Deodand

Hi folks. Deodand here... also Deodand on main.. Pk Server alts are ServusI, ServusII, ServusIII, and MixMaster. Main alts are Botboy... and a few others I can't quite remember atm.. I'll edit this when they come to me. Needless to say they don't get used much.

Hello Radu, I've been lurking around in @6 and on the forums the last week or so, reading a lot of stuff being said about the economy, gold sellers, the decline in revenue coming in from the EL Shop, and assorted other business... I think I have some things to add, hopefully some of them might be useful and thought provoking, but I didn't want them buried in the general sea of whining/bitching, so I thought to perhaps post them here instead. To begin with, I'd like to suggest that you please don't take all the aforementioned whining/bitching too seriously. A great many people have adverse reactions to change.. any change.. that inconveniences their personal preferences or habits in any way whatsoever. If one worries overmuch about such things, it just leads to a vicious circle of trying to please people, instead of making rational decisions based on what is best for the game as a whole, and frankly, special interests of any sort are dangerous to pander to. They just tend to make the whole more fucked up, as any examination of the policies of the US government will easily illustrate. Just my 2 cents there. The second thing would be the economy in EL. You mentioned earlier in @6 that you were thinking of massively reworking it along the lines of Runescape's setup. I would strongly advise against this, not that my advice is all that sagacious. It's just from my experience in MMORPGs that EL actually has a rather strong, stable economy compared to most. It's certainly one of the best managed that I've ever encountered. So to that end, I don't think a large re-working needs to be undertaken. Perhaps a few fine-tunings here or there, but nothing large. If I were to suggest somthing related to the EL economy, it might be to attempt to broaden it. One of the problems we seem to be running into is a "secondary currency" scenario, where certain items become a de-facto standard for value, and when those shift in availability, they can start to skew the perceptions of the community. Two such items appear, at least to me, to be EFEs and Rostos. There are probably others, but those two come to mind first just based on what I see. I don't really have any answers beyond what you've already done in regards to the rostos part, but um.. Perhaps if there were multiple ways to make any given item, with perhaps slight cosmetic differences or somesuch, it might help to minimize the effects of the availability of any single ingredient on the economic structure as a whole? It just strikes me that with more options of reasonably equivalent utility, the impact of any given one is greatly reduced, and the whole system becomes more stable. Just a thought. To be honest, it's the decrease in revinue from the Item Shop that concerns me the most. I know that with the world economy going to shit in a handbag, "discretionary spending" is on the downslide, but there's gotta be some ways to drum up business for you, and so I'm going to try my hand at a few suggestions.. I play mainly "free" MMORPGS, mainly because I have a really erratic source of RL income, and I can't afford a general "monthly subscription" sort of thing regularly.. But the "free" MMORPGS I've played have either had 1) advertisements, or 2), an item shop, or both.. Now, I generally dislike the ads approach.. they wind up usually being poorly implemented and as a result, the games tend to turn into more advertising than gameplay.. But item shops, those can be cool. From what I've seen so far, One of the keys to Item Shops is variety of stuff. Doesn't necessarily have to be things that turn into "excessive in-game advantage" bits... but a fair chunk of the "hot sellers" and moneymakers that I've run across have been "things to customize your character with". They don't even have to necessarily *do* anything.. just "peacock feathers" so to speak. Lots of people want a distinctive look. One of the reasons LabRat's "custom cape" biz is going rather strongly.. But there are limits to what one can do with re-meshing, and it can be complicated.. But, for instance, if there was a way to implement something like a "dye kit".. that would allow say, armor or weapons to be re-tinted.. Not substantially altered, but just say, a blued effect on titanium plate or chain.. or adding a red sheen to an axe, or whatnot.. that kind of thing, and make them available for a couple bucks, I imagine they'd sell decently. I'd buy a few when I could. A second thing along those lines would be variant weapons and armor. Absolutely nothing different from what is in-game already, stats wise, but again, visually distinctive. Say perhaps a scimitar variant of the "emerald claymore", or some similar such bit, available only through the item shop. Might get a few bucks. A third might be a couple new items, like Masks or Gauntlets... Masks as a decorative face-bit that doesn't affect your headgear.. (CoL/CoM usually too useful for someone to give up for deco effect) and Gauntlets would be similar hand-covering that can be worn with shield/sword bits.. could do a "universal gauntlet" thing that'd match whatever armor is being worn. No game effect, just looks.. I'd probably buy both, if reasonably priced. And once again, I'd like to endorse support your idea of a "premium membership". As long as it doesn't unbalance things severely, I think it's groovy and I'd buy one provided I can afford it and buy multiple months to a year at a stretch And, of course, an "unbreakable pickaxe" would be high on my purchase list That's my thoughts for "item shop" expansion.. might help, I dunno. Just for your consideration. Another bit might, if it's possible to do, be to have the item shop accessible within the client... either from an npc or a button... As it is, it kinda takes some looking to find, and its outside the game itself. Just suggesting that the easier it is for a complete idiot to find, the higher the odds that complete idiot might buy something.. lol Another thing I've seen done is sales and special offers... combo packages or whatnot... like "buy 25 rostos and get a free EFE" or "this month save 10% on item X." Also you could probably sell nexus removal stones in the item shop as well. Next I'd like to move on to the issue of a declining playerbase. There are a couple of things I can think of that might help out there... Yeah, placing some ads on a few websites might help.. but I think your strongest asset in terms of marketing is to mobilize the community. Put out a call to the people, so to speak.. Make it visible. I'd suggest something kind of like your "adopt a newbie" program, but just geared towards recruiting new players. If somebody recruits say, 5 new players, and they make it to level 50, then they get some kinda widget and some public recognition. Some people may want to opt out of the recognition bit, but others are motivated by the chance to "see their name in lights". Additionally, encouraging players to write reviews of EL on the various MMORPG rating sites.. even if it's "unofficial".. could likely help drum up more recruits. I'd wager there's a fair chunk of the player community that would like to do things to help, but they don't really know what they should do, or what even is possible *to* do. I think many would pitch in just on the asking. And, on the side of involving more people in the whole "contests" thing.. Would it be possible to have a "donations NPC" ? Just a figure who accepts stuff that gets deposited into a "donations bank" that the contest team can pull things out of? And just to encourage it, perhaps a listing available for "most noob gear donated" or "most gc contributed" or that sort. Again, with an option to opt out of the list, but some people are motivated by that kinda thing. It'd also make it easier on the Mods, so they don't have to run all over the place collecting loot to disperse later.. Just a notion. I know I'm getting into book-length here in this post.. but there's one other idea I'd like to share... You've mentioned that you're getting a bit burnt out on EL.. and would like to try doing some other games and such.. Well... This is maybe a little nutso... but hell, I'll suggest it anyway. How about some mini-games for EL? Yeah, I know, it's a bit silly, but hear me out here.. There's a couple of areas where I think this could be a bonus for EL... and I could see 2 kinds of minigame implementation. The first would be just little generic time-wasters while harvesting or mixing or just sitting around. People love time-wasters. Guess the number, tic-tac-toe, rock paper scissors, whack-a-mole.. whatever. Now, I'm not a big listener to all the whining and whatnot.. but one of the things that I can see contributing to the "afk harving" issue, and the reason why so much of a stink is made, is because harvesting, especially in large quantity, or high level items with long delays, can get really boring. I know I tend to play a lot of Freecell or Minesweeper when stocking up for mixing. If I had some kind of pithy little time waster game, I'd be much more inclined to stay in the EL window and not be afk. Now, the new mini-events make it harder to harvest like that, but it increases the boredom level too.. mebbe something could be tied in to the mini-games or something to minimize mini-events? Or not... hell, I'd just love a little thing to fiddle with in-between events or while "mix all" is processing. The second bit for mini-games.. and this is where something could be made a little more involved... We have taverns.. and unlike real life.. nobody really hangs out in them. Well, most taverns have some sort of games... or entertainments... A couple chess and checkerboards in each, maybe a darts thing or a pool table... and perhaps a leaderboard for points or some tournament possibilities... Could add a bit of depth to the game. Charge a few gcs for each, and you even have a modest GC sink. I'm sure some folk would be interested on those "blah" days where they don't feel productive, or just want a change of pace. And, if you wanted a bit more variety, you could even get all creative and invent some truly "EL Unique" sorts of games that blend in with the world and storyline... *Shrugs* Just a notion too. Ok.. I'll stop before this gets any longer. I hope some of this stuff is at least marginally useful.. or at least thought provoking. Regards, Deodand

