Virtual Reality Public Transport IPO - Discussion

[matthew]

Teleporting between planets isn't required for the System, if it is added I would think it would be around 100 Ped as VIP flights are around 50 ped..

also at some point Mindark will be introducing the Space Transport Mission system, which are funded by the Interplanetary auction fees.. I would imagine weight restrictions would have to be factored into interplanetary teleportation

There are so Many balancing issues that the players want addressed, in my initial discussions with Mindark. Most of these issues are being considered and are in the pipeline.. I would like to see the in world Voting system in place this will help..

I think we should create a priority list for MA

I think the interplanetary TP idea would be a great one, at the moment travelling between planets isn't exactly easy and having the TP system would make travelling between the planets more seemless.

I might suggest something like 25 ped each way which includes 5kg of inventory and then an additional 1 ped per kg after that. This would encourage people to travel light and use "local" armours and weapons. At 25 ped this was the old cost of getting to CND and it seems reasonable, it is an obtainable fee for most people. The inventory fee would mean the big ship owners would still have trade for transporting large stacks and also encourage people to use local amours/weapons rather than carrying all their gear with them. For people who can't afford or don't want to pay the fee they can use a quad-wing, so people of all budgets can travel still.

Regarding the priority list I think this would be a very worth while exercise. Prioritising things is a difficult task and to do and requires careful consideration and thought, the final list should say a lot about the direction the universe should embark on.

I would find it quite hard to say what I thought the number one priority of MA should be (I could easily list several ideas but it is hard to order them) - I suppose the voting system should be done first as this provides the framework for the democratic and communication channels that are much needed if this is going to work. If we/MA have 3 or 4 ideas then the voting booths could allow everyone to prioritise those ideas (not just voting for favourite but being able to assign values to each one). I could imagine a future where MA allows the community to determine (at least to some extent) what the next big update should focus on. Leading up to the vote in game conferences could be held where MA officials discuss the logic behind certain ideas to give the public a better understanding of why they are prioritising. You could imagine large rooms with hundreds of chairs and a speakers podium, something like that.

After the voting booths I would say, the job system is highly important, then probably the event system should be changed to allow anyone to create events and earn a % of the tax (maybe the LA owner could determine the % that event managers would receive). As this would also create many new jobs in the field of event promotion.

[Oleg]

The Monetizing of the TP system is designed to Stimulate the economy on many different levels

The best (arguably only) way to stimulate the economy is to encourage more activity.

Charging for TPs does exactly the opposite. It creates a barrier to playing the game.

[matthew]

The best (arguably only) way to stimulate the economy is to encourage more activity.

Charging for TPs does exactly the opposite. It creates a barrier to playing the game.

I might be wrong but I think this comment misses the wider picture. The creation of paid jobs should increase activity throughout the universe dramatically and attract many new participants as well. I'm sure the vast majority of the peds earned will be ploughed straight back into the economy through buying gear/hunting/mining/crafting etc.

There are also many more possibilities in an economy where people have guaranteed incomes rather than sporadic win/lose situation based on luck. It allows for forward planning and investing much more in tuned with the real world economy.

[Sionkiewicz]

I might be wrong but I think this comment misses the wider picture. The creation of paid jobs should increase activity throughout the universe dramatically and attract many new participants as well. I'm sure the vast majority of the peds earned will be ploughed straight back into the economy through buying gear/hunting/mining/crafting etc.

No, these would be state sponsored jobs which always has overhead from the state. These would be no different as the funds sucked from us thru the TP fees will not go 100% into jobs. Some would go to MA.. Some would go to the DEED HOLDERS.. and some would go to jobs.. the formula for this is still being worked out.

Of course, it will take awhile for MA to actually have jobs available for those willing to conscribe themselves to them while the TP Fees will have a large negative effect on the economy and cause a mass exodus from the game. By the time they are ready, there will be no one left to give jobs too.

[Fifth]

There are also many more possibilities in an economy where people have guaranteed incomes rather than sporadic win/lose situation based on luck. It allows for forward planning and investing much more in tuned with the real world economy.

The only reason why we have this discussion is an old advertisement trick. MA has advertised EU as A game where you can make money by playing.
This slogan was invented before there were CLD's, AUD's and ComPet deeds, so it doesn't refer to earning from investments. It was all very simple - make money by playing.
The trick was to not mention that it's a zero sum game. While there indeed is select few who make money by playing, their money is earned from others who have to lose. If there is more ppl who earn money it means there has to be even more ppl on the other end who lose.

