I think the first bullet is with in-game currency. because the second specifically says 'real money'. Maybe like owning a system in EVE you have to pay a tax for the sov structure level etc?

for second bullet they said they'll keep 15%.

Ok,

 to clear up  few things.

#1. No Micro-Transactions - Meaning, you wont be buying gems to buy power up items or fancy clothes etc. Every finished item in the game will be crafted by players with the exception of the castles purchased on the Kickstarter campaign of which there will only be 12 in the game.

#2. Land Parcels will be sold for $20 each. Enough land to build a house/shop to sell your items or materials etc.

#3. As parcels are bought up, demand for parcels will grow with the further populatrity of the game. If there are no more dev owned parcels, that will only leave player owned estates. Property values will increase with the demand. If someone whishes to leave the game, they can sell their land and everything on it in our Estate Auction System for real US Currency, of which we will take 15% of the total sale amount to transfer ownership rights to the new player. The only way to sell your estates will be through our system.

This is how we will continue paying our bills and continue creating new content to be released with each weekly update or addition.

I've seen people say things like "So you have to pay a fee to leave the game?!!", no. If you bought 4 Parcels of land for $80 and built a nice house, a shop or tavern, adventured in the world and created a series of rare items etc and found your Estate to be worth $400 and we only took 15%, would you look at that as a fee for leaving or a profit on your time invested in the game that helps everyone?

As for Faction PVP, that may be a possibility. We are looking into those options now. Right now, it's setup for open PVP in specific Climates.

Originally posted by Mogus

Ok,

 to clear up  few things.

#1. No Micro-Transactions - Meaning, you wont be buying gems to buy power up items or fancy clothes etc. Every finished item in the game will be crafted by players with the exception of the castles purchased on the Kickstarter campaign of which there will only be 12 in the game.

#2. Land Parcels will be sold for $20 each. Enough land to build a house/shop to sell your items or materials etc.

#3. As parcels are bought up, demand for parcels will grow with the further populatrity of the game. If there are no more dev owned parcels, that will only leave player owned estates. Property values will increase with the demand. If someone whishes to leave the game, they can sell their land and everything on it in our Estate Auction System for real US Currency, of which we will take 15% of the total sale amount to transfer ownership rights to the new player. The only way to sell your estates will be through our system.

This is how we will continue paying our bills and continue creating new content to be released with each weekly update or addition.

I've seen people say things like "So you have to pay a fee to leave the game?!!", no. If you bought 4 Parcels of land for $80 and built a nice house, a shop or tavern, adventured in the world and created a series of rare items etc and found your Estate to be worth $400 and we only took 15%, would you look at that as a fee for leaving or a profit on your time invested in the game that helps everyone?

 

As for Faction PVP, that may be a possibility. We are looking into those options now. Right now, it's setup for open PVP in specific Climates.

 

Insofar as factions and the like are concerned, I think you should encourage players to organize themselves into kingdoms which you officially recognize, but which you as the developers do not create. For me personally, when I play a game I'm going into it alone and without bringing any friends with me: those games which really cause me to feel alone as a result of this and which revolve around pre-formed guilds are unenticing to me as a result, as I feel inherently excluded from some community. On the other hand, pre-ordained factions created by the developers seems to theme-parky and doesn't accurately reflect the actual doings of the players. Since you're having a specific number of castles, I think those people, who naturally seem like they're the ones most devoting themselves to this game, should really form the bulk of certain factions, around which people are inherently compelled to participate in out of mutual benefit: you contribute to the community, and you're provided the protection & benefits of being part of that community. 

A good balance between free-for-all and factions is my want, with the castle communities being potential rivals in PvP. 

the concept of 'factions' is not what you want. you want player-made alliances. Factions in pvp are a bad combo. losing side switches sides, winning side forever imbalances the other.

player-made alliances tend to grow, crumble, be remae, and be reshaped often, dynamically. npc factions maybe every expansion or so.

I strongly advice againt factions. Looking at EVE, the factions exist, and faction pvp is possible (militias) but it's virtually irrelevant for the game. player-owned alliances provid the bulk of pvp.

factions can exist, but shouldn't be the driving factors of pvp.

Robokapp,

 I have to say I just love your whole persona on here. Your name, your title text, the signature. It's just all so funny.

I agree with Robo regarding alliances vs premade factions.

Also, thanks for the quick response regarding the financial side of things.  Only question I have is if there is a way to purchase property from other players using in game currency instead.

Anyway, interesting concept here.  Will keep an eye on this for sure.

No, there won't be any way to buy land parcels using in game currency. The real estate in the game is the only way we will have to fund the developments of future content, skills, items etc.

It's kind of a catch 22 really. Most people right now are just uneasy about the game actually launching because I dont have a AAA company funding or developing it. However, buying land parcels now while the Kickstarter campaign is active will be the only chance someone has at owning more than 4 Parcels per account. By the time the funding is all in place and the game launches, it will be too late to "get in on the ground floor" so to speak.

