Hi,

I just got to combat level 4 and I'm not getting any credit for killing anything now. I've done a couple of missions killing tycorp assaults but it's not budging. Is it truly stuck or is there game mechanic I'm not aware of? Thanks

You are probably free too play. Which means your levels are limited to 4.

Interesting. I paid $2.99 for the app on my phone and play on my Gear VR. So there's a monthly subscription? Did not know that.

You get a lot of value out of that $2.99. Level 4 gives you access to two of the best fighters in the game...the Serco SVG and the Itani IBG.

You can gain access to the Behemoth Heavy Miner to transport lots of cargo.

There is a monthly subscription to fully unlock everything. GS is working to open up more content on the free tier, but such development is not always fast. But you can still get a very full play experience on the free tier.

Absolutely. I have no issues with it, I was just blissfully ignorant.

Indeed; i remember something about VR costing the devs money to put it on the store, so that was to offset it (but i cant find that post, anyone else know where it is? Or am I just crazy?)

It would be nice if they wrote this down explicitly in the Oculus store.

It took me 26 hours (so totally fair for the cost) of play time to reach the cap and decide to pay the fee but I'm a little upset I didn't know about it despite expecting it and googling it a ton.

+1 to making that more transparent for all the VR people. It seems some of them actually come here and pay. So it'd be a useful change.

My intuition tells me a considerable percentage of people would refuse to try Vendetta, regardless of how much content is available to the Free To Play tier, knowing that a subscription is even an option.

See this review as just a very small sample if you need proof. That's how much (misdirected) ire subscription games will sometimes draw these days. The VR segment is not exempt from this.

So, on the one hand, I understand the sentiment of 'why not make it apparent up front', but if it gets more people to try this awesome game we know and love I totally respect the devs for not printing "hey, just so you know, you can buy a completely optional subscription" at the very beginning; it's not because they are trying to deceive anyone: it's a deft way to avoid a lot of prejudice.

If anyone doubts the amount of content to be had at Free To Play license levels, a brief glance through the Role Playing forum should be enough to convince him/her otherwise.

Reviews like that are horrible. I think I've met this guy in-game. He has complained about VO being "pay to win" for a straight hour while five veteran players explained to him why it is not.

I suppose you're right. It is a double edged sword with being upfront or rather holding the information back to wait for the player to fall in love with VO.

My intuition tells me a considerable percentage of people would refuse to try Vendetta, regardless of how much content is available to the Free To Play tier, knowing that a subscription is even an option.

So fucking what? Benevolent deception, isn't. If GS isn't making clear that a paid app also requires a sub for full access, that's just bad business; I don't think they're dumb enough or sleazy enough to have done it deliberately, however. You, OTOH...

You, OTOH...

Managing a small business for six years has done wonders for my ideals; regardless of whether it's intentional, I respect the devs for not upselling clients right out of the gate via a medium in which the customer-supplier narrative is even more muted.

You equate transparency with upselling? Snort. Chuckle.

Hiding the ball means you suck, period.

I remember seeing that review when i was considering what to write for my own; i dunno if leaving it quiet is best, but I also understand PL's position on this all too well...

Pay 2 win games do suck but VO is a pay 2 play game - Someone should look into clarifying that comment....

"Pay 2 win games do suck but VO is a pay 2 play game "

I don't think that's accurate. We can play for free, and I'm not so sure a lvl 4 pilot can't win in pvp.

The Oculus Store is pretty minimalist, so I suspect GSW was not offered much real estate to work with on the page. The VO link does go to https://www.vendetta-online.com/ from which a careful reader might be able to gather that there is a subscription, but it's certainly not overt.

I think VO would benefit from separate pages for PC, phone and VR in order to really spell out the different business models.

As one who has recently just experienced this (obviously since I'm the OP) let me give you my impression. I got my Gear VR and was casually looking for a game to play, there are not a ton of games that interest me and I'm not a hardcore gamer anyway. I was looking for a game that had good immersion for the VR effect. If I had known that this game was a monthly sub I probably wouldn't have purchased it on the assumption that it wouldn't be worth it long term. As far as I knew it was $2.99 to play, no mention of limitations but as near as I can tell there isn't really much by way of limitation so far anyway. By the time I've maxed out to level 4 at all skills I'll have played enough hours to easily get my moneys worth. It's no different then the games that are free to play but you can buy in game "coins" to get stuff faster.

So was GSW deliberately deceptive to get me to pay more in the future? I don't think so. Do I feel deceived? Nope. In fact I enjoy the game and will most likely become a subscriber because I believe in supporting people who do good work that I benefit from. In addition they've promptly responded to several support questions I've emailed (Controller issues). Bottom line to me, I get enjoyment, they are a business, if they don't get any money I don't get my enjoyment. It seems a fair trade. When it no longer seems fair it'll be different. In the mean time see you in the universe.

Cellocho++!

Well put. There is that risk. I think theyre getting around telling people by giving f2p access to enough equipment to be considered top tier and be competitive, although with limited options. I started paying monthly because Im used to this type of thing and I want that extra stuff just so I have goals to play for.

I support adding more clarity to the GearVR store description. Back when we launched, the description was quickly pasted in from another platform, and was the least of the concerns at the time.. after that it was a significant hassle to update that description, as it required Oculus to "approve" the changes with their Q/A people. Later, when we agreed to be a part of the holiday sale, we were not supposed to submit changes from Dec 14th through January 1st.

Anyway, that's just all part of why the description is super-generic on GearVR, but it's not intended as an excuse for mis-informing anyone. I'll look into improving the description, although we are also trying to improve the "Free To Play" experience in general.

I'm actually kind of impressed by GearVR players hitting the level cap in 26 hours. Not that that's hard for any veteran player, but usually the average Android person will take weeks or months. GearVR people are clearly much more engaged, which is cool.

I'm glad to read Cellocho's perspective on relative value. I hate this capped-F2P model we have going on right now, but relative to a lot of other "experiences" I've seen on GearVR, we do seem to offer a pretty decent amount of value for a relatively small outlay, even with the level cap.