About the new ms deal....

[Fionavara]

Aight I was going to bed but then I was asked to look at the survey and it just pissed me of so much I can't sleep.

personally I think this new offer is pure S***, do you guys actually play this game? I mean really play it, trying to accomplish something in the game as players?
there is three things I still want as a player after 6 years and over 7000 hours that hasn't changed much.
1. shinys 2. XP 3. Money
If u going to reduce any one of those you guys actually have to offer me something I actually WANT in exchange for MY money....not just add random stuff I have no use for or want or even see as useful.
where to begin....

let start with fishing xp...guys...I have 101 fishing levels so I know a bit about it....
IT SUCKS! giving me more xp to level it, will still make it SUCK, useless ESPECIALLY since we don't need fishing skills for surfencounters.
try think in the lines of making fishing useful instead of adding a feature that will be ignored by most players...I seriously don't see people going YAY now I'll go fishing cus I love the cooldown and it gives me more XP.
One idea that I'd fancy is a super rod for membership, 95% catchrate and no cooldown, now THAT is something I as a player could use!

NPCs... oh dear...guys, it isn't the joy of life having to battle the NPCs over and over and over to get from point A to point B, especially not since you done such a great work with the transportation system.
I just did the npc run almost EVERY npc ingame in I think 10 hours...it suxs cus 95% of the npc doesn't help me enough xp wise. Adding this new loading time to every single map made it a seriously huge pain in the A** to move around.
-1 or 2 days?? really, u think that will make us players happier, it will STILL be 2 weeks we're talking about. If u going give us a cut then give us a real cut, 50% atleast! here you have a shot at giving me something I want, more XP even if I have to work seriously hard to motivate me to get the thing.

safari? OH God now you just adding stuff randomly again, guys, we're talking about 3k and 6k per trip, it isn't a fortune we are talking about here, adn most people playing DO NOT spend months in the safaris which makes even the though of adding anything about the safari zones pretty useless for the majority of players..as with fishing.
If you still have to have safari included then increase the TIME SPENT inside not the freaking cost cus seriously guys I have 60M what do I care about -300 and - 600 per trip? And to those who don't know me, I spent MONTHS in the safari zones 8-14 hours a DAY! So give me double the time inside the safari for the normal price and that would atleast make me a little more intrested in the suggestion.

Guys, I know u don't like the shiny rate, fine I won't bother you with it cus you have clearly decided you want to change it, personally I want it to stay the same but alright, you want to reduce my encounters, remember what I wrote at the top.
1. shinys 2. xp 3. money
U're reducing my number one, then I want increase in 2 and 3!
If you want my money you have to give me something I want, that's how it works in the real world and also in here.
I'd be good with you increasing the shinys odds for 400% money drop and 250% XP increase... that way atleast I can train much faster with the new ms and more money mostly cus people need money to buy shiny pokemons.
Just don't go do things lame halfway like this really really awful and lame new Membership suggestion.

Aight sorry for upsetting people, I'm going to bed now. Good luck guys, keep up the good work!

 

[Jinji]

Much of the suggested new package was based around the suggestions made by actual players in our previous Membership poll; and includes bonuses of many kinds that were common suggestions at the most reasonable levels. This being said, part of the reason for the new poll is specifically to see whether such a package WOULD be well received; and if not, what bonuses can be changed, added or removed to make it more appealing for our player base. Your feedback is duly noted.

I would however like to correct you on the map loading thing. The loading percentages now shown on loading new maps, merely offer an indication of whether the maps ARE loading and the current status of rendering the map. The actual loading process remains the same and is the same speed it's always been. I will agree with you that moving between maps may be slightly slower now due to the transitional effect between maps, but this is deliberate, as it prevents issues previously common to PWO whereby moving from one map to another and then continuing to move too quickly would cause the client to de-sync with the server; meaning you'd get bounced around to different spots after a while.

 

[pieoffury]

1. Membership is gained through donating money to pay for the server. The staff aren't obligated to put in benefits in exchange for people who donate. They add the benefits to show their thanks to the community.

2. The only reason to lvl up your fishing is to get to lvl 50 for you to be able to be lucky enough to fish for dratini. There's no point of fishing other than that.

