[Guest]

I was reading an excellent thread which was originally started by Yoda announcing the new and improved Pestilence. The thread quickly digressed into an attack against some of the members of Pestilence and "before someone puts their foot in their mouth", the thread was capped off by Zenith. But in the thread, Druchii brought up something that I feel could be easily rectified in this game. I'd like to bring up my idea here and look forward to your feedback.

I started playing this game at the beginning of January 2007 and didn't donate until one month ago. So, for the first five months, despite being one of the more prolific players in the game, I watched donators (who started the game after me) advance past me because they were able to buy the most expensive real estate, the best weapons and armour, and create the biggest gangs. I don't have a problem with this as it is certainly not the fault of the players who donate. In fact, they should have certain advantages because they donate. However, I started to realize that those players who are non-donators were being left far behind even if they did put in excessive hours in the game to try to remain competitive with their peers.

I began donating about one month ago because I love this game. It's the only RPG that I play. Since then, I've been able to upgrade my real estate to the point where I'm getting four times more development points at the gym than I was when I had non-donator status. I'm fortunate as I'm an adult and I work for a living and have the money to be able to donate into this game. When I do donate, I try to give a few credits to the other members of my gang who are almost non-donators. I know that this gesture is appreciated.

Now to get to my point: I believe that, every time a donator who is in a gang donates real cash to get donator status, an additional benefit should be accrued to the gang. For example, I belong to The Thugs. If I donate $10, I receive 1100 credits that go directly to me. Perhaps an additional 10% of those credits should go into the gang's bank account. So, in the end, not only do I have 1100 credits, but the gang also received 110 credits which can then be transferred to the players in that gang.

There is no doubt that the opportunity for abuse exists, but those presidents and vice-presidents who abuse this system and use the credits for their own will soon find themselves without gang members. Furthermore, I do not believe that the extra credits will proportionately reduce the amount of donations that are made to the game; in fact, I believe that it may have the opposite effect of increasing the amount of donations because the credits will likely be used to share amongst gangmates. The non-donators would benefit, at the very least, by being able to buy daily donation status or by selling the credits on the market for cash which can be converted into housing. It could add to the cohesiveness of the gangs as not only are you helping your own cause by donating, but also helping your gang. This may even compel non-donators to donate if they know that even a $5 donation will add 50 credits to their gang. In-gang competitions could be held where the winner takes an accumulation of credits, say, 500 and enough for 30-day donator status.

Let me know what you think. Is the idea good, but needs tweaking? Is it a dumb idea altogether? I'm interested in all of your responses.

[Guest]

Lol seems a bit sill xerxes, people would just moan saying Super Villains, Pestilence etc who are all donators in the gang, are now just gaining an even bigger advantage as all of them are donators and donate regullarlly meaning they will end up with having more in there gang.

[Eaglefreak]

I like that your not only donating, but looking to find a way to help out others with in the game.

The MAIN exploit I see in this is if you have a gang of nothing but donators, they are getting an extra 110 credits for free.

[Ushanewnewba]

referrals, donating, busting admin out of jail and credit market. 4 easy ways to get credits.

It is pretty easy to buy 20 credits a day to keep donator status

[Guest]

Well, thanks for your input. Here's it put from another perspective:

As I continue to donate I will continue to advance much more quickly than my gangmates, most of whom don't/can't donate. Eventually, I'm going to have to leave my gang because I'll be so far removed from their level that it won't make sense for me to stay. What if I want to remain a president of a gang? There is so few gangs filled with players level 20 and above that I can could them on one hand (almost). The higher-level players who are currently without a gang go solo because they don't want to get shit-kicked by the super gangs. So, how can we bring the level of enough players up to 20+ so that there is a pool of say 80 to 100 players? From my perspective, players are dropping off when they get close to these levels because they can't form gangs or be productive in gangs because the moment they do, they're reduced to nothing. (I don't want to get into this argument again.) If we could somehow even the playing field a little bit so as to create a more competitive atmosphere, I think it would benefit everyone. How can we do this?

