I thought this would be something worth discussing, partially because it seems to be one of those things that keeps coming back, and because it's something that may be hard to understand, hard to articulate, hard to explain, and maybe something we don't know entirely. These topics come up again and again, and they're usually polarized issues. I would like to ask though that you explain your points calmly and openly. We can argue, but we don't need to get angry at one another for our thoughts.

Today I'll talk about three things: new content, paying players versus free players, and beggars.

New content:
I know we all want new content for this game, but I always keep pondering to myself what new content can they make and how will it be made? What do the players want? Sometimes when we are given new content I think we have people who aren't satisfied about how big the new content is, or what direction it takes the game. I will say that I think this is a hard game to develop new content for because 1: it is very simplistic, and 2: it is level-based instead of world-based.

Both of these issues are grounded in how the game has been made, and I will say from the closed beta until today the game still very much plays and looks the same to what it has been. You get new quirks added in, but what you do when you approach the game, and how you go through the game has always been pretty much the same. You go down into a level, you beat stuff up, and you progress. It's a rather simple, but simple games can be good.

Some of the best games have been games with very little flair to it; pacman, tetris, even games like minecraft today have proven that a game can hold a lot of entertainment value and not have to change much or have anything new. Perhaps something about the online model changes people's expectations, though there have been plenty of times that I've seen online games have very little to offer and don't offer much update at all.

Before I go off on a tangent I'll say this: I just wonder what can you add that would satisfy the players? Are they looking for harder content? Are they looking for puzzle-like innovations (like in dungeons)? Do they want an entirely new experience? What can you do with a system that has you just run into a level and beat up things? The level system does make the world feel disjointed, but I do think it's the best system to accommodate a game that was selling itself on being an action party game. I don't know if they every promised players or gave them the impression that this game was gonna be big and the updates ground-breaking, especially since Three Rings has been a maker of small and simplistic games.

I mean, if you check their other featured products you can see Whirled is like their flash-based second-life, Puzzle Pirates is their little puzzling MMO, and I haven't seen much of the Dr Who game but I have a feeling it's following that same model as well. They also made a bunch of little flash games as well. They make fun and unique games that are simplistic at its core, but they also offer a lot to other developers in terms of resources and share a lot of open-source materials. I'm not sure if they intended for Spiral Knights to be this big, or for it to be a huge ground-breaking game. I think for the most part OOO was a maker of fun, casual games, and I think Spiral Knights is their first that's not like that, and they're trying to make it better, but I don't know how much they could change what is essentially a “little” game to really make it something to attract the players who have had too much of it and got tired of it.

I'm not saying we should lower our expectations for Spiral Knights or Three Rings. I also don't think we should assume that this game will never change. But I think that it's pretty much the way it was when it was established, the system is pretty fun but it's easy to get too much of it and be bored later. I am content to know that they are going to work on the story-line which so far seemed pretty invisible and a side-thought. They could add more levels and dungeons, but it seems people start getting a burnout for that new content as well. The dungeons are pretty fun and interesting, but it boils down to being “ooo, shiney” when it's new, and then people return to complaining that there isn't much new content. I just don't know what they could do to remedy that.

F2P vs P2P
Players seem to be a little mad at one another at times, because paying players get a faster, easier playing experience but freepers are seen as leeches to the system. The thing is the game needs both payers and freepers to survive. Without enough freepers this would be a very lonely and boring MMO and this game does in fact depend on some social and party player. Payers are needed to keep the game financially stable, and the crowns to energy exchange stable.

Even if some content has a paywall, you can get most out of what the game is in tier 1 and tier 2, which thanks to the new mission system, new players have a guiding hand to getting this content without having to pay, and they get to experience a majority of the game without paying. I do think the current mission system was more made for the freepers and the new players who feel lost and stuck because they have to play a week and let things recharge just to get to the average level of difficulty. I do think this helps streamline the progression to get you started into the main part of the game.