3. Safari time limit is kept low and at a minimum because it's used to keep botters out. Yes, even I get tired of walking back in after just a few minutes, but I'm glad that's how they implemented it because it easily kicks out botters.

4. The loading maps haven't been changed, they were just modified to inform us of how much the map has loaded and the transitions are great. Lets us know if the map servers are working fine or not.

5. I don't mid if the shiny chance is kept the same or reduced, just don't make it higher, with or without membership.

 

[nemo55]

Well this is how it stands now, here is a picture for this topic for people to see...membership as it stands now and membership proposed...

I will share my opinion too...

Firstly the things I agree/like so far in terms of MS.

I do agree that lowering the rate of catching shiny Pokemon should be increased from 1/2048 to 1/3072. This is an obvious thing to do since there is a great surplus of shiny Pokemon now, hence the price dropping and making normal Pokes insignificant. Note, shiny Pokes in PWO are 28-31 IVs which in real Pokemon doesn't exist, hence making them more tough to encounter will demand respect in the long hull...if caught

I really like the idea of having a green name with a cool rotating star beside your name, definitely gives members that little edge of coolness, although I would look into expanding this idea and making the stars possibly different colors...but good for now.

Having 1 token discount off of token store after obtaining MS, you gotta love that, saving money is always good!

REMOVE

Reduced NPC waiting period. I don't think membership should play a factor in this...NPC's are kinda annoying for the most part. Why pay to get stopped by NPCs more frequently???

UPGRADES TO FURTHER CONSIDER

Upgrade experience gained from wild/NPC/fishing battles from 115% to 125%

Upgrade Money Drops from 200% to 250%

Upgrade from 10% to 20% OFF Safari Zone visits

So basically, UPGRADE a little more to money drops, experience gained via wild/NPC/fishing and Safari Zone discount to compensate for the decrease in rate of shinys and dropping this idea of reduced NPC wait period.

 

[Mumetufu]

Hello. Well, if I may. Decreasing chance for shiny poke is not good idea. We all know that is hard to find one and it is still equal matter of luck as numbers. It will only discourage new and old players from buying MS. Some pokemons are unfortunatelly useless either they are shiny or not so don't take away hope for something good by trying to fix this. Please do not mess with money gained for winning battles. There is such thing as inflation We don't need it. Instead of lowering prize of Safari tickets it will be good idea to slightly increase time in it if that's possible. Good that you are about to do something with fishing. NPCs restarting time also good thing but it has to be clear. For MS players it would be nice if they could skip some NPCs if they want for example "Sorry, I didn't know that you are member..." That's all i guess. I couldn't do it in 50 characters so here I am. Sorry for mistakes. Thanks for your attention.

 

[Fionavara]

1. Membership is gained through donating money to pay for the server. The staff aren't obligated to put in benefits in exchange for people who donate. They add the benefits to show their thanks to the community.

2. The only reason to lvl up your fishing is to get to lvl 50 for you to be able to be lucky enough to fish for dratini. There's no point of fishing other than that.

3. Safari time limit is kept low and at a minimum because it's used to keep botters out. Yes, even I get tired of walking back in after just a few minutes, but I'm glad that's how they implemented it because it easily kicks out botters.

4. The loading maps haven't been changed, they were just modified to inform us of how much the map has loaded and the transitions are great. Lets us know if the map servers are working fine or not.

5. I don't mid if the shiny chance is kept the same or reduced, just don't make it higher, with or without membership.

ya ya don't give me that crap, this is a one on one trade! they want something from us and we want something from them! No they aren't obligated to give us anything and we aren't obligated to donate to them...that is why it a a trade between us, they give us something, we give them something!
I was waiting for an unintelligent answer like that, The lack of common respect towards members that donating to this game lately is not a motivating factor for people to continue supporting this game you know.
I seen all sort of remarks about us paying members about greedy, selfish, egoistic etc etc...guys, For some of us money might not matter and 6 buxs is nothing, but to many others 6 us dollars is a lot of money, money many of us work for to give to you as support! Atleast have the deacency to give us some common respect and not just see us as dollar cows that only here to provide money....this is a trade off 1 on 1 basics!
They want and need donations, then they give us something in return that WE want...don't give me the crap about obligation and free will, I been here 6 years afterall!

