I just wanna take a moment to describe the idea i had for a payment model. It will be a cross between a free to play model, a one time purchase like a game you buy in a store and a monthly subscription. I'll explain in more detail.
For quite some time now, ive wanted to create a Free 2 Play model which allows you to buy cosmetic and similar items (this part is all to be decided). There will be 3 stages of membership, lets name these as follows for demonstration purposes;
Bronze Member
Silver Member
Gold Member (i kind of like the idea of Platinum Member but thats for another day)
So a bronze member would probably be the completely Free 2 Play player, no real handicaps really, they get access to the game like everyone else. To become a silver member you would simply buy $10 of Shiftax currency which you can spend on "cosmetic and similar items" (which are yet to be decided). With silver membership you gain access to things like mass messaging, larger friends list and im sure a handful of other good stuff that ill decide on when its required. This should alleviate problems with people creating a million accounts just to spam the game or website. This kind of thing is required really, and all it requires is a one off purchase of $10, which you can still trade for in game items.
Now onto Gold membership, spend $20-30 on Shiftax currency (undecided) and gain all the privileges of a silver member, but you would gain more advanced benefits which i'll explain shortly. For people who invest and support the game i believe they should not only be recognised by the community but they should also gain a couple of extra benefits. The only idea im really sure about is giving early access to game features in development or near release. There will also be an online map editor but the exact use of it is and how it ties into the game mechanics are far from being decided.
This is also just an idea but silver or gold members will have access to a private forum board just for contacting the devs and this area will have a slightly higher priority than other boards on the forum. This is not to say the other boards will be ignored, i just think that in order to prioritize important information, players who support the game deserve a louder voice. And just a side note, i would probably make this board read only for bronze members.
-- Edit --
Ive given the names some thought and i like the following;
Basic Member
Premium Member
Platinum Member
