Upcoming Supporter Changes Ideas | Price Poll

The cosmetics is just pretty stuff that you'll likely only ever buy if you've got money sitting around, I'm probably never going to buy it. The supporter package however, offers things like discounted senior staff services (which is the prime selling point for me), full utopia access as well as other big perks like that. On he money side, now that rupees bonuses and extra residences are cut out there's going to be quite a few people who don't purchase the supporter package anymore so they'll need to be a way to bring in enough money to cover hosting costs (it's super expensive for some reason, no one has a monopoly on it) and advertising costs.

You have a very optimistic view of human nature. What if you are wrong and not enough people support? Nobody likes change but EMC is doing its best to adjust. Maybe we will all have to be flexible and realize that no server will be run exactly how we want it unless you make your own. I think we can all adjust to colored names and a few particles. If you want to support without the perks, nothing requires you to use them, but please don't say no one else is allowed to have them because you don't like perks.

I think the people who will support out of the goodness of their heart will be kind and cut EMC some slack for offering enticements to those who need them to get more support. IMO we can't afford to be too picky if we want to have a nice place to play. Mojang authorized cosmetic perks for sale so EMC is adjusting and doing what Mojang wants. Mojang said you can charge one level of supportership and that is what is proposed. I don't see any trying to get around the rules.

In my post I said that cosmetic perks are fine. I don't have a problem with the colored names that are being suggested, and I said I was in favor of the disguise thing. It seems fun.

I think you misunderstand the point of my post.. no not the point - maybe the spirit of it?

Why can't we be idealistic? Do you really think there aren't people out there that would support just because they love EMC? You might think I have to much faith in people, but maybe you have to little.

I think this is the opportunity EMC needs to pull together and really make this work. I think this could be a blessing for EMC. I think this could pull the community together in a vision of what a server - a gaming community - should be. Why does EMC have to conform to what everyone else is going to be doing now? Everyone is going to be doing exactly this. Why not take this opportunity to show that this server is the one that not only abides to the rules but is able and willing to stand out and rise above all of this?

I have been a supporter since around my second month starting here on EMC.
In addition, I took advantage of the half off supporter-ship for some of my friends at the holiday discount.

To this day, nothing except one... 'thing' had me consider dropping being a supporter.

So basically If I was to either stop playing, or if the one thing I have a huge issue with happens, I would drop my supporter.
Other than that, I will continue to support for as long as I can. Its not about what I 'get' in return. It helped me to become a supporter in the beginning, no lie, but after I saw I spend a bit of time here, I made the decision to try and help out in a way that I can.

So whatever is decided, if the cost is 20 per month, I have been good with that amount, and will keep doing that amount until either of the two things happen above.

Good luck with this Aikar, hope it all works out for us.

Sorry I reread your post and still don't understand what you want EMC to do. Yes I think there are many people who will support just to support.

In what way do you want to make it less complicated?

No worries.

My suggestion would be to not split the perks into "supporter and cosmetic". Just have one perk pack that would look something like this

• Guaranteed slot (unchanged)
• Supporter Chat (unchanged)
• Less ads on website (unchanged)
• Supporter Forums (unchanged)
• Immune from Derelict (unchanged)
• Discount on Sr Staff Services
• Ability to change your name color
• Non Combat Pets (Future)
• Zombie/Skeleton Horses
• /hat - places block in hand on your head as a hat.
• Customize Res Messages (unchanged)
• Disguises in Town

Make it $15. I think 15 is a reasonable amount. It is enough that it should help keep the empire running, but it is also low enough people will not think much about paying it. Comparable to what you would pay to play WoW for a month.

So what about Utopia? Well here is what I am thinking. Really and truly it needs to go away. This is going to be an unpopular idea but hear me out.

1. Splitting the people onto paid and unpaid servers is going to bad for the community.
2. Utopia worked in the past because it was tied into the other servers. It can no longer be tied into the other servers. So what is the point of it? I don't think people will be overly likely to spend much time on utopia after all of this anyhow. Why? It will be lonely. If only supporters can be there who wants to sit around in a place with a few other supporters when they can be out playing with the masses? The wild is useless if you can't move items back to other servers (which has been said by mojang is not going to be allowed. The paid servers need to be completely separate from the unpaid ones)

Because of these two reasons it will eventually become a wasteland anyhow. It should be cut away now to get it out of the way to work on things that will improve the empire.

Mojang's policy, a decision not up to us. It's been pointed out many times, but this is the hand they've dealt us.
That being said... Utopia's always been a 'paid' server, from a practical point of view. Yes, you could go to town and browse and shop, but unless you were gold or diamond, claiming a residence, wilderness access, endertopia, and so forth are all off limits.

Time will tell I suppose. I find the current "free trial" loophole to be as accommodating as it can possibly be under the circumstances. It means that rather than cutting off free members entirely, we can at least retain some semblance of cohesion. In other words, Utopia access remains pretty much as it is right now, which is no better or worse.

As to your previous posts about the 'spirit' of supportership... I don't disagree. Supporting the Empire should, ideally, be about keeping the server you love up and running. The reality is, for a great many people that's simply not the case. You'll always have those who feel they should get more bang for their buck, or who support because of the benefits it gives. But in bringing this up, I feel you overlook the purpose of this thread entirely.

