Gemstone 4 (SIMU) changes / new currency / GS4 SOLD?

[Xcalibur1]

TL;DR:

Wyrom fired a bad gm, GMs were told to stop banning people, they need more revenue or GS4 will be sold.

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DISLCAIMER:
I was given this information from an EX GM (EX). We kept good relationship and played some online gaming. He told me some information he got and he agreed I was going to share em.

Believe me or not, that is 0 important. The important thing is there's some stuff going around and you guys must know about it. There's many hints already where all this is going and that may end up known anyway soon enough.

----

1) Numbers, revenue were indeed in red lately. Some GMs appreciated their power too much and one of them (eventually got fired) personnally went against a player (cannot confirm if it's either zaoloo or pedoanne) and got that person banned.

i) There was an internal fight amongst some GMs and a Senior (Naijin?, unconfirmed) threatened to leave if that kind of rampage attitude was to continue.
ii) Reasons were that banned people for stupid reasons were not providing revenues for simu AND for GMs.
iii) Wyrom, the pacificator said he was going to do something. That something will be talked a bit more later.
iv) The rampaged GM continued to over check players, banned someone and that ban was lifted by Wyrom saying he wanted a moratorium on bans (only for
that GM)
v) That gm left (or got fired, unconfirmed)


2) High management, unconfirmed who ( I suspect Estild, Wyrom is not known to be playing the role of bad cop), told GMs that the share % offered to GMs for events was to be downsized since revenues were going lower
i) High management said that: less players were playing because COVID restrictions; A lot of gms was calling bullshit on that argument
ii) High management said that: banning people was a bad way to keep GMs motivated since it was directly hurting their $$.... WTF???!???
iii) High management said that if the revenue continued to be low like they are lately, they were told the game was going to be sold since they're in red.

3) The Policy 18 & 19 updates were a good compromise for revenues (for simu AND GMs) per Wyrom's decision. But there's more.
i) A couple of GMs were against it.
ii) They're looking for around 20% in increase in paid accounts.
iii) There's talks of a new currency for the new hunting areas that would be used only in said new areas (for specific stuff, I don't know what though).
iv) They only care about simustore and more stuff will be thrown there to drastically increase revenues.

Panicked decisions rarely bold good stuff.

p.s. don't shoot the messenger!

X

[Cryogic]

I bet the guy works for BOCHAST INTELLIGENCE SERVICES Inc.

[Xcalibur1]

STFU, that guy is a ninja with 10 PhD

[Tgo01]

The game is in the red? Yeah sure.

[therottedzombie]

Boy this is a vomit salad of nonsense.

[tyrant-201]

The game is in the red? Yeah sure.

Must be that massive overhead.

[Tgo01]

Must be that massive overhead.

Fire extinguishers don’t inspect themselves.

[Taernath]

All they have to do is make another $25000 pair of rift boots and GS is safe for a few more years.

[SHAFT]

Wonder what the asking price is?

[beldannon5]

Wonder what the asking price is?

350?

[BLZrizz]

GS is not in the red, but Simu likely is. The screenshot below is from the 21 annual report.


https://imgur.com/a/NFx1lR4


This shows simu being 1.2 MILLION in the hole after 2020 (the supposed COVID year of plenty), and basically 100k of profit after 21. I wonder where the GS/DRealms revenue is going?

[Tolwynn]

Poured into the attempt to fast track a mid-tier mech game, perhaps?

[zhagen]

If Simutronics revenue was only 30m kronas in 2021 out of Stillfront's total 5,455m kronas then that is less than half of 1% of their total revenue... plus Stillfront revenue increased 35% YoY overall while Simu's revenue declined 50% YoY? What's it all mean? Where did all the money go? Did the bans really contribute to that shift downward? Does Stillfront even care since Simu such a small piece of the pie?

[Taernath]

"Ok, the dragon riding game was a bust. Mech piloting thing is on life support. What's next? Two words, guys: Kart. Racer. It's practically an untapped genre."

