Shadows of Nightside ~ Forum

In these hard economic times, we are all tightening belts. Some of us need to poke new holes in the belts they are getting so tight. The same thing goes for the development team at Flowerpot Games.

This group is not after windfall profits nor is it in the position to pay out of pocket to support everyone’s gaming habits. We have to do this in a way that SoN is solvent. After much discussion, and much thought it was decided to provide a 4 tiered payment plan for Shades of Nightside.


1)Free Play. No cost. But with many limitations.
----Limited number of toons
----Limited to the Human Race.
----Limited skill sets.
----Limited skill levels.
----Limited to non-premium items.
----Limited storage space for items (less than premium).

2) Premium Play. One time fee. The game is fully unlocked.
----Greater number of toons.
----Greater storage space for items.
----Access to all Items
----Access to all Races
----Access to all Skills

3) Premium Plus Membership. Additional monthly fee. Requires Premium Play. Provides value added services including:
----Provides larger number of toons.
----Provides larger storage space for items.
----Swapping outfits.
----More Macros.
----Operate a storefront
----Rename up to 10 player crafted items per month.

4) Purchase Flowerpot Credits (FPC). A player with Premium Play can purchase FPC's at any time and use them to purchase value added services from an a-la-cart menu.
Sold in blocks of 10FPC.
Items that can be purchased with credits:
----Provides larger number of toons for a period of one month (Additional toon slots deactivated after 1 month)
----Provides larger storage space for items for a period of one month (Additional item slots deactivated after 1 month)
----Swapping outfits (unlimited swapping for a 7 day period)
----Macros stored server side for a period of one month (entries moved to client after 1 month)
----Buy Monster Templates (One time purchase. The template is free to play for life).........price varies by the template
----Operate a storefront (once bought there is a monthly fee to maintain ownership)
----Player Crafted Item renaming (to 5 player crafted items)

Flowerpot Games feel that these plans will fit any economic level to provide a rich playing atmosphere. Those of us with larger budgets thereby help to ensure that those of us with smaller ones will be able to continue playing while reaping the benefits of their purchases.

Don’t forget folks, this is early in the planning stages. The granite is not yet etched. FPG is still discussing the possibility and probability of implementing all the bulleted items in the above listing. We reserve the right to change, add to and/or remove any of these features. This information release is provided solely to give you a heads-up on what is swimming about our heads. Stay tuned for further developments.

Next week:

The intrigue begins! There is a MMonster slinking among us. I told you that deadly things lurk in the savage garden.

edit Oct. 26, 2009: updated slot deactivation notes.

Looks good, i like the idea of having one time fee, or monthly fee, or no fee.

Awesome! I might actually pay monthly for this IF i get it.



Can you explain these or is it still to early to ask for that?

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-Shinky

Those items (as well as others in the list) are more notes to ourselves then hard features.

Generally, what we had in mind with those, was ...

-Swapping outfits ...
The ability to have 2 (or more) complete sets of gear that you can swap out with one button. For example, Button A is assigned to your battle gear, Button B to your party dress. So at the click of a button, you can change your outfit from plate armor and battle axe to your evening gown and pearls.

-Operate a storefront ...
Just that .. the ability to set up a vendor area where you can sell things out of your inventory. Base level would need you to man the shop yourself, but the customer would click you and get a vendor screen to browse your goods. A possible enhancement (for an additional fee ) would be to "hire" an NPC to man the store, leaving you fee to adventure or log out.

-Rename up to 10 player crafted items per month ...
One of the ideas we're kicking around is the ability for craftsmen to actually name some of the items they make. So you could craft a Longsword and name it Flamespike. The name would have to be submitted for approval, or possibly picked from a list of preapproved names. We would need to implement some kind of limit to the number of named items.

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It's all fun and games until the Flying Monkeys attack.

I might actually pay a monthly fee for this... If I can afford it... heh.

Though it looks like I could do okay with just the one-time thing. And shell out the cash for Monster templates.

We'll see

In the meantime, if I may quote wise Shinky...

AWESOME!

Will the name be purely cosmetic, or will it add something to the item, stats, etc?

The name would be purely cosmetic, replacing the generic name. Following Citrine's example, enchanting a longsword would just produce 'Enchanted Longsword', whatever the enchantment (giving prefix/suffix depending on the type of enchantment may be possible, but that depends on the allowed number of simultaneous enchantments).

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To get to the above conclusions you need sugar, looots of sugar ....... and butterflies!

Anduril! Glamdring!

Cool names.

That would be fun

So many immature name ideas come to mind ...

Too lazy to list them here...

while on the subject of items, will there be proper kilts and haggis in the game?

I'm sure I can whip up a good Haggis for you Myrddin

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Developer for Shadows of Nightside
FlowerPot Games

Hurray!

Interesting.

I guess that I was thinking that the monthly plan would be more about services, while the FPC would be used for one time perks.

If the server side macros are a convenience so that a player might use more than one computer to play without the hassle of copying macros, I would spell that out. Also, is the process of swapping outfits so tedious that it would encourage folks to pay to make it easier? It sounds like most of the stuff you could get with a paid monthly can be purchased piecemeal with FPC, and I'm curious as to why you would set it up that way.

Are there price points on the monthly or '10 pack' FPC? Do you intend to be able to trade in game currency for FPC, as is quite common in other MMOs?

Maybe with the monthly fee you can get like mini-games. Like CTF and stuff. Heh, I can just imaging a dark elf playing soccer

Pin striping! I need pin striping and dragon breath.... and a Shrubbery!

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We aim to please.. when we aim at all.

Yeah! And there should be a quest where you have to kill a really hard mob... With a herring!!!

And a fake holy grail that lights up

And a newt form skill.

And a Sheep's Bladder that predicts Earthquakes.

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FPG Dev Team
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Awesome item ideas, guys. And people that, when they first logged in, were able to recognize the inspiration for the item names, would get a reward!



Oooh, I wanna name a Longsword "Ultra-Awesome Death Sword of Doom with Sharp Pointy Tip and Fiery Thingy Tendrils Coming Off the Side and Stuff (and Fancy Engraved Hilt)"

Toupe, or not toupe?
That is the question. Is it nobler to bear the slings and arrows of outrageous baldness, or to take up a rug, and by covering, end them?

Sorry, having a little literary moment there. I'm okay now.
The pricing options look good - enough variety to suit most people. I'd be happy to pay a monthly fee, but only if it was reasonable. I know that "reasonable" will vary with individuals, but personally I'd be disinclined to pay more than say US$5 / month. I thought WoW's $15/m to be excessive - do you know how many turnips you can buy for that much money?!?
Just one Gnome's opinion, but I hope it helps.

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Wallabies: we are only pretending to be nice.

Id just make a sword called "<Ominous Latin Name>" there ya go, that eliminates hundreds, even thousands of names right there in one phrase

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-Koecerion