Forums » Suggestions
Account System
Howdy everyone,
I've seen EVE Online. I've played Vendetta Online. What would be one way to "possible" ravage EVE Online membership and boost Vendetta Online membership? Create a "free-loader" account. Freeloader accounts would be restricted in some ways in exchange for free access to the server. While regular monthly payers would have access to more features/premium stuff.
My Idea:
* 3 Account levels.
• Monthly subscribers (Top Level) :: Has access to everything, not restricted at all.
• Occasional donators (Second Level) :: People who give some money to access a certain thing or feature. So some features can be permanently "bought," like a ship or something like that. While others could be a spend per basis deal.
• Freeloaders (Bottom Level) :: Restricted or limited access to features in Vendetta Online. Initially very restricted so as to not cannibalize anything, and slowly adding features to these accounts to find the right balance. What good would a freeloader account be if it was practically worthless?
---------What this "could" do:
= Further differentiate ourselves from EVE Online.
= Drain EVE Online membership.
= Allow freeloaders to eventually step up to "occasional" and then finally monthly subscribers.
= Allow newbies to see if they can actually get good at this game before committing to monthly subscriptions. 8 Hours is simple not enough for that.
I've seen EVE Online. I've played Vendetta Online. What would be one way to "possible" ravage EVE Online membership and boost Vendetta Online membership? Create a "free-loader" account. Freeloader accounts would be restricted in some ways in exchange for free access to the server. While regular monthly payers would have access to more features/premium stuff.
My Idea:
* 3 Account levels.
• Monthly subscribers (Top Level) :: Has access to everything, not restricted at all.
• Occasional donators (Second Level) :: People who give some money to access a certain thing or feature. So some features can be permanently "bought," like a ship or something like that. While others could be a spend per basis deal.
• Freeloaders (Bottom Level) :: Restricted or limited access to features in Vendetta Online. Initially very restricted so as to not cannibalize anything, and slowly adding features to these accounts to find the right balance. What good would a freeloader account be if it was practically worthless?
---------What this "could" do:
= Further differentiate ourselves from EVE Online.
= Drain EVE Online membership.
= Allow freeloaders to eventually step up to "occasional" and then finally monthly subscribers.
= Allow newbies to see if they can actually get good at this game before committing to monthly subscriptions. 8 Hours is simple not enough for that.
This is a hands down great Idea... bravo.
Freeloaders shouldn't have access to anything more than a Mk I ship, to start it off.
Well, I'm sure the developers can figure out what should and shouldn't be limited. Say, where are the developers anyways?
This has been talked about before, and I can't really remember what the final consensus was. I think it's a good idea, although you must keep in mind that currently the devs aren't interested in making a giant marketing push just yet. They want to put in some new things, such as the new economy and player owned Capital ships so that it's more appealing. The game is still in an "early" stage, and if they go all out on marketing right now plenty of people will leave and never come back. I think in the future when the devs are ready for a giant influx of players, this is a good idea.
From my experience running a game server:
99.5% of players are freeloaders. Don't care if it's bugged or restricted, they'll deal with it cuz it's free.
99.5% of players are freeloaders. Don't care if it's bugged or restricted, they'll deal with it cuz it's free.
If you were planning on playing for a long length of time wouldn't it make sense to not pay monthly, and just buy the certain items you wanted?
From my experience running a game server:
99.5% of players are freeloaders. Don't care if it's bugged or restricted, they'll deal with it cuz it's free.
Which is why we have trial accounts. Completely restricting access after an amount of gives more of an incentive to actually subscribe, if only just to recover all the goodies you accumulated with the trial account. True, there are ways to circumvent this (notably by making more trial accounts), but this takes work, and most freeloaders are in for it because there's no commitment.
So, you realize, a system like the one the OP suggests is already in place, to a certain degree, and it is not likely to change much until after VO is big enough to afford the drain that free-loaders cause the developers, if at all. Nevertheless, if Guild Software starts publishing VO Box-sets again, they might want to include such 'free-loader' accounts as an incentive instead of just the free 30-days trial period, as at least then they've got some money out of the deal, even if the new players don't subscribe.
99.5% of players are freeloaders. Don't care if it's bugged or restricted, they'll deal with it cuz it's free.
Which is why we have trial accounts. Completely restricting access after an amount of gives more of an incentive to actually subscribe, if only just to recover all the goodies you accumulated with the trial account. True, there are ways to circumvent this (notably by making more trial accounts), but this takes work, and most freeloaders are in for it because there's no commitment.
So, you realize, a system like the one the OP suggests is already in place, to a certain degree, and it is not likely to change much until after VO is big enough to afford the drain that free-loaders cause the developers, if at all. Nevertheless, if Guild Software starts publishing VO Box-sets again, they might want to include such 'free-loader' accounts as an incentive instead of just the free 30-days trial period, as at least then they've got some money out of the deal, even if the new players don't subscribe.
vIsitor, we're aware of all this, thankyou. Understand that the purpose of the thread was to suggest changing the degree to which freeloaders can play the game. Currently by remaking trials, they can experience certain aspects of VO with fluctuating enjoyment, leveling up a new character every so often, and only using the ships with low license levels. (The IBG with N3's is a great ship)
Instead, if freeloaders were free to buy any Mk I ship, VO would most likely see a deluge of newbies in easily destroyed ships, making for an interesting situation for the paying members. The universe is big, and could do for a larger population. Paying members ought to have no problem with squirting down hordes of Cent Mk I's. And Freeloaders would constantly be reminded of what victories await should they upgrade to a full account.
Instead, if freeloaders were free to buy any Mk I ship, VO would most likely see a deluge of newbies in easily destroyed ships, making for an interesting situation for the paying members. The universe is big, and could do for a larger population. Paying members ought to have no problem with squirting down hordes of Cent Mk I's. And Freeloaders would constantly be reminded of what victories await should they upgrade to a full account.