[Rjex]

Imagine if most of that money went back into GS rather than life support for other dying projects. Shit, we might even have savants and elite ascension by now.

[Gelston]

Lol, the only people that could ban anyone from the game was a SGM or above.

[Tgo01]

Did the bans really contribute to that shift downward?

Doubtful. I don’t know about Simu as a whole, but the GMs in GS for sure acted like the good times were here to stay during the lockdowns. They seemed to really think that they somehow struck gold in whatever it was they were doing to suddenly have so much revenue, they didn’t seem to understand that the forced lockdowns likely had a lot to do with the game’s revenue suddenly shooting up and that the revenue would likely drop again once the shutdowns were over.

Because of this they did seem to go through a period of settling personal vendettas they had with players, as well as pushing through some really dumb changes that they figured they could now push through since they thought they had the magic touch. Now that revenue is plummeting I have no doubt they are changing tactics behind the scenes to try and stop the bleeding.

[Lulfas]

Now that revenue is plummeting I have no doubt they are changing tactics behind the scenes to try and stop the bleeding.

Might be why it is suddenly doubtful that Divergence changes will go game wide.

[Tgo01]

Might be why it is suddenly doubtful that Divergence changes will go game wide.

It would make sense. It seems only the GMs want divergence to go game wide.

Estild might not think "fun" is a legit reason to make changes to the game, but I'm sure Stillfront thinks "money" is a legit reason.

[Methais]

Might be why it is suddenly doubtful that Divergence changes will go game wide.

I require more information about this. Because fuck divergence and Estild’s other shitty ideas.

[Winter]

iii) High management said that if the revenue continued to be low like they are lately, they were told the game was going to be sold since they're in red.

You're going to have to a little clearer with this, do you mean Stillfront is going to sell their share, is David Whatley is going to call it a day and sell the rest of his share or are they both going to try and offload the IP to whoever will buy it?

[BLZrizz]

They need to take care of revenue drivers (i.e. big whales and book brokers). Take a page out of casinos and really make sure these folks feel taken care of and heard, even though they play by the same game rules as everyone else.

For example, a person who spends $10k+ yearly on Simucoin should never have to wait in an assist/referral queue as everyone else. These folks should also get a private discord room where a response is guaranteed to their issue/concern.

[Fortybox]

Simu has always had an us vs. them mentality with their playerbase. Sounds like they wised up and realized they shouldn't ban people who pay and aren’t disrupting anyone with their scripting.

[Cryogic]

It's almost like going on a banning crusade against your best customers ISN'T a way to keep people playing your shitty 30 year old money pit. Almost....

[BLZrizz]

To be clear, I think GS and, to a lesser extent, DR, are amazing cash cows. Low overhead, diehard (literally) playerbase. The most golden of gooses that if taken care of in its ripe old age should continue to produce.

The revised banning policy was a step in the right direction, as it keeps the community intact. The IP is mediocre at best and the game itself antiquated; it is the community that keeps people here and makes Simu the money. Ensuring AFK scripting and botting is controlled is of paramount importance, and the new setup strikes a balance between that and preserving the community. I only wish they went with "in game time" required to work the penalty off, as well as character binding all items on the caught account and all associated accounts until the penalty is worked off.

[Methais]

To be clear, I think GS and, to a lesser extent, DR, are amazing cash cows. Low overhead, diehard (literally) playerbase. The most golden of gooses that if taken care of in its ripe old age should continue to produce.

The revised banning policy was a step in the right direction, as it keeps the community intact. The IP is mediocre at best and the game itself antiquated; it is the community that keeps people here and makes Simu the money. Ensuring AFK scripting and botting is controlled is of paramount importance, and the new setup strikes a balance between that and preserving the community. I only wish they went with "in game time" required to work the penalty off, as well as character binding all items on the caught account and all associated accounts until the penalty is worked off.

