123864-proposal-one-free-day-of-game-time-per-month-for-lapsed-accounts

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For people that have already purchased wildstar and allowed their account to lapse, Please give them one free day of game time a month, and heck, even allow this to rollover Until redeemed.
 
I feel it will encourage people who have paid for the game to come back, and purchase C.R.E.D.D. in order to sustain their subscription, thus sustaining the market for C.R.E.D.D., Making money for carbine, And allowing the people who already invested in the game to return easily, or even just for a weekend after two months away to see if the game appeals to them after recent drops.
 
An Email notice stating that you have been awarded one free day of game time, and notes on the recent changes could really motivate players to return, and with the momentum we've built really help our playerbase.
 
Many players (Seven that I've spoken to in mumble or ventrilo) do not know they can apply the existing free trial to a lapsed account. Many cite the requirement of paying to unlapse the account to be the primary reason they have not returned to nexus. (The secondary and tertiary issues being Optimization issues (much better now) and Balance issues (whoo drop 4) respectively.)	
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Carbine has already implemented a 10 day free trial for new and returning players.
 
IMO: No.	
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i agree with OP.
hell, i'd even agree to a free 1 day per 2 weeks actually.
why not...
its not like anybody half serious would play only 1 day per 2 weeks anyway. it can only (mostly) help people to keep in touch with the game and not totally forget about it.	
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The only thing they need to be doing is dropping the 10 day time limit for newly created accounts.
 
Playing the game from 1-20 with trial restrictions should be unlimited. 10 days, for a casual person, is only enough time to get to level 10 and Carbine absolutely needs people to see housing + the first adventure/shiphand and dungeon.
 
I can't believe its been 9 months since launch and we still don't have a real trial.	
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i agree with OP.
hell, i'd even agree to a free 1 day per 2 weeks actually.
why not...
its not like anybody half serious would play only 1 day per 2 weeks anyway. it can only (mostly) help people to keep in touch with the game and not totally forget about it.
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Make it easy.  Give one free weekend a month.  That weekend, you give everyone who was current for the month a bunch of boom boxes or some sort of reward.  I do still think a little tip of the hat for the current subscribers would be nice.
 
I'm still of the mind that they should just give us rewards, like costume pieces, mounts, etc, one per month, as a subscription reward just for staying subbed.  Then toss it on a shop for people who might start afterward to buy.  The ethical cash shop that makes almost everyone happy!  Current subscribers get a thank you, future subscribers still have a way to get those items if they want them (and finance months they weren't actually playing), and NCSoft can essentially backward-fund a bit of development.  Subscribers still get everything developed that month.  Nothing technically exclusive since everyone who's subscribed gets it.
 
Then, on that month, you just zip a reminder to your lapsed player base that the next two days, they can come back on a trial basis.  They don't get subscription rewards, but they at least get a little time to see what's going on monthly.
 
I'd be down with that.
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			I like the idea of Free to Play Weekends. Like the first weekend of every month anyone can create an account and play or return to the game. Every month it would be a news article on gaming sites and would keep Wildstar in the news	
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Carbine has already implemented a 10 day free trial for new and returning players.
 
IMO: No.
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 I actually Really like this idea. You should make a thread sir.
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The only thing they need to be doing is dropping the 10 day time limit for newly created accounts.
 
Playing the game from 1-20 with trial restrictions should be unlimited. 10 days, for a casual person, is only enough time to get to level 10 and Carbine absolutely needs people to see housing + the first adventure/shiphand and dungeon.
 
I can't believe its been 9 months since launch and we still don't have a real trial.
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The only thing they need to be doing is dropping the 10 day time limit for newly created accounts.
 
Playing the game from 1-20 with trial restrictions should be unlimited. 10 days, for a casual person, is only enough time to get to level 10 and Carbine absolutely needs people to see housing + the first adventure/shiphand and dungeon.
 
I can't believe its been 9 months since launch and we still don't have a real trial.
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			Nice to see all the responses~! 	
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As usual, fantastic ideas VicVan
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Agreed.
 
I also believe that the level restrictions on costumes, dyes, and housing should be lowered. Wildstar's customization features are some of the best in the industry and trial players should have the opportunity to experience them as early as possible.
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I've been trying to push that ethical cash shop idea forever.  It seems a shame that I've got this Piglet house nobody new to the game can have, or even pay for if they wanted it, simply because they weren't here.  My exclusivity isn't worth anything.  I was thinking about monetization the other day, specifically about this idea, and was trying to figure it...
 
