To help fund the game development further, I'll offer this idea and please elaborate on it for the pros and cons.
In software dev there is a stable build and other various dev and test builds.
What if, under NDA if applicable for us in testing, the stable build was offered to log in and do whatever under the subscription amount.
I'm talking one area or something, and the sub fee was just to be able to log in and chat, I dunno.
What do people think? I'm trying to play off EQ2's create a character they did before launch but this is just a log in and a steady income for VR.
Like I said procs and cons? Let me hear them.
This could be offered only to people that are in pre alpha already. Otherwise this would be a way cheaper way to join the PA.
If PA is permanently online then it is just a form of early access and this is not what the PA should be.
If they need further (crowd) funding then they need to find different ways to get it.
I think the game should stay away from letting anyone in until release. Exception being those for testing purposes. Look at Early Access games. Some games are completely distroyed by word of mouth and they clearly state they are in Early Access. The internet doesn't care. Haters and Naysayers will use anything to say the game is bad, vaperware, scam whatever, so even though I'd love the idea of getting in early, I'd say it should be avoided at all costs if you want a game that doesn't wrongly influence people away from the game because of a rabid negitive troll base.
Kittik said:Yeap I agree but I was just curious if it came donw to it would people pay for a unfinished released to keep it in development. This is purely hypothetical.I think the game should stay away from letting anyone in until release. Exception being those for testing purposes. Look at Early Access games. Some games are completely distroyed by word of mouth and they clearly state they are in Early Access. The internet doesn't care. Haters and Naysayers will use anything to say the game is bad, vaperware, scam whatever, so even though I'd love the idea of getting in early, I'd say it should be avoided at all costs if you want a game that doesn't wrongly influence people away from the game because of a rabid negitive troll base.
Probably more cons than pros but let me throw out a slightly different version of the same idea.
Keeping in mind that until beta there probably won't be anything really worth playing as a game, as distinct from testing. Also keeping in mind that early access should be avoided.
Suppose that anyone that had a beta test level pledge (and no one else) could pay extra for greater access to character creation and one low level zone. To play around with different classes.
When beta was up they would have nothing any other beta tester didn't get, but the bonus would be that this one zone would be left up more - not 24/7 but "more" (TM).
Not early access since their characters would be wiped the same as everything else when beta ended. Not a big headstart in learning the ropes since all beta testers would have plenty of time for that in the normal process of testing. Whether it would be worth the cost of leaving a zone and the character creation system up more of the time I have no idea, just trying to help brainstorm this idea.
The downside, and it could be a big one, would be if people that paid for beta access felt ripped-off because for their payment and loyal support over perhaps a long time they got "second class" access unless they paid extra. I doubt if the extra revenue would be worth risking this. Wouldn't bother me, I would happily pay the extra, but I still see this as a big problem.
Kittik said:I think the game should stay away from letting anyone in until release. Exception being those for testing purposes. Look at Early Access games. Some games are completely distroyed by word of mouth and they clearly state they are in Early Access. The internet doesn't care. Haters and Naysayers will use anything to say the game is bad, vaperware, scam whatever, so even though I'd love the idea of getting in early, I'd say it should be avoided at all costs if you want a game that doesn't wrongly influence people away from the game because of a rabid negitive troll base.
The difference between "early access" and what VR is doing is that they have already stated that pre-alpha, alpha, and beta are NOT early access gameplay. These are actual tersting phases. Everything is done in a controlled, managed fashion. If you're expecting to log on and "just play", you will be sorely disappointed. This is, "Log on and do x. Ok. Now do y. Ok. It's time to do z."
Yes, I know. I was replying to Zeem's post and gave him my con opinion to basically Early Access version of what he's hypothetically suggesting.
Thing is, even if this were proposed, people would start immediatly to scream vaporware, I told you so, Scam! If a developer says we are in production but we're going to start selling test spots, or selling access to a playable portion of the game, you will lose a lot of faith in people. However, if they need money, I think if they just say, hey we need more money. We are close, here is what we got, here is what we need to do and this is why we need the money, then they'll propably get that money save face and earn a lot of respect.
We are not discussing funding at this stage folks, I appreciate the thought behind it but it is not something we are considering at this time nor is it up for discussion. Please refrain from making posts about funding the game or development costs as we have a team in charge of that and are doing well in that department while we seek series B funding by an accredited investor.
I will go ahead and close this up now, thank you for understanding.