Reposting this from the other thread, so it might get a little feedback:
How about a Forum Fundraiser? And I don't just mean some Zen-Pledge, but an actual KickStarter/GoFundMe $/€/£ Fundraiser?
I believe it was worked out on one of these threads, how much it would actually cost in terms of man-hours to create someone's 'dream ship', so it shouldn't be impossible to work out a figure for creating X Amount of ships, or hiring the staff to create them.
And before anyone starts dismissing the notion because of the amount that would add up to, let me point out, that Alec Peters managed to raise over A Million Dollars for Axanar. A Million Dollars. Un-authorized, un-licensed, un-supported. A Million Fricking Dollars.
Why would this be different?
Cryptic
are licensed to use the Star Trek IP(with approvals, of course) They are allowed to profit from use of the Star Trek IP. They should have none of the legal issues Alec Peters ran into.
So, what's to stop them, as a company, accepting a donation/outside injection of capital into their funds? Funds which could be put specifically towards giving the KDF and RR as many 'leveling' ships and variants, and T5/T66 ships as the UFP.
Specific funds, for a specific project aim. I can't think of any reason why a business can't accept donations.
@ambassadorkael#6946 Would this be allowed by Cryptic?
Forumites: Would you be willing to kick in a few bucks to support an endeavour like this?[/quote]
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"I was here before you, I will be here after you are gone. I am here, regardless of your acknowledgement or acceptance..." - The Truth
"I was here before you, I will be here after you are gone. I am here, regardless of your acknowledgement or acceptance..." - The Truth
"I was here before you, I will be here after you are gone. I am here, regardless of your acknowledgement or acceptance..." - The Truth
Though than I could see the funders wanting a say in how the ship looks, what the boff/console load-out looks like, mechanics of the ship. Maybe also the weapon layout, specific perks even like being able to use dual cannons or not, and maybe a unique weapon to the ship even.
I could see Design ship contests actually funded this way, giving us goals that at points they give us access to the other designs that were used in the contest either as whole designs we could switch between or which were developed into parts for that ship.
Perks could vary. Afterall, access to the Leveling Ships for free, wouldn't be much use to anyone already at L60, so maybe a new T6 ship at a particular level, or a set of Ultra rare weapons of the player's choice, say, a set of phaser beam arrays, or plasma turrets, or whatever flavor the player likes, but 8 pieces for them to make a set on any ship Or a very rare and unique boff and some manuals and the specialiazation qualification Stuff like that ^_^ Donor input, I would personally restrict to the highest donor level, and a one off perk for each ship. That way, there's no arguing about who wants what nacelle configuration between two donors, but whoever coughs up for that perk, they could give an outline of things they'd like to the artist, on the understanding that the artist can only do what is possible within the system, and an outline may only wind up being used as a guide, rather than a 100% Every Wierdly Random Detail as described
I guess I'm just thinking, that if the reason why the work isn't being done because Cryptic say the metrics don't support the expenditure, if we provide the expenditure, that saves them that issue. They would just need to hire some good staff, and assign the work. The non-Fed factions will never improve, until there are more ship options and faction specific mission content, and it's a chicken and egg scenario: Cryptic say there's no money in making the content, players say they're not paying for what content their is, but Would pay, if there was more. I figure the size of the player base and community, even if every player was to only kick in a little bit, it wouldn't be chump change, and would then remove lack of funds/interest as issues for Cryptic to not do it. It would be showing that there's the interest, and profiding the cash to undertake the work (even if only temp hires, rather than permanent staff)
"I was here before you, I will be here after you are gone. I am here, regardless of your acknowledgement or acceptance..." - The Truth
Oh yeah, they would need to to very. An the reason I brought up things like donators getting the ship for free, or even at a reduced cost, is more as was stated if we as players donate money to fund the project an then we pay money to buy the ship we are double billed. I could see goals that if the goal is met the produce it at a lower tier to give people the option to buy one as they level up, or even to give them more parts an consoles in a ways.
But that is the issue with restriction it would yes push many to pay in more money, but also would make it that for those that put in money an just not enough for the perk to have a say the choices of the whales ruined the ship sale wise. I think that once the ship funding goal is met to that goal of choosing/voting a boff/console layout, than it is put to the funders as a voting of all funders. The same for the ship design that till the funding goal is met, they don't actually produce much, but might allow for input on configs the players like, but than afterwards we could vote on the designs.
