ANSWERED:Paid Perks

[Tehya Faye]

No premium exclusive breeds please. I want to stay as far, far away from the trading board as possible. Introducing premium breeds would force me into it, or force me out of the game entirely. xP

[CNR4806]

I think you will find that there are a lot of them playing this game because it is, not only free, but a game of quality. It's fun, slow paced, and you can even count on the forum being a clean and wholesome place to pass the time. If any of this were changed, DC would be priced out of their range.

 

Even if things are offered for sale that are optional, but still a part of game play, the game would have been changed. More does not necessarily mean better. It's a level playing field here now and if that changes, then it's not going to be good old DC any more.

I think this strikes the main problem with the whole notion of introducing microtransaction (yes, it's what paid gameplay perks really are) to the game.

 

One of the biggest selling point of this game is that it is genuinely free. Introducing microtransaction, regardless of intention and implementation, is going to taint this reputation at best and wreck it completely at worst.

[HeatherMarie]

Having thinking a bit more about the subject and reading other suggestions, here are examples of what I would be willing to pay for:

- Annual membership to grant access to additional biomes with different breeds from the ones found in the actual biome.

- Extra slot.

- Package of points to be used for things like faster incubation, hatchling incubation, gender change, unfreezing hatchie, reviving etc.

- Purchase of special dragons like CB Prizes or previous HM (holidays etc.) . Those CBs could be untradeable, unlike their offspring.

 

I would not be interested on pens, backgrounds or anything else not directly related to the game.

Biomes that have dragons *only* accessible through that Paid Biome? Omg I would leave. I would leave so freaking fast. And who cares if I leave, right? No one. But that right there would *completely* rewrite what the heck this game IS. A special, members-only biome for rich people is NOT a game I want to be playing, and I know I'm not the only one.

[Thuban]

Paid things I could be really ok with:

*Gender change on adult dragons. Almost everyone has a dragon they wish had been a different gender. Exclude holidays and single/no gender breeds.

 

*Scroll name changing: However, there should be a free option that can be used once ever. Any more frequently than that, however should be paid feature. The risk here is not being able to go back to an old name, in the event someone has already taken it.

 

*Fertility scrolls: For multi clutch, or to encourage one breed being bred over another. Should be multiple options, to allow for different play styles.

 

*Alternate biomes: However, no breeds that may only be caught in those biomes. Having a grasslands specific biome, for example could pull breeds from multiple biomes that are more suited to grasslands into one location. Metals probably shouldnt drop there, to keep things fair (as they seem to be the only official rares, they should only drop where everyone has access...).

 

*Lures: Items that based on the encyclopedia and breed info, could be more prone to attracting those types of breeds while you hunt. This idea however would rely on having single player biomes, which were mentioned in another suggestion somewhere. They could make it so that x breeds that are attracted to that type of food would be more likely to show up, similar to the v-day cave building event. They would be far more likely to attract blockers, than anything else.

 

*Longer descriptions: Buy a journal, to keep track of a specific dragons exploits. However, descriptions in general need an overhaul in how they get handled, before this one is even feasible. This could put a small clickable image below the on site description, where more information could be stored. Would have to be report-able, but otherwise, I can see people getting a kick out of it.

 

*Time scrolls: Scrolls that can give or take a day from hatchlings, that were not targeted by incubate. Sometimes, you just really want to target a hatchling... (the limit of incubate is because I recall it being made clear at one point that things could not have more than one day removed from them, however, without a quote, its not big deal to me.. I'm avoiding serious advantages..).

 

Edit: One more...

 

Bulk teleport scrolls. For those times you really need to move more than 4 things at once.

Edited August 3, 2015 by Thuban

[Marrionetta]

I know I mentioned Chicken Smoothie's in game currency earlier and how it's ubiquitous and useful - but a purchase currency that could be used as an intermediary object for trading would be great - it would ease the stress of IOU trading because a lot of deals are asynchronous - eggs have a lifespan, after all.

 

I would probably shell out a small amount of money for a pay currency every once in a while, especially if it could be traded freely and redeemed for things like consumable boost items - a flash hatch, a sure-fire fertilize, a temporary egg slot. Casual games often offer little perks that make your life easier, but don't severely disadvantage players that don't pay.

