Star Sonata
http://forum.starsonata.com/

Allow certain characters to be played when sub runs out.
http://forum.starsonata.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=63128
Page 1 of 1

Author:  ShawnMcCall [ Mon May 15, 2017 9:55 am ]
Post subject:  Allow certain characters to be played when sub runs out.

So this might be a bit complicated to code, but WoW does it, and it's fantastic.

In WoW right now, any character below a certain level can be played even if the sub is out on the account. I think SS could benefit from a similar system. One of the biggest advantages this has is that if someone wants to start a new character, they currently have to pay to play through a bunch of f2p bullshit. Which is fine if they're still an active player that is using the characters on their account, but if someone wants to come back and make a character on a pre-existing account it means they can't use their old account unless they want to pay for something they're not using, which means they'll probably just choose to not come back.

So how to make this work? Make the game check skills on the character, any character that has a skill that an f2p should be unable to obtain is tagged Premium. If the sub goes out, this character can no longer be played or accessed, but all others still can so long as they have not obtained any skill that an f2p would regularly be barred from getting.

I went ahead and made a rudimentary list of how to run the check.

Core Skills
Cloaking 19+
Engine 18+
Radar 19+
Shielding 20+
Weapon 20+
Electrical Engineering 19+
Piloting 20+
Station Management 17+

Other
Astral Injection 6+
Programming 31+
Piracy 21+
Remote Control 18+
Tractoring 17+
Transference Mastery 17+
Station Tweaking 17+
Drone Research 5
Bot Research 4+
Station Research 5
Infinite Precision Parking 4+
Micro Warp Capabilities 4+
Multiversal Leaking 4+
Pocket Universe 4+
Space Time Corner Warping 4+
Titanium Foot 4+
Despicable 1+
Subtlety 1+
Imperial Tweak 1+
Bloodthirst 4+
Ion Conduit 4+
Lasting Will 4+
Might of Atlas 4+
Quantum Reach 4+
Cybernetic Targeting 1+
Energy Transference 1+
Graviton Research 1+
KoQuii 1+
Seventh Sense 1+
Shielding Wisdom 1+

By checking for these skills you can reasonably say that a character who has none of them either hasn't engaged any p2p content or at least hasn't benefitted from it in a way that would give them an advantage over another f2p or similarly leveled p2p.

Why do this? Because talking to someone on my team, they have a t21 HM monk, but they want to start a new alt. In order to start a new alt on that account they have to sub a t21 monk that they won't be using, they could start a new account, but then they now have to sub 2 accounts if they ever want to have access to both characters. By running this check to allow certain characters to be accessed (or freshly created) on an unsubbed account people would be able to level new characters up as f2p characters on p2p accounts that would eventually sub again and make the game money.

Author:  anilv [ Mon May 15, 2017 10:18 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Allow certain characters to be played when sub runs out.

We are actually going to make entire accounts playable even if the sub has lapsed. Of course, there will be some restrictions. The exact details are TBD but the rough idea is that you won't be able to go anywhere a F2P can't go, and any assets you have in Wild Space will become inactive. So you will be allowed to fly your T22 ship around in the Earthforce Layer and do the Nutty Sputty DG if you wish.

The reason for this plan is that we will soon be introducing an in-game item that can be redeemed for Space Points, and we want people to be able to continue a subscription using those items. It wouldn't be possible if they were locked out of their lapsed account.

Author:  SilentHalo [ Mon May 15, 2017 4:47 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Allow certain characters to be played when sub runs out.

Runescape has implemented this well.

Author:  Evangelion [ Tue May 16, 2017 3:50 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Allow certain characters to be played when sub runs out.

:mrgreen: :| :idea: :arrow: :?: :x :!: :wink: 8) :? :roll: :twisted: :shock: :o :evil: :cry: :( :) :oops: :P :D

Author:  xantra [ Fri May 19, 2017 1:20 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Allow certain characters to be played when sub runs out.

anilv wrote:
We are actually going to make entire accounts playable even if the sub has lapsed. Of course, there will be some restrictions. The exact details are TBD but the rough idea is that you won't be able to go anywhere a F2P can't go, and any assets you have in Wild Space will become inactive. So you will be allowed to fly your T22 ship around in the Earthforce Layer and do the Nutty Sputty DG if you wish.

The reason for this plan is that we will soon be introducing an in-game item that can be redeemed for Space Points, and we want people to be able to continue a subscription using those items. It wouldn't be possible if they were locked out of their lapsed account.


