better payment model brainstorm

[jorb]

Rename gametime tokens to subscription tokens to remove the confusion about them.

They are already called subscription tokens.

[Granger]

The fact that you can spend time in the game is arguably a game mechanic, though. Limiting time is at least as "pay to win".

Paying to enter the game is paying to access a service, similar to a cinema, amusement park, concert, ...

In case you think everyone should be able to access the game for free (being able to login without limitation) then the only mechanics left for you are cosmetics shop, pay2progress or pay2win.

First option dosn't work that good, if I got your comments on that correctly.
For the second at least get a payment method in place that is useable by everyone.
Third option better never be taken.

[who885]

i'm all for keeping the subscription as is. i'd rather manage my time then dealing with stat caps. just seeing it is not making me wan't to return to the game.

[Granger]

Rename gametime tokens to subscription tokens to remove the confusion about them.

They are already called subscription tokens.

Oh, sorry.

I usually open the store once a week and click checkout on the still filled basket in the hopes that I would end up somewhere different than paypal (which dosn't work for me because of history) - didn't scroll down in a while...

[lachlaan]

Ultimately when thinking about the option to play for free with some limitations, you need to ask yourself if you'd rather have :

1) A higher population of free players, a lower one of paying ones, but a more crowded world to keep both free and paying customers playing.

2) A lower population of only paying customers, and if so, the need to make the game be more interesting with the lower numbers.

The risk is that while the second scenario might force more people to sub and yield more money in the short run, it might also drive them away when people start shouting dead game again. I'm sure Jorb and Loftar are considering the matter of wether to give any access to free players or not.

[MagicManICT]

put this bitch on kickstarter and fund the next year of development, expenses, etc

or 5+ years if you're Chris Roberts? (For those that don't know what I'm referring to: https://robertsspaceindustries.com/ )

How much funding would be needed for a year for two, assuming they're not willing to hire more artists, coders, or whoever else may be needed? And what if they would be? What kind of rewards should people expect for a fairly large contribution, say $1000+? Note: just saw this thread, don't want to read 16+ pages of discussion over details.

Personally, I really don't care as long as I can play. It's the only MMO I really enjoy anymore, and it's not that massive, unfortunately.

[Kalacia]

Personally, I really don't care as long as I can play. It's the only MMO I really enjoy anymore, and it's not that massive, unfortunately.

very valid point. Its more of a MOG

[neverman4]

LIMIT DISCUSSION TO GAME CHANGE IDEAS
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Monetizing so the server can stay up and we can pay to keep Jorb and Loftar keeping the server alive, and improving game-play

Alternate ideas (could be bundled or separate ITEMS) not all are necessarily good - i am just throwing these out there.
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paid = paid account (possibly at multiple levels - like the Bronze Silver and Gold)

* no cap on paid - cap on free unlimited? (with the extra features and/or ITEMS being specific $ or one time $???) or maybe unpaid gets a LP "drain" the world drains you and paid doesn’t so gain would be slower and harder at higher but little impact at low levels - maybe combined stats = drain if you are unpaid? "weight of the world" type thing - a 1% LP loss wouldnt matter at skills of 10, but would at 100 and even more at 1000.
* paid gives you respawn of some or all stats on death based on paid vs unpaid (3x and low paid and 9x at high paid) and unpaid gets little or none (or maybe %'s) – this could be an object that carries skill from the toon to the next toon in the bloodline – or could go to ANY other toon – life totem? (could be item or come with paid toon). Alternately an amulet that reflect skills from experience back to the PAID toon 1% at bronze, 2% at silver and 3% at gold? (or something like that)

* paid gives you ability to create a trade hub or market - unpaid cant create trade hub (anyone can go to one) - alternately maybe anyone can build a small one but to have a big one costs $
* paid can ride horses - unpaid cant or paid toons can tame horses unpaid cant; maybe bronze/silver/gold can ride, but gold can tame?
* paid accounts can make ropes faster or other "make item" things go faster for paid
* paid account allows a personal claim changes the ICON on the map
* implement pets - you could tame wolves to get dogs but ONLY for paid accounts
* paid account has a slot for 1 claim to allow 1 more study slot - unpaid doesnt get the slot; maybe bronze is 1; silver is 2 and gold is 3;
* paid account gets mood music if chosen like aura - no effect just "cool"
* Paid account can select silly bling like "glow" or "dark aura" - no effect just "cool"
* paid account upgrades a personal or village claim - slight increase in walk speed inside the claim for friends (maybe even select-able)
* paid account 5% increase in luck? (finding stuff - fate items ... not too % but some)
* maybe paid account people look slightly different (elves vs humans? or simpler looking vs royal)
* paid toons can change what they look like (face/body)
* paid account user can transform "form" to wolf or cat or bear - (doesn’t affect attack or only slightly or affects speed) unpaid cant - ALTERNATELY it could be an object that allows this (totem, broach...)
* paid toons can specify a new toon spawn point - unpaid cannot
* Paid toons can SELECT look of buildings - unpaid have to select materials to get color combos
* paid toons get healed by the TreeEnt things - unpaid don’t
* paid toons can meditate to recover energy quicker w/less drain; or they just lose less energy


