Topic

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let us gift credits.

It's great we can gift subscriptions now, but what about individual credits? I'm currently trying to recruit people for a production thingy I'm doing, but not very many people are signing up, since the costumes are pricey :( I have hundreds of credits I have no need for lying around, and it would be amaaaaazing if I could just distribute them for costumes.

I'm begging here. PLEASE.

Posted 15 months ago by Cupcake Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

  • + 1!
    Posted 15 months ago by Ebil Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I am surprised that credits cannot be traded for currants and vice versa between players on a free market with commissions sunk.  Seems to be a successful model for other games.  Would be even more enticing if credits could be traded for subscription time at an equivalent value.
    Posted 15 months ago by Cross Subscriber! | Permalink
  • +1.
    Posted 15 months ago by Eriol Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Didn't know if you'd seen this, but...  http://www.glitch.com/forum/general/6363/
    It's a bit old, so the answer may have changed?
    Posted 15 months ago by Violet Lapin Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Well, at least stoot says we'll be able to gift clothing articles! That would be perfect!
    Posted 15 months ago by Cupcake Subscriber! | Permalink
  • +100 
    Posted 15 months ago by emdot Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Cross, the devs have made it very clear, over and over again, that RL money will not be able to be used to buy things in-game.  If you allow credits to start being used to buy drinks, food, equipment, etc, then the whole game is just about vacuuming money out of player's pockets.

    Here's the most recent post by the guy who started TS:

    And the reason you can earn them through a lot of time/effort is that the developers want to give you an incentive to buy them. We chose not to go that route because (1) we think people are getting burnt out on it and it's a competitive advantage to not constantly be halting the game to ask for money or for people to pester their friends and (2) once you go down that route, it'd be almost impossible to avoid designing all game mechanics around the "wait 24 hours or pay now" idea and we wanted the game to be different :)
    Posted 15 months ago by WindBorn Subscriber! | Permalink
  • We hear you! There's a long list of account-related things we are working on, and we will visit the idea of gift subscriptions when the time is right. 
    Posted 15 months ago by Blanky Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Windborn: That's a good post you linked me to and it's a viewpoint I didn't realize the devs had until you pointed it out to me.  What I'm surprised isn't the model though is a little different.  Rather than exchanging credits directly with the game for drinks, food, equipment, etc., (which I think would be a bad thing), allow people to trade directly with other players, currants for credits, on an open market where the price is set by supply and demand, the players.  Allow those credits to be traded for subscription time at an equivalent value (optional).

    This essentially creates a zero-sum trade, or a negative sum trade if a commission is tacked on to the sale price.  This allows players with a surplus of time (currants) and a lack of real life resources (cash-monies) to trade their time for credits and subscription time to those players with a surplus of real life resources and a lack of time.  Skills are still a balancing factor here, as they will always take time to learn.

    Do the people who pay more cash get ahead?  Sure, they can score some currants for their credits.  But then do the people who don't have much cash get ahead as well?  Absolutely!  They can finally get the credits and subscriptions they couldn't otherwise afford.

    I'm not suggesting it's the 'right thing to do', I'm just saying I think it makes sense and I don't think it'd be harmful to the game, gameplay, or economy.  I am one of the players who would gladly trade currants for credits and subscriptions if the option was available to me.

    TS also wins in this equation, financially, because all those credits represent credits that were paid for.  More people will have credits and subscription time than were willing to before, essentially boosting sales.

    Plus it also creates a speculative stock market for players to enjoy and risk.  Is the price of credits going to rise or fall?  Should I buy or sell?

    What really is the downside here?  People can spend cash to get ahead?  I think with a system like this, the benefits outweigh the cons.
    Posted 15 months ago by Cross Subscriber! | Permalink