ANSWERED:Paid Perks

[Digital Decay]

Meh. Honestly, I'm not a fan of paid perks. Paying to win is just... no, and I also have some other points that bother me.

 

The issue I see with some ingame currency that can be obtained with either real money or by completing tasks: the latter is not really an equivalent for people who aren't able or willing to pay money for stuff. I like DC because I can spend as little or as much time on it as I want, depending on how much time I have. I don't have the money to pay for perks, and being a busy university student with several hobbies, I also don't want to spend three hours a day just grinding ingame money or similar things so I can keep up with the premium guys.

 

Now, I don't mind the fact that I am not exactly drowning in CB metallics, because they are theoretically there, I just am not around enough to catch them all. That's a direct causality there, no questions asked. But I'd seriously start to feel like a second-class player if a game I play gets game-relevant updates I cannot use, because they basically would *require* me to be around a certain amount of time. That's why I don't play MMORPGS after all, because I don't like to have my daily schedule predetermined by my interests. And it'd be sad to see DC go the same way.

 

The only thing I wouldn't mind are things that don't affect ingame mechanics, like... custom scroll themes maybe, or name changes.

 

 

[DragonNighthowler]

Look, I'm not in favor of adding paid perks, and deffinitely I'm against adding paid perks that can only be accessed through payment. That said, if we look at the chronology of DC, adding in game currency was a big NO-NO years ago. Then it became a "well... maybe yes, but with limitations". In recent times it's been more of a "yes, please, want it". That should tell us something.

 

In most games, sufficient playing will earn you what you want. If you reach level 80 in Skyrim you'll start seeing daedric and dragon weapons and armor being dropped as loot, and if you work your way through the smithing perk tree and kill a few dragons, find a daedra and steal their heart, and so on, you can forge this weapons and armor yourself.

 

This is not what's going on in DC. People who have been playing for years, and yet there are those ellusive ones that keep slipping through your fingers. Logically, some of these people, when given the chance to finally get that CB gold, they'll take it, out of sheer annoyance. You really should see me trying to hunt, each time I hit F5 it takes about 20 seconds to load. That doesn't really boost up my chances, and my only choice is to free space in a Biome in hopes the CB gold will appear and nobody else will be looking at that moment. No such luck.

 

I wouldn't say no to having the chance of finally being able to get it, even if I have to pay. Obviously, I don't swim in the dollar, if the CB gold is 600 euros, I can't pay. If it is 30... probably not paying, too much for a pixel dragon. If it is 5 bucks, yeah, that's about the money I spend on useless drinks a week, don't mind not having that for a week. That said, I can have the chance to spend this money, but the dragon MUST be available in cave so others can choose to hunt it.

 

Maybe, to keep from people abusing it, such as buying 20 CB golds to use as trade fodder, these dragons will be untradeable, like the GoNs. They can only stay in your scroll. Maybe even add a limit to how many CB metallics you can get a year. The possibilities are endless.

 

As for the debate of whether people would pay for certain perks, like a change in scroll name and so on... really, I wouldn't. It's not something I really need or want. I'm fine with my scroll name, and while I'd love the folder ideas to keep everything sorted out, I've been doing fine, so I woudn't pay for that either, or a badge.

 

In my case it's not about greed. It's not about not having fun. I'm a breeder, I mostly gift the offspring from my rares. I already have the gold sprite and the only reason I want the CB gold (2) is so I can continue gifting.

[DarkEternity]

I know on some games you can custom theme the CSS of pages and things of your scroll that everyone could see. Maybe that could apply to scrolls for a price which is quite cool especially because Google hosts fonts which you could embed or it could have CSS transitions and animations. For example you could change the font and stuff and rearrange it into panels or something or have pages like wishlists and a message system or ingame trading system finally.

