I might have picked the wrong company in my 2014 predictions.
As reported over at the EQ2Wire, SOE has announced that they will no longer be handing out a 500 station cash stipend every month to Gold or SOE All Access subscribers.
Once known as Station Access…
Instead, SOE All Access subscribers will be allowed to purchase a single item in the station cash store, with a value of up to 2,000 station cash. (Some items may be excluded from this option.) If I read the notice correctly, SOE All Access subscribers will be allowed to do so for each game they play.
So, on the one side, you will, technically, be able to buy more with your single monthly stipend.
On the other hand, you will no long be able to accumulate station cash for a big purchase over several months, instead being granted a monthly “use it or lose it” purchase. And there are quite a few items in the store over that threshold. This is, no doubt, SOE continuing to get their station cash house in order after flooding the market with double and triple point deals and store discounts that ended up with people being able to pay as little as $1.25 for their $14.99 monthly subscription at one point. The joys of the free to play cash shop.
This will go into effect with all subscription renewals on or after February 3, 2014.
As for my 2014 predictions, I guessed that Turbine would make a similar take back move against lifetime subscribers. I still believe that will come to pass given that the growling forum mob sees lifetime subscribers as freeloaders who are not carrying their weight. We shall see over the next 11 months.
Addendum: SOE followed up with a “please don’t unsubscribe” offer of other shiny non-Station Cash things they will give you.
The Ancient Gaming Noob 
unless they changed the whole TP accumulation I cannot see this happening in LOTRO…it would seriously affect F2P (play to play via TP grinding)
Will keep my fingers crossed :)
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You know why they did this Wilhelm? You do, don’t you?
Because SOE.
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@SynCaine – Totally wrong. They had to do this because they got themselves into an untenable position with Station Cash and have been trying to dig themselves out for the last 18 months or so.
You know why they got in that position? You do, don’t you?
Because SOE.
So, maybe not totally wrong.
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Have SOE ever done anything marketing wise that wasn’t immediately followed by some sort of immediate “crap, we’re sorry” kind of move? I am having a hard time recalling if so.
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Soe just had a new feed about this, there not removing anything, anyone with legendary on any 1 soe game will become an all access pass holder around april 1st which means legendary for all games soe makes, after that all games except DCUO will switch to 500 Loyalty points a month but only if u sign in atleast once a month, im unsure how other games are going to be effected but the news on the dc page mentioned them as having no changes but SC to LP, adding a loyalty vendors well
at first fro dcuo anyway they were going to remove things till the user started an uproar and they reverted most things to not be changed
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@Anon – You have to keep up. We’ve already covered that and moved on to further SOE-isms, like shutting down games and getting ideas for Legends of Norrath from Hearthstone.
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