Should casual players be able to afford

SotA is becoming the MMO for whales. I'm a mere 10 hour a week player that hasn't drop 4 digits in pledges, the last change that really impacted how I play was public vendors and that was over a year ago. I'm sure the devs are up to stuff, but it hasn't really affected my playstyle or enjoyment of the game, so I have to assume they are concentrating on POTs, expense housing features, guilds and high level areas.

 

Many games have casual players to pay a monthly fee while allowing hardcore players to earn their way out. This isn't really that different.

The problem today is that it's all based on grinding. There just aren't the other mechanics in game. I'd really hate to see anything in the economy or skill progressing based on killing wolves. Right now we're basically doing the things only bots would do because there's nothing else to the game.

 

Because you are interfering with my game? Exactly the same point but opposite...the game is already to ez mode in my opinion any more would be it for me so no I can't just let it slide

 

Why do you believe that house pricing has anything to do with "difficulty"? Acquiring gold doesn't magically get more challenging; it just frustrates the players who don't farm and grind.

Why do you care so much whenever or not your neighbour can afford the house cheaply? Go buy something expensive.

 

Casual players make up the bulk of the player base in most games and should be able to easily afford to maintain a home withing the game. If what sota is actually looking to do is change the game and make it something that is either a game which is set up to divide people into classes, (ie rich vs poor) or simply a cash cow to be milked over and over (Pay to win) then like many games it will soon find it self on the dust pile of old mmo's.

It has always been a concern of mine in games to see people enter a game, buy a house, and then vanish leaving the place sitting for months or longer before the plot is available again. But this problem can be easily addressed without making the amount of taxes collected so steep as to give a player the impression that they are only logging in to pay a tax that is collected by the day. Lotro has done the best job of addressing this issue so far. There is upkeep on a house you own, but it is not charged by the day. On my kinhall which would be equal to a castle I pay about 2 gold a month. Like many other players I am involved in several games with UO and Lotro commanding the bulk of my time. I own a tax free row deed, but would like to have had a village home. I do not need some monstrosity to display pixels in, just one house. So I went to the sota store and bought a deed for a village lot in a POT, and a two story viking house. Had the tax amount been displayed in the store I would not have wasted the real dollars on these items. Unfortunately me, as I am sure many others have been was shocked upon placing the plot and house to be confronted with the steep payment. I paid all the gold I had in my acct, 5k and set the house up until the funds were exhausted, and then reclaimed my row house in the town I live in. I wanted one house, not several but because I cannot spend 8 hours a day grinding gold in a game to pay up, I must be content with what my pledge paid for. I will not buy crowns to pay upkeep on a house. My village deed and house now sit in my chest as a reminder to me not to visit the SOTA store again.

I do not feel any ill will towards those why were able to, or who worked to be able to buy larger pledges. Those who have such devotion to a game are the cornerstones of a community. But to be a ture community, for a game to continue to grow and develop the devoted players that Ultima Online has garnered over the years a games core features must be attainable by all player types.

 

Is the housing in LOTRO instanced? If so, I can understand a low price. In this game, if you have a row lot in Ardoris, you are the only person that lives there... no matter what online game mode people play in, they'll only see your house. I think that row houses should be (and are) pretty affordable. With the new daily Oracle thing coming in, that is ALL you have to do to pay taxes. A property bigger than that, and it's time or money for the upkeep. (and it's great people have the choice of either.

In an hour in a 1 skull zone, I can make row taxes for more than a week. So, even if you don't want to log in to do a "daily" for maybe 5 mins, you can easily keep the taxes up for a month in one game session (3-4 hours) on a day off.

 

"The Trees" - by Rush

There is unrest in the forest
There is trouble with the trees
For the maples want more sunlight
And the oaks ignore their pleas

The trouble with the maples
(And they're quite convinced they're right)
They say the oaks are just too lofty
And they grab up all the light
But the oaks can't help their feelings
If they like the way they're made
And they wonder why the maples
Can't be happy in their shade

There is trouble in the forest
And the creatures all have fled
As the maples scream 'Oppression!'
And the oaks just shake their heads

So the maples formed a union
And demanded equal rights
'The oaks are just too greedy
We will make them give us light'
Now there's no more oak oppression
For they passed a noble law
And the trees are all kept equal
By hatchet, axe and saw

 

I completely agree with you. Why should we care about the people who cant put in the work. Its not like they are going to buy my insanely overpriced stuff on my Owl's Head vendor anyways...

 

Only to realize that you'd be one of the very few that'd even bother crawling out of that mud. Maybe spending a few hours of your day farming gold is challenging for you, but to me it's trivial... and that's boring.

Why the hell would I promote doing boring things in a game?

