Theft, vandalism and Murder unfortunately have the effect of decreasing the game population. This phenomenon is well described in Richard Bartle's famous article on the different playstyles in multiplayer games. Many notorious players in Salem would be described as "Clubs", those who seek to harm and harass other players (as opposed to building, exploring or socializing). Any group of people will have these, but the problem is that the activities of Clubs tend to drive away other players and suppress their playstyles.
In order for Salem to be anything even close to resembling a commercial success that might justify the support it has gotten from Paradox, Salem will need to earn money, and to earn money it needs more players, and most importantly, players who are willing to pay money. This is not a new topic, and people have been complaining about this aspect of the game forever before eventually leaving (leaving behind a community made of sterner stuff). I'm not going to cover new ground by complaining about this and how Salem has "no future". Instead, I will explain the idea stated in the topic that inspired you to come criticize another Presumptuous Noobtm.
Pay2Kill
The idea is fairly straightforward: The rights to murder other players must be purchased.
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![¦]](./images/smilies/troll.gif "Trollface")
)No seriously, that is exactly what I am proposing.
Why do I think this is a good idea?
Murdering people drives players away, player loss = revenue loss. Ganking noobs hurts the game's bottom line. However, without the ability to "Crush your enemies and hear the lamentations of their women" Salem just wouldn't be Salem. This is a Hardcore PvP Perma-death MMO with a Crafting Theme where cute little avatars occasionally commit unspeakable acts of violence on one another for the lulz. But that's the key point: For the Lulz. Raiding settlements and killing noobs is FUN! It's not quite as fun getting killed (although it's a prerequisite for sweet sweet vengeance), but the bottom line is that a not inconsequential portion of the Salem playerbase likes get their entertainment by destroying the hard work of others (and drinking their delicious tears).
Rather than calling this a problem though (since the developers consider this WAD), this should be viewed as a RESOURCE. If you're going to make money from a game, you need to charge players for what they have fun doing. If they don't like what you're charging for, they simply won't do it, and you make NO MONEY
. People have fun annoying others, so why not pay for the privilege? Is it that unreasonable or unthinkable that people would be willing to pay money for the opportunity to smash other people's nice things? Also, this method of monetization earns income from exactly the people who would otherwise hurt it. It's like pollution taxes: Some industries just can't practically be run without generating some pollution, so it makes sense to charge them for their impact to help offset the costs. Similarly, some players simply cannot have fun unless they are taking fun away from other people, and so their "fun reduction" should be taxed. It also has similarities with some proposals to legalize and regulate narcotic drugs (except that it would make the price of murder go up, not down).
So now what would the effects be of all this? (First of all, many veterans will be furious, like anybody would be when a previously free thing suddenly costs money. But what about in the game itself?) I imagine that if it costs $1 to buy a "Cursed Blade" in the item shop, then people would be more reluctant to waste their kill on a random noob walking by. Best save the killing for your real enemies! Or, if you really have a hankering to cause mayhem, then go for it! Become a serial murderer! 30 kills = $30 towards the continued maintenance and development of the game. Suddenly a Scalp-Collection thread on the forums becomes a Donation Button! It's Win-Win!
Exploring this concept to it's logical conclusion leads to hilarity. The game's business-model would end up resembling a Game Preserve, where the bulk of the players play for free acting as a "Prey" population for the "Predator Players" whom the developers sell "Noob-Hunting Licenses". The game will need then to be friendly to noobs, to ensure that there is a continued supply of fresh meat for the Hunters, and PvP-lovers get to kill to their hearts (or wallet's) content. It would shy away from a "Pay2Win" business model and the ethical problems posed by that. Rather, the developers would be in the business of selling a product that allows people to indulge their baser instincts and satisfy their craving for blood. (And if the developers think that this would make the game too "soft", then think about this: If the bulk of the players think they're simply enjoying playing a free game without realizing that they are actually prey for your real customers, think how many hundreds of people you're trolling simultaneously?)
And so that's the monetization scheme I propose: Pay2Kill
Addendum: It is likely that thrifty players will shift their activities to less bloody forms of destruction to avoid paying the murder-tax. Thus a broader system than Pay2Kill will likely be in order, such as "Pay4Crime" with separate fees at attractive rates for antisocial behaviors such as looting, pillaging, and petty thievery.