 

Or maybe you could have a notepad to write on your scroll things like 'I am trading, contact me on the forums as this or my breeding slots are open'

 

And maybe the HTML too so I could theme it and give it a nice repeating background or something of TARDIS blue

 

Edited August 2, 2015 by DarkEternity

[Fiona]

Um, if a scroll message system or in-game trading were to happen I can't see that being a paid only perk. That would really have to be for everyone. It doesn't make sense to add it otherwise.

 

A lot of people seem to be focusing here on worst case scenarios and obsessing over them like they're likely to happen. I don't believe TJ would ever make changes that made the game unfair.

 

The store idea that was being discussed in another thread was tossing around several ideas for what would be available. There were a lot of people who liked the idea of being able to buy any dragon because they're frustrated trying to hunt for them. If TJ were to implement such a store, plus make a way for people to buy in-game currency with real money, the limits that would be needed to make the store work well without inhibiting hunting would still be needed. Things like anything you buy is locked to your scroll. Thing like the price of prizes make that the only thing you could afford for a whole year. Things like a weekly or daily cap on how much currency you could earn. That cap would have to apply to purchased currency too, I believe.

 

There are ways that paid perks could be added to game play that wouldn't ruin the game. I'm personally more in favor of paid perks not being something that would directly impact the game. natayah had a whole list of ideas earlier.

 

 

For those of you panicking and wondering why TJ is suddenly interested in our take on this idea, the whole thing was started by another player, so keep your shirts on. TJ started this game as a hobby but he always has and continues to run it very sensibly. I don't think he cares at all about making money off it. He just wanted to know why the reaction from the other thread was as it was.

Edited August 2, 2015 by Fiona BlueFire

[jumpsnake]

I am not against the option for paying for things that do not affect game play, such as name changes, skins, etc.

Paying for a small piece of art or some such would also be of potential interest to me.

 

I would not be in favor of paying for dragons of any kind, or for shortening cool down or growing times. Needing patience is one of the things I really like about this game.

 

 

[Stormcaller]

Let me start by saying that, while I don't mind seeing merchandise or art for sale, I am totally against any changes that would effect game play in any way. This has been a lovely, slow moving, friendly game for so many years now and it would be such a shame to do anything that would change that. Adding money to the mix could not help but have that result.

 

This game has grown up to be highly successful in exactly the format it is in now with everyone being equal and having the same opportunities to develop their dragon collections as everyone else does. The virtues here are persistence, the amount of time spent here and the number of "clicks" made in the cave and AP, not to mention just a tad bit of good luck thrown in. Anyone can do this and build a really great collection on their scrolls. The key word here is "great" and that is all relative to what one's own scroll goals are. Just like in RL, not everyone can have everything, but if you do your best, you will be happy with what you have.

 

The proof of this is the number of loyal players who show up whenever there is a new release or a special event. They come and they click, click, click. The advertising people must smile and the income rolls in. (At least I think it works like that.) People are filling out their encyclopedias and that's more clicking. The crazy amount of breeding that some members do just to overwhelm the AP is another thing that causes the number of clicks to go through the roof as members try to wade through the trash in search of the elusive perfect egg they seek. Surely, this must bring in nice income or TJ wouldn't charge $5 a month for a member to remove the ads.

 

That being said, I think that if TJ gets greedy and wants to pocket a few dollars here, a few dollars there, for in game "perks," he will wish he hadn't, in the long run. That big and loyal fan base can quickly erode when the rules change. He may find himself with a smaller group who pays to play, but lose the big membership who paid for free. Now, think of DC as an investment. If sometime in the future, TJ wants to sell the game to site developers who want to make big money off it, which do you think will get him the better deal?

 

Frankly, as much as I hate to say it, if TJ needs the money, I'd rather see a few more ads on the site than have him to anything to raise money that would involve changing the game play in any way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Gealach]

I'm totally against paid perks. No. Just no.

[Tawanda001]

 

Editing to clarify... Maybe I wouldn't get some of the perks directly but I'm persuaded that TJ would  use part of the additional revenue for improvements benefiting everybody.

