Thoughts from a current donator.

I promise he has no bad rep, just was a simple mistake by a noob. The gm i talked too wasn't too nice, was kinda hateful. So i doesn't matter if you donate or not, there are no exceptions.
 
ttime123 said:
I promise he has no bad rep, just was a simple mistake by a noob. The gm i talked too wasn't too nice, was kinda hateful. So i doesn't matter if you donate or not, there are no exceptions.
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What's the character name? I believe exceptions are made if it's basically gibberish, also do you recall who the GM was? And yeah unfortunately players being able to change their name on a whim would probably cause more problems than it's worth.
 
Changing names on a whim is problematic, but if they charged like $20 for a character name change, and all name changes were made public on some list on the website?

I did a similar thing, thinking 'I'll just give this toon a random bad name since im experimenting with my first character', then I liked it and never swapped. Just make the changes public somewhere so people cant use it to escape bad rep or anything.
 
It's pretty hard to escape a bad rep here anyway, what with the server population and Fomelo and all. If someone with a few dozen tomes apps to your guild and you don't recognize the name, it probably wouldn't take more than a few minutes to figure out who it really was.
 
Silver - Give them the Plat amulet and remove the ability to use the MoP from that little zone. Also current clicky

Gold - Translocater from town to town

Plat - Race / Sex change for the duration of the donation with a one month cooldown.

(Liked the idea of Titanium so just gonna throw this in there)

Titanium (50$ a month) city or personal summoned translocators will send you or your group to any of those places, Also as a Banker too.

This is all convenience or aesthetic but its an upgrade from what is currently there. And also so people dont lose what the current reward for donating at gold is have the item and a few other aesthetic clickies on a vendor in the donator zone and of course all no drop.

Currently the rewards for donating in my opinion are weak compared to what they can be. I do not believe the idea's I have presented give any sort of advantage. And it won't only benefit those who donate but also those grouped with someone who does i.e. Translocator / Banker.

Being able to get to a group faster or move your own group to a better location due to crowded exp zone or getting there and finding out another group also just got there gives those players a chance to quickly move to another spot reducing the aggravation level and downtime of having to wait for all members to relocate.

Having a banker for your group is nice in all sorts of ways and has a lot of advantage's. I.e. being able to bank money/gear or change to a better situated set of gear for certain circumstances or being able to unload gear/ items / money when needed as if another player joins your group you can do a quick money split so you don't have to keep track of who gets what money. It's instantly there so you can split money quickly and move on without having to go to town. The only thing you would have to keep track of is items. It would also make it possible for players to buy a tome/item from the group on the spot if it drops making you capable of being able to use that item right away.

Not only do donators get benefits but also those who do not so it is balanced.

I would love to see something along these lines. The ideas here are interesting and good and hope to see more.
 
Race/sex changes:
One time donations for race/sex changes to a normally available race/class combo = great idea
Attaching race/sex changes to recurring donations = depending on how it is implemented this could be OK, but one time seems better to avoid extra work for staff (changing back when donors drop), stepping on enchanter toes (depending on how often you could change), and blurring/confusing the donor tiers
ANY donation for new race/class combinations = bad! earn fame if you want this

Translocation:
Throwing something in the pocket plane that is donor only with different functionality for silver/gold/platinum tiers is neat idea that would attract some new donors and be purely convenience for the donor.
Anything that ports your entire group around is stepping on druid/wizard toes and seems like a tightrope walk over the aesthetics versus pay-to-win canyon of server fail:
-With a thread going right now about healer balance throwing "oh yeah, and clerics are better porters if they donate" would be a real kick in tree-hugger crotch.
-Some groups will '/ooc lf porter' so adding this feature would diminished two classes chance of getting a group which seems game changing (i.e. not what donations should be).
-But Wiz/Druids could donate too!!! = and gain far less from their donation than other classes.

Name changes:
As a one time donation thing this is a decent idea, but ONLY if there is a public database like Silosobi suggested.

