For me, immersion is the main reason I play, so all the items I'd pay extra for are the sorts of items that do not significantly impact gameplay, but which do make my character feel more immersed in the game. I think that's exactly the type of thing the devs should be focusing on for store items, because they wouldn't give an advantage in-game, but people like me would pay good prices for them.
Originally Posted by Lainalagos
How about this: make the beautiful horse model used in the Rohan legendary content 'Discovering the Decedent' available as a player mount. Call it 'Decedent of the Maeras', give it +100% speed and 500 morale. Add a unique hide for warsteeds that copies the dappling on the rear and feathered hooves. (If the technology to change to leg mesh on a hide doesn't exist make the feathering a leggings cosmetic.) Finally, for that price, make it account-wide.
5,000 TP - account-wide - As I mentioned earlier, I would buy the Discovering the Descendant mount for 5,000TP as long as the mount and the corresponding war-steed skin were both account-wide. I wouldn't even need the stats to be that high; I'd be happy with the 68%, 250 morale standard.
5,000 TP - account-wide - Also as I said earlier I would gladly pay 5,000TP to be able to freeform decorate all my houses, with unlimited hooks and placement inside and in the yard. Extra chests would be nice, but not a deal-breaker for me. I'm not sure what sort of dev time would be involved in making existing houses freeform like this, but would be something I'd pay for.
5,000 TP - account-wide - I would also love a full revamp of housing, it's the #1 area I most want to see fixed up. I want to be able to decorate free-form, and have some say in the layout without having that layout depend on which plot I choose in the neighbourhood. I want to be able to adjust the lighting of rooms, choose the type of outdoor terrain I have (grass, flowers, dirt, etc), and have some (limited) choice of where my house is placed on the plot, at what angle.
300 - 1,000 TP - per item - I would gladly pay for some premium housing items such as crafting facilities, stables that allow me to show off select mounts, larger houses to decorate, extra floors and room types such as attics, basements, kitchens, workshops, tree-forts, etc.
350 - 1,000 (per item), 1,000 TP (housing wardrobe), 500 TP (additional 15 slots) TP - account-wide - I would pay good money for premium housing decorations, ideally for access to the item and unlimited use account-wide within my houses, rather than dealing logistically with storing them when not in use or buying them on multiple servers. Simple things like fine rugs, more elaborate furniture, finer window treatments, etc. I would love to see a housing "wardrobe system" for use with such things. Where you can add and remove single items, but once added you can use them account-wide as many times as you like.
150 - 300 TP - per item - I would pay for cool and ideally animated cosmetic housing items, too, which could be handled just as any other store item is now (no special storage system). Beehives for my yard, a tanning shack or smokehouse, etc. etc.
1,000 TP per character, 5,000 TP account-wide - I would gladly pay for an account-wide boat I can launch in any body of water and ride around in like a mount, which I would mainly use for fishing and getting around in Evendim. It wouldn't even have to be much faster than swimming speed.
1,000 TP per character, 5,000 TP account-wide - The same goes for a horse and wagon, as someone else suggested above. It could be road-bound, too, so people aren't riding it across the plains or something. Bonus points if friends can hop in back and get a ride to places, and if it offered a basic amount of storage like an inventory bag, although the storage wouldn't be necessary for me to buy it.
1,000 - 2,500 TP - per item - I would pay a premium for a campsite setup I can take along with me on the landscape, and set up camp in select limited areas of any map (i.e. some of the less dangerous areas so as not to break immersion for me and other players). Camp-able areas could be highlighted on the map using a UI option. Camp would have a fire pit, a tent, a bedroll and a hitching post for one of my steeds (ideally with an ability to select one of my mounts to be displayed at the hitching post). You could make several versions of this, some simple, and some more elaborate, with a pavilion style tent, map table, more elaborate fire-pit with pots on it, etc. for more $. To allow for brief hunting excursions without littering the landscape with unused campsites, the campsite could automatically disappear if my character was out of range of it for a set amount of time. I would definitely buy this type of thing if it was available in-store, even though it really wouldn't serve much purpose in-game besides immersion/RP. Although for extra cash you could add a mustering horn to some sites.
150 - 500 TP - per item - I would pay for a pet that I could have bound to my house and yard, which would roam freely in that confined area. Bonus points if it could accompany me in all the town areas where housing neighbourhoods exist (Ered Luin, Bree, Shire), regardless of character class.
350 - 500 TP - per item - I would pay to have some of the skins and gear available on my non-class mounts (reputation steeds, etc.)available as war-steed cosmetics. I would also pay to be able to cosmetically customize my regular travel mounts, much like the war-steeds.
1,000 - 2,500 TP - I would very gladly pay to have the ability to update my character's features, and for the graphics quality of characters to be enhanced. I love the system GW2 uses, and wish I could make my character look that individual and attractive. Also for the hair to flow when you turn your head, like in GW2.
1,000 - 2,500 TP per Kinship (crest), 250 - 500 TP (items) - I loved the suggestion someone else made, about enabling Kinships to pay to register a crest, and have cosmetic items, war-steed items and housing banners with that crest available in-store for people of that kinship to purchase if they wish.
I think how that could work logistically is, the items could display the crest of whatever kin they are in at the time (to prevent people removed from a kin wearing that kin's gear). If they leave a kin or join one that doesn't have a crest registered, the gear shows a generic graphic.
I will add more suggestions as they come to me.
EDIT: I don't know how I could have overlooked these important ones:
2,500 TP - account-wide - Account-wide war-steed wardrobe would be awesome!!
1,000 TP (housing wardrobe), 500 TP (additional 15 slots) TP - account-wide - As I suggested above, a housing item wardrobe/storage system.
1,000 TP - account-wide - As someone else suggested, access to my wardrobe from within my house.
250 - 500 TP - per item - Different weapon appearance options on reforge, please!
2,500 TP - account-wide - Like others I'd also pay TP to never have to pay housing upkeep again.
