Stormhaven Press Release June 2023

[Biaxil]

What they are doing for non subscribers is beyond generous. I can't believe some people are actually complaining about it.

I will be subbing simply because this will be my go to mmo for the foreseeable future, and it will be the only sub I'll be paying for. If you're paying for more then one mmo sub at a time, then that is your own fault. Also, subs are so much better than cash shops which ruin the game in multiple aspects, including pay 2 win creep. $10 a month is really not breaking anyone's bank that can afford to be gaming in the first place, and like someone else said, the company needs to make money.

Thank you stormhaven.

 

[Pipz]

I love it. Embers is about grouping and letting people play together. We dont all make the same amount of money so this makes sense to allow more people to enjoy embers. I do think a belt lantern would be awesome for streaming and content also wish we could remove the afk timer. We have a beautiful world to show off. If you at subbed you get additional storage via the extra character slots if you need to.

 

[Virsago]

I think it's a good change all things considered. The biggest problem this game has faced is simply getting people in the door. The free weekends have shown that there is an interest in the game, but the cost was acting as a barrier to entry. Now they can get in, look around and try the game on. If it ends up being a good fit, they will sub and dive deeper into it. It solves the biggest problem the game has.

 

[Hiwalker]

Embers Adrift Announces
Option to Play without a Subscription​

Stormhaven Studios, June 4th, 2023: Community has always been a main pillar of our game design and a core focus in our operation as a game studio. We will always do what we believe is best for the community. With that in mind we are excited to announce that we are adding an additional tier of access to our MMORPG, Embers Adrift. At the end of June, 2023 all players who have purchased Embers Adrift (past, present, or future) will be able to play an active character through all the content in the game without a subscription. Subscribers who choose to support us with their monthly subscription of $9.99 will be given additional perks to enjoy.

If you are already a subscriber you’ll automatically have access to these perks. Many of these perks will not only enhance the subscriber’s experience, but also the experience of players who don’t have a subscription. Players who purchased Embers Adrift after June 2nd, or who do not have an active subscription will need to ‘opt-in’ to start a subscription via their account page at www.embersadrift.com/account.

We feel this is the best direction to move in for the Embers Adrift community and we look forward to continuing to serve them as we work hard to add new game content and more features as we go forward. We will continue to add perks to the subscriber tier as we go. Here is a list of subscriber perks we will be starting with at the end of June:

Game Purchase; No Subscription	Subscription Perks
Unrestricted access to the game world	Unrestricted access to the game world
Unrestricted access to character roles and specializations	Unrestricted access to character roles and specializations
1 Active Character slot	Additional Character slots (beyond the currently offered 3)
Restricted stash and bank storage	Full access to stash and bank storage
Restricted emote access	Unrestricted emote access
Restricted Portrait Selection	Unrestricted Portrait Selection
Standard Chat Channels	Subscriber only chat channel
No Subscription Required	Subscriber chat tags
	Unique Subscriber Titles
	Drifter’s Crafting Station - Portable; placed by subscriber and usable by any nearby player
	Ember Ring healing enhancement bonus - this bonus extends to all nearby players
	Give ongoing support the Stormhaven devs and become the Heroes of Stormhaven - allowing us to continue our work of expanding the content and the game world of Embers Adrift​

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Hi everyone.
No subscription: not a good idea.
Im sure the subscribers understand.

 

[Hiwalker]

Very excited to have 5 characters on my account.

Planning the following:
Warden - mining, hunter and forester
Knight - mining, armorsmith and weaponsmith
Sentinel - hunter, provisioner and outfitter
Berserker - forester, mining and tinker
Brigand - hunter, forester and woodworker

awesome your a busy boy did they fix not being able to sell crafted items to a Vendor?

 

[KinkyJalepeno]

While the overall premise for this move is sound. I just hope the quality of the In-game community doesn't dip too far when the inevitable moaners and trolls turn up. Mind you, the £30 entry fee will mitigate that.

 

[MarcusFromOz]

Just adding the roadmap here also for now

 

[Elloa]

Thank you for the kind comments and encouragements.
I will answer a few questions...

if we have 3 characters and don’t continue the subscription are the characters deleted? Or just not able to be played? Just trying to decide if I need to do something with all my gear etc if I have to take a break from subscribing.