 

This could be a really, really good thing, guys.

 

Also as an artist, having an excuse to sprite items for something other than a temporary holiday event would be cool. Gives me something to do.

[SullenCat]

I know I mentioned Chicken Smoothie's in game currency earlier and how it's ubiquitous and useful - but a purchase currency that could be used as an intermediary object for trading would be great - it would ease the stress of IOU trading because a lot of deals are asynchronous - eggs have a lifespan, after all.

 

I would probably shell out a small amount of money for a pay currency every once in a while, especially if it could be traded freely and redeemed for things like consumable boost items - a flash hatch, a sure-fire fertilize, a temporary egg slot. Casual games often offer little perks that make your life easier, but don't severely disadvantage players that don't pay.

 

This could be a really, really good thing, guys.

 

Also as an artist, having an excuse to sprite items for something other than a temporary holiday event would be cool. Gives me something to do.

Purchase/pay currency sounds like a great concept. I think that what I was trying to say when talking about "package of points" but your way to put it makes quite more sense.

And I look forward to new items sprited by you!

[BlindWolf]

I know I mentioned Chicken Smoothie's in game currency earlier and how it's ubiquitous and useful - but a purchase currency that could be used as an intermediary object for trading would be great - it would ease the stress of IOU trading because a lot of deals are asynchronous - eggs have a lifespan, after all.

 

I would probably shell out a small amount of money for a pay currency every once in a while, especially if it could be traded freely and redeemed for things like consumable boost items - a flash hatch, a sure-fire fertilize, a temporary egg slot. Casual games often offer little perks that make your life easier, but don't severely disadvantage players that don't pay.

 

This could be a really, really good thing, guys.

 

Also as an artist, having an excuse to sprite items for something other than a temporary holiday event would be cool. Gives me something to do.

I would say that an egg slot is a severe disadvantage to those of us that don't pay. Really, if any currency is introduced at all it should be earnable through play and not solely pay.

 

I'll also stress again how I don't see how this is a 'good thing', except to people with too much money. For the rest of us, it's a terrible thing.

[Marrionetta]

I would say that an egg slot is a severe disadvantage to those of us that don't pay. Really, if any currency is introduced at all it should be earnable through play and not solely pay.

 

I'll also stress again how I don't see how this is a 'good thing', except to people with too much money. For the rest of us, it's a terrible thing.

It's a good thing because if someone is holding off on breeding something for you because they're locked and they're a pay player - boom, temporary egg slot for a purpose.

 

It's a good thing because a surefire fertilize could mean you spend less time on a trade list. It could mean multiclutches and a preponderance of lower-generation holidays on the AP during breeding windows.

 

It's a good thing because you are a human being, and therefore a social creature. I assume you have meaningful ties to other people. Do you have friends in game? Maybe you are liked well enough that someone might give you something nice.

 

I've never paid for currency on CS and I still have some because I have exchanged the things I can get for free for small quantities of pay currency over time with other players. CB hatchlings always have instant appeal. I bet you you'd find players on DC who'd exchange some amount of pay currency for some amount of hatchlings to spare themselves the burden of having to raise things or use their scroll space for things that aren't high priorities.

 

Explain how exactly the idea of paid perks is, for sure, a terrible thing for non paying players? Because for things like consumable boosts, which aren't an option now, suddenly making the option available doesn't actually change gameplay for you. At all. It stays the same.

[dragongrrl]

I would say that an egg slot is a severe disadvantage to those of us that don't pay. Really, if any currency is introduced at all it should be earnable through play and not solely pay.

 

I'll also stress again how I don't see how this is a 'good thing', except to people with too much money. For the rest of us, it's a terrible thing.

Again, anything that affects gameplay in ANY way should remain as it is.

 

At this point, I'm so disgusted by all of this.

 

No to all of it!

[Marrionetta]

Again, anything that affects gameplay in ANY way should remain as it is.

 

At this point, I'm so disgusted by all of this.

 

No to all of it!

So... anything involving paid perks or any changes to gameplay at all? Because it sounds like change is the scary aspect here, not the paid perks.

