My opinion is, if we buy an avy, we stay with it forever... no monthly fee, no active days, nothing... I think if someone stop playing, then the account should be removed and the avatar come back to the shop, but only this way.

no for monthly fee.
ok for active days.
in addition, when someone lose their avy, they get back $1(the cost of buying the avy in the first place) so when they're active again and if there are avatars available in MDShop, they can get another one.

Perhaps after 3 months of not logging and avatar then gets put back into the shop?

it would then mean that people who have left for some time (3 months is a pretty long period) will lose it. So people who have earned the avatar keep theirs and people who are inactive dont.

[quote name='Chewett' date='04 July 2009 - 01:48 PM' timestamp='1246733291' post='36138']
Perhaps after 3 months of not logging and avatar then gets put back into the shop?

it would then mean that people who have left for some time (3 months is a pretty long period) will lose it. So people who have earned the avatar keep theirs and people who are inactive dont.
[/quote]

Yes, I now i realized Chewett proposal is better, but I would say two months tops, that way people can take a pretty long vacation and still keep their avi intact.

I must have my say here.

Too many avatars are dying, yes. But, my nature is to drop things for a couple of months and come back to them. I am sure I am not alone.
My account is over a year old, but I have less than half of that as active days.


So, "no" to 1 cred per month and "no" to 15 days per month. I am totally behind Chewett's suggestion, though. My edit on that: 3 active days for each 3 month period.

And I like the idea of giving someone their credit back when they lose their avvy.

Edited July 4, 200916 yr by apophys

[color="#2e8b57"][i]Initially I voted No, but after reading all the stuff I changed my mind.

I belive the avatar is a personal representation of your character in MD. It shows dedication to the game and isnt something you can take lightly; if you value it, I think you should be willing to pay a small price for it. 1 credit per month coming off your current balance is worth it. It makes it all the more valuable. It shouldnt be some willy-nilly thing that any new player can get.

On the other hand, for some players in various countries outside Europe and the US buying credits is somewhat expensive. Consider the economic climate now, and consider players who would want one, but due to recession and a general tightening of wallets maybe put off altogether getting one; thinking that in order to move up in MD, you need to be [/i][/color][i][color="#2e8b57"]rich; which is not a image you want to convey about the game.

It really is a toughie, no doubt about that. I think before you set a hard and fast rule about who keeps avatars and who doesnt think about how long they have played, their current role in the game and how long they have kept the avatar. As another user said (sorry I forgot which one) you dont want to see some noob running around with Khalazdad's Avy or Ome's; and if for some reason I decide to take a hiatus I dont want to see a noob running around with mine (that is when I get one)

I think RPC's and PWR can keep theirs till infinitum. Everyone else pays 1 credit per 2 months off their current balance and can loose it after 6 months sans logging in.[/color]
[/i]

It could be made that avatars that have already been used for a month or longer go into a seperate group of avatars in the shop. These could only be purchased by those with a certain amount of days under their belts. New avatars should be fair game for everyone. Older ones have more significance, so it makes sense that they should be treated with more respect. Plus, an older player would be more inclined in returning it to the original owner.

The fee makes sense, but maybe it could be used in a different way. Such as if you are going on vacation, you can pay a set fee per day starting after 1-2 weeks of inactivity. Once you no longer have any credits the avatar goes back to the shop.

Totally agree with Sharazad.

It is difficult enough finding an avatar that really reflects your personality, lets not take it away if we go on a holiday or hospitalised, or for any reasons that doesnt allow us to be logged on for a long time.

[quote name='apophys' date='05 July 2009 - 06:11 AM' timestamp='1246738275' post='36146']
I must have my say here.

Too many avatars are dying, yes. But, my nature is to drop things for a couple of months and come back to them. I am sure I am not alone.
My account is over a year old, but I have less than half of that as active days.


So, "no" to 1 cred per month and "no" to 15 days per month. I am totally behind Chewett's suggestion, though. My edit on that: 3 active days for each 3 month period.

And I like the idea of giving someone their credit back when they lose their avvy.
[/quote]

Although I have only missed a few days since I became properly active in the game, I have to say that the idea of losing my avatar just because I can't log in (which does occasionaly happen) is quite upsetting.

I like apophys' suggestion best so far, however I would also suggest that, as Woodsman suggested, there be an additional option in the avatar section. However, I don't suggest that that option be for older players to have exclusive access to pre-owned avatars, but that the previous owner have the exclusive option of re-purchasing their avatar for one month after it is stripped from their account.

This would be fairer to those who have trouble with regular loggins, but also penalize those who purchase an avatar without a proper commitment to the game, and end up preventing others in the community getting something they would actually put to use.

I [b]do not[/b] agree with the idea of a refund from having your avatars stripped.
This is because of the free credits system, as well as the ability to transfer avatars.
If you get a refund, then you will get people purchasing avatars on their alts, transferring them to their main, and letting them return to the shop for the refund and re-purchasing them on their other accounts.
While in the first time frame you would make a lose of credits, once the first lot of refunds hit you would have a constant stream of extra credits passing through.
Anything which makes it easier to cheat like that, and abuse the privileges we have be granted, should be examined carefully...

However, for those who are unable to loggin to their accounts for some reason, rather than trust someone with their account, they would be able to transfer their avatar to another person (who they trust, obviously) to avoid losing it and having to re-purchase it. This would be safer, and allows people to hold onto an avatar they really wish to keep if they have no option but to be away for a period beyond the time frame.
To avoid having people abuse this idea, I suggest having a cool down period before an avatar can be transferred each time, but the recipient should also have the option of paying a fine in credits to transfer it sooner.

Edited July 5, 200916 yr by Kyphis the Bard

I don't agree with the monthly fee

1 day per week activity should be enough to hold your avatar

I am not in favour of a monthly fee. Requirement for active days would be good.
Once somebody looses avatar, it could be rolled back and made available im the shop.

Better come to think about it i suggest another thing:

[color="#FF0000"][size="7"][b]VACATION MODE !!!!![/b][/size][/color]

If you set up a new feature like vacation mode then i would agree with the avatar being taken off your account withOUT those 15 days of inactivity ( I still say no to the 1$/month fee ). This is allowing people 2 set their accounts in vacation mode for a perioud and interval of times ... the value can be best set if you analyse better the cheating possibilities out of this and implying some extra penalties ( Like not being able to return from vacation mode in less than 3 days ... and whatever stuff like that )

And this could be the answer to many more problems than just the avatar one !

I think the 1 credit monthly fee is ok if it will only last for a specific amount of time, somewhat like paying up in installments or loan or a mortgage, otherwise that monthly fee would be really troublesome (as has been said/implied from all the previous posts, not everyone has the money or the luxury of time)

Also, it would be a good idea that the number of inactive days before the avatar gets taken back by the shop would be somewhat equal to the numebr of months you have paid that 1 credit, i.e let's say you are to pay 3 consecutive months for the avatar then you have 3 months worth of inactivity before it get's taken back by the bank..err shop.