If you want to put words in my mouth, go for it. I don't need to believe anything about you to disagree with your mindset and arguments.

And who's fault would that be, I wonder?

 

Are you even arguing with me it's hard to tell...
I'm asking for the exact things you are stating just you and I see different things as boring (no I don't like to grind)
and who is putting words in whos mouth? I have said nothing about grinding gold being hard. I said I dont like EZ MODE which sota already is. IMO
what if "I would be the only one" this is still what i want (I know for a fact that I wouldn't be alone)

 

"Should casual players be able to afford a house?"
I can't decide if this is a joke or not... if its not -- you seriously want to try to penalize people for playing the game the way they want to play?-- hahaha - this must be a joke....

This is like asking "should players that play more than xx hours a week have to give up half their income to other less gold fortunate people? .... of course "I" am just joking...

I mean come on do we have to be all about regulating and telling people how to play... if so this forum has sunk lower than I remember...

 

It is not enough to succeed. Others must fail. -- Gore Vidal

 

You are missing the point completely. And yes, Lotro housing is instanced, but with the loading fro any zone you enter n Sota it may as well be called an instanced game. The point is though, that many players lack the time to treat a game as a full time job. We have lives famlies and real jobs. I play a game for relaxation and fun, not to log in and spend my time grinding to keep a small roof over my head. My row lot is tax free, so I will simply sit there and put in the time I want for pleasure, and not a penny more cash.

What I cannot understand is why some folks feel that their game is ruined if someone next to them owns a small house. Do you really think that the way to build a world is by treating those of smaller means with little respect and curtailed rights. For crying out loud people this is a game, not real life. We should be able to appreciate the accomplishments of the lords and ladys of the land and still find room for those who simply wish to have a house to call their own, mine and hunt. And spend some enjoyable time among friends.

 

You're promoting the idea of increasing housing prices because you feel SotA is too easy. If prices were indeed higher, you'd merely be asking players to spend more time farming gold.

So, I'll ask the question (again): how does farming more gold make the game less "ez mode"?

 

meh I'm done dont know if it's me or you or a language barrier but ima go ahead and ignore you

 

i see a few arguments here about this feature of the game and several assumptions made.

just because it is in the game, doesn't mean you can have it. you have to work for it in one way shape or form, but only if you want it. it is not needed to play the game itself, it is not a requirement for the 'fun factor'.. not having a home does not mean you have nothing.

to put this into perspective, my primary character runs a town has a house, and a separate guild house, all in his name. my secondary character, when i roll them, will be homeless. a wanderer, with no place to store anything except the plethora of banks. for several months now, i have been playing that way to make sure it is actually possible. and it is, ever since they let you purchase bank upgrades with ingame gold.

that being said, i like playing the game with and without a home. both are different experiences, with their own merits..one is not lacking more than the other..where there is no house on one, there is a sort of freedom. where there is a home, you are tied to a geographic location. they both work fairly well.

 

Ship * water + sail * wind.

It will be awesome when we can use boats to travel in the game.

 

It is fun to work for what you get in a game for sure. It took me two years of bank scrounging to buy my first small marble workshop in felluca along the desert of compassion. But people need to know that what they work hard to attain is not as easily taken away by a needlessly high tax rate. I have played Ultima Online for about 16 years now. I understand all too well working for what you want.

 

Agreed!

 

That was the only thing I appreciated about AA housing, having to work for it.

Jumping off that analogy: it should be hard to get a house here, too, if you did not buy one as a pledge. We can debate the necessity and providence of pledge homes and tax free deeds for ever. I just think it's hurting the game that people who have grown accustomed to how games have been made in the last 10 years (easy, instant gratification) are now complaining (and not saying, for them, that the complaints are invalid). A lot of these people will move on to other games of their liking, not understanding/appreciating/respecting that a large player base likes challenges.

I backed the game to back the game. I got an Edelman pledge with a tax free village lot. I bought some add-ons in the store for it. Again, all with the intention of backing. Although I have a vendor, he is way out of the way to be useful. But, I am in a PoT which is easier I guess. This house does nothing for me really - I don't have 1,000,000 ore to store, for example. And I think some people see how huge housing is in the game and get the impression that they NEED a house, when really you don't. I understand wanting one, for sure, and I don't mean to be flippant because I have one. But that is my personal choice/circumstance.

And maybe some of these newer players should consider that if they want a home - joining a PoT is not necessarily a bad idea. And with location/location/location only the very best spots that are already taken will see constant traffic. This is very reminiscent of AA, in terms of the land rush. Not every home will be valuable. But if it has value to the PLAYER, then that is a moot point, and a player should be fine placing anywhere they feel welcome.