 

I think it could be super useful. I don't think we're actually in any real danger of bad things happening as a result of something like paid perks.

 

But making the pay currency available through minigames as well would be a super sweet solution!

[SullenCat]

I'm having a bit of a problem understanding how changes would somehow damage anybody. Worst case scenario, if someone does not want to take advantage of new currency or other changes, things would just stay as they are now for them.

[danicast]

I went to Chicken Smoothie, opened an account and played today and I must say: it's wonderful! It's exactly the kind of site that I envision that DC can become. There are paid options to everything, including the pets but at the same time there are tons of free things to keep the free players happy.

I think TJ should study that site because there is too many good ideas that could be implemented in DC, improving greatly the game!

 

(I got 33 pets and a bunch of other things and I didn't even pay for anything yet)

Edited August 3, 2015 by danicast

[Guillotine]

No. I'm perfectly fine with these changes implemented in general, but outside of adult Influence I do not want them to be the sort of thing you need to pay for. All those advantages add up and can make it quite unfun for players who can't pay.

[dragongrrl]

So... anything involving paid perks or any changes to gameplay at all? Because it sounds like change is the scary aspect here, not the paid perks.

 

I think it could be super useful. I don't think we're actually in any real danger of bad things happening as a result of something like paid perks.

 

But making the pay currency available through minigames as well would be a super sweet solution!

I was an advocate for the downloadable games originally, and said o.k. to name changes when this thread started, but now with all the responses I've seen, I'm just disgusted by by the whole idea.

 

It would ruin the game for too many good people, so, no. Leave it as it is.

[SullenCat]

No. I'm perfectly fine with these changes implemented in general, but outside of adult Influence I do not want them to be the sort of thing you need to pay for. All those advantages add up and can make it quite unfun for players who can't pay.

Would you mind explain how those would make things unfun?

[MoonTiger]

I love this game for its simplicity and the fact that it is free. I used to play Howrse until they changed the game so much that it became rigged and turned into a game for the rich. I tried playing Magistream, but the sheer multitude of creatures, quests, way of earning in game currency and so forth was overwhelming and time consuming. I just couldn't get into it. If anyone wants to say that catching CB rares is impossible, the trades are unbalanced and prizes are unfair, please go play Howrse and then tell me what you think. That game is so messed up, it'll make all of DC look like heaven in terms of friendliness and fairness. I honestly think we should appreciate the game as it is. Enjoy the fact that this game doesn't require money to get anywhere because games that do require it can turn ugly and unfair.

[danicast]

No. I'm perfectly fine with these changes implemented in general, but outside of adult Influence I do not want them to be the sort of thing you need to pay for. All those advantages add up and can make it quite unfun for players who can't pay.

Try to play Chicken Smoothie and you'll see, you don't even miss any of the stuff that are for sale because the site have many things for free. I played only the free area today and had great fun because there are so many options!

[Shokomon]

I don't know if I like the idea of purchasing in-game currency. Honestly, I don't like the idea of paid perks in general. I don't buy in-game currency or other paid perks in any of the other free games that I've played. Got more important things to do with it, like food and laundry and rent.

 

It usually comes at the cost of being very time-consuming to acquire in-game currency if you don't want to pay for it. After all, how else would the game makers ring a profit if it was easy to get the currency in game? If there had to be money made off of in-game currency, I would suggest something like what "School of Dragons" and a number of other smartphone games do, which is get money through advertising. Like clicking ads, filling surveys, downloading endorsed software, and watching videos. I'm mean, DC has ads already, so it wouldn't be to different from what we already do.

 

Also, if there had to be paid perks, I'd, as others have stated, like optional ones that wouldn't affect gameplay. Some of the ideas already brought up I prefer are:

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- Downloadable mini-games: It'd be just like buying computer games. I'd play the Mana Crystals game. Or Snow Wars (though that one would probably have to be subscription based if you wanted to have multiplayer with it. Or Ads like I mentioned above.)

 

- Alternate Skins: Some people would like Blackout back. And Classic DC cave.

