Micropayment planet

[THANATOS]

I would love to see a planet purchased that was virtually an exact copy of Calypso (same mobs, same weapons etc, etc..) that operated on a micro payment system.

Essentially taking what we have now, but making it WAAAAAY cheaper. It could be called Micro Calypso and have a $1 = 100 Ped exchange rate, making something like Goblin armour cost 30 cents instead of $3... Boar armour cost $35 instead of $350. Opallos costing noobs 2.8 Cents instead of 28 Cents and Mod Faps costing $3,000 instead of $30,000 (although thats still too expensive IMO!)

Obviously loots and ammo would work to the same system, only there value would have decreased to the same ratio as the costs. (and maybe reduce the ATH ratio a bit so there is more loot for all!)

The planet would have to stand alone with non-transferable weapons or cash due to the different economy. So no visiting Proper Calypso or Rocktropia again (not until Micro Rocktropia is launched anyway...)

Effectivly you end up with with exactly what you have now, but at a reasonable price (not sure why MA never thought of this!) and in turn, you should see a much higher player retention rate as people would actually be able to afford to play. (Higher player base means more money for MA so they can still cover costs and make profit etc - Thx Kalanen )

Not sure if proper Calypso would survive as a result though...


What you all think, should I buy a planet?

 

[kalanen]

That would mean micro salary for MA workers. Gotta ask them first, sec...

 

[THANATOS]

That would mean micro salary for MA workers. Gotta ask them first, sec...

Nah, as you end up with 10 times the players base so wages remain the same...

 

[Ludvig|MindArk]

well... then ya would still get as many % loot though

no, I think what really is the biggest problem (IMO ofc) is that the loot system is a bit unbalanced (lower ATH amount, increase average loot a tiny bit, equalize loot so ya get 90-110% rather than 50-150% returns... etc )

 

[Executor]

Deleted post.

 

[NightwolfAA2k5]

It could be interesting, but the only issue is that planet partners are pretty restricted in what they can actually do.

 

[Torlin]

You have already something like this when you are a newcommer in Entropia.
You buy cheap armor, use Opalo to kill little mob, got sometimes a +15 PED loot(woot!!) and use only a FAP-5 to heal you, but most of the time you shout in front of your screen "until the death baby!!!"

This is what you are asking for, playing cheap.

 

[Mikass]

The new tutorial island is a good example of such a system. Some planet partners might integrate such very cheap location with very low burn weapons and tools.

 

[JingyiDai]

I got an excellent idea for the PVP action on that planet,

you can do paper sissor rock, -> the looser have to press "T"

Lootable area will be the looser have to press "T" twice

 

[TimUnleashed]

I got an excellent idea for the PVP action on that planet,

you can do paper sissor rock, -> the looser have to press "T"

Lootable area will be the looser have to press "T" twice

ROFLMAO!

+rep for complete awesomeness

 

[Dollymaus]

You have already something like this when you are a newcommer in Entropia.
You buy cheap armor, use Opalo to kill little mob, got sometimes a +15 PED loot(woot!!) and use only a FAP-5 to heal you, but most of the time you shout in front of your screen "until the death baby!!!"

This is what you are asking for, playing cheap.

would be more fun with a cheap foreripper standing in the middle of a cheap dome and killing cheap aliens while healing with a cheap mod fap

 

[Mikass]

would be more fun with a cheap foreripper standing in the middle of a cheap dome and killing cheap aliens while healing with a cheap mod fap

and getting a cheap hof

 

[Dollymaus]

and getting a cheap hof

shure, but at least you see some cheap swirlies and you will not loose 1000 peds in one day

 

[G-rant]

Not to mention, everything would be a cheap ass copy because they couldn't pay their staff to develop anything further - enjoy the bugs

 

[Angel O2 Mercer]

I got an excellent idea for the PVP action on that planet,

you can do paper sissor rock, -> the looser have to press "T"

Lootable area will be the looser have to press "T" twice

Wow, just like in <insert the other game>, man that PvP was a joke...

