I’d like to have a focused conversation about a non-destructive method VR could employ to earn extra revenue from Pantheon once it goes live on top of the monthly subscription. When I say “non-destructive”, I mean that in the sense that it does not involve items, cash, things of value, levels, buffs, experience, etc.
So essentially the way this would work is that there would be a number of either server wide or zone wide systems that players could pay real money to shift in either one direction or the other.
The amount of money per increment, the degree to which a system would be effected per increment, and the point at which a system could no longer be shifted in either direction (cutoff) would all be determined by VR in order to keep things reasonable.
Anyway, I’d like to see if any of you have any additions that could be made to the list that I had not thought of.
Here is what I’ve got so far:
More frequent aurora’s <------------|-------------> Less frequent aurora’s
More frequent meteor showers <------------|-------------> Less frequent meteor showers
More frequent firefly appearances <------------|-------------> Less frequent firefly appearances
More frequent rainbows <------------|-------------> Less frequent rainbows
More frequent wind gusts/breezes <------------|-------------> Less frequent wind gusts/breezes
More frequent cloudy skies <------------|-------------> Less frequent cloudy skies
Longer moon cycle <------------|-------------> Shorter moon cycle
Longer day-night cycle <------------|-------------> Shorter day-night cycle
Darker dark <------------|-------------> Lighter dark
More frequent rain <------------|-------------> Less frequent rain
More frequent heavier rain <------------|-------------> Less frequent heaver rain
More frequent thunder/lightening <------------|-------------> Less frequent thunder/lightening
More frequent fog <------------|-------------> Less frequent fog
P.S. - For anyone who may be inclined, it would be greatly appreciated if you would refrain from derailing this thread into yet another discussion about whether VR will or will not, should or should not monetize beyond the paid subscription scheme. There are plenty of threads that have gone into that ad nauseam. Thank you in advance!
And.. you would offer to the gods in the local temple? (I like this suggestion)
Them gods would then heve heard your plea and spin the planet a bit faster for a time.
Even more less intrusive then my post launch pledge reward, but ofcourse they could be of an impactless type too
Though you might get upset a bit if nothing happened, becssue some other player happened to donate for the opposite at the same time, heh.
Then such a thing of requesting a song to be played in received order like at a radio station would not negate anothers' person donation.
One thing I want to clarify before this gets off track, is that the ability to nudge a system in one direction or another would be confined to a limited range that VR has set for that specific system.
So with that in mind, let's just pick one of them at random (without even mentioning which one it is), and say as an example that in the vanilla game, VR has decided that they want this thing (whatever it is) to have a 30% chance of appearing/happening.
In a Tug-of-war type scenario, VR could allow people to shift (in increments) the 30% odds of it happening down to 20% of the time at the low end of the scale or up to 40% of the time at the other end. You would never be able to shift it to 0%, or conversely to 100%, because VR would have constrained the range that players could shift it to, to be within 20% to 40%.
This allows players to have some impact on things, but not to any obtrusive or excessive level.
I hope that cleared some things up.
kellindil said:So, what's the point of these systems? What do they do? Why do I care about them?
Why would I want to pay real money to slide them in one direction or another?
Would paying this money to shift something in one direction effect gameplay in any way?
They provide a little more of a specific type of immersion for those who are into that type of immersion.
OK, so if I’m understanding this correctly your suggesting a system that has players competing with real money for chances at environmental changes, presumable affecting everyone on the server.
I would say no; Reasons
1. Players may feel pressured to participate to rid themselves of a specific environment they dislike, I for one hate night time in games and longer nights would irritate me.
2. When dealing with real money, and odds of getting the thing your after your talking about gambling. Historically this has been a return on money, but recent history regarding loot boxes ect. Along with the new laws regarding them in many areas of the world, would indicate that Video Games, Odds, and cash don’t mix.
Now all that said,
A tweaked version of it could allow players to Buy events, such as ( But not limited to) an NPC invasion on another factions town for rewards from plunder or penalties from defeat, or their own for in game rewards upon success or penalties.
As a player if I see a warning X Town is about to be invaded I can just leave it I don’t want to join.
If I may side-track and combine threads:
1.Environmental impact- part of pantheon (what OP is describing here as a pay-for thing)
1a. previous discussion on how to environmental impact to new players?
2. Some, taken-for-granted but not proven, industry saying that one or two "whales" make up 50% of the profitability in cash shops
3. Long time ago comparrisons made in forums to bethesda and Player made content and DLC's that players can use to create environments.
Lets combine all three? and put the whales where they should be, wholesomely.