 

[Isguros]

I'm with Fion (almost) all the way with this (but unlike him, I HATE the stars. We already had a green name (so people knew there was a difference between us members and the other scum), but now we got this star too. waka-waka, #WeSoFly, check my swag (no disrespect to the guild; PureTruth). It's redundant.); if you have to add something in exchange for the shiny rate drop, add something (slightly) useful.

Take the fishing bonus for instance. The ONLY reason you need somewhat of a fishing skill is to battle my doppelganger at the lake of rage, otherwise it's useless. it's not easier to encounter (the same pokemon(there are no fishing-only pokemon at the moment)) as you do with surfing, the cooldown is awful, and it's a female dog to even get a pokemon to bite.

Mummy had a great idea about the Safari Zones: 'Instead of lowering prize of Safari tickets it will be good idea to slightly increase time in it'. The prices aren't the problem, I mean.. we already get 100% more money than the others (<.<). The annoying thing is that you have to re-enter it all the time. If there was an option to stay an hour in either of the Safari Zones for 18,000 per visit (not that that'll happen) nobody would have any problems with everything related to the Safari Zone.

I don't think I have to say anything about the NPC waiting period, cause that was just a horrible idea, even if some of the players suggested it. (I hope) you guys are better than this.

I can hear you all thinking 'Isguros, you made it clear you don't like the changes, but what should we add?'. Well, the following:

1) Increased item droppage; Dratini Skin, Dragon Scale, even Stolen Merchandise. It's again not that useful for Fion, but it is for so many others.

2) Membership exclusives; (an event, or) A map, or a spawn, or at least a character sprite (Shane made another Staff sprite slot for a slightly different version of his own sprite, what's up with that?). Just anything but an annoying star.

I hope our/my words don't fall on deaf ears (or blind eyes), and I hope to read more of your ideas in the future.

 

[EcoWOLFrb]

Sometimes you just need to bite the bullet. I understand why you would be frustrated, but I honestly do think it is for the good of the game, in fact, I wanted the shiny appearance to be even lower than was suggested in the survey. I realize that you're all about quantity of shinies, but that's exactly the problem. Shinies should be something to be proud of, something that is more and more rare as time goes by. This is not the case currently, in fact, it's quite the contrary. When I started shiny battlers were hard to come by, most had only a few to their names. Now S Arcanine, S Gengar, S Mamoswine are all common, almost everyone has one. This may be a small statement, but it represents a greater picture.

Let me ask you something, when you go to a restaurant, do you prefer to have a lot of food that tastes mediocre, or would you rather have a sufficient amount, but with outstanding flavor? Which meal would you more easily recall a year from now? Quality is greater than quantity, and the same logic can be applied to pokemon. Why do you think people are unsatisfied with their S Rares now, they constantly complain they're worthless or the market is horrible. Maybe it wouldn't be that way if EVERYONE didn't have one of those pokemon. Then maybe they could be more proud of the ones they have.

 

[pieoffury]

ya ya don't give me that crap, this is a one on one trade! they want something from us and we want something from them! No they aren't obligated to give us anything and we aren't obligated to donate to them...that is why it a a trade between us, they give us something, we give them something!
I was waiting for an unintelligent answer like that, The lack of common respect towards members that donating to this game lately is not a motivating factor for people to continue supporting this game you know.
I seen all sort of remarks about us paying members about greedy, selfish, egoistic etc etc...guys, For some of us money might not matter and 6 buxs is nothing, but to many others 6 us dollars is a lot of money, money many of us work for to give to you as support! Atleast have the deacency to give us some common respect and not just see us as dollar cows that only here to provide money....this is a trade off 1 on 1 basics!
They want and need donations, then they give us something in return that WE want...don't give me the crap about obligation and free will, I been here 6 years afterall!

Really, unintelligent? You're clearly raging over the proposed benefits of membership to actually call my comment unintelligent. No matter what the benefits are, there will always be people who would be willing to donate for tokens. The way I see it, you're raging like this because it will reduce the shiny chances and would lower the rate at which you expand your shiny OT pokes. You clearly don't bother about money and would rather want that to be lowered. You want more bonus exp because it would hasten your training time and give you more time to concentrate on hunting more shinies.

