Originally posted by majoch They had a similar deal with original Everquest except it was a seperate server "Stormhammer" I believe it ran for $39 a month ( correct me if I'm wrong ), could have been more. You were able to transfer your regular server character there free of charge. We subscribed to it for about 4 months but in the long run the perks weren't much better if any from regular servers although I was able on two seperate occassions to get a GM rez deep in Dalnirs and HS with no hassle whatsoever.
LOL SOE's premier server sucked. I had a friend who tried it and he was like "Damn this ain't worth it". Totally different animal. Same concept but SOE didn't even come CLOSE to delivering the way Simu does with their premium services. Personally I've never used it but everyone I know who ever did was very happy with Simu's premier service. With EQ??? Whole nother story.
Currently Playing: Dungeons and Dragons Online. Sig image Pending Still in: A couple Betas
My point wasn't whether or not people were happy with the service provided... My point was that they show they are just as much as a money grubbing company as any other gaming company that's ever exsisted. The whole idea of selling advantages for real money in a mmo lacks morals in general. However i really don't think HJ will go the same route....
Originally posted by Traxbro My point wasn't whether or not people were happy with the service provided... My point was that they show they are just as much as a money grubbing company as any other gaming company that's ever exsisted. The whole idea of selling advantages for real money in a mmo lacks morals in general. However i really don't think HJ will go the same route....
LOL have you PLAYED any of their other titles? They were *perks*, not "advantages". The only players who got any real "advantage" were isolated to their own servers.
And how you feel that a company shouldn't try to make as much as it can in profit is beyond me. They're in business to make money, not kowtow to your (or my) moral code. As long as the perks they give users who pay extra don't impact my gameplay? I could care less, especially if it resulted in a lower fee for me. I never pay for 'premium' support or services, it's a waste of money. But if someone else wants to and it results in a better game that's even more worth my money? I'm all for it.
Griping about it when you've never seen it in action is just plain silly. You're speculating, nothing more. Some of us have seen it in action and all of us have told you that it isn't at all bad. Actually it's good because the money is used to upgrade the whole game, not just the exclusive servers...
Currently Playing: Dungeons and Dragons Online. Sig image Pending Still in: A couple Betas
I played gemstone from aol till about 2 years ago, and i played eq2 and i've played like 20 other mmo's that didn't do it. Read my first post that's exactly what i said, It didn't bother me in gemstone because it didn't really effect the gameplay on a grand scale. Just extra characters. But in a graphical mmo if they tried to do the same thing and sold uber epic weapons to people while other people had to go out of their way and do long quests to get them. Or wait for months for special events... it WILL affect gameplay, And that would be a bad thing. If they DID do the same thing as long as the weapons were just uber LOOKING like they were in gemstone and generally not really better on stats, then that would not be selling advantages. Selling service is one thing. Selling clear advantages is bad policy in general. Like I said in my first post, I could care less as long as no one kills me because they pay more per month.
Hey I totally agree SOE's Stormhammer server was a waste, we stuck it out for 4 months as we had some friends from Torv server on there but the ends didn't justify the means in the long run so went back to live. At least they didn't charge us the $50 character transfer fee when we reverted back.
I have nothing against the concept of premium services. One of the reasons I got from our friends and a few of the folks we ran with on Stormahmeer why they went to a higher priced server was the hope that it would be a more mature environment with less smack talk in general and more roleplaying. In the end what Stormhammer represented was a personal playground for many of Everquests larger power guilds.
Originally posted by Traxbro My point wasn't whether or not people were happy with the service provided... My point was that they show they are just as much as a money grubbing company as any other gaming company that's ever exsisted. The whole idea of selling advantages for real money in a mmo lacks morals in general. However i really don't think HJ will go the same route....
Simutronics is a small company, privately owned. The offsite GMs are not on regular salaries but instead are paid as part of a profit-sharing plan based on work done and/or their rank. The amount varies each month based on the profit earned and the payment plan used. The pay events, pay weddings, and premium services are there to offset the cost of running those special events and be able to pay the GMs involved in the endeavors for their extra time. You are essentially paying for the GM-invested time to not only run the event but to create and QC all the items, shops, npcs and quests that are present at these events.
