EQN:Landmark Beta Starts March 26th!

building materials IS player power in a building game.


this is potentially the opening salvo on massive monetization.

Charging for props.

Space themed tables, chairs, etc? 20$ for the set. 2 of each. 3$ each alone.
Pirate themed set? $20.
Flags? 10$
Holiday themed playset? 15$

Are you ok with this?
charging for props will ruin the game in a heartbeat.

Abefroman_sl said:

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Would be nice if you used a code to say which one so others don't bother.

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I took the last one... Thx!

I don't get the rage.. what exactly should they sell if not props or fancier materials? I think they provide a large array of options as is and probably will continue to do so. Charging for seasonal shit just makes sense. If they offer a good balance between free shit and store shit then people should just deal with it. The game is free to play and no box cost, they gotta make profit somehow and I'd rather have the choice to buy stuff rather than deal with in game advertisements or something of that nature.

Given their recent track record and watching Georgeson be pretty frank and up front with people I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt here and believe the explanation they offered. Now if it keeps happening then we may need to start sharpening those e-pitchforks of ours and go complain to great effect on some forum somewhere.

you guys are nuts. building IS the game. placing any building material behind a paywall is is no different from any game having content locked behind a paywall in a f2p game.

If you're used to paying ~$15 a month for a non F2P MMO, then just keep the same mindset and give yourself a $15 a month budget to spend on props/lighting. I would guess most people wont spend that much on props though, so the game is still cheaper than paid sub MMO's.

Zuuljin_sl said:

If you're used to paying ~$15 a month for a non F2P MMO, then just keep the same mindset and give yourself a $15 a month budget to spend on props/lighting. I would guess most people wont spend that much on props though, so the game is still cheaper than paid sub MMO's.

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This is what I did with Guildwars2 and Planetside2. Worked really well in PS2's case because of the Station Cash 2x/3x sales.

I think I'm missing out on some sort of chat function. Shouldn't there be a /1 or something for global chat?

Building materials/textures/effects are different from props. Pretty soon players will be allowed to create and submit their own props anyway. Using colored lights is the only way to get lumicite to function properly, as while it does emit light in a nimbus it does not project that light onto nearby surfaces. While that may be a limitation of the engine, if the function is possible it shouldn't cost money.

And the term freeloader doesn't necessarily apply in Landmark like in does it other F2P games. Ignoring the fact that many of the people in beta paid 20-100 dollars for the privilege, let's look at the differences.

If a free player creates a prop or template and then sells it on the Player Studio, which Sony gets a cut of, are they still a freeloader?
If a free player builds a popular adventure/experience on their claim and many paying players play through it and enjoy it, are they still a freeloader?
And there are less financial examples, like the free player who gathers resources all day and sells them to builders for a reasonable price, fueling the economy and allowing those builders to spend more time creating content.

Raes_sl said:

Using colored lights is the only way to get lumicite to function properly, as while it does emit light in a nimbus it does not project that light onto nearby surfaces. While that may be a limitation of the engine, if the function is possible it shouldn't cost money.

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The difference for me, and why I see no problem with charging for color lights, is that they are a premium item. You have normal free props, and paid premium props. You can have normal free textures, and paid premium textures. You have normal free lights, and you have paid premium lights. I would agree with you if ALL lighting was behind a paywall, but it isn't. You have access to free lights. But if you want cool colored special lighting, then that costs extra.

I just don't see why textures and lighting should be exempt from the base/premium model that props use.

Additionally, all the tools to actually build are given for free, which is what this game is about. I would again agree it would be ridiculous if they charged for the actual creation tools. Like, $5 for the selection tool, $5 for the line tool, $5 for the smooth tool etc. But all the basics are there for free. So I really don't see any 'paywall' in terms of being denied aspects of the game. It's all there, you just have to pay for the 'special' versions of what you already have.

Zuuljin_sl said:

The difference for me, and why I see no problem with charging for color lights, is that they are a premium item. You have normal free props, and paid premium props. You can have normal free textures, and paid premium textures. You have normal free lights, and you have paid premium lights. I would agree with you if ALL lighting was behind a paywall, but it isn't. You have access to free lights. But if you want cool colored special lighting, then that costs extra.

I just don't see why textures and lighting should be exempt from the base/premium model that props use.

Additionally, all the tools to actually build are given for free, which is what this game is about. I would again agree it would be ridiculous if they charged for the actual creation tools. Like, $5 for the selection tool, $5 for the line tool, $5 for the smooth tool etc. But all the basics are there for free. So I really don't see any 'paywall' in terms of being denied aspects of the game. It's all there, you just have to pay for the 'special' versions of what you already have.

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Exactly. I really don't understand how having a purple fucking light is "winning". Even if you were damaged in the brain enough to consider it some sort of competition, the better build is going to be the better build.
"Well, damn I was going to give Frank Lloyd Wright the award, but holy shit did you see I.M. Pei used green tinted light bulbs!!! Win!"

Zuuljin_sl said:

The difference for me, and why I see no problem with charging for color lights, is that they are a premium item. You have normal free props, and paid premium props. You can have normal free textures, and paid premium textures. You have normal free lights, and you have paid premium lights. I would agree with you if ALL lighting was behind a paywall, but it isn't. You have access to free lights. But if you want cool colored special lighting, then that costs extra.

I just don't see why textures and lighting should be exempt from the base/premium model that props use.

Additionally, all the tools to actually build are given for free, which is what this game is about. I would again agree it would be ridiculous if they charged for the actual creation tools. Like, $5 for the selection tool, $5 for the line tool, $5 for the smooth tool etc. But all the basics are there for free. So I really don't see any 'paywall' in terms of being denied aspects of the game. It's all there, you just have to pay for the 'special' versions of what you already have.

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If you believe that we should have to pay for an object to function properly in a 3d world simulation, then we have nothing to talk about. I guess you'd also be ok with having to pay extra to have your torch props actually project light, or having to pay so that materials like obsidian actually reflected light.

Also Sony gets a large cut of the profits from player created props and templates that will be sold on the Player Studio. We should have to pay for "premium" materials to build things that Sony will profit from? Not to mention most of the actual "content" of the game will be player created.

Yes, please keep bringing up the one stupid part of the argument, the pay-to-win bullshit. While ignoring everything else. No one gives a flying fuck about pay-to-win. Let's focus instead on things like the term "cosmetic." In a building game, every material/texture/effect is fucking cosmetic. How about they just let us build for free with dirt only, and put everything else behind a paywall. It's all cosmetic, and all you need is one material to actually build.

Either attack all points of the argument or none. No one is impressed with cherry-picking.

The argument isn't black and white, SOE already provides hundreds of materials and props for free. Why can't they provide some premium ones?

Lenas_sl said:

The argument isn't black and white.....

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I call bullshit. Everything is black and white. If you don't see that, you are WRONG!!!!!