Free Trial accounts and Forum posting

i was sitting here thinking about the new trial account feature going in place towards end of the month. What a fantastic idea to bring new blood into the game! That being said, would it also be a good idea to remove the $5 amount to be able to post on the forums? I mean heck its all about building the community right?!?! Lets allow this "new blood" so to speak post their experience here and communicate with the seasoned people around here without having to pay anything!?

Thoughts?

Please dont post about the free trial being good or bad this is more about paying to post in forums. If someone can play the game and skill to 50 why not allow them to communicate with the forums as well. All their positive experience can help bring more new people into the game as well!

 

Dropping the $5 fee would likely start up the reason why it was added, being attacked with spam acccounts and postings. For that reason I can't see it being dropped anytime soon.

 

The $5 is not in addition to any other purchases, so if you buy the game or anything else at $5 or more, than qualifies your account for forum access.

 

I see what your saying @jiirc spam accounts are an issue for any website that allows comments posting. However, i can assure you there are ANTI SPAM tools out there that help avoid such situations that dont require said poster to pay a fee no matter how nominal. I would say just about any website out there whether ecommerce, blog, or anything really is running some type of anti spam plugin or coding.

 

You have kind of missed the point of the original posters comment. These new trialists need the ability to feedback and join our community or how else does the game grow?

 

That may well be his intent but the fact remains that free posting on the forums only invites spam accounts. Perhaps they could arrange it so that any account with a character that has reached a specific adventuring level posting would be allowed to post. Or, spend the $5.00 if you want to post?

 

HI Onyx! There are other ways to keep spam accounts out or to a minimum without requiring players pay to post! Just food for thought

Have you ever followed a BLOG, or posted a product review, or joined just about any other GAME forum out there? Those are all great examples.

Dont get me wrong SPAM accounts can be an issue but theres gotta be a better solution than asking for 5 bucks.

I like your level based idea i wonder how hard that would be to implement? Maybe similar to certain level for general chat in other games? The level shouldnt be too high if they did go that route. I think new players benefit more from access to the community than seasoned ones.

 

Don't the free trial accounts have a forum that is open to them?

I had thought they did. Perhaps I was mistaken.

 

I'm not sure on this Rufus! But a forum for just trial accounts defeats the purpose of trying to bring the community together. Why Segregate the discussion about SOTA between trials and seasoned or backers/purchasers? Why would we want to keep the new bloods away from this fantastic community everyone raves about?! Seriously! Have you read reviews? Most people agree the game isnt top notch or even close to release material but they say its the community that keeps them around! Lets monopolize on that in a non monetary way and build the game SOTA is destined to be!

 

Thank you Korim. I shan't be rising to the bait.

 

Barek does a fine job of moderating; I'm sure he can handle the influx of new posters w/ ease. Moreover, his superiors will have a greater opportunity to recognize his talents and reward him generously. I say: Full Steam (no pun intended) Ahead!

 

I am also against the 5$ forum pay wall. Yes you can say they save from spam accounts but then you have to block the new trial behind a pay wall too because this will promote bot accounts. Makes it way more easy for RMTs to sell pre leveled accounts with.