Use DDO Store Pre-Orders to Determine Content Updates

[Kobayashi_Hatoko]

With so much content available from D&D there's a seemingly endless list of possible additions available to the game such as new quests, races, classes, feats, prestige classes, spells, and custom esthetics such as armor. Obiviously there is no lack of material for the game to expand upon. What then is the best way to determine what content gets added soon and what gets added much later?

Why not allow the player base to vote for the game's upcoming content releases with Turbine Points? Turbine sells the points and the players vote for what they want by pre-ordering the content under consideration for development. Turbine collects the finances up front for each specific project, reducing their risk and by judging sales when to release it. Players know from their purchases they are actively opening the valve for more specific content.

Here's an example of how to use the pre-order system with the highly desired druid class. Perhaps the class will go for 1000 TP when it goes live. Turbine could create a pre-order druid package for 200 TP which includes a 20% off druid class discount or an account bound "pre-order only" class unique item such as a hide armor for the VIP players since the druid class would be free for them otherwise on release. Turbine determines that after 4000 packages are sold that there is enough interest to make the project financially sound with already $8000 earned and another $32,000 in likely future sales. They move druids up the development time table and hire another programmer to help speed up the total project time. Turbine then announces that druid pre-orders have "sold out" and players happily know that the next awesome thing is on its way.

Turbine was the first major player in the micro transaction funded MMO. Pre-orders would make it a first in the player content determined MMO. Players want the power to determine the future of their game, developers want the capital up front. Using the pre-order is a win win for everyone.

Pre-order Possiblities:

Race: Aasimar, Genasi, Gnome, Kobold, Tiefling, Yuan-ti
Class: Druid, Psion
Feat: Monkey Grip (dual wield greatswords!)
Prestige Class: Dragon Disciple

[Kaeldur]

With so much content available from D&D there's a seemingly endless list of possible additions available to the game such as new quests, races, classes, feats, prestige classes, spells, and custom esthetics such as armor. Obiviously there is no lack of material for the game to expand upon. What then is the best way to determine what content gets added soon and what gets added much later?

Why not allow the player base to vote for the game's upcoming content releases with Turbine Points? Turbine sells the points and the players vote for what they want by pre-ordering the content under consideration for development. Turbine collects the finances up front for each specific project, reducing their risk and by judging sales when to release it. Players know from their purchases they are actively opening the valve for more specific content.

Here's an example of how to use the pre-order system with the highly desired druid class. Perhaps the class will go for 1000 TP when it goes live. Turbine could create a pre-order druid package for 200 TP which includes a 20% off druid class discount or an account bound "pre-order only" class unique item such as a hide armor for the VIP players since the druid class would be free for them otherwise on release. Turbine determines that after 4000 packages are sold that there is enough interest to make the project financially sound with already $8000 earned and another $32,000 in likely future sales. They move druids up the development time table and hire another programmer to help speed up the total project time. Turbine then announces that druid pre-orders have "sold out" and players happily know that the next awesome thing is on its way.

Turbine was the first major player in the micro transaction funded MMO. Pre-orders would make it a first in the player content determined MMO. Players want the power to determine the future of their game, developers want the capital up front. Using the pre-order is a win win for everyone.

Pre-order Possiblities:

Race: Aasimar, Genasi, Gnome, Kobold, Tiefling, Yuan-ti
Class: Druid, Psion
Feat: Monkey Grip (dual wield greatswords!)
Prestige Class: Dragon Disciple

I understand your idea and think it's interesting, but I think a suggestion/votelist would be better. I had suggested using a system that's similar to Unity3D's wishlist, where you have some "points" you can use to suggest something or vote on someone's suggestion that you like.

But I don't think devs are really interested in direct input from players, in the rare occasions that they are they post threads asking for it...

Now on a side note: Monkey Grip was cool in D&D, but we don't need people dual wielding eSoS...

[Cyr]

Fascinating idea.

I would suggest the following model (for various reasons).

Turbine opens up pre-orders on a particular item under consideration.

Pre-order cost is 10% TP cost of the item. For this you get a 50% off the item when it releases (with your 10% subtracted also) so that you are getting the best deal on this item you can be expected to ever get. (ie 40% of the cost). Once pre-orders reach a certain threshold Turbine shuts down pre-orders on that item and announces it as a coming soon feature with actual expected release date.

If a pre-order offer does not result in the product being released within six months of the pre-order being started up all TP are refunded. This can be due to slow development or Turbine deciding not to implement the item being pre-ordered. If the item releases in the future players should expect to get 50% of the item that had pre-ordered it previously.

These modifications to the idea are to insure that pre-orders are desirable to the gaming population and that Turbine does cause players to leave the game when their pre-ordered item is slow to be released.

[amethystdragon]

I think your idea is intresting, I'm just not sure how well it would go over.

I do believe that the Devs do read the suggestions section. Shortly after joining the game and finding the forums, I made a suggestion about allowing players to craft their own items. Was it mine or some one else thread about crafting, that put the idea in thier head or had they been working towards for a while; I can't answer, but it (and a few other things) has been enough to lead me to believe that they do read our suggestions and work with what they can.

[Bodic]

/NS

they already have enough that is on the plate that they know we want. lets finish the classes/races we already have.

and why would I as a VIP meaning I already give them money want to spend more for something I wont have to pay for.

[thwart]

The problem with this might be expectations. What happens if a player pre-orders say the kobold as a playable race. Turbine takes the players money and develops the kobold. Player makes his first kobold bard and is very disappointed about how the kobold looks (it looks like a short half-elf with a tail and a bad complexion) and the player thinks that a kobold should have a +3 to its starting charisma stat (after all, kobolds yell out all of those cute sayings).

Player now complains that he spent money on the kobold and thought he was getting something different than he received. It seems to me this would be a hassle for everyone. Instead, get a sense of what your players want, develop it and if you develop what the players want, they will buy it. That is a win for everyone.

That's my 2cp anyway.

[Gorbadoc]

and why would I as a VIP meaning I already give them money want to spend more for something I wont have to pay for.

The problem with this might be expectations...

Instead, get a sense of what your players want, develop it and if you develop what the players want, they will buy it.

These pretty much sum up my reservations. If I were to pre-order something, I would be buying the awesomeness of the idea, when what I really want is an awesome implementation. What matters is the content that Turbine actually delivers. The current pricing structure does an okay job of reflecting this.

It isn't always this way. If implementations were more predictable, a pre-order system might have merit. If I, as a consumer, somehow *knew* that the proposed project would (or would not) be awesome, then I could intelligently decide to pre-order.

That's not how DDO has worked over the years, though. New content has been a mixed bag.

Corner-cutting
Some stuff feels like it needed more man-hours dedicated to its development. For a recent example, look at half elves. I mean, literally, look at them. The people designing them came up with something, worked on improving it, and eventually we got what we got. I like to think they could have made something much better if they'd had more time (and maybe a fresh set of eyes at the drawing board?).

Experimental Content
I LIKE that DDO tries new things. Sometimes it doesn't work out so well. VoN2 had a failure mechanic that was downright obnoxious (oddly enough, that mechanic was removed about the time Turbine wanted to sell the quest a-la-carte. Hmm...). Then the Phiarlan Carnival series has a couple quests where the storytelling and the need to fight monsters felt at-odds.

Other times, the experiments are a huge success. The Attack on Stormreach series had some brilliant stealth-optional missions. Framework's stealth optional is a great at-level challenge, yet it doesn't prevent non-stealthy parties from completing the quest. Blockade Buster actually manages to be progressively harder (but still possible!) as your party is progressively worse at playing stealthy.

Then there's The Pit-- perhaps the mixed success to beat all mixed successes. Some players absolutely adore that quest (myself included). Others find it annoying beyond all belief (I did, until I learned the layout). We got a quest that not all players should want, but that some players should *really* want, because the designers at Turbine decided to try something a little different.

In all these examples, how is a player supposed to know whether to pre-order? None of these sounds any cooler than any of the others. It all came down to the content as a finished product, and that's what I want to continue paying for.