The slogan only works as long as we conveniently forget the losing side. Now this slogan - EU is a place where you can make money by playing the game! - has been repeated so many times some ppl can't even remember it's still a zero sum game. It never was anything else.

You can't "stimulate economy" by forcing the losing side to lose more.
The problem isn't about how to spend money, that part is easy. You can hand out money to ppl who do "jobs" and ofc they are more than happy to receive it.
The problem is at the other end. The losing side that you managed to conveniently forget. Ppl are already paying to finance the winners. Now they have to pay even more to finance the winners + the paid jobs. You can't force them to pay more, it's voluntary. Ppl only agree to pay as long as they get something back for it: entertainment, a chance to win, guaranteed investment. Here u not providing any of this but you somehow believe ppl are still happy to pay more. False premise.

It seems so cool to have guaranteed steady income. It doesn't seem very cool if you remember this requires a guaranteed steady loss on the other end. Where is this mythical beast of burden who will pay the bills for our party? It doesn't exist.


This is the reason why paid jobs will fail without stimulating anything -- It's based on false premises.

[NEVERDIE]

Doing some testing on the teleportation system that has not changed much in 15 years, my team of engineers discovered that a minor Adjustment to the TP power usage per teleport resulted in strange desirable side effects that appear to be non harmful and last for quite a few minutes, since the TPs require extra juice to bestow these temporary buffs, the tp fees would be needed to offset the cost .. we wil definately need to do more R&D to see if we can reproduce these effects on a mass scale...

[OZtwo]

I might be wrong but I think this comment misses the wider picture. The creation of paid jobs should increase activity throughout the universe dramatically and attract many new participants as well. I'm sure the vast majority of the peds earned will be ploughed straight back into the economy through buying gear/hunting/mining/crafting etc.

There are also many more possibilities in an economy where people have guaranteed incomes rather than sporadic win/lose situation based on luck. It allows for forward planning and investing much more in tuned with the real world economy.

It's kind of funny how many new and non-depositors have jumped on this idea loving it thinking that they will be given free money:



But a lot simply do not understand the game or even read the description of these 'free' jobs. The above is the paying jobs. Note how much you will need to spend to get your 15 hour paying job. My bet is that these will not be low level mobs which one will need to deposit to get paid. Now yes depositing is good and is much needed. But it kind of kills the TP fee idea that the extra money we be spending would go to the working labor who will need to deposit to work.

Also it has been pointed out in the past, but sorry to say the only people who would be paying these TP Fees are the low income players. As a lot have pointed out, many would just switch to TP Chips which yes could bring up the value of sweat to 2Ped per k. But funny thing is, to sell your sweat you would need to spend 2ped just to sell the sweat and be locked in one area unable to move around the game freely to explore.

This would just turn the non-depositors away from the game. But as well, most would at the end feel as if we are being taxed way to much and just sell out.

[Oleg]

I might be wrong but I think this comment misses the wider picture.

Indeed, you couldn't be more wrong. The wider picture is precisely what I'm looking at. I always do.

It is you that is failing to do so by concentrating on the (mythical) "OO FREE MONEY FOR ME!" aspect. I have yet to see anyone who is in favour of paid-for TPs who is not doing the same.

[Sionkiewicz]

Doing some testing on the teleportation system that has not changed much in 15 years, my team of engineers discovered that a minor Adjustment to the TP power usage per teleport resulted in strange desirable side effects that appear to be non harmful and last for quite a few minutes, since the TPs require extra juice to bestow these temporary buffs, the tp fees would be needed to offset the cost .. we wil definately need to do more R&D to see if we can reproduce these effects on a mass scale...

So, would it be a choice to pay to up the voltage and get the buff or just tp like normal for free?

[KikkiJikki]

Also it has been pointed out in the past, but sorry to say the only people who would be paying these TP Fees are the low income players. As a lot have pointed out, many would just switch to TP Chips.

As an owner of a TP3 chip I'll be looking at buying cheap apartments at convenient locations to leverage the chip's "tp to home" ability. It will all depend on the relative costs of tp chips compared to monetised tps.