Lets say you've got a F2P game a sub game using this system.  They come out with a mount which we'll assume, costs 15 dollars for both (though that'd be a bargain in a F2P game).  Even if the F2P game has double the playerbase and every single subscriber gets it for "free", since they've paid a sub and the F2P crowd paid nothing, it would be as if every single active player bought the mount.  What this does is means that if people in both games come in later to buy something, that monetization is picked up on the back end.  Right now, a sub game is only monetized in the month it's monetized (if it's nothing but a sub).  If they made a month, and someone who subs in later buys that mount because they weren't around for it (and they want it), it's as if they subbed for a month they weren't even around.
 
And everyone here?  We get a cool mount for money we figured we were going to pay anyway.  Money that makes it a bit more worthwhile, because our monthly sub gets a monthly return.
 
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			i like much more the idea of the first weekend of each month, ill drive more people into the game and the rewards for the people with subs sound cool, they dont have to be mounts but a boombox, a new dye or a costume item would be good	
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			What if you received a token for this "Ethical Cash shop" every month you were subbed, In addition to a new item being added every month, giving more player choice/control of the cosmetics they can receive?If you were there from the beginning, you get everything as it comes out. If you came in later, you can choose items you want to fit your theme.	
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What if you received a token for this "Ethical Cash shop" every month you were subbed, In addition to a new item being added every month, giving more player choice/control of the cosmetics they can receive?
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Make it easy.  Give one free weekend a month.  That weekend, you give everyone who was current for the month a bunch of boom boxes or some sort of reward.  I do still think a little tip of the hat for the current subscribers would be nice.
 
I'm still of the mind that they should just give us rewards, like costume pieces, mounts, etc, one per month, as a subscription reward just for staying subbed.  Then toss it on a shop for people who might start afterward to buy.  The ethical cash shop that makes almost everyone happy!  Current subscribers get a thank you, future subscribers still have a way to get those items if they want them (and finance months they weren't actually playing), and NCSoft can essentially backward-fund a bit of development.  Subscribers still get everything developed that month.  Nothing technically exclusive since everyone who's subscribed gets it.
 
Then, on that month, you just zip a reminder to your lapsed player base that the next two days, they can come back on a trial basis.  They don't get subscription rewards, but they at least get a little time to see what's going on monthly.
 
I'd be down with that.
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I've been trying to push that ethical cash shop idea forever.  It seems a shame that I've got this Piglet house nobody new to the game can have, or even pay for if they wanted it, simply because they weren't here.  My exclusivity isn't worth anything.  I was thinking about monetization the other day, specifically about this idea, and was trying to figure it...
 
Lets say you've got a F2P game a sub game using this system.  They come out with a mount which we'll assume, costs 15 dollars for both (though that'd be a bargain in a F2P game).  Even if the F2P game has double the playerbase and every single subscriber gets it for "free", since they've paid a sub and the F2P crowd paid nothing, it would be as if every single active player bought the mount.  What this does is means that if people in both games come in later to buy something, that monetization is picked up on the back end.  Right now, a sub game is only monetized in the month it's monetized (if it's nothing but a sub).  If they made a month, and someone who subs in later buys that mount because they weren't around for it (and they want it), it's as if they subbed for a month they weren't even around.
 
And everyone here?  We get a cool mount for money we figured we were going to pay anyway.  Money that makes it a bit more worthwhile, because our monthly sub gets a monthly return.
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that is basically very Swtor and Eso; subscribers get money to spend in the shop.
and in the case of Swtor; more access to raids and group content and pvp.
 
obviously there are countless ways to do the "right" business model.
but only subs are not working at the moment.
 
a good discussion about how to make everybody as happy as possible while allowing the barrier of entry into the game that subs create is the best discussion we could have at the moment.
 
