You're saying that by clipping the stem of the proverbial plant that is Ryzom, you're helping it grow. What you're actually doing is clipping the roots. The plant will die.
This game survives solely via the support of the elder players. Your plan will alienate your most loyal customers. Therefore, Ryzom (and your company) in its current form will die from this. No amount of event goodies is going to make up for 8 years of digital culture lost.
I played SWG after the infamous Combat Upgrade. I saw whole player-built cities deserted. Entire fields of mining equipment untended, churning away until their upkeep ran out. The game was dying, because it was made "better".
Like it was said before, any new player will not pay until it's necessary, or eases the grind. By all means provide incentive for paying: $-bought brown potatoes, for instance? XP boosters? I have a job, I can and have paid for those things.
As a new player, I wish there were more low-to-mid -level players, so there'd actually be a market for non-über goods. Merging the servers is therefore a viable choice, and I'm not against that. Also, I agree that the economy should be rebalanced. Inflation is usually rampant in old MMOs, due to top-heaviness. So balance that. Reset dappers, tweak prices, make moneysinks.
Just don't clip the roots. Clip the dead branches.
This game survives solely via the support of the elder players. Your plan will alienate your most loyal customers. Therefore, Ryzom (and your company) in its current form will die from this. No amount of event goodies is going to make up for 8 years of digital culture lost.
I played SWG after the infamous Combat Upgrade. I saw whole player-built cities deserted. Entire fields of mining equipment untended, churning away until their upkeep ran out. The game was dying, because it was made "better".
Like it was said before, any new player will not pay until it's necessary, or eases the grind. By all means provide incentive for paying: $-bought brown potatoes, for instance? XP boosters? I have a job, I can and have paid for those things.
As a new player, I wish there were more low-to-mid -level players, so there'd actually be a market for non-über goods. Merging the servers is therefore a viable choice, and I'm not against that. Also, I agree that the economy should be rebalanced. Inflation is usually rampant in old MMOs, due to top-heaviness. So balance that. Reset dappers, tweak prices, make moneysinks.
Just don't clip the roots. Clip the dead branches.