Official: EG Pricing Announced
Link to official post from GM-Wyrom
Here is the Ebon Gate Dates and Pricing information for 2017.
Ebon Gate will launch October 1st, beginning with just the storyline aspect of the grounds. The move from Feywrot Mire to Caligos Isle will be explained during this time. Once you arrive on Caligos Isle, you will be able to explore at your leisure. Shops will be open for early browsing, but wares will not be on sale until roughly 9pm ET on October 6th when shopping, games, and other activities will open up.
This year, we're trying something new, which we're pretty excited about. We are moving away from the box office, and that means the main grounds will be open to all players at all times. We are breaking up the cost into an à la carte style event, so you buy into the level you choose to. This was to address some of the concerns we've heard over the years and to help manage expectations of the event overall.
Ebon Gate pricing is going to be broken up into three parts: shopping, raffles & services, and games. I tried to convey this during our sneak peak at SimuCon, but we weren't 100% ready to announce all the details then. GM Haliste also has been working on this more thoroughly than I have and knew more about it. Some of the recent threads that came up about the cost were left a bit incomplete because we wanted to make sure we can deliver what we publish. It's better to announce accurate information, rather than reaction information (which is something we fall victim to a lot). This is part of us trying to communicate better with our community.
At SimuCon, I mentioned games would be similar to the Duskruin Dig in that you purchase the items from the SimuCon store. The original plan was for a shovel to be offered in the store with a time-based usage (and not a number of DIG uses). After the initial response though, we felt this was just going to be too confusing to explain if you had to buy the actual shovel from the store. The reason for moving to a time-based shovel is this is the first year we're going to be offering digging for nearly the entire month. Typically, digging and games are only available for a little over a week (two in Platinum).
The price breakdown is as follows:
* Shopping Pass: 1000 SimuCoins / Event Duration
* Raffles & Services Pass: 3000 SimuCoins / Merchant Week
* Games and Digging Pass: 1500 SimuCoins / Week
This means you can buy into the level of Ebon Gate that you choose to. Some players have mentioned in the past that there are aspects of the event that they have no interest in or never can line up their schedule for. Now you can make that choice for yourself. You can pick up a service pass only if you know you're getting a service under this new model. You can pick up a game pass only when you actually want to dig. You can pick up a shopping pass only if you find items you actually want to buy.
We also have a new activity called Deep Sea Diving. This is a brand new venture that has a pricing model similar to Duskruin/Delirium (roughly 100 SimuCoins per entry), but is not necessary to attend to enjoy Ebon Gate. Much like Delirium Manor was at Ebon Gate 2016, this is a companion piece to Ebon Gate. The difference is this is fully integrated with Caligos Isle, and it isn't a standalone event. Deep Sea Diving has new mechanics and some fun nostalgic areas to explore!
Ebon Gate will mostly cost silver once inside, but we will be introducing a new currency for the Isle called seashells. These seashells will be useful for a handful of shops at Ebon Gate (similar to Delirium), as well as some services. We'll also have some things available for tickets, for those that saved some from a previous year.
Some changes this time that are happening are the cost of shovels and games. Prior to Ebon Gate 2012, digging was 2000 silver and the older games were between 1000 to 5000 silver. In 2017, digging will once again be 2000 silver per shovel, and the various games will start at 1000 silver.
Merchants are tentatively scheduled for the following weeks in eastern time:
- Platinum: Friday, October 13, 9:00 PM – Friday, October 20, 8:59 PM
- Prime: Friday, October 20, 9:00 PM – Friday, October 27, 8:59 PM
Lastly, I'll briefly mention we are discussing the exchange of alternative currencies. We are not ready to release any information about this, but when exchanges are possible, it will only be a one-way route into two of our currencies. You will not be able to exchange tickets into bloodscrip, but you would be able to convert bloodscrip into tickets. This isn't pertinent to Ebon Gate, but it does impact the event planning.
We will have more information for you in the coming weeks.
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