Originally Posted by
GM Wyrom
It looks like there are four key issues that are being brought up.
• Moving to SimuCoin purchases.
• More currencies.
• Silver drains.
• My comments earlier on.
I'm going to go through each of those individual.
SimuCoin vs. Box Office
There are a number of reasons for the shift. The biggest reason is this is where we're at now. This is the direction I am told to work. Enormous efforts were put into Box Office events and it pushed the limits for minimal gains. We were running ourselves ragged and not even hitting our targets.
The Box Office also had issues when it came to development. Having to communicate and verify purchases in game always had issues. Anyone who has run some of the quests know the struggle.
Lastly, we didn't have the participation because $30, $50, or $80 was too much for people. A lot of people just want to explore, interact and make smaller purchases. SimuCoins allow us to capture larger audiences. This also seems to be a worrisome point about merchant lines. This is something we can address more before the event, because we want everyone to get a fun experience at these. Not just the 20 people who wait it out in a merchant line.
More Scrip and Currencies
I hear the concerns loud and clear. Let's do a history lesson real quick.
When we ported the TICKET system over from DragonRealms, we had 2 currencies. We bumbled around with it though. We didn't know really what we were going to. It started off as tickets and scrip when we made the system in GemStone IV. Scrip was going to go into our first pay event that would feature it, called Grey Raven. Unfortunately, it was a quest using the old mindset and it never came to be. It burned out 3 GMs trying to bring that up to speed. So just plain "scrip" never happened.
During Troubled Waters, GM Vanah introduced blackscrip, and Ebon Gate started to embark on tickets. During all that, I wanted to do a play off blackscrip and make something called bloodscrip for this small event called Duskruin Arena. At the time, GM Scrimge was lead on it, and I was his support as SGM. We struggled with the idea of the event for months. It was brutal because I had the PM breathing down my back on getting it out. But I kept saying I couldn't come up with a solid plan. I took a lot of heat about the event. And then a few of us started brainstorming a new approach to events. We were getting exhausted from never hitting our goals, and it burned out dozens of GMs. That's when we really honed in on a way to work bloodscrip into the game.
We learned a lot from bloodscrip. It helps us control an event a bit better, it also helps us manage expectations. Yes, I realize because it's tied to SimuCoin purchases it's making silvers feel less valuable, but I'll also get into that in my next bullet point. I also know it's coming with pricing that makes a lot of items unreachable.
We don't plan to offer an abundance of new scrip types. We do need to use what we learned with bloodscrip though, which means starting fresh with Ebon Gate. The former (general) ticket will still have use though. We plan on using it in some ways at Ebon Gate this year. We also plan on using it at other events and venues not tied to just pay events.
The plan is to have tickets, scrip (not used currently), blackscrip, bloodscrip, ethereal scrip, and seashells for right now. We've thrown ideas about swapping scrip types at venues for varying exchange rates. Given everyone's concern, we can try to come up with a solid plan for that sooner than later.
Silver Drains
I mentioned it earlier, but events aren't silver drains. They haven't been in a long time. Large, every day systems are ways to drain silvers. And it's something we talk about from time to time. Do we need to address it more? Yes, but it is more of a touchy subject than you probably can imagine.
I went through some old Ebon Gate numbers that I could find. These are Prime numbers, but EG drained less than 100 billion silver in 2016. The Great Auction of 2016 drained just under 13 trillion silvers. Hopefully that puts things in perspective. We essentially drained more silvers from that auction than Ebon Gate has ever achieved in the 19 years its been running (not including the 2006/2009 auction which were billed as an additional event due to the higher price point). Events like RtCF and CCF also weren't hefty drains. Running those events, we had a lot of resistance to silver pricing because the event price to get in was higher than most our events.
I understand everyone wants more things to spend silvers on. There are a lot of wealthy players, but the majority of players aren't sitting on hundreds of millions. Many players also aren't willing to spend their entire wealth on a single service/item cache. Silvers aren't being pushed aside though. Events will still use silvers. Specifically, Ebon Gate will still have a large silver-based inventory.
Participation
I realize what I said earlier on isn't matching up to how I was applying it. Meaning, if you don't like an event or a direction an event is going, not to go. Context got lost. I realize some of you are saying, "I want to go, but not in this new direction." Well, as I said earlier, this is the direction we're moving. These are the tasks given to me to perform. I can't change that. I do, however, perform my duties. I am a problem solver and I get things done. One way or another. A lot of that drive is because I have a passion for this game. I grew up with it. It's also my livelihood now. I left my career path to do this full time.
The direction aside, assuming how Ebon Gate will run already isn't something you can do. We're trying something new. It's not a Duskruin reskin. I'm sure someone will disagree during the event, but we're doing things in a way that fit both areas where we need to be successful. Will it work? I believe so. I think this year's Ebon Gate is going to be one of our best. I foresee us finally getting more people to enjoy the event than ever before. Anyone saving their SimuCoin Rewards will also get to do it with just their active subscription. These are amazing new moves for us.
My comment was mostly touching on not worrying about it if it's not something you want to do. You can call that unprofessional if you want. It was meant to be a voice of reason. We have a lot of stuff for you to enjoy. Events are only a facet of what GemStone IV is. My comment wasn't a reflection of the game. We remove the events, we still have a great game to play.
It's up to you if you want to take this journey with us, but things are definitely changing. We have a lot of game development these days. We have a lot of fun activities not tied to SimuCoins going on all the time. You have a robust GameMaster roster constantly breathing life into this game. We have several hundred more players than we did in 2016. I hope to keep that momentum going. I hope you (the players) can continue to enjoy the game.
Wyrom, PM