Making Eleven financially viable in the long term
Hi, I'm new here so please forgive me if this is in the wrong section.
Keeping Eleven sustainably funded in the long term is going to be key. I've read a few posts on this forum about what to do about it, including donations/kickstarter etc., so I thought I'd throw out some ideas. I doubt donations could sustain the game in the long-term, although they might help get it off the ground. The same for Kickstarter. While these things could be good, I'm more interested in the longer term: what will be funding Eleven five years from now? In particular, are there feasible methods that don't compromise the game (e.g., make certain content only available to paying customers)?
Cosmetic items are an easy starting point, and Glitch experimented with this with limited effect. I'm sure Eleven has plans for this already.
One thing I think Glitch really missed an opportunity on was merchandising. I would have paid for a 3D printed glitchen, or a poster print of my house. Compared to the technical hurdles of setting up the game itself, these things wouldn't be hard to do, and you could follow the same model [Soma FM](https://somafm.com/support/) do and make an explicitly large markup on the merch and make it clear it's supporting the game. There are lots of merchandising options for a game like Eleven.
Another model that's worth investigating is that of [Kingdom of Loathing](https://www.kingdomofloathing.com). There is an 'item of the month' on sale for $10 every month. These items usually unlock new and unique areas and quests in the game. The items can be sold for in-game currency. While I wouldn't like to see areas of Eleven only open to subscribers, there is one particular model that could work: Sometimes in KoL, the IotM actually produces another item on a regular basis, and these items are then used to access quests. This means that gradually, the market price for the area-access items gradually decreases as more and more are made. This means that while newer areas might be expensive to access, in time, all areas become easily accessible, and nobody is locked out. KoL's model works very well for KoL, and has sustained the game for many years.
These are just a couple of ideas I've had. What do people think?
Keeping Eleven sustainably funded in the long term is going to be key. I've read a few posts on this forum about what to do about it, including donations/kickstarter etc., so I thought I'd throw out some ideas. I doubt donations could sustain the game in the long-term, although they might help get it off the ground. The same for Kickstarter. While these things could be good, I'm more interested in the longer term: what will be funding Eleven five years from now? In particular, are there feasible methods that don't compromise the game (e.g., make certain content only available to paying customers)?
Cosmetic items are an easy starting point, and Glitch experimented with this with limited effect. I'm sure Eleven has plans for this already.
One thing I think Glitch really missed an opportunity on was merchandising. I would have paid for a 3D printed glitchen, or a poster print of my house. Compared to the technical hurdles of setting up the game itself, these things wouldn't be hard to do, and you could follow the same model [Soma FM](https://somafm.com/support/) do and make an explicitly large markup on the merch and make it clear it's supporting the game. There are lots of merchandising options for a game like Eleven.
Another model that's worth investigating is that of [Kingdom of Loathing](https://www.kingdomofloathing.com). There is an 'item of the month' on sale for $10 every month. These items usually unlock new and unique areas and quests in the game. The items can be sold for in-game currency. While I wouldn't like to see areas of Eleven only open to subscribers, there is one particular model that could work: Sometimes in KoL, the IotM actually produces another item on a regular basis, and these items are then used to access quests. This means that gradually, the market price for the area-access items gradually decreases as more and more are made. This means that while newer areas might be expensive to access, in time, all areas become easily accessible, and nobody is locked out. KoL's model works very well for KoL, and has sustained the game for many years.
These are just a couple of ideas I've had. What do people think?
Comments
Maybe (in the vein of Random Acts of Kindness), you might be able to pay for something which bestows benefits only on other players?
so if /when dollars are needed to keep the game development moving or support of volunteers, but subscriptions are not in the plan maybe consider something like this...
ftp is king now and micro transactions seem to be very accepted when applied to things like additional wardrobe, vanity choices and emotes. this could be translated into income with new items for purchase being offered monthly/bi-monthly/quarterly/holidays? items from past offers could be made available sale priced as the incentive to buy. or something like that.
wardrobe, vanity choices and or emote purchases should have no impact on game play since they can't be dropped, mailed, auctioned or gifted. it seems (to me) to be an easy way to allow people to get something they value that in turn generates financial support and fun for the game. there can never be too many weird eye choices, animal hats or new hairstyles!!!!!
