Thread: Friday with Means - November 12th, 2010 - Changes large and small

  1. #361
    And sometimes one must weigh carefully between hardcore - an item shop that supplies serious advantage* for those willing to pay - and moderate, which is AOs current "Item shop", together with all its account possibilites and Pre-Order re-buys. I'm all in favor of increasing this, handing out more fun stuff from the Phasefront vendors including those replicas mentioned even adjusting the prices somewhat.
    Of course it all depends on the prices, especially the impact of those buyable buffs and VP. But this is just the difference between bad and seriously bad in my opinion.
    'Cobbler, stick to your trade' comes into mind.


    *Serious does not mean "Buy all your phats now!", although one could say that this could be the case with buying VP and selling OFAB.
    Last edited by Ikarus; Nov 13th, 2010 at 17:32:16.
    A bullet may have your name on it, but a grenade is addressed To Whom it May Concern.

  2. #362
    Don't get me wrong.. I'm all for the browser and the advantages it will bring like a better /petition system and such.. I've used PP for in game social stuff before and adding to social is fine..

    But selling things for $$ to make up for what I see as a lack of proper design and development, VP/PVP, Vets/Levels, Raids/Items is going too far.. It's a kick in the teeth to everyone who's stuck with AO over the years. Fix > $$ imo..

  3. #363
    Quote Originally Posted by Raggeh View Post
    You talk about not having time to play and yet you have 4 220's, one of which is 30/70. Doesn't make much sense...
    Been playing for over 9 years. I only play one game and that is AO. My main (Mongoshade) took 5 years to make and it`s still not complete. No, I didn`t have kids back in 2001. Nor was I always a full time employee (you see raggeh, there are lots of other situations like unemployed, student, retired, part time worker, etc. and it influence the time you have to play AO. Pretty awsome, huh?)

    I hope it makes more sense to you now.

  4. #364

    Thumbs up

    I think most of these changes sound good. And as far as the buyable levels, I think it will HELP the new people in the game and assist others in actual play time. Think of it like this; (I am not saying anything bad about either, just stating the facts)

    If I have an account with an OST I can use to help my lowbies level, I will often do so. And that team generally consists of 5 leachers and an NT. Some teams are just half way equipped and not able to do kill things on their own and use the OST. Those people that HAVE the ost will be able to SKIP leveling in such a manner and be able to just shoot them up to a higher level if they wish. And with that, there will be more of an opportunity for players of all ranges to form teams (Or solo) in a manner closer to the intended fashion of the game. It will however make it harder for a new person or such to grind 1-150+ in a day or two because the OST's may become obsolete, but I can only see this as a positive.

    I state this from a perspective of a person that has been in love with PvM in AO for many years. I enjoy exploring and leveling and playing the classes I chose to play. When I am leveling and notice that a large area is "called" I just move to another place and avoid hecklers and such. That does not bother me, but the people that do enjoy hecklers and such things will once again be able to enjoy them w/o having the zones "called" by an enfo/doc and an NT.

    I hope this is clear enough to understand, and may the words sink in and get past the initial negative thoughts that are so often expressed on this forum.
    ~~Ryan

  5. #365
    Quote Originally Posted by Means View Post
    No we won't be changing leveling speed. If anything we will be increasing it at some level ranges.
    XP bonuses and free levels definitely make that first sentence wrong.

  6. #366
    Quote Originally Posted by Wilted View Post
    I think most of these changes sound good. And as far as the buyable levels, I think it will HELP the new people in the game and assist others in actual play time. Think of it like this; (I am not saying anything bad about either, just stating the facts)

    If I have an account with an OST I can use to help my lowbies level, I will often do so. And that team generally consists of 5 leachers and an NT. Some teams are just half way equipped and not able to do kill things on their own and use the OST. Those people that HAVE the ost will be able to SKIP leveling in such a manner and be able to just shoot them up to a higher level if they wish. And with that, there will be more of an opportunity for players of all ranges to form teams (Or solo) in a manner closer to the intended fashion of the game. It will however make it harder for a new person or such to grind 1-150+ in a day or two because the OST's may become obsolete, but I can only see this as a positive.

    I state this from a perspective of a person that has been in love with PvM in AO for many years. I enjoy exploring and leveling and playing the classes I chose to play. When I am leveling and notice that a large area is "called" I just move to another place and avoid hecklers and such. That does not bother me, but the people that do enjoy hecklers and such things will once again be able to enjoy them w/o having the zones "called" by an enfo/doc and an NT.

    I hope this is clear enough to understand, and may the words sink in and get past the initial negative thoughts that are so often expressed on this forum.
    ~~Ryan
    Bump!
    Oh Yeah!