you have to take into consideration that some people would probably just play wildstar 2-3 hours per week, doing some pvp and thats it.
my point is; i'd rather have these players in game than not. and at the moment, the subs are making those players fully turn their back on the game. which i think is a bad thing.
the right monetization system to have these players in the game is necessary.
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 Addons sorta go wonky when you try to stick ads on them. The only solution is locking down addon developer privileges, which discourages people from making them, and results in exensive clutter on lower resolution (Toaster) machines.
Loading screens isn't a bad idea... What about a monthly token for all subscribers though? One item comes out every month, just as planned, and one token is awarded every month. If you have an active sub and are away for three months, you still get three tokens. If you just buy the game, You get a token every month and can choose whichever items you want most, in order, and still get to choose the new one as well. Then I would say they can either NEVER, or ONCE yearly add an item designed purely to generate income. No token. Do it at Christmas and give the money to Child's Play and Toys for Tots. Make it clear that this is a charity cash shop item. The good PR it generates will be worth WAY *cupcake*ing more than all the instances of that item purchased. For the cash shop itself, I was thinking of $7.50USD(Half of one month's subscription) as a solid price point for a token.Here are some things I think are worth $7.50 Or Staying Subscribed: 
Full Costume/Weapon (Also I suppose Just Chest, Pants, and Helm might be acceptable if it's cool enough, but never single costume pieces)
Mount (Wild Recolors and crazy patterns on standard mounts are welcome In addition to unique models, but should be noticeable from a distance.)
Pet/Mount Combo (If you wanna do a less noticeable skin, Please include a pet, since you're sticking those in drop 5.)
Set of Mount flair, Or one FANTASTIC piece of flair (I'm talking like, Really affects the shape and profile of the mount it's equipped to, very ostentatious, alternately lots of attention to detail.)
Biome Housing Plug(You could probably have a lot of fun making Unique challenges, and even portals to unusual places, or better yet a Portal that Teleports the user to a random Location!)
Unique House (Unique interior as well would be a nice touch, so even if you dislike the outward appearance, maybe you can use the new interior option in the house you do like.)
Furniture Set (At least, 1 Large item, 3 Medium Items, and Two Small items, anything less can't influence the feel of a room when completely assembled. Wallpaper or Unique Ground/Sky/Weather Appreciated)
Costume Weapons (Release a pack of weapons, or a comprehensive "Costume" weapon That changes something major: Sound effects, Attack VFX, Or (No PvP) replaces all normal attack animations with a custom set)
Unique Title and Aura 3 Pack (Just give us a title, A Holomark (and let a player pick Holomarks), and a particle effect. Could really be the thing to tie a costume together.
Factionwide 25% XP Buff for 1hr (Clearly labeled as a waste of money if you weren't there for the month it came out. Do this the same month every year. Does not Count towards Gold after Elder Gem Cap.)
7 Dyes (A Rainbow's Worth, Guaranteed Dyes you don't already have, if you have every dye, randomly generated dyes are not soulbound... but could be trash. Also label a waste of money, and Have it Recur Yearly also. )
Hoverboard W/Flair (Please don't release a hoverboard without full flair, Unless you, release 3-5 of them together)
Random Neighborly Harvesting Plug (Spawns Resources quickly, gives 20% extra resources to visitors harvesting from it, Always generates random Resources, from any and all tiers.)
Emote packs ( Try to include two simple ones and a third, more complex emote.)
Toybox (Include a selection of 3-6 "toy" Type items)
Doppelcopier (20 min CD, Copies the model and nameplate of target NPC, and applies it to you, you cannot attack, nor mount or your model/name will revert, it does not break if you take damage, unless you die.)
Jump Quest Plug (Use the plug as a starting line, Allow the player to place a "beacon" decoration (released with it) anywhere above a minimum height. Normal challenge rewards (feretory,trunk,index, satchel) Allow players to Deposit a pool of up to 10 items at Plug (Selected at random, irretrievable except by winning challenge then roll.) Base rewards off best run recorded. Display highscores at Plug, Allow owner to reset.
All of these seem like they would be nice to get for $7.50, and appeal to a wide variety of players. If you do include a money-sink and LABEL it as such (maybe even limit number of purchases of that item per account per year.) People won't resent you, and give freely knowing it's good for the game. Doing this would garner so much good press too, it would bring subscribers pouring in.	
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*peeks in and sees cash shop/ads-in-game talk, feels ill, walks away*
 
Let's just stick with the free trial or weekends, please...	
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			Well that was the original idea. It's just... Well it's a fairly simple idea. I think the one I like best so far is "Unlimited Trial" Without purchase (with current trial restrictions) and One free weekend a month With Purchase.I'm just saying that if there is a cash shop ever implemented, I would prefer an ethical one. Plus you can be Subscription based and have a small cash shop, Blizzy does it. I'd prefer we get enough subs to avoid requiring a cash shop at all. But I do like this monthly rewards for subscribers idea, and a way of making them accessible to new players who join up later.	
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I like the one free weekend idea. Not crazy about cash shop, but it could work, I suppose.
 
