Story Slots added to Vet Rewards?
By
AmazingMOO,
Posted on: 2009-06-17 08:55 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
Well, given they did that with character slots, I'd be kind of surprised if they weren't at least looking at it.
45 months would be a good place for one, I think
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I don't know, I can't cite the source at the moment, but at one point, the devs said that they would never give away anything that people paid for, in relation to people asking for stuff like some of the add-on pack perks as veteran rewards.
I don't necessarily agree with that philosophy, but under that rationale, we won't see story slots as veteran rewards.
P.S. The helmets and prestige sprint powers don't count. The rationale provided at the time is that you weren't charged extra for the pre-order, so technically, they're not pay-for items.
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I don't know, I can't cite the source at the moment, but at one point, the devs said that they would never give away anything that people paid for, in relation to people asking for stuff like some of the add-on pack perks as veteran rewards.
I don't necessarily agree with that philosophy, but under that rationale, we won't see story slots as veteran rewards.
P.S. The helmets and prestige sprint powers don't count. The rationale provided at the time is that you weren't charged extra for the pre-order, so technically, they're not pay-for items.
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You get 1 character slot for every year of Vet time. Precedent is already set on this.
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I don't know, I can't cite the source at the moment, but at one point, the devs said that they would never give away anything that people paid for, in relation to people asking for stuff like some of the add-on pack perks as veteran rewards.
I don't necessarily agree with that philosophy, but under that rationale, we won't see story slots as veteran rewards.
P.S. The helmets and prestige sprint powers don't count. The rationale provided at the time is that you weren't charged extra for the pre-order, so technically, they're not pay-for items.
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Hate to poke a hole in the argument (as this particular one does have some merit), but purchasable character slots were added in to the veteran rewards as a total deal when they gave you the option to increase your slots-per-server, in addition to the 2-free-slots-per-account deal.
Technically not the same thing, I don't think, as they had planned it from the onset (and there's been no word so far if they are planning as much for the MA arc slots), but it's also not quite the same thing as the GvE Jump Pack or other similar purchasable add-ons as well.
Ball's in the air on this one, but I think with the rather low capacity that they currently have on max arcs (8 total, including the 3 free ones everyone gets [unless you were naughty]), it's rather unlikely that they will unless those slots are (somehow) not subject to the max limit.
I think it would be pretty nice of them to make it 1 MA slot a year. Means that 5 year vets celebrating the 5 year Anniversary wouldn't have to pay anything.
I don't necessarily think it's going to happen, but it would be nice.
Never surrender! Never give up!
Help keep Paragon City alive with the unofficial City of Heroes Tabletop Role Playing Game!
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I think it would be pretty nice of them to make it 1 MA slot a year. Means that 5 year vets celebrating the 5 year Anniversary wouldn't have to pay anything.
I don't necessarily think it's going to happen, but it would be nice.
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Can't disagree with that, honestly.
But, in the 'thinking of things that would be nice' realm, I'd rather them make Vet-slots (should any be added) not subject to the cap, so vets can potentially have 13 total slots. 
Despite the fact I'd only have 10. 
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I don't know, I can't cite the source at the moment, but at one point, the devs said that they would never give away anything that people paid for, in relation to people asking for stuff like some of the add-on pack perks as veteran rewards.
I don't necessarily agree with that philosophy, but under that rationale, we won't see story slots as veteran rewards.
P.S. The helmets and prestige sprint powers don't count. The rationale provided at the time is that you weren't charged extra for the pre-order, so technically, they're not pay-for items.
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They weren't talking about things like slots.
They were referring, actually, to things you paid extra in editions for - such as the cape of four winds, Arachnos cape, Justice/Sinister sets, etc. Those are tied to specific editions and/or things you paid above and beyond for, and those will not be given away.
Yes, things like the prestige and sprint powers are not covered by that, for the very reason you gave.
Store extras, like the character slots, can obviously be given away - as we can see by the vet rewards. To me, story slots fall in that category.
Personally, I would love to see the Vet Reward system switch to a ticket base. Yes, I know... MORE Tickets?!
What I would like to see is a reward of X number of Vet Pts every 3 months in steadily increasing amounts. So the 36 month reward is substantially higher than the 3 month, but all are cumulative allowing the player to "save up" their points if there is some expensive item they would really like to get.
