Black Friday/Cyber Monday

We are open to adding new pledge tiers. I would like to hear from you and other community members what price point the new tier should be at, and what rewards should it have. We can then evaluate what the development cost would be to provide any new rewards that we haven't already planned for.

We've also wondered if there should be a new tier between Lord ($1600) and Baron 3 ($3800), since that is a $2200 gap.

 

I'd bet you could just add the title "Dark Lord" or "Dread Lord" and you'd sell a bunch at $2500. Maybe a Dread Lord Sabre. Similar items can be crafted, but this one never needs repair. It would have to be lootable.

 

Personally I believe that expecting people to be able to double their pledge to go up one teir, I find that hard to justify. Esp when someone could just Pledge a new account to the same level and get alot more. Not saying that rewards have to double with every teir or even close to it. I havent upped my pledge for that simple fact. From where my pledge is now, there is not another pledge teir even obtainable, so why bother trying.

 

I'd like to see a telescope as a tier item.

I think the price points where it goes beyond $800, like Knight to Lord is where you start to see a lot of slow down. I believe the kickstarter numbers support this, where there were tons of knights but not so many lords. It's just a really big jump between the two.

As for the big money tiers beyond Lord, it seems that you're not getting a whole lot from those rewards. As much as I'd like to talk with Richard in a google chat hangout, it's not worth an extra 2 grand to me. I think if you really want to move people to the next teirs you have to give t hem soemthing IN-GAME that is wanted by all. Something like a moat, or a haunted forrest that protects their home from invaders. Or a teleportation type device that has very limited uses, but still gives a nice one up to the person upgrading.

 

I've been wanting to get the $55 pledge for the bonuses, but also want to take advantage of the 15% Black Friday bonus. Problem being, at that price level (and many others), the 15% has no effect on the pledge level ($45 → $52, $55 → $63.25, etc).

So unless I'm missing something – and I assume I am – I'll have to buy the $55 then? I was hoping there was a way I could pledge a custom amount (i.e. $48 +15% is over $55).

Thanks in advance for any helpful responses

- Faz

 

I think that not being able to donate a custom amount is a huge issue with the store. For me to upgrade mine at all, I would have to do a payment plan then deal with canceling.

 

I'd still like to see a merchant tier. I was hoping at Developer, since we got the Tinkerer name, that we would see a Village level craftsman shop, but Citizen was the first property owner. Perhaps a tier up that would feature a storefront property, and a great in-game reward would be a hawker (NPC who shouts outside the shop what you have to sell, invites passerby in to see the goods, etc).

Failing that kind of level, I'd like to see shops as add-on store properties.

 

That's a good point too. None of the backer houses really appeal to me and the type of character I plan to play. The eldemann looks great but it's very small.

I'd really like to see something in the form of a Dark and Tall tower. Also, housing that has some kind of functionality would be preferred. The windmill feels like it should DO something other than look cool when the blades spin. So any type of structure that has a functional purpose...something that gathers resources and produces goods (a mine or something - use your imagination).

I think one thing just about everyone's been interested in is STORE FRONT buildings. A place where you can sell goods or services below and live above. A place where you could create an INN or a TAVERN or a SHOP and it didn't seem like you were working out of your primary residence. The concept art for Fire Lotus Tavern and Hearth of Britannia both do a great job of this...but it seems like joe average player can't get that kind of housing and it doesn't make sense to me. Can't we get a smaller version of that in a village lot? Again, I think this is where the average person would want to put their money.

 

Notice how much more active a thread gets when a Dev post on it!

 

I want directions so the torch-and-pitchfork wielding mob won't get lost.