EDIT: I have another suggestion that could make recurring revenue:
500 - 1,000 TP per event - In-town facility rentals for events. I'd pay TP to be able to rent a well outfitted party or concert room in Bree for events I might host from time to time. Facilities could include:
A good amount of seating
A stage with room up front for dancing
A vendor available to sell food, beverages and emote items
Ability to choose whether during my rental period the facility is open to just me and friends, to my kinship, or to everyone.
Ability to adjust lighting (simple options like, bright, medium, dim)
Perhaps an option to have player music amplified to fill the whole room, in case I'm hosting a concert or a play with sound effects
Perhaps when eligible people are near the doorway to my event, the name of the event shows onscreen much like "scholar's stair" or other regional titles, to make it easier for people to find
EDIT: added pricing
Last edited by frickinmuck; Dec 09 2012 at 01:19 PM.
I'm unlikely to buy anything (other than an expansion) for 5,000 TP as a single payment. However, on top of my monthly sub, I do occasionally buy extra points, recently so I could take advantage of the warsteed appearance sale, prior to that to buy the class steed for example.
I won't buy anything from the store that I feel 'forced' into buying (especially as I pay a monthly sub) - the most obvious example appears to be the winter festival 200 quest deed on bullroarer - if the only way I can finish that deed is by buying the resets from the store, I will not even attempt it out of principle. Using that deed as an example, if it was achievable in say 10 days and I had 17 days in which to complete, it is then quite possible that I might buy a reset in order to finish more quickly - the difference being its my choice to spend points.
As others have suggested, revamps on housing (though everyone should able to access housing as we do currently, but things like extensions, more storage, new neighbourhoods in new areas, more than 1 house per account etc could be store bought), cosmetic items, horse stable etc are things that I would buy and would probably have to actually buy more points for too.
There is a need though for the store to be extremely careful in what it offers, not just because of outrage or bad press but because paying a monthly sub ought to mean something... I'm currently evaluating whether or not I should cancel and scale down to premium - why? because I'm not sure what I actually gain from being VIP - I'd lose the quests in the levelling up zones, some skirmishes, any new end-game content added as an update... a cpl of other minor restrictions - nothing really that I would miss and nothing that a couple of one off payments wouldn't sort out. I'm not currently cancelling partly because of laziness and partly as I don't mind paying and supporting something I enjoy.
anyway - no idea if any of that is what you are looking for
• configurable skillsets/ Meditation - (4x150 TP + 300TP)
(feature to be able to save and change different specs without being forced to visit the bard. Specs are changed while in meditating emote for about 4 seconds out of combat. First two slots are free to premium players, each additional needs to be unlocked. F2P have to buy the access for this feature for about 300 TP)
LOVE this idea.
Originally Posted by Schinderhannes
• wearable torch/lantern - perm.: 295 TP, 1x: 25 TP
(They should lighten your surrounding. I'm not sure whats the best itemtype for this: usable for 5 mins, perm. usable as a emote, or perm. usable in your weaponslot as an item.)
Alt-F10 already toggles a personal light on a character.
Dont you see that a lot of the members here have REALLY REALLY GOOD IDEAS for you that you could use to make lots of money? This thread is full of them, and Im sure there are more elsewhere throughout the forums. The fact that your little joke hobby horse item failed should tell you something.
People are very willing to spend their TP, and even fork out real cash to get more TP to spend...but you have to make it worthwhile. People want more control over the look of things...and while its unreasonable to think that they could get total control over every little aspect of they way LOTRO looks, adding in more character cosmetic control, storage options and item that ENHANCE the games functionality, as well as look and feel, will net you more money in the end than stupid little things like the hobby horse.
Did you realize that me, being a hunter, with enhanced Find the Path movement speed, plus an equipped LI with maxed out 6% find the path movement speed, plus a swig of coffee, can net me almost the same run/movement bonus as the hobby horse? And all for less than 500 silver in game. No one in their right minds, hunter or not, are going to pay absurd amounts of money for little fluff things that serve no purpose.
Ive seen this happen to many times in other games...listen to your players, or lose your players, thats all it really comes down to.
if it was 25,000 TP and came with a promise that it would never ever be placed on sale and no other hobbie horse like item would be added to the game. I would consider it.
While flying mounts are not going on the table, the developers are interested in what type of item uses you are all looking for in a store item.
For things mount related, I would like to be able to turn some of my existing mounts into improved mounts. Ie, I want my Inn League Pony, earned with nearly two years of devoted festival pub runs, to have a +68% speed. Or maybe more practically, once I earn one of the fast mounts that I can spend a little bit of points to apply that speed to a mount I actually like (the metadeed mounts are just plain ugly). Potentially make this work for all mounts that I own with one purchase, since I have a large menagerie.
Even better here, what about letting me use one of my existing mounts or looks as skins for a war steed? I do not want to buy one of the store mounts just to do this, as the store mounts are all uglier than the ones I've earned in the game. I want the Wardens of Annuminas horse or the Forochel Pony as a war steed, not some Guardian Steed that looks out of place for all riders except Bob's Big Boy. Or maybe even just a plain Chestnut Horse as war steed. Right now about 95% of all war steeds are the default white.
If you want to make some real money in the store, stop trying to sell over priced junk like this and give us REAL VALUE.
Agreed. Too much stuff there is consumables. But consumables I guess are ok, they're all convenience items (even the potions though some players rage against them). But for real value you need something permanent, like the shared storage slots or stat tomes (omg, I got my first stat tome ever on the weekend, second only I've ever seen drop, third if you count beta). Althought the revival tomes I would possibly say have value even though they're consumables...
XP disabler has value because it's a permanent item now. A steed is permanent value since you can keep it (even if it's just fluff). Low/mid level gear aren't don't really have value since you outgrow them in a few hours.
The developers have been following this feedback over the weekend. The Hobby Horse will now not be going live with that price point.
