First off, I have no idea if this has been suggested. If it has, please ignore this. Ok, so I was looking at IceCreamCow's post about the 100th in the Vault being accessible in the wild. I was like "Oh great! Awesome idea!" but then I saw someone else post which reminded me that only Diamond supporters could have 100 slots. This made me think about how it could be more... fair? I guess that's the word I'll use. I've played a lot of games on the internet, and being a supporter/member hasn't ever been a problem for me. I've always been able to pay myself when I wanted. The more I've played though, the more that I've seen that this isn't the case for everybody. A lot of the time, people who want to become a supporter/member can't pay because it's either A) Not economically feasible - basically this means that the money can be spent better elsewhere or B) They literally aren't able to spend the money - Parents restricting the use? When I didn't have my own card, I would have to go through mommy, and a lot of the time, even if I said "I have the money here, you won't lose a cent" she has disagreed so I went without. I never stopped playing a game because I didn't get the same features or bonuses, but I did feel overlooked. The cool thing about EMC is to become wealthy, you don't NEED to have a membership. It's a little easier, but if you work hard, the extra thousand a day from Diamond isn't that much. I came up with what I personally thought was fair. I don't see paying with rupees as being an equal alternative though since it doesn't support the site as much. Instead of EMC's 30 rupees a cent: http://empireminecraft.com/rupees/ - Donation link - I think it would be better at 100 rupees a cent. The donate version would be $1 to 300 rupees, whereas the opposite conversion is 10,000 rupees > $1. More expensive? Oh by far, but this is so people see paying with rupees as a less attractive alternative. It's there for people who want membership but can't pay with real-world money. My conversions would be this: Iron - 50,000 rupees. Grants you access to any server no matter how filled up and allows you the /map hide option. I personally find this a fair price, but my brother thinks it is low. Gold - 100,000 rupees. Grants you the above options along with more lots (Could be in Utopia) and Utopian wild access. This one seems a bit low to me, but still this is just a conceptual idea. Diamond - 250,000 rupees. Grants the same as above, Utopian flying, more lots, and the main reason I created this: The ability to get Wild Vault access. Now with these prices being a bit low, I was looking at EMC's conversion rating more, and notice for every $10 there was a +10% bonus. I think that that would be a wise thing to do here as well, but I changed it a little also. Instead of a +10% bonus every $10, it is a +25% flat fee. This would make it as follows: Iron - 50,000 rupees + 25%, is 62,500 rupees. Gold - 100,000 rupees + 25% is 125,000 rupees. Diamond - 250,000 rupees + 25% is 312,500 rupees. This is a price that I think is accurate for each option. This is my idea and if it were to be implemented could be changed in any way the staff choose. It's much better then having a bunch of rupees with no way to spend them. Now the way this would work really depends on what the staff think would work the best. Option 1: The user contacts one of the admins (Or people able to grant supporter rank) and says "I would like to purchase --- membership with --- rupees." The staff says "Ok cool." Then you /r pay the staff member, they take the money out of circulation, and they give you a month of the membership. Option 2: A place in empire shop. It would be a sign that says "Diamond Membership - 312,500" just as an example. That would take a lot more coding/scripting in my opinion. Option 3: ??? I personally think option 1 is the best. The admins may have receive a lot of messages though, so the feedback on this may determine which way this would go. You can also feel free to add an option you think would work. Now I don't know if you guys may want to nerf the abilities of each supporter type, or just make new ones in the place altogether. I tried making it so people would still choose to pay with cash instead of rupees. Basically this will just allow active members with some money a chance to spend it for some member only benefits. This would be beneficial with the new vault update especially. Well I'm basically done typing now, but I guess I should make a quick "perks" list of how this could help. - This would take a lot of rupees out of circulation (potentially.) For people concerned about the economy (Please refrain from Aikar jokes. They're getting old) this would help balance it out a bit. - This would give active members a chance to become supporters. It's not designed to make you the daily bonus. I made the prices like this so you were basically paying for the features, not the daily income. - This would *potentially* increase member activity - specifically Utopian activity. A lot of Utopia is still beautiful pretty close to the spawn at each outpost (Roughly 3,000-5,000 out). Lovely. - It's another unique feature! I've never come across a game that does this, but I wish I had. - Players would be more determined in voting daily to get 700 rupees closer to their goal. - New Vault System: Any pages you purchase are yours to keep forever even if you downgrade supporter rank. - Maxarias This would give many players the ability to get more pages. - It would be difficult to maintain the membership, so it would encourage more activity. Earning 312,500 a month is kind of hard. I would really like to see large shop or "Mega-mall" owners post here whether they think that this is possible. I don't think it is. I've been saying that this is kind of an alternative, but I guess it isn't. It's not easy to maintain Diamond or Gold. Iron is possible, but it's still a lot to spend. This would allow users an extra lot or two and a taste of EMC supportership. So please, any feedback is nice. I don't want this to be a replacement for real money, but only an option for those less capable of paying.
