12/16/2015 - Discussion No Subscriptions

[Xsyon]

Hello everyone!

This thread is for more information and questions regarding the removal of monthly subscriptions. So far there have been a few questions. I will update this post if more questions are asked or suggestions are made.


What happens to tribe decay?
All players will now have to log in to keep their tribe active. Logging in now keeps your player 'active' for 30 days from the login date. That automatically refreshes your tribe for that month, even if you don't log in. Logging in actively updates both your tribe and player's active status.

In short, you can log in once every three months to prevent your tribe from becoming deserted. Just don't wait until the last minute!


How is Jordi now to going to fund the game and keep it going?
The goal is to have a steady stream of new players that compensates for the loss of subscription income. There are a lot of indicators that this should not be a problem but I will need to get the word out to many who've passed up buying Xsyon on Steam due to the subscription.


What about donations?
As a few players already asked about donations, I have set up a Donate button on the home page.


What about an optional sub to keep tribes active?
Yes, I could set this up if there is enough demand for it. For those interested, would $4.99 per month be fair?


What about an optional membership?
This question was asked on Steam. If you've played any game that provides an optional membership with no real in game (pay to win) benefits, what do you get for a membership? Can you show me some examples?

Edit December 18:

For players with Tribes on both Servers, Do we need to log in on both to keep both tribes active ? Yes!


With this change why not consider a pay to win option? You could open a 3rd -pay to win- server and have purchasable options.
I won't add any new servers until the population grows enough to merit it.

Thanks!

[Casondrah]

Thanks for this post, it will certainly clear up those lingering questions we all had. I think that the optional sub to keep your tribe active is a great idea and think that a $4.99 price point is perfect. I would certainly appreciate the added security as the few times I've had to step away from the game for longer lengths of time were unexpected and as much as I love the game, logging in just wasn't on my mind.
Whether it's via the optional sub or the donations button, I like having a way to continue to support the game. So thanks. :)

[Bejaymac]

This question was asked on Steam. If you've played any game that provides an optional membership with no real in game (pay to win) benefits, what do you get for a membership? Can you show me some examples?

I think they probably mean something similar to Star Trek Online, they are F2P but have a subscription setup as well, those that sub get perks, as they level a character it gains much more storage than an F2P, can have more Bridge Officers, Ship slots and gain skill respec tokens at every 10 levels, and as the number of days they have held a sub increases they can unlock unique items that no F2P player will ever get.

No idea how something similar could be implimented into Xsyon though.

[wastelandstoic]

I also like the optional subscription option and think $4.99 is fair.

I don't see much sense in a membership (with fee) unless there was some kind of in game benefit(s). I suppose you could offer special titles or cosmetic items (perhaps the initial special starter weapons?).

With this change why not consider a pay to win option? You could open a 3rd -pay to win- server and have purchasable options. I've always wanted to have a pristine max size tribal area to build to my hearts content but have no interest in taking the time and energy it would take to recruit that many players. Just an idea...

[Tonkala]

Thank you for clearing up so many questions. I am all for the optional sub and the price is perfect! I would love to have the comfort of knowing my tribe is safe and not trying to remember and log in on time. Sometimes life happens and pulls us away and we lose track of time. As for the pay to win option, I have never liked those. I think they ruin games. If this were to become that, I would leave the game. I think there are some things that might generate revenue that wouldn't affect gameplay and those could be; tribe name changes (where you don't have to remove the totem), character name changes, changing the sex of your character (no bad comments please lol), changing the look of your character (height, weight, hair color etc) and of course any NON-STAT cosmetic items. Thank you Jordi, for taking the time to show everyone how truly unique you are when it comes to game developers.

[Oldtimer]

At this time, the free to play option will encourage a large number of players to play the game. As for the 4.99 tribe subscription, I would go for that if it came with the max tribe size that wastelandstoic suggested. Another option would be to allow for non stat item customization, such as dying leather and cloth clothes. In any event, the free to play option will be a great way to try and get players to stay around long term. Hopefully the new influx of players will keep up the revenue stream.

Great job!

