See a need Fill a need. Opinions Requested

Hello Everyone!

A thought occured to me today. Its something I have wondered about before. I am ready to start fleshing out the idea. However, I would like to open the discussion up to you all. I am looking to take advantage of your insights and experience.

I have had various friends remark on the lack of storage space in their SG bases. As SGs get larger, personal storage takes a backseat to serving the needs of the group. I have even opened my base up from time to time and allowed ones to use a rack or two for a period of time. Smaller SGs may not experience this problem as much but then might lack the Prestige earning capacity to support every players storage needs. (Though to be honest this might be a far rarer problem) There might be other issues and I may be inflating the ones listed. I don't know. So I come to you fine folks.

My idea is to open a Supergroup devoted to providing personal apartments with storage space for players that do not have such. For a monthly fee(INF not RL funds of course) they will have their own room and base editing rights to make it fit their own style. Obviously, the more storage space they require the higher the fee. There will be a one time Downpayment relative the roomsize they request. (One idea I had is they can earn this downpayment back by referring other players to the service)

Please tell me what you think. Is there a sufficient NEED or Desire to sustain this type of project? If so, what other ideas would you like implemented?

Hi Mortimer --

I'll happily chime in my thoughts.

I do foresee some problems, as anyone who has Base Editing privileges can, if they choose, destroy the whole place -- including everyone else's hard work on their personal spaces. Not to mention such a person could empty out base storage. Aside from those dangers, what happens when someone is offline for a few months, and doesn't pay? What happens to their items in base storage? What happens to the personal space they created? If it was their own SG Base, nothing -- but how would that differ under this "paying rent" system?

Aside from the concerns above, I'm not sure there is a need the way the game is currently structured. With the base repricing that took place in Issue 13, almost anyone can afford the most massive base in the game, and the most possible storage for each base (18 storage units per base, I think it is).

What's more, they can have a separate SG base for each of their toons -- and thus have access to really massive amounts of storage. Add that to the fact that Players now have the ability to e-mail themselves globally means they can pass items from any storage location -- and any toon -- to whatever other toon they like.

So, my opinion on it is that while it certainly is creative, there's probably not enough of a need to make it a successful and widely-utilized.

-- Vivian

Heyas

I've been doing exactly this for about a year or two now. I have had a serious dip though in recent months. Influence has become so easy to make that most of my customer base has moved on to financing their own storage SGs.

The concept was sound, but it's just not as lucrative as you may hope.
I'm not going to go into details, but Viv brings up several points that are going to impede you. My operation is a bit different from what you are proposing. A bit more sterile and professional, I am not providing "Apartments."

This may work for you in the short term amonst friends, but in general, the market for these services have fallen into 2 categories. People who see your idea and decide to just make their own bases and those who want everything handed to them for free.

Also, with a 1 time fee, it will need to be high enough to cover the expenses of what you are offering, or you will go broke with the 500:1 Conversion at the Registrar.

Example:
Let's say that you offer each person a modular deal of 1 Enhancement Table, 2 Salvage Racks, and 1 Inspiration Collector. For argument's sake, you have a centralized crafting center with 1 crafting table and 1 Vault.
Enhancement Table - 95,000 Prestige
Salvage Rack - 30,000 Prestige (15k x2)
Inspiration Collector - 75,000
--------------------------------------
Total Prestige = 200,000
Influence -> Prestige (500:1) = 100,000,000 Inf per Module
4 Modules per Base = 400 Million Inf

You will also have to take into account the costs of Influence to generate the Prestige for the actual Base. Decide if you will make it several different workshops, or a couple bigger workshops that you divide up.

Let's say you have 4 customers to a base, so you take 2 3x4 Workshops* and break them down into 4 "rooms" for use. You need 2 3x4 Workshops because of the 9 Storage Per Workshop limit.

2 3X4 Workshops is 460,000 Prestige = 230 Million Influence
Divided amongst your customers, 57,500,000 Inf each.

I haven't gotten into Power, Control needs for basic power for the Vault, but right now, you will need a "one-time" payment of 157,500,000 Influence to "Break Even" on this. With Control and Power, round it up to 200 Million Inf from Each of the 4 "customers" for a ballpark total of 800 Million Influence.

Another issue is Base Rent. Running 16 devices that contribute to Upkeep, it's 1600 Prestige per 4 - 6 weeks, depending on how you pay the rent. That's 800,000 Influence for Rent each cycle.

In the grand scheme of things, 800 Million + a recurring 800k is not really that big of a deal. This is also the reason most people have left the "rent from someone else" and just made their own groups.

The above is just a loose example. If storage is the only concern, then those are a decent ballpark figure. If you want to offer travel with Teleporters to all the zones and other perks, then the price just goes up from here.

Thank you guys for such an in depth look at this idea. You really took a fledgling idea in my head and brought it into the real world. The real world kinda looks bleak lol. I can see that to make this really work it would take much more than I thought.

Hi Mortimer --

Don't get disheartened at the idea not necessarily being as good as you'd thought on first glance -- you'll find lots of ideas are like that in life -- but just look at the title of your post, "See a Need". In this instance, bear in mind that it is not the idea itself that is necessarily flawed, for it would certainly be feasible if there was enough demand for that as a service. Rather, it is unlikely to succeed because there is insufficient need in the current market to make it successful as a venture. Every service, whether offered online or in the real world, must necessarily follow the needs of its particular market. Without demand, no service will prosper.

Shadow --

I'd just like to say that was a good job you did in breaking down the numbers for Mort, that was a very helpful follow-up.

-- Vivian