Suggestion for Returnees and New Players, Dev's please read
Good evening and thank you for reading
I've a suggestion that would be really great for us returnees like myself and new players as well.
--Daily login rewards for subscribers--
Daily login rewards are a great incentive to get people to login, but it also gives a sense that a game is alive while also helping out the struggling new/returning player.
As for UO obviously people pay their accounts monthly to get their veteran rewards and keep their houses. However, these rewards wouldn't be directed towards them nor hurt the vet reward system in anyway since the items would be temporary. They could have the option to not take the reward or trash them for points.
The kind of rewards and time frames could be random each calendar month with the best reward on the 30th day a player logs in consecutively.
Examples:
1. Player logs in 7 days in a row and receives a temporary soul stone fragment (2 uses)
2. Login 2 weeks - commodity deed box (3 to 5 uses)
3. 3 weeks - random dye (1 use) or vanity pet from store (3 days; these temp pets could potentially encourage players to buy the permanent item)
4. Gold coin worth 2 million or so (RNG on the amount of the gold coin)
5. 4 weeks - Shard visitor token (allows the player to visit any shard) good for a round trip there and back. Once the player chooses a shard to visit they would go with what's in their pack and have a time limit of an hour before it would bring them back to their original shard.
Player's could also receive potions that give bonus benefits like luck increase for one character, or skill gain increase for 30 minutes.
I'm sure a lot of you could come up with even more ideas
Anyway, I hope we could see this implemented at some point in the near future.
Comments
Sure, it IS, to my opinion, a real bummer and totally unfair that a 22, 21, 19, 18, 17 and 16 Years old paying account is valued the same (since they get given the same Reward....) as a 15 Years old paying account ( @Mesanna ? ) but that's another story.....
Running through the empty towns, empty buildings. They could do like they did TerMur, and even thought I would despise that, it could be built into the building so that when I go in with transparency it disappears. Maybe that could be something for next year.
However, I don't think Soulstone fragments would be a wise item to offer. Most people don't use them until after they've GM'd a few skills, and that could take months in some cases.
Maybe "young" tagged players would get xxx healing potions or bandages. Or a "ghost mount" that lasts for 7 days.
After dropping the "young", offer up xxx recall scrolls or 5x each reg up to 6 months.
Would have to be enough of an incentive, but not giving the game away. Also encourage game play and not just logging in for boosts.
About the only other thing that would be worthwhile of offering would be gold *cough* - but the abuse there would be astronomical. Most players new or returning, have the main goal of getting a house.
Maybe reinstitute the beloved Tent for those who continuously log in from 6 months to 2 years (eta: in account age). Maybe a weekly check on this to keep the tent. Portable housing back in the early days was awesome.
(also eta): getting the gold to buy even a small, secure house, is what drives a lot of people to play. A Tent, with minimal lockdowns, that packs up and is transportable, would be a nice way to help young/new players. Returning players.... well... most have Banks full of stuff. The best way to keep them coming back is to let them at least access their full bank.
Of course, none of this would be usable for EJ accounts.
Is a thought anyway.
kirthag.blogspot.com
Many of us forget what it was like with only a couple of toons, living out of the bank-box, and working with others to train, hunt, skill-up, gather this suit or that suit for different types of hunts... I honestly had 8 different suits in my bank, depending upon where the group went hunting and what role I would be on that hunt. Those days are long gone. Everything is so powerful and plentiful...
Now, when a new player comes on board, IF they meet up with other people, suits are given to them - for we are eager to have new blood! We bestow rune books with several marks, hundreds of recalls, bandaids - IF that new person meets up with others. The new player doesn't realize what it takes to get their gear/kit together.. everything is handed to them by others. I fell into doing this myself.... giving a young player a full sorcerer's suit - and they had no concept of gathering reagents... they never needed them.
kinda kills the game a bit when you think about it.
I'm all for some sort of reward system to help new/returning players to keep coming back - especially on shards other than atlantic. What the only incentives I can think of would be to contribute to skill building (power-hour for the young would be awesome!), housing, and gold.
Returning players are another matter and need a whole different think-tank to work on that.
kirthag.blogspot.com
I have quit otherwise good MMO's that go nuts with daily quests/rewards stuff. After awhile a realization comes - "You know there is another place where you could do the same boring thing every day, over and over... It's called a job, but they give you money there"
Talk to Allen. We are doing the high seas bosses every night. I can get you some pet scrolls and Soulbinders. LEXX donated 40k Sand for all of us.
Never be afraid to challenge the status quo
A Summary for Returning Players
Great you can get a bag of ten soulbinders every time you need them. Just ask. More Scalis from EQ tonight. Ill be at a Wedding.
Send 400 over to Lake Austin for me I am about out and really not looking forward to mining the sand to make another 400 LOL.
Like you earn some random name points with daily quests and after hitting enough points you can buy some cool stuff. Or just like you said a plain login bonus, better than nothing.
I am personally more a fan of daily quests like "kill 20 zombies in haven", "do a t-map", "fish 10 fish", "do a trade quest", "go to dungeon XYZ", etc. as they promote people playing the game over just logging in and out.
Vet rewards are of course a whole different thing, as they dont promote any game activity at all apart from paying accounts on some ea website.
I just feel you are facing a steep uphill battle with the current UO demographics. Easier to just stick to some other game that already provides the fun you are looking for.
However, if Broadsword added that they would prolly add things like "kill cora" to it that are only accessible to like 5% of the players - as usual...