  7. #367
    Quote Originally Posted by Means View Post
    Level packs (Boost to 50, Boost to 100, Boost to 150, Boost to 199). These items will only be available to accounts that already have a 220 Character as an option for those who want to play another profession at end game but do not have the time or inclination to replay the lower level end of the game another time.
    Question here:
    Will that be based on "billing account" reached 220, or "game account" reached 220?

    And another thing:
    You obviously wanna cater to a wider audience here; What about froobs that have reached 200? Maybe give them the option of up to 150 boosts? Maybe separate boost packs for froobs even, with slightly higher prices to get them thinking of upgrading instead?

    Also:
    Will the packs be "Level to 50,100,150" of "50, 100, 150 levels worth" (obviously capping at 199 ofc), if so, maybe include a pack for 10 levels also?
    Last edited by Maofex; Nov 13th, 2010 at 19:08:40.
    Former President of Unlimited High Society - We're recruiting 220/30/66 Eternalist Mardonge - Equip 220/25/70 Savior Bioth - Equip 220/22/64 Dictator Cratzi - Equip 220/22/58 Mogul Stressed 199/22/45 Don Riksmongo - Equip 194/19/52 Spetsnaz 176/18/42 Master 5th Dan Maofex - Equip 100/10/28 Biomare - Equip Foremans Twink ************************************************** Be vewy vewy quiet, Im hunting whinomen

  8. #368
    Means said 10 level boost, so maaaaybe it will become a Boost item for your existing character, for example you have 151 toon and buy the boost to get 161 or so...

  9. #369
    After reading all 19 pages of this thread & over 10 pages in the shop announcement thread, the one thing that very few have mentioned is the pricing. If the prices are high enough (which I expect if I use the current paid points items for reference) having the ability to pay to level a toon really doesn't matter.

    If a social leet pet nano costs $10, an apartment that we rarely visit costs $25-$28 (Jobe vs. Sunrise) & a mech in a different color from a mech that we rarely use costs $30, just think about what they will charge for a newly created toon to end up as a level 199...
    $100?
    $200?
    More?
    Maybe™ is the new Soon™.
    Quote Originally Posted by Means View Post
    At heart I am a vindictive, heartless, ruthless bastard and behaving in any other way is an effort for me.™
    Quote Originally Posted by Means View Post
    Our goal is to have a closed Beta running this year.™

  10. #370
    Well, prising doesn't bother me really, I most likely won't buy the level boosts anyway.
    Only reason I'm asking is to get things ironed out before things hit live.

    I might buy tokens though, on some chars...
    Former President of Unlimited High Society - We're recruiting 220/30/66 Eternalist Mardonge - Equip 220/25/70 Savior Bioth - Equip 220/22/64 Dictator Cratzi - Equip 220/22/58 Mogul Stressed 199/22/45 Don Riksmongo - Equip 194/19/52 Spetsnaz 176/18/42 Master 5th Dan Maofex - Equip 100/10/28 Biomare - Equip Foremans Twink ************************************************** Be vewy vewy quiet, Im hunting whinomen

  11. #371
    Quote Originally Posted by Tazalanche View Post
    After reading all 19 pages of this thread & over 10 pages in the shop announcement thread, the one thing that very few have mentioned is the pricing. If the prices are high enough (which I expect if I use the current paid points items for reference) having the ability to pay to level a toon really doesn't matter.

    If a social leet pet nano costs $10, an apartment that we rarely visit costs $25-$28 (Jobe vs. Sunrise) & a mech in a different color from a mech that we rarely use costs $30, just think about what they will charge for a newly created toon to end up as a level 199...
    $100?
    $200?
    More?
    well surely lower than price offered from other sites' PL services lol
    220/30 Lordlawrence
    200/2x Pampero
    Ever wondered what's like making an OP toon? 30/3 Forum
    25/3 Killergoa

  12. #372
    No visual reproductions of HI-specs, Pande-items or similar in the shop please.

    We will not be selling rare loot or equivalent items...
    We often do things, hard things just for the look. It gives a feeling of rarity and acheivment.

    So imo the sent helmet/omnipool armors should just be visually obtainable by looting the mobs/doing the raid/quest.

  13. #373
    Well, what Wrangeline has said pretty much sums up my view too.

    I have had some wonderful times in AO, and met some great people, but if this is the way FC are taking things, I think I will be finding some other way of filling my spare time.


  14. #374
    I'm fine with every change really, except the combination of buy-able VP and yes-drop ofab. This is an indirect way to buy creds, and is silly in my opinion. I mean buying VP could basically give me a way to make billions of ingame cred and buy best nanos/armors/weapons/lootrights etc. This directly goes against the no RL money for IG power statement from Means himself.

