Account upgrades

[Moka]

HR has two options for accounts right now....free and common (10 dollars) I was wondering if it would be possible to have something like a champion account in Eaxia.
A champion account would be 5 to 10 dollars a month more but you would get 1 alteration credit a month. Simple things like cloths containers and such.....no magical or verbed alterations as thats something merchants do.
Having an account like this would allow players a chance to personalize gear for their character without having to always wait for a merchant that they might miss.
By having a champion account we could submit an alteration request via a system like feedback and then wait for a reply from the GM doing the alteration on if it's fitting to the game and will be allowed or if we would need to change it.
I myself would be happy to pay a little extra to personalize gear for my characters.
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Pity the warrior that has slain all her foes

[jade]

while i see the merits of a system like this, i do have some questions.

first, is this a strictly one-credit-per-item system? assuming even a few people partake of something like this champion account, that would create quite a bit of work for what appears to be an already greatly busy staff.

second, how 'optional' do you feel something like this would be, given that there is an abundance of clothing and item choices already avalable in the game?

your thoughts again, please, smoka.
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You say, "In the ruler, wisdom."
You say, "In the agent of that rulers will, courage."
You say, "For all, temperance."
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[soundless]

how is this different than the explorer packages.

(hey, are those still available, too? my account is about to expire in a month or two or something)
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A bright-eyed Thekko Ku Kalla dressed in a dapper sailor suit takes to flight and careers through the air toward the Modan Kucho and slams into him!
With a high-pitched cry, The Modan Kucho collapses in death.

[Moka]

well....no offense intended....but the population of HR has dropped to almost half what it was a year ago....from around 70ish players logged in at any given time to something around 40ish.
So even if only say 50% of the population opted for a champion account that would be 20 to 30 alterations a month....and having 30 days for someone to fill the orders would be one a day to two a day.
The credit for alteration would be up to the GM in charge....in Eaxia it was one credit per item but I could see some items being two or more depending on what was wanted........say more them a three line description in the look of a coat or a pack might mean 2 or more credits.
If the idea was implemented and there was a rush of people signing up for it I could even see limits and such put on what could be created. So not to take too much time from whoever was doing the alterations.
As far as clothing and such in HR yes there is a large selection to choose from....but for instance my tracker wears a duster...plain brown with buckles......I would love to have it have mine have a Darju tracker theme.
Just minor cosmetic changes to items......to fit profession and race with a nice look but not verbed as I said that would be more for a merchant to do.
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[Moka]

well the explore package is for a year correct me if I am wrong? so like 120 dollars?
Some people such as myself I can pay 20 or more dollars a month to play but find it harder to set aside or spend such a large amount at one time....I could but would cut me short in other areas. I would find it much easier to pay the 15 to 20 dollars a month as opposed to coming up with the 120 or whatever the package costs.
I play when I can and most times it's for 1 to 3 months at a time depending on RL matters. So the extra cost to play per month for the months I can would still allow me to personalize my characters gear to some extent and not have to pay for a full year I really couldn't play the whole time.
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[jade]

i feel now that i better understand where your intentions are, and on a second glance something like the champion account does seem feasible, if a little burdensome.

i also wonder, however, what would be done in the event so many alterations could not be performed in a month. is the goal to maintain a quota, or does some tend to trickle over into the next month?

i would like to wait on someone else to add input on this topic.
_________________
You say, "Wisdom, courage, temperance, justice."
You say, "In the ruler, wisdom."
You say, "In the agent of that rulers will, courage."
You say, "For all, temperance."
You say, "But justice is worthy for its own sake."

[soundless]

[Seth Ventril]

I'm all for being able to purchase alterations the same way you can home/vault expansions. Don't think a new account type is really necessary.
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Assassin: It's very secret, passed down for hundreds of generations. If I told you, I'd have to kill you.
Victim: Aren't you already killing me anyway?
Assassin: That's a good point...The creed is..."Stick them with the pointy end." - Ctrl+Alt+Del parody of Assassin's Creed.
---
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---
Korell Ventril exclaims, "Choo ain no guard! Choo a crackhead!"

