Hello.
I'm french,and there are no french forum for suggestions.
I read a test who says the Energy shop imbalance the economy.
I suggest a subscription system who JUST allow a free acces at dongeon and don't dispense of energy cost for craft and special door.
Is it a good idea?
P.S forgive me for my very bad ortography.
A subscription system for spiral knight
Tue, 05/03/2011 - 03:50
Tue, 05/03/2011 - 12:11
#2
If the price is right
I disagree with SirNiko. A monthly cash fee for an "elevator pass" that allows unlimited use of elevators would not break the game economy if it were priced appropriately. You have to figure that people who would buy the subscription would buy CE to use anyway, not buy or sell on the exchange, so it wouldn't influence the exchange much to offer a different payment plan for folks who want to pay anyway.
Obviously, it can be made too cheap ($1) or too expensive ($100), but set it near the value of the energy that the average player spends on elevators and it won't harm anything. I think $10 per month for unlimited elevators is about right. That means to get your money's worth versus simply buying CE you'd have to run about 3 full tiers per day. $10 per month is good for a more than casual level of play and also on par with the cost of other subscription-based MMOs.
Tue, 05/03/2011 - 12:21
#3
Disagree with your Disagreement :)
But if a reasonable chunk of players were buying this pass instead of CE then the availability of CE in the market would drop precipitously since the only way CE enters the market is through irl money purchases. That would place supply much lower than demand and make CR prices rise. You could argue that people buying passes means means less energy AND less people buying CE with CR but the people who buy CE with CR tend to be unpaid players who aren't going to buy a pass or CE with irl money.
Tue, 05/03/2011 - 13:43
#4
Two wrongs
Your argument is based on two false assumptions.
The first false assumption is that all CE purchased is available to the market. This is not true. Many players buy CE with the intent of using it for their own play and will never sell it for crowns. The CE they purchase will be used by them for their own elevators and crafting. It is this energy - the allotment purchased for personal use - that would be replaced by the elevator pass and that won't change the market at all. The energy purchased to obtain crowns will still be purchased and used for that purpose because the elevator pass does not give crowns. (I know you can win crowns, but you can do that now by paying for elevators and playing the levels. Still some players want more crowns and want them faster than they can get by playing, so they sell CE for crowns even though they could earn more using the same amount of CE on elevators. Thus purchases for crowns will not be affected by an elevator pass.)
The second false assumption is your implication that the developers should care more about the CE on the market (i.e. the ease of free play) than about the amount of revenue the game has in real world currency ($). If there are more desirable payment options introduced, more people will pay, increasing revenues. If it's less convenient to freeload, more freeloaders might pay, also increasing revenues. It is much more important to encourage people to pay than it is to facilitate free play. A monthly recurring payment is a great revenue stream if many players take advantage of that option.
Wed, 05/04/2011 - 09:49
#5
Fair enough
I guess I can see this working BUT the cost of such a pass would definitely need to be fine tuned.
Wed, 05/04/2011 - 20:48
#6
This suggestion is only going
This suggestion is only going to be implemented if FREE players say they will start paying because of it.
I'm a free player and if CE prices rise because of this, I'd rather quit than pay.
Thu, 05/05/2011 - 04:21
#7
Can I just say that the Devs
Can I just say that the Devs probably DO care about the amount free players playing. I assume the majority buy CE from the exchange at some point. If the free-player base were to drop off significantly, there would inevitably be less players buying CE from the exchange. That probably means that paying players are less likely to buy CE for the purpose of selling it on the exchange, hence reducing the income for 3 Rings.
I know you said that these players could just go into to the clockworks and get their money's worth in crowns, but obviously this doesn't happen as people still sell CE on the exchange (although this might change if less people were actually buying CE from the exchange, so I'm not sure how much this would affect 3 Ring's income).
+ Free players can advertise to their friends who might be willing to pay.
Thu, 05/05/2011 - 07:35
#8
Passes shouldn't hurt free play
Developers care about free players, sure. If they didn't, the game wouldn't include an energy exchange. You're right that there need to be people buying from the exchange in order for those paying customers who want to buy crowns to have someone to sell their CE to. You're also correct when you say that word-of-mouth advertising brings people into the game, and satisfied free players help that along. However, in terms of priorities, actual profits are more important than swelling the number of free players. I don't think the elevator pass idea would hurt either goal, though.
An elevator pass shouldn't have a large effect on the exchange rate. Someone who buys an elevator pass would likely be a more-than-casual player who wants to run a lot of dungeons. They may now buy CE with cash, or they may now freeload. Any freeloading player who buys an elevator pass will generally take some upward pressure off the market. Also, the paying players who want crowns immediately will still have to buy CE to sell for crowns. The elevator pass would allow one to play all he wants and potentially win a lot of crowns. That takes time, though, and the players who sell CE for crowns generally don't want to spend that time or don't have that time to spend. An elevator pass won't magically give those players more time to play. As I said before, it's already a better bang for your buck (in terms of crowns/CE) to use CE for elevators rather than selling directly for crowns, yet many sell directly. An elevator pass option won't change their motivation.
Free access to the dungeons would allow players to generate a tremendous amount of crowns and heat per day, limited only by their ability to stay awake and keep playing. The current energy system pushes players to choose how to use their limited resources most effectively.
A subscription system would totally destroy the economy for the game.
I would like to see some content for the game that can be accessed without energy, but that content should not generate crowns or materials or heat. That preserves the economic value of energy while granting players something to do.