How to really save Graal...

googleman · #1 10-15-2006, 10:41 AM

Well.. more like another idea:

Hire some developers to make a real server... The problem with Graal is that it's a community developed game... and the problem with the community is that a lot of the people are lazy and do not want to work for free. The result is that nothing ever gets done.. or gets done rather slowly.

Recently I played a certain japanese multiplayer action game that has a level and lobby system where players join together in a group of 6 or less and do quests, hunt, and kill bosses. Over the course of 3 weeks.. I spend $30 on it.... Now a small note: This game is free to play, and it has an item store where you can buy armor and weapons for real cash.

Ah if only you would allow a server to choose between an item store system or a p2p... you would get a lot more players and money.

WanDaMan · #2 10-15-2006, 10:44 AM

I've got an overworld what's not getting used. Ugh, it's not perfect but it'll do I guess. Terms & Conditions apply.

Tyhm · #3 10-15-2006, 10:48 AM

It's been tried, the trouble is they like to get paid by the hour and rarely have as much to show for it as one would like. So in the end you pay developers thousands of dollars and get another Classic. "You can't rush creativity!", the artistes claim, and that's valid I suppose...but really, I chalk it up to the tools. Every NPC has to be built from scratch, every world needs its own system from scratch...

googleman · #4 10-15-2006, 10:49 AM

Basically what I notice with that game and the item store is that:

You can purchase this one quest with GP.. and it will take you quite a long time to finish..

But if you pay $1.3 and purcahse the same quest as a pay item.. you have to do a lot less...

They did the same thing with weapons.. weapons are semi-strong, but pay weapons are 5 times stronger and better looking.

(But the majority of the game is player vs monster.. Although you can still do player vs player.)

Tyhm · #5 10-15-2006, 11:02 AM

*shrugs* Might be a good idea. Kinda like Expansion Packs, you pay for premium content...and instead of it being a package deal, it's This One Thing.

The trouble I see with it is - Graal would have to drop Gold to do this. You can't really have "You have to pay this much to play, this much to play the Good servers, and then this much to get the Good equipment." Mind, people pay real money for game money all the time...so there's some sense to it...I like the idea, but is there any way to ease Graal into it? I'm wary about adding it to the shop next to Gold Time...would that really go over?

What if we started with Choose your Free Gift with VIP? Like the XMas Igloos, but for people who bought Premium Content...

Devil · #6 10-15-2006, 04:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by googleman

Well.. more like another idea:

Hire some developers to make a real server... The problem with Graal is that it's a community developed game... and the problem with the community is that a lot of the people are lazy and do not want to work for free. The result is that nothing ever gets done.. or gets done rather slowly.

Recently I played a certain japanese multiplayer action game that has a level and lobby system where players join together in a group of 6 or less and do quests, hunt, and kill bosses. Over the course of 3 weeks.. I spend $30 on it.... Now a small note: This game is free to play, and it has an item store where you can buy armor and weapons for real cash.

Ah if only you would allow a server to choose between an item store system or a p2p... you would get a lot more players and money.

Hmm the thing is, Graal doesn't have the money to hire developers and offer them a proper wage. No one around here wants to spend hours a day, making things for Graal and receiving next to nothing in return.

smirt362 · #7 10-15-2006, 06:07 PM

Thats like the buisness model for every MMO from the Orient...its rediculous.

konidias · #8 10-15-2006, 07:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by googleman

Recently I played a certain japanese multiplayer action game that has a level and lobby system where players join together in a group of 6 or less and do quests, hunt, and kill bosses. Over the course of 3 weeks.. I spend $30 on it.... Now a small note: This game is free to play, and it has an item store where you can buy armor and weapons for real cash.

You're going to wish you hadn't spent any money on it. Once you've played it for a couple of months you'll get sick of it. I know I did. The problem with that game is that all you really can do is level up and fight stronger monsters and get stronger weapons... There is no real point to it... It gets extremely repetitive. I was level 50+ and by that time I was so sick of killing monsters and I just thought to myself "what the heck am I doing? this is an enormous waste of time. I'm just going to get to level 60, do the same stuff to get to level 70, do the same stuff and get to level 80, and so on until I'm over level 100 and have nothing to show for it but the number 100"

That game needs more elements and things to do. It reminds me of that WOW South Park episode where they kill weak boars for 50 levels. That's pretty much all the game you're talking about is.