Games where you use IRL money - H&H Subscription

[Jackard]

but any attempt to add in items that actually 'do' anything special for RL money would just wreck the game like everyone else has already said.

the only one actually suggesting those are datoneguy, so that he can argue against the idea of microtransactions in general

[Lusewing]

even so I still love the idea of village banners being something that is customisable

[Melgui]

My thoughts on this:

H&H + buying ingame stuff with RL money = Farmville
H&H + buying ingame cosmetic stuff with RL money = My Little Pony Online
H&H + monthly subscriptions = pointless (remember: alpha stage)

[DatOneGuy]

None of these ideas are for it's Alpha stage but for when it's done as far as I understand.


Also I'm all for the banners, and I didn't come up with the idea I got it from Koya, and I mean I'm for it being ingame period, not as a cash item.

[Melgui]

Do you mean like in Battlefield Heroes? I have played it, and I will never understand why someone could pay for having a parrot on his shoulder, etc. but is ok since don't have any real implication with me. The same goes for non-cosmetic items (weapons, etc) I don't understand people who whine about other people who spend their money since is optional, and they could do the same or just shut up and enjoy playing, I think games are for that.

So microtransactions or not, I will play for fun as usual, it's only that the whole microtransaction concept don't fit with me.


I know this forum is made for feedback and stuff, but I'm sure that Jorb and Loftar are knowlegeable enough on the subjet and the tons of threads about "game payment systems" don't take into account that the game is far from being finished, in my opinion, feedback about gameplay are more useful than the ones for marketing. This is starting the cart before the horse.

[Zerrata]

I think I'll add my perspective... Note: Some of this might be covered in earlier posts, but I just thought present my own take on it.

Paying for membership (ala RuneScape) doesn't particularly bother me; however, in the case of H&H I just can't see it working. In RuneScape f2p and p2p players are, for the most part, kept seperated. In H&H however we'd all be on the same map, and although the devs could easily change that, I just think it would change the concept of the game.
Still, one possibility is creating a parallel p2p version of H&H with additional features, content, ability to purchase items etc while still maintaining the f2p version. They could both exist but with no disadvantage to players that wish to play for free. There are only two downsides I can see to this. The first that the f2p version would loose some of it's player base. The second is that Jorb & Loftar, after realising the benefits of a new income stream, might focus more on the p2p version; possibly even neglecting the f2p version entirely. I'm not saying they would, in fact I don't profess to know anything about them; because of this I am simply saying it's a possiblity.

As for the whole microtransactions thing, well I don't think it would suit either. Maybe it could work if it was just to buy cosmetic content, or items that gave the player no destinct advantage. However, if it allowed players to buy skills, attributes and perhaps even materials it would just undermine the concept of this type of game. You train skills and attributes to further your character to create better items to trade for better items, to help better your character and so on and so forth ad nauseum. Buying your way in defeats the purpose of playing; not only for you but for the players who had gained an advantage through the months of time they've spent playing the game.

tl;dr - I just don't think any sort of currently used pay-to-play / item shop / etc, system would work for H&H. If Jorb & Loftar want to make money out of this they'll need to get creative... well, more creative.

[Potjeh]

I think that standard subscription model would work just fine. Why would they even keep a free server along side a p2p one?

But H&H is nowhere near balanced enough to go commercial just yet.

[Lahrmid]

I can honestly say that I would easily pay anything below 12$/month for this game, in it's current state, with all the current features and bugs...

Of course, with that said, I don't expect a whole lot of others to have the same atittude towards an active subscription, and a having a solid (and atleast) medium-sized userbase would be essential to have it work (how large is a medium-sized userbase you ask? Well, let's just call the current one small).

[spectacle]

I also wouldn't mind paying a standard MMO subscription rate for H&H as it is today, it's certainly worth it considering how many hours of high quality entertainment I get from this game.

I don't think charging for the game as it is now would be a good idea though, when people are paying for something they tend to be less patient with stuff like half-day downtimes after crashes and game items vanishing from rollbacks.

Anyway, if JLo ever need to raise money quickly to keep the game running, I'm sure a donation drive would work fine, as has been suggested many times. Just put up a prominent bar graph showing the target sum and the amount donated so far, and it would fill up quickly. Getting an alternative to paypal wouldn't hurt either

[SeanPan]

Necropost: I'll like to note that I would definitely buy purely cosmetic items; it has value for RPing. Honestly, I would like them not to be even purchaseable items, but simply items that you can purchase only after you obtain the appropriate materials within the game to create them. Nothing special, just slightly different-looking houses or clothes would be awesome.