We are already at over $10,000 in funding on our 5th day and studies show that campaigns reaching 30% of their goal in the first week have at least an 80% chance of getting their full funding amount. So, odds are in our favor at this point.

I guess the reason I'm saying all of this is because #1. Greed Monger will launch. Just in the past 2 days I've had investors contact me wanting to get involved. I've turned them down. Not because I'm relying on Kickstarter but because I can manage the funding myself without Kickstarter if necessary and without investors breathing down my neck trying to tell me what THEY think I should do with my game.

#2. Because you are thinking, $20 for a land parcel? Why not allow us to buy land in game gold, which ultimately ruins our revenue model and tells me you dont think it's worthy of a $20 investment.

So yeah, I hope that answers your question and concerns. :)

I think rmt on land is fair...as it is basically renting gamespace from the company. And ty for liking my forum character :D

By the looks of it you'll hit the funding I believve. Just be careful with what's in at release. while a bug here and there is acceptable, not being able to answer the questions like "why move forward, why play together, why go to war, why develop personal wealth, why why why why why why why why do anything, why keep doing it, why why why why try new things" must be present. that's the stuff you only get one chance at. answering the 'why".

p.s. I see you're in cincy. I'm in Columbus. If you need some help from a mechanical engineer who doesn't know crap about programming but is good at opinion-tossing regarding MMOs, let me know. I do very well in the back-seat. :)

Was interested for about 5 minutes.

Then after reading about it meh. No offense to the developers but this game isnt going to take off.

On to next "sandbox" :(.

Originally posted by Energyo

Was interested for about 5 minutes.

Then after reading about it meh. No offense to the developers but this game isnt going to take off.

On to next "sandbox" :(.

 

Originally posted by Mogus

No, there won't be any way to buy land parcels using in game currency. The real estate in the game is the only way we will have to fund the developments of future content, skills, items etc.

It's kind of a catch 22 really. Most people right now are just uneasy about the game actually launching because I dont have a AAA company funding or developing it. However, buying land parcels now while the Kickstarter campaign is active will be the only chance someone has at owning more than 4 Parcels per account. By the time the funding is all in place and the game launches, it will be too late to "get in on the ground floor" so to speak.

We are already at over $10,000 in funding on our 5th day and studies show that campaigns reaching 30% of their goal in the first week have at least an 80% chance of getting their full funding amount. So, odds are in our favor at this point.

I guess the reason I'm saying all of this is because #1. Greed Monger will launch. Just in the past 2 days I've had investors contact me wanting to get involved. I've turned them down. Not because I'm relying on Kickstarter but because I can manage the funding myself without Kickstarter if necessary and without investors breathing down my neck trying to tell me what THEY think I should do with my game.

#2. Because you are thinking, $20 for a land parcel? Why not allow us to buy land in game gold, which ultimately ruins our revenue model and tells me you dont think it's worthy of a $20 investment.

So yeah, I hope that answers your question and concerns. :)

 

I am skeptical of your chances of pulling this off, but wish you the best of luck at it.  The more successful game models the better!  

I will say that your approach to the investor option is probably sound, if you can continue to do without.  I have a very good friend who was part of a company that built a small MMO.   They got investor money, four times iirc, and every single one was a detriment to the game.   Short term thinking, attempts to steal the company,  bad direction, it was  all there.   Better for you to succeed or fail with your own ideas.

I agree,

 investors want to put money in and get a quick return. I'm not doing this for money. I'm doing this because I want the game I've been wanting for over a decade.

Investors want a clear exit strategy and they want to be able to exit as soon as possible. I've been around the block with investors and in most businesses, they are great. For a game, especially like this one, I dont see investment money making sense. Our campaign is almost up to $20,000 already which shows, the players themselves agree with our goals for the game and are willing to support it with their hard earned money. They are showing faith in our concept and I'm meeting their faith in kind with my own money and time.

I'm not claiming Greed Monger will be for everyone. It wont be. As long as the game pays for itself, I couldn't be happier. Anything beyond that is purely a bonus.

Originally posted by Mogus

I agree,

 investors want to put money in and get a quick return. I'm not doing this for money. I'm doing this because I want the game I've been wanting for over a decade.

Investors want a clear exit strategy and they want to be able to exit as soon as possible. I've been around the block with investors and in most businesses, they are great. For a game, especially like this one, I dont see investment money making sense. Our campaign is almost up to $20,000 already which shows, the players themselves agree with our goals for the game and are willing to support it with their hard earned money. They are showing faith in our concept and I'm meeting their faith in kind with my own money and time.

I'm not claiming Greed Monger will be for everyone. It wont be. As long as the game pays for itself, I couldn't be happier. Anything beyond that is purely a bonus.

If you think you are able to survive off of low subscriber numbers then good luck to ya. Seems to me like you are trying to make the game you want to play and there's nothing wrong with that. I will only play sandbox MMO's and I will say that I was at first interested but there were several things to turn me off of this. I honestly wish someone would just make a new ultima online game and stop trying to be too technical or fancy (I am not bashing your game btw). 

I'll keep watch and have linked your game to a few friends of mine who play sandboxes. Good luck to ya.