GC Prizes and Ticket Stockpiling

[Crono]

I don't see how this is an important 'problem' just now.

[Rufus]

The problem I have with Storm's idea is that it isn't really going to solve anything. The people who are currently at the point now where they have collected a massive amount of tickets are just collecting them. No matter what comes up, they're going to be collecting them and that's all they're going to do because they have that huge amount already.

I've already mentioned this to Night, but if you're going to do something like this then the 10 or so weapons are going to need to balance and compliment each other well, which is going to be an extremely hard thing to do on a server like Classic. If they don't balance well then some are going to have an obvious worth over others, which negates the reason for bringing out a system like this. Personally I’d rather not anxiously spend my tickets than to make a permanent decision about a prize, without knowing enough about the possible outcomes to determine which is the "best" choice for me and to put me in good standing with other players. As the prices double when you take a chance with one I can just see this frustrating players.

Like Crono said however, it isn't really a priority. Sure it should be nipped in the ass, but with a small playercount like there is now, and a small pool of people hording tickets through event wins because competition is so low, the problem is just going to keep on coming. This idea doesn't really influence any competitive streak which is really what we're missing in events these days. Oh, and other things to do outside of events.

[Remonq]

Originally Posted by BlackSolider

Isn't that what storm is already suggesting?

Then again, maybe we're thinking of two different things. Do explain ranger.

Originally Posted by jacob_bald6225

No it's not.

Ranger's idea is better!

Like from a strategy game:

(Civ4 example):
http://www.civfanatics.com/gallery/f...e_original.jpg

Basically you start with a base prize... that branches into more prizes which branch into more, like a tree.

zips got the right idea. maybe the first 2 or 3 prizes or so are ****ty prizes or something costing 10-20 tickets. once you get the first ones then it branches up to a higher tier with npcws costing something like 50-60. and then, eventually, you have a couple of super prizes costing something upwards of 150+ that are at the top tier of the "tech tree". balancing would be fairly simple i would think. trident on one extreme of the tech tree, starcon firemine at the other. idk what npcws are being talked about tho, i'd like to see a list

[Polo]

Originally Posted by Oni

Why can’t Classic just be normal and sell items at different prices according to their worth/use?

Because people have a lot of tickets stock piled, it would take a lot of items to burn through the excess tickets unless we massively increased the prices. If we did that it would price new players out of the market. I also see Classic as an adventure server where each player can compete fairly against an opponent. The whole 'grinding' for items that make a player stronger would conflict with that.

Originally Posted by MysticX2X

The only problem I truly have with this is the idea of some items being better than others to a players perspective. Such as 4 items being the most supreme ones that the ticket hoarders won't care for the rest.

Night also had this concern. What I hoped is the weapons would each be different enough that none was really the best; they would each be the best in their own unique way.

Originally Posted by Remonq

what about a ticket tech tree?

I like this idea. I'm not sure how we could do it without making the higher-tier weapons too strong or the lower-tier weapons too weak though.

Originally Posted by maximus_asinus

I mean honestly, under that system, a player would most likely refuse to play events worth one or two tickets, wanting something as unreasonable as 5+ tickets for a single event because prizes are so expensive.

I don't have any plans to award more tickets for events. You're right that we'd start chasing our own economy, and that's not a situation want to put us in.

Originally Posted by maximus_asinus

What needs to be done is a complete ticket reset, following with new prizes and other incentives to encourage ticket spending. I know a few of the more vocal 'elitist' will be upset and will cry night and day, but you're not running for Mr. Popular, you have to satisfy the majority over those few who would complain.

I'd like to avoid a ticket reset if possible, preferring to reduce the number of stored tickets another way, so that if people are losing a lot of tickets, at least they are going towards something.

Originally Posted by Rufus

Personally I’d rather not anxiously spend my tickets than to make a permanent decision about a prize, without knowing enough about the possible outcomes to determine which is the "best" choice for me and to put me in good standing with other players. As the prices double when you take a chance with one I can just see this frustrating players.

This is something I had considered before making the initial post. We'd need to make some kind of 'try before you buy' system if the idea is ever implemented.

Thanks for all the comments and feedback so far people, it's been very helpful.

[MysticX2X]

Who cares if the ticket hoarders will continue to accumulate their collection. The point is that there needs to be new ways to make tickets useful. This idea was based upon that anybody could get every item at a cheap price, but to get them all would be for the more pro players. It's a nice Idea, but all ideas have their own flaws.