 

[Tecknician]

Ok getting this off my chest because what Fiona said really is starting to bother me.


I don't want or need your donation. I don't see a penny of it. You want and need donations provided by yourself and others so you can continue to play this game. I don't play this game personally anymore so what benefit do I get from players donating? A hobby which is trying to make this game more enjoyable by YOU. Speaking for myself everything I do is for the players. No self interests involved.

Stop making the staff out like we are greedy owners who just want money because we don't see any of it.

So no we actually don't want anything from you personally we are simply trying to do what we think will make the game better.

It's fine you don't like the proposed change and the poll was created to get this sort of feedback. But please stop insulting this staff and misinterupting our motives. If anything you are being more greedy than us. What do you have to gain/lose vs what do we have to gain/lose.

Hint: we have nothing to gain except hostility.

 

[Ramensnoodle]

Honestly can't believe that the ms rate is getting increased as I still see no point to it other than appeasing those that want their collections to be worth more money. And those suggestions to replace them are so meh in my opinion.
I mean we have had the same content for how many years now? what do you expect that there won't be more rare shines ingame? Its like some are just mad that new players are not as awestruck when they see your shines anymore and can get them by just putting some effort into acquiring.
On to the proposed new perks although someone mentioned that safari times should be kept at a minimum I would like to see it increased. Botters will bot no matter the amount of time in safari tbh but doubling the time is probably the only real safari benefit I can see to make it worth it.
Not sure if this one is possible but having to talk to the npcs if the Battle cool down is changed, because having to get from A to B in a hurry and having your trainers reset is always the most annoying thing. Or something in the playerdex that you can enable or disable for re-battles, not sure how possible this one is though.
Someone mentioned MS exclusive event or spawn and I think this is a bad idea in any form, we don't need to start doing things to make it so you have to pay to experience an event. And the store have all the ms spawns you need.

 

[Thor]

I dont think the increase in shiny chance is unreasonable, its a modest change and probably necessary although the overall package isnt very appealing for membership. I was expecting more. One thing I do dislike at the moment in general and is slightly a bit off topic is even though noone receives the donations but the server providers, it does seem that things like the 2 token shiny bonus chance are just a way of getting people to donate more. There is no reason why staff should want to milk donators if they dont receive anything but the whole setup does seem to point that way. I think some good membership bonuses/general changes could be scrapping the 2 token shiny chance and just putting a normal shiny chance on all token purchases for the same cost. Also there was the old system were regular donators received a token a month or something and this could be something I would like to see to give something back to donators.

 

[Arnie]

I dont think the increase in shiny chance is unreasonable, its a modest change and probably necessary although the overall package isnt very appealing for membership. I was expecting more. One thing I do dislike at the moment in general and is slightly a bit off topic is even though noone receives the donations but the server providers, it does seem that things like the 2 token shiny bonus chance are just a way of getting people to donate more. There is no reason why staff should want to milk donators if they dont receive anything but the whole setup does seem to point that way. I think some good membership bonuses/general changes could be scrapping the 2 token shiny chance and just putting a normal shiny chance on all token purchases for the same cost. Also there was the old system were regular donators received a token a month or something and this could be something I would like to see to give something back to donators.

i was thinking more along the lines of removing the token shinies altogether, they are pointless and serve as trinkets only. ill let u in on a little secret. while i am grateful for the increased shiny chance for MS, and don't mind that the chance to find them is being reduced a little, i only play this game for the shinies. i spend a LOT of my playing time hunting for shinies because of their 28+ stats. i want perfect pokes. just like everybody else. the token store shinies ruin it for me. I invest my time in this game yet i see people with more money than sense with shinies that should be stupidly hard to obtain. i recently saw someone trade 590 tokens for an dragonite and electabuzz. FREAKING $590 ON A DAMN SHINY. this is supposed to be a free to play game yet all i see is losers like that getting ahead with their bank accounts. Theres a reason the old token store shiny shop was removed after just 4 hours. If people dont want to put the effort into gaining good stuff then theyre playing the wrong game IMO. Ive owned insanely rare pokes before, like Starmie and one of the 4 Salamences ingame (before they became HR and in the token store) so im not just blowing smoke here.

