nicola I applaud this change. Any change on the iron elite is welcome, and I welcome this with open arms.

I would however suggest that you consider the following... There is currently no benefit to subscribing for 3, 6 or 12 months, except for the up-front delivery of credits. I am used to companies giving me a tangible (and often sizable) increase in value, or decrease in cost, if I sign up for a longer time period.

I was considering to subscribe for 12 months when I read this, but when I fully realized that there is no benefit in terms of pure value... it maybe me sit back on the fence. Consider adding in some extra perks (credits, mayan crowns, giftbag, extra discounts, more credits, reduced total price for subscription period, anything really...) for the longer period subscriptions, and I am sure we'll all be happier in the long run (you get longer subscriptions, and we get more value for it).

Sobriquet

There is also limited benefit as Membership credits are still bound, meaning they can't be spent on a very large and ever expanding list of items.

Namino

I actually noticed this last night while resisting the urge to buy arrows that this list had expanded and did the math to find out, much to my surprise, there is no advantage whatsoever to subscribing for longer periods of time, unless you are impatient and want everything up front...

But you're also paying that much extra up front, too, so that all comes out in the wash.

Would strongly recommend administration follow the pricing doctrine of pretty much every subscription service known to man (EvE, FFXIV, ESO, and WoW to name a few) and increase margins for longer subscriptions. Most of these also include other incentives for longer subscription times (ie, more credits, or other signing bonuses).

Atalkez

Agree with the sentiment above. No reason for me to spend the higher tiers for two reasons:

Its not cheaper and there aren’t any tangible rewards for doing so other than the credits up front. For someone that needs to buy an artefact, I can see the draw, but 24.99 up front and patience is easier to stomach than 299.88 up front for the majority of people. Especially as a one time purchase for the time period.

Secondly, this still only gives bound credits which locks you out of a large majority of the current promotion scheme and item delivery methods. I can’t use 1800 bound credits to buy talisman pieces that I need, so I’m not able to be involved in them. I’m better off waiting on the next promotion, selling whatever it is for unbound credits bought in persons name and would likely get more value off of my $300.

Urnhlug

I'll actually more than echo the above sentiments..

I think it's actually a *little* offensive that you're just multiplying the numbers by X and calling it an "update".

The subscription cost/model is archaic, and this "update" doesn't fix that at all, it only magnifies the issues.

I think the base price should be dropped to something more common/logical - $15/month like every other game known to man, and then deals for paying for more up front.

Utianima

Now that I think of it, it's actually a bit ironic that this is the next evolvement for Achaea, created by @Sarapis who pioneered the gaming industry and was one of the (if not the first) first to introduce credits online. From credits to iron elite to ... more iron elite for the same money? While other subscription based industries (gaming included) realized years ago that "save XX% by paying for 12 months up-front today" is the most lucrative model.

Urnhlug

It also just makes literally no sense.

If a guy says "I'll give you a Banana a day, every day, at your doorstep, for $1 every day." and you want that deal, you take it. Sounds good.

If a guy says "If you give me $365, I'll give you a banana a day, every day, at your doorstep, for a year." that's a way worse deal for the consumer.

I don't think Achaea is going anywhere, but why am I investing more of my money up front for no further gains? I could pay for a year and then on a whim they could decide to make some huge change that I hugely disagree with and I want to quit, but now they have my $300 anyways.

**Literally** no sense.

Edit : I also have pretty strong opinions about the general costs of everything related to Achaea for your average player/newcomer, but I don't expect that to change. In light of me moaning about that day in and day out, I'll spend my time here talking about the ineffectiveness of actual changes.

Utianima

Urnhlug said:

[...]

If a guy says "If you give me $365, I'll give you a banana a day, every day, at your doorstep, for a year." that's a way worse deal for the consumer.

[...]

 Yeah, except it's more like "If you give me $365, I'll give you 365 bananas right now. And then another 365 in 1 year, and then...". 

Atalkez

I think at this point in the game, removing the bound/unbound distinction for credits is really warranted.

Adrik

I was excited when i first read the idea. Then I quickly got disheartened that the price is the same. The literal only change is, "If you stop playing for 4 months. You are losing money." As opposed to. "Ill cancel my sub for 4 months as I stop playing."

Cooper

Before you get upset with Malarios or Nicola about this, remember that they still report to the head honcho who swore that IRE Elite was the best deal ever, made IRE no real money, and that it would not ever change.

That they even convinced him to alter it at all is a miracle.

The benefit is for people who don't already have elite, or who need to cancel and restart at a later date. The change helps those people out quite a bit.

Austere

I was on the fence about posting, since like most I realise decisions like this are top down, but figured I'd toss my thoughts in the ring and hope they prove useful. This isn't a complaint. I have no problem spending money on Achaea frequently do. I just don't think the elite model stands up, at least once you get to where my character is. 

I have ~1600 lessons still from when survival got changed. Im level 120, not because I care about xp, but because it's a side effect of bashing for gold and talisman pieces.  The only truly interesting part to elite for me is the credits, and sadly, when you break it down, I realise I can get just as many, if not more, buying whatever promo item is on sale for a friend and letting them pay me, which can be done multiple times a month. 

In February, 2000cr cost me $260 in keys.

I bought a talisman with those 2000cr. 