*Refrains from Aikar jokes* Interesting… But isn't supporting supposed to help the server be able to run? Which is why supportership is paid by actual money, rather than rupees. I like the idea that I would be able to support and gain some perks, but I wouldn't feel like I'm actually "supporting" the Empire.
well thats more the point, BUT it gives people who cant afford to pay IRL something to work towards, and a reason to stay on EMC. they would feel better about it because they worked hard to get it.
I completely agree. I tried combining the term "supporter" with that of "member" because of this. I know that this doesn't benefit the Empire by monetary gain, but more of game-play benefits. There are a lot of ways this would end up "supporting" the Empire, just not in the traditional way. Again, I want current supporters to support the way they are, which is why I priced it as is. I don't see Diamond members eager to spend 300,000 rupees instead of $20. Some people might, but I personally wouldn't. This is mostly to give people who couldn't otherwise have a membership. So I DO think it will support the Empire, but not the way that we're used to.
It doesn't seem like the ones who pay with rupees should get the same perks as the people who pay with their own actual money though. Perhaps a new class? Wool supporter?
maybe. it seems fair to me all in all, even though i wont be spending money nor rupee 1. i dont think we need anymore supporter classes, if we keep this in the active threads tonight, people who cant see it now are sure to see it in the morning.
The entire point if supporter is that our donations run the server. Using rupees to buy supportership defeats the purpose of getting extra benefits for paying for the server to run. Without players that pay for supportership using money and not rupees, EMC would probably only be able to run 2 or 3 servers with 60 player limits.
Exactly how would the members who paid with rupees be supporting EMC? Yes, I want to see how supporters feel about this.
not if you downgrade the perks that rupees payers get. if you keep the good ones for people who pay, then its still worth it.
I don't disagree with you. Supporters are the main reason EMC is able to expand. I don't want people to think of this as a "I don't have to spend real money anymore" type feature. As a Diamond supporter, would you think 312,500 per month is a good price? If you have that much money, you're here to stay, and you can't sustain a membership like that for long. It's basically enough to give you a taste of it, or access some features. I don't see anyone not paying anymore because of this option. It's just not a good alternative. It's really only for people who really want it but can't afford/purchase it.
Well here's a quick list: - A lot of players have a very artistic side, but it's hard to express that as only a member. People who would but couldn't purchase membership now could and use more lots as a way to show their art. - More money taken out of circulation is always good. More bang for everyone's buck. - Players would be more intent on staying longer and contributing because they can be a member now. There's more I could think up if you give me some more time. My brother just brought this one up and I added it to the main post: - Players would be more determined in voting daily to get 700 rupees closer to their goal. Voting is an easy way to make rupees, and 700 a day is quite a bit.
Yeah I like that... I think if this is going to happen the perks would have to be nerfed or even changed all together. and you wouldn't be called a "supporter"... Maybe like pen said, a wool group.
I mentioned this, but I think that ICC said somewhere that there weren't going to be new types. Not sure though. What I said: Now I don't know if you guys may want to nerf the abilities of each supporter type, or just make new ones in the place altogether.
