Suggestion : Collectors Club (subscription)

Yeah, I think I'd design it something like this....


Everyone has to put their money in FIRST for the next month. IF the pooled money equals A you get a title. B you get a piece of clothing. C you get an emote. D you get a functional piece of equipment. That way the devs ensure they have enough money to justify the creation of the item. If there's less interest one month they don't get burnt. If there's more one month they could even get creative, like if the pot is double E then everyone gets item E plus item A. It's like a month to month stretch goal.

 

Sign me up triple for the Artifacts from History Club.

 

(1) and (2) I would support, (3) and (4) could be seen as pay to win.

 

Something of distinctive mark:

A specialized set of limited stenography paper and/or distinctive book cover blank book, like the heart shaped paper from Valentines Day.

As a later bonus, perhaps make an special inventory skin like the Map collection that you store these special looking paper / books with special looking book covers in.

A token to hand to someone to increase their bank slot (limit to X per account).

 

I wouldn't care if 3 and 4 are just skins with no stats associated with them.

 

@Womby I see you're point and like Drocis I would be fine with a "skins" option. I just wish in general that we had more options when it comes to arms and armor.

 

I didn't post my disagreement with this idea because honestly there are so many ideas put out there and I never know which ones will gain traction. I quite strongly oppoose this idea as I think it would simply create another level of separation within the community without a clear ROI.

To put it simply, adding a subscription will increase the issue of classism and in-group/out-group issues which already exist to some degree. This is also creating an environment were individuals may feel that to get the 'full' experience, it is a requirement to be part of the 'club'. Overtime, it will get viewed as a cost of playing. You can say it's optional as many times as you'd like, but empirically that's not how these things work out. People look at the total cost of ownership of what the culture views as the baseline experience. Be it DLC, add ons for a new computer, or what have you, people see it as what do I need to have everything I need.

As someone put it earlier, they paid for what they thought was the full game, and each additional thing like this separates them more from the complete game (even though they are not inherently losing anything). I realize the cash-shop already exists, but that is an upfront 'pay X, get Y' transaction. This would be a 'pay X and its a secret what you get'.

Now, will it be profitable? Potentially yes. People actually will often pay more for something they don't know what it is, out of fear of missing out on something really special. I don't condone playing on these kind of deficiencies in human decision-making.

Unseen

 

I would like to see something like this if it's vanity items and it isn't cost neutral for Port but adds to the bottom line. Otherwise I wouldn't do it.

 

If you go the way of a specific item for subscribers, which i am against, then it needs to be still obtainable in game, but say with differing skin. The trouble with vanity items, even though they offer no in game advantage(hopes) is that they then become a tradable item and then it means voluntary subscribers are again getting an advantage
I am against the cash shop model, but i think its here to stay , so my idea earlier was subscribers get extra $$ put into our store credit which allows us to buy the items others still can buy if they choose. Just means that the game gets a budgetable revenue. Any store items i still feel needs to have an ingame equivalent whatever happens.
.

 

My thoughts:

This system, if implemented, would not even exist until Episode 1 complete* launch. However, it is good to discuss such things now, so that if something like this is implemented, it can be planned in time to coincide with Episode 1's launch.

While we are in Early Access, it does not behoove anyone to start an extra means of gaining revenue. For those of you about to remind me that Star Citizen is doing it while they're still in development, my rebuttal is that the money gained from the SC subscriptions goes towards the production costs of their weekly video broadcasts. The money gained is used immediately. For SotA, I see the subscription as a symbiotic relationship with the community. Those who choose to pay it can do so, because it will never be mandatory.

The point of this system is to give Portalarium a portion of funding that goes towards covering the perpetual costs of keeping the game running. Paying internet bills, electric bills, server maintenance, upgrades, and all kinds of things that will need to be done in order to maintain the online aspect. For those of you who are about to jump all over me saying all that you ever wanted was the offline version of this game, I'm not talking to you, but rather I'm talking to all of us who play the online portion. Also, there are going to be A Fair Amount(TM) of people who won't even see this game until post-launch. Many of them did not pledge, and will not have the opportunity or ability to do so. Having an optional subscription allows newcomers to the game to give their support, if they choose to do so.

So now, on to the "what do I get for this money? I'm not just giving them extra because I'm nice!" portion of this post.