That's one view of what he said, but that is definitely not how I look at the points he brought up

Generally in pay to play the majority (perhaps the only) really worthwhile improvements or advantages go only to the people who have paid for them.

 

Again, if it were just about improving the site as a whole there are other ways to raise money for that that would seem to be more effective, and appeal to a broader spectrum of the player base.

Edited August 2, 2015 by Tawanda001

[danicast]

Again, if it were just about improving the site as a whole there are other ways to raise money for that that would seem to be more effective, and appeal to a broader spectrum of the player base.

Give one example of more effective way to raise money that are not with pay perks. Just one.

[Stormcaller]

Frankly, as much as I hate to say it, if TJ needs the money, I'd rather see a few more ads on the site than have him to anything to raise money that would involve changing the game play in any way.

What I just said.

[danicast]

What I just said.

That's your answer?

Oh well, I don't know who really see adds in these days in the internet. The firewall on our home server blocks all adds and all scripts for years so I never even see if a site have adds - because I never see them. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one. As far as I know the add blocks are becoming more and more common.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/20...is-on-the-rise/

[DragonNighthowler]

I really don't understand this whole "changing the gameplay" when concerning dragon sales. Some would buy them, which is no different than trading them. Instead of paying with a pink, I'm paying in euros, but the principle is exactly the same. Others will keep on hunting.

 

If we actually scroll-block these dragons, people willing to use them as trade fodder will have to keep on hunting. Those who just want our dragon to have in our scroll would just have it. And that would also mean less pressure over the CB golds as less people would be looking for them. I know I wouldn't, not like I'm actively hunting for them as of late anyways.

 

So I'm not sure how this is going to change the gameplay at all.

 

Also, the site keeps evolving. A load of changes HAVE changed the gameplay, and , IMO, not for the best in some cases. I know change is always viewed with resistance, such is the human nature, but it happened before. Teleport changed the way trades worked. The prize dragons changed the value of a lot of dragons. Monthly releases. Biomes. Etc, all these changes have affected the site. It's not the same site I saw when I first joined in 2009. Could be a good thing, or a bad thing, but not because it is change does it mean it is neccesarily bad.

[Stormcaller]

That's your answer?

Oh well, I don't know who really see adds in these days in the internet. The firewall on our home server blocks all adds and all scripts for years so I never even see if a site have adds - because I never see them. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one. As far as I know the add blocks are becoming more and more common.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/20...is-on-the-rise/

Yes, that's my answer.

 

Whether or not you look at ads is not the point. The point is that there are people who will pay good money to place their advertising where their potential customers go. You might not look at them, but there are many others who will.

[danicast]

I really don't understand this whole "changing the gameplay" when concerning dragon sales. Some would buy them, which is no different than trading them. Instead of paying with a pink, I'm paying in euros, but the principle is exactly the same. Others will keep on hunting.

 

If we actually scroll-block these dragons, people willing to use them as trade fodder will have to keep on hunting. Those who just want our dragon to have in our scroll would just have it. And that would also mean less pressure over the CB golds as less people would be looking for them. I know I wouldn't, not like I'm actively hunting for them as of late anyways.

 

So I'm not sure how this is going to change the gameplay at all.

 

Also, the site keeps evolving. A load of changes HAVE changed the gameplay, and , IMO, not for the best in some cases. I know change is always viewed with resistance, such is the human nature, but it happened before. Teleport changed the way trades worked. The prize dragons changed the value of a lot of dragons. Monthly releases. Biomes. Etc, all these changes have affected the site. It's not the same site I saw when I first joined in 2009. Could be a good thing, or a bad thing, but not because it is change does it mean it is neccesarily bad.

I fully agreed.

Also it's necessary to keep evolving to keep the site and the game alive. When you just take a quick look in the suggestion area you see that a lot of the players are unhappy with the game and are asking for improvements. I think it's a huge problem to have some suggestions resting there for more than 5 years without being addressed. I always wondered why TJ never addressed any of these suggestions and my guess is because he have no time. So it makes sense that he needs more money to address all problems - he can address himself or hire someone (or more than one person) to work with him. I'm sure the players would like to see some of the suggestions implemented any day.