Mobile banker/merchant:
This was a nice feature in other games.
 
I think personal bankers should be a normal thing for all players if anything, you are fixing a serious monk class issue with this as a donation.
 
I don't see city translocators as stepping on anyone's toes. The only time I've ever wanted a teleporter class in my group specifically for ports is because I planned to move around to multiple locations, such as with maps or bounties, translocators wouldn't be fulfilling this role.
 
There is the issue of "oh shit x mob is up we gotta get there ASAP before someone else kills it or gets claim". People with donations translocators of any kind would be at some sort of advantage. That doesn't totally make me opposed to the idea, but its kinda questionable, I'd say ports for the donating player only to player cities only, and even that has benefits (athica=sod/cod, grobb=undercity, etc)
 
Silosobi said:
There is the issue of "oh shit x mob is up we gotta get there ASAP before someone else kills it or gets claim". People with donations translocators of any kind would be at some sort of advantage. That doesn't totally make me opposed to the idea, but its kinda questionable, I'd say ports for the donating player only to player cities only, and even that has benefits (athica=sod/cod, grobb=undercity, etc)
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Gonna agree with this. Take it to regular cities; it still allows you to (a) bypass the MoP, which is really nice, and (b) not have to farm for a clickie neck, which is *really* nice.
 
I have been a gold donator for a couple-three years.

IMO if the benefits of Pocket Plane were greater it would be the deciding factor to make me go platinum.

Because I do a lot with potions my other ideas are in that line of thought,
like adding some no-drop items on a vendor in Pocket plane such as:

-- Self port potions to exotic locations (1 charge)
-- Group port potions to exotic locations (1 charge)
-- Race Change potions (no buff slot but just wears off after awhile)
-- Sex Change potions (no buff slot but just wears off after awhile)
-- SoulBond Potions (Either makes the race and sex change permanent or makes duration a lot longer)
-- Banker in a bottle (Like a Genie in a bottle but only has a few charges)

So, not only do these items reward the player for being a donator, but work as a mini plat sink as well.

Also, I loved the item some of us got awhile back that allowed us a one-time visit to Pocket plane. These were great and I think were great incintive for people to start donating or upgrade their donation status. It's what put me on the fence to becoming platinum. (Im almost there). If Devs could figure out a way to do this a little more often I think it would be a benefit.
 
I still have my port-to-pocket-plane clicky banked, saving it for one day when I can maximize its usefulness
 
So many good ideas in this thread. I'm most partial to the race change and translocators.
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A lot of good ideas, I also second race/sex change and translocators (implemented properly).

I'd also just like to comment on the philosophy behind the donator benefits:

While I agree with and appreciate the philosophy of not giving donators a competitive advantage, more donators is good for the game and not just because it covers operational costs: the people who donate will tend to be more interested and engaged in the game simply as a result of donating and wanting to enjoy the fruits of their investment. A donor base should be considered a good thing, not "a necessary evil."

Idea: consider giving donators benefits that don't have to do with game play. Instead of pocket planes for each individual donator, give them a communal plane where they could congregate and drink frappuccinos together. A lot of donators might enjoy being able to hobnob with other donators and feel generally smug amongst themselves. While having no effect on player interaction versus game content, I think it would also encourage more people to donate so they could hang out with the "in-crowd."
 
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Otcho said:
You should get a gnome servant who follows you around in athica constantly spamming cure disease/poison on you. Or maybe just make donators immune to communicable diseases in cities somehow.
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some people belong to the deity of Gradalsh and NEED to have 3 diseases on them as a quest turn in. it would render the deity quest not able to be completed.
 
BlackHeart said:
I have been a gold donator for a couple-three years.

IMO if the benefits of Pocket Plane were greater it would be the deciding factor to make me go platinum.