[Moka]

well if 10 bucks gets me an alteration with verbs and all that for any item I want thats one thing.....paying 5 to 10 dollars a month for basic alterations without verbs and an stat increases on it...just to personalize gear I would opt for the account....and also pay the 10 dollars for the verbed or enhanced alterations at the same time....so both would be acceptible by me......use the account credits to alter little things and pay 10 dollars or whatever for say my weapons and armor.
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[soundless]

[soundless]

oh, and i'm slightly against even alterations being sold for RL $, mainly because it minimalizes the need for artisans.

i'd rather the crafting system become more robust than everyone getting exactly what they want right now. if everyone has a 100% what they want attire, they'll be no point to artisans or any developments they get later on.
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A bright-eyed Thekko Ku Kalla dressed in a dapper sailor suit takes to flight and careers through the air toward the Modan Kucho and slams into him!
With a high-pitched cry, The Modan Kucho collapses in death.

[Moka]

First of all I am not a GM so the rules and stipulations they would impose on any alteration is up to them.
As for the upgraded account and paying 5 to 10 dollars more a month to personalize gear for my characters it would be worth it to me.
Not everyone will opt for it. As for paying 10 bucks just anytime I wanted for an alteration would impose more demands on the GMs as for paying for credits and being limited to how many alterations per month per account would regulate items and time spent on altering said items.
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Pity the warrior that has slain all her foes

[soundless]

nothing wrong with putting a cap on how many alterations per month you can get (even if the cap is 1).

that said, now that i'm thinking about it more and considering that artisan creation systems are going to be much more robust in the future, it would be bad if everyone could just buy whatever alteration they want, because then what's the point of being an artisan?
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A bright-eyed Thekko Ku Kalla dressed in a dapper sailor suit takes to flight and careers through the air toward the Modan Kucho and slams into him!
With a high-pitched cry, The Modan Kucho collapses in death.

[dragonseyes]

I dunno, I don't really care one way or another. I can't afford the paid account much less the kind of account being mentioned. But to me, banking on a system that WILL come out, is not wise. IF this were adopted, it could be unadopted as soon as Artisans actually have some power. Until then, it's just a nice system to aid in getting stylized clothing. At least that's the way I see it.

[Denavae]

I am completely and utterly against an option like this.

Instead, I would much rather see the time GM's spent on RL$ alterations focused more on character interaction in an in game scenario such as SPC alterers.

Regardless of how you look at it, you're going to have a GM or two spending their valuable time whipping up items for the joy of players, so why not have that time reinforcing ROLEPLAY instead of the, "Well damn. I think I'll just add another wife beater of stained beer and stale ketchup on my alteration credit list."

So we'll say that roughly 50% of the population takes up the "Champion Account" one month. For arguments sake, we'll stick with 15 people who want an alteration in a given month. We'll also give about five minutes per item to create, ten if you want to be thorough. So, 75-150 minutes on average a month to do alterations. Again, for arguements sake, we'll stick with a round number of 120 minutes, or two hours to create those fifteen items. I would MUCH rather see Mara Dunn show up for thirty minutes on week 1, Brian for fifteen minutes the monday after and another fifteen minutes on wednesday of the same week, Edelaide for thirty minutes the week after that, and Haenim for a 15 minutes twice for the last week. So, if we stick to the same 5 minute estimate, that would be twenty four people who get alterations instead of the original fifteen. (Please note these numbers are hypothetical situations based on knowledge gained through first hand experience)

It also promotes in character communication between the various SPC's and NOT the GM's themselves which I for one would rather see more of. Sure, you might not get what you want done specifically, but it would be rather difficult to miss six alteration chances a month, even with the SPC's taking a limited number of orders. For those who couldn't make the list of a certain SPC, they could always ask for a voucher that entitles them to a session with the SPC upon their next visit. Sure, it might take a little bribery, but what's a game without roleplay?

All in all:

A big, resounding NO on the get-an-alteration-by-sending-in-money deal.

A huge, resounding Yes for more SPC interaction even at limited time frames.

PS: I also believe the explorer, famed and what not packages were a Promotional period deal meant for "new players" but still allowing for "Long-term" players to purchase one as well.
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