Your characters will not be deleted. The first time you log in, you will have to choose your primary character. That will be the character that you will be able to play when you are not subscribed. Choose carefully!

What does "Restricted stash and bank storage" mean? Are there plans to allow purchasing extras (such as additional character slot or access to full stash/bank) for free players?

There should be an option to buy additional storage and bank slots for those that dont want to subscribe as in other MMOS

No, we are not planning to allow players to purchase subscribers perk individually.
This is my personal opinion, but I do believe those type of transactions are very borderline with microtransactions. Ethicaly I am not at ease with that at all. What do you think?

We bought the game we should atleast get the basic three slots without the subscription, its not even close to being a finished game

At the moment, you need to play 10$ per month to be able to play your 3 characters. So you can consider that boxcost = game + 1 character Subscription= more character slots.
No matter how you look at it, for you, it's an upgrade.

I'll do 14.99$ for a belt lantern usable when gathering and fighting (recording dark all night long is a streaming buzzkill!) Just slap one on a backflag with some duct tape

Belt Lantern are bad for performance. That's the reason why we are not adding them. The day we can afford that performance cost, I believe we could make the Ember Stone at your belt serve that purpose.

While the overall premise for this move is sound. I just hope the quality of the In-game community doesn't dip too far when the inevitable moaners and trolls turn up with stupid chat messages like "ded gaem" etc. Hope the GM(s) are ready.

This is the main reason why we do not want a FREE 2 PLAY model and we are keeping the boxcost as a paywall, with no trial beside Free Weekends.
That being said, we are working on moderation tools to make our task easier. When there is more players, there is usually more drama too. It doesn't even have to be Trolls. Most of the time it is two adults that are disagreeing and solving their issues in the global chat.

 

[KinkyJalepeno]

Thank you for the kind comments and encouragements.
I will answer a few questions...


Your characters will not be deleted. The first time you log in, you will have to choose your primary character. That will be the character that you will be able to play when you are not subscribed. Choose carefully!



No, we are not planning to allow players to purchase subscribers perk individually.
This is my personal opinion, but I do believe those type of transactions are very borderline with microtransactions. Ethicaly I am not at ease with that at all. What do you think?


At the moment, you need to play 10$ per month to be able to play your 3 characters. So you can consider that boxcost = game + 1 character Subscription= more character slots.
No matter how you look at it, for you, it's an upgrade.


Belt Lantern are bad for performance. That's the reason why we are not adding them. The day we can afford that performance cost, I believe we could make the Ember Stone at your belt serve that purpose.


This is the main reason why we do not want a FREE 2 PLAY model and we are keeping the boxcost as a paywall, with no trial beside Free Weekends.
That being said, we are working on moderation tools to make our task easier. When there is more players, there is usually more drama too. It doesn't even have to be Trolls. Most of the time it is two adults that are disagreeing and solving their issues in the global chat.

Well as my edit said - The £30 entry free should mitigate the risk, so all in all a good move.

 

[Weilan]

I totally get what you're saying, but when you think about it, MMO sub fees are pretty much the cheapest form of entertainment. There might be people that only play 5 hours a month, if that is the case maybe it's not an amazing deal for them, but for most players it's one of the lowest cost entertainments out there.

Or someone who wants value for their investment when they have one game they are focusing on. While I wouldn't shoot down an option of paying for hours of playtime I wouldn't want to lose the option of haveing unlimited access for a monthly subscription.

To both of you I have the same response - I am not 100% against subscriptions, if they are only optional and provide perks that aren't making non-subscribers feeling like they are neutered, it's perfectly fine. I don't have a lot of experience, but 2 games I've played extensively that are with optional subscription and mostly B2P are LOTRO and ESO. In both, a monthly subscription grants you special currency and you can use it on the store to buy different things, mostly cosmetic and QoL, nothing to give you power over non-subscribers.

Such a subscription, where the ones who choose to subscribe solely to further support the game they want and are doing it for this purpose alone is fine with me.

Only a mandatory subscription is something that I can only imagine for a premium, AAA, top-of-the-line service, not every service can be justified with a subscription. My town has at least 6 ISPs (internet service providers) that I can think of, they offer both internet and TV or just internet, if the service of one doesn't satisfy me, I can just not renew my contract and move to another provider. This is how I see MMORPGs that require subscriptions - if one game is not good enough, I will just not pay the subscription and go play another one, be it subscription-based or not. A lot of people will do it too. I think this is what happened with Embers Adrift - not many people were paying for the subscription and the developers finally decided that to make the game more accessible, they should make the subscription optional, and for this I wholeheartedly applaud them.