Now as for fishing. my fishing lvl is even higher than Fionavaras with less playing time. the whole system needs an overhaul. while i commend that something is sort of being done to remedy the poor leveling structure it needs to be fixed from the source code level. i guess the fishing will become relevant when the new spawns get released (which actually i am looking forward to). i used to love fishing (as older players will remember when i was a GM and MOD i used to spend almost every minute of my game time in the old Science Water lab fishing. that is until the 10 second cast time, and the bot deterrent system was implemented, now its almost impossible to encounter anything. it took me 6 minutes to even encounter a magikarp in pallet town...that shouldnt happen, and then the cast after told me i needed to move to a different spot. so its pointless to fish atm unless the fishing lvl covers surfing aswell. THEN it would be worth something.

Just to clarify im not moaning at the staff for this, they know what i think of them anyway (i hope). i mean ive been one myself and know how hard things get when people constantly moan at them (hence y im not staff anymore ). i just think that the survey was answered by people who dont actually play this game on a day to day basis and want an easier ride. id actually like things to be a challenge (which is y these token store shinies are such crap to me). i could just go back to playing pokemon HG/SS and control everything how i want it but i stay here anyway because of the challenge.
the only thing i would change besides is the safari time, add 20% time instead of reducing cost by 10% or w/e.

Id like the ability to skip NPCs altogether rather than pay for them to be even more frequent and annoying, like one of the old staff commands

anyway semi rant over. i appreciate the updates (coming from a time where we went a whole 2 years without a client update)

 

[PROMapperKnuckles]

I dont think the increase in shiny chance is unreasonable, its a modest change and probably necessary although the overall package isnt very appealing for membership. I was expecting more. One thing I do dislike at the moment in general and is slightly a bit off topic is even though noone receives the donations but the server providers, it does seem that things like the 2 token shiny bonus chance are just a way of getting people to donate more. There is no reason why staff should want to milk donators if they dont receive anything but the whole setup does seem to point that way. I think some good membership bonuses/general changes could be scrapping the 2 token shiny chance and just putting a normal shiny chance on all token purchases for the same cost. Also there was the old system were regular donators received a token a month or something and this could be something I would like to see to give something back to donators.

i was thinking more along the lines of removing the token shinies altogether, they are pointless and serve as trinkets only. ill let u in on a little secret. while i am grateful for the increased shiny chance for MS, and don't mind that the chance to find them is being reduced a little, i only play this game for the shinies. i spend a LOT of my playing time hunting for shinies because of their 28+ stats. i want perfect pokes. just like everybody else. the token store shinies ruin it for me. I invest my time in this game yet i see people with more money than sense with shinies that should be stupidly hard to obtain. i recently saw someone trade 590 tokens for an dragonite and electabuzz. FREAKING $590 ON A DAMN SHINY. this is supposed to be a free to play game yet all i see is losers like that getting ahead with their bank accounts. Theres a reason the old token store shiny shop was removed after just 4 hours. If people dont want to put the effort into gaining good stuff then theyre playing the wrong game IMO. Ive owned insanely rare pokes before, like Starmie and one of the 4 Salamences ingame (before they became HR and in the token store) so im not just blowing smoke here.

Now as for fishing. my fishing lvl is even higher than Fionavaras with less playing time. the whole system needs an overhaul. while i commend that something is sort of being done to remedy the poor leveling structure it needs to be fixed from the source code level. i guess the fishing will become relevant when the new spawns get released (which actually i am looking forward to). i used to love fishing (as older players will remember when i was a GM and MOD i used to spend almost every minute of my game time in the old Science Water lab fishing. that is until the 10 second cast time, and the bot deterrent system was implemented, now its almost impossible to encounter anything. it took me 6 minutes to even encounter a magikarp in pallet town...that shouldnt happen, and then the cast after told me i needed to move to a different spot. so its pointless to fish atm unless the fishing lvl covers surfing aswell. THEN it would be worth something.

