Yesterday, Sony Online Entertainment launched Early Access for H1Z1. Within minutes of the games launched the servers were inundated with players causing the servers to become overloaded. When players were finally able to play, they encountered something that went against Sony's monetization plans from nine months ago, paid-for air drops.
The air drops have been deemed 'pay-to-win' by players. The air drops work like this: you pay real money for an air drop (it can contain weapons, ammo, food, water. etc), a plane drops the items, and players can fight over the goods. Think of it like the cornucopia in The Hunger Games, designed as an event filled with bloodshed. However, nine months ago SOE revealed that their monitization plan was based off of customization — sell wearables, cosmetics, or anything that didn't give players a competitive advantage. SOE's original stance was that since the airdrop isn't guaranteed to the player who pays for it, it's not "pay-to-win." Still, players are pissed.
This turn of event have caused the players to clash against the developers in such a way that SOE is offering a "No questions asked refund" to anyone who purchased the game as of 10:30am Pacific today and will only be available until Monday. This offer was made by Sony Online Entertainment president John Smedley himself in post on Reddit:
Hi folks,
If you feel like the airdrops are an issue for you, you may immediately request a refund to [email protected] – this offer applies till Monday and it applies only to people that have purchased the game as of 10:30am Pacific today 1/16/2015 –
Please note that this is going through us, not Steam. Which means it's a little more work so please be patient with the actual refund (it may take a day or two).
Smed
Will you be requesting a refund?