Ticket reset would be the most plausible at the moment. And then after, introduce these new prizes, and some auctions.

[GeminiP2P]

Release some rare GC Prize's worth 200 tickets :P

[BlackSolider]

If you do have a ticket reset, you need to somehow compensate people for their massive losses. As laura said on classic, the problem with a reset is that you're basically telling people everything they did the last...couple months was a waste of time.

Another solution is to cut everyone's current ticket count in half, and then do one of these 'tech-tree' prize things. That way everyone will still be able to get prizes, just not as many at the start.

[xnervNATx]

Originally Posted by BlackSolider

If you do have a ticket reset, you need to somehow compensate people for their massive losses. As laura said on classic, the problem with a reset is that you're basically telling people everything they did the last...couple months was a waste of time.

Another solution is to cut everyone's current ticket count in half, and then do one of these 'tech-tree' prize things. That way everyone will still be able to get prizes, just not as many at the start.

ok first sentence is okay but cutting half tickets count will not fix anything. if someone had a hard time winning tickets because US or ventrue was teaming on him/her he will see his 10 tickets split in 2 and will just complaint about it. if your reseting/cutting the current people that have alot of tickets , your bringing them back right into the past so they will have to restart what they did months ago...winning tickets.

[jorollychu]

just release the boomerang upgrades to level 5 starting at 20 tickets then 30 then 40 then 50

[xnervNATx]

Originally Posted by jorollychu

just release the boomerang upgrades to level 5 starting at 20 tickets then 30 then 40 then 50

i would buy that

[maximus_asinus]

Originally Posted by Polo

I don't have any plans to award more tickets for events. You're right that we'd start chasing our own economy, and that's not a situation want to put us in.

Ideally we wouldn't increase the number of tickets awarded, but the way I see this unfolding it like this; most of the hording players would have the first few prizes right away. Since they're the players who play most often, they'll lose interest very quickly in events if they're only making 1-2 tickets per event (who would want to play 10240 events for a single prize?). The GCs would either live with the lack of player interest, or they'd offer more incentive to play in the form of more tickets. Before long we'd be 'chasing our own economy' in the form of players wanting more tickets>GC needing more tickets to host on a consistent basis> GC ticket count increased to compensate for the amount of tickets given out>repeat.

Originally Posted by Polo

I'd like to avoid a ticket reset if possible, preferring to reduce the number of stored tickets another way, so that if people are losing a lot of tickets, at least they are going towards something.

As I've discussed with Nighty, a reset doesn't seem avoidable. I would suggest giving a chance for the player to burn through their tickets in the end by giving them access to some unreleased content (temporarily), auctioning for statues, and other things. This way a player can't complain that they lost 500 tickets, because it would be their own fault for not using them.

[xnervNATx]

Originally Posted by maximus_asinus

Ideally we wouldn't increase the number of tickets awarded, but the way I see this unfolding it like this; most of the hording players would have the first few prizes right away. Since they're the players who play most often, they'll lose interest very quickly in events if they're only making 1-2 tickets per event (who would want to play 10240 events for a single prize?). The GCs would either live with the lack of player interest, or they'd offer more incentive to play in the form of more tickets. Before long we'd be 'chasing our own economy' in the form of players wanting more tickets>GC needing more tickets to host on a consistent basis> GC ticket count increased to compensate for the amount of tickets given out>repeat.

As I've discussed with Nighty, a reset doesn't seem avoidable. I would suggest giving a chance for the player to burn through their tickets in the end by giving them access to some unreleased content (temporarily), auctioning for statues, and other things. This way a player can't complain that they lost 500 tickets, because it would be their own fault for not using them.

i have all the prize already like most players do. what can i buy there

[maximus_asinus]

Originally Posted by xnervNATx

i have all the prize already like most players do. what can i buy there

Where in my entire post did I say you would be spending tickets on items already released?

[xnervNATx]

Originally Posted by maximus_asinus

Where in my entire post did I say you would be spending tickets on items already released?

what unreleased npc is there to burn out my tickets like you said.

plus auctioning statue is a good idea i would TOTALLY bid on it ,

[maximus_asinus]

Originally Posted by xnervNATx

what unreleased npc is there to burn out my tickets like you said.

plus auctioning statue is a good idea i would TOTALLY bid on it ,

You weren't a LAT so you probably haven't seen them. There are literally dozens of unreleased weapons, such as weapon upgrades (hammer, boomerang) I think GrowlZ's birdshot might still be floating around, shovel... a few more I can't think of just yet.