I really liked* Improbable Island's system: there's a visible donation meter and when it goes above a certain amount (equal to how much the game costs to run), everyone in the entire game gets a stats buff. So you can see how much/whether the game itself needs your support right now and you can also contribute to a huge RAK for everyone else.
* Disclaimer, I haven't played the game in a couple years so I don't know if they've changed it or not.
* Visible donation meter of required funds for the month, whatever it may be
* Top donators visible, maybe a special wardrobe item available each month for whoever ends up in the top five?
* Once meter maxes out, everyone gets a buff, or there are global effects (maybe with stretch goals for 150%, 200% etc.) e.g., respawn timers for coins shorten, greater odds of random events occuring, or maybe even an area that unlocks (for everyone) iff the meter is full.
If we build it, they will come. If we fund it, it will stay.
Humble model is pretty good as well as mentioned before
Regarding merchandising, as some of you may have seen on my twitter account, I recently had a shirt made for attending Dragon Con. While this exact shirt isn't quite up to par with what I'd like to sell (it's a pressed shirt), I'm looking into options to get something I would be happy to sell.
Regarding pay-locked content, that is not something being considered currently, and I don't ever see that changing.
another idea of "in game advertising" by allowing companies to buy branding on an item (think like the flash boxes). not sure if that idea would have traction until there was a solid base of users, but something to think of maybe in the future.
also: since glitch really had such an enthusiastic base of users, i'd like to see some "user submitted" products (think like threadless, but not limited to tshirts) that can run on a monthly / bimonthly rotation of "limited edition" products. i can imagine the users could come up with some ammmaaaazing stuff.
and for a more immediate revenue stream (for development purposes), what about having any user who's interested in getting alpha access can bypass the wait by giving $X/month? i think there is a dedicated enough core base that would be willing to help test and pay for the development right away. heck.. even using something like patreon.com for different levels of access is something i'd be interested in.
I also realise that extra-payment items are popular with those who can afford them, but I think that there are quite a number who cannot and might feel a bit excluded. That does not mean I am against them, just that I think they should be chosen judiciously so as not to cause disadvantage to some people in playing.
Whilst I see the attraction of payment for alpha access, the sum would have to be large in order to limit the numbers to suit the limits of the servers at present. What about a lottery? A small sum would buy a ticket each month and the lucky winner gets to crash regularly as we do now?
I do like the idea of user submitted products on a limited basis where both the player and devs could benefit. That's a pretty neat idea.
* Make the Donation Meter a Random Act of Kindness thing, too. If you donate, you get a small area of effect that gives little bonuses to Glitchen near you. Nothing too big, just a little something. Perhaps you could donate in the name of a Giant, and the area of effect bonus applies to that Giant's domain? So if you donated to Spriggan, people get a slight bonus harvesting from trees near you, and if you donated to Friendly, drinks give a bit more Mood to people around you.
* In addition, the Donation Meter also, as has been mentioned, will give everyone a nice bonus if it fills up. Maybe a buff, maybe some iMG. Who knows?
* Maybe some game events? Every month, a large game—much like a feat—is held. Glitchen don't have to pay to join up, but they can. All money that gets put in to join has either a credit or a currant equivalent added to a "pot" of sorts that gets distributed to the top ten performers. Maybe everyone who participated also gets some sort of novelty item based on the event?
* I'd like to say Patreon, but I think a lot of us, including myself, prefer ideas that can be turned into fun gameplay things.
* Perhaps a few really special party spaces that can only be bought with credits. Not sure.
"since glitch really had such an enthusiastic base of users, i'd like to see some "user submitted" products (think like threadless, but not limited to tshirts) that can run on a monthly / bimonthly rotation of "limited edition" products. i can imagine the users could come up with some ammmaaaazing stuff."
I could see this working. The staff pick out a few designs they like, restructure them to fit on a Glitchen, and put them up as Limited Edition items in the store. Maybe they switch out twice every in-game year?
I imagine that they could cost small little lumps of change each, often between 50 cents and $3.
Maybe some submitted designs can be sets, and some can just be individual items, but you definitely should never be forced to buy a whole set. There may be about 20 per "series", and players get accredited for their designs. Maybe they even get a nice little trophy and a free copy of the design for themselves.
They could also include special seasonal items, such as an anniversary item that costs $1.11 or some meaningful number such as that.
Hell, you could even apply the same concept to furniture, really. I bet players would be entirely willing to design that, too.
I know I'm not the only one. :-)