Rewards Program Revamp

While think of ways to increase both the regular month income and player base for the game, I came up with the following.

Tiered Rewards
In addition to the current $9 reward level, add 2 more tiers at $18, and $27 per month. These would be called Bronze (existing level), Iron, and Silver level. I'm specially exclude the Gold name here to make things a little clearer that Gold COTOs are for the store.

At the Bronze (current) level:

• 900 Gold Crowns of the Obsidians every month
• Monthly Subscriber Login Reward Items (2-3 per month)
• Exclusive Title every 3 months (listed below)
• Pick any Dye 12-Pack every 6 months
• Pick any three of these 7 Obsidian Potions every month:
  • Potion of Capacity: Increases carrying capacity
  • Potion of Conservation: Reduces reagent use chance
  • Potion of Expedience: Swift gathering on all gathering skills
  • Potion of Precision: Increases Meticulous Collection to all gathering skills
  • Potion of Preservation: Reduces armor and weapon damage
  • Potion of Reclamation: Increases Salvage and Repair to all production skills
  • Potion of Stamina: Decreases focus use from sprinting
• While subscribed to the rewards program, players also receive these special bonuses:
  • Obsidian Potions are significantly more powerful!
  • 24 Additional Deck Slots!

At the Iron level:

• 1800 Gold Crowns of the Obsidians every month
• Monthly Subscriber Login Reward Items (2-3 per month)
• Exclusive (Greater) Title every 3 months (listed below)
• Pick any two Dye 12-Pack every 6 months
• Pick any six of these 7 Obsidian Potions every month:
  • Potion of Capacity: Increases carrying capacity
  • Potion of Conservation: Reduces reagent use chance
  • Potion of Expedience: Swift gathering on all gathering skills
  • Potion of Precision: Increases Meticulous Collection to all gathering skills
  • Potion of Preservation: Reduces armor and weapon damage
  • Potion of Reclamation: Increases Salvage and Repair to all production skills
  • Potion of Stamina: Decreases focus use from sprinting
• While subscribed to the rewards program, players also receive these special bonuses:
  • Obsidian Potions are significantly more powerful!
  • 24 Additional Deck Slots!

At the Silver level:

• 3000 Gold Crowns of the Obsidians every month
• Monthly Subscriber Login Reward Items (2-3 per month)
• Exclusive (Legendary) Title every 3 months (listed below)
• Pick any three Dye 12-Pack every 6 months
• Pick any nine of these 7 Obsidian Potions every month:
  • Potion of Capacity: Increases carrying capacity
  • Potion of Conservation: Reduces reagent use chance
  • Potion of Expedience: Swift gathering on all gathering skills
  • Potion of Precision: Increases Meticulous Collection to all gathering skills
  • Potion of Preservation: Reduces armor and weapon damage
  • Potion of Reclamation: Increases Salvage and Repair to all production skills
  • Potion of Stamina: Decreases focus use from sprinting
• While subscribed to the rewards program, players also receive these special bonuses:
  • Obsidian Potions are significantly more powerful!
  • 24 Additional Deck Slots!

The major differences here would be the additional COTOs (Silver get an extra 300), the Greater/Legendary prefix for the titles, and additional dyes and potions. I'm specifically not changing the power of the potions or the deck slot count. I think the "Bronze" level of those are plenty good enough.




Earning it in game

For those people that, for whatever reason, don't wish to pay for the game but would like the perks, there should be an option to allow for that.

Bronze, Iron, and Silver Crown of the Obsidians would be added back into the loot table. These would drop in areas and at a rate that would make sense to reward the most dedicated players the most.

However, we need a mechanism to not discourage players from paying with cash. To that end, these "new" COTO types would be tradable (like existing COTOs) so these drops become bonus loot for them.

The "pay in game" mechanic would be an old style Crown vendor in Castle ATOS. This vendor would trade a sensible sized stack of bronze COTOs for a "Bronze Orb of Gratitude". The same sort of thing for the other levels as well. These Orbs would be tradable like the COTOs. Once acquired by collecting drops, buying non-Gold COTOs from players, or buying the Orb itself from a player, the Orb can be turned into the Oracle, once a month, to active the rewards.





I think this is a fair and balanced way to provide additional income to support the game, while provide some level of reward for dedicated players that can't or won't pay for the rewards program.

Since this does not include Gold COTOs, this would not reduce the sales of the COTO packs for cash and should (hopefully) boost the in game economy with the addition of high value items with no crafting/gameplay use.

By reusing existing assets and old mechanic, I hope I've kept the "new work" to implement something like this to a minimum.

The names of the levels/reward packs/price/mechanics/etc aren't important to me. But, implementing something along these lines that achieve the same goals is important to me.


Thanks

 

The obvious thing is more COTOs and potions of course, although I'd suggest a larger increase in the amount than the amount of the increase in cost, to incentivise the higher tiers (eg price x2, cotos x2.5 or whatever)

 

Several games I've played have introduced some form of "premium currency" that can be used to pay for the "subscriber rewards" - Eve did it with Plex, Fallen Earth just introduced a "tradeable premium" item etc. These could then be purchased by players who could afford to buy them but didn't have as much time to play to sell to players in the opposite position. This helps "time poor" players keep up with those who can play for hours a day somewhat.

I was somewhat suspicious of the system at first but it actually works quite well imo. The suggestion of just making this currency a loot drop that can then be traded I'm not quite so sure of.

The advantage of the system used by other games is that for the people buying the premium currency for in game gold, the games company is still being paid for the "sub", just by a different player. If the currency is loot dropped, then I'm thinking that the players who will get most of it would be those in the "lots of time to play" category above, so would also be those most likely to be those using it. The company would then be handing out "subscriber rewards" for no gain.

I see a system like that as having 2 goals: 1 - To enable players who would otherwise struggle to have the sub benefits to get them via in game means and 2 - To help fund the game's development. The loot drop option feels like its only helping the first of those.

 

Correct. This provides an incentive to those players that have the time and desire to play for hours on end but don't have the desire/willingness to support the game financially. Like in Eve, these players are not "no gain" players. They help provide population and add to the economy. I don'e think a player willing to put in the hours to earn their rewards for the month will stop playing once they reach it. They will be getting more non-gold COTOs that will either get saved toward the following month or dumped into the economy. Those that far a little short for next month, can trade some of their gold currency for the non-gold COTOs to make up the difference.

1) Correct. The in game mechanic's primary beneficiary are those players.
2) Mostly correct. Excluding the in game economic benefit that everyone gets, you are correct. The financial benefits for the devs come from the multiple tiers from those players willing to pay.

 

Correct, the analysis there was just of the 2nd part.

The financial benefit of the 1st part could be somewhat offset by those players going on to buy less cotos in the normal way, getting more from the "sub". Any speculation about that would be pure speculation though, only the devs would be able to see that in time after its implemented.

 

No population base expansion plan / pathway to compete with the likes of upcoming Pax Dei etc, what are we actually funding by reactivating our subscriptions?

these tiers are interesting though!