Donation Rewards

[Ferok]

Originally Posted by nilbog [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

In 1999, with 0.01% of the players being able to afford/obtain multiple internet connections, multiple PCs and multiple accounts, I'd say it would be much more of an issue here. Some of that is speculation, but the percentage of players that had this setup prior to Luclin is negligible.

Cable and DSL / routers were available in 1999 or shortly thereafter, and given the minimal system requirements that classic EQ ran on, I'd suggest that many people could do so. I was a poor college student and I had a pair of EQ-worthy machines and was boxing by early 2001.

Given, the number of people able to do so has certainly been inflated; but the number of people willing to play one account for free vs two for monthly donations would likely balance that.

[Aaron]

Originally Posted by Ferok [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Way to arbitrarily define concepts as "legitimate" and "bribery" based on your own personal feelings on them.

bribery: the practice of offering something (usually money) in order to gain an advantage

legitimate: valid


Boxing isn't happening. And it's not happening in exchange for money. That's it. It's been made clear to everyone many times over.

[nilbog]

Originally Posted by Ferok [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Cable and DSL / routers were available in 1999 or shortly thereafter, and given the minimal system requirements that classic EQ ran on, I'd suggest that many people could do so. I was a poor college student and I had a pair of EQ-worthy machines and was boxing by early 2001.

Me too. What I'm saying is the percentage of people that did, compared to the amount of people that played, was negligible. I actually REMEMBER the people that boxed, because of the infrequency. Aeolwind, you're one of them O.o

[Trimm]

In my opinion, any rewards for donations should be strictly on the forums only. *Any* sort of reward in-game, regardless of how small it might be will only cause more drama and bitching, and we all know how much the Devs enjoy forums drama.

do·na·tion
–noun
1. an act or instance of presenting something as a gift, grant, or contribution.
2. a gift, as to a fund; contribution.

We should not expect anything in return for a donation, that's why it's called a donation. If the Devs do decide to give some sort of recognition, I think it could be a special colored forum name or some sort of benefactor tag, something along the lines of that. At most, maybe a sub-forum that only people who donate could screw around and feel important in.

[Aeolwind]

Nothing more entertaining than watching a cleric play a monk and try to figure out FD pulling.

SyriakJr "Inc 2"
Valiticus "Sweet, I'm LOM"
Nopie "Uh, dude, can you count?"
Valiticus "OMG, 2 more like 12"
SyriakJr "Woops"

[Ferok]

Originally Posted by Aaron [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

bribery: the practice of offering something (usually money) in order to gain an advantage

legitimate: valid


Boxing isn't happening. And it's not happening in exchange for money. That's it. It's been made clear to everyone many times over.

That's hardly a definition of bribery.

Furthermore, you have done little to invalidate boxing other than saying it's been discussed. It's been offered for discussion by the staff themselves, which leads me to believe that at very least an idea that is not completely off the table.

Anyway, thats it for me. Cheers.

[Striiker]

Originally Posted by Trimm [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

In my opinion, any rewards for donations should be strictly on the forums only. *Any* sort of reward in-game, regardless of how small it might be will only cause more drama and bitching, and we all know how much the Devs enjoy forums drama.

do·na·tion
–noun
1. an act or instance of presenting something as a gift, grant, or contribution.
2. a gift, as to a fund; contribution.

We should not expect anything in return for a donation, that's why it's called a donation. If the Devs do decide to give some sort of recognition, I think it could be a special colored forum name or some sort of benefactor tag, something along the lines of that. At most, maybe a sub-forum that only people who donate could screw around and feel important in.

I agree Trimm. The donations are intended as a means of helping to provide material support for the servers which we are enjoying. I donate and expect nothing other than being able to play on a (hopefully) stable server. I suspect that the reward part is just some little way of directly thanking members who donated. I would prefer to see nothing in game (title or otherwise) with an option to display something in your name in the forums (if so desired). Plus, anything in game would be cheapened anyway. Anything in the game which makes one stand out should be something which they played long hours and had some luck to obtain. This is why it was always desirable to see Najena spawn (for the Flowing Black Robe) or to get some rare drop weapon or armor. Everyone looks the same in the game and standing out should be a reward for efforts in the game.
Let's all try to donate monthly to keep the server running as smoothly as possible.

[Aaron]

Originally Posted by Ferok [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

That's hardly a definition of bribery.

That's the exact definition actually.

Originally Posted by Ferok [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

It's been offered for discussion by the staff themselves, which leads me to believe that at very least an idea that is not completely off the table.

No. It is completely off the table. How do you not get that?

[Ferok]

Originally Posted by Trimm [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

In my opinion, any rewards for donations should be strictly on the forums only. *Any* sort of reward in-game, regardless of how small it might be will only cause more drama and bitching, and we all know how much the Devs enjoy forums drama.

do·na·tion
–noun
1. an act or instance of presenting something as a gift, grant, or contribution.
2. a gift, as to a fund; contribution.

We should not expect anything in return for a donation, that's why it's called a donation. If the Devs do decide to give some sort of recognition, I think it could be a special colored forum name or some sort of benefactor tag, something along the lines of that. At most, maybe a sub-forum that only people who donate could screw around and feel important in.

Once you start incentivising it, it really doesn't matter what the manner of incentive is. It's no longer a true donation.

However, incentivising it with anything that directly affects a person's abilities concerning the game becomes a legal concern, as they aren't allowed to charge for the product. Said incentivising then looks a lot like payment; it certainly would to SOE lawyers.

For this reason, I'd imagine they're legally unable to do anything other than give you some sort of title or something on the board, but I'm not a lawyer whether or not there's a loophole or not they could get through.

I actually offered the suggestion of allowing a single boxed alt with this in mind. I was expecting to be quickly shot down under this exact pretense. The fact that I wasn't thus shot down in this manner I find both surprising and intriguing.

[Ferok]

Originally Posted by Aaron [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

That's the exact definition actually.

That's at best a partial definition, as it also serves as a partial definition for patronage and barter. Bribery insinuates something deceitful, secret, or corrupting. You left that part out.