;repo download workoffpenalty.lic

[Fortybox]

To be clear, I think GS and, to a lesser extent, DR, are amazing cash cows. Low overhead, diehard (literally) playerbase. The most golden of gooses that if taken care of in its ripe old age should continue to produce.

The revised banning policy was a step in the right direction, as it keeps the community intact. The IP is mediocre at best and the game itself antiquated; it is the community that keeps people here and makes Simu the money. Ensuring AFK scripting and botting is controlled is of paramount importance, and the new setup strikes a balance between that and preserving the community. I only wish they went with "in game time" required to work the penalty off, as well as character binding all items on the caught account and all associated accounts until the penalty is worked off.

AFK scripting/botting isn't a problem except for a few outlier cases. Simu should be focused on sorting out the truly bad cases instead of hiring GMs to troll the lands "catching" the bad guys because they didn't respond to a pink elephant trying to pull their weiner in time.

Scripting has always been about jealousy. It's a classic haves vs. have nots issue and it sounds like Simu is finally realizing that they make money from players that know how to script and not from players that cyber all day long and complain about 100K silver raffles being too expensive.

[Tolwynn]

Scripting has always been about jealousy. It's a classic haves vs. have nots issue and it sounds like Simu is finally realizing that they make money from players that know how to script and not from players that cyber all day long and complain about 100K silver raffles being too expensive.

A decent number of players that script sell gained resources and gear on the secondary market to players that don't script, and that's not an insignificant amount of cash trading hands.

Maybe the ban wave is paving the way for an attempt to cut out the middlemen and capture some of that revenue stream for themselves.

[Stanley Burrell]

This is confusing.

Bye.

[BLZrizz]

Scripting has always been about jealousy. It's a classic haves vs. have nots issue and it sounds like Simu is finally realizing that they make money from players that know how to script and not from players that cyber all day long and complain about 100K silver raffles being too expensive.

AFK scripting is a pernicious culture destroyer and will eventually destroy the game if left unchecked. Ask the former DRealms players who moved over to GS. Regular scripting as far as I remember, is still good w/r/t policy. Individuals conflating the two are why these discussions often get derailed.

[Cryogic]

They already ran off all the worst/biggest scripting groups, afk or not, with the lootcap so not really sure what you are worried about BLZrizz.

[Tgo01]

Maybe the ban wave is paving the way for an attempt to cut out the middlemen and capture some of that revenue stream for themselves.

If they start straight up selling silver and other currencies in the SimuStore then that's a good way to destroy the game I think.

The fact that this game requires years of game play to improve your character is a major factor for why the game has lasted as long as it has. If they allow people to do in minutes what would normally take weeks or months just because they whip out a credit card will destroy the game fast.

The fact that silvers, currencies, and experience can't be bought is the only thing really keeping this game together. Those are some threads they don't want to be pulling.

They already allowed people to change race and class for money though, so it wouldn't surprise me if in a few years they decide to go completely scorched earth.

[Gelston]

If they start straight up selling silver and other currencies in the SimuStore then that's a good way to destroy the game I think.

The fact that this game requires years of game play to improve your character is a major factor for why the game has lasted as long as it has. If they allow people to do in minutes what would normally take weeks or months just because they whip out a credit card will destroy the game fast.

The fact that silvers, currencies, and experience can't be bought is the only thing really keeping this game together. Those are some threads they don't want to be pulling.

They already allowed people to change race and class for money though, so it wouldn't surprise me if in a few years they decide to go completely scorched earth.

Eh, they could just make it like PLEX in Eve where you can also purchase game subs with it. Then there'd always be a market for it.

[Winter]

If they start straight up selling silver and other currencies in the SimuStore then that's a good way to destroy the game I think.

That already happened with the DR rewards and look how that turned out.

[zhagen]

I agree that egregious AFK scripting should be policed but not the "Oh shit my eyes wandered to GS discord because that is fun for 5 minutes but tough luck you punished". It is a tough thing to balance but I have no problem if they punish AFK farmers who have been farming for 20 hours straight on land or sea.... to be honest they should probably limit the amount of time a normal non-AFK human can play the game in one sitting if only for health reasons..... I am looking at you (you know who you guys are)

[Stanley Burrell]

Oh shit, I'm sorry guys, I almost forgot:

Ohoohooohohohoohohoho!!

