Chase_Arcanum
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Posts
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Quote:But that's the value of a market-based system. If we can SHOW that developing these assets pays for itself (and reasonable profit) then it makes sense to invest in expanding the dev team and making them available.Originally Posted by Premonitions
Why would you not want it in a "perfect" game? seriously, now this just feels like railing against other people liking different things than you. In a hypothetical situation where everybody was satisfied you'd still argue against others being satisfied for no discernible reason? -
Quote:IIRC, one of the devs said as much- the amount of data overhead that total minion customization adds was quite a lot, not to mention all the variations that have to be covered. For each minion set, you need an original look and one for upgrades 1 & 2. The "minion" sets often have a third variant (like "medic" in the soldiers set) that has its own customization.Originally Posted by Lothic
At best the idea that they are going to "avoid prostitution" by this decision is a convenient secondary Dev excuse. Trust me when I say the REAL excuse is that they just don't want to spend the time and effort on it. I've been a software engineer for almost 20 years so I can tell when a Dev is using something like "we don't want people to abuse female pets" as a smoke screen for -real- excuses.
For those reasons, we will NEVER have full-character-creator customization there. They *might* be able to make alternate dev-created sets (an alternative 'bots set based on crey models or praetorian clockwork, variant "thug" based appearances, etc).
As for Posi's original remarks, developers do tend to put some consideration into 'potential for misuse' of certain assets, as you generally don't want something so simple to abuse that it becomes the poster-child for a PR-seeking anti-gaming crusader. When yo do this, you often get a degree of tunnel vision looking at JUST that asset you're examining by itself. You become aware of the potential to make "pimpdaddy and his ho's" in a custom mastermind and neglect to see that a supergroup could essentially express that same thing.
I have a feeling that the ease of abuse was probably a factor that came up in a meeting discussing that, but it wasn't necessarily the deciding factor. It was just an easy example of many of the reasons that Posi could give without delving into a complex discussion he had little interest in getting into. -
So much of CoH's fun, to me, comes from the alting and trying different powersets as they become available, but it struck me that many of the Free/Premium players have a much higher "barrier cost" to overcome when a new powerset comes out.
Free/Premium are looking at either deleting a character or buying a new slot along with the powerset. That's a really a big leap for an untested set they may not even stick with.
Offer a pack containing the powerset+character slot at a discount* to encourage these players to make the leap.
*This has absolutely nothing to do with me running out of alt slots on Liberty -
I AM disappointed in this pack for much of Techbot Alpha's reasons, but not angry. Despite my efforts to make (mostly) less-trampy female outfits, my own experiences put us in the minority. For the last 7 years, its been clear that most players have been ignoring the more modest female costume options for things more... revealing. I'll admit to having a few short-skirted options for my female crimefighters, too... and if there are more "good looking" trampy costume parts than modest ones, that plays a part in user selection, too, but I still get the feel that even with all these options accounted for, the overall playerbase leans toward the same tramp-heroine depictions that dominate the comic industry.
I've resigned myself to that reality.
The devs just develop toward what sells.
I'd had great plans for a classic female gunslinger- very much a female version of Techbot_Alpha's male gunslinger outfit. Obviously, I'll be waiting longer.
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Still, the benefit of a market-based system is you CAN develop for niches if those niches are large enough to sustain themselves. If a costume option has the potential to more than pay for its development costs, then its a viable development option, and you could even justify expanding staffing to cover it. (Or subcontract out to freelancers / between-work artists / modders aspiring for an industry break on a per-project basis )
I STRONGLY suggest the devs take a chance here. Take the time to make a female gunslinger variant similar to the male's and put it on the market.
- DO NOT put it in this pack.
- See how well it sells by itself. (I'd buy it.)
- See if the market demand justifies the extra development cost (I bet it does).
- If it does, then plan accordingly in the future.
- If it doesn't, then I guess keep giving the players what they are willing to pay for and I'll glumly keep working with the legacy pieces that have become standard fare for my characters. It gives me more Paragon Points for other things, I guess...
Just give us a chance to prove that market demand IS there for something less trampy. -
Quote:You both beat me to it, damn.Originally Posted by SpyralPegacyon
I would've said 'me', but Zombie Man beat me to it.
Oh, why not. Me.