They are experimenting with items and pricing on the store. This test was, as is obvious from your feedback, unsuccessful. The feedback was somewhat expected.
From what you appear to be saying, something with a high price would have to have more of a use to it.
While flying mounts are not going on the table, the developers are interested in what type of item uses you are all looking for in a store item. These could range from silly to serious. Let the devs know!
1. I would gladly pay 5k tp for access to an upgraded housing instance that included neighborhood crafting facilities, grid placement for unlimited items in house/yard, party planner that actually offered services (invitations that can be sent to a mailing list of characters, selling party favors/food/drink/fireworks, renting party furniture like tents/food tables/kegs/stage, etc.), and offered a greater selection of housing types and sizes.
2. I'd spend additional money on housing furniture with a more realistic feel, particularly items that are interactive. I'd love to make one room a kitchen, with a wash basin, table for prepping food, fireplace with a spit or hooks for a kettle and pots, etc. Beds/rugs/curtains that can be dyed. Creative options to allow me to truly customize my house, which would totally sucker me into spending loads more time and money on the game.
3. I'd spend whatever the heck you want me to spend on an opt-out toggle for forced emotes and festival consumables (yes, I went there *duck*).
However, I have to say that from a marketing perspective this 'experiment' was bad business that served only to fire up the community needlessly--you have to have known the reaction you were going to get. If you really want information on what players want in the store--ASK THEM HONESTLY. While the forums are populated by brilliant and passionate people there are thousands of others who play but don't come here. You know who your customers are. Send them an email survey--what do you most want to see in the store and what would you pay for it? It's also not hard to look at the forums and find out the most desperately wanted upgrades/improvements. CSTM has polls every week that would help you understand what players like and don't like--maybe read them or try something similar on the community site. Really guys, get in touch with your players, it isn't that difficult.
It's kinda hard to put my thoughts into words, but I think the playerbase (or at least the majority of it) may have just passed some kind of weird sanity test.
As a silly side-quest in Harwick the hobby horse is fine, a good laugh even. I'd quite happily see it as an emote.
I like a joke as much as the next person, but if I have to rubberband and slingshot (I'd give you 5000TP to fix that mess!) my way into Gondor with a bunch of yahoos mounted on +62% broom handles, I may have to reconsider what it is I want from this game.
Still in the current build, still at the same price ... You sure you want to ride this train ?
How many people would be willing to pay TP to get a exclusive house in Rohan or one in Bree?
How many would pay TP to have features like a unlockable basement or attic for their house?
How many would buy superior crafting tables for kinhouse/personal home that offer a xp/crafting bonus with TP?
How many would buy more housing slots to put more items inside their yard if that was possible?
As always, things on Bullroarer, including store prices, are subject to change.
I'd like to thank you all for the amazing feedback in this thread. You made some fantastic points. Thank you also for really explaining and thinking out exactly what your grievances are and expectations were. Thanks for keeping it held together for this topic.
So long as they took away from this experiment that the price was the lesser of two evils next to the immersion/lore breaking nature of the product. Because I get this dubious feeling that they took away the high price as the sticking point, but if you read the thread through the majority consensus is the ridiculous nature of the product in a very sweeping, epic and 'serious' world.
IMO your greatest asset is the lore of Middle Earth, I think you will find that vast majority of your loyal customers find this the biggest draw of the game. Your art, landscape and writing teams do an awesome job here, they deserve credit for bringing Middle Earth to life as well as they do. You need to respect the lore to a reasonable extent to maintain the loyalty of your core user base, please don't risk alienating them for the sake of a slash n' burn style cash grab. We are all intelligent enough to know that once something is live in an MMO, it's there forever.
I will pay well for a quality product and think it money well-spent. If I think the quality is shoddy, or have grievances about the implementation but still think the product is worth my time I will spend the least amount I can to use it, and simply stop using it if price/enjoyment goes past the tipping point. In short happy experience = more voluntary TP purchases from an innate feeling of value, rather than the niggling sensation of being nickled and dimed causing strict budgeting. I can't believe I'm that unusual in this regard.
Incidentally IMO your second best asset in LoTRO is the community. The thing that keeps me coming back and more inclined to open my wallet is the mature, friendly demeanor of other players instead of suffering the rude/immature no-lifers that seem to dominate the society of other MMO products, because it makes LoTRO a nice place to be. A little OT of this thread perhaps, just something I would like to mention for Turbine/WB's consideration.
Last edited by Lainalagos; Dec 04 2012 at 08:24 PM.
- Being able to purchase a kinhouse for myself - doable with multiple accounts, but a pain and time consuming (convenience!)
- Improved kin management tools - purchasable upgrades that any member can buy their kin - officer titles, more tiers of leadership (Jr. Officer), simple calender functions, etc. People are much more likely to drop TP if its something their friends will thank them for.
- Crafting XP Bundle - maxing out a toon's profession (including guild rep)
- Toon gender/race swap - how many PvP hobbit burgs would pay for this one?
1. Okay its 5000TP. As they said, they're looking for feedback, not to be universally condemned for daring to try something new. Give them a break. Besides from the wording of the original post, I'd say this is more designed to see if people would be willing to pay this amount for anything at all, not just the hobby horse specifically.
2. No I wouldn't buy the hobby horse at this price point.
3. There really isn't much that can justify this price point bar an expansion in my eyes, but things that might contribute:
- Comprehensive warsteed cosmetics pack that includes the hobbyhorse, meta deed mount cosmetics, warsteed colours etc
- A bundle that includes all the rohan 'gimmicks' - ie hobbyhorse, the padded bat, the ability to summon gangs of small children to fight at your side... Okay that last one wasn't technically in RoR, but a gang of chilldren charging bugud on hobby horses would be truely priceless (insert master card joke here). Unfortunately the ensuing bloodbath might mean you'd have to raise the games age rating :/
- A new hobby: hobbyhorse racing (see it's already in the name and everything ). For that matter it could just be normal horse racing. Could even add in a betting system for spectators, endless fun as well as a new economic tool for in game currency, plus itl keep those moaning for a new hobby quiet too!