Just to clarify im not moaning at the staff for this, they know what i think of them anyway (i hope). i mean ive been one myself and know how hard things get when people constantly moan at them (hence y im not staff anymore ). i just think that the survey was answered by people who dont actually play this game on a day to day basis and want an easier ride. id actually like things to be a challenge (which is y these token store shinies are such crap to me). i could just go back to playing pokemon HG/SS and control everything how i want it but i stay here anyway because of the challenge.
the only thing i would change besides is the safari time, add 20% time instead of reducing cost by 10% or w/e.

Id like the ability to skip NPCs altogether rather than pay for them to be even more frequent and annoying, like one of the old staff commands

anyway semi rant over. i appreciate the updates (coming from a time where we went a whole 2 years without a client update)

As I only got through the first paragraph about token shinies and wanting to get rid of them, I have to post and say I dont want to get rid of them: My purpose of this game besides my guild is Hunting: Thats my number one care for teh game Shiny Hunting, as the shiny chance rate is reduced by around another 1000 I can cope and deal with that and sure that i will still find shinies as it is all based on luck in the end. However the way everyone complains about token shinies like they ruined the game, people go for them for that exact reason you stated, they are TRINKETS, trophies, at least to me. That is why i go for them, cause i want special shinies no one has, and I have none of them, and have spent TONS of money in my years on the game on the shiny chance. And I will continue to donate for the MS and donate for the Shiny Token Store chance when i can afford to do so. Personally Token Store Shinies are one of my favorite things to try to obtain, because to me they are special. May not be valuable because of the ivs lowered and many becoming around, but thats fine with me, since i dont want to obtain them to get rid of them, i want them to keep. If this makes sense at all.

 

[Bluerise]

At the moment, it is not fixed in place. I'll be spending time reading the feedback given from the survey some time next week. As long as I believe the survey has been considered seriously, then the feedback will be collected ie. to those who suggest 1/1000 as a chance. Some people also seemed to have made suggestions where an alternative system exists, ie. free tokens for a membership purchase when you're getting a discount on items anyway.

 

[PROMapperKnuckles]

At the moment, it is not fixed in place. I'll be spending time reading the feedback given from the survey some time next week. As long as I believe the survey has been considered seriously, then the feedback will be collected ie. to those who suggest 1/1000 as a chance. Some people also seemed to have made suggestions where an alternative system exists, ie. free tokens for a membership purchase when you're getting a discount on items anyway.

you're not lowering for making the shiny chance on the token store harder in the next week or two are you I was planning on donating to go for some shiny chances maybe in that time frame

 

[Thor]

I suggested a token reward system for constant membership purchases. I feel it was a good old system when it worked. The 1 token discount on token store pokemon is good granted but considering UCs used to be about 2 tokens cheaper than the current prices it doesn't really make up for that.

 

[Boora]

its impossible to please everyone, some people want the shiny chance to drop and some want to increase it, personally i think there's no "right" answer, no matter what you'll do someone people wont be satisifed ,
on another note, yes it is a trade, if you wont "donate" thier wont be a server so the staff offers you rewards to make you want to donate which is basically a trade
if they'll remove the rewards you wont donate, , its as simple as that
and tech, you maybe dont see a dime, but the income from the donations is alot more then the maintaince cost,
during the event alone (15iv+any poke from store) you people made thousands of dollars wont be surprised if it gets to tens of thousands., just from my own friends and people i know you made an easy 2-3k usd (hey nice s chari, how many tries , "40" 40x5... ) thats an example.
i'd say considering the time you guys had to pay for the costs yourselfs it balances itself out, but since you aren't allowed to personally gain $ from the donations
or hire employs this arguamnt is invalid.

anyhow if you ask me leave the shiny chance the way it is, pokemons aren't usables, they stay there, and in 6-7 years, well lets just say reducing the chance wont make much of a difference it'll only make us see less (S)hr's which would suck.
and increasing it well thats just dumb, when i used to play i'd get 3-4 shinys a day and if thats aint enough idk what is.

 

[nemo55]

-rolls in with a mischievous look on his face and yells-

MY IDEA IS THE BEST!

-walks away-

 

[Merse]

I agree with the guys above. Drop fishing XP and give something valuable instead. Like +50% XP boost.