Monthly Subscription Instead of Coto

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Headquake, Aug 28, 2016.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Travitar

    Travitar Avatar

    Messages:
    151
    Likes Received:
    345
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Anseldale & Rild
    So with all this talk about selling COTOs as the solution I decided to check shops around Owl's Head and Brittany. Looks like more people are selling COTOs than buy, at least off vendors. To sell this way I see prices at around 800 each roughly. So for $85 I could buy 100 COTOs from the store, I could then sell those 100 COTOs for 80,000 gold, then use that gold to pay for 22 days of a taxed city deed. So it's somewhere around $100 a month to support a city deed via COTOs. There are probably better ways of selling by utilizing the forums and such, but I have serious doubts as to whether the number of buyers of COTOs would be capable of supporting a decent number of people buying COTOs for rent....

    I could very well be wrong about all this, but I'm not yet convinced COTOs alone would solve paying rent because the demand to buy doesn't seem high enough. Upping the drops will certainly help, and I'd be willing to farm for maybe 4 hours a week for the sole reason of paying a tax on a city lot but beyond that it is seriously cutting into my "fun" time. I'd rather just work the hour or less at my real job it'd take to pay an OPTIONAL subscription to both support the game, and to reduce the tedium/wasted time.

    edit: My other option is just to ignore everything tax related and just enjoy the two tax free lots I currently have. But I'm not just looking for a solution for myself with a 3rd lot but also for the others who didn't pledge earlier enough. To be clear, I'm not looking for a handout nor a penalty to those who pledged early but a totally optional solution for those of us who are tired of grinding and want to just enjoy the world and other people's company. The reason I quit WoW years ago because it was a second job to me, that's not what I want in entertainment.
     
    Last edited: Aug 30, 2016
  2. kazafk

    kazafk Avatar

    Messages:
    50
    Likes Received:
    83
    Trophy Points:
    8
    The game got imo announced as b2p meaning no monthly fee.
     
    4EverLost, Net and Ice Queen like this.
  3. Travitar

    Travitar Avatar

    Messages:
    151
    Likes Received:
    345
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Anseldale & Rild
    So somehow buying COTOs each month is circumventing the technicality of a monthly and OPTIONAL charge to your credit card each month? I think calling it a "fee" at this point to be counterproductive, because it wouldn't be one.

    edit: grammar
     
  4. Spoon

    Spoon Avatar

    Messages:
    8,403
    Likes Received:
    23,554
    Trophy Points:
    165
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Sweden
    ???
    You can use Crowns directly to pay rent - no need to sell for gold. It also pays much better.
    https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/?p=61019
    Row is either 3500 gold per week or 1 crown per week.
    Village is either 7000 gold per week or 2 crowns per week.
    City is either 14000 gold per week or 4 crowns per week.
    So the transfer rate when using crowns for rent is 1 crown = 3500 gold.

    Also the pledges came with Crowns scaling for tier, so the market is flush with crowns at too low prices - so buy them while they are cheap.

    So right now it makes more economic sense to earn gold, buy crowns, pay rent in crowns...then to pay the rent with gold directly.
     
  5. kazafk

    kazafk Avatar

    Messages:
    50
    Likes Received:
    83
    Trophy Points:
    8
    If a game is b2p people expect not to pay for it with a regular amount of money every month. If i play wow, i know i have to pay $15 or something a month since its not b2p. When i buy 200 cotos in june and then none until december where i buy 50 or if i buy 80 every month or none at all, its my own decision and not implied as a recuring payment every month. It got announced as b2p. Thus its a "fee" cause its a forced payment which needs to be communicated from the beginning.

    The games steam page says the following and this may be a reason for some why they have bought it(and even Port call it a fee, onetime in this case, while yours is recuring every month aka abo):

    Pay Once to Play: No subscription fees. Each episode (released approximately annually) is a one time fee and everything in the game can be purchased with in game gold that can be earned (except for some exclusive backer rewards).
     
  6. Travitar

    Travitar Avatar

    Messages:
    151
    Likes Received:
    345
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Anseldale & Rild
    Well then... that changes everything. :) I haven't had to pay any taxes yet so I had no idea. If you are right and can simply pay with crowns directly there is no tie to market cost fluctuations nor is there a tie to the supply/demand problem I was seeing.

    I stand corrected, and thanks for that information!

    edit: Someone mentioned earlier the idea of a "subscription" for monthly COTAs. I think if I could set the # of COTAs I want per month to be automatically charged to my CC, that would completely cover what I need.
     
    Last edited: Aug 30, 2016
    Lord Dreamo likes this.
  7. Rufus D`Asperdi

    Rufus D`Asperdi Avatar

    Messages:
    6,347
    Likes Received:
    15,785
    Trophy Points:
    165
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Austin, TX
    @Travitar, a post I made in this thread a page back... Here are the numbers for your entirely optional monthly subscription option... Paying rent directly with COTO.
     
    Last edited: Aug 30, 2016
    Lord Barugon and Travitar like this.
  8. Travitar

    Travitar Avatar

    Messages:
    151
    Likes Received:
    345
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Anseldale & Rild
    Thanks! Not sure how I missed that.
     