Alright. We good.

[Fortybox]

AFK scripting is a pernicious culture destroyer and will eventually destroy the game if left unchecked. Ask the former DRealms players who moved over to GS. Regular scripting as far as I remember, is still good w/r/t policy. Individuals conflating the two are why these discussions often get derailed.

No it's not. You just don't like it and would rather force people into a particular way to play a game.

[BLZrizz]

They already ran off all the worst/biggest scripting groups, afk or not, with the lootcap so not really sure what you are worried about BLZrizz.

You're probably right here. I talked to former DRealms players who switched to GS and told me of a dead, sterile world filled with bots and I resolved to not let GS suffer the same fate to the extent I could help.

[BLZrizz]

No it's not. You just don't like it and would rather force people into a particular way to play a game.

Yes, if the devs have stated said way is against policy. And plus it destroys the very thing that has kept a 30 year old text game viable. If I couldn't click on a name and know I could interact with that person more often than not, I would leave. I'm no whale but I spend roughly 2m+ bloodscrip per DR run.

[Archigeek]

A decent number of players that script sell gained resources and gear on the secondary market to players that don't script, and that's not an insignificant amount of cash trading hands.

Maybe the ban wave is paving the way for an attempt to cut out the middlemen and capture some of that revenue stream for themselves.

I always find it puzzling when this argument gets tossed out there, and it regularly does. When the middlemen pay you for the goods they sell someone else, and the someone else is paying you too, how can you not see that as a win win? Middlemen are often good for business. Not always, but in the case of Gemstone I'm pretty sure they smooth along some cash flow, for pretty minimal compensation.

[Archigeek]

AFK scripting is a pernicious culture destroyer and will eventually destroy the game if left unchecked. Ask the former DRealms players who moved over to GS. Regular scripting as far as I remember, is still good w/r/t policy. Individuals conflating the two are why these discussions often get derailed.

Agreed.

[Fortybox]

Yes, if the devs have stated said way is against policy. And plus it destroys the very thing that has kept a 30 year old text game viable. If I couldn't click on a name and know I could interact with that person more often than not, I would leave. I'm no whale but I spend roughly 2m+ bloodscrip per DR run.

Lich and DR has kept the game viable.

[BLZrizz]

Lich and DR has kept the game viable.

Lich kept GS viable? That's like saying we can make horse and buggy viable transportation again if we retrofit them with high speed aluminum wheels with space age ball bearings.

And yes DR brought the money, from people who love and feel a connection to the game. Lich definitely makes the game experience more pleasurable and less tedious, but it isn't why people stay.

[Tgo01]

Lich kept GS viable?

I for sure wouldn't be playing today if Lich wasn't around. So that's like 89 accounts right there :O

[Xcalibur1]

You're going to have to a little clearer with this, do you mean Stillfront is going to sell their share, is David Whatley is going to call it a day and sell the rest of his share or are they both going to try and offload the IP to whoever will buy it?

Unknown.

What is known, though, is that Gemstone4 players surprisingly brings a lot of complaints. It is not something known, Wyrom won't speak about it publicaly but there's a LOT of complaints monthly. And not from the same people.

I was told there's MANY threats of lawsuits. Most of them are the results of frustrated people (either scamed or emotionaly betrayed) but there was some cases that were heavy and taxing on SIMU resources and had many iterations.

And, each of them needs to be shared to Stillfront since they're a public company and susceptible to audits.

...

[Viekn]

You guys are up to 5 pages of responses to a post by a troll account?

[Realk]

Asteroid while misguided isn't a troll account. If the complaints were not happening then Spiffy would be still doing his thing, Policy would not have been changed. Voicing something that concerns you does not make you a complete troll.

[Methais]

and not from players that cyber all day long and complain about 100K silver raffles being too expensive.