What about just letting people player for free to level 20 as long as they want, with no cash shop? At the very least, this might provide a bunch of people to run the entry level dungeons with.	
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I like the one free weekend idea. Not crazy about cash shop, but it could work, I suppose.
 
What about just letting people player for free to level 20 as long as they want, with no cash shop? At the very least, this might provide a bunch of people to run the entry level dungeons with.
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 Addons sorta go wonky when you try to stick ads on them. The only solution is locking down addon developer privileges, which discourages people from making them, and results in exensive clutter on lower resolution (Toaster) machines.
Loading screens isn't a bad idea...
 
 What about a monthly token for all subscribers though? One item comes out every month, just as planned, and one token is awarded every month. If you have an active sub and are away for three months, you still get three tokens. If you just buy the game, You get a token every month and can choose whichever items you want most, in order, and still get to choose the new one as well.
 Then I would say they can either NEVER, or ONCE yearly add an item designed purely to generate income. No token. Do it at Christmas and give the money to Child's Play and Toys for Tots. Make it clear that this is a charity cash shop item. The good PR it generates will be worth WAY *cupcake*ing more than all the instances of that item purchased.
 
 For the cash shop itself, I was thinking of $7.50USD(Half of one month's subscription) as a solid price point for a token.
Here are some things I think are worth $7.50 Or Staying Subscribed:
 
Full Costume/Weapon (Also I suppose Just Chest, Pants, and Helm might be acceptable if it's cool enough, but never single costume pieces)
Mount (Wild Recolors and crazy patterns on standard mounts are welcome In addition to unique models, but should be noticeable from a distance.)
Pet/Mount Combo (If you wanna do a less noticeable skin, Please include a pet, since you're sticking those in drop 5.)
Set of Mount flair, Or one FANTASTIC piece of flair (I'm talking like, Really affects the shape and profile of the mount it's equipped to, very ostentatious, alternately lots of attention to detail.)
Biome Housing Plug(You could probably have a lot of fun making Unique challenges, and even portals to unusual places, or better yet a Portal that Teleports the user to a random Location!)
Unique House (Unique interior as well would be a nice touch, so even if you dislike the outward appearance, maybe you can use the new interior option in the house you do like.)
Furniture Set (At least, 1 Large item, 3 Medium Items, and Two Small items, anything less can't influence the feel of a room when completely assembled. Wallpaper or Unique Ground/Sky/Weather Appreciated)
Costume Weapons (Release a pack of weapons, or a comprehensive "Costume" weapon That changes something major: Sound effects, Attack VFX, Or (No PvP) replaces all normal attack animations with a custom set)
Unique Title and Aura 3 Pack (Just give us a title, A Holomark (and let a player pick Holomarks), and a particle effect. Could really be the thing to tie a costume together.
Factionwide 25% XP Buff for 1hr (Clearly labeled as a waste of money if you weren't there for the month it came out. Do this the same month every year. Does not Count towards Gold after Elder Gem Cap.)
7 Dyes (A Rainbow's Worth, Guaranteed Dyes you don't already have, if you have every dye, randomly generated dyes are not soulbound... but could be trash. Also label a waste of money, and Have it Recur Yearly also. )
Hoverboard W/Flair (Please don't release a hoverboard without full flair, Unless you, release 3-5 of them together)
Random Neighborly Harvesting Plug (Spawns Resources quickly, gives 20% extra resources to visitors harvesting from it, Always generates random Resources, from any and all tiers.)
Emote packs ( Try to include two simple ones and a third, more complex emote.)
Toybox (Include a selection of 3-6 "toy" Type items)
Doppelcopier (20 min CD, Copies the model and nameplate of target NPC, and applies it to you, you cannot attack, nor mount or your model/name will revert, it does not break if you take damage, unless you die.)
Jump Quest Plug (Use the plug as a starting line, Allow the player to place a "beacon" decoration (released with it) anywhere above a minimum height. Normal challenge rewards (feretory,trunk,index, satchel) Allow players to Deposit a pool of up to 10 items at Plug (Selected at random, irretrievable except by winning challenge then roll.) Base rewards off best run recorded. Display highscores at Plug, Allow owner to reset.
All of these seem like they would be nice to get for $7.50, and appeal to a wide variety of players. If you do include a money-sink and LABEL it as such (maybe even limit number of purchases of that item per account per year.) People won't resent you, and give freely knowing it's good for the game. Doing this would garner so much good press too, it would bring subscribers pouring in.
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one free weekend, the advantage is that everybody logs in on the same date. this way your free weekends are "packed" with people.
 