Granted, that would be one helluva plot twist:
- second-to-last mission, you're made a full member of the Freedom Phalanx.
- last mission, the only way to win is to sacrifice yourself heroically.
- that's when you learn that some outbound dev with a sadistic streak hid permadeath in the code. -
Quote:Yeah, I missed that one part. Since our cards would already have charges from NCSoft, it IS less risky for an RMT'er to use that same card on transactions with NCSoft, as I may mistake it for one of my own (particularly in a microtransaction-based service). They could possibly use their own customers' credit cards rather than buy/trade off the exchange and many of their customers wouldn't catch on.Originally Posted by TonyV
This cannot be stated enough. The pros also won't do it right away, that would be way too obvious. They'll wait a while after the purchase, hoping you won't notice the additional charges on your bill, or even hoping that you'll make more purchases from them. As soon as the money stops flowing, though, they have exactly zero incentive to not use what you've given them to empty out everything you have.
The worst part about it is that the billing is coming from NCsoft, which masks the RMTer behind a reputable company. RMTer gets more money and accounts to ply their irreputable trade, legitimate customer gets ripped off, NCsoft's reputation gets a black eye.
Of course, that info might also just be added to the exchanges. I'd been doing some research on these and its remarkable how detailed they get. I mean as in "WTS block of 500 CCs, white middle-class female US Southeast- tested valid 1 month or less" detail. I wouldn't be surprised to see blocks specifying gamers, genres, frequent travelers on X airline, etc. -
Quote:Close, but not exact.Originally Posted by Rodion
Since RMTers are usually involved with credit card fraud, it's easy enough for them to use a stolen credit card to create a VIP account and spam any server they want.
Only amateur RMTers will use free accounts to advertise their wares. The pros will rip off their previous customers' credit cards to create respectable looking accounts in their quest for new suckers.
It seems like a nuanced difference, but as an example:
- an "amateur" is more likely to have hacks that tries to install a password logger when you visit the spammed site, then use that account to further spam. They're fly-by-night, so if that site gets taken down, they'll start another.
- a more established RMT brand will instead either buy lists of hacked accounts on the exchange or use techniques to infect other sites with the logger to avoid direct involvement. They want to keep their established "brand" around as long as possible.
Similarly:
- an amateur site may use the credit card of someone they did business with to register spam accounts.
- a "pro" site won't use previous customers' accounts. They wait a bit of time, then sell the credit cards in blocks on the exchange (and/or trade for a block of card numbers that aren't directly traceable to use on their site).
- the highest-tier pros don't ever want to risk their brand at all-- they make too much selling the card numbers on exchanges to risk any really overt issues. They work through third parties, spam briefly from accounts they're being paid to powerlevel, bot-spam on free accounts, or pay commissions to 3rd parties-- pretending not to know that these parties aren't just using free accounts to spam. -
Personally, I want MORE pool powers. Heck, I'd like to see a HUGE pool power system, with virtually every powerset in the game offering a pool "lite" version available to other players.
- I want an illusion controller that can manifest 'spectral claws' for a few claw melee attacks
- I want a dual-pistol blaster with a few street justice melee moves.
- ... or a street justice fighter that will pull out a (non-temp-power) pistol when needed.
- ... an "elementalist" made with a fire primary, earth secondary, and both an ice pool set and a storm pool set. (Closest I have is an earth/storm controller with a fire epic pool).
As for "travel power inherent"-- no. I don't want that. -
Will likely remain a VIP subscriber for the forseeable future, and still plan to remain one till the servers shut down. After that last mapserver disconnect, I'll probably continue to attempt to log-in for 20-30 minutes, too.... just out of habit.
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MMODev- the MMO about MMO Development
Players take on classes based on game development roles, like Producer, Artist, Codemonkey, NOC Troll, CSR, Marketing, and more, organize into "guilds" (called Studios) and enter an epic grind to make the next MMO. -
Quote:Not to mention one big offset.Originally Posted by Forbin_Project
True, but they are a small portion of the overall population and the income generated by the items being purchased in the store more than cover the discount they are getting.
Fraud loss.
At a conference a few years back, some presenters pinned the cost of fraud and extra CC processing fees associated with it take about $3 out of every $15 monthly subscription.... particularly since most card disputes don't come till the end of the month, so the service had already been delivered.
