Friday with Means - January 7th, 2011: Unplanned But Exciting Event!

[Traderjill]

I can't figure out how to quote a closed thread but its in the second paragraph:

http://forums.anarchy-online.com/sho...35#post5622235

[Shiekah]

If you are mad about your accounts being banned...or something like that...please try to grow up and accept the fact that you very likely deserved it.

Hoho this gave me a good laugh.

[Omutb]

I can't figure out how to quote a closed thread but its in the second paragraph:

http://forums.anarchy-online.com/sho...35#post5622235

You quote it by hand, like this.

the kind act of mentoring new players and ecouraging them to become full members of the AO world will result in a reward of free game-time.

And yes, this is what I recall reading.

So seems like the idea was you get some free game time by helping and training froobs who then upgrade to paid.

[Traderjill]

You quote it by hand, like this.



And yes, this is what I recall reading.

So seems like the idea was you get some free game time by helping and training froobs who then upgrade to paid.

Hmm.. I don't think that is exactly what it was.. In his July 3rd post he specifically said that the sponsor system would be for sponsoring two new paying players. I took it to mean that the people you sponsored had to already be paid players in order for this to work.. but since we haven't gotten any information.. either one of us can be correct in our interpretation.

24% of users would make use of a sponsor system without really even knowing what it was. 53% are willing to look and consider using it if it is worth using.
This confirms the need for this kind of system in AO. AO suffers slightly from "Old MMO-itis" where the veteran players are not really available to new players to help smooth their transition into the game. This makes perfect sense as AO is probably the most complex MMO available and there is little or no benefit to a veteran player who uses their time to help a new person who might not even stay. The sponsor system we are considering is a simple one...as long as you continue to sponsor two new paying players (who are not sponsoring players themselves) you will not pay a subscription fee to play AO...this will allow the veteran players to grow the game and be rewarded for their efforts. This will take some time as we can't allow for "creative gameplay" in this area...but it is in the works.

[blingoutyourdead]

Hmm.. I don't think that is exactly what it was.. In his July 3rd post he specifically said that the sponsor system would be for sponsoring two new paying players. I took it to mean that the people you sponsored had to already be paid players in order for this to work.. but since we haven't gotten any information.. either one of us can be correct in our interpretation.

I can understand how this is something that would require a while to get right. I have no idea how they can even do it without it winding up as a giant free-play pyramid scheme. I mean, what is "sponsoring" going to entail, and how are they going to monitor it to make sure that you're not just "sponsoring" your own alts and getting two paid accounts for the price of one? I also imagine noobs being pummeled with "mentor invites" as soon as they hit the beach on noob isle, from hordes of paid players looking for mentees meal tickets. And given the recent trend toward gouging the existing player base for every little thing (i.e., ITEMSHOP) I also can't imagine that FC is going to get around to doing anything that would result in even a marginal number of paid subscriptions going unpaid any time soon.

[Traderjill]

I can understand how this is something that would require a while to get right. I have no idea how they can even do it without it winding up as a giant free-play pyramid scheme. I mean, what is "sponsoring" going to entail, and how are they going to monitor it to make sure that you're not just "sponsoring" your own alts and getting two paid accounts for the price of one? I also imagine noobs being pummeled with "mentor invites" as soon as they hit the beach on noob isle, from hordes of paid players looking for mentees meal tickets. And given the recent trend toward gouging the existing player base for every little thing (i.e., ITEMSHOP) I also can't imagine that FC is going to get around to doing anything that would result in even a marginal number of paid subscriptions going unpaid any time soon.

You might be right.. I don't know. I'd just like to know where they are with it since the last posting which was a year ago almost made it seem like it was 'almost' ready... ok.. I LOL'd IRL when I typed that

Personally, as someone that quite often helps newbies without hopes of getting anything in return.. free subscription time seems a bit over the top.. maybe some extra funcom points would be nice and a cool Mentor tag that can be toggled on/off.

[dustbunny]

Personally, as someone that quite often helps newbies without hopes of getting anything in return.. free subscription time seems a bit over the top.. maybe some extra funcom points would be nice and a cool Mentor tag that can be toggled on/off.

Mentor tag, mentor social armor, not bad! A lot of people, myself included, would not have made it far into the game without carebears, so a little appreciation would be nice.

Hard to get it right, tohugh, as Bling says. Spamming unsuspecting noobs with mentor invites is not the way to go. Maybe they realized that. Something like a voting system, maybe a way to nominate people would be good. Smacks of employee of the month, of course , but I'm sure it's possible to tweak the idea.

A nice side effect would be that ARK could identify "predisposed" players and start a subtle recruitment campaign

[blingoutyourdead]

Hard to get it right, tohugh, as Bling says. Spamming unsuspecting noobs with mentor invites is not the way to go. Maybe they realized that. Something like a voting system, maybe a way to nominate people would be good. Smacks of employee of the month, of course , but I'm sure it's possible to tweak the idea. A nice side effect would be that ARK could identify "predisposed" players and start a subtle recruitment campaign

I wonder if it wasn't ARKs that got this put on the back burner in the first place. I mean, they don't have the manpower for individual "mentoring," but they have built their entire organization around giving up their own game time to get free play, while essentially providing FC with a zero cost customer support staff. I'm sure at least some of them would have felt a little irked if FC just started giving away free play for players that had not "paid their dues" by working their way up through the ARK ranks, just because those people dragged a couple noobs through SoM now and then.