I am not sure if even a funding campaign would be able to bring in the amount of funds needed for a influx of content and design ship-wise to push interest in the other factions heavy enough to change minds. Doing it slowly over the course of time would have a better chance of success, as one huge influx of new non-fed content like in ships could actually be a negative with the fed only players seeing it as favoritism (warranted or not) for factions/groups the setting is not in their eyes focused on. Smaller influxes of content is much easier for both the company, and the player-base to deal with without a meltdown that could create issues.
I think allowing voting would be an issue, because someone would always be unhappy their choice doesn't get voted for, that's why I suggest keeping that as a top level perk. Sure, someone might not like the result someone else suggested, but at least they wouldn't also be resentful of their own idea being discarded in a vote
Like I said, Alec Peters was able to raise over a million dollars. I'm not sure of exact player numbers for the game, but I bet a good chunk of the requirement could be raised
I don't think the influx would be an issue, for a couple of reasons. If we're paying for new KDR/RR stuff, Cryptic can still be putting out Fed stuff out of their own pocket as per normal. Also, it's not about putting the other factons above Fed, but bringing them even. On a personal level, I Would play KDF and RR more, if there was more ships. I know the metrics show KDF as a minority faction and Fed as the majority, I understand that most players come here to play Captain Kirk, but I'd hazard a guess that some of those Fed players would also play KDF if there was more ships All the metrics does, is show the result, it doesn't consider the reasons for the results. It also doesn't suggest solutions. Arguably, if not enough people are interested, then there wouldn't be enough money donated, and it simply wouldn't happen It would be the ideal way of letting the customers vote with their wallets, not by witholding their cash, but by donating it so Cryptic have more resources to use.
I know Fine Details would obviously need to be worked out for things like what perks, and some detailed, honest conversations with Cryptic to find out exactly what is needed, to achieve what goals. But in principle, I can't see why the idea couldn't work, if enough players were interested enough to donate, and more importantly, if Cryptic would be willing to take such a donation, and put it toward the requested use
"I was here before you, I will be here after you are gone. I am here, regardless of your acknowledgement or acceptance..." - The Truth
"I was here before you, I will be here after you are gone. I am here, regardless of your acknowledgement or acceptance..." - The Truth
The original idea was for a pledge drive where a player posts a descriptipn of what he wants to buy and sets aside half the cost in his bank. Thereafter, others who want the item add their pledge to the post and set aside half the cost. When the item gets made the pledgers buy the item.
The idea was to incentivise Cryptic to produce particular items by demonstrating how much their minimum immediate sales would be. An item with hundreds of pledges might pay for itself within hours of being put on the market while items with ten pledges might be a back burner idea.
I'm not really comfortable with a funding campaign via a third party fund raising entity. It might generate a lot of money, but it might cause a lot of other issues, both legal and social. For example, if a funding campaign for a Vulcan Ground Map revamp were held, would Cryptic be legally bound to create the area? Would they be ethically bound to do so if someone posted a fundraiser for a project Cryptic didn't want to do? What if the fund raiser earned a million dollars and the map revamp only looks like two bucks worth of improvement? What about different interpretations of the same idea, such as a player whose request was for The Forge, but they built a monastery instead? And what if, as has already been suggested, the campaign is successful but Cryptic could not fulfill it due to limited man hours and the difficulty of attracting new talent to a seven year old MMO?
I'd support a pledge drive because it wouldn't involve a third party company and there would be no obligations placed on anyone, legal, moral, or social. It would be totally voluntary on both sides of the issue, and failure to follow through could not result in penalties.
I love silverlobes' idea, but this really, if you think about it: it sets a rather dangerous precedence (with us paying for every bit of major new content, from here on in).
If Cryptic themselves were to initiate, say, a 'Help build a New Romulus' fundraiser campaign, I might be interested, though... hesitantly.
Which is just another way of saying you'd be willing to throw free money at them. Some sort of obligation would have to exist. Which also underscores why it probably can't be done: hard to make a contract with a forum is.
hey you spent 800££ already can you fund us to build something that then we will give you the privilege to buy again. for a faction that no one likes.
how about no.. invest my money in company stocks. sell them to China. invite investment. Rob a bank.