Because of the Add-On store being what it is, I would suggest that any "free reward" item(s) given to subscribers also be listed for sale in the Add-On store for purchase at a "less than subscription cost" option. This way subscribers would automatically get it, and those who don't subscribe, yet want the item, can still obtain it without feeling that they have to subscribe. Also, the items could be left on the store for a 3-month term before being expired. That way people have time to pick them up, or to purchase extras.

However, there should be some kind of persistent effect given to subscribers that is only available to them. Nothing cosmetic, and nothing that suggests Pay to Win. Although, the waters get muddy when you attempt to define what Pay to Win means in a game of this type. @RichardGarriott has mentioned before that he fully believes in the system of exchanging money to save time. What about paying a fee to turn off decay? What about being able to receive an in-game taxable row lot after 12 months worth of subscribing? There needs to be an incentive for the subscription, but it needs to be reasonable and fair to those who choose not to subscribe. Note, the two options I mention above are just suggestions, and please do not focus on them as the subject of "OMG DO YOU KNOW HOW HORRIBLE THAT IS" response posts, because ain't nobody got time for that.


* Previously envisioned by RG to be end of year, 2016. DLMB; actual time may vary.

 

This is an example of a system I would not be in favor of. If it isn't purely cosmetic vanity items based system I wouldn't be in favor of it. I wouldn't want a "sub" to the game. I'd want a monthly cosmetic vanity item type "club".

 

Good thing its optional...I mean, I can see why someone put $ into this, since you get cool and fancy stuff. But a hat or clothes for a monthly sub...guys...no. Am I in a Monty Python sketch? "We are the hat wearing backers" - "the what?" - "The haaaat wearing backers maaan, never heard of us?" - "ahhhh....no".

And talk about a game changer...Cristalball allowing you to see into a zone without being there. Dude...and that idea from the person I know wants pvp in SotA...*eyes roll". Congrats on making real people go with the idea...not bad, not bad

 

Add the Ring of reagents to that list. I would join just to get that. (I know, you all know that )

 

That's an interesting idea, but I would only think it would be worth it if it were unique items and not just reskins of other items I can obtain in game or from the add-on store. If it's just a re-skin it's not unique to me. For me hats don't interest me as most of the time I wouldn't be able to wear it as I'd be using armor. Decorations I would probably go for that one if the items were truly unique though. Special dyes and skins for my armor and weapons I could go for as well.

As defined in the dictionary.
u·nique
yo͞oˈnēk/
adjective
adjective: unique
being the only one of its kind; unlike anything else.

 

Hats off to the idea but I must confess that with all the money already spent on the game, it would need to be something very intriguing to get me to spend an additional 10$-30$ a month. Like Ice Queen mentioned above, the items would need to be unique. This may cause all kinds of other headaches though so be careful as this seems to be a slipperly slope through a potential minefield.

 

Flash from the past;
https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/f...tion-option-for-sota.21617/page-2#post-322033

A subscription for store credit. Which adds +5%, round down, per month up to a max of +20% extra credits.

Something which would be much easier and more flexible both for port and for the players. Since no extra specific assets need to be created but rather one shop among the existing in the store.

If one would want to then in the anniversary of starting the subscription one could get some perk depending on amount accumulated. But if it had been me that perk would be more like 50% off in a selected seasonal item pack or something like that.

 

I could support some idea of subscriptions after the retail release of Episode 1.

 

The Add-On Store already covers this. If you feel like giving the devs more money, buy more items, either for yourself or as gifts. The charity items are also a great way to do this and help some great causes.

As @RichardGarriott suggests, I can also see this working as simply a bundling / discount program of existing items. It would not create more work as it would follow whatever updates they make to the add-on store.

There are categories in the Add-On Store: wearables, pets, instruments, home decoration (indoor, outdoor, etc). Join the bundle program(s) you want and get them every month, no hassle of store buying, just magically appears in your bank, stop whenever you want. But that does mean the devs already have a plan to ramp up and produce many more items post-launch to be able to handle categorized bundles.

 

Once 12 months of unique containers is over I'm down for 10 months of half sized crafting tables.

If a club prevents these items from ending up in the game for all to use I'd prefer to not be part of a club.

 

Sign me up. I pay a ton of money to star citizen each month.... And you know full well my hearts very much more in SotA =p