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Payment model & The 3rd market of irregular income.


Traceur

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For the vast majority of people, the current planned model works really well: Most people either have a job with regular income or a lot of free time, and the ability to buy a month's subscription with either real money (to finance the game) or in-game money (requiring you'd contribute a lot to the game's economy) utilizes the best of both. 

 

 

That's being said, there is growing 3rd market of people who have irregular income. If you do freelance work, if you own a small business, or if your income is reliant on the growing share-economy, you are going to have better months or worst off months, and it's harder to commit to a luxury (Which an MMO essentially is).

 

What I would like to see is some sort of limited capacity for people to play without paying. Perhaps the building tools aren't available, perhaps you can't increase your character skills. A smoother transitions between pay and non-pay mode would allow people to participate on different levels depending on how they are doing. Someone is undercutting your web design clientele? Nobody is renting your airbnb? Perhaps this month you aren't going to build your own ships, perhaps this month you'll be the crew in someone else's.

 

I am not exactly sure what limitations this mode would entail, but the point is that even while handicapped, you can put the bill on hold and still log in and participate and contribute in the world and your in-game social circle, which in turn would mean you are more likely to keep playing and go back to paying when the next client comes along.

 

 

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Iv played and seen games that have successfully pulled off a f2p/p2p model. with this game im not so sure how that would work. My best suggestion is this. have the game be a purchase for x dollars and have a "free" month of play. If you dont continue to pay then you lose certain benifits like the ability to use warpgates (or what ever means of travel they decide for instant travel) and lose the ability to use FTL travel. basicly locking someone into 1 system if they arent a paying subscriber one month. The reason i suggest that they game not be free to download with just a monthly sub is for the same reason NQ is against f2p. If someone has to pay for the game then they are less likely to be trolls and cause issues.

 

however in one of the devblogs they talk about giving a trial time to new players of 2 to 4 weeks so im not sure how that factors in.

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NQ can easily place a mechanic that would easily place such consequential condition on players that would serve as a troll deterrence if that is really the main concern. That is simply a P2P cop out and serves as a pay wall for those players that the OP is actually addressing which you, @Gingerdeadman6, is fully ignoring.

 

That trial can still exist in a f2p in a sort of probationary status until a set amount of time invested then things in the game becomes more accessible.

a developed game needs not just follow the rabble like a sheep because there goes the novelty of the game if they can't even develop a novel monetization model that  is inherently their own.

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NQ can easily place a mechanic that would easily place such consequential condition on players that would serve as a troll deterrence if that is really the main concern. That is simply a P2P cop out and serves as a pay wall for those players that the OP is actually addressing which you, @Gingerdeadman6, is fully ignoring.

 

That trial can still exist in a f2p in a sort of probationary status until a set amount of time invested then things in the game becomes more accessible.

a developed game needs not just follow the rabble like a sheep because there goes the novelty of the game if they can't even develop a novel monetization model that  is inherently their own.

dont feel that im ignoring at all. i suggested limitations. i also suggest a possible one time fee if there is still an issue of trolls. iv played mmos for 18 years and in truely f2p games you have scammers/trolls/and money bots. its only been established the pay model they are using. im not saying they shouldnt have a free version. most free versions iv played arent much more than a glorified trial peirod with out a time limit. but f2p mmos dont tend to last more than a few years. and this game plans to be around for a good while then it needs a steady stream of cash flow

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How about this. If someone's money comes up tight and they can't pay, but have some time to get on(if you have time to play, you have time for another job IMO) then maybe, limit them to the planet of Alioth with only limited building rights in certain places. Maybe also add in a limited global chat feature, so we don't have bots spamming chat, if there is one.

 

BUT, also make these options available for a limited time. Maybe a month or two. I wonder if anyone will be making an organization for people who want to use in game money to pay for their sub?

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Well, there are only a limited amount of options. I've seen this as one though. Perhaps a simple idea would be a warning mechanism. If you forgot or stop paying your subscription, you have one day remaining. At that point, you can play the game as normal, but once that day is up, you have to pay the subscription to play again. It's a simple workaround(even if not the best) to the idea you proposed and also keeps things going well for the devs. As well, let's say for every month you pay your subscription on time(ie. 5 months or so), you get an extra warning day. It's a simple concept that might offer a workaround, but at the same time, I don't think it's going to make a work around.

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I work freelance/contractual and I understand greately how when the times are good, they are good and when they are bad they are BAD. That being said, the price of a game sub is usually not much more than the price of 1 lunch. I understand when times are rough that 15 bucks is the difference between eating and starving but I have still found a way to pay for game subs, either through additional work, through a friend paying or through selling off CD's DVD's etc.

 

The bottom line is that, at the end of hte day you like to get paid for your sevices, Novaquark will not be any different. MMO's have overhead, they have bills to pay as well.

 

I say this not to be callous but just to be honest. It's not a luxury companies responsibility to offer a free product to people who do not have the means to pay for it.

 

If Dual becomes a monthly subbed game, then I would suggest when the times are good, you pay for a year up front. People do it all day long in wow and it saves money in the long run.

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Beside the fact that you can just save $ before getting to the "bad times", they already said that there going to be an item in the game similar to the Eve Plex. If you're not familiar with it, a plex grants you a month of sub, and can be bought by players to trade in game with others. This means, that if you played for some time, when you have problems irl, you can just buy a month with ingame currency from other players. Problem solved

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