Last edited by Grimhelmd; Dec 04 2012 at 09:42 PM.
About 6.5 million children die every year from malnutrition and hunger-related diseases (http://www.wfp.org/hunger/stats). I thinks that's about all I need to say to show you my opinion (though if a substantial amount [read: virtually all] of the proceeds went to some charity, I wouldn't be against it; good PR for Turbine/WB, think about it).
I'd pay 5000 TP for a racial change. It's a lot of hard work to level a toon, and even at level 50, if you want to change your race, that's a significant amount of work to re-invest.
75 hunter Cilantro *Retired until hunters see changes* 75 Warden Aerdith * 75 RK Vanmoriel * 67ish LM Celothwen * 52 Burg Lemongrass
I'd pay 5000 TP for a racial change. It's a lot of hard work to level a toon, and even at level 50, if you want to change your race, that's a significant amount of work to re-invest.
/sign this.
Level a new toon get traits, pvmp rank, relics, proffesions up is too much time. But if that would possible via shop, that would be a really premium service for that i would pay 5k tp easily.
"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm."
Hunter - Champion - Guardian * [DE]Morthond * Krieger des Lichts
Thumbs down on the price and the speed the Hobby Horse moves at. It should move at the same speed it does in the daily, which is unmounted run speed probably.
What silly thing would I buy in the store? I'd buy a pet avanc which could live in my house or front yard and which I'd aggro when I tried to redecorate. A permanent bitey guard-monster would give me the giggles every time I saw it. Maybe it could level with us, give no XP if we killed it, respawn after awhile, and be perfectly capable of killing us.
The developers have been following this feedback over the weekend. The Hobby Horse will now not be going live with that price point.
They are experimenting with items and pricing on the store. This test was, as is obvious from your feedback, unsuccessful. The feedback was somewhat expected.
From what you appear to be saying, something with a high price would have to have more of a use to it.
While flying mounts are not going on the table, the developers are interested in what type of item uses you are all looking for in a store item. These could range from silly to serious. Let the devs know!
While I am still concerned if that hobby-horse would be a rideable "horse" with a speed faster than a normal person running -which would be severely lore and immersion breaking- I'll answer the last question since we are in constructive mode again.
(someone else might have brought this up already here but it is too much to read through all of the thread right now)
I think it has been said many times now: Improve -no *reinvent*- housing. Like big time. Allow us to put stuff anywhere in our houses and gardens. Remove those "slots", let space decide what fits in a house and what doesn't. Make this a big part of an expansion if you will, or open up new housing areas with a new type of house that allows the above and leave the old ones as they are (although those areas will probably soon be abandoned and ghost towns). Give us real individuality, people will *love* it.
Give us kitchen furniture, let us move and arrange chairs, tables to our liking so we can *really* sit together on chairs at tables to have a RP meal.
Put in more animals like geese, ducks, roosters, henns, small goats, all that what would be there in a real land-life.
That chicken coop could have made you a little fortune, look how often these are placed in the gardens.
Add emotes to support all this like eating while sitting at the table, a yes emote, a no emote, a laugh.
Look at how real people behave when they meet and copy it all. The roleplayers will love you for all that.
And -yes- charge people TP for that. I'd pay up to 300 TP for a single piece of furniture. And from every piece of furniture make 4 versions, one for each race.
I have said it elsewhere already in this forum: This game is different from all the others, use that. Use the biggest strengths of this game -it's immersion- to make money and stop copying others with their crazy ideas.
The developers have been following this feedback over the weekend. The Hobby Horse will now not be going live with that price point.
They are experimenting with items and pricing on the store. This test was, as is obvious from your feedback, unsuccessful. The feedback was somewhat expected.
From what you appear to be saying, something with a high price would have to have more of a use to it.
While flying mounts are not going on the table, the developers are interested in what type of item uses you are all looking for in a store item. These could range from silly to serious. Let the devs know!
I'm pretty sure the only thing i'd pay $50+ for (actually i'd pay more than that) is something that I believe is actually impossible to implement, and would also not be agreeable to many players, and that is race/gender change scrolls.
But I think anything that has to do with altering or enchancing the cosmetic appearances of our beloved chars will always win.
Authiel - RK - Ascension
Jinxycat - Warg - Creatures of the Fiery Kind
I suppose this is a good diversion from arguing about the new combat changes, though. A controlled burn, if you will, for the forum rage.
^ THIS !
Though I think it didn't work out, this community and especially those who are active on forums are not that easily diversed from arguing about all the fires that quickly close in on us ...
Besides housing and kinship revamp, the saveable skillsets, weapon appearance and premium crafting wallet are what I would gladly spend my tp for. Exclusive shop items are okay, but these should be limited and neither game- nor lore-breaking.
You become a champion by fighting one more round.
When things are tough, you fight one more round. James J. Corbett
For me, immersion is the main reason I play, so all the items I'd pay extra for are the sorts of items that do not significantly impact gameplay, but which do make my character feel more immersed in the game. I think that's exactly the type of thing the devs should be focusing on for store items, because they wouldn't give an advantage in-game, but people like me would pay good prices for them.
(...)
+rep for you, Muck. Your list is awesome. Turbine, this is the way to go for you. You can fill a warehouse of a shop full of all these things.
A wagon pulled by my horse? Brilliant!!!! I want this thing. Now. I'd pay you 1000 TP for it
The deal with items like this: there are sets of developers that make major content, major systems, etc. There are also a set of developers who work on other things: store items, festival rewards, short events, etc.
I don't know what the drive was behind the item, the pricing, any of the work on this item. They are doing a lot of experimentation with items, pricing, etc.
