...$10

[reddeath]

It costs 10 dollars per move.... That is INSANE!!! I'm all for contributing to compensation for the devs, but you want 10 dollars (after the free 5) to fill a slot up in the kingdom. I'm dumbfounded.

And forced marketing emails to use the forums...

What's coming down on us next.

It used to be that we received incentive just to play... No wonder the player base has gone from huge to invisible.

To keep it relevant, my suggestion is uhhh... NO

Edit: Also, I'm not trying to stir up anything. I just want to see who actually knows this and what they think about it

[reddeath]

I'm assuming that this applies to end of age invitations as well or?

Is there no way you guys could make it cheaper. I know you're trying to avoid pay to win games, but atm it's looking like a: "Well if you got the money, we'll take it and let you do what you wanna..."

[Hanoumatoi]

I'm assuming that this applies to end of age invitations as well or?

I'll go look for it, but Bishop said you could fill a KD up with reservations for free...

http://forums.joltonline.com/showthr...1#post15062646

you can use your free reservations to completely fill your kingdom. Just find a kingdom to merge with and send reservations for them (reservations are available nearer age end).

[reddeath]

I hope so lol. Would make me feel a lot better bout it

[Bishop]

You get 7 free an age (3 + 1 every 3 weeks) and 24 free at age end - make sure you get facts correct ;)

If you don't want to pay for extra moves you don't have to - you can try retain your randoms and the people you get merged with at age start. My kingdom is full for next age after starting completely from scratch at age start and we've used only 3 invites (we will also use the free reservations)

There was some consideration in a reduction via cheaper credit purchases in bulk, but nothing concrete at this stage. Personally i think if you feel you must buy an invite then something that costs less than 20 smokes is alright.

Alternatively if you have better ideas for revenue generation I'm sure the devs would love to hear them.

[Hanoumatoi]

Bishop: I think a situation where you cut the cost might generate more revenue. The $10 price point is pretty scary, and a $5 price might work better for people wanting to play with friends. Definitely something where you'd need to take a hard look at the costs of other services and how used they are, so if you guys say it's the optimal price (economically), I can't doubt that.

[Bishop]

Bishop: I think a situation where you cut the cost might generate more revenue. The $10 price point is pretty scary, and a $5 price might work better for people wanting to play with friends. Definitely something where you'd need to take a hard look at the costs of other services and how used they are, so if you guys say it's the optimal price (economically), I can't doubt that.

Its not meant to be really cheap though. You aren't supposed to ignore your randoms and just buy tons of cheap invites. There still needs to be some incentive for you to work with the players that land in your kingdom.

If we make it too cheap then it becomes essential that you buy invites and fill your kingdom up with pros to compete. That pretty much makes it pay to win.

edit: forgot to mention - this invite thing isn't written in stone, they devs are really keen on feedback from you guys - i'm just explaining the reasoning behind the pricing.

[reddeath]

I think that bringing back the classic method would work fine. If you're willing to pay a one time fee for a level of service (I think it used to be silver/gold/platinum) silver being 5, gold being 10 and platinum being 15/20 then you wouldn't have to worry about these things.

5 dollars gets you basic ad removal
10 dollars gets you basic ad removal, so many moves on top of your initial 7, I guess 3 more would work per age.
15-20 dollars gets you basic ad removal, 15 or so moves per age, and some kind of added bonus possibly related to the "new" forums, or customization of your throne HUD/GIF through colors etc...

There's a million ideas. Just gotta snatch them out of the air.

And when I said 5 moves, my facts were correct. You've given us 5 for this current age. I don't speak like a jedi referring to the future all the time lol.

[Hanoumatoi]

Well, I feel like the limiting factor will always be the ability to attract pros. I mean, as long as you can buy an invite, the price point isn't that relevant to how "pay to win" it is. I mean if we were to consider extremes, the more it costs, the fewer people would use it, and at some point it'd become "pay to win" because only some people could pay, and they'd get all the best players together, while other people would be stuck with whoever they got, plus their freebies. If you make it too cheap, then it just becomes sort of pointless. $10 might be a good spot for it, but I don't think at $5 a person it's "pay to win" as much as it is "pay to play with people you choose". Ultimately having unlimited invites available for purchase unlocks the possibility, so the pricing at that point may as well try to maximize profits.

That's my thoughts, since the free system exists and seems to be reasonable for people that don't want to pay (and especially since it's becoming more robust with the ability to stockpile more than 3 invites), may as well get what you can for people that want more.

[Hooah]

Its not meant to be really cheap though. You aren't supposed to ignore your randoms and just buy tons of cheap invites. There still needs to be some incentive for you to work with the players that land in your kingdom.

If we make it too cheap then it becomes essential that you buy invites and fill your kingdom up with pros to compete. That pretty much makes it pay to win.

edit: forgot to mention - this invite thing isn't written in stone, they devs are really keen on feedback from you guys - i'm just explaining the reasoning behind the pricing.

i think what they did is great. hell just being able to invite was great at EOA and some through the age, NOW you can pay if you really need the slot filled. don't think i would tweak it. More invites might lead to people abusing it and lowering cost like you said would be too easy. its a good all around idea.

ways to generate money, bring the great war back and make that a paid event, $5? you still have WOL server for free and then a $5 great war tournament...

[reddeath]

I like that idea too^ or maybe some kind of additional access to a war score leaderboard or something. Something the devs could throw in on top of what has been here since 98 would make it easier to spend money on. As it is, they're really moving and altering alot of the same old code aren't they?

[Bishop]

And when I said 5 moves, my facts were correct. You've given us 5 for this current age. I don't speak like a jedi referring to the future all the time lol.

Actually everyone gets 7 - not 5 like you said in your initial post. If you only got 5 its because when the server went looking at your kingdom it saw that you hadnt used any and didnt allocate more. This limitation is gone now though, so everyone will always get the same 7 invites (when i say 7 i mean 3 at age start and one every 3 weeks after - so its 7 in a normal 12 week age)

With that bit of pedantry out of the way i'll endeavour to highlight this thread to the developers, so please keep up the discussion.

One thing to note, the tweak to the allocation system due to go live in the new age will hopefully alleviate a lot of the issues people are having with unfilled kingdoms.

[reddeath]

Are they paying you to push us to "discuss" :P :P :P

[Bishop]

Volunteers dont get paid :( Getting a revenue generating mechanic that the playerbase likes is really important to the game though. And I'm speaking now as a player myself. The more money the game makes for the devs the more time they can spend developing it, the more players it gets and the more people i can war etc.

Utopia used to be loss generating, I'm not sure what its like now but i cant imagine its a golden cow of any sort. I personally don't have an issue paying for stuff as long as i can get the same for free with skill or patience.

[reddeath]

-Bishop "Utopia used to be loss generating, I'm not sure what its like now but i cant imagine its a golden cow of any sort. I personally don't have an issue paying for stuff as long as i can get the same for free with skill or patience."

Well said oy!