TheAmazing FlyingPig
Crux Special Tasks Group
Gallente Federation
4187
   |
Posted - 2013.10.15 05:24:00 -
[1] - Quote
I can only think of two reasons as to why rollover SP hasn't been implemented so far:
1. Incompetent developers that have been working on it, but just can't seem to get it working right
2. Marketing team thinking there's no profit to be made from it
This post is going to assume #2 is the main factor, being that "If they aren't forced to play every week, how are we going to push active boosters on them?". The solution would be to add a new booster that increases the rate at which SP is accrued into the pool, while keeping active boosters in the game as a means to draw from that pool at an increased rate.
The booster would not add any more to the pool than an active booster gives in bonus SP every week (before being capped), being 190,400 * 0.5 = 95,200, or 285,600 total SP. The rollover system would add to the pool on downtime every day one seventh of the cap (so at the end of the week, we have a total of 190,400 unbonused SP added to the pool, or 285,600 boosted).
By adding this booster to the game, you can potentially collect money from players that want to take a week or two away from the game without missing out on SP accrual, then hit them again with an active booster to drain that pool at an accelerated rate.
I don't mean to make this into a doom post, but people have left the game (active player counts) in hopes that it improves in the future. You have a chance to tap into a market that otherwise wouldn't exist with these boosters, which, at the same time, would also encourage people to log back on at a later time and potentially become paying players again. A pile of rollover SP (not free SP for logging back in after inactivity) would be much more effective at roping old players back in (and having them actually try the game out) than a handful of painted standard suits.
Now, what of the new player that, due to the rollover, would never be able to catch up to the vets? Eve Online has this same issue, yet continues to grow year after year in lieu of that. Players are advised by both the game and peers to specialize into one role, then branch out from there. A new player, within their trial period, can fly a well-fit tackle frigate and play a pivotal role in a small gang fight. This is a recruitment poster made by The Goonswarm Federation (arguably the largest alliance in New Eden) emphasizing that even the little guy can make a huge difference. Specialization is how the new players compete with the 2004 vets in Eve, and this is no different in Dust.
The bottom line for any online game is to make a profit, whether it be free to play or subscription based. I love what you guys are doing in keeping the game a good distance away from pay-to-win (I say "a good distance" because some would argue that aurum gear is somehow "paying to win", despite the fact that it is not), and I highly respect that. This is a way for you to keep to that model while still potentially generating revenue from a player that otherwise would contribute nothing to the game and, conversely, whose profile would cost you a small portion of your storage space.
TL;DR - Rollover SP would allow the game to collect money from an inactive player which otherwise wouldn't be a customer if we were to add a booster that increased the rate at which SP accrued into a pool over time, while keeping the active booster in game to allow a faster drain on the pool. |
TheAmazing FlyingPig
Crux Special Tasks Group
Gallente Federation
4188
|
Posted - 2013.10.15 05:38:00 -
[2] - Quote
Meeko Fent wrote:Pig, just relax.
They are working on tons of **** right now probably.
Vehicle Balance
Scout Pass
New weapons
New suits
New vehicles
PC 2.0
Skirmish 3.0
New Maps
Porting (Eventually)
This is another thing to be added on, and although really would be nice, is a non priority compared to million ISK tanks dropping like nothing.
I wouldn't doubt that, and I would really hope that the things on that list are currently being worked on (especially Skirmish 3.0 and Amarrian tanks). We did, however, vote on a new SP system back in January, and back in May CCP confirmed that they were shooting for an SP rollover system. We're coming up on the one year mark for this, and no *visible* progress has been made.
A rollover system would both be a victory for CCP, who could now honestly say that they have taken player feedback seriously on a feature that would be very well received, and for the marketing team, who would have implemented a way to make money off of the players that aren't playing. |
TheAmazing FlyingPig
Crux Special Tasks Group
Gallente Federation
4195
|
Posted - 2013.10.15 06:28:00 -
[3] - Quote
Denak Kalamari wrote:You forgot reason #3:
There's more important things to fix.
I would agree with this point, however the development staff is divided into several teams. I can't list them all off of the top of my head, however it would stand to reason that marketing would be a team of their own, therefore any effort used to implement a new booster would not hinder map creation or additional content. |