They also found that multi-month subscriptions were much less likely to be fraudulent (since they'd be caught long before the service was fully rendered) meaning that there were less "fraud loss" associated with them.
That, and the fact that these accounts bring a degree of stability in what can be a volatile market to make revenue projections in, and the yearly subs probably work out to a great deal for both the devs and the players. -
Quote:Yep, I'm one of those... two accounts (myself and the missus) and we'll be here until the servers shut off.Originally Posted by Justice Blues
As already noted in this thread, with an Annual sub (or even better a 14 month sub) plus the Tier 8 150 bonus Points, there are already people paying the equivalent of around $6 a month. And that doesn't take into account the free Server Transfer also included.
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Quote:Originally Posted by Arcanaville
To be fair, I didn't find the OPs original post offensive, just a little naive. While I myself had a small amount of fun at his post's expense, I don't think there's any reason to manufacture more controversy than actually exists. We shouldn't beat up people for a lack of eloquence, and the basic opinion that the game's reward systems should be more of a meritocracy isn't absurd, just generally incompatible with the majority viewpoint of the community, or at least the forum community.
In the same way I'm not offended when the devs reduce Zookeeper to three monkeys and an organ grinder, I'm also not offended by someone that says the badge isn't as impressive to them now that its three monkeys and an organ grinder. I did them the old fashion way, by yelling "die monkeys" at my monitor for four hours straight, but I neither hold a grudge that its a lot easier now, nor do I hold a grudge that some people wish everyone had to experience the same hell. In the grand scheme of things, the statement "I wish you had to earn your way onto Exalted" is not worth making enemies over in either direction.
I mean, its Exalted. They still eat babies over there, right?
I didn't find the post that offensive at all, particularly since it inspired your brilliant shadow-shard exile concept. In fact, due to that, I think this thread needs stickied.
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Quote:Beautiful.Originally Posted by Arcanaville
I think having a server you have to earn access to doesn't go far enough. I think there should be a server you are exiled to if you do enough stupid things to earn deportation. And every zone on this server is the Shadow Shard and everyone's travel power becomes superspeed.
Oh wait, was that my inside voice or my outside voice?
And... seriously, it might be a plausible alternative to banning. Similar to the Corn Field. -
Quote:Hmm...Originally Posted by Golden Girl
I'm just going by what Positron said the other day
He's equating his love to play trials with their love in creating them, but he doesn't say the MAGNITUDE of that love... just that they love developing ASM MUCH AS we love playing them.Quote:As much as you players love to play them, I know the designers love to design them.
Perhaps he sees the complaints and realizes the agony this is causing. He, then, is also complaining. He acknowledges our misery and is telling us he's equally miserable. Maybe this is a carefully encoded cry for help! He's telegraphing out to us, hoping we'll somehow liberate him from the pain.
It gets worse! Despite being as just as miserable as we Trial-players are, all the other parts of their jobs are even LESS ENJOYABLE. When they have to choose between "work on incarnate trials or sit in meetings staring at the mind-bendingly-Lovecraftian powerpoint that marketing cooked up" they choose Incarnate work just because its the lesser of two evils.Quote:It’s one of the more enjoyable parts of our jobs,
This is getting bad.... really bad.
In the Stockholm Syndrome, the captives start empathizing with their captors. Eventually, this can get as bad as taking on the characteristics, beliefs, and behaviors of the captors. The tortured is being turned into the torturer, lashing out at us as they themselves are being lashed.Quote:designing these Incarnate Trials to see just what our players are made of.
Its all so clear now...
We've got to act FAST if there's any chance of saving them!
Thank you for bringing this to our attention, GG. I just hope we're not too late.... -
I blame the forum's auto-logout bug.
If you're calm and rational in your first post, and the *&^(*&@#$# board eats your hard work when you submit it, you're less calm and rational during the %%^$^(*$% rewrite.
* Somewhat appropriately,this was not my first response to the thread. -
Quote:Contrary to popular belief, In neurons that lack myelin, signals travel just over half a mile an hour. That makes the actual "speed of thought" pretty darn slow. If it weren't for the fact that in heavily myelinated neurons, like those running down the spine, signals can travel up to 180 miles an hour, bad guys could probably outrun our psi blasts with a brisk jog!Originally Posted by Miladys_Knight
1. The projectiles from Psi Blast move so slowly, when moving at the speed of thought is supposed to be so fast?
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Just a reminder to anyone with shock/surprise as some of the thought processes that manifest on these boards:
This is the internet.