:lol:

[Tgo01]

If the complaints were not happening then Spiffy would be still doing his thing

So what exactly happened with Spiffy? Last I heard he logged out of his official GM account on Discord? But did he quit being a GM or something?

[Tgo01]

I also don't understand how they can fuck up the cash cow they have. All they had to do was not piss off people TOO MUCH.

Players have put up with a lot of shit from the GMs over the years and the game has stayed strongish (for being an old MUD) the entire time. It was like the GMs got it into their heads that they have to try and antagonize the player base as much as possible.

[Methais]

Lich kept GS viable? That's like saying we can make horse and buggy viable transportation again if we retrofit them with high speed aluminum wheels with space age ball bearings.

And yes DR brought the money, from people who love and feel a connection to the game. Lich definitely makes the game experience more pleasurable and less tedious, but it isn't why people stay.

I'd quit tomorrow if Lich went away. Just because of ;go2 ;narost ;wander and ;sloot.

Simu should be sending Tillmen coke and hookers 7 days a week for keeping their game alive.

[Berost]

I for sure wouldn't be playing today if Lich wasn't around. So that's like 89 accounts right there :O

1 account. Wouldnt play without Lich either. lol

[Glaves]

Lich kept GS viable? That's like saying we can make horse and buggy viable transportation again if we retrofit them with high speed aluminum wheels with space age ball bearings.

And yes DR brought the money, from people who love and feel a connection to the game. Lich definitely makes the game experience more pleasurable and less tedious, but it isn't why people stay.

We are all know dumber for having read that.

[beldannon5]

We are all know dumber for having read that.

may God have mercy on your soul lol

[Rjex]

Lich isn't going away even if Tillmen dies, lnet and repo would temporarily, but would be replaced pretty quickly. But yeah, I wouldn't play this game for even a day if scripting wasn't available.

[Fortybox]

Lich kept GS viable? That's like saying we can make horse and buggy viable transportation again if we retrofit them with high speed aluminum wheels with space age ball bearings.

And yes DR brought the money, from people who love and feel a connection to the game. Lich definitely makes the game experience more pleasurable and less tedious, but it isn't why people stay.

Lich keeps this game alive. DR is literally built off of scripting. Wyrom knows this and was one of the reasons why he made the arena easier.

They changed the policy because they realized they shouldn’t be banning their target customers. Some Stillfront exec was probably like why are you fuckers banning the people who give us money? Stop doing that.

[Gelston]

Lich kept GS viable? That's like saying we can make horse and buggy viable transportation again if we retrofit them with high speed aluminum wheels with space age ball bearings.

And yes DR brought the money, from people who love and feel a connection to the game. Lich definitely makes the game experience more pleasurable and less tedious, but it isn't why people stay.

Without Lich the player base would be severely lessened.

[Methais]

Lich keeps this game alive. DR is literally built off of scripting. Wyrom knows this and was one of the reasons why he made the arena easier.

They changed the policy because they realized they shouldn’t be banning their target customers. Some Stillfront exec was probably like why are you fuckers banning the people who give us money? Stop doing that.

And yet Estild is still hell bent on slowing down combat to pen & paper speed, insisting that long boring drawn out fights are what the game needs while saying that "fun" isn't a factor in his shitty game design and retarded ideas of "balance."

[Gelston]

And yet Estild is still hell bent on slowing down combat to pen & paper speed, insisting that long boring drawn out fights are what the game needs while saying that "fun" isn't a factor in his shitty game design and retarded ideas of "balance."

I don't mind slower, more meaningful combat if they made the bonuses for killing things greater. With the amount of time it takes to get to cap and then begin maxing skills, it just isn't feasible to make every fight a one minute affair.

[Fortybox]

And yet Estild is still hell bent on slowing down combat to pen & paper speed, insisting that long boring drawn out fights are what the game needs while saying that "fun" isn't a factor in his shitty game design and retarded ideas of "balance."