I think it was in some thread like "What should be the next supporter" and they listed lapis and emerald and stuff... But I think this could be an exception to what he said.
That thread was for new paying supporterships. This is different. I personally, would like to see different things that weren't as good as people who pay actual money perks. Maybe give them /map hide and access to the supporter chat channel, a higher daily bonus, something. Just not like: Extra res, flying in utopia, and such.
I guess it's up to the staff when it comes to the perks/supporter types if they were to implement this. I know a lot of free members want /map hide. Daily bonus wouldn't really matter for it. Access to supporter channel/utopia would be fitting I think. Extra residences should be included. I don't know about flying though. Maybe like 3 res' with Diamond and 1 with Gold? Maybe not completely nerf'd but still slightly.
I've been suggesting this, or suggesting approaching this goal for some time, directly or between the lines Last time - well yesterday -> Possible New Vault goal Let's really think this through carefully, - this could be a great step for EMC - community, game-play and economy. Let's see the great picture first, then consider details. There are several aspects - as always Why support EMC? (multiple reasons possible) - like the server, contribute to cover costs for operation, maintenance, development and administration - like perks around the game, that do not give advantage over other players in the game, as recognition for support - like to have advantage over other players in the game (paying for in-game perks) - like to get something from non-supporting members / players in return even if it is in-game - any other? The ideal supporting would be without any in-game advantage over other players. If you're supporting fair play, than you would probably want that. In that model, the perks would bring no, or only negligible in-game advantages (like color, chat channel, number of residences, ...). The rules would be equal for all players in the game. I must say here, paying real money outside of the game with the intention to have advantage over other players in the game is IMO sick. I wouldn't say that such people are playmates one would like to play with. There are several good reasons to support, but this one is not. Well, we don't live in an ideal world , and we have already an established perks system. If we accept to give the supporters in-game advantages over the other players, we probably want to do it in a way that wouldn't ruin the game - not for all players and also not for the supporters themselves! I guess it is an acceptable solution if non-supporters give the supporters something in return in-game, as there is hardly a way they could do it outside of the game - as long as this has a good measure and doesn't ruin the game (and also economy, a vital part of the game). Perhaps you can see it like this: Supporter works for 1 hour IRL, covers a part of the cost of the game and gets 10k rupees. Non-supporter collects stuff for 3 hours (about 3.3k rupees per hour) in MC and gives (sells) it to the supporter. At this point the two should be equal. The non-supporter has the option to buy the about the same relevant perks for the rupees she/he has got. Possible solution: A) Perks that have only insignificant influence in-game remain exclusive for the supporters: Color, number of residences in town, reserved slot, supporters forum, supporters chat channel, customized residence message B) Supporters get daily free rupees as their advantage over other players in the game. C) Free rupees for voting and referring stay as is for all members. D) All other perks and special functions (show/hide on the live map, access to utopia wild, place TNT, lock items, possibly vault access in the wilderness etc.) have a carefully set price in rupees and are accessible to every player. E) There is an option to buy exclusive perks from A) for adequate, relatively high amount in rupees, perhaps with factor between 1:2 and 1:5 (additionally to the 1:3 factor described above), so that, for example, a non-supporter collects stuff for supporters for 6 to 15 hours in-game to get the same status as a supporter who works for 1 hour IRL to earn the needed real money. This factor should be chosen so that it is interesting for both supporters and non-supporters, so that, in any case, it can't be called scrupulous exploitation. Benefits: - Good (or at least acceptable) trade off between supporter in-game advantage and fair game play - Determined orientation towards clean, fair play - Rounding up the economy, significant sinks for free rupees - Preventing separation of the community into classes and segregation - Better separation of the virtual world from the RL financial situations - Achieving something in-game has more value and meaning - Being truly one of the best professional MC servers Price: - Possible temporary drop in revenue for EMC until few billions of rupees are drained. This would be more than balanced with above benefits and the influx of new players due to fair play, fair perk system, strong community and stable economy. Please think this well through - and have fun!