 

[Hiwalker]

Thank you for the kind comments and encouragements.
I will answer a few questions...


Your characters will not be deleted. The first time you log in, you will have to choose your primary character. That will be the character that you will be able to play when you are not subscribed. Choose carefully!



No, we are not planning to allow players to purchase subscribers perk individually.
This is my personal opinion, but I do believe those type of transactions are very borderline with microtransactions. Ethicaly I am not at ease with that at all. What do you think?


At the moment, you need to play 10$ per month to be able to play your 3 characters. So you can consider that boxcost = game + 1 character Subscription= more character slots.
No matter how you look at it, for you, it's an upgrade.


Belt Lantern are bad for performance. That's the reason why we are not adding them. The day we can afford that performance cost, I believe we could make the Ember Stone at your belt serve that purpose.


This is the main reason why we do not want a FREE 2 PLAY model and we are keeping the boxcost as a paywall, with no trial beside Free Weekends.
That being said, we are working on moderation tools to make our task easier. When there is more players, there is usually more drama too. It doesn't even have to be Trolls. Most of the time it is two adults that are disagreeing and solving their issues in the global chat.

Thank you for the kind comments and encouragements.
I will answer a few questions...


Your characters will not be deleted. The first time you log in, you will have to choose your primary character. That will be the character that you will be able to play when you are not subscribed. Choose carefully!



No, we are not planning to allow players to purchase subscribers perk individually.
This is my personal opinion, but I do believe those type of transactions are very borderline with microtransactions. Ethicaly I am not at ease with that at all. What do you think?


At the moment, you need to play 10$ per month to be able to play your 3 characters. So you can consider that boxcost = game + 1 character Subscription= more character slots.
No matter how you look at it, for you, it's an upgrade.


Belt Lantern are bad for performance. That's the reason why we are not adding them. The day we can afford that performance cost, I believe we could make the Ember Stone at your belt serve that purpose.


This is the main reason why we do not want a FREE 2 PLAY model and we are keeping the boxcost as a paywall, with no trial beside Free Weekends.
That being said, we are working on moderation tools to make our task easier. When there is more players, there is usually more drama too. It doesn't even have to be Trolls. Most of the time it is two adults that are disagreeing and solving their issues in the global chat.

I agree 1000%

 

[Snym]

Very strange movement, and it will lead only to a problems in both short- and long-term prospective.

Short-term means that you already lost about 5 subscriptions as from this day (cancelled). And it will just be more and more of the most core, understandable and devotee community. The communuty that played and believed in game despite multiple ongoing problems and issues.

Long-term means that you will not get more money from possible free players. f2p usually means shorter sessions with more simple gameplay - the quite opposite of the one you tried to suggest for a players before.

So, over time, you will both lose core community (paying community) and will not get more money from new players. Thank you for some pgood month of gameplay in past.

 

[MarcusFromOz]

Very strange movement, and it will lead only to a problems in both short- and long-term prospective.

Short-term means that you already lost about 5 subscriptions as from this day (cancelled). And it will just be more and more of the most core, understandable and devotee community. The communuty that played and believed in game despite multiple ongoing problems and issues.

Long-term means that you will not get more money from possible free players. f2p usually means shorter sessions with more simple gameplay - the quite opposite of the one you tried to suggest for a players before.

So, over time, you will both lose core community (paying community) and will not get more money from new players. Thank you for some pgood month of gameplay in past.

I think it will be the opposite.

Current subscribed players won't drop their subs, its good to be able to play multiple characters, have maximum bank space etc.
New players may start as buy to play and then buy a sub to have more characters and more storage and other perks.
So I see it as increasing subs.

And in addition, having non-subbed people running around will create more activity, more groups and help retention.

It is of course possible to look at any glass as half empty or half full.
Undone has already said its about getting more people playing ahead of more subs.
So if more people playing is the glass metaphor, then I see this change as getting a firehose and filling the glass.

You are though, of course, welcome to your opinion.