[Guest]

Well I know the way it works in my gang is the pres works VERY hard with the VP to help the lot of us. So maybe you should work hard to keep them active and when finishing with guns pass them down etc. We all work as a team in here maybe you should try persuading your members to keep active. The way the law is enforced here is simply if you're not active enough see you later. As activity is the main thing in a gang because OC's succed from activity and levels and stats are made through activity. Obviouslly yes donators benefit a lot more from this but that's the way it goes if you can find that hidden $5-$20 to get some donator status. I personally don't need to donate no more to keep my donator status and haven't needed to since about level 15 or so as you can simple buy credits from the market like Ushanewnewba said. I know that some gang Pres buy each member a 30 day donator pack to keep them active and then all they need to do is restore it at the end of the 30 days which is easy to achieve if you are active enough to be in a succesfull gang. Maybe you can try one of these methods. Also to you leaving the gang I don't think there is a need for that as you could always just stay with them and kep helping them. Like CityRat and Moishasan did I was in both of their gangs as a youth and they was like 10 levels above me and the others. They did this to find the succesfull players straight away so they could have active players for the future. Just my take of this.


P.S. If you didn't like the length of the post you shouldn't of read it. lol.

[Guest]

Your idea is great, i support mostly because your helping others through the heart, rather then being greedy and everyone knows, giving through the heart is the best way to keep friends, and make friends.

[Guest]

The thing about Donators is it has to give an incentive to donate.!!!

BUT the donators are just not contributing to themselves.? and growing faster than non-donators.!

They also contribute to the up keep of the site, money for server packages, some $$$ for zens time as she puts into the game and its a business to her as she cant be doing it for free.? would anyone put all the time into this site for free.? No i wouldnt think so.

Zen is always developing the site and making it better for us to play so donating to her seems to be a good way of repaying her for her hard work and time. :wink:

THX ZEN...

[abysmalpoptart]

my problem is not with donators being able to be stronger than non-donators, its the distance btwn the donators and non-donators that erks me.

ever since i started this game, i was really above par with the people that i started with. im not the strongest or greatest, but its nice to see that nearly everyone "younger" than myself is weaker, and a few people older are weaker as well. i have donated a very small amount (by comparison), so this is mainly due to my activity and enjoyment of the game, and i like being able to be competitive with some of the stronger players.

however, it is actually somewhat depressing to see people fly by in levels because they spend a hundred dollars a week on energy refreshes and their 10 million dollar house. how am i supposed to keep up? i understand these people are not destroying the game or ruining other peoples' fun, but it is somewhat frustrating that i can not do anything to keep up with them since they can buy their way to the top.

in other games i have played, donators would spend a large amount of money (50-100$) to get certain benefits and items that would last a year or even permanently. however, these items were only the best in the game by a small amount - basically the difference between a dyneema trenchcoat and the police issued armor. in this sense, everyone that wanted to be the "top" donated fairly often, but you could not buy your way to the top spot because the donations were not that imbalanced.

the way it seems now, those who can afford to donate more will always be at the top. dont get me wrong, im happy for my gang members and friends who are able to donate and are "winning" at this game, but it is frustrating that i can not compete due to something out of my own hands, and something that is not just activity. unfair? maybe. silly? possibly. i just dont see how throwing money at a game could give such unbelievable benefits.

this is why i mostly stick to games like warcraft 3 where you cant really buy your way to the top (and if you buy someones account, you cant play with it, so everyone knows youre faaaake).



anyway, i enjoy awakenedlands and the crowd, but considering the situation, i might be forced to quit since i cant donate to the same magnitude as some, and it is making me feel like an inferior player. so the idea of giving an additional bonus to gangs that donate at such an extent doesnt seem like a really good idea to myself. although i happen to be in a gang with some people who donate a fair amount and i would benefit from such an update, i still dont like the idea because most people cant afford to donate and they shouldnt have to just to keep up with the rest of the crowd

[Guest]

Heck if someone is happy buying thier way to the top let them, I am more than content spending as much as I do, I could afford to spend more, but I would rather spend my money on material items.