That's the problem with Simu. It's always adversarial and punitive towards the playerbase.

[Methais]

I don't mind slower, more meaningful combat if they made the bonuses for killing things greater. With the amount of time it takes to get to cap and then begin maxing skills, it just isn't feasible to make every fight a one minute affair.

They keep saying some special "carrot" is coming to Hinterwilds, but given their track record, I have zero expectation that any of it will be worth it. Meanwhile Estild and Naijin will insist that it's the best thing since sunlight, and the usual Discord sycophants will clap like seals hoping to get some GM attention in front of other people.

[drumpel]

Without Lich the player base would be severely lessened.

I still have my SF movement scripts for my main hunting areas and running between different towns should some chance happen that lich or ;go2 breaks.

I do enjoy using ;sloot and having access to maps in a seamless manner using ;xnarost (or ;narost) is nice - no need for printed up maps.

I wouldn't touch alchemy without lich....add this, chant, crush that, mix this, infuse, add something else, do the hokey pokey, turn yourself around, add something else.....crap, you need to forage for something and forgot it. Start the whole process over....Yeah, no fucking thanks.

Speaking of alchemy and guild stuff, I wouldn't be slowly making my way through the warrior guild without lich, either.....

I'd probably stop playing if lich went bye-bye because there's just so much more in the game and all the extra tediousness of typing the same stuff out over and over again; lich helps reduce that to keep things more simple.

[Tgo01]

Good news is Lich isn't going anywhere, the most Simu can do is make it against the rules to use Lich, would be suicide for the game.

The bad news is the GMs seem to be trying to recreate Lich within the game to make Lich obsolete, as they have done with making the in game ESP work almost identical to ;lnet. I don't know if they have further plans to try and make Lich obsolete, but them having full control of in game Lich doesn't sound good.

[Archigeek]

They keep saying some special "carrot" is coming to Hinterwilds, but given their track record, I have zero expectation that any of it will be worth it. Meanwhile Estild and Naijin will insist that it's the best thing since sunlight, and the usual Discord sycophants will clap like seals hoping to get some GM attention in front of other people.

There are some things I really like about Hinterwilds, but some are puzzling. For example, I love the size of the place, it's a spacious hunting ground. On the other hand, I have no idea how herb bounties work since where things are located seems very limited, which is doubly challenging due to the size of the place. I usually just turn them in. Additionally, I love that there are a pretty large number of critters to hunt, but again, it's harder to fill a critter bounty in an area with 5 different critters in an area.

Also, the "currency" that you spend for travel and buffs feels like a system that wasn't needed and is so restrictive that it adds zero fun to the game. They would have been better off just adding some special drops, instead of a currency I can't even trade, like we needed another currency. All in all it's a decent enough hunting area, and far better then some of the easy mode post-cap hunting areas, but could use some more background depth, better integration wth the rest of Elanthia, and some clarity.

[Gelston]

Good news is Lich isn't going anywhere, the most Simu can do is make it against the rules to use Lich, would be suicide for the game.

The bad news is the GMs seem to be trying to recreate Lich within the game to make Lich obsolete, as they have done with making the in game ESP work almost identical to ;lnet. I don't know if they have further plans to try and make Lich obsolete, but them having full control of in game Lich doesn't sound good.

I don't consider that bad news. I think GS making Lich obsolete would be the best possible outcome. Actual new players wouldn't be bombarded with "Oh, yeah, the game is okay but go download this, do this, do this, and then get these scripts, etc etc". And also, all the weirdos that don't want to get Lich.

[Tgo01]

I don't consider that bad news. I think GS making Lich obsolete would be the best possible outcome. Actual new players wouldn't be bombarded with "Oh, yeah, the game is okay but go download this, do this, do this, and then get these scripts, etc etc". And also, all the weirdos that don't want to get Lich.

Simu giveth, Simu taketh away.

