Duke Frost
Baron
Lurin said:Duke Frost said:We will now send all customer service complaints to Dreaming Further.
Scott
Your reply was reasonable until this part Scott, there is no need to be snarky when answering an honest question, but there is always a balance in any discussion so I'll try to present some other points.
Potential Example A : "Jim" has been playing for 4 years, putting his character at risk and has taken 3 deaths but has finally gotten his 4th prof, eviserate and all those fun toys. Jim then runs into Joe, Joe donated an old(ish) computer and got credited for $700 worth of gobbies in donation, and some cash and npc'd once. Jim and Joe meet, Joe with his arcane armor, +2 damage reaver, 2xday life item, and 4xday cure light, not only keeps up with Jim, but has the equivalent build of Jim, minus an eviserate. Joe is probably sitting at 25-32 build depending on the event he went to and assuming a gobby blanket. This gets Joe all his basic skills (Weapon master, shield, florentine, whatever) his weapon gives him 30 points worth of WPs (36 if he's a templar) his 2x a day life item is the equivalent of skills that take about 50 build to bottle rocket to.
The above is obviously a slanted situation, why doesn't Jim have neat toys too etc, but Joe could also have other nastier items in his pockets.
Example B: Jim and Joe both start playing at the same time, Joe has more money then Jim and Npcs one event. Suddenly next time Jim is adventuring with Joe, he's at a massive disadvantage, because Joe suddenly has Arcane armor, or 2x Prison, or Cloaks, or Banes, or 3 little items. This is good for Joe, he's got an advantage, its good for the chapter cause it got some donations, its BAD for the chapter because Jim gets a bad taste in his mouth because he gets 'less' because in his eyes he didn't 'Bribe' the Chapter Owner. If Jim feels badly enough about it he quits, and that chapter has one less player, AND misses the chance of seeing Jims 4 friends show up to give the game a try.
Should we be sending Jim's Fairwell letters to Scott?
Example C : Harry potter is a gifted and skilled player of Quidditch, he gains the rank of seeker and a valued place on the team. Malfoy is a poorly liked, unskilled jerk, but donates a stack of Firebroom 6000s to the team and is granted one of the few positions in the team despite his lack of skill or team spirit.
(See I can bring in a metaphor that really has little impact on the discussion at hand too, what fun! :mrgreen: (Sorry couldn't help myself after reading the 'rock band' example that seemed in poor taste.) )
Personally I understand the reasons to offer Stamps/rewards for those that help build up the game, its a good way to get things done etc. But its a fine line between reward those that put in the extra effort, and making people who attend and support the game by playing (and paying PC fees, which pay for the camp etc.) feel like second class players.
Ultimately, like Mike said, Its a matter of opinion where that line is drawn, and I'm certaintly not going to stand here and try to say my view on things is the only correct, or fair one. Especially considering that I'm still a relative 'new comer' (Technically I've passed 2 years, but thats nothing :geek: )
At any rate, I feel Scotts point is well taken, but poorly balanced and your reply was focused only on one part of the argument.
My High BP character can Die and perm,
My In Game crafted rituals can backlash/fail,
My OOG paid for gobbie items can.....? (Stolen/looted, but the point is even with a donation generated items there should be no guarntees that it will last its full lifetime)
I already do field tons of customer service issues, on an HQ level and an Alliance level (and a FP site level, but that's not germaine to this issue).
There are controls on what magic items go out. You can't NPC one weekend and get that many. If a chapter is doing that, they are digging their own hole. And $700 of goblin stamps aren't going to buy you all those magic items, even if he got 700 or 3000 stamps.
I've been playng for 15 years and have seen things from almost every angle...PC, NPC, staff, customer and site owner. I'm very aware of the issues.
I was discussing why we can't go out and destroy magic items arbitrarily. If they are lost through serendipity during the normal course of gameplay, that's fine. But saying we should go out and actively steal them and/or destroy them is bad customer service. I also don't see how Rock Band was in poor taste. Is something distasteful about that game (as I've never played it).
Find me a better way to reward those players that bust their asses for the chapter and I'll embrace it. Taking away their rewards for their hard work isn't the way to do it. I do not have enough ways to reward the people who drive 3-5 hours to work for a full weekend ripping down old structures, building things, making props, cleaning out old cow manure, etc. And for all that work they have to NPC an event to get one half decent magic item? I wish I could give them ten (but that would really mess up game balance).
You also left out that Joe is benefitting from Jim's donations and hard work. You also left out that unlike randomly distributed magic items, anyone can earn goblin stamps and then NPC and get a magic item. If people see donating money and/or work as bribing a chapter owner, there's really a bigger issue there.
Please don't turn this into a pissing contest Lurin. If Dreaming Further took offense at what was truly intended as a lighted hearted joke, then he can tell me and I'll apologize. Impuning my devotion to the players of this game or my experience is not constructive in any manner.
Scott