 

- Name changes: I wouldn't use it, but there's nothing wrong with wanting a name change for your scroll or for your forum name, if you get tired of it. It could be abused by Rule-breakers and multi-scrollers though.

----------------------------

 

Things I don't want, however, would be like these:

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- Buying Extra egg/Hatchling slots: Let's say 2 people are both in the cave with gold trophies, similar internet speed, and clicking reflexes. One has extra spending money (Player $); the other (Player A) doesn't. Both players have all 7 Gold Trophy Eggs slots filled. Player $ buys another slot; player A doesn't. There is a Gold egg in the cave. Both Players want it. Player $ gets the gold egg, and Player A doesn't, because Player $ has the funds to get extra eggs slots, while Player A can't afford more than the max of 7.

 

- Pay-Only Biomes: We have Player $ and Player A. Both are hunting for, let's say, a Pink. Pinks, at this hypothetical moment in the cave, are hard to come by. Player $ bought access to a Grass-land Biome. Player A cannot afford access to a Pay-Only Biome. Grassland-Biome has a different number of breeds available in it, that makes it easier to spot and catch a Pink. Also, because the biome is in fact pay-only, less people are hunting there, which means when a Pink comes up, there is less click competition. Player $ gets a Pink, sooner than Player A, because Player $ has more biomes to hunt in, and less competition in paid-biomes which may or may not different breed ratios.

---------------------------------

 

And that's my piece on this topic.

[BlindWolf]

It's a good thing because if someone is holding off on breeding something for you because they're locked and they're a pay player - boom, temporary egg slot for a purpose.

 

It's a good thing because a surefire fertilize could mean you spend less time on a trade list. It could mean multiclutches and a preponderance of lower-generation holidays on the AP during breeding windows.

 

It's a good thing because you are a human being, and therefore a social creature. I assume you have meaningful ties to other people. Do you have friends in game? Maybe you are liked well enough that someone might give you something nice.

 

I've never paid for currency on CS and I still have some because I have exchanged the things I can get for free for small quantities of pay currency over time with other players. CB hatchlings always have instant appeal. I bet you you'd find players on DC who'd exchange some amount of pay currency for some amount of hatchlings to spare themselves the burden of having to raise things or use their scroll space for things that aren't high priorities.

 

Explain how exactly the idea of paid perks is, for sure, a terrible thing for non paying players? Because for things like consumable boosts, which aren't an option now, suddenly making the option available doesn't actually change gameplay for you. At all. It stays the same.

If they pay money to get that egg slot for you, then I doubt they're going to accept anything but the rarest dragon in return because it cost them money. It also gives them an unfair advantage in general, especially during releases. It clearly privileges them. It goes the same for anything else that costs money, though I'm not as disgusted by fertilizes as I am egg slots, which is why I solely targeted them.

 

And no, I don't have friends on this forum because I don't post much. There are people who play this game and don't post at all. They shouldn't be so severely hampered because they don't have friends and because they don't want to beg and bow and scrape to those who pay.

 

My entire issue with the Chicken Smoothie thing that keeps coming up is that they have trading integrated into the site. We do not, not in a complete way. We have to use the forum. Until that changes, currency that requires you to pay is asking far too much from the players, because they cannot get it through official on-site methods if the only other way to receive it is through trades.

 

And no, you're not going to have people give you significant money for CB commons. They are not worth money. DC is not a singleplayer game, though the multiplayer aspects are ill-integrated into the sight. Having people that can catch eggs and get their dragons the way they want faster than you heavily disadvantages you in the most basic functionality of the site, catching and breeding. Before internet comes up, internet is outside of this site's control while this is not, and this only further unfairly benefits people who have access to better service than they already are.

 

Again, anything that affects gameplay in ANY way should remain as it is.

 

At this point, I'm so disgusted by all of this.

 

No to all of it!

In truth, I agree entirely. I'm just willing to find where I think it's somewhat tolerable. However, the people who keep pushing for this keep asking for the absolute maximum they can shove behind paid perks, including dragons and the like, and it wears my patience thin. I think they have ulterior motives, but that might be paranoia

 

Try to play  Chicken Smoothie and you'll see, you don't even miss any of the stuff that are for sale because the site have many things for free. I played only the free area today and had great fun because there are so many options!

