@Jeremy Wheel is an okay way to do some of the promo stuff, but it definitely needs racechips added to the list. E: And a 100c buy option at the stone dude, like when that promo is running.
It seems like people are assuming the "Get all your daily credits in 2 hours" refers solely to bashing, when there are other things you can do to earn them that overlap with clearing areas or don't involve bashing at all. Bashing already pays out a decent chunk of gold, so having it be the most efficient way to grind out daily credits would be kind of weird. Mix and match. Do multiple things.
My level is in the seventies and my main focus in skills has been my profession skillsets with a fair side of Survival, as recommended by pretty much all the veterans I talked to. The only avenue I've been able to find for my dailycredits, and thus for getting more lessons, is bashing the same handful of areas over and over again. Speaking from experience (pun intended), the current system's setup tends to restrict new players to doing just that, while providing a more rewarding gameplay for the veterans that have been around for a long time. With the advent and advertisement of Imperian as completely free-to-play, this doesn't seem like a great approach. New players like me see all these ways to get credits, but... we'll either have to spend untold hours bashing to unlock access to them, or else pay out for some the lessons and credits packages. I have nothing against paying for something I enjoy, but it does make the game seem more pay-to-play than what the adverts say, which may lose some new players before they really get started.
I would love to see some non-bashing methods of advancement available for new players, both to help them get up to a competitive level of combat and to immerse them in the game a little more. For example: Discount/Make free the first tradeskill. Make lessons earnable through practicing the skills, or augment the lessons and go straight to optional skill advancement through practice. The forum account seems linked to the game account, make cred rewards for posting, answering questions, hitting a certain number of liked posts, etc. Have sponsored quests! A board/person in each city, guild and town can ask you to go do a certain quest within a certain time for an increased reward in lessons or credits. This will help bring back questing as an alternative to straight bashing, and encourage more immersion/investment in towns and guilds. Especially towns, as these seem to be a dying part of Imperian.
I've clarified the post to note that you still have to spend lessons. I've also refunded 100 (bound) credits to anyone that already knew a tradeskill.
ETA: It's a change we'd been tossing around since shortly before we fully went free. Rather than keep waffling on it, I decided to pull the trigger (along with increasing crafter approval pay). The overall changes are a great opportunity to loosen things up a bit and allow more players to access more parts of the game than they could before, if their resources were especially limited. This won't impact most players, who could gather the 100 credits one way or another (both before and after daily credits), but for those whose time is very limited, or are just starting out, this lets them jump in and start designing immediately.
My level is in the seventies and my main focus in skills has been my profession skillsets with a fair side of Survival, as recommended by pretty much all the veterans I talked to. The only avenue I've been able to find for my dailycredits, and thus for getting more lessons, is bashing the same handful of areas over and over again. Speaking from experience (pun intended), the current system's setup tends to restrict new players to doing just that, while providing a more rewarding gameplay for the veterans that have been around for a long time.
I've been ensuring that my Ithaqua newbies can get at least 9 credits a day the past few days. At least, the one's that are around when I do it.
So, I made my first Imperian purchase in many, many years today (like, around the era of Aquafresh years). It wasn't a big spend, I got some lessons. I figured that, like sushi or WoW, this is an acceptable price for something I enjoy, I can throw some money at it on occasion without feeling too guilty that I still don't have a house deposit. Only unlike sushi or WoW, I cannot do this on occasion, because it's a one off (well, two off, but still) and this makes me sad.
Historically, any mention of adjusting prices has been met with "We can't, that's up to Matt and it's IRE wide", and I get that, but with the radical changes made to Imperian and it's disassociation from the retirement collective (and the fact you were going to do away with purchases completely anyway), it strikes me now is perfect opportunity to experiment with pricing that isn't comparable to a secondhand car, and at the very least remove the cap on the no-brainer lessons package. Imp's days of whale attraction may have come and gone now that the welfare credits flow, but I imagine there's still a decent market for those of us that would like, when funds allow, to throw some sushi money IRE's way.
It's worth noting that the reason that credits can still be bought for Imperian is because people asked for them to remain. They were originally going to be shut off altogether to eliminate any suggestion of the "free to play" model. Making credits cheaper may appeal to some, but it may make others feel like they have to pay to stay competitive in light of the influx of credits. Then there would be calls to increase the daily credits and the cycle would continue.
Not saying it's impossible, but I did want to explain the thinking here as there is a history.
Said it before: Turning off the two-purchase limitation of no-brainer lessons would be amazing. Lessons provide much more benefit to newer players, without providing any real 'pay to win' advantage, especially on the new model. Would also be significantly less daunting for those who feel like changing (or picking up new) classes. $30 to change, versus like ~140... $60 for a new class, versus like $260 almost. Could even do 2 per RL month limitation.
