Post:Microtrans - A Discussion - 07/22/2011 - 21:51

Re: Microtrans - A Discussion · on 07/22/2011 09:51 PM CDT	4142
<<But then, considering we already have pay quests and pay fests, it becomes "Well here are some even newer treats for you guys, try this Chris Mass' grab bag with possible awards of Tyrium or Assassin items!"(Where have I seen this?).>>'' <<Eventually it will degrade to other things people are already asking for, experience games, rare world-events only for people who shell out the money, etc.>> So you're saying you'll be upset if we do what you acknowledge we already do. We already have events, quests, festivals, auctions, etc. and those are restricted to people who are willing to pay extra money to attend/participate/etc. We're actually already intending to run more of them, as I mentioned a few posts ago. Having ticketed events is already a slippery slope, because while it may be a shocker to some people, we do actually want you to pay us as much money as you're comfortable with paying us. We're a business. Making money is the point. If we can find new ways to make you agreeably give us money, then we're succeeding. If we can do that, and it allows us to lower subscription rates for those who don't want the full benefits of Premium or even the full benefits of a basic subscription, but still want to be able to play, socialize, and enjoy the game and community, especially if they know, as Apu pointed out, that they may only be able to do so one or two times a month due to real world issues, and can't justify the cost of a basic subscription just for 2 or 3 days (or even hours) a month, I guess my biggest question is: What's the problem with that? We get get (and keep) more happy customers, the community grows, and we all have fun. You're already paying to access the game. You're already paying to access some merchants (even if they don't require a ticket in the box office, they require a subscription). You're already paying to attend quests. You're already paying to attend certain festivals. If you're Premium, you're already paying for extra benefits, extra hunting areas, extra perks, and extra character slots. And none of that seems to be alarming. We're saying that the ideal situation is that for whatever you're paying now, you'll have the exact same game experience. If you want to pay more to go on a quest, great. If you want to pay more to have access to an exclusive merchant, awesome. If you want to pay more to have a bigger vault, wonderful. If you want certain Premium Perks but not others, then just pay for the ones you want. If you don't want to pay extra, you're under no obligation to do so, and you may eventually even have the option of not paying anything at all, but if you're playing for free, then you're going to get less than optimal results. And if you're OK with that, then welcome to Elanthia! I'm genuinely confused by where the line is between, "Ok, that's actually pretty cool and reasonable!" and "I'm quitting if you do that", especially if this plan were to result in more action, more fun, more players joining the community, and fewer leaving it (at least due to financial reasons).
This message was originally posted in Discussions with DragonRealms Staff and Player \ General Discussions, by SIMU-SOLOMON on the play.net forums.