the idea of cash shop... all right.. i'm not a cash shop fan like some of you might think.
but i am convinced that a LOT of players would play wildstar only 3-4 hours a week (maybe just for pvp, or maybe just for housing, whatever). and currently a lot of those players simply turn their back on wildstar because its either "sub or go home". the commitment can be too big for some people that don't want to play wildstar as their main game.
personally i'd rather have these players in game than not. even if they play only 3-4 hours a week.
 
so. my question remains: how to get these players in game?
 
if you don't want cash shop you need to think of alternatives.
-it could be in game restrictions of some sort (cannot do raids, only 1 house teleport per week, maximum of 2k prestige then cannot do more BGs, a glory cap of X amount then cannot do dungeons etc...)
-or it could be the possibility to buy "time cards" (like wow in china). for example you buy a prepaid 10hours game time card that you can use whenever you want. a bit like old school arcade machines. no clue why this model isn't more popular in the west.
 
i don't have the perfect solution, but you cannot just put that "subs" barrier of entry and put no other way to play the game. i don't believe in it anymore unless the game is a *cupcake* tour de force. (which, as much as i love wildstar, it isn't. too small, too shallow, not enough content, not different enough, not appealing to everybody etc etc).
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We already said, put ads on their game.  Ad videos on their loading screens with fixed time scales, ad banners on their screens, ads in their menus.  Then they're being accounted for personally, and by the minute.  Nobody else has to support them at that point, they'd be paying their way in with ad revenue.  And they'd have the option to shut it off by eating a CREDD or subscribing.  That works very well for other entertainment services like Pandora and Hulu.
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Totally for this.
 
But if it's just a one weekend per month free, isn't that good enough? I mean, the justification for the sub is you get to play as much as you want. A lot of online dating sites do this kind of thing.
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But adds don't affect sub players AT ALL and requires no content to be created for the cash shop.
 
The free weekend per month has the same affect, though.	
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We already said, put ads on their game.  Ad videos on their loading screens with fixed time scales, ad banners on their screens, ads in their menus.  Then they're being accounted for personally, and by the minute.  Nobody else has to support them at that point, they'd be paying their way in with ad revenue.  And they'd have the option to shut it off by eating a CREDD or subscribing.  That works very well for other entertainment services like Pandora and Hulu.
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It's probably fine to draw people in.  Avatar wants people to be able to play full time for free.  Ads are a way to do that.
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hmm.. in game adds.
i don't hate the idea. add some protostar borders to the adds and you're all set.
but.. its gonna bring bad press... a lot of bad press and awful videos on youtube etc... at that point i think a cash shop would be more respected than that.
imo a cash shop sounds more classy than plastering your game with adds.
 
anyway, i could be awesomely surprised, but i am nearly convinced that Carbine will simply do a Swtor style of model. hybrid with cash shop and some in game restriction seems to be a great fit for wildstar. especially considering that Credd would still be there.
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			The problem with "free weekends" is that like myself, before the missus and myself got a house of our own, my weekends were taken up of going out OUT, not just out, so I couldnt play at weekends (missed soooo much beta weekends because of this). Maybe a free week every so often? Like every 3 months? 	
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Bad press?  Isn't that why they'd need it anyway?
 
That's the whole point.  It's not about class or respect at that point.  If we want class or respect, we stick with subs, obviously.  F2P and B2P is obviously going to also bring bad press.
 
If you're going to go sheer utilitarian about it, ads are the way to go.  Specifically because F2P and B2P are, by nature, predatory.  That is free players that want someone else to pay for them, because they don't want to pay their way in (sub) or play their way in (CREDD).  Those people have no right to comment at all on financial exploitation, they are walking ads in F2P by definition.  Ads are a far superior way to pay free players in if that's really what people want.
 