I've seen other MMOs that are free to play but wouldn't let you go to certain towns, levels, or missions without paying so that there were certain areas left inaccessible. They would do the same for races, and some weapons and armor, but in this game you can get most all of the main content for free barring the fact that it takes a long time. People are saying the new mission expansions violate the free-to-play model and are at least ideologically opposed to it when it's apparent that you can already get most all of the game experience without paying. It does suck that freepers have to deal with this, but I don't think it's something that makes the game corrupt, the company arrogant, or the free players undervalued.

We know people will buy lots of energy and buy the promotions, but overall, we don't know exactly how much money goes into the game and how much goes out due to expenses. We don't know how much Sega financially supports Three Rings, or if Three Rings is required to have a certain profit margin for Sega. We can call them greedy but we don't know their financial situation, and we seem to selectively ignore that the developers actually communicate with us quite a bit, as well as their other staff.

There hasn't been any other game I played where you could openly chat with the CEO (though he isn't on whirled that much anymore), their game masters, their developers, or have their marketing reps interview you on skype. They also communicate with us on things they don't need to, like commenting on Bechemal's gender, or saying things in the art threads, or discussing issues with players. Even if you think they may not be listening to you it doesn't hurt to talk to them and tell your concerns. It may not change anything in your favor, but they do listen and they do care.

Anyways, to get back on topic, even if it feels like you're getting crapped on by the company keep in mind they want to make a good gaming experience for everyone. The paywalls here and there may seem intrusive but they shouldn't detract from the entire game, or turn the paying players against the free players. I think overall we should realize we're here for the same reasons to play and enjoy the game, and people shouldn't be shamed or ridiculed for supporting a company they like.

Beggars
Now I can say that unanimously most people are against beggars and begging and I am too. I've become particularly concerned because the prevalence of beggars has hindered the ability for others to become helpful. I think it's okay to ask for help from other players when getting into this game. It's really daunting on new players to think about everything they have to get to move forward.

But there's a huge difference between trying to get help, and begging. What I've seen from beggars is a lack of empathy. They don't understand there's no such thing as a free lunch; when they beg they are expecting others who may be just as needy to make sacrifices for them. They don't care if you have money issues or crowns issues, if they can they'll bleed you dry and move on to the next target.

I thought I would help with a guild centered around helping new people. I made a “vault” to put away materials so that the common materials in the higher tiers that I wouldn't have issue giving could help a newer player. But as soon as it was discussed I kept getting very demanding and very nagging PMs demanding all the materials for the purposes of vending. I was saying these were for crafting and for quests but it was so overwhelming how much this guy was messaging me over it especially when I told him I was busy and had to go and they were not for that purpose. I do remember before the AH was out I would also give out materials people -needed- for their crafting that I did not, but I still had players coming just demanding the whole inventory and it was clear that they were trying to drain.

This is very disrespectful but it's also very shaming how it works out. You can't reach out a hand to help someone new who might just need something as mundane as two brimstone without getting a bunch of piranhas swarming you for everything you got. I used to love helping and getting people set up with what they got in small amounts, but now you have people just bumming around, begging for exorbitant amounts of crowns and CE, and if you give them just the tiniest bit you can spare they don't even thank you and run off to the next target.

It doesn't help that I know someone IRL like this. My brother. Sometimes he doesn't even come to visit me unless he thinks I can give him a dollar and then he's off again. Not even a hello, or “Hey sis, how's it been?” No. It's just “Hey I really need a dollar right now!” and then bam, he's out of there. He's like that with his mom too, and doesn't understand the value of money at all which is why he can steal from his mom, his brother, our cousins, and even me, without understanding that that money puts a roof over his head and food in his belly. The way beggars act, they don't really understand the sacrifices other players have made, how much this stuff given to them is really worth, and why they should be extremely grateful for even the small amounts. This stuff doesn't just suddenly magic up; something's gotta give, and it's not fair to expect the rest of the playerbase to put you through the game.