Can we please setup a subscription service for SotA?

people complain about everything that's not a reason not to do something. star trek online went about year with nothing new being added to the game it was pretty much dead than cryptic got bought out by Perfect world who had them go free to play with lock boxes and for the last 6 years they have been adding content. free expansions, great story lines made by award winning writers, voice acters from the tv shows, going back and reworking all their old outdated content, adding new systems of game play. I hate lock boxes but they saved a game I still love to play a few times a week.

 

You know it's going to be a "Dirty Spoon", right?

 

I understand that it is a "voluntary" or optional idea - in addition to the whatever a player chooses to spend in the store or for the cost of the game.

What I think you might be missing is the "perception" of new or prospective players...

Lets go through their thought process for a bit..

-Oh, cool... shroud of the Avatar.. let me see what this is about.. $40... OK reviews, I did play Ultima...lets dig further about these reviews...

-What? I have to buy a house... oh.. wait.. after a bunch more digging I get a POT deed after I finish? hmm.. I'm confused...wait Whats a POT?

-A subscription?!? no way.. $40 plus a subscription? Oh wait its optional? hmmm.. what is the catch?

Seriously, too many informational and marketing hurdles. It's going to turn more people off and loose more money than it will raise.

Just pledge $5 at the telethon. Maybe even set up an re-occurring "auto-pledge" for $5 of COTO's to withdrawal during each telethon. The word "subscription" will in and of itself turn off droves of perspective players. Keep it un-elitist by making the reward the same as anyone else that pledges for the telethon that month.

 

Better yet, a "clockwork" dirty spoon that will emit a low frequency when your town is besieged!

I'm holding out for the Darkstar version personally...

 

We don't need a sub, we can just go each week and buy cotos from the store for obsidian potions. You can spend $20 a month just buying potions. Or just spend more at each telethon.

 

I think a subscription could be an option to get some extra coins for development but e.g. I do not think a subscription should be valued as auto-partaking in telethons….just if the subscription would only contain the $5-auto-partaking and nothing else or the subscription would be resonable more expensive (you get with the subscription items worth $5 but you pay $9.99) this could be an option.

- Subscribers could get a discount on sales. E.g. 20% the whole month (not adding up) instead of the just temporarily discounts to all non-subs.
- Subscribers could get 5% of their monthly sales converted into cotos.
- Subscribers could get some different non game breaking rewards each month. E.g. January = 1xBank upgrade, February = 5xPure Black Dye, March = 5xCotos, April = 5xDye Remover,…
- Subscribers could get a unique emote that is just usable as long as the subscription is active
- Subscribers could get a unique in game title that is just usable as long as the subscription is active
- Subscribers could get a unique not-tradeable deco gear/items that are just usable as long as the subscription is active. (Question would be if the devs have the possibility to remove items.)
- Subscribers could get a tax discount on one of their taxed lots e.g. by using a special scroll you add 15000 tax (monthly tax for a row lot) to the lot you are on top.
- Subscribers could get a unique hair style/hair color/… just available on avatar creation or in new-you-shops if subscription is at that moment active.
- ...

Maybe even in different steps.
Fist level = $6 for auto-partaking in telethons + unique in game title
Second level = $12 for first level + unique emote + unique deco gear
Third level = $20 for second level + tax discount for one lot

 

the only way I would even consider accepting a monthly sub would be if I could pay for it ingame with cotos. other wise chances are I would look for a new mmo fix.

 

I think Eve is one that does it this way where you can (or could) buy a sub from the marketplace ingame. Runescape does this too, with "Bonds" where players buy those bonds (cotos in our case), and can sell or redeem for subscription. We already have the ingame currency to do it, Coto's are perfect. Add a 12 (or more) cotos scroll which can gove you a 30 day subscription, and voila!

 

Create an option to automatically buy into the release telethons. All you would need is an option on your account page to automatically pay (amount) at each telethon. Return the amount in Coto's, potions, whatever. Then every telethon already starts with a set amount raised. Only problem I see is people may prefere making their add-on store purchases at the telethons, and so want to get items. Or people want to benefit from the random sales.

 

People complain about everything, you're right. However, If you lose 20% of the SOTA player base, you lose 20% of your fund. There is not a lot of people playing that game, so you don't want to do that, just for EP 2 they will go back to crowdfunding.. they don't have enough money to start the development so that alone should give you an idea about how are the finance.
SOTA is still online because of the telethons, not because of the sells. So the boat still floats because of it.
Look at the game market, tell me which game has an online store with a sub. Not many and if that's the case. They are bigger company than Port with a better budget.

ps: Star trek has better numbers concerning the players. Last 30 days : 4,807 players (only on steam ) That doesn't include PSN.
http://steamcharts.com/app/9900

 

We can't even automatically pay our lot taxes.
We just need to get better at stuff.

 

Nah I don't think it'll be that bad. Maybe 10-15 years ago, maybe. Nowadays plenty of free to play or free after purchase of games have optional "premium" membership subscriptions or the like. I think most new gamers would either already know about these from other games. Still, it wouldn't hurt to make sure it's explained very well so there is no confusion for new/old players too (if its ever implemented).

 

Yeah that would defeat the purpose of the subscription to raise additional money. But, i'm pretty sure it wouldn't be the kind of subscription that makes you pay-to-play, just an optional incentive program.

 

This is easy setup a sub and people who do sub automatically get the prizes given away at telethons. Yes people will complain but what are they complaining about? Its a voluntary sub and the only perk is some silly hats and baubles.

Nothing game breaking.

 

I think an subscription to automatic take part on telethons (and get the subscribed money worth in COTOs ) would be an idea, i heard often that people did not have the time/money during an telethon.

Given i chanceled my paypal and visa (right now i do not feel like paying money to USA based companies, sota is a very big exeption) an subscription model would allow me to take part in telethons then!

 

Overall a sub might not be a bad idea, except for one big problem. If a sub is an option, new players/people hearing about the game hear that and think "it's not REALLY an option". Most games that offer free to play or a sub make the game virtually unenjoyable if you do not sub to it. So people will just think the same of SotA before even trying it.

 

So what about people like me who have been around for years? I need one more add on purchase like I need to be murdered in the night! I have more cotos than I will ever spend but I would like to support this project. What's my alternative? I would spend MORE every month if I could just send cash that wasn't attached to a purchase, an optional subscription to be able to support Portalarium and the game would be a perfect option for me, especially if I could choose my subscription amount. I don't need a bundle, I don't need goodies, I don't need potions, I just want to help fund.

 

yes but that's not what the numbers where when they went a year with no new content back in 2011 before changing to free to play with lock boxes. all of cryptic games have optional monthly, cash shop items and lock boxes. the reason the telethons are not going to work is at some points the "whales" will only drop their $5 each month because they will not have a reason to spend more. in the first 3 months I spent $1280 to get the house size I wanted, I spent in the last 12 months $60 $5 each month because I don't have a reason to spend more.

 

Trust me when I say I already am. I've spent many thousands of dollars and roughly $300 or so a month on the store/telethons. It's time we all stand up and support the devs in these critical times.

 

I would sign up for the optional telethon subscription idea. $5.00 a month guarantees that I'm in on the stretch goals. No worries about missing the telethon. Sounds like a win to me.