Lot Deed Upgrades and other Notable Changes in Patch 915

Yes I know. I was wishful thinking

 

Quick question: Where do benefactor deeds fall in all of this? @DarkStarr mentions Tax-free POT, Taxable POT, Founder and PA deeds but no mention of Benefactor deeds, where do they fall in this?

 

there is no difference between a tax free place anywhere deed and a benefactor one

 

Or simply change all those NPC Buildings to decos? I mean at this point is having them declared NPC a big deal, most towns use the slots up for devotionals anyway. I know things like guard towers and cemetery would be nice to be simply decos.

 

I agree

 

I was wondering if you wanted to give Founders a special line on their keep(s) and/or castle(s) specifying their Founder title as well as a possible special label and icon on the map and a special lot marker plaque instead of the common stone one.

Similarly there should be ways to purchase "Benefactor" castle and keep lots with similar but lesser perks.

 

@DarkStarr Could you update this with the new prices? You know, add a couple zeroes to all of them.

 

You find all price here: https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/?p=104292
The is the difference of price between what you have and what is your target

 

Their point is the cost is off by a factor of 100 since COTOs were revalued, and that the page should be updated to indicate the correct pricing.

 

What I don't understand is why Portalarium seems to be so out of touch with actual market values of their own game assets, especially when they have their own market forum to monitor actual values. The continued self-devaluation of major SotA game assets results in customers having little trust in spending any significant money with Portalarium going forward. The value of game assets is typically an indicator of the health of a game; supply versus demand. When the values of homes and castles rose into the hundreds and thousands of dollars for Ultima Online it resulted in a huge wave of free media publicity and thousands of new players becoming interested in the game.

In a growing game people would expect values to go up, not down. So when the developers themselves are the cause of huge artificial devaluations, it's very troubling to think that they might be so out of touch with the value of their own game assets to the point that they are pulling the rug out from under the feet of their own customers and driving them away from future purchases. If the main goal was to merely introduce ways to upgrade lot deeds with COTOS, it could have been achieved in ways that respected previous customers, with different deed options, limitations, or more appropriate valuations that would not have devalued the purchases of previous customers so drastically.

Drastically devaluing the Commission Free Vendors and Founder / Benefactor / Expert Crafting Tables of early donors was cutting off Portalarium's feet, but devaluing housing and lot deeds, one of the most unique things about SotA, is really like cutting off the legs. I'm not sure how the game is going to walk anymore with this loss of trust. It doesn't make any sense to me at all and I fear it's going to have the opposite effect of what is intended; those that don't play will see that one of the most sought after items, something like a Tax Free Village Lot Deed, has dropped in value from $600 to only $200 in a month and write the game off as dying or nearly dead and those that do play will be very leery of spending any significant money with the game going forward in fear of losing it all to further devaluations.

It appears to be a lose / lose proposition to me.

 

I understand the changes can be upsetting to players but values did go down for now. For those just looking to make money off the game I'm sure that is upsetting. I have assets and a pledge and making money off the game has never been something I personally was planning for. It was the right choice to devalue these assets to save the game imo. This is not a game for just kickstarters, this is a game for anyone. Before housing was devalued as you say and other changes many could not and would not play this game. Kickstarter is over and the game had to come out of that status. Many, many players made a lot of money off this game. Those days are over for now imo. Perhaps some will find ways to still make some money off of it here and there but I feel the big cash run is not here, but doing what had to be done is and is the right thing to do.

The new players I talk to are very happy with the game and the changes so far. So we are at a transition right now and we have to feel that until the changes get fully realized. These imo have made the game a much better game because it is now considering its players and making them happier with a better game. So instead of keeping it a money making scheme we make it a game more for playing and enjoyment. So here's to more changes and improvements and to no looking back.

edited to clarify (hopefully)

 

As an original Kickstarter backer, I agree with this "This is not a game for just kickstarters, this is a game for anyone. .... Kickstarter is over and the game had to come out of that status."

 

BINGO, no viable business in the right mind would devalue their "inventory" buy such a drastic amount.

Coto Market will take w while to balance out so using the current "Stretch goal" is not true, give it two - three months then we will be able to tell.

I however agree this is just very foreboding. Time will tell but, some may not wait it out.

 

Maybe those assets were over-valued to begin with? Its no secret that the value of lots (for example) hyped early on required a significant player base (that never came) to sustain those valuations. Indeed, the hyped value of land, and digital goods to decorate it, might be what kept the desired audience away to begin with. So if they were out of touch with anything about in game asset values, its just that. The value of in-game assets as a draw to attract and retain players was overestimated from the start. Painful as it is for us early backers, Port is getting back on a better track by reducing asset values to counter that trend. Though the move appears to be a bit too late.

 

Is there any reason the game can't be made for everyone while still respecting the Kickstarters and the contributions they made?

 

it is and they are but a few of the "promises" need to be honored, you can get a keep but not Place anywhere? It is / was a good decision.

 

I don't know. I don't have an answer to this.

 

No not really imo. Without a game we would have nothing anyway and that is what was going to happen.

 

As someone who actually backed at the Keep level (x2), I disagree. I see no reason to block others from being able to update their lot deeds. As I've already noted (since I catalogued it and so have others), the vast majority of keep/castle lots are unclaimed. So we have massive amounts of unused property like an eyesore all over the game. Much better to increase the ability of people to use those lots, create scarcity, and drive up the value.