 

You know, I joined the site because in an anime forum where I go since 2008 there was a group of people who play DC. When I joined they were all very active players - more than 100 people. But with time they were abandoning the game because nothing really new happened on the game except for the new dragons release. I saw more than one person complain that scroll goals are useless since only very few people who have the luck to live in countries that have really fast connection can hunt rare dragons. In our group there was only 5 or 6 persons who have such connections. Today only about 10 people from the original group are still playing.

 

DC desperately needs improvement.

[Fuzzbucket]

I really don't understand this whole "changing the gameplay" when concerning dragon sales. Some would buy them, which is no different than trading them. Instead of paying with a pink, I'm paying in euros, but the principle is exactly the same. Others will keep on hunting.

 

If we actually scroll-block these dragons, people willing to use them as trade fodder will have to keep on hunting. Those who just want our dragon to have in our scroll would just have it. And that would also mean less pressure over the CB golds as less people would be looking for them. I know I wouldn't, not like I'm actively hunting for them as of late anyways.

 

So I'm not sure how this is going to change the gameplay at all.

 

Also, the site keeps evolving. A load of changes HAVE changed the gameplay, and , IMO, not for the best in some cases. I know change is always viewed with resistance, such is the human nature, but it happened before. Teleport changed the way trades worked. The prize dragons changed the value of a lot of dragons. Monthly releases. Biomes. Etc, all these changes have affected the site. It's not the same site I saw when I first joined in 2009. Could be a good thing, or a bad thing, but not because it is change does it mean it is neccesarily bad.

But all those things were available to every player on an equal basis.

 

Frankly, as much as I hate to say it, if TJ needs the money, I'd rather see a few more ads on the site than have him to anything to raise money that would involve changing the game play in any way.

He has already said that he doesn't. So....

[SullenCat]

Yes, that's my answer.

 

Whether or not you look at ads is not the point. The point is that there are people who will pay good money to place their advertising where their potential customers go. You might not look at them, but there are many others who will.

Maybe you should read the article referenced by danicast. What it clearly says is that the site owners are losing money because of the ad blockers.

 

And would be useful to read this one as well:

http://www.destructoid.com/half-of-destruc...t--247904.phtml

 

This is going off-topic but I'm thinking of creating a suggestion to not allow access to DC to people using ad-blockers instead of a subscription.

Edited August 2, 2015 by SullenCat

[Bigbite]

Just wondering, what would be the fair price for a CB Gold? Pyrol from the alpine? For those that want this, what would you be willing to pay?

Edited August 2, 2015 by bigbite100

[danicast]

Just wondering, what would be the fair price for a CB Gold? Pyrol from the alpine? For those that want this, what would you be willing to pay?

I would happily pay 5 USD for rare CB dragons. I would accept to pay 10 USD for a CB shimmer.

[blockEdragon]

Just wondering, what would be the fair price for a CB Gold? Pyrol from the alpine? For those that want this, what would you be willing to pay?

for pixles if i HAD to like 3 bucks TOPS

[SullenCat]

Just wondering, what would be the fair price for a CB Gold? Pyrol from the alpine? For those that want this, what would you be willing to pay?

Personally, I would not pay for anything that is possible to catch in the AP but I've no problem understanding why others would. I would prefer to pay to access a paying-only area, for example another biome.

If the store suggestion (that remains my favorite) was to be implemented I would, eventually, pay for CB Hollies, CB Prizes and other CBs that used to be achievable via raffle in the HM category. Maybe $5 each if I didn't had the time to earn enough enough "credits" with activity or minigames or ...

[lightningsky]

Wouldn't a person who buys a Special Dragon be on the same level as a person who won a Prize Dragon?

The only difference is luck vs money. There are already have and have nots, between CB Prizes and CB holidays, so what if there was a Buy-Only Special Dragon, it would just be the same drama we've seen for years.