I tend towards option 3 on both counts, as what I'm mixing usually always depends on either 1, what I need, or 2, what I have ings for. In general, if any of these days pop up, I tend to just mix the hell out of everything possible in my storage.. lol.

Being a "longtime gamer" doesn't at all equate to being "possessed of a clue". He was probably an asshat on all his other MMOs as well. I, for one, would have banned him at the start, and his IP. Look, I understand we want new players... but there's a certain sort of new players we *don't* want, and he's a classic example of that category. I was in VotD on one of my alts at the time, and watched the whole thing. There was nothing *remotely* confusing about what was going on there.. the giant spams of death notices should have been a clue to even the most noobish of noobs that something was afoot, and that maybe one ought to stay away. Secondly, there's just no excuse for that kind of rediculous asshat tantrum, ever. If you're an "oldschool gamer", you bloody well ought to understand that death is a part of the gaming experience. As is the loss of stuff. Deal. Thirdly, Any "oldschool gamer" with a clue knows to read up on the game you're going to play, and find out in advance how things work there. At least know who runs things. A cursory google search will dig up all you want to know. It's the online version of "RTFM". If you can't handle the above, you have no claim to the descriptor "oldschool".. nor "experienced". End of. Goodby and good riddance to another useless waste of bandwidth.

Voted yes, and I will buy one when I can scrape up the RL cash. I selected "less item breaks" and "better chance to make rares" as my options.. but the reason for that is kinda simple really.. 1, I get severely annoyed at pickaxe breakage. Hell, I'd pay $20-30 for just an "unbreakable pickaxe" from the item shop... 2. I just got done mixing the better part of 70k FEs for a guild project.. no EFE so far. But other than that, I don't really care what, if any, benefits are offered. I'd buy one just to support Radu and EL, provided, of course, I could afford it... But to be honest.. I really don't see "inflation" as that big of a problem here in EL. Sure, we have some... but that's just it.. it's *some*. Every other game I've played has had *massive* hyperinflation in comparison.. and you know what? I've done just fine on them too. No, I've never been a "top 10 ubber-Pr0 player".. but I don't play games for an ego gratification.. I play em to have fun, make friends, and generally enjoy myself. Nothing suggested by Radu has any significant effect of "breaking game balance". Certainly far less impact than somebody being able to go buy a couple million gcs from a gold farmer, and then go snag the uberest gear just because they have a fat bank account. Which, I might add, they can already do. Banning gold farming doesnt' work.. it's been tried by many, many games, including WoW, and even the mighty Blizzard, with their millions of dollars and thousands of employees can't stop it. Inflation happens in *any* virtual economy, simply because it's always so much easier to make digital currency than it is to make RL currency, and there are less fixed expenses that command significant portions of one's income.. There is *always* a way to make enough gcs for what you want to do, if you're willing to put forth the effort. So frankly, I'm not all that worried about "inflation". What I am concerned with, however, is Radu being able to make enough RL cash so EL can continue running for us to enjoy. Beyond that, I don't care so much.

Yep.. I always wanted to be an all arounder. The reason for this is that I tend to play games for long periods of time. Years, if I can. It makes no sense to me to spend lots of time building up a character if I'm not going to stick with it, and once I have a character built up, it makes no sense to casually stop playing.. lol Looking into EL, and the way the game is set up.. frankly, without being an all arounder, I'm going to either 1) run out of things to do, or 2) wind up doing so much of 1 or 2 things that it'll drive me bonkers. So I figure that if I do everything, I get a good mix of experiences, and am thus able to enjoy the game in more of its aspects.

I'd like to see some Masks too, just not the green bit from the movie Ideally, the way I'd like to see it implemented, if possible, is a separate "face" slot for gear. That way one could wear both a helm and a mask, much like some of the ancient Samurai armor was set up. Just in my veiw, there's both a lot of historical and mythological basis for them, even if they don't add any effects and are purely decorative. There's an almost infinite variety possible just using examples from around the world.. but personally, I'd just like something like this: Only mebbe in black with some blue or silver highlights It might also be yet another interesting way for Roja to bust out with some more nifty cool artwork Heck, I'd be willing to buy such an item from the EL store too, providing it was reasonably priced.. like $10 or under, if I could wear it with a helm. Just my $.02, Deodand

For my part, I will support Holar in this. I'm not a manu-er, unless you count leather helms, but as an all-arounder, I will do my part by simply getting ings and contracting one of the high level manuers to make my goodies. Yeah, I could get stuff on the cheap, and much more conveniently than harving an arseload of ings... but it just strikes me as wrong that somebody should lose money for their work. *shrugs*

Mebbe I be too n00b to weigh in much here, but I can't say as I see terribly much of a problem with any aspects of the EL economy. Yeah, with some of the shortcuts / harv sweetspots removed, certain things are a little harder to get in quantity.. and for a while there, things like EFE's were really hard to get for anybody who couldn't buy from the shop.. so bits like Vial Molds and Alembics were constantly being sought.... But besides some little supply hiccups on such things, I've never really seen a situation where a person couldn't get what they need. Just situations where they have to work a little harder for it. Granted, on some things, it really helps to have friends and/or a good guild behind you.. but all things are really doable if you're willing to put in the effort and are patient enough. Just for example.. I've only been playing again for a couple months. Started completely over from scratch, liquidated my old chars storages, donated the gcs to Annatira for some contests, and deleted em. I'm now 10 binding stones and 16 tit bars away from getting a set of black dragon armor made. I probably could have just bought a set outright by now, but I chose a different means. I'm going to order the binding stones from the EL shop, simply because I never see them for sale in game.. But heck.. I cleaned my room and my car and I found $18.36 in loose change.. so I have to come up with another couple bucks here in the next week or two to get a check/money order for Radu and a postage stamp. This is not titanically hard stuff here.. and yes, I'm clinically broke irl. lol. Essentially, though.. there's plenty of ways to make money to get what you need. It may not be exactly *fast*.. and it may even be really boring... but that's why they call it "work". Now sure, there are people who are a lot more ambitious than me.. and there are people who need a lot more expensive stuff to get to their goals, or to do what they really *want* to do.. but there's nothing really saying that they *can't* do it.. it just may take more time than they're happy to spend.