The F2P cash shop forcing me to pay extra so that those people can play?  That's a non-starter, that's financially exploiting me.  You want to talk about class?  At least someone playing with ads would be personally responsible for their own presence.  An F2P game is like having ten people come in to eat cheap burgers for free, and being told that if you don't want to eat a cheap burger, you need to pay twice as much as you would have for your food.
 
Either we're going completely utilitarian, and ads are a better option of the two (since they directly monetize the player by the playing minute) or we go reputation (where we stay subscription only).  F2P is absolutely the worst option we could pick, for ourselves, the game, and everyone involved.  The only people who can possibly benefit from that over even an ad revenue recuperation are players that have zero interest in financially supporting the game.  And those people, quite frankly, can go to Hell.  I'm not at all interested in having anyone pay for those people to queue when there are perfectly good options available that would recuperate their consumption.
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i would think we need to allow players that wants to play 3-4 hours a week (or less) a way to play without paying the full sub price.
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A la carte is an option as well; however, I suspect that the hurdle from $0>$1 is the biggest to overcome, so not sure how much an A la carte system would really get you.
 
But why do you think we need this as opposed to letting people play a lot during "free weekends"?
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well free weekends are cool. granted.
but like i said, i am almost convinced a lot of people would play wildstar. but not as their "main game". so they cannot justify the sub for it.
these potential players/customers would play a few hours a week at most.
i mean, if a guy wants to pvp 2-3 hours a week every week in wildstar and wants to do just that. my opinion is that we need to give the guy a chance to do it without paying full price sub.
all these players will add up in the end so that your game feels much more alive.
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The game feels pretty alive to me right now on a PvE server.
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There has already been a game that has tried real life ads in game: Hellgate London.
It ... didn't do well....
 
So the idea was that they would have advertisements from real life companies all over the subway stations and on billboards and posters through out the game. Problem is they couldn't get companies to do this. Seems not very many real life companies take video games very seriously. (Even with the whole brought to you from the same people who gave you Diablo angle.) So since this was all coded in game, and they had to have something in these spots, all that was hanging up everywhere were advertisements for Hellgate London (and the novels based on the game).
 
It had to be one of the most saddest (pathetic) things I have ever seen in a game.
 
Not saying it wouldn't work to bring in money, but to get a company to sign on board with this the game would need to prove itself by being pretty damn successful to begin with.
 
I really like the one weekend a month thing, but maybe cap the level off at 20 for that?	
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I really like the one weekend a month thing, but maybe cap the level off at 20 for that?
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Yeah, cant' really bridge that gap. Every time I'm on there are people running around, even when I'm in lower zones. It certainly compares to my experiences in WoW back in the day.
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this. is where we disagree.
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			Of course it's instant pvp in GW2, first off you have a much smaller open pvp zone, so everyone is in the same spot. Then you have structured pvp, it's made up of less players from all the races no alliance restrictions. Third you have the gimmicky seasonal pvp, everyone likes a little different flavor every once in a while. And forth, the most important thing: they have a previous game to draw from. GW pvp was very popular and had a large fanbase to lure into playing GW2. You really cannot compare Wildstar to GW2, it's not the same thing.	
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i come from gw2.
and if you want to pvp in gw2, it is instant.
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Oh yeah, this completely explains the disconnect. I'm pretty much a PvE only player, so I look at it from that perspective. I know PvP has issues.
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don't get me wrong. i definitely think adds are a good idea.
is it the best? pros would need to discuss it. but its definitely a possible way to do it!
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Well, I look at it this way.  That ethical cash shop idea I mentioned earlier?  That is actually not solely a recuperative measure.  I have friends who started after me that want the sabotage beret or the Piglet house or the Highwayman's costume.  They, at this point cannot get them.  It seems to me that would suggest making those purchasable would be a win all around.  Essentially, people would be paying part of (or all) of a subscription they weren't around for (if it even required a subscription to get the item) in order to get something that is sitting in a dusty corner for us anyway.  It seems like Carbine gets paid for development post facto, new players get items they didn't have a chance to get subbed for, and we might actually get rewarded for subbing monthly.
 