This isn't "how can we get more money out of our players?" it's "how can we continue to offer supporter packages in a way Mojang finds acceptable?" The EULA changes have all but completely trashed the old Iron/Gold/Diamond ranks as you well know. Those were fine for what they were, but they won't work under the new rules and it's important for EMC to have something to offer that will continue to provide the benefits that supporters have come to expect from doing so.

Speaking personally, I find 'cosmetic' perks to range from silly to annoying. Colored nametags, particles, and so forth would just be clutter. But if Aikar's willing to add a player setting to turn them off (or at least disable the "cosmetic" colors), I'm cool with that. Disguises sound fun, in moderation, and speaking frankly I have always wanted a pet cave spider to follow me around.

I haven't always defended Aikar's decisions and I'm typically very critical of changes, but in this case, Mojang's rules have forced our hand and in light of that, I think this new setup is the best that can be done to maintain the experience EMC'ers expect - supporter and non-supporter alike.

PS:
@mba2012 - I suspect people are voting 10/10 because diamond is currently $20, gold $10, and it feels like the best way to maintain the status quo. I went 15/10 myself, because I believe gameplay changes from supportership are far more significant than pretty cosmetic fluff.

*cries* ...Does this mean that I am going to loose my Milk Man messages on my horse farm.

The problem is that it isn't the same. Utopia can not be in any way connected to the other servers. In the past people go to the utopia wild in order to collect resources in a place that is less used (and easier to use) in order to (a) build on utopia or (b) transfer goods to whatever server they normaly play on.

(A) is no longer going to be worth it because other people can not log onto the server and
(B) is now against Mojang's rules.

Trying to find loopholes like using "free trials" is just going to hurt the server in the long run. We need a long term plan now that puts us above the competition and gives us a strong foundation that we can work on building a great future on. We are wasting way to much time finding ways to get around the rules instead of ways to move on.

I'm not missing the point of the thread. They are asking what people would be willing to support for and I am explaining what it would take to get me to support. I am a lot more likely to support a server that is doing everything it can to provide a great playing experience than a server with awesome supporter perks. This is what EMC has been in the past. This fear (and it is an understandable fear) that it will be hard to get people to support is getting in the way of realizing that EMC can just continue to be the wonderful server it has been and people will support it.

Please don't let your fear (of potential loss of supporters when we switch to compliance with the EULA) be the driver for a price increase. You don't know what will happen to supporter rolls when this happens. This decision (package pricing) should be based on actual revenue requirements.

Keep in mind, with good advertising, our player base could increase greatly as many of the large "pay to win" servers so to speak, have to substantially change or go away - leaving EMC as a very attractive option. Ours is a well established server that won't be affected as greatly by the EULA.

Also, price tiers should reward you with savings with the more you buy. If two packages are offered at $10, I shouldn't pay $20 for both. With that in mind, if you currently think $20 is reasonable for diamond (top tier), then base your sub tiers off that, say $9 (cosmetic)/$13 (supporter)/$20 (both). IMO if you price cosmetic and supporter packages too closely, nobody is taking cosmetic. Additionally, everyone paying is a "supporter" - find a new name.

Of course this still represents a huge price increase to the cheapest supporter lvl offered today (not a fan of this) - what will happen to all the potential supporters who would be maxed at $5? You need something cheap, in the $50-70 annual range - the price of a new game - that a lot of players can convince their parents to pay for. Perhaps a minimum charge ($5/month) that the upper tiers would get included for a reserved slot, access to auctions, and pvp/arena events.

Finally, just wondering, what is the current breakdown (#) of supporters, Iron/Gold/Diamond?

I think the reason for only one supporter level and one cosmetic level is the the Eula forbids more than one supporter level. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. I like your idea of a discount for purchasing both.

I am waiting for the server owners to get together as a group, and shut down their minecraft servers for a weekend, or maybe even a week.
Together we stand, separated we get picked off.

What do you think the response would be, if 80% of the minecraft servers shut down for a week?
If they thought pressure was bad when they nerfed farms, imagine the impact this would have.

If you have all 3, you will own more rare goodies.

Being that they don't really make money off of 3rd-party hosted servers, they would just get Gaben Syndrome and laugh their derrières off and put new minecraft accounts on sale.. ..while not confirming HL3.. o,o'

But what do you think player responses will be if all their minecraft servers were gone for a week?
Afterall Mojang is making it most difficult to try and recover server costs, for whatever reasoning they have.

Basically show the players what a potential future is, if server costs cannot be recovered.
And keep in mind, this is a good possibility that many servers will go away.

Of course Mojang does not directly make money from the servers work, and they can laugh at anything they wish.
They make money by 1) selling accounts.... 2) Realms.
The point is to show the players how serious this is, and to try and take a stand.

Just a thought. I mean if it becomes unfun, or I cannot stand what Mojang is doing, i will just give up minecraft.
As much fun as I have, I do have morals i need to stick to.

Sigh. Wow..

when will this rule/way of supporting the empire start? if you can please give me a precise answer thanks

Mojang has given all servers until August 1st to change things.

Voted for $10/$15.

I see a lot of people want to keep the price the same as current prices (Diamond = $20 so the combined Supporter/Cosmetic should cost the same), but with the loss of revenue from not being able to sell rupees and other game enhancing items, it makes sense to pay a little extra to help keep this server stay alive.

I don't mind throwing in an extra $5 a month to keep most of the perks already offered, if it means that EMC stays up. I've only been here just over 2 weeks, and I love this place. And honestly, what's $5 gonna hurt you? If you have money to spend on a game, you can afford the extra $5.