I absolutely agree with Richard Garriott, what happened?

...they were raising capital to build the game in the first place.

If you found that objectionable, you could have not supported the project.

 

That is a valid argument if that is your definition of win. I've won at the Doll House game. My winning at that game also supported its creation, continued existence, and has provided a place for you and others to pursue their own Doll House game aspirations. At one point you had land equivalent to 3/4 of a Castle lot claimed in my Doll House, and it pleased me to be able to make that possible for you.
If the funding model had been nothing save access to the game when it launched, it never would have been built. Any Pledge Benefit beyond being able to play once launched would fit your definition of Play 2 Win.

 

Agree! Making a "free to play" game without any way to sustain the operational costs (nevermind profit) would be preposterous even for His Exalted All Virtuous Highness LB.

That is why my theory is that RMT and the control and manipulation of the game economy was, and continues to be, part of the grand design to this "f2p" game. It is basically an upgraded and more refined revenue scheme that emerged from the original Ultima Online.

I am certain that RG has taken what he has learned from the UO experience and applied it to SoTA. If you cannot stop RMT, it would then make sense to control and benefit from it.

but what do i know, i'm just a woodchuck

 

YES...
I agree that @Lord British said all of this 6 Years ago....
Let us not forget that RG was...
is now more than ever, a wishful dreamer, that had anticipated that this game (associated with "HIS" name) would be HIS triumphant "Swan Song"
& lead to the SAME unforeseen, unprecedented success, that his His first foray into gaming did 20+ years ago with His creation of UO.

I cannot help but feel, that RG's unbridled confidence of attaching "His Name" to Shroud, & His imaginings of its path & success. to both Players & His Staff.
has now lead to a realization of what was envisioned & eventuated/reality
is definitely not to be or cannot be, what he envisioned/spruiked to everyone 6 Years ago....
Sad but True... Que, Sera Sera....

I can only Hope, that this current small team can somehow drive this game forward & achieve the success it truly deserves, for all of us who have supported it for 1 year or since its inception.

If NOT, If RG really wants this game to succeed & not end up with the same fate of Tabula Rasa....
It's time that @Lord British Brit digs into his pocket & truly invests into this game, so he can drive the Game to success!
More Staff need to be employed ASAP!!!!
This small Team, cannot be expected to bring the success this game deserves, WITHOUT additional Team Members!

After-all, this is Richard Garriotts Baby/Vision....

Seriously...
I want this game to succeed!
But apart from the Store changes...

There has to be some serious investment in this game & all of the investment required, is simply not possible from the Current player base...
& I really don't foresee that removing the website sale to ingame Crown Sales will change the Player Base (I could be wrong & am Happy to be proved wrong!)

There needs to be some serious Investors in this game, to help drive it forward.
Either find New Cashed up investors, willing to invest in RG's Vision....
OR @Lord Brit should be the NEXT Serious investor in this enterprise.
As the saying goes... "Put your money where your mouth is"....

Before I get slammed by many players/nay-Sayers/supporters...
This is a Public Forum for Players, & I have certainly invested my Real Life $$'s along the way.

AND I want this Game to prosper & survive...
But without "Serious $$$$ Investment" AND more Team Members employed, I truly feel that longevity of Shroud, will not eventuate

A Wish & a Prayer, will NOT achieve the revenue needed to employ the Staff NEEDED to achieve Richards Vision....

 

What leads you to believe that he hasn't been all along?

 

The fact that we currently have a really small team?
That are going "over & above" by replying. informing of changes even when they are on Vacation?

 

In Chris's case, I think he's just bad at taking vacations. The more responsibilities one has, the harder it is to really step away.

 

Are you privy to Richard's financials?
How much (presumably more) is he able to afford to sink into this project without adversely affecting his and his progenies' futures?

 

OK... I take on board your comments, But I still feel my comments have merit...

How do You propose this game will prosper?

 

See this is where the most fundamental disconnect is. A very large portion of the community disagrees with this.

School of thought 1: Housing is a major focus of the game, is considered a central component, is completely necessary to be functional and therefor is an undeniable and fundamental part of the game. It should, therefor, be open to all players to be gamed for as it is an undeniable component and chief indicator of economic advancement in the game and being able to pay for that is P2W

School of thought 2: Housing is just a big pile of vanity with no real use to play the base game and therefor is fundamentally NOT P2W.

I graduated from School 1. I think houses can surely be vanity. But deeds should be accessible for playing.

 

And they now are... Every Avatar can have 2 simply for completing any one of the Outskirt quest lines, and another for completing the Main Storyline.
While being able to complete the Main Storyline may take some significant time, any of the Outskirt storylines can be completed in an afternoon/evening of play. The bar to be landed has now dropped to a very low level of commitment.
Should anyone desire a place to claim their lot(s), there are hundreds of Governors willing and able to satisfy. I myself am capable of supporting literally hundreds of other Avatars, and I seek no remuneration for the service in either real world, or in-game funds.

 

And every basic housing decoration (and more) is available from players or craft your own.

Now the really NICE looking stuff.... that’s going to cost you. But all the needed basics are available.

 

From the livestream rewards. We're up to almost 70,000 this month (release).

Not that that is a lot of money, anyway, you have to play 15-20 people to work on the game right ? Think about it. How much do you think they make ?

 

Yeah, this used to be a major thing people would bring up when discussing the supposed PTW aspects of the game. But now that you can get 2, both a row and a village lot, on a F2P game, just for you know... playing.... it's not really a problem anymore. It was never actually a problem because so many people will rent rooms in Inns, anyhow. it's just a problem in the minds of some.

I really think this negative stuff stems from the arguementative atmosphere spawned and incubated during the "open development" phase. When the game wasn't really playable and alot of people would get really angry on the forums about stuff because it was still in devleopment and honestly not yet fun. It only started getting good about 12 releases ago. There was alot of "existential angst" - that I still see - about whether or not the game would make it. But we've been playing for at least a year now with the game in a fully playable state, and have had access to it for over 5 years in total. Looks like it will be here all year and we'll have an Ep2 as well with new features.

Now that that period is over and there is in fact, a pretty cool game.... not a perfect one, but one that I've played more than many other games I have that have nicer graphics and so on but not near as much depth or potential, people still act that way on here.

In fact if you go in game the toxic forum atmosphere and angst isn't even present. It's because people who actually play are having a good time. Ever think about that ?

Anyway. Enough with this thread. This thread was started with the purpose of creating an argument that I don't even think is a real one. See y'all in game or on topics about features.

 

My kingdom for an ignore thread button....

 

The point of this game is to complete the quests and obtain the Shroud of the Avatar.

Everything else that can be bought is OPTIONAL.

 

Right.... using that logic playing the game at all is optional.

 

Not enough, even by Gaming Industry standards, which in my experience is about 20% below what is standard for other industries.

 

I respectfully disagree, Your Grace.
There is no single point to this game. It is the nature of Sandbox games that each player decide for themselves what the point of the game is.
If then you were speaking only for yourself and not others, I apologize, as the completion of the quest is most certainly a valid and worthy point.

 

My opinion is that the P2W argument has it all backwards.

The real winners have been the people who didn't pay, and then made a living from the game.

People have bought towns with zero money (after the game purchase, don't know if any free to play players have done this yet but they will) going into the game.