It's worth noting that the reason that credits can still be bought for Imperian is because people asked for them to remain. They were originally going to be shut off altogether to eliminate any suggestion of the "free to play" model. Making credits cheaper may appeal to some, but it may make others feel like they have to pay to stay competitive in light of the influx of credits. Then there would be calls to increase the daily credits and the cycle would continue.
Not saying it's impossible, but I did want to explain the thinking here as there is a history.
Meh on this entire answer.
People already feel that way. All you'd be doing is lowering the bar to entry and making it more accessible to be top-tier.
Slash credit prices, slash THE CRAP out of non-pk oriented artifacts and boosts in game. Think of it as a marketing ploy for the other IREs. Walking around fully kitted here is gonna give them the itch elsewhere.
Making credits cheaper may appeal to some, but it may make others feel like they have to pay to stay competitive in light of the influx of credits. Then there would be calls to increase the daily credits and the cycle would continue.
As we move into month 2 of lootboxes for sale, this response seems a little dubious. Not to be that guy but...
We have been consistently giving out credits, tokens, and the like. We are giving out a number of stockings through events this month, and everyone will receive one free stocking if they log in during the month. We've been giving out quite a bit on the promotions side for free.
Everyone still wanted the promotions so they are rerunning old promotions, just cause it's there doesn't mean you have to buy it. I've gotten lots of goodies IG and I'm quiet happy.
Just for clarification, I've received more than my fair share of free things, and I'm in no way suggesting that I haven't, that I'm not grateful or that there should be more free things, I *want* Imp to make money (my money in fact).
Lootbox promotions (particularly ones with unique items) seem to run completely opposite to the stated goal of not making people feel obliged to spend to keep up however.
Just for clarification, I've received more than my fair share of free things, and I'm in no way suggesting that I haven't, that I'm not grateful or that there should be more free things, I *want* Imp to make money (my money in fact).
Lootbox promotions (particularly ones with unique items) seem to run completely opposite to the stated goal of not making people feel obliged to spend to keep up however.
Comments
I would love to see some non-bashing methods of advancement available for new players, both to help them get up to a competitive level of combat and to immerse them in the game a little more. For example: Discount/Make free the first tradeskill. Make lessons earnable through practicing the skills, or augment the lessons and go straight to optional skill advancement through practice. The forum account seems linked to the game account, make cred rewards for posting, answering questions, hitting a certain number of liked posts, etc. Have sponsored quests! A board/person in each city, guild and town can ask you to go do a certain quest within a certain time for an increased reward in lessons or credits. This will help bring back questing as an alternative to straight bashing, and encourage more immersion/investment in towns and guilds. Especially towns, as these seem to be a dying part of Imperian.
Geez while I could still edit:
(may vanish for periods of time)
ETA: It's a change we'd been tossing around since shortly before we fully went free. Rather than keep waffling on it, I decided to pull the trigger (along with increasing crafter approval pay). The overall changes are a great opportunity to loosen things up a bit and allow more players to access more parts of the game than they could before, if their resources were especially limited. This won't impact most players, who could gather the 100 credits one way or another (both before and after daily credits), but for those whose time is very limited, or are just starting out, this lets them jump in and start designing immediately.
I've been ensuring that my Ithaqua newbies can get at least 9 credits a day the past few days. At least, the one's that are around when I do it.
Historically, any mention of adjusting prices has been met with "We can't, that's up to Matt and it's IRE wide", and I get that, but with the radical changes made to Imperian and it's disassociation from the retirement collective (and the fact you were going to do away with purchases completely anyway), it strikes me now is perfect opportunity to experiment with pricing that isn't comparable to a secondhand car, and at the very least remove the cap on the no-brainer lessons package. Imp's days of whale attraction may have come and gone now that the welfare credits flow, but I imagine there's still a decent market for those of us that would like, when funds allow, to throw some sushi money IRE's way.
Not saying it's impossible, but I did want to explain the thinking here as there is a history.
People already feel that way. All you'd be doing is lowering the bar to entry and making it more accessible to be top-tier.
Slash credit prices, slash THE CRAP out of non-pk oriented artifacts and boosts in game. Think of it as a marketing ploy for the other IREs. Walking around fully kitted here is gonna give them the itch elsewhere.
As we move into month 2 of lootboxes for sale, this response seems a little dubious. Not to be that guy but...
Lootbox promotions (particularly ones with unique items) seem to run completely opposite to the stated goal of not making people feel obliged to spend to keep up however.
-Gabriel