Cash Shop Incentives

[Nixman]

Disclaimer:
I did do a quick search for backpack and didn't see anything specific, so I apologise first off if it has been suggested (surprised nothing came up on search tbh, only an extra backpack slot from a few months ago).

At the moment I'm not really seeing anything worth buying in the shop, I don't really need any more silver nor do the beginner packages appeal to me now as I have the skills/items they offer, and to be fair I'm not that interested in the clothing.

I liked the idea of the holiday items, if you made them truely rare (as in never seen again) it would add an extra element to the game for both raiders and collectors alike.

What I would buy however is a 16 slot backpack or a 6-8 slot sled or something that had more usage without making it pay to win.

What would you like to see in the cash shop?

[jorb]

I support this thread and would love to see a meaningful discussion on the subject. Thank you OP.

[Sevenless]

I support this thread and would love to see a meaningful discussion on the subject. Thank you OP.

You missed some really interesting conversation about this a while back jorb (I'm talking ages, so no problem the OP missed it). Couple things that were previously mentioned:

Building "skins" to change their appearance. This is really neat, and it's not something that can be stolen (destroyed yes, but someone else doesn't get it if you lose it).

Premium currency instead of silver: Stop worrying about inflation of ingame silver, price all vanity items in a premium currency (gold) in game and let the free market determine what silver to $ ratio is worth. This gives a lot of freedom to players, and the ability to own premium items as a non-payer increases. Feel free to set a base exchange ratio as well of course. And for the love of god it will at least keep people quiet about the "Oh it's 100$ to buy a stall..."

Items/Structures (these were adopted recently, yay. And people do seem to be buying them). I'm dead sure if you make "skull on a pike" a structure that requires a premium building token to make you'd have many a happy raider. In general furthering the modularity of the process, perhaps having some form of "premium item writ from the king" for sale and then simply adding the items into the game is a good way to take things. It makes "pricing" much easier to handle in general for non-holiday item sets. 1$/writ, make more expensive structures like statues cost 5-10 writs, and smaller things like a flower bed cost 1 writ.

Recent development:

A lot of people are really worried about becoming targets for their purchases. They believe that making items (clothes at the very least, no way that works for furniture) be un-stealable would make people feel "safer" in their purchase knowing that raiders can't take what they've paid for. I'm not sure this is entirely a solution (My bet is people just grief em instead), it's getting at the point that people don't feel safe buying in this game in general. I've suggested this in the past with those plague masks: Make them break if a player KO's you to keep them rarer and valuable.


Final note: What it really comes down to is a lot of people seem to feel the cash shop is overpriced for what it offers. Especially considering the game is permadeath and raiders roam the land. Higher chance of losing something devalues its perceived worth after all. It does not feel like it's based off microtransactions at all, it very much feels like a macrotransaction game (and this is indeed what the paradox financing people seemed to be aiming for last I heard). You can buy entire games for the price of a table in Salem, think about that I guess.

[G1real]

I was thinking about simple, unstealable things that could indicate "I've bought something to support the game" like a flag waving from your backpack or your homestead/house. Point is, in a permadeath environment, if someone doesn't like what you have...

[Kaol]

I think items which are purely cosmetic should be non-stealable (like clothes and tables) and some items should be functionally useful (like a 6 slot sled or 12 slot backpack) but be stealable. This would of course be clearly indicated when you purchase them.

I think a seperate premium currency which you can sell on in-game would be good, at the moment the only real time i might consider buying silver would be on a brand new server to get a few days start on the competition. Once you are set up, it becomes easy enough to get silver and the cash shop becomes overpriced. If there was a seperate premium currecy I could buy that and then sell it to players, which would cancel out the effect of inflation. There could still be a npc converter with the current rates as a minimum exchange.

I think pvp related items and structures should be kept out of the premium shop.

I'm not sure what i would suggest as premiums, i would like to see what others think first.

[jwhitehorn]

Here are my thoughts. The argument is to keep this shop from allowing players to "Play to Win". But what exactly is "winning" salem? In my opinion one of the most lucrative and greatest opportunities about this game is that it is essentially a game that takes two very different gamers and places them in the same playground. You have the PVP minded conflict driven competitive player (who is probably more vocal and concerned with a P2W model) and you have the PvE minded Minecraft playing sim-city building positive progression player.