 

[Pipz]

I guess if you really don't want to subscribe but want more storage you can always buy another copy of the game and have a mule that way lol.

 

[Shimizu]

+1 to lighting solutions, lanterns, etc staying on when fighting.
On my hardware, even with exposure setting adjusted, the only thing I can see at night is nameplates.
If lanterns are bad for performance we absolutely need a way to tweak the brightness at night or at the very least add a non-consumable ground torch or something. Over this free weekend its been very notable how many people are struggling to see/navigate at night its something that really needs addressing.

Re subscriber perks - microtransactions -
I'm happy to sub for the full experience
The one character thing is a bit baffling, though - since you force at least 3 characters minimally for self sufficiency in crafting and many people actively use them all. This basically means there's no "non subscription" option for many of us.

I'm not against microtransactions for things like cosmetics, storage, etc. They can create a lot of revenue for the game and don't affect combat balance or give "advantage" in that sense (just in inventory management!). Its a fine line to walk however. I'd much rather pay a higher, one off , permanent account unlock fee for features than have to retain/remember the various subscriptions particularly since this game has its own launcher and can't be managed as part of steam subscriptions etc.

 

[Zorvan]

I'm going to assume new players will still be getting the free 30 day sub with the game purchase. For one, hard to convince someone playing for free a sub is better unless they had time to get used to the subs perks, via the free 30 days. For another, if not then it doesn't look good to remove $10 worth of value from the game purchase yet not remove $10 from the price.

 

[Biaxil]

Do whatever you have to, to keep microtransactions out of this game. It's the biggest bane to fair play. I personally find subscriptions the best way to go.

 

[Reviever]

I'm going to assume new players will still be getting the free 30 day sub with the game purchase. For one, hard to convince someone playing for free a sub is better unless they had time to get used to the subs perks, via the free 30 days. For another, if not then it doesn't look good to remove $10 worth of value from the game purchase yet not remove $10 from the price.

Just read from a guy who bought the game yesterday and he had to buy an sub additionally to his already purchased game? It seems to be the case since 2nd june.And yes, that definitely leaves a sour taste in my mouth and feeling less inclined to buy the game if they took away that 10 dollar worth.

 

[Biaxil]

I'm going to assume new players will still be getting the free 30 day sub with the game purchase. For one, hard to convince someone playing for free a sub is better unless they had time to get used to the subs perks, via the free 30 days. For another, if not then it doesn't look good to remove $10 worth of value from the game purchase yet not remove $10 from the price.

I agree. Would make no sense otherwise.

 

[Johnpetrucci]

I just wanted to throw some personal perspective on all this.

I find this to be an immensely positive change for Embers Adrift, because the number one issue with gameplay currently is that you need 3-5 other players to effectively play the game at a mid to high level. My wife and I were already planning on turning off our subscriptions prior to this announcement, so from a selfish perspective, this allows us to still hop into the game on a single character, and upon doing that, we can gauge whether or not the game has moved enough to draw us back in. Without this change, I honestly could see us walking away and never looking back, because there’s just so many different things to try out there and big new titles are releasing even as we speak here. This change will allow me to stay connected to Embers such that the door can remain open.

It’s entirely a positive change for anyone who already plays the game, because anyone who plays is a subscriber, and now you will all gain new things; nothing is being taken away…only given. For those who are upset that they won’t have full access after turning your subscription off, I present to you one single rebuttal, you find this to be worse than having NO ACCESS like you would prior to this change? That is the comparison; not trying to act as though you’re entitled to full character access simply because you paid $30 to download a game and subscribed for a period of time? Could not disagree more with that type of sentiment for the reasons described above; you will now retain access whereas you had NONE before.

This is good, forward thinking by them. They have subscriber only chat, so even if someone attempts to generate income via 3rd party sales in this game, they would need to subscribe and leverage themselves against the subscription cost and needing to make enough money from what limited player base the game currently holds. This will also benefit active subscription players, because I don’t imagine this will result in less people playing, so there’s a ton of positive potential being generated here.

Please just do your best to overexplain how the limited character access, limited inventory access, etc. will function for those who cancel their subscriptions, because the thing that will frustrate the masses is losing access to things unwittingly. I know for my wife and myself, our focus will just be on picking the character we’d still want to use and adjusting our entire inventory to best suit that level of access, and I’m super happy to even have that option.