The Gamemasters of Hero's Journey are working for free at the moment, and we gladly accept that requirement to bring you a game we are proud to claim as our own, and for you to enjoy a rich, detailed game world as much as we enjoy building it for you each and every day.
Originally posted by HJ-Razu Originally posted by Traxbro My point wasn't whether or not people were happy with the service provided... My point was that they show they are just as much as a money grubbing company as any other gaming company that's ever exsisted. The whole idea of selling advantages for real money in a mmo lacks morals in general. However i really don't think HJ will go the same route....
Simutronics is a small company, privately owned. The offsite GMs are not on regular salaries but instead are paid as part of a profit-sharing plan based on work done and/or their rank. The amount varies each month based on the profit earned and the payment plan used. The pay events, pay weddings, and premium services are there to offset the cost of running those special events and be able to pay the GMs involved in the endeavors for their extra time. You are essentially paying for the GM-invested time to not only run the event but to create and QC all the items, shops, npcs and quests that are present at these events.
The Gamemasters of Hero's Journey are working for free at the moment, and we gladly accept that requirement to bring you a game we are proud to claim as our own, and for you to enjoy a rich, detailed game world as much as we enjoy building it for you each and every day.
Well said, Razu...
Simutronics has always struck me as a bunch of mud devs who got together and said "lets make something cool that will last". Not that they were, just that they run under the same type of umbrella. MUDS generally had NO budget (there were a few that did but most didn't) back in the 'day'. I was a mud dev myself for my entire time in College... built 2, worldbuilder for 3 or 4 others and even helped out with a couple of the early BattleTech MUSE's.
Something that I have found VERY similar between Simu's GM staff and MUD GM staffs is that they are typically very involved, really CARE About the worlds and love interacting with their players. Unlike the GM's in more mainstream MMO's (UO, EQ, DAOC, WoW, etc) who aren't even world builders but are just glorified CS reps (which IS exactly what they are). In Simu games the GM's and world builders do what they do pretty much because they love doing it. I'd volunteer my time but, unfortunately, I don't have much to spare anymore due to having a wife, 3 kids and a job that calls me at any time, day or night, if a major problem arises. Unfortunately my real world responsibilities have impeded my ability to indulge my virtual world hobbies as much as I'd like lately
But I am glad Simutronics is still around. Their games have that old "MUD" feel to them in that the GM's are part of every player's life in most cases. Any modern MMORPG player probably doesn't remember the days of text muds and probably hasn't ever played a Simu game before either. But the bottom line is:
When the GM's are INVOLVED in the world, as more than just a CS rep, the game is oh so much more fun.... And while I will probably *never* pay for premium service or a paid event, having them available to other players who will pay for them means that the world will be that much more interactive, involved and fun for us. And for anyone who enjoys ROLEPLAYING this type of environment is the single BEST way to encourage roleplay.
Anyhow I just realized I have babbled on here and lost my original train of thought. Bottom line:
I'm glad that Simu uses alternative methods of providing premier services. Because volunteer GM's deserve compensation. And, trust me when I say this, you will be very glad th ey are there, providing interactive content, once you actually play in this type of environment. Sure some folks might get a cool perk or two that you can't get. But in the end it'll all come out in the wash. Simu is good about not putting inbalancing things into people's hands just because they pay a few extra $$$.
Currently Playing: Dungeons and Dragons Online. Sig image Pending Still in: A couple Betas
Comments
Currently Playing: Dungeons and Dragons Online.
Sig image Pending
Still in: A couple Betas
My point wasn't whether or not people were happy with the service provided... My point was that they show they are just as much as a money grubbing company as any other gaming company that's ever exsisted. The whole idea of selling advantages for real money in a mmo lacks morals in general. However i really don't think HJ will go the same route....