 

Dallas: Yes, a new tier between Lord and Baron 3 would be an excellent idea! Perhaps a $ 2500 High Lord tier? Possible additional rewards could include one or more of the following:
1) a new, larger, more castle-like home (instead of a manor)
2) an indestructible, golden sword of the highest quality, engraved with your character's name or motto (no bonuses in combat, though!)
3) a noble outfit (doublet, shirt, pants, shoes or boots)
4) some Rustic Dragon in-game recipes (good incentive to use the cooking skill tree!)
5) a Stephen Daniele wall painting or sculpture (for display inside your house), or a water fountain (for display in your front yard)

 

Made a new Thread to handle Dallas' request for input so we dont completely derail this thread.

https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/f...le-additional-pledge-tiers-to-fill-gaps.4111/

 

It's probably also to think about adding a new "highest" tier to the mix, just to give the high rollers something to think about.

How does a Grand Duke or sound?

Rewards:

A citadel with a moat and working drawbridge.

 

I dunno. On crowd funding, it sorta bugs me if I offer something one day, and it is on sale the next. The secret to raising funds should not be discounting items on holidays. It should be getting the price point for the value right from the get go, and then if that has been working, accept that is right and keep it that way. I can understand it differently if the game is live and an items popularity in a cash store has waned. But not before launch.

All that said, if there was enough new content for everyone to have an interest, then I can see it making more sense.

My two coppers.

 

Idk if Grand Duke sounds greater than Lord of the Manor, but this is an excellent idea nonetheless. At $15,000, the Grand Duke (or w/e its called) could also include your own customized developer's armchair, granting you new insight and expertise in the video game designing process. Who wouldn't want one?

 

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1400 Dollars Pledge: Jarl

Includes All Rewards from Knight Level!​

(Property deeds and duplicated rewards limited to 1 per pledge)
REWARDS:

• Rent free, Town Level Property Deed, transferable between players
• A special, commission free Vendor!
• Unique, upscale Benefactor Jarls home!
• A 2-Story, Town Wood Basement
• Available only to backers, a unique Benefactors Viking´s piece of furniture, as a digital, in-game decoration for your house.
• Your in-game avatar will receive the honorific title of "Hersir/Freya" and "Jarl" to be proudly displayed for all to see (title visibility controlled by player).
• Special Benefactor Level plaque as a digital, in-game decoration for your house

Jarl House Examples:





Jarl unique item suggestions:

Viking Shield to hang up, or Viking Horn to drink from or Viking Helmet or Viking Fireplace

History Info : http://www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/society/text/social_classes.htm

 

I disagree with adding any new tiers above Lord of the Manor. Considering there are only somewhere between 10-20 people at that tier, adding a $15,000 tier means an absolute maximum profit of $50,000-$100,000. More realistically, only a couple people would increase their pledges and an entire new tier would have been created for only 2 or 3 people and somewhere between $10,000-$15,000. That just seems like a waste of resources, especially considering the worst case scenario that none of the Lords of the Manor want to increase their pledges... and who could blame them since they already have $10,000 invested? I think efforts should be concentrated on the "middle" tiers and add-on items, not on trying to get just a couple big fish to up their pledges.

 

The deal works out for me because I want to go from Digital Explorer ($120) to Edelmann ($550) and there is Citizen ($500) in the way, so I can get the Citizen and after the extra credit is added I will have the Edelmann one with just $7 left over (the prices are early backer ones, if anyone is wondering why they are lower than current ones). But yeah, if not for that I would really love being able to add a custom amount to my pledge.

(That is, if I can unlock my credit card to make payments larger than $100 overseas in time; having a local holiday in the way isn't helping.)

BTW, in case Dallas or anyone from Portalarium is still here, am I correct in assuming that the 15% bonus doesn't apply to the shipping charges for the pledge items? And a second concern of mine, can I opt to not receive part of the physical items (no need for a refund) if I think they will get caught in customs? The books and other printed material are probably fine, but other items might cause me more headaches (and expense) with customs than they are worth.

 

Yeah, what they need are lots of new backers. They need some more really good publicity and excitement around the upcoming Early Releases to drive new backer growth.

 

@dallas how about allowing purchases in the addon store count towards your total contribution for the purpose of plot selection order?