DC is about collecting, in part. You WILL miss things you can't get. It doesn't matter a single bit that SOME things are free, because you can't get everything.

Edited August 3, 2015 by BlindWolf

[danicast]

Of course Chicken Smoothie can have all good things that a pet site can have like trades in the site, forum in the site, communication system between the users, a large help session in the site, the online store and much more because they have people paying to make possible to develop the site. Right now there are 1979 users online in the site against 80 users online at DC forum.

 

My only thought is that Chicken Smoothie is so organized and have so many things for all users, free users and paid users that keeps atracting more and more players.

[SullenCat]

- Buying Extra egg/Hatchling slots: Let's say 2 people are both in the cave with gold trophies, similar internet speed, and clicking reflexes.  One has extra spending money (Player $); the other (Player A) doesn't. Both players have all 7 Gold Trophy Eggs slots filled. Player $ buys another slot; player A doesn't. There is a Gold egg in the cave. Both Players want it. Player $ gets the gold egg, and Player A doesn't, because Player $ has the funds to get extra eggs slots, while Player A can't afford more than the max of 7.

 

- Pay-Only Biomes: We have Player $ and Player A. Both are hunting for, let's say, a Pink. Pinks, at this hypothetical moment in the cave, are hard to come by. Player $ bought access to a Grass-land Biome. Player A cannot afford access to a Pay-Only Biome. Grassland-Biome has a different number of breeds available in it, that makes it easier to spot and catch a Pink. Also, because the biome is in fact pay-only, less people are hunting there, which means when a Pink comes up, there is less click competition. Player $ gets a Pink, sooner than Player A, because Player $ has more biomes to hunt in, and less competition in paid-biomes which may or may not different breed ratios.

---------------------------------

 

And that's my piece on this topic.

For what concerns your first example, Player A didn't get the egg not because Player $ had an additional slot but because his connectivity or reflexes weren't as fast. Wouldn't have been any different if there was a Player C in the Biome.

For the second example, both got Pinks, how is it damaging for Player A to catch a Pink later than Player $ did?

By the way, the fact is that the situation nowadays is not any different. Some people catch and brag about a bunch of Silvers etc. Others catch none.

 

Anyway, sorry for going off topic. It was about what we would willingly pay for and, even if I already answered, I'm getting more ideas

Edited August 3, 2015 by SullenCat

[BlindWolf]

Of course Chicken Smoothie can have all good things that a pet site can have like trades in the site, forum in the site, communication system between the users, a large help session in the site, the online store and much more because they have people paying to make possible to develop the site. Right now there are 1979 users online in the site against 80 users online at DC forum.

 

My only thought is that Chicken Smoothie is so organized and have so many things for all users, free users and paid users that keeps atracting more and more players.

It is time and history, not money, that make this site the way it is. It's nothing more than an assumption to say that introducing more income would change the site structure so dramatically.

 

And the fact that people will suffer an abuse, does not mean you should intentionally inflict it on them.

[SullenCat]

It is time and history, not money, that make this site the way it is. It's nothing more than an assumption to say that introducing more income would change the site structure so dramatically.

 

And the fact that people will suffer an abuse, does not mean you should intentionally inflict it on them.

Abuse??? I guess my definition of abuse is quite different from yours.

[danicast]

And the fact that people will suffer an abuse, does not mean you should intentionally inflict it on them.

I'm sorry, I don't understand what you mean with this. I never mentioned nor people suffering nor being abused, it was quite the contrary, I was sharing my good impressions of another site that have paid perks and how good I felt playing there and wishing we had the same good things here.

I don't get what you mean.

[BlindWolf]

Abuse??? I guess my definition of abuse is quite different from yours.

I'm sorry, I don't understand what you mean with this. I never mentioned nor people suffering nor being abused, it was quite the contrary, I was sharing my good impressions of another site that have paid perks and how good I felt playing there and wishing we had the same good things here.

I don't get what you mean.

In this case, abuse refers to the shear unfair disadvantage free players face, such as being locked out of content. I think it's a heinous thing, and it would be especially so on a site like this where everything was formerly free.