I would then like to see a shopping list of purchasable items in a Vet Store format. The really cheap items may be Free Costume Tokens or Respecs while the Team Teleport or Buff Pets would be substantially more expensive.
I would also be in favor of lower cost "upgrades" once the power is purchased. Think of this as a way of slotting enhancements into the power on an account-wide basis. So you pay 100 points for the Sands of Mu then 10 more points to give it an accuracy enhancement; say equal to a level 20 IO. Or a Recharge Reduction enhancment on the Team Teleport.
They could also add such items as the Booster Packs or a free month's subscription. These items could be either purchased in whole or could be broken down into their component costume pieces, emotes and powers at a lower cost.
I think of this as long term gains over short term ones. The Booster Packs do provide a good infusion of cash for the company, but ultimately it is more important for them to retain their customer base over time than it is to bleed them dry immediately.
Veteran rewards are an excellent manner to entice people to stay with the game as well as a way of showing developer appreciation for the faithful. I don't think the current reward system takes full advantage of its potential.
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The current attack powers from the vet rewards give no real boost over other temp powers (except for having them at level 1)
Allowing them to be enhanced (on top of inspirations and buffs) could make them unbalanced.
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I don't know, I can't cite the source at the moment, but at one point, the devs said that they would never give away anything that people paid for, in relation to people asking for stuff like some of the add-on pack perks as veteran rewards.
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They may have said it, but it's not true at all. The travel power effects, for instance, not to mention some of the temp powers like Sands of Mu and the Ghost Slaying axe were part of a very early booster pack or "special edition" or something.
That being said, I'm sure there'll be some mealy-mouthed rationalization/cop-out on the part of the dev team as to why those particular ones don't count, but there you have it.
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Alls I knows is that they better never give away my "Surfing Sprinter" power for free. I paid $100 for that! And it's so wicked...
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I don't know, I can't cite the source at the moment, but at one point, the devs said that they would never give away anything that people paid for, in relation to people asking for stuff like some of the add-on pack perks as veteran rewards.
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<cough>character slots<cough>
<cough>respecs<cough>
To be fair, they did actually say something along those lines but it seemed to be in relation to costume parts and/or powers. Clearly, MA slots are more similar to character slots (which you CAN buy), than they are to costume parts or powers.
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I don't know, I can't cite the source at the moment, but at one point, the devs said that they would never give away anything that people paid for, in relation to people asking for stuff like some of the add-on pack perks as veteran rewards.
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except that they give away characters slots as vet rewards and you can also buy them with cash.
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As the Story Slot purchase feature is being added to the game, can we also get a few slots tied to Vet Rewards, especially some of the leaner periods?
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Although some are asking for it, I must disagree, based on the following reasons:
My primary premise is that story writing ability does not increase with the amount of time spent playing the game.
Some may argue that it does, based on gameplay, going through arcs, picking up canon on the way, etc. Although this is (IMHO) the best way to learn about the game story and canon, anyone can easily learn about canon by reading through the wiki so meticulously made by fellow CoX players. In fact, someone who doesn't play the game could probably read the wiki, subscribe, and make a canon-based arc rather easily, given enough research on the wiki.
Most veteran rewards are trivialities, and deservedly so.
It's nice to get rewards, but not at the cost of severely alienating non-veterans. Most of the costume pieces obtained are arguably trivial - boxing attire, Greek letters, special kilts, etc. Trench coats, IMHO, are the coolest, but at the same time the lowest-hanging fruit. The wings are pretty neat, but are also not as unique given the other amount of wings available through Inventions (and the Valkyrie booster/ Mac set). Other things, like vet powers and pets, are small perks, but don't generally overpower the game, especially with the abundance of temp powers earned through missions and arcs.
Giving veterans many Story Arc slots over non-veteran peers may create a divide between new players and older ones, especially if the amount given out is non-trivial. The MA has a large appeal to new players, given that it's a system not found in most major MMOs and therefore unique to CoX. Therefore, giving veteran players an advantage in creating story arcs lessens that impact of attracting new blood.
If Story Arcs slots are to be rewarded through Vet Rewards, make the amount trivial.