I'm here to read your feedback, explain things where I can, help figure out bugs, and ensure that your feedback gets to the developers it needs to get to so they can decide what to do with it.
The reason I don't read the rants is that I can't figure out what to tell the developers you don't like from rants. Is it the idea? Is it the implementation? Is it the sparkle effect? Is it the pig noises? In all seriousness, I love reading detailed posts, even if your overall thoughts are that you absolutely hate something. Rants and complaints are two different things. Rants accomplish nothing, while complaints give the developers a stepping point in improving things and making them more rewarding and enjoyable.
Keep the feedback coming!
Thank you for this response. i have always sympathized with all of you for having to deal with the frustrations and ventings of thousands of people but at the same time-that's part of the job and anytime anyone invests as much as people tend to invest in these games-you are going to get strong reactions. So this explanation goes over much much better than the original. i can respect this
As has prob'ly become quite obvious-nobody likes the item costing so much. No more than 500tp should be charged.
nobody likes that it goes the speed of a mount as it would break immersion to be being told in game how dreadfully dire the situation is right now-war breaking out on all fronts, just to turn around n see someone fly past you riding a hobby horse. While that is really funny, it's "not right".
As for what i would pay for. i am a lifetimer so originally i intended to use what money i would normally be using to pay for a subscription to buy tp. i have fudged on that quite a bit and spend more. So i'm your target customer as much as i hate to admit it. i love fluff. i'm with the people who say we should not get bumps to gameplay for paying real money as it's not fair to those whose budgets won't allow it. i would pay reasonable prices for almost everything others in this thread have mentioned.
Currently-the game is becoming a huge grind. Even our beloved festivals seem to be becoming a huge grind that is tied depressingly to the store. introduce a whole category of "just for fun" stuff into the store for people to work on when they don't want to grind for a while that doesn't screw up ingame events like the festivals for people who can't afford the tp. it seems to be a bad idea to tie all ingame stuff to store stuff. makes people bitter. it seems it would be better to keep things like festivals non-dependant on the store while putting in the store things that are just for fun perks. Housing would be perfect. it's not "necessary" for game play but huge amounts of people love to play with their house and housing items. it would be fun to upgrade your house/kinship house sort of like hytbold only using tp to do it where buying one upgrade opens up better ones, etc. That gives people something to "work towards" over time while not ruining the fun of things like festivals. i would prob'ly end up spending way over what you wanted to charge for the hobby horse-little by little as i wanted this 1000tp upgrade and then that one, and oh! that one too eh eh eh
One of the other suggestions from this thread that i would absolutely pay to have-would be for our earned rep mounts/festival mounts appearances to be war-steed appearances. I really miss some of my favorite rep mounts for their appearances. Anything fun you can do to the war-steeds would prob'ly sell well if you kept the prices reasonable.
All of the suggestions of frickinmuck are really good and as, i think sir willow suggested-the suggestion forums are loaded with really really good ideas. your store wizards have a gold mine there that they just need to mine.
Last edited by shezoe; Dec 05 2012 at 09:21 AM.
“Bunny slippers remind me of who I am. You can't get a swelled head if you wear bunny slippers. You can't lose your sense of perspective and start acting like a star or a rich lady if you keep on wearing bunny slippers. Besides, bunny slippers give me confidence because they're so jaunty. They make a statement; they say, 'Nothing the world does to me can ever get me so far down that I can't be silly and frivolous.' If I died and found myself in Hell, I could endure the place if I had bunny slippers.”
~Dean Koontz~
As has prob'ly become quite obvious-nobody likes the item costing so much.
nobody likes that it goes the speed of a mount
As I menioned in my posts... I'm fine with both of those points, but their triangle (Maslov's) is upside down. With lag, rubberbanding, broken quests, instabilty, etc... they are worried about cosmo items. Turn the triangle back around to the proper positioning (where the fundamentals are important) and I'll gladly pay that price AND ride past the lore enthusiasts
The forums ate my last post (but some of the things I'd consider paying 5k for (IF the game direction changes):
A fully functioning server transfer (currently it basically reads as 'unsupported' with no promises and multiple things NOT transfering. (FYI, some games provide FREE weekly transfers). Move all my items, warranty the transaction, and provide this for at least 2 toons at this price.
Improved overflow bag - add more slots, remove the timer, allow for non-mobloot like ore, sigils, etc.
Allow me to own multiple houses
bundle of items cheaper in bulk (bag space, storage, traits, etc... provide incentive for some on the fence to jump).
housing revamp (as has been requested for years)
cosmo weapons/shields (as has been requested for years)
kinship revamp (as has been requested for years)
And those last 3 things really cause confusion. People have begging for certain things, almost unanimously, for years. With no answer in sight, we are now asked if we would pay 5k for a pole with a head... I don't get it. People have been volunteering the asnwers you are looking for for a long time now. Maybe you need to reword the question if you haven't found the answers by now?
What item would I pay for in the LOTRO Store? I'd pay 5-10 dollars for a scroll to turn a level 65 legendary item into a level 75 (or level 75 to an 85). When the concept of legendary items was introduced, I imagined my Dwarf Guardian could someday stand in front of the Black Gate, look down at his sword, think of all the times its served him well, and say "Here we go again, old friend." I'd pay similar prices to be able to equip a shield cosmetically.
Preferring the race of Men is like preferring vanilla ice cream: it means you're boring.
What item would I pay for in the LOTRO Store? I'd pay 5-10 dollars for a scroll to turn a level 65 legendary item into a level 75 (or level 75 to an 85). When the concept of legendary items was introduced, I imagined my Dwarf Guardian could someday stand in front of the Black Gate, look down at his sword, think of all the times its served him well, and say "Here we go again, old friend." I'd pay similar prices to be able to equip a shield cosmetically.
Awesome.
Turbine has a flawed system that doesn't work the way players expected since the very first marketing. Or Turbine introduces a flawed mechanic, or removes an in-game ability, or makes a grind more painful, etc.