Is this to be a tradeable item that can be sold for credits in the vein of EVE's plex system, or simply an option to use space points ingame to extend your sub? If it's the latter, what purpose does it serve considering you can already use SP to extend your sub on the account page?

Author:  ShawnMcCall [ Fri May 19, 2017 1:35 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Allow certain characters to be played when sub runs out.

xantra wrote:
anilv wrote:
We are actually going to make entire accounts playable even if the sub has lapsed. Of course, there will be some restrictions. The exact details are TBD but the rough idea is that you won't be able to go anywhere a F2P can't go, and any assets you have in Wild Space will become inactive. So you will be allowed to fly your T22 ship around in the Earthforce Layer and do the Nutty Sputty DG if you wish.

The reason for this plan is that we will soon be introducing an in-game item that can be redeemed for Space Points, and we want people to be able to continue a subscription using those items. It wouldn't be possible if they were locked out of their lapsed account.


Is this to be a tradeable item that can be sold for credits in the vein of EVE's plex system, or simply an option to use space points ingame to extend your sub? If it's the latter, what purpose does it serve considering you can already use SP to extend your sub on the account page?


plex type item. They were talking about doing it years ago and never got around to it. Hopefully they can actually make it happen this time?

Author:  anilv [ Fri May 19, 2017 6:16 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Allow certain characters to be played when sub runs out.

ShawnMcCall wrote:
xantra wrote:
anilv wrote:
We are actually going to make entire accounts playable even if the sub has lapsed. Of course, there will be some restrictions. The exact details are TBD but the rough idea is that you won't be able to go anywhere a F2P can't go, and any assets you have in Wild Space will become inactive. So you will be allowed to fly your T22 ship around in the Earthforce Layer and do the Nutty Sputty DG if you wish.

The reason for this plan is that we will soon be introducing an in-game item that can be redeemed for Space Points, and we want people to be able to continue a subscription using those items. It wouldn't be possible if they were locked out of their lapsed account.


Is this to be a tradeable item that can be sold for credits in the vein of EVE's plex system, or simply an option to use space points ingame to extend your sub? If it's the latter, what purpose does it serve considering you can already use SP to extend your sub on the account page?


plex type item. They were talking about doing it years ago and never got around to it. Hopefully they can actually make it happen this time?


The reason it hasn't happened a lot sooner is that the implementation is tied to the Steam store. We can put it in until we launch on Steam.

Author:  The Salty One [ Thu May 25, 2017 5:43 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Allow certain characters to be played when sub runs out.

I understand why wild space assets would become inactive, but I can see a lot of potential issues with bases. Someone forgets to sub an EXE for a few days and their prod runs out of rations, defence kits, etc.

Author:  anilv [ Thu May 25, 2017 6:57 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Allow certain characters to be played when sub runs out.

The Salty One wrote:
I understand why wild space assets would become inactive, but I can see a lot of potential issues with bases. Someone forgets to sub an EXE for a few days and their prod runs out of rations, defence kits, etc.


Then don't let your sub lapse if you have critical Wild Space assets. We aren't looking to address the possible issue of long-term p2p accidentally unsubbing for a few days. We are simply making it possible for intermittent p2p to access their accounts while unsubbed.

Author:  beamanbr [ Fri Jun 02, 2017 7:27 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Allow certain characters to be played when sub runs out.

I'd like to bump this thread and re-emphesize it for a different reason. I was going to post but this is pretty similar:

Game needs to tempt me into paying again! I go on again off again, and when I start to miss the game, it should allow me to log in and fly around a bit, look at my assets, etc.
I sort of want to play, but am on the fence. Give me a taste and I'd spring for the $10 to get back in full swing again.

Denying my login is a crappy way to get me to re-subscribe. Let people log in, and tempt them to pay to unlock the full features!

Author:  anilv [ Sat Jun 03, 2017 9:21 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Allow certain characters to be played when sub runs out.

beamanbr wrote:
I'd like to bump this thread and re-emphesize it for a different reason. I was going to post but this is pretty similar:

Game needs to tempt me into paying again! I go on again off again, and when I start to miss the game, it should allow me to log in and fly around a bit, look at my assets, etc.
I sort of want to play, but am on the fence. Give me a taste and I'd spring for the $10 to get back in full swing again.

Denying my login is a crappy way to get me to re-subscribe. Let people log in, and tempt them to pay to unlock the full features!


As I wrote above, we are going to do this as soon as we launch on Steam. For technical reasons we aren't able to enable this feature before that time.

Page 1 of 1 All times are UTC - 5 hours
Powered by phpBB © 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 phpBB Group
http://www.phpbb.com/