Again, this is an them and us attitude. I am not and have never stated that you should get a free ride without putting anything into the game. All along I have been proposing ways to encourage people to deposit, ways in which they can build up, if they are not allowed the chance to do that what you are actually saying is you are happy for people to deposit small amounts which they can't do much with but which you can reap the benefits of.
I'm sorry Ice but to me it seems like there is an unwillingness to view things on an unbiased level, instead it comes across as "Oh they are noobs, they aren't important and all they want is a freeride".
Until the existing players realise that unless more "noobs" keep coming in the game is dead then there is nothing anyone can do to help. Like I have said before this game is not a closed system i.e. it needs outside resources(players and deposits) and for it to grow it needs to grow those outside resources. You keep discouraging new people then the game will shrivel up and die. This is an economic fact, so if you people really love the game then try having a bit of an open mind and thinking about the game not your personal wants, needs, biases.
This is not aimed at you Ice as at least you are making an effort at dialogue but you do have to lose the "every improvement is a free one costing me money" slant and look at will this benefit the game.
I was just pointing out to you that this is exactly what your idea was sounding like. Judging from the reaction of others, I'm not the only one who saw that it could be viewed in this manner. Believe it or not, I am trying to HELP your idea by trying to get you to explain it in more detail, so that this cannot be misinterpreted as another "please give me a free ride" thread. I, personally, am not looking at it with any "slant," but merely pointing out to you what your idea looked like. I gave you plenty of room to dispute this, and while it took you awhile to do so, you're getting there, and in a calm and civilized manner, too... so you get a big thumbs up from me.
I'm not trying to put you down or stifle your ideas, I'm trying to get you to divulge more information, and not just for myself, but for anyone else who comes across this thread, too, so they can see, and maybe even appreciate your ideas. Feel free to dispute
everything that I say, you're only helping yourself by doing so.
Was this your whole clarification as answer to Silvers question?
It was not much of an explanation and didn't clarify many of my questions. It was merely an attempt to prove it wasn't a "free ride" idea. Not very convincing, imo, I was looking for more than that, but he's opening up a little more on the subject, which is much appreciated.
ok... for the sake of argument and not being completely closed minded... here's what I think it might take to work...
- homesteads should involve a completely different game function than hunting or mining so as not to compete with land owners
- minimal new game systems introduced... perhaps fishing as it might be coming anyway. There's a crapload of residual expenses that mid level players who have already paid their fair share in the game have to pay.
- the system would have to be centered around items with 0 TT... like fruit or stones... no sucking actual ped from the loot pool
- The sytsem CANNOT be set up so that players intent on long term non depositing can milk it dry with little effort. perhaps new "colonists" could acesss a communal homestead free for the first three months, and then would have to buy one (or maybe even given one for depositing X amount). it also has to be set up so that functionally, a player would NEED to either deposit or spend earned ped to maintain it.
- a mechanism in place so that half the homesteads dont end up abandoned like the apartments in game or sucked up by speculators... perhaps a monthly "homesteading permit fee" that was manditory lest the homestead be reposessed.
Finally, profit potential from the system needs to be very minimal... the goal should be to create a new way to engage the game as a depositor at a low cost for those who genuinely don't have fun in the other professions, not to replace depositing or diminish the appeal of hunting, mining, or crafting.
I appologize if you proposed the idea with these considrations, I honestly thought you were simply looking for something that could be exploited by non depositors. and my response was somewhat hostile as such... if anything I said seems off-base, let me know as I'm trying to be constructive and genuinely understand your idea...
This is the type of answer I was looking for, Alpha. This explains what the idea is, opens it up for discussion and improvement/further idea building, and attempts to put people's minds at ease about what this idea refers to. And to the last sentence, you see, if you don't give details, people automatically assume. You can't blame them, really, as there has been a ton of actual begging that has gone on throughout the years. Depositors have actually, over the years, been bombarded and directly insulted by noobs wanting a free ride, and it was easy to see how people could and would think that this was going to turn into another one of those instances.
I like lilac's idea of incorporating fishing into this. Fishing seems to be something that a lot of people want to see implemented, ever since it was first discussed. I also like the idea of having this be a low-cost, limited time activity for noobs. To address the idea of space, or spreading people more thinly on their own pieces of property, make it for noobish players, and put all of the land in a concentrated area around PA.
My guess is you joined after vu10.
What you're suggesting sounds like our old 'beacon missions', an instance only available to teams.
I miss beacon missions
Those WERE exciting, when you had the right team together.
Yes Lilac that is pretty much how I saw it. Not as a toatl freebie but as something you would have to spend on to maintain. Thank you. We need MORE systems for getting these people involved enough to deposit. There has been some really useful input on this thread and some great ideas, which goes to show there is a lot of room for expansion.
I agree with Mastermesh the empty spaces should be "joined" up it would make more sense that dropping things here there and everywhere like they are.
I also agree that there are a LOT of fixes with existing things that need to be done, but there also needs to be some idea of where its heading. The feeling I'm seeing in the forums is that a lot has been promised, little has been delivered and a lot of people are becoming disillusioned. I can see things from MA/FPC's side, it costs to do everything and sometimes its hard to get things done within budgets. That's part of the reason for this thread, to show them that players could be of use in helping with ideas, concepts and that they should talk to us more.
Keep the discussion going
People forget, too, that FPC is only like a 12 man team or something like that. It takes awhile to develop things, and with VU10, everything had to be re-developed nearly from scratch. They're still working on getting in the old stuff while trying to bring in some new, refreshing stuff at the same time AND fixing bugs. That is a lot of work for such a small team of people, plus they have to do it within a budget, I'm sure. People become disillusioned rather quickly at times, as you have even seen from this thread, people make assumptions and have gut reactions to anything and everything. This is why explanations and open communication is a must, even if not everyone wants to hear what it is that you have to say... of course, not everyone is going to like what you have to say, no matter what you say.
In this one he lists several ideas for making the game more exciting and asks for more ideas. It was starting to get hijacked by people arguing over how land grabs should operate for a few posts, as a result of me mentioning land grabs being a way that people do have an opportunity to obtain land without actually "purchasing" it (though I know very well just how NOT free land grabs are) in response to one of his presented ideas. I kindly asked people to take that discussion to another thread, as it has been an ongoing argument for years and really needs its own thread.