Turbine offers an outlandish and obviously impossible "experiment" up to the players.
Players revolt (on the forums, that is).
Turbine asks, but what would you pay for at exorbitant prices?
Players respond, "Why, we'll pay for what you should've fixed or what you broke before!" Like relic removal scrolls, festival reset tickets, a buff to DPS more since you nerfed my DPS, blah blah...
Looks totally WAI to me.
Note: There should be 100% assurance that such a cross-cap LI mechanic would have an in-game method that wasn't a stupid, stupid grind. It's actually very interesting to see where the game has gone in terms of monetization of mechanics ever since 2010.
"I sell you Hobby Horse for $50. It's worth $200, but you look like a nice guy."
"$5, max."
"It cost me more than that to make it! My wife would kill me if I let you ride this Hobby Horse for $5! $20, final offer."
"Okay, $20."
The person walks away conned, but believing they got the better of the exchange, just like when they inevitable lower the price to that of a normal store mount.
This is exactly why I wouldn't name what I'd be willing to pay for it in my post.
If silly items like the hobbyhorse are going to be introduced, please limit the zones in which they can be used(to homesteads and festival areas).
If they can't ruin the immersion for other players, there's no reason at all to not have them. This limitation should be extended to things like silly festival cosmetics and forced emotes.
You want to earn 5K TP for a really premium mount? How about this: make the beautiful horse model used in the Rohan legendary content 'Discovering the Decedent' available as a player mount. Call it 'Decedent of the Maeras', give it +100% speed and 500 morale. Add a unique hide for warsteeds that copies the dappling on the rear and feathered hooves. (If the technology to change to leg mesh on a hide doesn't exist make the feathering a leggings cosmetic.) Finally, for that price, make it account-wide.
Now you have a truly premium item, it fits lore perfectly and is aimed at customers who have already shown they are willing/able to pay extra for premium content. Sure there'll be a backlash for making such an exclusive item, but would be trivial in comparison to the sh**storm that the community will generate if the toy horse mount goes live as is.
LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE this idea.
(do no love the idea of a 5k TP hobby horse mount. It should be a festival consumable or emote or something like that.)
.: Daire, 65 LMR :.: Gyrefalcon, 79 CHN :.: Branden, 53 CPT :.: Honey, 62 GRD :.: Griffon, 36 HNT :.: Djoser, 17 WDN :.
.: Bamaeraen, 23 HNT :.: Naithen, 13 WDN :.: Kaelenea, 37 RNK :.: Catmint, 20 BRG :.: Cuy, 50 WDN :.: Iryth, 20 WDN :.
.: Baye, 24 WDN :.: Kranton, 20 MIN :.: Dannach, 66 WDN :.: Sedgewald, 17 LMR :.: Breyon, 20 CHN :.: Sunhawk, 22 WDN :.
.: Yranjia, 13 WDN :.: Haka, 6 WDN :.: Farrago, 13 CHN :.: Ciodhan, 21 GRD :.: Mothlin, 23 WDN :.: Tyruin, 17 RNK :. I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul. Might as well face it, I'm addicted to WDN
Say you go into a store to buy a broom do you expect to pay $50 for it? then why would you charge $50 for Solely cosmetic item that is fun (Hobby horse is just a broom stick) i understand your trying to make money and to help Lotr survive. but ripping your customers off to make a dime is wrong well in this case ripping them off for $50.
Frankly i would not give you $5 dollars for it. Its an Item for fun i mean if you feel its worth $50 then maybe give it away free if somebody buys $50 bucks worth of turbine points. as a thank you gift.
In the space between worlds, thinking, exploring, learning, dreaming, creating and always passing on
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Ok, so, first I want to, quite honestly, ask why Raina didn't come to us and simply say:
"We're trying to pitch a 5000K price point for the store: what sorts of things would players be prepared to pay that amount of TP for in one investment?"
If you had, yes, there would have been the usual incredulity from some, but you would have gotten tot he meat of what it seems like you really wanted to study, faster... and the overall opinions of others would have appreciated the forthrightness and honesty. Most of understand that you who make this game for us, and who maintain our community platforms, now have to answer to a higher power on some matters, and it seems clear to most of us that store revenue is one of those things. The impression I get is that whether you, the developers, GMs, moderators and community managers, want to or not, you have no choice but to push it now. The more level-headed of us understand that, and will try not to resent you for it.
So, the question is: What sort of things from the store would I relent to paying a 5000 TP price point for?
The sentiment that most people that have reported back to you, I'll mirror: I would pay that point for a full-bodied expansion... and I would want it to be a very large one for that.
Beyond that:
A very large portion of the player base in this MMO treat immersion and lore as high importance. We are and have always been rather different from other MMOs and other MMO communities in that regard. It's the IP specifically that drawn a large portion of the player base here, and as a result our reasons for BEING here are often notably different to those of others playing other MMOs. You know this, and all you need to do to create happy spenders is to play TO it, not against it.
When you create something to sell at a high price point, the first questions to be asked should be:
How does this sit with and within the lore framework? How smoothly does it settle?
then,
How does this preserve player immersion in the world, as Tolkien's world; both from the perspective of the buyer/user AND from the perspective of the expected bystanders.
If you create an item that addresses these two main points FIRST, and does so acceptably, then you will -Always- find many, many more happy spenders, in this community, than if you let those two things slide in favour of making something "fun" etc. Fun is great, and we love a bit of frivolity, however, it needs to be understood that a great portion of the players in this MMO, enjoy their fun from within an immersed state in the world of Tolkien... and if you shatter that with your "fun", it doesn't matter how awesome it might be in other circumstances and in other settings; it's no longer going to be any fun at all for a very great number of players... this is precisely where so much of the malcontent comes from.