As much hate as there is to the latter game-type any griefers who thinks that their life would be fun without the prey is just lying to themselves. As such any of the PVP players who are trying to "win" Salem should be fully supportive of any "advantages" that can be bestowed upon the Simmers as it is keeping their prey entertained and docile, thereby, increasing their own enjoyment.

All that being said lets identify fun or addicting aspects of this game that are farthest from "winning salem" and start there for the Cash Incentives.

Disclaimer: Before you go and say "X event leads to Y production which leads to Z killing people." go ahead and just press the back button now. Obviously, there is an argument that every aspect of this game can have a byproduct of a byproduct that leads to some kind of character development but that is not what I"m talking about here. I am talking about specific actions that are more than one arms-length transaction away from a PVP/combat/competitive altering result.

Terraforming
Wheel Barrow. Carrys 20X the amount of dirt. $25.00

Lighting Fires
Flint and Steel - Same as in game. Just let noobs buy it. $2.00

Self Closing Gates
Springs (mentioned in a previous I&I thread). Gates close after 3 seconds of being opened. $1.00 per spring.

Musty Compost Bin Board
When used to make Compost bins creates same object that fills 20% faster. $3.00 per set of boards to make one bin.

Lofty Baking Table Board
When used to make baking table causes dough to become rested 20% faster. $3.00 per set of boards to make table

10 Slot Backpack - $40.00

Olympic Torch - Burns 100% longer when at full fuel $6.00

Player Skill - Expert Mineoralogist - Chip 5% more Ore/Stone/Granite/Lime from boulders you have lifted/chipped - $100.00

Player Skill - Expert Lumberjack - Chop 5% more Wood blocks and boards from trees you have chopped/lifted - $100.00

Player Skill - Expert Cook - Gellatenous Lard spawns 5% more often - $100.00

Player Skill - Expert Gardener - 5% chance to gather 3 (or 4 with horticulture) plants from a gardening pot - $100.00

Player Skill - Expert Miner - Fires in a mine burn out 25% faster - $100.00

New Wilderness port for players without Rights of The Englishman - $1.00

100X of Black Asphalt paving (as seen in boston) - $12.50

Ability to "bank" Silver into your boston bank (Silver you already have) - $1.00 per 250 silver.

Instant Crime Drop and KO release for characters w/o Rights of Englishman - $2.50

A Bundle of TNT - Right clicking on a mine allows it to be destroyed (mine tile stays so victim can rebuild on it)- $7.50



Things I DO NOT believe should be in the store:

Anything that changes the anonymous nature of this game. Gender Change/Char appearance/name change etc. After everything the Chief has done I SHOULD NOT be allowed to "buy" myself out of it and/or pay money to be anonymous and infiltrate a guild.

Anything you can right-click to instantly give a prof. or skill.

Anything that increases your damage or humours over other players.


Conclusion:
I would buy pretty much every one of those things if they were available in the store and I would then subsequently laugh at every person who says "I won Salem" because I have a torch that burns longer than theirs. I also believe that just about everybody would buy or at least wish they could buy at least one or two of those items regardless of which kind of player they are.

Chief PeePooKaKa
MM Tribe

[Kaol]

I dunno, one players definition of competition is different to anothers. If i've spend time planning out the most efficient village only to find that i'm worse productively than someone who spends all their time raiding but dropped $500 on premiums then that's pay to win too.

[Shiala]

I fit more into the Simmer category than any other and I mostly get my enjoyment out of building my property. I was super happy that tree planting was added because I'll be able to do a bit of landscaping. The types of things I would be inclined to buy in the store are:

Buckets of paint/wood stain for houses and wooden fences

Landscaping things like flower beds, shrubs, statues, etc.

A bonnet and pretty dress

[Galthon]

But I like the "flasher in only a snakeskin trenchcoat" look!

[dageir]

In my opinion all items should either be stealable and if not that, destructible.