Celebrochan

Step 1: train skills and never actually log in Step 2: wait until all the hunter killers leave due to lack of prey Step 3: CRAFTING!

Would this topic benefit from switching gears from "what should they do to improve the value of VIP" to "what examples of monitization should they scrutinize most to avoid common pitfalls"? What other (essentially ftp) games should act as cautionary tales for the dev team? MechWarrior Online and Crowfall share several similarities when it comes to their FTP model. They both are charging large amounts for premium packages ($500 gold plated mechs seem to pale in comparison to $5,400 map tiles.) There is a fairly high turn over rate of the old guard and (admittedly this is my opinion) it seems that their marketing model is to bring in as much new blood as possible, milk them for all they are worth and then encouraging them to leave as soon as possible once they have closed off their wallets. An example of this, would be the power creep and frequent weapon re-balancing that quickly makes mechs and certain play-styles obsolete. If Crowfall starts selling expedited skill training, or power of any kind for real money, I fear that it will quickly become a slippery slope towards runaway power inflation. When SWTOR went free to play, suddenly paying members could access more crafting professions at once than non-paying members. What was a standard feature suddenly became something that you had to pay for, I fear that skill queing is something that will be seen in a similar light. It is something that is already programmed into the system, that would make everyone's life a little more convenient, it seems ridiculous to expect to charge a fee to access it. There is a difference in psychology between a negative punishment and a positive reward. I am paying to avoid feeling inconvenienced rather than paying to access something positive that adds value.

I think that paying for VIP should gift a monthly cosmetic item that they will make available in game (I.E. it can be found or crafted) without vip in six months. In general people are willing to pay for bling that is gated, but I think it should eventually make it into the game by itself anyway. For two reasons, One once it is released into the general public the shininess of the bling wears off and they need to buy more to stay ahead and two it keeps the Crowfall artists creating more visual bling.

Mix and match -Double the speed that characters get hungry -Passive healing for being out of combat is cut in half -Nodes respawn more slowly -Killing a pc spawns a vengeful spirit npc monster -Have a mode that as the campaign progresses from spring to winter the NPC monster spawn rate increases. In the beginning the war should be between players trying to build walls to keep out the creeps they they know will be coming, but by the end the different sides are huddled behind their walls waiting for the end to come, either by being swarmed by npc monsters or running out of food. -Have the land slowly freezing. To stay alive you have to sacrifice wood to a furnace, that warms a certain area. Trees on the map don't respawn fast enough to keep the furnace going forever.

I would like to be able to create poisonous fake healing pots, similar to in Divinity: Original Sin 2. When I am ganked and my inventory looted I want it to be an unpleasant surprise for my killer.

I love gathering in other games, I find it relaxing to explore looking for more nodes and thrilling when I do find a rarer mat than I was expecting. I don't know if I will be able to enjoy it in Crowfall simply because of the heavy pvp focus. AKA the popular wisdom will be "it is easier to harvest gathereres than it is to gather" and who wants to spend a bunch of time accumulating mats just to have someone sneak up on you and stunlock you and loose the fruits of all your hard work?

I would avoid systems that are "more obnoxious" if you don't pay money for VIP, that is a great way to anger your player base. I would argue that all of Extra Credit's videos on Free to Play games would also apply to Crowfall because it is free to play once you buy it...

Is there currently any gear or any news for plans for gear that when worn increases crafting stats?

And My Axe!