And how you feel that a company shouldn't try to make as much as it can in profit is beyond me. They're in business to make money, not kowtow to your (or my) moral code. As long as the perks they give users who pay extra don't impact my gameplay? I could care less, especially if it resulted in a lower fee for me. I never pay for 'premium' support or services, it's a waste of money. But if someone else wants to and it results in a better game that's even more worth my money? I'm all for it.
Griping about it when you've never seen it in action is just plain silly. You're speculating, nothing more. Some of us have seen it in action and all of us have told you that it isn't at all bad. Actually it's good because the money is used to upgrade the whole game, not just the exclusive servers...
Currently Playing: Dungeons and Dragons Online.
Sig image Pending
Still in: A couple Betas
Hey I totally agree SOE's Stormhammer server was a waste, we stuck it out for 4 months as we had some friends from Torv server on there but the ends didn't justify the means in the long run so went back to live. At least they didn't charge us the $50 character transfer fee when we reverted back.
I have nothing against the concept of premium services. One of the reasons I got from our friends and a few of the folks we ran with on Stormahmeer why they went to a higher priced server was the hope that it would be a more mature environment with less smack talk in general and more roleplaying. In the end what Stormhammer represented was a personal playground for many of Everquests larger power guilds.
The Gamemasters of Hero's Journey are working for free at the moment, and we gladly accept that requirement to bring you a game we are proud to claim as our own, and for you to enjoy a rich, detailed game world as much as we enjoy building it for you each and every day.
~~ FGM Razu ~~
~Hero's Journey~
The Gamemasters of Hero's Journey are working for free at the moment, and we gladly accept that requirement to bring you a game we are proud to claim as our own, and for you to enjoy a rich, detailed game world as much as we enjoy building it for you each and every day.
Well said, Razu...
Simutronics has always struck me as a bunch of mud devs who got together and said "lets make something cool that will last". Not that they were, just that they run under the same type of umbrella. MUDS generally had NO budget (there were a few that did but most didn't) back in the 'day'. I was a mud dev myself for my entire time in College... built 2, worldbuilder for 3 or 4 others and even helped out with a couple of the early BattleTech MUSE's.
Something that I have found VERY similar between Simu's GM staff and MUD GM staffs is that they are typically very involved, really CARE About the worlds and love interacting with their players. Unlike the GM's in more mainstream MMO's (UO, EQ, DAOC, WoW, etc) who aren't even world builders but are just glorified CS reps (which IS exactly what they are). In Simu games the GM's and world builders do what they do pretty much because they love doing it. I'd volunteer my time but, unfortunately, I don't have much to spare anymore due to having a wife, 3 kids and a job that calls me at any time, day or night, if a major problem arises. Unfortunately my real world responsibilities have impeded my ability to indulge my virtual world hobbies as much as I'd like lately
But I am glad Simutronics is still around. Their games have that old "MUD" feel to them in that the GM's are part of every player's life in most cases. Any modern MMORPG player probably doesn't remember the days of text muds and probably hasn't ever played a Simu game before either. But the bottom line is:
When the GM's are INVOLVED in the world, as more than just a CS rep, the game is oh so much more fun.... And while I will probably *never* pay for premium service or a paid event, having them available to other players who will pay for them means that the world will be that much more interactive, involved and fun for us. And for anyone who enjoys ROLEPLAYING this type of environment is the single BEST way to encourage roleplay.
Anyhow I just realized I have babbled on here and lost my original train of thought. Bottom line:
I'm glad that Simu uses alternative methods of providing premier services. Because volunteer GM's deserve compensation. And, trust me when I say this, you will be very glad th ey are there, providing interactive content, once you actually play in this type of environment. Sure some folks might get a cool perk or two that you can't get. But in the end it'll all come out in the wash. Simu is good about not putting inbalancing things into people's hands just because they pay a few extra $$$.
Currently Playing: Dungeons and Dragons Online.
Sig image Pending
Still in: A couple Betas