One time Redistribution of global character slots..
By
BrandX,
Posted on: 2012-08-23 04:30 in Suggestions and Ideas
Nay; verily, this doth speak truly o' that which would yet ag'n be requested, soon a' thy whim changed o'ce moor.
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huh?
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Originally Posted by Jack_NoMind
Nay; verily, this doth speak truly o' that which would yet ag'n be requested, soon a' thy whim changed o'ce moor.
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Verily, this fine fellow is a soothsayer, in both the new and the old sense of the word.|
Originally Posted by Jack_NoMind
Nay; verily, this doth speak truly o' that which would yet ag'n be requested, soon a' thy whim changed o'ce moor.
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Maybe not for Xenophage personally, necessarily, but certainly if in November 2012 all global slots are un-distributed, somebody will join the game in December 2012 and be asking again to redistribute their slots in January 2013. If the problem is that global slots can end up totally wasted, the money/points lost and useless forever, refunding global slots once doesn't fix that problem. A slot mover that allows you to move character slots but costs less than buying additional character slots, or a system in which slots aren't assigned to servers at all, or something else that actually addresses the problem would be a fix, but a one-time refund is not, that just kicks the can down the road.
Edit: I'm using the word "refund" here to mean that the slots are de-allocated and can be placed again, not that the slots are taken away and their point value returned.
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which is why I stated a one time kick back of the slots then followed by a store item, that yes i would assume would cost less then buying a whole new slot. I am totally aware that if they do it this one time that later some one will beg for it again, but cross that bridge when we come to it.|
Originally Posted by Hopeling
Verily, this fine fellow is a soothsayer, in both the new and the old sense of the word.
Maybe not for Xenophage personally, necessarily, but certainly if in November 2012 all global slots are un-distributed, somebody will join the game in December 2012 and be asking again to redistribute their slots in January 2013. If the problem is that global slots can end up totally wasted, the money/points lost and useless forever, refunding global slots once doesn't fix that problem. A slot mover that allows you to move character slots but costs less than buying additional character slots, or a system in which slots aren't assigned to servers at all, or something else that actually addresses the problem would be a fix, but a one-time refund is not, that just kicks the can down the road. Edit: I'm using the word "refund" here to mean that the slots are de-allocated and can be placed again, not that the slots are taken away and their point value returned. |
If I am completely honest I don't expect we'd get a free kick back of our unfilled global slots, but I think a store item is reasonable. That said if I am gonna aim for something I am gonna aim high, and ask for a one time freebie. (I know better then to ask for indefinite freebies) It can't hurt the worst they can say in no.
I have no argument against a long-term way to move slots, for a cost or even for free (in fact, I think that would be nice, since I have a few slots tied up uselessly on a server I never play on anymore). But I think a one-time reallocation of slots would doubly undermine any attempt to sell it: because the players that want it now would get it for free, and because any players wanting it in the future would strongly consider toughing it out until/in case they give slots back for free like they did last time.
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fair enough, i am glad to see my idea wasn't totally dismissed this time and rather discussing a better way to go about it |
Originally Posted by Hopeling
I have no argument against a long-term way to move slots, for a cost or even for free (in fact, I think that would be nice, since I have a few slots tied up uselessly on a server I never play on anymore). But I think a one-time reallocation of slots would doubly undermine any attempt to sell it: because the players that want it now would get it for free, and because any players wanting it in the future would strongly consider toughing it out until/in case they give slots back for free like they did last time.
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and i have to admit I do totally see your point.
I certainly wouldn't mind this as a feature, but I wonder if it's possible. It would be nice if the devs would explain one way or another.
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hmm yea if there is some reason (paid or not) to not be able to move your global slots once allocated I'd like to know why and of course if its not I have a different solution, rather then automatically giving us a character transfer let us choose character transfer or new global slot.
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Originally Posted by Forbin_Project
I certainly wouldn't mind this as a feature, but I wonder if it's possible. It would be nice if the devs would explain one way or another.
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I think it has less to do with Paragon Studios than it does with NCsoft Austin.|
Originally Posted by Forbin_Project
I certainly wouldn't mind this as a feature, but I wonder if it's possible. It would be nice if the devs would explain one way or another.
