Way to keep Planeshift free

[Kiva]

Mean streak...? :tongue: Heh! Where did you get that from? Im never mean... I mean... I wouldn\'t... Would I ? Anyways, that doesn\'t matter. The point is that Link said something silly, and I just gave my comment to that silly thing. Anyways, you guys should be ashamed of making a such topic as this. It has been clearly told that \"Planeshift WILL be free!\". And _IF_ they want ANY kind of help on making money, I\'m sure they will post so. But until that happens (I hope it doesn\'t, and so does most other people here), don\'t even talk about it. And my reason for saying this is, that I\'m basically very tired of people talking about \"Oh no! It\'s gonna go pay2play sometime!\" or \"It can\'t stay free, and I happen to have figured out a date in my mind that I think it will get pay2play, so I think I will gain some fame by saying that I know something about things that I don\'t know anything about\" ... Errr... Anyways, you know what I mean

In short : Unless the DEV team says anything about not being free anymore, don\'t talk about it, \'cause it wont happen... Unless they say so.

[NapalmDeath]

Before people actually start paying for anything, we have to actually be able to PLAY the game and actually be worth it, and it should be so we can see the different armors were wearing, not like some mmorpg\'s where everyone looks the same even thought they\'re wearing different armors and stuff, so its gotta be worth it   :rolleyes:

Second....make it so people who dont pay only get like 10 hours tops a day to play, and the people who do pay get unlimited till the time expires and they gotta pay again, if they dont choose to pay anymore they get the 10 hour thing, see what im getting at...

Make the game so its FAIR, i dont think people want it so you HAVE to pay to play, cause that would be just gay :evil:

[Kiern]

dude, its going to BE FREE for EVERYONE

**kicks**  

[Beholder]

They could do what DAoC are doing and have store on the website which players could pay REAL money for powerful items, though this could lea to super N0oBs

Its just an idea

[Aruneko]

I don\'t think that should be implemented.  It detracts from the game.  I have the feeling the dev\'s want a game where, if you want an item, you go out and hunt for it, not a game where you listen to global chat \'till you see it for a good price.

Besides, it makes it harder for poor people like me.

[Xandria]

As much as it does detract from gameplay, I don\'t think there is any way you will be able to stop people from paying real money for items.  I remember when all of a sudden, people started selling Diablo II items on Ebay.com and making hundreds of dollars in doing so.  So as long as people can do stuff like that, you\'ll probably still have super-n00bs.

[Enum]

I think that we should borrow from RuneScape a bit, and implement a system in which a special area would be setup for members (who pay a small fee), however, there would be no super-items or outrageous benefits for members, so it would be more of an inticing donation in essence.

We could also perhaps run the members on a faster server if the idea of a members only zone does not work. But, the idea of having special weapons and stuff seems unfair because it would make the real world impact this world, which I do not think we should have.

That\'s just my opinion though...

[Redner]

They should accept donations.  Donations would be used to pay for the servers, but those who don\'t donate won\'t be any less off than those who do (For example, they shouldn\'t be forced to use the \"Free Server\" or limited on the number of hours they can play per day).

But those who DO donate could be given something in the game that looks nice, but doesn\'t actually affect gameplay in any way.  For example, if houses are implemented, they could have some sort of sign in front of it.  Or maybe they could be given a pretty medallion.

Servers cost money.  Somehow, the creators will need to get money.  We\'ve already ruled out in-game advertisements, and ads on the web don\'t generate crap for income.  I think this donation system would work great.  Ask for donations, and then reward the donator with a small token that will just show other players \"I\'ve donated.\"

-DJ

[Mark von Wagner]

Originally posted by Cyonamie
u people really burn me, rune scape is the same way, it was meant to be free, but when the greedy bastard gower figured out that people would pay to play the game, he starting charging after they finished \"beta\".

The reason that they started charging for Runescape is that it got too big to be maintained for free.  It costs around a million dollars a year to run Runescape at its current size.  Back when I started playing, there were maybe 3000 players, so the Gowers could afford to pay for the server out of their own savings, and could moderate the game themselves.  But now, there are at least 250,000 regular players, there are fourteen world servers, plus the web server and at least one backend server, and the game is big enough that it needs full-time, paid moderators to try to keep a lid on the problems.

[Fiere]

I really HATE the idea of paying real money for game items , its ridiculous. Completely ruins the game when the idea should be to earn them by deed or combat.

But as Mark has explained,running a truly massive MMORPG isn\'t cheap. If this means we have to contribute for all of the PS teams hard work I have no problem with it. If they can find a way to survive on donations all the better.

[Redner]

I understand not wanting people to spend real money on in game items, but the fact is that its probably going to happen anyways.  Besides, if this item has no effect on gameplay (Weighs nothing, cannot be enchanted, and for the sake of making sure it shows just that they\'ve donated, make it so it cannot be given or sold), I don\'t see why not have it.  And maybe you could make it depend on how much you give.

I like the medallion idea.  And you could easily give a better-looking medallion for more money donated.

The key here is that it would have NO EFFECT WHATSOEVER on actual gameplay, and is PURELY cosmetic.  Most people won\'t pay money they don\'t have to if they don\'t get anything in return.

-DJ

[Pheonix]

I disagree.....
People wouldnt necissarily be buying the items just to say look ive got a cool looking item.....they would be buying it to support planeshift and to help keep it free.
Now thats a pretty worthy cause I think and worth a minor financial sacrifice

[Snodgrass]

I have bean working with linux for eight years. Plane Shift is under the GNU license. If you want to see how to make money under the GNU license there are a lot of examples in linux. The Red Hat model along with others will work.  Plane Shift is under that license.

First the definition of free means under GNU, the software is free not the service. I.E. if you are a decent computer user and can deal with complexities of running a  Plane Shift sight for a thousand of your closest friends you\'re in. That\'s also assuming you have the equipment to pull it off. However for the vast number of users it will not happen.

So then comes the second part of the GNU economy. Hosting a  Plane Shift sight will be under intense economic pressure to keep the cost down. That\'s because they are starting with a level playing field. They will be using the same software. This means that the service you get for the money you spend will be great. You can go out and get a linux distribution and most people don\'t even believe what you get for 50$ US.

The ad might work. That is since the ad company might want to host a game in an ad. Find their logo and win a trip or something.

The GNU copy left is a double edged sword. That means not just the game is out there so is the source. This means that (if or once) the server code is released its out there fore anyone to modify as they darn well please. So if an ad company wants to run its campaign with its logos there isn\'t a whole lot you can do about it. Except play maybe.

If you want to read a copy of the GNU contract, it\'s in the  Plane Shift software you downloaded. Give it a read. They have a web sight as well.

[Pheonix]

Lenux ?
Is that one of those new operating systems ? =P
Im going to assume thats a bad typo for Linux there

[Link]

You must be a real newbie to Linux, first, you can\'t spell for crap, so you must also be a newbie to school, but since when does Linux cost $50? Almost all the Distros are free. And someone has already explained this to us. I think they said that anyone can use the engine, they can\'t steal the models, textures, or maps.