[AnOrdim]

They keep saying some special "carrot" is coming to Hinterwilds, but given their track record, I have zero expectation that any of it will be worth it. Meanwhile Estild and Naijin will insist that it's the best thing since sunlight, and the usual Discord sycophants will clap like seals hoping to get some GM attention in front of other people.

There were hints to some fetish/charm system that you will be able to upgrade but it will be a permanent thing, no undoing (to start, until they make a potion you can buy to reset it).

"There are charms you can acquire/find/purchase in Ascension areas that will provide unique enhancements for your character. The only way to acquire these enhancements is to play your character. They can be equipped, removed, upgraded, rerolled, deconstructed, etc... for a (large) fee. There you go. They will not be available at pay events and there will be absolutely no refunds or do-overs unless it's the direct result of a system bug"

It's nice to have some of the features of lnet and lich into the game itself - worldwide esp that is always on is a stupid easy simple QoL that is in every other modern MMO, not having it in GS is just a holdover from times that don't exist anymore. Loot Room is great for cleaning out a room with a single command. Updated scripts will use the new commands or not depending on their purposes, so everyone can win in the end.

I won't be holding my breath for the charm system though, I'm sure its going to be a grind and a half of living in HW. The bigger issue is just how badly they've painted themselves into the corner with balancing around characters capping at level 100, but having mechanics that directly tie into character level like sheer fear.

If the OP is even close to being real, you can easily see how all of this is related to HW either being misinterpreted or some future terrible hunting area.

[Seran]

Lich is a pretty amazing quality of life offering for an aging game that is really really repetitive at times. I don't see it going anywhere and Simu management really ought to be grateful it's helped keep some people around.

[Methais]

I don't consider that bad news. I think GS making Lich obsolete would be the best possible outcome. Actual new players wouldn't be bombarded with "Oh, yeah, the game is okay but go download this, do this, do this, and then get these scripts, etc etc". And also, all the weirdos that don't want to get Lich.

I don't disagree, but Simu's too stupid to do it correctly.

Exhibit A:

Lich: has ;go2

Simu: P2W mounts that are inferior to ;go2



I don't see it going anywhere and Simu management really ought to be grateful it's 99% responsible for keeping their game alive.

Fixed.

[SHAFT]

I always find it puzzling when this argument gets tossed out there, and it regularly does. When the middlemen pay you for the goods they sell someone else, and the someone else is paying you too, how can you not see that as a win win? Middlemen are often good for business. Not always, but in the case of Gemstone I'm pretty sure they smooth along some cash flow, for pretty minimal compensation.

The art of good business is being a good middleman.

[BLZrizz]

You get no argument from me about the whole "use of GS/DR golden geese to roll the dice on highly speculative development bets" is terrible mismanagement of the game we love. If GS4 resources were fed back into the game after paying staff very well, we would see some great things and perhaps some marketing efforts that would bring a couple new players in here and there.

Also can't argue that the development over the past few years has been relatively high-paced, so we are seeing some benefits. Stillfront is largely hands off, but the corporate pressure on revenue growth is creating some adverse effects for the game.

Also, I'd be the first to admit that I'd leave if Lich were no longer permitted. But I stay because I love the community, not because I can play an obsolete MUD more efficiently.

[Fortybox]

They keep saying some special "carrot" is coming to Hinterwilds, but given their track record, I have zero expectation that any of it will be worth it. Meanwhile Estild and Naijin will insist that it's the best thing since sunlight, and the usual Discord sycophants will clap like seals hoping to get some GM attention in front of other people.

Just like Ascension super powers were coming

[Fortybox]

I don't disagree, but Simu's too stupid to do it correctly.

Exhibit A:

Lich: has ;go2

Simu: P2W mounts that are inferior to ;go2




Fixed.

Exhibit B:

Simu: WE DONT WANT U ALL SCRIPTING!!!1111111one lkefjkewfwdejkqw qwdklwqklj

Also Simu: Rumor Woods is now live! ENJOY DOING JOUSTING, FOX AND PIXIE SHIT 773723624834943 times!

[Subeta]

Interesting…

[Xcalibur1]

Ok.