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What I'm saying is that when Issue 21: Freedom launched Zwillinger was under the impression that by going from a VIP to Premium status freed up slot allocation choices (reverted server assigned slots to global slots) and he stated as much. However discussions with support staff and looking at how assigning slots work has shown that any slot assigned is firmly committed to a specific (possibly virtual) server. This is why your character can transfer over, but the the slot doesn't.
I don't think they have the tech to do the suggestion, even if they wanted to. Worse, in order to get the ability to unassign the character slot (the minimum needed to change a slot's server), any solution would likely need to involve NCsoft Austin. Given NCsoft's priorities (and how far down City of Heroes stands on that list), it seems highly doubtful that the suggestion will come to pass.
Triumph: White Succubus: 50 Ill/Emp/PF Snow Globe: 50 Ice/FF/Ice Strobe: 50 PB Shi Otomi: 50 Ninja/Ninjistu/GW Stalker My other characters
/unsigned.
I'd rather people have to just pay or earn their new global slots.
So you moved servers. And don't want to lose all that work you put into that one server? Well then, don't move servers.
Or, pay more, so th devs give us more.
Global slots is just one of the better items to have as a paid for feature.
Of course, if they did do a free global slot transfer, I wouldn't be upset, but I'd also rather they had the devs who could work on something like that, working on something else.
BrandX Future Staff Fighter
The BrandX Collection
Free? No. Pay for a token that lets you reassign all of them (for around the cost of 3 character slots)? That sounds more reasonable.
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Simple, unless you're prepaying an annual sub, don't sub a month, let account laps, resub. No wait, that's just character slots isn't it?
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Originally Posted by Forbin_Project
I certainly wouldn't mind this as a feature, but I wonder if it's possible. It would be nice if the devs would explain one way or another.
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The alternative solution for this is to just merge the servers! Perhaps a bracket-style showdown between every server but Freedom and Virtue, in order to decide which single server will still exist after the merge! Wasted character slots on crappy servers? No problem! They'll now all be relocated to Victorumphantunionertyectoriance! Population 30!
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Originally Posted by TwoHeadedBoy
The alternative solution for this is to just merge the servers! Perhaps a bracket-style showdown between every server but Freedom and Virtue, in order to decide which single server will still exist after the merge! Wasted character slots on crappy servers? No problem! They'll now all be relocated to Victorumphantunionertyectoriance! Population 30!
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Unfortunately there are no dead servers, despite what some people personally choose to believe. Factions may be dead but not servers.
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Originally Posted by Forbin_Project
Unfortunately there are no dead servers, despite what some people personally choose to believe. Factions may be dead but not servers.
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Another option is if Freedom and Virtue are allowed to colonize the other servers! That would be super fun. Say, once we send out small factions of our playerbase to overwhelm entire server communities, we can force them to pay Black Market taxes in scaling percentages based on the value of the item sold! It would be super fun until all the other servers go bankrupt and are ultimately absorbed by the greater entities.
My name is THB and I just single-handedly fixed the low population server issue, the character slot issue, and PVP. All in one paragraph. Tell your friends!
okay so I will respond to a few things I have read here:
Brand X: so what you are saying basically "just buy another slot its not there fault you wanted to play with your friends when they changed servers if you wanted to keep all those extra slots you just need to make a whole new group of friends and find a whole new SG and start from the bottom all over again" ... nice.
Fact is while a one time free reallocation of unused global slots would be cool I don't expect it but some sort of option that at a per slot level cost less (so even if you have to buy in bulk like 3 slots moves at a time but over all comes to say 100pts less a slot) would make paragon money cause some of us don't only look at over all cost some of us also look at value "how much am i getting for my points?" and giving us options on ways to accomplish what we want can really only make them money.
then of course there was my idea for VIPs getting an option each month free server transfer or new character slot. Now I know again you'd rather just see me pay for a character slot then get a choice. Thing is a Transfer token on the store costs nearly twice as much as a character slot so by granting VIP players a choice to choose an extra character slot or transfer token they have the potential (at least based on point cost and dollar value assigned to those points) to come out ahead if I (and others) choose that option.