Because I do a lot with potions my other ideas are in that line of thought,
like adding some no-drop items on a vendor in Pocket plane such as:

-- Self port potions to exotic locations (1 charge)
-- Group port potions to exotic locations (1 charge)
-- Race Change potions (no buff slot but just wears off after awhile)
-- Sex Change potions (no buff slot but just wears off after awhile)
-- SoulBond Potions (Either makes the race and sex change permanent or makes duration a lot longer)
-- Banker in a bottle (Like a Genie in a bottle but only has a few charges)

So, not only do these items reward the player for being a donator, but work as a mini plat sink as well.

Also, I loved the item some of us got awhile back that allowed us a one-time visit to Pocket plane. These were great and I think were great incintive for people to start donating or upgrade their donation status. It's what put me on the fence to becoming platinum. (Im almost there). If Devs could figure out a way to do this a little more often I think it would be a benefit.
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The pocket plane is cool and all, but the hut with all the NPC vendors with "decorative armors" has to go. They could be replaced by these vendors or something else. I've never seen more than 3 people in the pocket plane at any one time and certainly nobody I have talked to has purchased the decorative armor (lol). I have no real suggestions other than what is said about the translocators and race/sex changes and whatnot. the potion idea sounds like as a good idea as any and I know just the vendors and the hut to implement it in..
 
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Think you are all missing the point here:

At the moment there are efffectively no rewards for donating: people don't donate for the rewards but because they get great pleasure from the server.

I donated for two substantial periods of time but stopped when the Guilds I was in (twice) got fucked over and I found myself no longer able to raid and very unhappy with the way it was done.

I now find myself in a guild which doesn't raid at a particularly good time for me though I do do my best. If things take a turn for the better then I would consider donating again.

However, the game mechanics favour those who don't have a job, a social life and a family over those who have one or more of the above. It took me several months to do the Vah salves and assassinations compared to 2 or 3 weeks for others who could spend the time doing nothing but track the needed mobs. I don't mind that so much but, as an example, when these same people waltz into Citadel past your group who are just starting the second clear and you see them snipe 2 nameds where you just killed the PH it's a powerful disincentive to donate.

Given that those who donate by definition are likely to have jobs etcetera there is an argument for allowing donators time saving benefits such as ports and buff bots. I would also argue that you might allow tradeskillers limited stacking on combines that don't involve skill ups but that would obviously be more contentious.

However, if the central tenet of donator benefits is that they don't actually confer any real benefit then nothing you offer of that ilk is going to tempt very many people to donate.

Personally, I would urge you to consider conferring modest time saving benefits which allowed you to get to XP more quickly such as instant comprehensive buffage for your boxed duo or transportation.
 
Goldfolk said:
Think you are all missing the point here:

At the moment there are efffectively no rewards for donating: people don't donate for the rewards but because they get great pleasure from the server.

I donated for two substantial periods of time but stopped when the Guilds I was in (twice) got fucked over and I found myself no longer able to raid and very unhappy with the way it was done.

I now find myself in a guild which doesn't raid at a particularly good time for me though I do do my best. If things take a turn for the better then I would consider donating again.

However, the game mechanics favour those who don't have a job, a social life and a family over those who have one or more of the above. It took me several months to do the Vah salves and assassinations compared to 2 or 3 weeks for others who could spend the time doing nothing but track the needed mobs. I don't mind that so much but, as an example, when these same people waltz into Citadel past your group who are just starting the second clear and you see them snipe 2 nameds where you just killed the PH it's a powerful disincentive to donate.

Given that those who donate by definition are likely to have jobs etcetera there is an argument for allowing donators time saving benefits such as ports and buff bots. I would also argue that you might allow tradeskillers limited stacking on combines that don't involve skill ups but that would obviously be more contentious.

However, if the central tenet of donator benefits is that they don't actually confer any real benefit then nothing you offer of that ilk is going to tempt very many people to donate.

Personally, I would urge you to consider conferring modest time saving benefits which allowed you to get to XP more quickly such as instant comprehensive buffage for your boxed duo or transportation.
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With the removal of chillville I am not touching this

Okay I am look at your avatar and look at what you are saying about how you play this game
 
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