[blingoutyourdead]

Spamming unsuspecting noobs with mentor invites is not the way to go. Maybe they realized that. Something like a voting system, maybe a way to nominate people would be good. Smacks of employee of the month, of course , but I'm sure it's possible to tweak the idea.

Could be that you would have to "apply" somehow to unlock the mentor invite feature, and that it would be monitored and people who abused it cut off. Making people go through some vetting by ARK prior to getting this feature turned on would probably cut down on most of the potential abuse of it. They also could just disable it entirely on noob isle, which might be either very sensible, or might defeat its entire purpose.

[Traderjill]

Could be that you would have to "apply" somehow to unlock the mentor invite feature, and that it would be monitored and people who abused it cut off. Making people go through some vetting by ARK prior to getting this feature turned on would probably cut down on most of the potential abuse of it. They also could just disable it entirely on noob isle, which might be either very sensible, or might defeat its entire purpose.

I can only speak for myself.. but if I had to go through anything with ARK to use the featue I'd probably pass and just continue doing things the way I've done. If I can't figure out how to assist a newbie after playing for almost 7 years then an ARK vetting program isnt going to help me much. I don't mean for this to sound snotty.. but those that need ARK advisement perhaps should apply to ARK directly.. then they can be greeters and such and go up the ladder.

I thought that this mentor program was something like an AO Big Brother/Sister thing.. where we take a newbie under our wing.. help them out and advise them...at least that's what I hope it is

[Anarrina]

I wonder if it wasn't ARKs that got this put on the back burner in the first place. I mean, they don't have the manpower for individual "mentoring," but they have built their entire organization around giving up their own game time to get free play, while essentially providing FC with a zero cost customer support staff. I'm sure at least some of them would have felt a little irked if FC just started giving away free play for players that had not "paid their dues" by working their way up through the ARK ranks, just because those people dragged a couple noobs through SoM now and then.

Oh, don't be silly. Of course not. We don't tell the developers what to do and what not to do... that road runs entirely in the other direction.

Means mentioned at the Oslo gathering there was a billing department issue that back-burnered it.

[Mastablasta]

I can only speak for myself.. but if I had to go through anything with ARK to use the featue I'd probably pass and just continue doing things the way I've done. If I can't figure out how to assist a newbie after playing for almost 7 years then an ARK vetting program isnt going to help me much. I don't mean for this to sound snotty.. but those that need ARK advisement perhaps should apply to ARK directly.. then they can be greeters and such and go up the ladder.

I thought that this mentor program was something like an AO Big Brother/Sister thing.. where we take a newbie under our wing.. help them out and advise them...at least that's what I hope it is

lol .. best conspiracy ever.

Anyway, mentor program was mentioned at the fan convention, and the word was that it was stuck at legal/economy, and not with AO or the dev team. So, there.

[blingoutyourdead]

I can only speak for myself.. but if I had to go through anything with ARK to use the featue I'd probably pass and just continue doing things the way I've done. If I can't figure out how to assist a newbie after playing for almost 7 years then an ARK vetting program isnt going to help me much. I don't mean for this to sound snotty.. but those that need ARK advisement perhaps should apply to ARK directly.. then they can be greeters and such and go up the ladder.

I'm not saying you don't know how to help a noob. I'm just wondering if FC isn't concerned about screening out wankers and people looking to scam the system by "mentoring" an army of their own alts, or people who would try to get free play while doing the least they could get away with. I'm not sure you can actually prevent that without some human intervention.

[Traderjill]

lol .. best conspiracy ever.

Anyway, mentor program was mentioned at the fan convention, and the word was that it was stuck at legal/economy, and not with AO or the dev team. So, there.

What conspiracy theory? I only presented my opinion which is that I personally wasn't interested in signing up for an ARK program. Please troll elsewhere.

And I'm glad you have information about different things but can you point out where someone from Funcom has addressed it, either via an in-game discussion or post on the forums, in the past 8 months or so? When was the fan convention?

I'm just asking for an update.. and have been asking for that update for some time as evidenced by the links I posted. I'm not sure why you have an issue with people asking for updates on things that Funcom chose to announce to us. As I stated in another thread, they are the ones bringing this to us.. not the other way around.

[Lazy]

by NEXT do you mean this coming or the one after that?

[Roswell]

lol .. best conspiracy ever.

Anyway, mentor program was mentioned at the fan convention, and the word was that it was stuck at legal/economy, and not with AO or the dev team. So, there.

Christ Masta, what's wrong with you?

[Ninjaloot]

I think masta miss-quoted you. I assume he was responding to bling.

[If6was9]

Christ Masta, what's wrong with you?

He has joined The Man Inc. It happens at a certain age. Then Paranoid Teenage Ranting seems damned silly to you... just as Children Celebrating Poop and Farts might seem infantile to a Paranoid Teenage Ranter. Later in life the joy of poop and farts returns... thus the wheel of life turns.

[Vhax]

gehehe poop and farts

[Mastablasta]

What conspiracy theory? I only presented my opinion which is that I personally wasn't interested in signing up for an ARK program. Please troll elsewhere.

And I'm glad you have information about different things but can you point out where someone from Funcom has addressed it, either via an in-game discussion or post on the forums, in the past 8 months or so? When was the fan convention?

I'm just asking for an update.. and have been asking for that update for some time as evidenced by the links I posted. I'm not sure why you have an issue with people asking for updates on things that Funcom chose to announce to us. As I stated in another thread, they are the ones bringing this to us.. not the other way around.

The conspiracy theory about ARKs sabotaging FC because of the mentor program.

The fan convention was in September I believe. It was also referenced in FWM what was discussed.