I would sincerely love another option to keep the servers alive, without a monthly subscription. Truth be told, I paid for 3 companies to try to run this on the same old model that doesn't work for smaller niche products, based on all the mistakes made by the notion that commercial companies are the only ones worthy to hold open the servers.
Look at Star Wars Galaxies, it is alive and well through things like StarWarsEMU, Look at the subscription model from newer games like Star Wars: The Old Republic.
I have all the benefits of a paid account there, without a monthly fee. As it suits me and life lets me play a game, I can play as much as I want. If I have access to money, I can flood the company running the product with money.
Surely, there is no commercial interest. I paid a small fortune to the developers for over a decade now. I think my account should be renewed from small cash injections. Running a server is not as expensive as we are made to believe.
Just a bit of a /rant and a comment to keep what small fanbase comitted -- really we're down to less than a couple hundred paid accounts last I saw an 'increase' in players, mainly by thrusting 3 servers down to one.
Why not just reward us that have been here for 10 years or more with an account that doesn't require monthly fees for casual play. I think I paid the price to host a couple computers on the Internet for a few years personally, not to mention the rest of us who have been here since just after release (and never mind the beta testers).
I beta tested one online virtual world, and I have a permanent free subscription, I think that's the minimum your beta people that still log in deserve, not to mention those of us who not only returned after the merge, we rebuilt guilds, recruited and mentored new players, who have gone on to lead their own guilds.
Sorry to sound bitchy, but I'm not so sure that this model is fair for those with 10 year packs in our bags. You can make all the digital crap you want if you want, but it's being done for no cash, so why the pay to play model is being thrust down our throats?
Look at Star Wars Galaxies, it is alive and well through things like StarWarsEMU, Look at the subscription model from newer games like Star Wars: The Old Republic.
I have all the benefits of a paid account there, without a monthly fee. As it suits me and life lets me play a game, I can play as much as I want. If I have access to money, I can flood the company running the product with money.
Surely, there is no commercial interest. I paid a small fortune to the developers for over a decade now. I think my account should be renewed from small cash injections. Running a server is not as expensive as we are made to believe.
Just a bit of a /rant and a comment to keep what small fanbase comitted -- really we're down to less than a couple hundred paid accounts last I saw an 'increase' in players, mainly by thrusting 3 servers down to one.
Why not just reward us that have been here for 10 years or more with an account that doesn't require monthly fees for casual play. I think I paid the price to host a couple computers on the Internet for a few years personally, not to mention the rest of us who have been here since just after release (and never mind the beta testers).
I beta tested one online virtual world, and I have a permanent free subscription, I think that's the minimum your beta people that still log in deserve, not to mention those of us who not only returned after the merge, we rebuilt guilds, recruited and mentored new players, who have gone on to lead their own guilds.
Sorry to sound bitchy, but I'm not so sure that this model is fair for those with 10 year packs in our bags. You can make all the digital crap you want if you want, but it's being done for no cash, so why the pay to play model is being thrust down our throats?
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~minouHigh Officer, Spiritus Artificis
Former Officer, High Officer and Leader, Reapers of the Dark