Thing is unless its a technical reason why we can't move around our global slots there is no reason to NOT offer the option of either free or lower cost global slot moves (or offering the choice to VIPs). Cause I and a lot of other people would rather spend the majority of there points on stuff like costumes and new power sets and I for one have no issue taking that FREE monthly server transfer and moving a character off my current one to another server for a month or two and would rather do that then buy a global slot atm.
Sever mergers/ repopulating: this doesn't work cause the only servers that would be merged would be the lower population ones and I play on Virtue (one with a rather high population), so merging servers would only help some people not all. I am looking for a solution that will at least help all current players with Global slots trapped on a different server and an organized effort for large SGs on freedom and Virtue to help repopulate other servers isn't a good solution either, the problem would still exist. Each person would be primarily playing on one server run out of slots and want to have more slots.
If instead of free you had to pay 800pp for it (5 bucks), but it would be accessible to everyone whenever they wanted it (instead of one time), would you be willing to accept that instead of free?
Free is a very hard thing to crusade for.
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ummm 800pp is $10 400PP is $5 and yes a one time fee for unlimited access to move them around would be way more then acceptable (weather $5 or $10), but i don't see that happening. Simply put I think it would diminish the sales of extra character slots more then a per transfer price.|
Originally Posted by Demon_Shell
If instead of free you had to pay 800pp for it (5 bucks), but it would be accessible to everyone whenever they wanted it (instead of one time), would you be willing to accept that instead of free?
Free is a very hard thing to crusade for. |
and yes Free is a hard crusade, but If ya don't ask then you know you won't get it. Honestly If any thing comes out of this, even a store item of some sort I'd be elated. Though I do understand that this may not be a money issue at all but rather a programing, physical or logistical issue.
the problem i was trying to solve with all of this was this:
So many power sets so few slots on the server I play on.
i know some people would just say "then buy more slots" and thing is I don't typically have the money to both buy the newest power set and a new slot I tend to save up my point stipends for new power sets and new costume packs and have little money to buy extra points, and yes I realize it is my choice to buy the new power set instead of a new character slot, but I don't need the new slot if I don't have the power set and costume pieces to make the character i want to make :P
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Okay. And when you bought those extra slots, did you think they were worth the cost?
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Originally Posted by Xenophage
okay so I will respond to a few things I have read here:
Brand X: so what you are saying basically "just buy another slot its not there fault you wanted to play with your friends when they changed servers if you wanted to keep all those extra slots you just need to make a whole new group of friends and find a whole new SG and start from the bottom all over again" ... nice. Fact is while a one time free reallocation of unused global slots would be cool I don't expect it but some sort of option that at a per slot level cost less (so even if you have to buy in bulk like 3 slots moves at a time but over all comes to say 100pts less a slot) would make paragon money cause some of us don't only look at over all cost some of us also look at value "how much am i getting for my points?" and giving us options on ways to accomplish what we want can really only make them money. then of course there was my idea for VIPs getting an option each month free server transfer or new character slot. Now I know again you'd rather just see me pay for a character slot then get a choice. Thing is a Transfer token on the store costs nearly twice as much as a character slot so by granting VIP players a choice to choose an extra character slot or transfer token they have the potential (at least based on point cost and dollar value assigned to those points) to come out ahead if I (and others) choose that option. Thing is unless its a technical reason why we can't move around our global slots there is no reason to NOT offer the option of either free or lower cost global slot moves (or offering the choice to VIPs). Cause I and a lot of other people would rather spend the majority of there points on stuff like costumes and new power sets and I for one have no issue taking that FREE monthly server transfer and moving a character off my current one to another server for a month or two and would rather do that then buy a global slot atm. Sever mergers/ repopulating: this doesn't work cause the only servers that would be merged would be the lower population ones and I play on Virtue (one with a rather high population), so merging servers would only help some people not all. I am looking for a solution that will at least help all current players with Global slots trapped on a different server and an organized effort for large SGs on freedom and Virtue to help repopulate other servers isn't a good solution either, the problem would still exist. Each person would be primarily playing on one server run out of slots and want to have more slots. |
BrandX Future Staff Fighter
The BrandX Collection
...Haven't you guys been paying attention? I solved this issue like, 5 posts ago. You would think the mods would have just closed the thread after my last post. I mean, time to move on, amirite? Win some, lose some, etc...
