City and Town lots available in add on store

I'm curious as to whether the tax free status isn't actually attached to a deed as such and more like your account.

For example if you had 3 houses/plot you could choose which one will receive tax free status. This would kind of make sense as I have heard rumours that you can potentially upgrade in game from village plot to a town plot and you will still be tax free.

 

No, the tax/rent free status is most certainly attached to the deed, as has been stated. It adds value to it, since you can sell or trade it away to someone.

As far as the explanation in the previous posts, if someone finds it confusing, then it needs to be rewritten. Vagueness is what will get Portalarium into trouble when it comes to people's pledging expectations.

 

I'm not so much 'confused' but more curious of the mechanics as there are several ways it can be done. I'm kind of anti having it permanently attached to a specific sized lot, I beleive it should be interchangeable to allow people to upgrade to larger should they wish.

On a personal level I kind of beleive that a 'rent' free benefit should actually be attached to the account, I'm kind of anti unique ingame items like that being sold.

 

Ultima was an offline game, Sota can be played offline with cheap housing. I don't see the problem

 

Having it attached to the account is one way to do it, sure. However, it was clear from early on that the rent-free status would be on the lot deed, not the account. As I said before, this would raise the value of the deed. It has been stated that rent-free deeds could be upgraded in-game to larger rent-free deeds, but we don't know the process or how much gold it would take.

 

I personally could live in an attached place, even if I dont like. But my problem is about that they already said the we could upgrade them (and yes, and even the houses) while the KS. I was waiting and I decided to go for the Citizen level at that moment... And they change their mind nowdays. Thats the problem for me.

In the other point, they said several times that the deed will be possible to sell, so will be difficult to implement that. But maybe if that is optional...

 

my vote is to keep the tax-free on the lot deeds and not the account.

 

I'm just glad it is not up for a vote.

Pledges == tax-free deeds if you get a tier with one.

Add-on store == pay a tax, attached to the deed. Unknown values yet (frequency and cost)

I am very happy there are unique, monetary items, like tax free deeds.

A) it entices early adoption
B) it will increase in value as they are limited

I receive a longer term ROI because of early loyalty.

It is not pay-2-win, it is like purchasing real estate in the real world.

 

Hah, if you have to purchase it to get it, it is the definition of pay to win...it's nothing like purchasing real estate in the real world.

 

I guess it depends on your definition of winning. Buying the game could be considered Pay 2 Win. Because, you know, you can't win unless you buy it.

 

Sure...if you totally spin it to make it sound like anything can be made to look that way...if you can pay to give you an advantage over those that just play the game it is what it is. I guess you could call it pay to have the best items in the game

 

How is me owning a slice of land a pay to win?

How does it disadvantage you in anyway?

And it is exactly like real estate. SecondLife blazed this trail already, literally a decade ago.

 

I was commenting that the deed should have the tax-free element on it, not the account. I am all for pledges only having the tax-free deed on it.

 

If you purchase something that is the definition of a... purchase. Of course all this kind of campaigns offers some kind of exclusive items. The house and plots are 100% aesthetic, especially since you will be able to sell items in public markets. And you will be able to have other houses, not taxes free, but anyway.

The definition of pay to win is: Pay to win. That's all. They are games normally totally free but you must pay to get all the best items and to be competitive. Is very simple to understand what is a P2W game, is not every game with some kind of online store. Is not about the purchase, is about "to win".

In the other side, about the add-on store, they already said that most of the items in the store (like the town plots, or even the houses) will be availible in-game. And, anyway, they are not offering any really powerful item. And, still, you will be able to buy to another player inside of the game one of those 1.000 weird oracle heads.

 

Id say it's pretty close.

 

It just think 'tax free' status should be a deed in its own right that can be applied to any plot of land. This will enable backers to upgrade their land at future dates and still maintain their tax free status.

 

So you're saying that anything can be spun to look like pay 2 win, even if the advantage is minimal and practically zero in the long run?

 

After claiming a lot with your deed, and then you later decide to move, you will transfer your deed to the new lot (of that size) and still not pay taxes. This is how we know it will work. There may be a fee involved with the switch, but we don't know for certain if there will be or how much because it hasn't been decided. They also said we'd be able to upgrade in the future and keep the tax-free status, but again, we don't know any details about cost.

It is this way because you are not getting a 'tax free lot' with your pledge, you are getting a 'tax free village lot' or 'tax free town lot' or 'tax free city lot.' The value of the pledge tier is specifically tied to the size of the lot, not just the fact that it is tax free.

 

"Pay to win" implies that the purchase is necessary in order to advance in the game. Housing and lots are optional. While many players would like to have a place to hang their hat on, housing is not necessary in order to complete the main quest or the side quests. Just like in real life, many people do not own homes and get by just fine. You don't have to buy a house or lot if you don't want to. The choice is yours...

 

You are 100% correct. But he likes to spin it that anything he doesn't want to pay for or can't afford is P2W.