This information is quite interesting:

There's a couple of silver events, permanent silver drains and stuff related to silvers only that are on a different roadmap.

The "pay" related to this roadmap is close to 0 dollar. 0 as in nothing.

And your project will still be reviewed by higher peers and may be stalled / changed / canceled without notices.

....

Any work on silvers is basically discouraged by staff.

And anyone with half a brain knows that everything related to p2w is substancially paid and encouraged.

Will quote the excellent fallout new vegas: Game was rigged from the start.

[Methais]

Ok.

This information is quite interesting:

There's a couple of silver events, permanent silver drains and stuff related to silvers only that are on a different roadmap.

The "pay" related to this roadmap is close to 0 dollar. 0 as in nothing.

And your project will still be reviewed by higher peers and may be stalled / changed / canceled without notices.

....

Any work on silvers is basically discouraged by staff.

And anyone with half a brain knows that everything related to p2w is substancially paid and encouraged.

Will quote the excellent fallout new vegas: Game was rigged from the start.

Wyrom is almost solely responsible for silver events happening because everyone else just wants to make P2W stuff and basically has to make other GMs work on silver events.

[BLZrizz]

Wyrom is almost solely responsible for silver events happening because everyone else just wants to make P2W stuff and basically has to make other GMs work on silver events.

Intermittent silver auctions are a decent way since he can "crowdsource" by requiring each GM to make 5 items and come up with a 80-100 item slate. It seems obvious to me that after Stillfront took partial ownership that the revenue afterburners would be primed.

Despite that though, one can't necessarily say that they aren't balancing game considerations. GUB was a huge revenue draw and that was mostly turned back to the players. Same for WPS, though to a lesser extent due to difficulty gates. Player services should be on a "curve"; the most skilled player in the game should be able to service the most difficult item and then scale from there.

[Tgo01]

Intermittent silver auctions are a decent way since he can "crowdsource" by requiring each GM to make 5 items and come up with a 80-100 item slate. It seems obvious to me that after Stillfront took partial ownership that the revenue afterburners would be primed.

Despite that though, one can't necessarily say that they aren't balancing game considerations. GUB was a huge revenue draw and that was mostly turned back to the players. Same for WPS, though to a lesser extent due to difficulty gates. Player services should be on a "curve"; the most skilled player in the game should be able to service the most difficult item and then scale from there.

Players should be able to keep servicing items forever. Let people walk around with +100 weapons with 20 tiers of ensorcelling, but make the difficulty insane after the typical +50/T5, and make it so -500 difficulty potions don't work.

So like a +51 cast alone would add 1000 difficulty or something, that way the only way to enchant it is if a wizard uses a lot of suffuse. Sure it's crazy, but people in this game like crazy shit.

[Gelston]

Players should be able to keep servicing items forever. Let people walk around with +100 weapons with 20 tiers of ensorcelling, but make the difficulty insane after the typical +50/T5, and make it so -500 difficulty potions don't work.

So like a +51 cast alone would add 1000 difficulty or something, that way the only way to enchant it is if a wizard uses a lot of suffuse. Sure it's crazy, but people in this game like crazy shit.

I imagine the cap is in place on items to make it easier to create andd test new systems in game. When something has an absolute cap, you don't need to really mess around with what ifs and it limits your requirements for testing.

In actuality, an item could be 100x and as much crit weighting or damage weighting as you could imagine. You've all seen the +10000 damage weighted sword of DOOM! that some GM made once and messed around on the boulder with. Hell, when I was a GM I made a 100x +5000 damage weighted crossbow bolt (Which I had altered to be a 5.56 round that I fired from my altered crossbow, which was an M16A4 service rifle.)

[Asha]

I made a 100x +5000 damage weighted crossbow bolt (Which I had altered to be a 5.56 round that I fired from my altered crossbow, which was an M16A4 service rifle.)

Mb please.

[Gelston]

Mb please.

I also altered an immolator into a flame thrower.