  9. DepGames

    DepGames Avatar

    Messages:
    280
    Likes Received:
    562
    Trophy Points:
    28
    Why would Port bother with a sub when they can squeeze....er, I mean sell loads of pixel bling in a cash shop.
     
    ibad2 and Cordelayne like this.
  10. Mekong

    Mekong Avatar

    Messages:
    341
    Likes Received:
    759
    Trophy Points:
    55
    I'm very happy with the current model. Taxes need to be adjusted, but Im sure they are going to see that soonish.
     
  11. Lord Dreamo

    Lord Dreamo Avatar

    Messages:
    1,016
    Likes Received:
    1,840
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Western New York
    I'll sign up just for tax free city deed for $20 a month :cool:
     
    Cordelayne and Travitar like this.
  12. Travitar

    Travitar Avatar

    Messages:
    151
    Likes Received:
    345
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Anseldale & Rild
    We can buy COTOs for not much more than that and then use them directly to pay for our tax, but having a system where we pay an amount each month automatically to not even have to think about it still greatly appeals to me.

    edit: spelling
     
    Cordelayne likes this.
  13. Modu

    Modu Avatar

    Messages:
    66
    Likes Received:
    191
    Trophy Points:
    8
    The best MMOs I have played have been subscription based. The F2P/B2P model gets pretty old quickly because as time goes on, developers have to keep that money train rolling and the only way to do that is use valuable developer resources creating cool new trinkets for us to buy. Whereas the subscription model, people who are playing are constantly funding development, and that money can go to REAL game improvements.

    When developers aren't distracted by having to create compelling cash shop options they are free to focus on designing a good game.

    Remember, all these cash shop items have to be: 1) planned, 2) implemented, 3) tested and 4) published. That is a substantial time investment for a small development team. That doesn't happen just once, it has to keep happening over time because nobody works for free, not even in our beloved game industry.

    The funny thing is it was probably UO that started us down this road. Anybody remember people selling UO beach front property on ebay? Virtual real estate was born. The fact that something so intangible as digital goods could have substantial value in the real world was pretty compelling.

    Now we have the a la carte / dollar menu model that really doesn't do us any good. We just get less for the money we're spending overall. I'd be curious to know how many people truly can get by on a F2P model freely. I suspect the percentages are very, very low. It's the same reason everything costs .99 and not .00. Just more consumer mind games. It's a novel concept that at one point in time we paid a flat fee or one time cost and we got everything the developer wanted to give us.

    The only results of the so-called "experienced" game design here is the fact they did their homework on the profit model. Yes, cash shops get more of our money because we're all addicted to pixel crack. There's only one way to stop these F2P / B2P models and I really hope I don't have to tell anybody what that way is.
     
    ibad2, TEK1, Spinok and 1 other person like this.
  14. Bahamut Arc

    Bahamut Arc Avatar

    Messages:
    252
    Likes Received:
    579
    Trophy Points:
    28
    With Subscription we can have NO FREAKING SKILL LOSS. thats enough for me ;)
     
    Lord Baldrith likes this.
  15. Lord Dreamo

    Lord Dreamo Avatar

    Messages:
    1,016
    Likes Received:
    1,840
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Western New York
    Yeah, I have two taxable lots and three tax free lots. I'm currently just paying for the taxable lots with COTOs. Dumped a ton into my tax credit right away, I think my row lot is paid up for 110 days or something was the max it would let me do. Works great for paying taxes with cash.

    I thought you were suggesting actually getting a free lot deed with the subscription, not just the taxes paid for on a deed you already own haha
     
  16. Fel

    Fel Avatar

    Messages:
    30
    Likes Received:
    37
    Trophy Points:
    3
    i would rather pay 10$ a month than deal with some the in game [removed profanity (Berek)]. 1400$ later and after reading patch notes there is just as many negitive changes as positive fixes . so i gather stuff for a month , finally get a great piece of gear that didnt break and than i have to pay real cash to keep it or it breaks. I am on the ropes right now . big sigh
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 1, 2016
  17. VZ_

    VZ_ Avatar

    Messages:
    691
    Likes Received:
    688
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    East Coast
    I like this idea as an option.

    I'm assuming you're saying that your subscription level would UNLOCK a PURCHASABLE deed in game (for however much hundreds of thousands or millions of gold coins) for your sub rank, not actually gift you one.

    Though even pot should not be available without some kind of fee. Maybe without a sub you get taxed in game (and can still use gold or coto).

    I like coto, they are very very helpful at giving people a low cost leg up and holding the gold farmers at bay. But agree we need tax reform, lol.
     
  18. Gideon Thrax

    Gideon Thrax Avatar

    Messages:
    2,497
    Likes Received:
    6,771
    Trophy Points:
    165
    Gender:
    Male
    If Portalraium is considering a monthly subscription in place of COTOs... hopefully it's not offered until after the economy and loot drops have been properly balanced. It'd be pretty cool to actually find a Gold Crown in the wild someday.
     
  19. Fel

    Fel Avatar

    Messages:
    30
    Likes Received:
    37
    Trophy Points:
    3
    an easy fix to that would be to credit everyone the amount they have invested already towards the sub. and if they wanted to make backers happy and show appreciation instead of a bunch of lame pets ect ect , they would credit double the amount towards subs. while still keeping the add on store open with new items . Of course never bringing back old items to keep their value .
     
  20. Fel

    Fel Avatar

    Messages:
    30
    Likes Received:
    37
    Trophy Points:
    3
    Amazing i would like this post 1 million times .
     
    Modu likes this.
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.