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My mistake; I apologize.|
Originally Posted by Xenophage
ummm 800pp is $10 400PP is $5
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And I believe you're right. One-time purchase of unlimited access to move character slots around is probably impossible. I meant purchasing a token to readjust the character slots already spent. If you needed to do it again later, you buy it again.
That would have a much greater possibility of happening. What you're asking for is not out of the question. If you've used ten character slots, slots you no longer want on the server you used them on, you shouldn't have to buy ten more. That's not a small amount of money. You should have the option to move them. But it would take development time, and development time is best offset by financial gain.
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sure, but I already bought them I shouldn't have to buy more of them cause I changed what server i operate on to continue playing with my friends|
Originally Posted by BrandX
Okay. And when you bought those extra slots, did you think they were worth the cost?
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there is no reason i can't spend say 800pp ($10) to move my 7 or so currently unfilled global character slots (of the 10 I have.) and later if I feel the need to move them again pay another 800pp
How ever I shouldn't have to pay out ANOTHER 3360pp (approximately $40) to have 7 more on the server I play on currently.
Maybe, you have have an extra $40 to shell out at will, but I sure as sh word that rhymes with pit don't.
and I don't think asking for a one time freebie of said function is completely unreasonable nor would denial of said request... that is the thing with requests. You can either make them no matter how remote a chance it might be granted is and you still have a better chance then if you don't.
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**pulls THB's Rangers sweater over his head and gets to work** |
TwoHeadedBoy says dread words: The alternative solution for this is to just merge the servers! |
Dec out.
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When you allocated those slots to the server you put them on, what was the message that popped up on the screen?|
Originally Posted by Xenophage
sure, but I already bought them I shouldn't have to buy more of them cause I changed what server i operate on to continue playing with my friends
there is no reason i can't spend say 800pp ($10) to move my 7 or so currently unfilled global character slots (of the 10 I have.) and later if I feel the need to move them again pay another 800pp How ever I shouldn't have to pay out ANOTHER 3360pp (approximately $40) to have 7 more on the server I play on currently. Maybe, you have have an extra $40 to shell out at will, but I sure as sh word that rhymes with pit don't. and I don't think asking for a one time freebie of said function is completely unreasonable nor would denial of said request... that is the thing with requests. You can either make them no matter how remote a chance it might be granted is and you still have a better chance then if you don't. |
Wasn't it saying that the slots would be locked to that server and couldn't be changed?
Would it be nice to be able to do this one time? Sure.
Do I think it will be implemented? Not at all.
If the game spit out 20 dollar bills people would complain that they weren't sequentially numbered. If they were sequentially numbered people would complain that they weren't random enough.
Black Pebble is my new hero.
So I fully expect people to just tell me this idea will never happen and /or its a horrible Idea... but here it goes.
What I propose is this...
one time and one time only for free all unused Global slots (the ones we have earned or bought) are given back to us to redistribute on w/e serves we like. My reasoning behind this is over the years I have changed what server I primarily play on for various reasons, some of those being friends changing servers, I foolishly did the exalted server for a while etc.
While I realize this was my choice and it was also my choice to place the extra slots where I did I am now running out of slots on Virtue and wish I could have some of my global slots back especially the vacant ones on exalted.
So, this is what I am thinking... as stated above all vacant global slots are returned to each player for free this ONE time:
What this would mean
-only unoccupied global slots would be returned leaving the standard amount of slots per sever in tact (which I think is 12)
-for example if you have 10 global slots in total and you spent 5 of them on Freedom 3 on virtue and 2 exalted but on freedom you have gone 2 over the standard amount of character slots and used all 3 on virtue and 1 over on exalted that would mean 4 slots would be returned to you.
fairly simple no?
then I figure after that they can charge us a points fee for each time we want to reclaim unused globals or per reclaim
I already know some one is going to say "why would they do it for free at all when they make money off you buying extra slots?" so I will answer that by saying Paragon has excelled at doing things that some times are more in the interest of making the players happy then making money and it would be a one time thing.
okay bring on the naysayers! :P