1 & 1a How to intriduce environment impact to new playars? whhat is currently in place that is easy to copy? slowing down in a swamp when running through it, screen going black when blinded, hindered to a walk speed when snared. unable to move when rooted, being out of control running when feared, being charmed and nothing is responsive. Lets add: walking across a running stream and your direction being altered by the current of the stream/river, the larger the current, the bigger the veer off course. Random dangerous Rip-currents near shores or discoveries of thing similar to the east Australian current as in "finding Nemo", or the Gulf Stream that is discoverable by random swimmers who can get swept away to be delivered somewhere else- who needs ports!. Wind gusts that can blow off caps, or if timed right, suspend you like an eagle or vulture on a thermal at the edge of a cliff if you get it just right, if not, its a loooong way down.
2 & 3. Then let the whales, be they evil or good, wholesomely use what the OP suggests to create their own DLC so-to-speak or own environments within the game (if that was a perk a while back) to create areas where some of these are strong in effect.
The more "good" whales can maintain the cost levels needed to sustain the effect and like gods watch from afar as the players run into them or discuss them or discover them or watch heartachingly as the players try to overcome them or cheer as the players succeed through them
The more "evil" whales can instantly influence areas- perhaps in PvP settings- to thwart or give advantage to an endeavor, like Aragorn calling the wind of the dead in return of the king, they can increase the wind to hinder the forward advance of the horde of orcs while they raid, OR cackle with glee as some members of the opposing guild get caught up in the increased intensity of the gulf stream that the whale has instantly paid for in the underwater battle, being swept away to the next continent unless they know how to swim out of a rip-current. where the "whale" on the other side may also "tug of war" and instantly pay to decrease said pull of the gulf stream, or... increase another environmental influence.
Instant and intense changes would cost more, and be a show of bravado, longer term sustanable changes would need consistent maintenence contributions.
The only way to make 2 & 3 fair would be if these were instances granted to the Whales, otherwise it would be PtW I think, and the off-set would be the player base being forced to contribute collectively in small ways individually to reverse the one huge way then whale has influenced. Vive La France.
If VR creates a game good enouh to attract a healthy and long-term stable playerbase, none of those ideas would be necessary. If they can't earn enough money from the game itself, then they failed and don't deserve to earn additional money through pointless additives such as these.
The idea of microtransactions is anathma to most of us. Macrotransactions (paying for server transfers, change of race, change of name etc.) handled without an in-game store generate discussion more related to the specific possibility. Thus, people will say that a change of name is a good option to allow or a bad option but few people will say that the game website should not have any charges for anything whatsoever.
The idea of people playing together having different experiences based on how much they are paying (as in the idea of a higher cost subscription giving special bonuses) also tends to generate primarily negative comments.
Thus the reacion to the OP's suggestions, carefully phrased as they were to avoid "pay to win" aspects was entirely predictable.
Forum history also includes repeated suggestions for temporary servers for events or contests. This tends to generate positive comments. And, most certainly, different servers with differing rulesets are planned.
All of this said - would servers that required a higher subscription than normal servers in exchange for having a differing ruleset or set of features be a way to raise money. Like the classic or progression servers in multiple games that do not offer access to free players.
Perhaps, but I doubt that improved graphics or greater control over weather would be a good way to differentiate a premium server. Still, better than allowing someone to toss cash in and be able to control my weather on a normal server.
So, couple things I see wrong with the idea:
As some have mentioned, I dislike the idea of giving the players the ability to control literally any aspect of the game that isn't purely cosmetic to their own client.
Second, if this system was client only, then one could exploit this to control their client without paying. Rendering the entire system moot.
Third, I see very few, if anyone, actually paying for this unless it was made server wide and server side, and then only to troll people as much as possible.
If they are going to do micro transactions they just need to do cosmetic garbage people will buy and be done with it. People will piss and moan about it, then they will still buy it like they always do.
Either that, or just keep a sub and hope people play. Because this type of gimmicky thing will either end up terrible and hated, or will not entice people to pay and be a waste of time for VR to develop.
The problem with any of these things is some players will feel they are having darkness/rain/fog/etc forced upon them and, though not a big deal, won't always be a positive one. I can imagine "The Rain Guild" travelling the land in a constant gloom and, while that sounds kinda cool as a concept, would annoy those where the guilds sets up home.
I also see people saying "yes, if there's a toggle". Please no. The idea of some people seeing one reality and others seeing another is a bad thing in a shared world. Beyond necessary toggles for graphics card power and UI tweaks, toggles are, in general, er, sub-optimal.
So, interesting idea, and well done for trying to think of something, but overall, I would have to say no, sorry.
I've sat with hand on chin for a while and I just can't think of anything that would be 'non-destructive' to monetise aside from real-world merchandise.
I've always been a fan of companion sites that you can check your stats and rankings. Charge $2 or $3 for that site, and you would have a good alternate revenue stream. Also, having a collectible card game app using pantheon's IP can generate a ton of money. These are things that would not affect gameplay at all.
As far as gameplay goes, while I know many here would hate this idea, I've always been fine with xp bonus potions. If people want to pay to zoom to max level faster, I don't think that negatively affects my gameplay at all, or provides them with an unfair advantage, as we'll all get to top level eventually. Most of us would appreciate the journey more than the end result anyways.