'nuff said. -
Quote:except we've paid for expansions.Originally Posted by White Hot Flash
Why should VIPs pay for anything?
Because that's what they've been doing as subscribers for the life of the game. Free for an MMO means limitations on your account. You don't want those, you pay to get rid of them. Pretty simple.
and we've paid for booster packs.
and this trend is hardly new, as other games have had adventure packs (mini-expansions) and paid extras for years.
so we have a pattern of paying for a basic level and then paying more for "extras". Pretty simple.
Make it cost only $5 and you have an even better deal. Players would love it. Devs... notsomuch when they don't get paychecks.Quote:Throw in that VIPs get access to things exclusively, and that monthly sub gets to be a better deal.
There are two parties in a deal, and both of them have to see value in a deal. The devs need to know that their effort will result in enough profit to AT LEAST pay the bills and keep investors happy, and the players need to know they're getting value out of their $.
We're not able to compare and contrast here on the boards, but I'll skirt close to the issue to just say that COH VIP benefits already are in the top tier of hybrid models. -
Quote:It isn't much variety, granted, but the concept is there.Originally Posted by rsclark
That's like commenting on the variety ina pig's diet, because when you slopped him today, there were more corncobs in the bucket.
The team composition of trials doesn't provide variety, it provides a colorless mush.
For example, in Lambda while gathering up all the temp powers, if you're on a team with a lot of AT's with defensive-sets (tanks, scrappers, brutes, stalkers) you steamroll through, ignoring all foes, getting all the glowies. If you're on a team with a lot of squishies, you spend your time coming up with creative new cusswords- either as a squishie cussing out the ^%*@$@ tank that ran ahead, or the tank swearing that nobody stayed with him since his DPS is too low to quickly take down a crate.
See.... variety. -
Quote:That's the trick, though, isn't it?Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
Large challenges and cosmic dangers are a given. I may not appreciate them, but they're an inexorable part of the MMO framework. I get that. What I and people like me are looking for is options to have encounters that challenge our characters personally and force them to do their own legwork without getting help. And I put precisely ZERO faith of anything ever coming out as a solo Incarnate path that ISN'T officially recognised as a side dish to the main course of raiding.
One benefit of the trial system is that the trial can require you to do *some* things differently each time you do it to address differences in team composition-- not much, mind you, but enough to make repeating the content not *as* monotonous as it could be.
There's no way they're going to create enough solo arcs to cover an equitable amount of time as earning your incarnate slots via trials, so you're going to have repetition there. The same stories... over and over... without the variation that comes from team composition...
To make something of any quality, you have to find some way to make it feel less monotonous without the content creation overhead draining resources from other parts of the game. Not an impossible task, but requiring more time and thought than waving a hand and saying "make it so." -
Quote:So.... Batman needs nerfed?Originally Posted by ZephyrWind
'nuff said.
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Quote:This isn't exactly a new idea. I subscribe to my cable company.... but they still charge me for pay-per-view. There's additional channels I have to pay MORE for.. Heck, despite me paying, I still have to watch &*^*&(*&@# commercials.Originally Posted by Nox__Fatalis
Even if you give them everything, you lose nothing. They pay every month to keep access to the new goodies you continue to give them. Yet you expect people to pay monthly and then pay more on top of that for content that used to be included?
It fits here, too (minus commercials (fingers crossed)).
Your subscription only pays for so much. If you want more, you pay more.
The devs have made a point of stressing that subscribers aren't going to get LESS than they would have gotten had they not gone F2P. They're getting the same, if not more, content via the subs than they got before. The extra stuff that goes beyond that just would never have been made if it didn't open up another revenue path to cover the development costs. -
/salute
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Quote:very good. It would also encourage more of the hoarders to spend their stuff on "frills" that they might otherwise not care about.Originally Posted by Jasra
A 4th option is to cap the inventory of the hoarded currency. This is a measure that would limit hoarders, but have little to no effect on the more casual.