Oldtimer (Josaph)

[Tonkala]

I don't wish to be a party pooper, but I don't really agree with the max tribe for a tribe subscription. This would be a game changer in my eyes. I think it would keep tribes from recruiting and finding a reason to work together. There should be some reward to having more players and that would be land as well as the tribe bonus. I could see it easily exploited by players taking two or three of their alts and sitting on large swaths of land which easily could be on scav piles. Also as much as I would love to have the ability to dye clothes, this would again reduce the need to scav. You can easily change your tribe/homestead colors on your totem to increase the chance to find the desired colors you are looking for.

[znaiika]

I agree with wastelandstoic as well about tribe size, I would also like to be able to lock all skills and attributes and I would pay for it monthly.

[chojinuk]

I was quite happy paying the sub as it was but I guess thats just me.
So I would support a sub option.

I am against any Pay To Win Shop.

I would support a Vanity Shop as Jordi needs to income to fund future Deveoplment

I was kicking around some ideas for vanity items :

-Buying the ability to build higher then 10 Floors - per character not per tribe

-Maybe ?? Buying extra land for your tribe but I cant work out if this might be Pay To Win ?

-Paint for Armor

-Special Arch Items such as a new style set or just individual Arch items like a New type of Tent, teepee, gates, walls etc

A Recent Event awarded "Battle Flags" as a prize maybe things like this ? More Flags

-Different Style of Lights, new style of campfires, or Tiki Torches ?


Finally I have a question

For players with Tribes on both Servers, Do we need to log in on both to keep both tribes active ?

Thanks
sark

[Xsyon]

I've updated the main post to answer a few questions.

I'll consider adding a vanity shop in the future, but not a pay-to-win shop. (It really would require another server to experiment with to see if it works or not.)

For now, I will set up the $4.99 subscription to keep characters active on both servers without needing to log in and what other potentially desirable cosmetic items I can implement (name changes, gender and appearance changes, etc.).

Thanks for all the input!

[Davidge]

well for a pay to play option I would love to be part of a tribe and had a settlement as well

[znaiika]

I am hopping that You add third server ASAP without limitations like could lock l skills and attributes, expand tribe, no build limits for solo play, joining large tribe and have own tribe, etc... I would even pay $10 per month for that, you can allow t expand tribe up to three times and than have an option to buy more expansions in online Xsyon store.
I don't want to spend time on current servers ad than start all over again.
Thank You Xsyon in advance.

[Neofit]

I was keeping in the back of my mind the option to come back and use the Free to Play option to see what's what but something was always getting in the way. Now that it's B2P, is it too late?

[xyberviri]

These are the things i will pay for:
I will pay $5.00 for 1 Adjustment point

I will pay $5.00 for a 1 time name change on either my Character, Tribe or City(in cases where i would be able to do so)

I will pay $5.00 for a voucher that i can pay to my totem to give it a small bonus to my tribe of various types (xp/lower fail chance/better chance at higher ql resources) This item should be trade-able(but no loot) so i players that dont want to add more money into the game can do so with in game money (like EVE)

[thurgond]

My thoughts for cash shop items align pretty much with Sark.

Colors: dyes for leather and bone armor, paint for walls, paint for weapons, face paints, colored bins
Light sources: street lamps, braziers, tallow lamps, lanterns, etc. Say $5 for one magic street lamp that stays permanently lit or $5 for a scheme for a tallow lamp that has to be refilled and $5 for the scheme to make tallow from bear meat.
Special armor: male only armor, party hats
Trophies: mount the head of that shadow bear or rev
Signs: sign posts with a text box that will display if you right click it; buy a new one if you want to change the text.

It borders on pay-to-win, but additional temporary skill locks wouldn't be overpowered and would still require a grind to be useful. E.g. $5 for one more lock on resource or craft skills for a month.

[znaiika]

Or add 15$ per month subscription and add all privileges, all locks on skills and attributes and things mentioned above, this way it is not pay-to-win and adds fair trade between buy-to-play and buy-to-play with subscription.

[Xsyon]

Things like stat adjustments and name changes could be possible and I will likely start setting up options like this. (I just need to think about the logistics as these things will likely require an email alert to me and I'll take care of them manually).

Cosmetic items or additional features just aren't feasible at this point. The game will need to grow and I'll need additional team members for that.

Thanks again for all the input!

[KeithStone]

You could allow the purchase of extra character slots, with up to 2 extra per account (total of 3 characters per one account)