Actually voting with your wallet

Gabby-air

The Indie Humble Bundle got me thinking with it's sliders to split the money you give them, why can't we do this with our MMO payments? This would mean when paying $15 for the subscription or something from the item mall we get sliders to pick where that money goes to in terms of development. 

An example would be from a $15 Subscription, whatever actually goes to development can be split as follows:

Option A:  New solo PVE content - 50%

Option B: PVP content - 25%

Option C: Group Quests - 10%

Option Polish/bug fixing - 15%

 

This gives the consumer a direct voice and the developer can then average out things and see what people actually want and are willing to pay for. I remember one company just spent a couple of months focusing on polish on a well established game due to small bugs really being bothersome to a bunch of people and the devs thought the resources were better used elsewhere. For new games often its hard to decide if new content should be made or the game should be fixed before that happens and this process can help. Obviously it has some downsides but I'm sure it can be made to work in some form, even if it just is a glorified "content poll"

Will this ever work?

DOGMA1138

Thats a dumb idea, first you don't know what you like untill you actually get the chance to exprience it.

I had friends who hated PVP with every essnese of their toon untill Arena's came out, i had friends who loved PVP and hated Arenas.

There were tons of people that hated the idea of pet battles until they tried them, they were people who hated to grind quests untill more and better dailies came out. Giving consumers a direct voice is the last thing you as a consumer and developer should want, there is enough entitlement going around especially these days with croud funding.

If you do not like what the developer puts out, or where the game you are playing is heading for the most part its your problem, the fact that you paid for the game for X years does not give you any special rights to tell the developer what they should do. If you want to vote with your wallet just vote with it dont tell them what to spend their money on.

 

Gabby-air

Think you guys took it too literally, the way I assume it would work is just a voice from the community to focus on certain things. Every day work continues as normal, this will give devs an easy insight into something they may believe isn't a very big problem. Take Vanguard for example, it has had certain bugs for years that just aren't getting fixed and if a bunch of people pay for Polish thne maybe that problem becomes worth considering. 

I'm also aware very little goes to development that's why it's percentages not actual amounts. 

Adamantine

I dont think thats a bad idea, though you should remember that a hefty part of your money is actually just going into maintaining the game - paying for network traffic, paying for maintenance of the computers, paying for GM support etc.

But it could give the devs a hint about what the people want to get improved about the game.

 

Quirhid

I don't think so. It is very hard to track exactly where all the funds go and customers don't know shit about developing games anyway. We don't want uneducated "voters" - it is best to let the developer decide where the funding goes.

Simphanatic

I vote with my wallet every time I cancel a subscription or delete an account. Recently, I've been voting a lot.

 

SWTOR, TSW, Rift, PWI, GW2, and PotBS asked me to participate in a poll when I cancelled/deleted. I was happy to oblige (and I don't mean that sarcastically).

 

I really enjoy online gaming, it's an important component of my life; notwithstanding, I refuse to participate in any game that does not provide me an optimal experience. Recently, I've found myself asking the question: would I be having more fun reading a book. And, alas, the answer has too often been a resounding yes.

 

Too many recent MMORPGs are not far removed from playing a game of checkers against yourself -- no immersiveness and your opponent's moves are utterly predictable. At best, we've got developers treating us a lab rats, surmounting a series of simple obstacles with the hope of reward at the conclusion of each. Frankly, I can play checkers anytime without paying a subscription, and I don't care for playing the role of lab rat.

 

Modern programming, graphics, bandwidth, and the power of personal computers bode mightily for an exceptional gaming experience. Developers literally have the capability to offer us new worlds. I don't blame developers entirely for their failure to deliver, nor do I blame the player community entirely. Blame should be placed squarely in the middle -- on developers for lack of a vision that can ascede to the broadest range of player expectations and on the player base for its inability to voice those expectations in any effective, consensual way.

 

If asked to quantify my expectations by way of Options A, B, C, or D, as you suggest, I'd vote NONE OF THE ABOVE. And if that's all you're expecting in an MMORPG then you're getting what you deserve -- a shallow lot of crap and another opportunity to chase a carrot through a maze.

Dibdabs

Originally posted by Gabby-air

Think you guys took it too literally

What, after you breaking it down into nice, neat percentages and laying out your choices sequentially?  Gee why would they do that...