The main problem with making suggestions to you about what I'd spend 5000k TP on is that most of the serious suggestions will be for things that a lot of player asking for them have already been asking for for a long time, and in most cases, feel they are due as part of the process of updating and improving the game, rather than as a paid-for perk. The cry for housing improvements is one such of these. Many have said that they would pay 500K for the full and complete housing update many of us have been crying out for for so long... many others, if that was actually don,e would cry foul, havoc and uproar at it, because of "being told pay the cost of an expansion for something that is long overdue anyway" I get the impression, however, that through cost is, indeed, the only way we're ever going to see such things, now. It does, certainly have the benefit of not costing those who aren't interested, even if it may chafe more at making those who are effectively shoulder the whole burden of it. I can see valuable points to be made in either direction.
What does it come down to for me though, I guess is what you're after. Well, it depends on how expansive and inclusive it was, but, yes, if it were everything I wanted, then yes, I'd pay that price point for it. Grudgingly, very grudgingly, but if I'm honest, I have to say I'd buckle and do so. I'd feel more comfortable at 3k, for that, but if it were 5k, and fixed, I'd swallow it.
What it would need to be:
Interior customisability. Once the house-pack was purchased with TP, in-game gold would be used for tailoring options, such as whether your home has a basement or not, etc.
-> This implies further, customisability of feature-piece rooms. Put in a basement, and you should be able to configure a small series of variables for shape/size and locked fixtures to ensure that your basement looked different and unique-ish compared to others. Put in a kitchen/preparations room, and you should be able to make it look different, even undecorated, from others. Even if this were only a small handful of variables, each with only a small handful of options, it would be enough.
Decoration improvement. Either grid-based or completely free-form decoration system, to allow you to put what you want, where you want it. In particular importance here, Turbine shouldn't decide for us what's a clipping issue and what isn't: players decorating their houses will care about that, and take care of the issue with as much caution and consideration as they personally wish to, and that's enough. We need to have that power, though. Currently, for example, I can't put a chair under a table: They have to sit miles apart. Conceivably, a grid based system could be made that wouldn't necessarily rectify this issue, and that's not acceptable.... it must.
-> Along with this, more improved and varied decorations. Including more interactive objects; items that do stuff, and furniture you can use.
Interactive storage. Having a few chest is ok for many things, yes, but for a lot of it, I want my home to visually appear to have things stored, or not, as the case may be. In particular, ability to display what things are where in certain cases, for improved ease of access and also for visual aesthetic. Such things would include weapon, shields and armour display options, within reason. Also storage containers with display features for Consumables - Food, and Consumables - Potions, that would have a visual indicator at a glance for showing what sorts of things were there, and vaguely an approximation of how much. I imagine that such things would only accept the appropriate objects, of course, and nothing else.
----
What else?
Character cosmetic sets and option packs, perhaps. Recently we were given a bare-chested dwarf cosmetic. This is neat, and a lot of people like it. It's also simple and more or less immersively unobtrusive. I think a cosmetic pack that did a lot more of this sort of simple, non-flashy but immersive and atmospheric.
-> I'd like to see a pack that gave us the options of a handful of different under-clothes cosmetics, that wouldn't take up a cosmetic slot, but rather be a setting, as it were, for what our base underclothes looked like. Besides looking horrible and being defintionally character unsuitable for -most- people who have a defined character tied to their toons (especially those who happen to be in an adventuring lifestyle, whether they like it or not), they're also chronologically inaccurate. I'd like to see options for what our base unders look like, ranging through a varied selection of simple and adventure-practical choices, for all races and classes. Even a game like monster hunter offers a selection of choices for base unders, all of which are simple, modest and practical, yet varied enough to allow some customisation.
->An improvement to the cosmetic wardrobe that let you view, sort and cycle in-view by slot, to allow you best access to mix and match different slot pieces to find the look you like best: Individual appearances would be flagged from the addition of an item, and that particular cosmetic appearance would then be available for use and selection, rather than the current system which is tied in to specific items permanently.
-> This upgrade pack would also extend options for customising the character's physical appearance and personalising a little more, to allow us to make our characters look more truly unique to ourselves.
-> It would also need to come with at least one cosmetic slot unlock, along side all of this, in my personal opinion.
----
Not applicable to me in particular but how's this one:
5000 TP, for a non-ViP to unlock the moors and PvMP for their freep character (maybe one, maybe by account), permanently?
Basically, there are many options for things you could do to make a 5000Tp tag acceptable to a useful portion of players, but the way to do it is to play to the sort of community the majority are, and -Compliment- the tone and atmosphere of Tolkien's world, rather than detract from it. Elite-by-price items are NOT the way to approach -This- community, whether it works for other MMOs or not.
-Niara
Rider, Fighter, Virgin, Lover; Watcher, Chaser, Bearer of Pain. Victim tormented, Abused and Broken; Rise from the ashes and Hunt once again. And Vengeance Be Thy Oath.
For me, immersion is the main reason I play, so all the items I'd pay extra for are the sorts of items that do not significantly impact gameplay, but which do make my character feel more immersed in the game. I think that's exactly the type of thing the devs should be focusing on for store items, because they wouldn't give an advantage in-game, but people like me would pay good prices for them.
As I mentioned earlier, I would buy the Discovering the Descendant mount for 5,000TP as long as the mount and the corresponding war-steed skin were both account-wide. I wouldn't even need the stats to be that high; I'd be happy with the 68%, 250 morale standard.
Also as I said earlier I would gladly pay 5,000TP to be able to freeform decorate all my houses, with unlimited hooks and placement inside and in the yard. Extra chests would be nice, but not a deal-breaker for me. I'm not sure what sort of dev time would be involved in making existing houses freeform like this, but would be something I'd pay for.
I would also love a full revamp of housing, it's the #1 area I most want to see fixed up. I want to be able to decorate free-form, and have some say in the layout without having that layout depend on which plot I choose in the neighbourhood. I want to be able to adjust the lighting of rooms, choose the type of outdoor terrain I have (grass, flowers, dirt, etc), and have some (limited) choice of where my house is placed on the plot, at what angle.
