Vrain Matari
Mikramurka Shock Troop
Minmatar Republic
1558
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Posted - 2014.02.12 16:14:00 -
[1] - Quote
CCP Saberwing wrote:Ghost Kaisar wrote:CCP Saberwing wrote:We have just brought in a new Monetization Director that will be evaluating several monetization avenues. Introductions and cool stuff to come soon when I can get him to fire it over to me! :) YAY?  Don't get me wrong, there is a lot of things I would gladly pay for in this game, but isn't it odd to see a post basically saying "Hey guys! We are thinking of new ways to make money off of you guys!" Honestly this is something that has to be thought through from not only a Monetization perspective, but also Design. We've made it clear from the beginning that we'd like to have an in-game economy, and it's important to have someone with experience and knowledge weighing Monetization decisions alongside that to ensure things aren't broken. He'll also be working on improving the NPE and Path-to-Game, trying to make it easier for players to get involved. He's also a super nice dude. :)
That's great news, Sabrewing. Imo the Monetization Director has a genuine opportunity to actively promote New Eden as a real, living universe by thinking about what the marketplace communicates to players, especially new players. It's encouraging to see that the NPE and path-to-game are bundled with the monetization role - someone deserves a tasty, tasty cookie.
I suppose the first thing i would like to see from a new approach to monetization would be a reworking of the AUR store in the sense that visiting the store would not be immersion breaking. This would mean that the aesthetics of the store marketed to New Eden DUST mercs and did not market to players as consumers. This would improve the overall messaging of the DUST experience - as things stand the AUR store very powerfully reminds me that i am not in New Eden, but sitting at home in front of my console. It reminds me that i am the consumer and CCP is the vendor, effectively removing my merc as an entity from the transaction. This feeling immediately drives me right out of the AUR store.
Looking at the first step in the process, the act of buying AUR should very clearly be me, the player, interacting with a New Eden entity, to purchase AUR and donate it into the account of Vrain Matari.
What do we stand to gain from an immersive market set in New Eden? Done right, a lot. The market is one of the first points of contact for new players. This is our opportunity to introduce peeps to New Eden entities, relationships and lore. In perusing the market and making a purchase, the merc should be interacting directly with New Eden entities. For example, in drilling down through categories - Weapons, Heavy Weapons, HMGs - my merc should at some point encounter the New Eden entity 'Boundless Creation' and a purchase of the 'Boundless HMG' should be an interaction directly with Boundless. As a powerful but radical refinement to this, the transaction with Boundless should reflect the merc's relationship with Boundless. A merc who had deployed many times for Boundless(or against their competitors) should see evidence of that relationship reflected in their interactions with Boundless.
How would evidence of this relationship manifest for the Merc? As a RMT discount based on standings. Why? because this makes sh!t real, and dissolve the line between the player in the real world and the merc in New Eden. It introduces a deeply powerful dualism that connects the two realities: the player works for the benefit of the merc through purchasing AUR from a New Eden entity and putting said AUR at the disposal of the merc/the merc works for the player through providing for the player a RMT discount with New Eden entities(e.g. Boundless). The player and the merc work together to generate these beneficial relationships with New Eden entities, both investing time/AUR/ISK to generate said relationship.
There's much more to be said about and opportunities to be had from a rethinking of the AUR store, but this post is too long already. What i've neglected here is actually the most important topic: the market-as-educator of new and veteran players.
Sabrewing if you could please pass this on it would be appreciated. Our new Monetization Director should say hi and get some organized point-of-contact threads going. The areas he is working on are very important to DUST and New Eden.
o7.
I support SP rollover.
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Vrain Matari
Mikramurka Shock Troop
Minmatar Republic
1560
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Posted - 2014.02.12 16:49:00 -
[2] - Quote
al nize mk2 wrote:Himiko Kuronaga wrote:Joseph Ridgeson wrote:Himiko Kuronaga wrote:You know you're a fanatic when you start a thread asking for new ways for a company to charge you.
/facepalm It can look like that but it is more of an utter acknowledgement that the game needs to make money. There are ways they can make money off of the community but it is a bad way of going about it. UVT's sucked but it was a great way to get people to monetize the game. If CCP come up with ways to get people to pay their bills without being insulting and be something that the players want, it becomes a service rather than a charge. You are not CCP. You are the consumer. Start acting like a consumer. You never get a good deal anywhere by marching into a store and asking the clerk how much extra you are allowed to pay for something. In game development, it is possible for us to be on the same side. In business, it is always Us vs Them. Always. Butting in on your conversation - but I find this a fascinating subject. Us Vs Them sounds harsh - but maybe it's true.. Maybe we as players need to fight to keep things from getting out of control. I don't think I'm so addicted I couldn't refuse to pay over the odds for something in DUST - but maybe I am!
I stopped paying a long time ago, based on CCP's action re: sp rollover.
I support SP rollover.
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