Minifie

Namino

On a similar note, my favorite new metric of the pricing scheme of Achaea is to point out that a Stygian Pendant, worth about 360 USD, has a 1% smaller effect on your crit rate than meat soup, a beginner level cooking recipe on BDO, another freemium mmo. 

[Deleted User]

Namino said:

On a similar note, my favorite new metric of the pricing scheme of Achaea is to point out that a Stygian Pendant, worth about 360 USD, has a 1% smaller effect on your crit rate than meat soup, a beginner level cooking recipe on BDO, another freemium mmo. 

Incorrect. Crit per level goes +5/4/3/3/3% for +1/2/3/4/5 respectively.

I'm sure it's in jest, but there's a lot of things wrong with your comparison.

Iaxus

There are certain threads I really wish our admin would respond to, and this is one. Even a "Came from the top, not our decision" would be better than silence. 

Dragonknight

But what if silence came from the top.

Achilles

That has generally been their stance about these revenue/credit conversations (see veils).  

I think they should offer some discount for pre-paying the entire year, right now the only real benefit is the immediate 25% xp bonus, the immediacy of the bound credits is negated by all the other promos that actually come out cheaper per credit.  The 10% extra credits with elite bonuses should apply to promos then (ie every 10 arrows you buy, you get 1 extra with elite).  

Caelan

Yeah. The lure of 25% extra XP is enticing when you're grinding levels...  but then rational thought creeps in that Elite isn't worth it, and I don't see rewarding IRE with getting paid immediately as an enticing enough route to go. It just comes off as another money grab technique where they thought we were dumb enough to think it was a boon for us. (I don't envy the admin trying to keep revenue flowing like it has been either). 

Veldrin

The fact it's so cumbersome to upgrade and there's no real monetary value for those who's been elite members for years (other than getting it upfront) just made me ignore the annoncement, it has no value for me. The 25 dollars are also easier to budget on a monthly basis rather than having a bigger expensive every 3/6/12 months

Wish they changed it so instead of buying promo stuff on the website with cash, you'd need to buy them ingame from Delos with credits

Ysela

Does Iron elite provide org credits?

Iaxus

No.   

Or at least, not as far as I know or have ever been able to see in the past when buying elite then checking logs. 

Kyrra

I have to consider the exchange rate. Just $24.95 a month actually costs me around $37 which adds up pretty quickly. That is an extra $144 a year.

The higher subscription costs with no tangible benefit just aren’t worth it. I lose out on a lot of money whenever I buy a large amount of credits as it is due to the exchange rate.

I’m lucky that I just have the USD-AUS exchange to worry about with these prices. I still recall our South African players being unable to buy credits much at all due to the price difference, and other countries that have a vastly different currency cost.

Why not drop the level 1 tier down to $15/mo which is on par with mostly every other gaming and streaming service, move the tier 2 to $24.95 a month and actually add in some incentives like crowns or room credits or a fluctuating promo bonus? Like whatever the promo is for the month, subscribers on that that tier get a free giftbag or globe or 5 wheel spins or keys.

I would rather spend money knowing that I am actually buying into the game instead of just xp bonus and lessons. A lot of the time that isn’t incentive to keep my subscription going because that $37/mo could go toward so many other things.

Zbaco

Yet another suggestion:

3 month plan: 10% off, +10% credit bonus.

6 month plan: 15/15.

12 month plan: 20/20.

Maajida

When I saw the change I was initially interested in the 6-month option because that would give me the 125% experience boost right away without having to wait the normal amount of months. Then I realized I was putting all the value on the experience boost and little on the lessons/credits and it would slowly make the game feel like I chore so I could maximize my investment. So I decided to just not subscribe at all and invest my money on a promo I enjoy. 

Coming from Aetolia, their membership comes with their version of Mayan Crowns: Iron coins. They get 20ic which equal out to at least 20 additional credits each month or an Iron coin artifact eventually. If Mayan Crowns were added, I would subscribe right away as there's always something I want from them. Though I would also subscribe for customization credits and/or anything else without a direct means of acquiring. 

In general, it's a good deal but it's not motivating me to spend the money. 

Minifie

I'd be thrilled if every 3 months you also got a bronze box that has a variety of level 1 arties to choose from, but these items worked like renown and had 0 tradein value. I could still get level 1s of worth for another ~3 years (and if it included tradeskill ones, ~6-7 years).

Tahquil

I'd kill for like, a token you can use to buy into whatever promo is on in the month. You could save them up until a promo you liked came around.

Reyson

It'd be nice if you could choose one of a number of things to get from Elite. 

For example, the credits' worth of lessons monthly, but the total you'd get if you could still bind credits to you, for those of us looking to multiclass without having to give up a firstborn to do it. Or Crowns, or housing credits, or talisman caches, or anysuch of commensurate value, rather than bound credits. 

Telinus

Use the giftbox process that changes each month based on promotion:

You received your Elite Giftbox:

1 - 150 credits + 1 mayan crown

2 - 1200 lessons (50 bonus credits as lessons)

3 - 1 promotional item of equivalent value or higher

4 - 1 talisman cache randomly generated and 1 legenddeck sleeve randomly generated

Jumpy

I see that some people have pointed this out, but the main reason we instituted this change was for people who did not want to wait to get the XP bonus. We typically had an email a week asking to move memberships to another game or something like that, which we could not do. This was really to help them out. The membership is already such a good deal that there is no way we can reduce the cost.