This is different and completely separate from the ads idea.  It would only be necessary if free players are the only way forward.  Let's assume they must be there.  Ads have several distinct advantages over a F2P/B2P model:
 
-The cash shop targets paying customers to pay more for the game, the ads are only dealt with by free players.  In this scenario, they're completely 100% avoidable if you pay in.
 
-It takes a lot more money to buy out of a cash shop.  With this system, you can pay 15 dollars a month, eat a 20 dollar CREDD, or watch ads
 
-The best thing here, a cash shop can be entirely unnecessary with ads.  You don't need both.  In fact, remember ads are, essentially, tied to how much you use a product.  Therefore, the free players would be directly charged for how long they play.  There are no time limits required, no item limits, in fact the game might not need changed at all.  Let's assume two cycling ad banners on the main HUD, videos on loading screens, and a few on maybe menus or other areas.  How many would you need, per hour, to equal the dollars-per-hour of a subscriber?  Let's say both players play 20 hours a week, or 80 hours a standard month.  80/15=$5.33 every hour.  How many ads can you flip in that time frame?  How much more can you get for a video ad?  If they don't have to be reasonable about what ads you see (why shouldn't you see a Dr Scholls commercial if they're paying for your gametime?) you can drive that price up.  For instance, if Wildstar gets paid a nickel per ad a player sees, they can make that up in 100 ads.  Chalk up a 30 second video in a loading screen (and let's say a quarter for one of those).  There are point where a free player, playing constantly, might actually make MORE money than a subscriber for NCSoft.
 
-Overall, the entire system is completely fair for everyone involved.  Subscribers and CREDD users aren't targeted because the free players are literally being paid in from the outside.  Only the free players deal with the consequences of their own action, they don't have to pay a cent, they just have to deal with the banners and videos.  NCSoft gets paid on everyone's behalf, which leads to the other really big benefit...
 
-The game design incentive does not change.  In F2P games, the incentives shift because gameplay doesn't earn you money, the shop does.  If a free player is monetized through ad services, Carbine and NCSoft still make their money per player playing.  In this case, they can literally make money by the minute, so all they need to do is make sure they're making enough to cover overhead and development.  If someone only plays 3-4 hours a month, they are still monetized for 3-4 hours a month individually.  So Carbine and NCSoft still want to make the best game possible, first and foremost, just to keep people playing.  Their personal reward system doesn't change for the free players; the free players watching ads are on an exactly equal footing in every other respect at that point.
 
It's a far superior system to an F2P system from pretty much every angle, if you really think it's necessary to have a way for players to play for free.
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i cannot go against it. i feel it is a viable option.
if Carbine can get some companies that are willing to pay to advertise in wildstar.
then again. i personally prefer B2P with cash shop. but that is only my opinion.
i totally understand the adds might be a preferable solution to some.
a survey would need to be made :)
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It seems a shame that I've got this Piglet house nobody new to the game can have, or even pay for if they wanted it, simply because they weren't here.
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Poor example.  Look on the AH for Spaceship house or ask an Achitect to make you one.  IMO a lot of that Collector's Edition and pre-order stuff was pretty meh.  The Raidin' stuff is now available via the EG vendor.  Still waiting for the Highwayman items to show up somewhere.  (I have it only use the boots)
 
 
I know we've had this conversation before.  Your concept is fatally flawed.  When a cash shop goes beyond service items (Name change, Race change, server transfer, etc.) their whole theory of operation changes.  Their purpose is to allow those willing to spend additional money on the game to do so and the best place to find those customers are those willing to pay for a subscription.
 
Companies may offer a discount to subs or give them a limited stipend of cash shop currency.  If they were to make it carte blanc, why would they bother expending the engineering effort in the first place?  The freeps certainly won't pick up the slack, they'd just sub or do without.  New subs might but the vast majority of the whales are already here.
 
If for some reason they did entertain such a notion and they were publicly traded they'd open themselves up to some really cranky shareholders.  Not something a company facing a proxy fight will be terribly interested in.
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Only in this instance, new subscribers can get the item later, essentially subscribing in part to a month they weren't there.
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The point I'm trying to make is that there's not nearly enough profit in this to pay for the engineering effort.  And once you stick cosmetics on your cash shop your management and/or investors are going to start asking pointed questions why you're excluding a larger population that has demonstrated a willingness to pay.
 
Sure you'll score a few good-will points, but investors care very little for that.
 
edit: Better wording.
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