As a vet, I've only earned one respec per year per character, received a few character slots, and only 5 Merits total per character, via Vet Rewards. Arguably, 1 respec a year per character can be a lot for some, but not very much for others (especially with the advent of dual builds). Same with character slots - the slots I've received is paltry compared to the number I could purchase if so inclined. In the big scheme of things, although these are nice, they don't overly tip the balance to vet players - they're simply a nice bonus for loyal customers.
Therefore, if Story Arc slots are to be rewarded to vet players, it should be a rather small number, such as one or two slots. This would make it a nice perk without tipping the balance to vet payers (and away from new players).
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So there it is. Feel free to rebut, but that's probably the extent of my posting on the subject. I just wanted to get my 2 inf out there, knowing it's there for public scrutiny, but not really caring for a debate. Just handing out some food for thought.
99% of the playerbase doesn't give a care one way or another about authoring MA missions.
Story slots are an appropriately minor giveaway for veteran rewards.
The Nethergoat Archive: all my memories, all my characters, all my thoughts on CoH...eventually.
My City Was Gone
Arguably, one could say the same thing about respecs or character slots. Value is in the eye of the beholder. Hence the monetary value behind them on the in-game store.
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Yup, just like character slots.
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Story slots are an appropriately minor giveaway for veteran rewards. |
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Arguably, one could say the same thing about respecs or character slots.
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Respecs and character slots are both something that have more utility and appeal to veteran players, who we can assume have more characters than a newbie and lavish more attention and energy on them.
But all three are suitable veteran rewards since they don't affect game balance in any way, and they make nice 'perks' for players that stick around.
The Nethergoat Archive: all my memories, all my characters, all my thoughts on CoH...eventually.
My City Was Gone
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I don't know, I can't cite the source at the moment, but at one point, the devs said that they would never give away anything that people paid for, in relation to people asking for stuff like some of the add-on pack perks as veteran rewards.
[/ QUOTE ]
<cough>character slots<cough>
<cough>respecs<cough>
To be fair, they did actually say something along those lines but it seemed to be in relation to costume parts and/or powers. Clearly, MA slots are more similar to character slots (which you CAN buy), than they are to costume parts or powers.
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Okay, I'll buy that— er, I mean, sure, sounds good to me, although I'd point out that those things were designed to be given/sold as they were from the beginning, not retroactively decided to be given out only after being sold for a while.
Of course, they're not selling story slots quite yet, so maybe there's time for them to implement something like this before going live and having it set in stone. I honestly hope they do. Like I said, I didn't agree then with the policy, I still don't, and I think that giving them out as a reward for something would be the best.
If someone asks if I think they should be given out as veteran rewards, I'd say sure. (Though I'd like to see maybe a trial or something to earn them instead, but as veteran rewards will work fine, too.) If someone asks if I think they will be given out as veteran rewards, my honest answer is if it goes live with them only being sold, no, but it hasn't gone live yet, so I'm leaning around 90%/10% against them being given out as rewards given that they haven't mentioned any plans to do so, but I hope they change their minds.
We've been saving Paragon City for eight and a half years. It's time to do it one more time.
(If you love this game as much as I do, please read that post.)
I read an interview with Matt Miller when Issue 14 went live. The issue of additional Mission Architect mission arc slots came up, and IIRC, Matt Miller basically said something to the effect that they would be a paid option only and not veteran rewards, as NCSoft doesn't want to alienate new players from the feature.
@Celestial Lord and @Celestial Lord Too
And providing both vet rewards and paid options would alienate new players how???
As opposed to offering only a paid options, which alienates people who are getting sick of micro-transactions.
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Like it or not, micro-transactions in subscription-based MMOGs is the way the MMOG industry is going. City of Heroes isn't alone in this. MMOGs haven't raised the $14.99 monthly subscription fee in several years in order to remain competitive with each other, despite inflation. So they started adding micro-transactions for additional revenue to keep the servers open and add additional content.
@Celestial Lord and @Celestial Lord Too
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My primary premise is that story writing ability does not increase with the amount of time spent playing the game.
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And it does with the amount of money spent on MA slots? 
Always remember, we were Heroes.
As the Story Slot purchase feature is being added to the game, can we also get a few slots tied to Vet Rewards, especially some of the leaner periods?