 

I don't get that people make such a fuss over what other people have in this game - that they don't - and that ruins their game for them?

 

Pretty sure these Spechul Dragons would be able to breed, anyways, allowing people to own the sprite in one form or another.

 

Sure the raffle is fair since we can all technically participate - but there are always only a handful of the lucky, and the raffle is only once a year. I think if people had the chance to own something so damn special, and could afford it, they'd like to have a special dragon of their own too. Just because some people are privileged with money, doesn't mean that everyone else has a right to hate them for it. Idk, to me, that's unfair.

 

Cosmetic changes sound great. Decorative scrolls - omg yes pls.

Personally though I'd be happy for a paid Scroll Name change.

 

Though yah, on the other hand, people can fight that scroll name changes should be free.

I'm for paid perks if TJ would like to implement them, but I'm not dying for them. I'm just trying to say that it wouldn't affect nor bother me if they were there.

 

edit cuz i like to use quotes for no reason lol

Edited August 2, 2015 by lightningsky

[Bigbite]

I still believe if every DC member donated 1 USD or 1 Euro, paid perks would not even have to be discussed. I think even a 12 yr. old can afford that.

[Stormcaller]

This is going off-topic but I'm thinking of creating a suggestion to not allow access to DC to people using ad-blockers instead of a subscription.

Yes, that's a good idea, SullenCat.

 

~Removed~

Edited August 2, 2015 by SockPuppet Strangler

[Jazeki]

Just wondering, what would be the fair price  for a CB Gold? Pyrol from the alpine? For those that want this, what would you be willing to pay?

I buy special pets on Chicken Smoothie using their money. If you spend five dollars, you can get 80 dollars. They offer special "store" pets each month or few months, which you can buy for 20 dollars for one pet or 70 dollars for the whole set of four pets, which sometimes includes a bonus pet. And still have ten Chicken Smoothie dollars left over. So, that's something like one real dollar per pet.

 

I would be willing to pay one real dollar for a rare that I do not have.

 

Chicken Smoothie dollars are also tradeable within the site, so you do not have to buy them if you do not want to. I would much prefer using a currency that could be bought or alternatively earned through play and be able to be circulated through the site, so those who do not have money can still access it.

 

Right now, If there was a possibility to buy rares or other things from a store, I think there should either be a limit to how many the person can buy or their dragons get locked to their account. But, on many games I play, people can wishlist or trade for things that others have actually bought. For example, Subeta has special cash that you can buy with money to use on certain items or pets or other things that cannot be gotten through the rest of the site while playing. It also has an in-game currency that can be earned through regular play. Lots of users buy the special items with cash and then put them for sale for a certain amount of in-game currency. So, I would not mind if dragons or perks did not stay locked to user accounts if the trading and currency became more integrated to the DC site as a whole.

 

 

EDIT: The "using ablocker=not donating or paying" argument is invalid. I used to buy a yearly subscription to turn off ads and still used an adblocker out of habit. Other people have said that they have donated in lieu of having to use adblockers. It's no one's business to call out other people's finances to try and make an argument as to why a game should be free or not free or accessible to everyone.

Edited August 2, 2015 by Jazeki

[danicast]

Yes, that's a good idea, SullenCat. 

 

Interesting, isn't it, that danicast would "happily pay 5 USD for rare CB dragons" and "would accept to pay 10 USD for a CB shimmer."  While he admits to using an ad blocker, I don't see him offering to pay TJ the $5 a month that that privilege costs on DC. 

I have a good answer to that. I have no intention to pay to any site to remove adds. It's not a service and it's not a goodie and ads are am outdated model of monetize any site, anyway, read the article that I linked about it.

I will only pay for a service or a goodie. A dragon is a goodie, so yes, I will pay for a dragon.

 

Read this too:

http://www.networkworld.com/article/217693...eport-says.html

Edited August 2, 2015 by danicast