Yeah, I see what you mean, Cryptic would have to be the ones determining the perks :-\
My only concern with the initial pledge idea, was that it might be harder for Cryptic to keep track of moneys earned specifically for the pledge, where, if we were to bring them a load of kickstarter funds, that would be pretty clear where the money had come from and why
Hypothetically, I'd say they would only be obliged to do so, if they accepted the donation, and the terms with which the donation was made. They'd be perfectly entitled to say, no thank you, we don't want the money
"I was here before you, I will be here after you are gone. I am here, regardless of your acknowledgement or acceptance..." - The Truth
"I was here before you, I will be here after you are gone. I am here, regardless of your acknowledgement or acceptance..." - The Truth
My character Tsin'xing
I wouldn't say no one likes the KDF, though. I'd say there isn't enough content to engage and/or retain players who would play, so it's a self-feeding cycle: Not enough content = no new players. No new players = no justification for new content :-/
I'm not sure how robbing a bank would help in this situation, but hey, it's all ideas
"I was here before you, I will be here after you are gone. I am here, regardless of your acknowledgement or acceptance..." - The Truth
"I was here before you, I will be here after you are gone. I am here, regardless of your acknowledgement or acceptance..." - The Truth
I didn't know a kickstarter had been suggested before, my bad.
"I was here before you, I will be here after you are gone. I am here, regardless of your acknowledgement or acceptance..." - The Truth
Decide what item you would be willing to buy and describe it as vaguely or in as much detail as you like. For example, "Klingon clothing options similar to Search For Spock costumes," or "More vambrace and greaves options for klinks."
Find similar items for sale in the C-store and set aside half the required Zen in your bank which you will reserve until the item becomes available.
Create a pledge post in which you put your item description along with your pledge to putchase the item when it is available.
If and when the item is made, purchase it. This step is important because if pledgers reneg the developers can justifiably ignore future pledges. Even if you wanted a T7 Whale Probe with universal BOff seating but got a whale probe with assigned BOff stations you have to buy it because you promised to buy the product if they made it.
I'm sure those more familiar with pledge drives could improve on the idea, but essentially it is a way for the developers to see exactly how much interest exists for a particular item (in dollars,) ahead of investing time in it. It does not obligate anyone to create anything they don't want to make, but it may incentivise creation of items for which the developers may feel there is insufficient demand. It doesn't take anything from the player until there is a product to purchase, and ultimately if the developers fall short of expectations the player does not have to pay for it.
A pledge drive is voluntary all around. It costs players nothing until the product is available, and gives the developers an idea of what their minimum sales would be for the proposed item.
I'm a stocks and shares kind of guy, profit and loss, not rules and regulations, so perhaps I'm missing something, but given how you worked out the costs for new ship the other day, then turned round and said Cryptic didn't have the resources to do it (which I agree, they clearly don't) I just don't see how Cryptic being given (let's say a million bucks) from an outside source, and that source saying 'Please can we have some more KDF/RR stuffz?', I can't see why that would be an issue from a legal perspective.
"I was here before you, I will be here after you are gone. I am here, regardless of your acknowledgement or acceptance..." - The Truth
people have sued game companies for not give them what was promised... even though it was, it just wasn't what they wanted, and have won. people will sue over anything cause people suck.
if I stop posting it doesn't make you right it. just means I don't have enough rum to continue interacting with you.
"I was here before you, I will be here after you are gone. I am here, regardless of your acknowledgement or acceptance..." - The Truth
One is a demand for content wrapped in contractual obligation, and the other is a promise to purchase with no strings attached.
The guys at Cryptic know what their license allows them to do and we don't. A kickstarter could obligate Cryptic to do something their license does not allow. Also, we as non-Cryptic affiliated customers, cannot set up such a campaign on their behalf: this would have to be something Cryptic does, and as such, it would be Cryptic funding their own ideas rather than ours.
While a pledge drive wholly contained within STO's existing communications platforms might not stand a snowball's chance of raising a million bucks, it would come with no compulsion to work on ideas that Cryptic rejects, and it could not ever result in players legitimately claiming they were cheated because the item delivered was not the item they wanted. In fact, the player would pay nothing until the item was delivered and approved.
A pledge drive is essentially a list of customers who want the product ahead of its creation, and Cryptic could use such a venue to gauge e potential benefit of creating something they believe to be of marginal profitability. Buying half the Zen needed ahead of time is a way to show Cryptic that you are serious and not just jumping onboard the latest 'can I haz' thread.