EDIT: Retarded rule #3.7

 

[Torlin]

would be more fun with a cheap foreripper standing in the middle of a cheap dome and killing cheap aliens while healing with a cheap mod fap

I find it !!!

 

[Noggin]

I think this Micropayment system you propose is how EU should have been in the first place. I've always thought EU was much too expensive, even since I started in 2004.

I still think it's a little perverse how everyone through the chain from landowner to Planet Partner to MA makes so much profit along the process - for me it really shows up quite how expensive it is.

If you could really play EU (and I mean play - not scrimp and scrape) on $20-30 per month, it would be a much different game, and more popular I'm sure.

I guess half the problem with this is simply economies of scale. I know first hand how much it costs to host game servers, as this is something that comes out of my own pocket on a monthly basis. We're currently at a stage where hosting costs are reducing, hardware is becoming more power/cooling efficient, and broadband speeds, along with average PC spec is increasing, so I guess a micropayment system might well be feasible in the future, but I certainly wouldn't expect it to be feasible for a Planet Partner in EU for a good while yet, simply because of problems of scaling.

Excellent post though, I think this stuff needs to be said.

 

[Lavawalker]

no, I think what really is the biggest problem (IMO ofc) is that the loot system is a bit unbalanced (lower ATH amount, increase average loot a tiny bit, equalize loot so ya get 90-110% rather than 50-150% returns... etc )

Spot on, many would come back to play then

And stop the casino altogether

 

[Dustrial224]

I like the idea, but it simply would not work!

 

[Jennson]

While i personally think it would be nice to have a bit better balanced return, it would not work for items like ModFap, MM etc. The price of these items is made because ppl earn money with it. Either by using, or by raising expectations of usefullness to create a must buy reflex.
This causes, ppl are willing to pay the high price in MU, when demand is so high and availability limited. Even when the price ration would be 1:10, ppl would pay 3.5 Million instead 350k for ModFap in MU when they can earn the same amounts of $$ in your "micro" scenario

 

[THANATOS]

Not to mention, everything would be a cheap ass copy because they couldn't pay their staff to develop anything further - enjoy the bugs

Maybe read the first post fully - no income difference to MA... if anything it might go up as the micropayment system is more accepted by the masses - it you can play a game like this with Crysis graphics for pennies millions would play. At least IMO if millions paly shite like farmville i see no reason why Calypso wouldnt be a similar sucess when based on the same payment model...

 

[Einstein]

I think this Micropayment system you propose is how EU should have been in the first place. I've always thought EU was much too expensive, even since I started in 2004.

I still think it's a little perverse how everyone through the chain from landowner to Planet Partner to MA makes so much profit along the process - for me it really shows up quite how expensive it is.

If you could really play EU (and I mean play - not scrimp and scrape) on $20-30 per month, it would be a much different game, and more popular I'm sure.

I guess half the problem with this is simply economies of scale. I know first hand how much it costs to host game servers, as this is something that comes out of my own pocket on a monthly basis. We're currently at a stage where hosting costs are reducing, hardware is becoming more power/cooling efficient, and broadband speeds, along with average PC spec is increasing, so I guess a micropayment system might well be feasible in the future, but I certainly wouldn't expect it to be feasible for a Planet Partner in EU for a good while yet, simply because of problems of scaling.

Excellent post though, I think this stuff needs to be said.

Agreed.

I think the average price for a mid lvl player is 50-100$/month, wich is just too expensive to attract a big crowd of players.
Standard price for mmorpg is about 15-20$/month atm I think, so if you want to 'ask' more than that you really need to deliver superiour quality and experience and I really don't think EU is delivering that at the moment.

I think the new newbie environment is allready a good step in the first direction, but I was hoping FPC would extend this newbie area into the planet itself. That way they would actually create a complete new and lower layer in the game.

This is I think the only way to go, if they really want to attract a bigger crowd. Seriously start developping and expanding towards the lower skilled players. Make the mid level players of today the ubers of tomorow.