    One or the other would be fine, but both is a REALLY bad idea imho.
    Limdul - Shade / Sammybear - Doctor / Swakhammer - Enforcer / Puriel - Fixer / Kalutika - Nano Technician / Tengen - Adventurer

  15. #375
    It's all good if you want to follow the business models of other free to play games out there but your ignoring the fact that this is a paid game first and a free game second. The paid players is what's keeping this game going and what a nice game it is when FC isn't trying to ruin it.

    Personaly i don't like the item shop idea, least of all the lvl buying. I think you'll be ticking off your already flimsy player base and damaging the game more than doing it any good.

    If you had free to play business model in mind why not take out the paid content from the shop and limit shop access to froobs only. Teasers so to speak that'll draw them into buying subs.....

  16. #376
    Quote Originally Posted by -Stage- View Post
    Um... these engineer nanos... they have tradeskill requirements.

    You guys :-(
    LOL!
    Quote Originally Posted by Means View Post
    Game **** Stuff . . .

    Tokens:

    Token packs will be available from the shop in different amounts. This is an item that has been long requested by the community as it represents a very significant time investment to most players. The end-game boards themselves will not be available and will still need to be obtained in the normal fashion.

    More Game **** Stuff . . .
    Frankly, I'm a little ****** off by this statement in particular.

    Edit: I hope you check back in on this thread and see this Means. If you do, read here:
    http://forums.anarchy-online.com/sho...d.php?t=583755
    Last edited by Prevention; Nov 16th, 2010 at 22:20:10. Reason: {Edited by Prevention: Inappropriate}
    The Fine Arts:
    Mime | Surgery | Zen
    The Traitor


    Xirayne: I couldn't care less about who is clueless or what the exact definition "real" pvp is in ao, I want "fun" pvp!

  17. #377
    well if you are able to buy vp you are able to buy tokens with these vp, so tokens are totally irrelevant

  18. #378
    Some of the stuff sonds like a good idea, i really like the tradeable ofab, i know a number of people who flat out wont pvp and its cool that they now have a way to get ofab, (also helps those who hate pvming who can now trade for creds/drops)
    The buying vp with paid points however seems like a really bad idea as was already pointed out (buy paid points with $ > buy vp with paid points > buy ofab > sell ofab for creds) you might as well just let people buy credits for paid points.

    Also the replica items, altho personally im kinda peeved that everyone is gonna be running around with vintage social items, ill get over it, but replica pande/ ai armor/HI etc. ? there needs to be some sort of status for the people who actually have these items. I remember being a noob and seeing people running around with BoC or AI armor and thinking how freaking awesome they looked, and even years later when i got my first ai armor and later finished the set there was a sense of accomplishment and pride. If u completely remove any way for an experienced/veteran player to distinguish themselves your gonna kill a whole element of the game (and yes i know some people just buy creds to buy this stuff but the majority of us worked hard for our phats and would like some sort of way to show it off)

    I guess that my point is that there needs to be SOMETHING in the game that is out of reach for the majority of players to allow the hardcore peeps (a group ive never been part of or ever will for that matter) to distinguish themselves.
    Traders need love too

  19. #379
    Only 2 things in the shop I think should not be there.

    1) Buying VP.
    Obviously FC has no problem with a brand new (never played before) level 1 player buying a load of VP, grabbing a full set of Ofab armour and/or nanos, selling them, and starting his way with a bucketload of creds to their name. This idea is very poorly thought out, and should not be there at all.

    2) Twinking nanos.
    The idea that you are taking more profession specific nanos and generalising them for the masses is insane. A lot of the fun in getting twinked up is ensuring you have all your ducks in a row, including having to find the right professions to assist in getting yourself set up... it's part of the game.
    ZeePhonz :: 220/30/70 Adventurer
    ZeeMedic :: 220/30/70 Doctor
    ZeeDaKeep :: 220/30/70 Keeper
    Cratscan :: 220/30/70 Bureaucrat
    ZeeStabbie :: 220/30/65 Shade
    ZeeInstein :: 220/21/60 Engineer


    President of A.R.S. (Athens Recovery Service)

    Whenever I fill out an application, in the part that says "If an emergency, notify:" I put "DOCTOR".

  20. #380
    Quote Originally Posted by Zeephonz View Post
    Only 2 things in the shop I think should not be there.

    1) Buying VP.
    Obviously FC has no problem with a brand new (never played before) level 1 player buying a load of VP, grabbing a full set of Ofab armour and/or nanos, selling them, and starting his way with a bucketload of creds to their name. This idea is very poorly thought out, and should not be there at all.

    2) Twinking nanos.
    The idea that you are taking more profession specific nanos and generalising them for the masses is insane. A lot of the fun in getting twinked up is ensuring you have all your ducks in a row, including having to find the right professions to assist in getting yourself set up... it's part of the game.
    that

Page 19 of 29 FirstFirst 1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •