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Year in Contemplation: 2018

EstarraEstarra
edited January 2019 in Common Grounds
If you haven't read my Year in Contemplation, you can do so here.  Feel free to share your thoughts and questions.
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Comments

  • VersaleanVersalean
    As you note, the writing's been on the wall awhile. I've posted about that elsewhere, so no need to retread. But you know what? A good deal of it is down to a changing field in gaming, both in terms of demographics and technological-cum-social advances.  In short, gamers ain't gamers like they used to be, and gaming ain't what gaming used to be (Ready Player One says it better). I guess what I'm trying to say is a genuine thanks for all your hard work, @Estarra, alongside a whimsical, old-man's (though not as old as you, TIL!) agreement that all good things come to an end. I genuinely hope you aren't taking this more personally than the situations warrants, and... honestly, whereas I was on my way out the door with a coupla Vs flashing at Lusty... this new development means that I'm probably going to be hanging around in a new skin out of curiosity. I think FTP opens up some interesting possibilities and I'm confident that if you hit it head on with the right attitude you can capitalise on that.

    TL;DR: This happened to Lusty quicker than folks might have liked, but it was going to happen, and the point of no return was passed longer ago than I think most people would care to admit. Eventually the entire market will go the same way and there's nowt we old folks can do about that. I expected your post to start "So.... Remember MKO...?" and the fact that it doesn't gives me more hope for the future of this MUD than I had twenty minutes ago.
  • VersaleanVersalean
    I suppose my only question at this stage is: "What does it mean for a game to go 'free to play' that has been free to play for over a decade?" I mean, Lusty is ftp now, isn't it? I'm especially confused as the blog says "At that time, you will still be able to purchase credits and have elite memberships." Surely the only difference isn't that retirement is being frozen?
  • EstarraEstarra
    edited January 2019
    It means you can get credits in game on a daily basis without needing to purchase credits. Details forthcoming!
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  • ShaddusShaddus , the Leper Messiah Outside your window.
    Just so I understand the basic concept (and because I never really dabbled in Imperian aftet they went ftp), this means that the admin team is spending less time designing things for us to spend money on, and spending more time working on things in Lusternia?
    Everiine said: The reason population is low isn't because there are too many orgs. It's because so many facets of the game are outright broken and protected by those who benefit from it being that way. An overabundance of gimmicks (including game-breaking ones), artifacts that destroy any concept of balance, blatant pay-to-win features, and an obsession with convenience that makes few things actually worthwhile all contribute to the game's sad decline.
  • BairlochBairloch
    Huh, not sure what I think of this. When it happened to Imperian my first thought was "Glad that's not us", and now it is.
    I don't know why I have this automatic dislike. I haven't parsed it yet. I just know I get a vaguely unhappy feeling when I read it.
    If I can nail it down, I'll share.
  • Starfire QStarfire Q
    I have often had to take breaks from Lusternia (I struggle with both too much conflict and getting too involved with my characters), but the reason I keep coming back is the history and lore of the game. I love the history of the Elder Gods, the Vernal Gods, the Soulless, and every time new lore from those days is revealed I eat it up. I hope you will keep telling those stories, because that is why I play. And why I've never been able to play any other IRE mud seriously, because, no lore has ever matched up to Lusternia's.
  • ShaddusShaddus , the Leper Messiah Outside your window.
    Pretty much what Stratas said in his first paragraph. I'm not sure I understand what Lusternia will be losing or not doing beyond the retirement part.

    My first post on this may have come across a little glib,  but it seems like little is changing for players, and the admin will seemingly have more time to roleplay and flesh out the game.
    Everiine said: The reason population is low isn't because there are too many orgs. It's because so many facets of the game are outright broken and protected by those who benefit from it being that way. An overabundance of gimmicks (including game-breaking ones), artifacts that destroy any concept of balance, blatant pay-to-win features, and an obsession with convenience that makes few things actually worthwhile all contribute to the game's sad decline.
  • MinkahmetMinkahmet
    Like all things in life, they come to an end and that's just the reality of anything. I am one, that shall remain optimistic that the game I grew up playing since I was 21, will still run, regardless of changes coming up. As sometimes changes are not a bad thing and can be a healthy but hard adaptation to go through as this applies to fantasy as in real life. The FTP ordeal left me with a question mark though. Will it respect retirement in the sense that those who put time, money and other sacrifices into the game, to afford them the option to still retire if they choose, but players that come AFTER the FTP change cannot benefit from it?
    <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.lusternia.com/banner/minkahmet.jpg">https://www.lusternia.com/banner/minkahmet.jpg</a>
  • ShaddusShaddus , the Leper Messiah Outside your window.
    I guess another question we should ask is,"what can we do, as players, to help this go more smoothly?"
    Everiine said: The reason population is low isn't because there are too many orgs. It's because so many facets of the game are outright broken and protected by those who benefit from it being that way. An overabundance of gimmicks (including game-breaking ones), artifacts that destroy any concept of balance, blatant pay-to-win features, and an obsession with convenience that makes few things actually worthwhile all contribute to the game's sad decline.
  • XenthosXenthos Shadow Lord
    edited January 2019
    Minkahmet said:
    Like all things in life, they come to an end and that's just the reality of anything. I am one, that shall remain optimistic that the game I grew up playing since I was 21, will still run, regardless of changes coming up. As sometimes changes are not a bad thing and can be a healthy but hard adaptation to go through as this applies to fantasy as in real life. The FTP ordeal left me with a question mark though. Will it respect retirement in the sense that those who put time, money and other sacrifices into the game, to afford them the option to still retire if they choose, but players that come AFTER the FTP change cannot benefit from it?
    It says that your retirement will be frozen at whatever value it has at the point of transition, so whatever you earn after that will not count towards your value but what you did before still should.

    As for my own take... the post basically seems to be very downcast, but then goes on to discuss still doing changes / producing it, so I am not really sure what the effects even are.  Why such a negative post?  Makes it seem like more is changing / being let go than is actually mentioned.  The tone of it is what is throwing me off, because... well, I have been here mostly since the beginning and I still love it.  I am just left very /confused.
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  • MalaynMalayn
    Two questions:

    - Will we be correcting retirement values for goop items that used to be dingbats? I had thousands of dingbats in items that are suddenly worth 0 now (because they moved goop). This is hundreds of dollars in cash value lost.

    - Will retirement values go up to 100% to ease transitions if that is what people do? I've been a long term force of Lusternia, but I will not sugar coat that as a player, this poses concerns for me. I am hoping FTP will mean growth and a flow in, in order to make things more interesting, but I am also concerned what happens if it goes bad. 


    We appreciate all the time, work, and dedication you have shown to this place Estarra. I have spent so many years in Lusternia that it placed a burden on me to feel it may one day not be the dream it held. I was not a producer, but Lusternia has been more than a game for me, it has served as a place we make friends, even those outside the game. There is no end to what a bit of socializing can do and I feel truly lost to thing of what this will mean. I have always told people who tell me "Oh, you are still here" that I am a Force of Lusternia. I am not a player, I am a constant. It's been true.  I have 1122 days of playtime on Malarious alone. I've spent over 3 years of my life staring at a screen, playing Lusty. It's unreal.

    I don't know what to do anymore.
  • SaranSaran
    In line with that, will the retirement requirements see the same dip that Imperian did? (minimum requirement going down to 250)
  • OraelOrael
    edited January 2019
    Malarious said:
    Two questions:

    - Will we be correcting retirement values for goop items that used to be dingbats? I had thousands of dingbats in items that are suddenly worth 0 now (because they moved goop). This is hundreds of dollars in cash value lost.

    - Will retirement values go up to 100% to ease transitions if that is what people do? I've been a long term force of Lusternia, but I will not sugar coat that as a player, this poses concerns for me. I am hoping FTP will mean growth and a flow in, in order to make things more interesting, but I am also concerned what happens if it goes bad. 


    We appreciate all the time, work, and dedication you have shown to this place Estarra. I have spent so many years in Lusternia that it placed a burden on me to feel it may one day not be the dream it held. I was not a producer, but Lusternia has been more than a game for me, it has served as a place we make friends, even those outside the game. There is no end to what a bit of socializing can do and I feel truly lost to thing of what this will mean. I have always told people who tell me "Oh, you are still here" that I am a Force of Lusternia. I am not a player, I am a constant. It's been true.  I have 1122 days of playtime on Malarious alone. I've spent over 3 years of my life staring at a screen, playing Lusty. It's unreal.

    I don't know what to do anymore.
    Dingbats have never counted towards retirement, the changing of aethergoop was to bring that into the same line.

    I'm not sure what you mean by 100% retirement values, but what you're seeing now is likely what you will get should you choose to retire. I think it's prudent to be clear here, you'll be able to retire at anytime, the only change is that the value of your retirement will no longer increase after we make the transition. If you wait a month or a year, it'll be the same and you'll still be able to retire.
  • MalaynMalayn
    edited January 2019
    Changes 1524 has a note on dingbat changes:
         - Retirement value fixes due to a deletion of a currency.

    Dingbats were valued at 1:1 with credits in most things, it'd have been odd if we ignored them entirely. My retire value changed with dingbat items, and I had previously bugged losing more than it increased by (for instance, dolls). That was fixed, but has returned in goop version now. I'd imagine my bug is (EDIT) still visible (/edit) somewhere on the administration side. 

    Offering a specialized currency with value equal to credits (originally 2:1) and not counting the value would kind of irk me given the push for large sums of them to be effective in conflict.
  • OraelOrael
    And as noted, that was a mistake and both dingbat and aethergoop items should not have been counting.  It was certainly our mistake, which is why we're giving coins in compensation.
  • ThayanThayan
    Definitely a sad post to read, but also... more hopeful than I'd expected. It will be hard to see Lusty change so much, and I don't immediately know what to think about/expect from going ftp. That said, there seems to be a lot of potential good to read into it, and for the first time in ... a long time (years?) I feel like I'm looking forward to seeing what's coming up next.

    I've been here since the beginning (has it been 14 years??). I've done so much, learned so much, built so much, and made so many friends. I don't want to let it go, and I never, ever want to see it die. It's reassuring to know that IRE is still behind it, and so is our team. 

    Thanks for making such a special place, @Estarra. I'm coming up on twenty years playing MUDs and Lusternia still blows the rest of them way out of the water.


  • ArkhArkh
    edited January 2019
    If Imperian Free is anything to go by, it means the admin team will be free to focus more on the game and less on the money-making. There will still be monthly promos (usually), but these will just be the old ones re-activated rather than a new slew of Shiny Toys. This means newer players can still catch up to the older folks who may or may not have gotten these toys from previous promos, while not requiring too much of the admins's attention to create.

    In fact, Lusternia seems to be in a better position than Imperian, going into this free mode. Lusternia has solid lore as its foundation, and lots of conflict systems to refocus upon (villages, wildnodes, domoths, aetherflares, smob raids, shrines). 
  • TridemonTridemon
    Since you're making all the income generators like maps and genies and such produce only goop and goop-related things, will there be a way to earn czigany coins on a regular basis like you're doing with credits?
    I'm Lucidian. If I don't get pedantic every so often, I might explode.
  • KistanKistan
    Deichtine said:

    I understand a mistake happened and it has now been fixed but I personally feel that the compensation should be more substantial and in a form of game currency not just a random gamble.


    I can only concur with this.

    A mistake has been made but when you are just talking about virtual currency, not real currency, is there really any rationale for not erring on the side of generosity? Why not let them just keep it? It does not cost anything. It was a mistake but why not honour the mistake?

    Happy players=players who stay
  • DeichtineDeichtine
    As a side note, in Imperian promo artis, currency and stuff didn't count for retire value but when they announced that the game was going free to play they changed that and made it so that promo arti's had a retire value which buffed everyone's retire value for the move to free to play.

    Ideally I would hope to see the same thing happen in Lusternia if we are following the example of Imperian. Make all dingbat, curios, aethergoop, etc count for retire value before the free to play move freezes in retirement value.
  • OraelOrael
    edited January 2019
    Deichtine said:
    Orael said:
    And as noted, that was a mistake and both dingbat and aethergoop items should not have been counting.  It was certainly our mistake, which is why we're giving coins in compensation.

    "This is in the realm of about 50% of current character skills, credits, and artifacts. "


    I wasn't aware our helpfile stated this number, but that actually opens the door to explain a bit more.

     As mentioned in the newspost, there was more than one incorrect calculation in regards to retirement. Aethergoop was only one of the issues that cropped up. The other issue/bug was that artifacts were counting at 100% of their value when they should have been counted at only 50%. We were told by IRE that we were not supposed to discuss the retirement calculation and figured that wasn't something we could really say but since we apparently already did, here you go. This likely contributed a much greater decrease in the value of your retirement than the aethergoop conversion did.
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