This started off as an idea from a community member, and we weren't sure if we wanted to do it. This post is to gauge whether people want to do this. The website just launch 2.0.9 and the store will launch with 3.0, which will be the next update. We are giving people the opportunity to donate to Ani to increase his overall pledge, and as a reward we will build up the city more for all the members of XoO. As an additional award we will give people items like houses, mounts, and crafting furnishings. We plan to take Ani's pledge to the celebrity pack, which is one step lower than the Duke pack. We will open a PayPal and track those who do decide to donate; for donating you will get a XoO award as well.
I was planning to pledge $500 (count tier). If we doing this, I will get a $250, or even $125, level myself instead, and the rest will be Ani. And before the game launch, I can donate more here and there.
The only reason we came up with this was because some people might want to give more, but not want a higher pack or making Ani's pledge higher might give us more IP. With more IP we could provide more to you guys. This is 100% optional, and if people don't think it's a good idea we don't need to do it. Like I said we weren't going to do this, but someone suggested it and we figured we'd give it a try.
This could work out well especially if this winds up being a big game for us, is there currently a deadline for upping the pledge for the pre-orders?
Slightly off-topic. But if the future of MMOs (and it seems increasingly popular) is crowd-funding massive amounts of money from people for games that are unlikely to deliver their full scope and for privileges that other people don't initially have access to is starting to become the worst part about this genre.
Yeah Star Citizen is a good example of it. Personally I don't like throwing money into a game until they become more concrete but in this case its not as absurd as what SC has been up to and I feel like there is definite value. I feel like people used to complain about subs so much but I spent so much less money on games when it was just paying for subs and expansions. The day devs discovered they could charge us for micro-transactions was the day we opened our wallets to a lot of abuse.
#XOOFAILS (Early Camelot Unchained backing)... Sorry guys I wont provide any money til I can play a working product.
So does Camelot Unchained by that standard if you have seen it recently. (Both game are still in very early alpha stage. I wouldn't give either the benefit of the doubt right now for final playability). Crowfall started with a pre-built engine, it isn't surprising that they have mock fighting in instanced versions. Either way; neither of the games deserves a huge backing $ beyond a base price since they were kickstarted. There is nothing wrong with helping to fund a game for $30 or whatever. Maybe a little more considering a full-fledged MMO might cost you $60-90 in the first few months with subscription. We aren't talking about that kind of money in the guild anymore. Asking for $500 for in-game benefits...there was post for Star Citizen for a $1000 package. This whole concept is getting insane.
We are going to be holding blood donations so we can get to the 10k pack for a kingdom! If everyone donates monthly we will hit it by release no problem
But before Riot explodinates the reason I thought CoE was a good candidate for this is that the packs come with a lot of "stuff" that can be used to build a guild town. As far as I can tell you really only need to have a spark to play the game, but if you want to have guild facilities its going to take a lot of work and instead of having multiple people trying to coordinate their IP and bumping up their personal packs I thought it would be easier to have interested parties chip in. Personally if I am going to buy a spark for $30 and its more bang to add to the guild pack the other money I would put in for myself (say $20-$30 or more) then I would rather do that. If other people don't want to I am totally cool with it too, but theres no harm in asking and seeing if people are on the same page. People did it in Archeage and we know we have done it for Star Citizen, whether it was successful is up to the people involved. Also spreading it over multiple accounts causes issues if people quit or go afk, like we ran into AO with guild facilities. If its centered on one guild account then officers can more easily maintain it. Maybe we just need Ani and Arc to pal up with BW a little more so they can get some playtime in
I understand the reason; nothing wrong with it if it is money that people are happy to put into the game that they don't mind 'losing' for a benefit. Just not a fan of the trend and where the industry is heading with it. Earn things by working hard in-game. Everyone on the same playing field at the start - prestige, power, and industry should be built inside otherwise you are just playing a weird real life 2.0 where real money is a huge upfront advantage (not everything but certainly an advantage). Anyways I have said my peace about funding (mostly off-topic) and don't let me stop you. I just hope it doesn't become the norm in every new MMO and the trend of necessarily in Xen.
I understand Ironjaws side. If people want to go right ahead. Let them decide. On the other hand, I totally agree with PersonalRiot on my stand point. I'm so tired of money teirs for shit. I even personally am pissed off that I spent 1k dollars on crowfall. For what? I mean really? A few parcels of land that I can share out and create the xen empire? I mean realistically nothing I take from the eternal kingdoms can be used in a "season" on the battleground really. So what did I blow my money on? Pretty much shaking my Xen Credit Card in others faces really. But in the end it doesn't do much to Xen. Unless there is some cool as shit.
Yeah its all good and I agree with you both. Its definitely a trend in the gaming industry to pay to keep up, or start ahead, or however people want to phrase it. I am kind of at the point in my gaming career where I don't like "pre-ordering" or kickstarting because I have such a huge backlog I don't like adding to it anymore but when I am playing a game I end up always throwing more money at it than I expect to. I've been shaking my first at games with DLC, to the point where I only buy "GoTY" editions now
Yea, I'm so far behind on my single player games. Its killing me at this point. Like really bad, I feel almost at this point with the time commitment that these Korean games demand. I have lost a ton of the fun times by myself. Not that way you dirty minds. Just saying, you guys will lose me for a bit with the new Kingdom Hearts 3. Not missing that experience waited my whole life for the "final" chapter.
Well actually this game has a working pre-alpha too. You guys just don't get to play it. And these guys have ALREADY delivered on most of what they say they will have. This isn't an Star Citizen or Camelot Unchained where we won't have a release date in mind. Also like I said this is 100% voluntary, and we don't need people to donate either. This was giving people to option of donating, and in response we could use that for more IP for people to use.