I would gladly pay for some premium housing items such as crafting facilities, stables that allow me to show off select mounts, larger houses to decorate, extra floors and room types such as attics, basements, kitchens, workshops, tree-forts, etc.
I would pay good money for premium housing decorations, ideally for access to the item and unlimited use account-wide within my houses, rather than dealing logistically with storing them when not in use or buying them on multiple servers. Simple things like fine rugs, more elaborate furniture, finer window treatments, etc. I would love to see a housing "wardrobe system" for use with such things. Where you can add and remove single items, but once added you can use them account-wide as many times as you like.
I would pay for cool and ideally animated cosmetic housing items, too, which could be handled just as any other store item is now (no special storage system). Beehives for my yard, a tanning shack or smokehouse, etc. etc.
I would gladly pay big for an account-wide boat I can launch in any body of water and ride around in like a mount, which I would mainly use for fishing and getting around in Evendim. It wouldn't even have to be much faster than swimming speed.
The same goes for a horse and wagon, as someone else suggested above. It could be road-bound, too, so people aren't riding it across the plains or something. Bonus points if friends can hop in back and get a ride to places, and if it offered a basic amount of storage like an inventory bag, although the storage wouldn't be necessary for me to buy it.
I would pay a premium for a campsite setup I can take along with me on the landscape, and set up camp in select limited areas of any map (i.e. some of the less dangerous areas so as not to break immersion for me and other players). Camp-able areas could be highlighted on the map using a UI option. Camp would have a fire pit, a tent, a bedroll and a hitching post for one of my steeds (ideally with an ability to select one of my mounts to be displayed at the hitching post). You could make several versions of this, some simple, and some more elaborate, with a pavilion style tent, map table, more elaborate fire-pit with pots on it, etc. for more $. To allow for brief hunting excursions without littering the landscape with unused campsites, the campsite could automatically disappear if my character was out of range of it for a set amount of time. I would definitely buy this type of thing if it was available in-store, even though it really wouldn't serve much purpose in-game besides immersion/RP. Although for extra cash you could add a mustering horn to some sites.
I would pay for a pet that I could have bound to my house and yard, which would roam freely in that confined area. Bonus points if it could accompany me in all the town areas where housing neighbourhoods exist (Ered Luin, Bree, Shire), regardless of character class.
I would pay to have some of the skins and gear available on my non-class mounts (reputation steeds, etc.)available as war-steed cosmetics. I would also pay to be able to cosmetically customize my regular travel mounts, much like the war-steeds.
I would very gladly pay to have the ability to update my character's features, and for the graphics quality of characters to be enhanced. I love the system GW2 uses, and wish I could make my character look that individual and attractive. Also for the hair to flow when you turn your head, like in GW2.
I loved the suggestion someone else made, about enabling Kinships to pay to register a crest, and have cosmetic items, war-steed items and housing banners with that crest available in-store for people of that kinship to purchase if they wish.
I think how that could work logistically is, the items could display the crest of whatever kin they are in at the time (to prevent people removed from a kin wearing that kin's gear). If they leave a kin or join one that doesn't have a crest registered, the gear shows a generic graphic.
I will add more suggestions as they come to me.
EDIT: I don't know how I could have overlooked these important ones:
Crafting wallet, please!
Account-wide war-steed wardrobe would be awesome!!
As I suggested above, a housing item wardrobe/storage system.
As someone else suggested, access to my wardrobe from within my house.
Different weapon appearance options on reforge, please!
Like others I'd also pay TP to never have to pay housing upkeep again.
EDIT: I have another suggestion that could make recurring revenue:
In-town facility rentals for events. I'd pay TP to be able to rent a well outfitted party or concert room in Bree for events I might host from time to time. Facilities could include:
A good amount of seating
A stage with room up front for dancing
A vendor available to sell food, beverages and emote items
Ability to choose whether during my rental period the facility is open to just me and friends, to my kinship, or to everyone.
Ability to adjust lighting (simple options like, bright, medium, dim)
Perhaps an option to have player music amplified to fill the whole room, in case I'm hosting a concert or a play with sound effects
Perhaps when eligible people are near the doorway to my event, the name of the event shows onscreen much like "scholar's stair" or other regional titles, to make it easier for people to find
Take this post, print it on real real real huge papersize, decorate your officewalls and get these things into the game - then u will get my money.
5k tp - Character copy, ability to copy a character from one server to another(I know you can move them but why not copy them give me the option to play in 2 differnt places)
5k tp - Housing( premium areas rivendell, rohan, moria,)
5k tp - Exclusive bundle of cosmetics ( Something that will come out and never come out again in any way shape or form, full cosmetics mind full outfit.)
5k tp - Kin cosmetics (Ability for kins to submit to you ideas you will then place ingame on cosmetic cloaks/shields ect.)
5k tp - Full cosmetic ( allow cosmetic sheilds/weapons/bows for all characters on an account )
5k tp - Ability to skip moria - new region
Some TP price not sure it is worth 5k unless it was account wide (toggle to prevent forced emotes)
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Originally Posted by Lainalagos
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there are thousands of others who play but don't come here. You know who your customers are. Send them an email survey--what do you most want to see in the store and what would you pay for it? It's also not hard to look at the forums and find out the most desperately wanted upgrades/improvements. CSTM has polls every week that would help you understand what players like and don't like--maybe read them or try something similar on the community site. Really guys, get in touch with your players, it isn't that difficult.
Share the journey of Tuiliel and Eluridan at http://my.lotro.com/user-1027520 before the community site blogs disappear
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). For that matter it could just be normal horse racing. Could even add in a betting system for spectators, endless fun as well as a new economic tool for in game currency, plus itl keep those moaning for a new hobby quiet too!
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That is what many posts in this thread on this forum said.
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