Selling in game items in the "H&H Store" to bring in revenue (and could be combined to get people to go from silver to bronze to gold??)
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* scrying ball -allows wandering at high speed so you could scour map quickly (but limited uses or limited time) maybe uses energy - or are ITEMS that could be stolen or traded?
* x number of terra-forming cubes that can move huge amounts of earth (balanced against manual performance)
* large "fluff" items like a dragon or demon or whatever that would "watch over" a village - but just be cosmetic / cool bling
* custom looking bling armor
* Baron's robe that gives an extra row of inventory
* glasses that give night vision or infravision
* lodestone - each one detects a type of metal each costs
* paintbrush allows 5 buildings and walls and such to be repainted (custom colors and look)- unpaid can do it by hand
* farmers HAT and Boots - speeds up farming (each increases harvest time a %)
* runners boots - reduce fatigue (energy drops much faster)
* ITEM: "skill knife" that levels = to survival (paid item that can be stolen - maybe unlimited or 10,000 uses or even multiple versions at various $ levels)
* Item and/or account feature: paid accounts start with flint/steel unlimited uses (can be stolen) or you can only make the unlimited ones if you are Paid or this can be an in-game "item for sale"
* ITEM: teleport stones or something funky that would not be overpowering but would give advantage (can be stolen/traded in game)
* ITEM: special symbel item (that could be stolen) that increases FEP % (not crazy but still nice for new toons)
* ITEM: special rings or broach or something that has bling like effect – cool but not too overpowering –
* ITEM: farmer hat that speeds farming
* ITEM: miner hat that protects from cave-in and speeds mining
* ITEM: amulet or ring or broach - that ups quality point by 1% or only 5 points or something.
* ITEM: glow sphere that lights up a mine better or lets you see into the walls for metal but only for limited time or limited depth
* ITEM: Speed Hammer, Speed Scythe, Speed Axe, Speed PickAxe- a tool that would speed up the process, maybe a steel hammer that could cut 25% faster for X amount and 50% faster for Y amount
* ITEM: Sailboat - boat that goes 10% faster


Other ideas on just general gameplay (non funding ideas)
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* WATER: add filter device: cloth + charcoal can create water filter to improve water QUALITY (or similar)
* CLAY: add throwers trough "device": higher clay can be made from dirt + bone + water (or similar)
* DIRT: could be manure, garbage pile, food, et all decomposes to average quality of pile of dirt.
* traps– some way for hermits to protect themselves and/or catch animals
* towers – that give ranged weapon increase % for all toons in them (think guard tower) again a bit of protection for hermits
* tame dogs from wolves that would fight with toon or would protect camp (maybe ONLY inside claim)


Crafting ideas - mostly from Staz
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* paid toons can create specialty furniture – chairs and tables - possibly do this as a fee to unlock a skill, or it could be objects only available in the game store.
* paid toons can create specialty clothes
* paid toons can create specialty household items more bling; paintings; rugs; beds vases


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Couple more BUILDING ideas
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A "home" could create an LP gain zone (sort of like the FEP bonus on a dining table). If you build this or that and put it in the house you can get more LP gain (all small but still would be worth it)
Alternately statues fountains and such might make the area "nicer" so it might increase LP gain - or alternately might increase healing (this could be a mix of in game craft and store bling).
A "fire tower" might increase damage a friendly toon inflicts in PVE/PVP within its range
A "guard tower" might decrease damage inflicted to a friendly toon in PVE/PVP receives within its range
A "moat" (or other build able object) might increase defense of friendlies IN RANGE
A windmill might increase water quality near it
A barn might increase farming and allow a TON of storage (all piles are x10 or something)
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All the buildings noted above could have a range that could cost LP to maintain - alternately the range could be relative to the stuff inside - one object might increase the % another object might increase range


Overall commentary:
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By giving the game store bought objects/tokens that only affect time, it allows the person who has time (but not money) to play and do nearly everything - AND it encourages them over time to buy maybe
JUST the speed hammer, or the travel hat. Maybe make the most appealing ones decay. Also make all the objects be able to be lost or stolen, paid for items makes for more interest in raiding. If I could PVP and get a speed hat, that might get more people out from behind walls. Allowing the freeloader (no paying gamer) to stay in game at relatively similar skill/capacity. You encourage more players and more possible customers. Giving everyone a fairly even ability - and adding flavor, style and even some outcome affecting objects (for a fee) adds to the complexity and interest of the game.

I saw someone suggest larger risks. Potentially seasonal events that might match nature. Locust, migrations, even eventually a forest fire or other burning. Leave the regular bear in and add grizzly bear and give similar speed but a big boost to life and damage like a real grizzly. Another might be a bee swarm (killer bees) that everyone would avoid as they would bypass armor.


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Simple money thing would be to allow some basic in game resources to be bought at the H&H Store. Someone has a ton of money they could get a camp up quicker. Resources get used up so it would permit higher possible revenue and again, still be somewhat balanced as as a freeloader I could still get the stuff, just would take me a lot longer.

WHAT ELSE? What could we do to add interest and keep the game funded/alive?

[DDDsDD999]

Everything just sounds like pay2win which is not what the devs seem to want at this point, and a bunch of cosmetic stuff that has been proposed before or is out-of-place as fuck.

Nothing on here through my skimming I like more than the stat caps that were proposed.

[neverman4]

Capping might work. It is going to be tried. I just suspect it might not, and want to keep the game alive.

This is a list of other ideas that might permit revenue generation IF the cap idea turns out to be a bust (ie people dont play / pay so they have to change again).

The goal here is to just throw out possible solutions. If you want to bash go over to the Game Development Prelude bash-o-rama. viewtopic.php?f=39&t=46591