Quote:hey Zen,

Just thought I'd drop a quick mail about some concerns which you may or may not be aware of. Over the past few weeks, myself and a few others have noticed a growing trend of high scale donators basically dominating the game.

Now he's an anomaly, since he's donated way more than anyone to my knowledge. [They] have the power to basically make the game their playground through donating. I'm not saying this in anyway to slight them- if you've got the money to donate like that, great.

The problem is, there is no physical way for non-donators to keep up. I'm currently paying off a large loan for a course, and saving for a new course starting this year. I've got insurance on car to pay out, tax+MOT, not to mention house bills. All this on a not so great wage. Much as I wish I could donate like they do, donating anymore than $10 a month is simply not an option. And I know there's people in worse situations than me.

I'm not asking to take donator benefits away- but what would be nice is a way of evening the playing field a little so non-donators DO have some light. My main idea would be to give levels more worth again- level ups provide a stat increase for crimes and attacking, so if you're hitting 5/10 levels above or below- there's a serious penalty or boost. Levels can still be achieved quicker through donating and using energy refreshes, but infinitely slower than training- an active non-donator stands a decent chance against a donating energy refresher. If all the emphasis is on stats, a non-donator has literally no chance- since without at least lv 15 on endurance, you can't compete. And buying that much using game cash is practically not an option- it's doable, but means you have to forsake everything else you need, travel expenses, stim packs, surgery now (which donators can pay for far easier) and houses. Everything at the moment is geared towards stats, which is something only donators can train at great speed.

The other option, which will obviously be less preferable to you, is setting a limit on donations- say $100 a month. To me, that is still a great deal, but it'd stop the crazy $500 in one go, or whatever people do, which is totally tipping the game over the edge.

I wasn't sure how much you know about people's opinions here, but I know that I'm gradually getting turned away from the game, because donators are literally taking it over. Without a little balance, people will still play- but very rarely, and only those that can afford to donate $100 a month or more will remain.

mtngti Wrote:I can understand this player's concern. However, many of us have devoted a LOT of online time to training and not leveling since the new combat code was introduced, and I think that it's unfair to alter it again now.

matt5250 Wrote:If it was fair to alter it in the first place, it is fair to alter it back. there are plenty of us who leveled like crazy before the change because that was what we found to be the best strategy and then our efforts were totally reversed by the change.

Chris Mangano Wrote:That said, I don't know if changing combat is going to change how much people donate. I remember a fella named CASANOVA who donated way more than anyone else and used it on energy refreshes to level up quickly. If people want to buy their way to the top they're gonna buy their way to the top.

mtngti Wrote:

matt5250 Wrote:If it was fair to alter it in the first place, it is fair to alter it back. there are plenty of us who leveled like crazy before the change because that was what we found to be the best strategy and then our efforts were totally reversed by the change.

There is already a bonus for leveling. Your energy and action is capped higher, and refreshes at a higher rate.

matt5250 Wrote:it is still fair to change it back to the way it was