Tombola Tickets

[Eon]

Is it possible to see how many Tombola tickets you currently have?

I should now have 5 tickets and I would like to be able to see that.

I am paranoid

[Kafuuka]

Assuming we're allowed to discuss the tombola feature here as well:

"The prizes will include Morphs, Darks, special features, rare benefits and such, so that regardless of how rich your inventory is you will appreciate the prize greatly."
Why not include WPs too /sarcasm? Seriously, these creatures and benefits were special things given as rewards on rare occasions. What is the point of randomly giving them away, with larger chance for people who buy credits more often and probably in smaller amounts at a time. I'm not bothering to read paypall policy, but isn't this shooting yourself in the foot by means of more money going to paypal? I guess they charge a little amount per transaction; they're not a non profit organization after all. Is all of this balanced by the bonus for large purchases?

[Chewett]

the short answer methinks is no.

The solution is probably to put it somewhere lol

[Shadowseeker]

Well, on the risk of getting offtopic..

I understand that the server needs money. But the HELL?!

As Kafuuka pointed out, giving these kind of things for paying credits, you may as well pay for WPs..Look at the dream mutation, it costs a WP, and it's less rare than those gifts they talk about.

If you ask me, I am VEHEMENTLY against this kind of thing. Sponsoring them in an event, or other things sure. But simply because we need cash, this kind of thing doesn't help at all.
It's like saying MD can be bought..we want your cash. Perhaps a statement of some sorts, or a discussion as to what would be better should be done. I mean, darks, morphs? I would agree on picking just ONE unreleased premium creatures, so maybe the morph is okay, but the dark isn't.

It's not a premium creature, and as such shouldn't be officially given vs money, even though trades amongst players might do that.

I haven't paid one single cent in MD yet, I'd have considered sending an amount if the server needed help, attached with a note asking for no credits, but this kind of thing just makes me mad.


As for the paypal thing, no we won't shoot ourselves that much..but it has to be said that we do it a bit. Depending on lands, but I think each time a transaction is done, paypal takes a percentage and a fixed amount. If we do 100*5$ amounts, the fixed amount taken will be way greater.

[awiiya]

I am with Shadowseeker and Kafuuka. Even if I don't have creatures, stats, bonuses, or anything of that sort, and don't really need them because I don't move anyways, it still seems really... wrong. Is MD turning into a cash mongering game like so many other MMORPGs out there? The older MD gets, the less polarized it seems to be.

When do we cross the line? In my opinion, we crossed the line long long ago, at tokens on creatures. But now is as good a time as any to stop crossing it.

Awi

[Chewett]

has no one considered that the server needs monies? God even the forum is 30$ a month, people are doing this anyways, I dont really see that giving out these is going to change much, it will just make it safer for people to do it.

I have no clue what the server costs, but its going to be a lot more than the forum. Would you prefere no tokens and such and no MD? if i had the disposable income i would pay for the forum myself, the issue is that i dont.

MD is most definately losing money all the time. The question you have to ask yourself is do you want MD running with these things to help Mur pay for it, or do you want it closed because mur just cant pay? Give some thought to the people who pay for these things. The game is free for you, yet someone has to foot the massive server charges. This must help mur, Dont be angry with that.

[Shadowseeker]

Well, I understand the server needs cash...but as I said, I'm still against the feature of darks.

Morph, others, sound a lot like extra features from MD shop, and I see that the shop isn't giving as much cash as it used to be...still, I'm vehemently against especially the dark giving.

[(Zl-eye-f)-nea]

For the sake of argument....

The last auctions were based on coins, silver and gold. Silver and gold were gained via shop credits. The difference being that in this case there is no guarantee you win with the highest bid, there is no limit on individual amount to be purchased, and that you can acquire coins despite a lack of personal financial input. However silver and gold were none the less gained via shop credits originally, meaning each one did in effect have a financial input.

I'm not saying it is right or wrong, I'm just mentionning it as I'd like to see what the arguably huge differnce is to cause outrage with one and excitement for the other.

Z

[Shadowseeker]

Still, we had free creds back then, and not to forget, coins were bought via creds. Those creds used are gone. You may have gotten some other nice boni, but the coin itself is one of the (main) reasons you bought it.

With this you can gain the credits, you can burn them on other things..e.g. unlocking the rustgold.

Whereas the other may have been used to regulate the flow of coins and items, this time it's to regulate the cash flow..unluckily this means it's a bonus to those donating, an extra gift, outside of shop features. Guaranteed, it is a lottery, but still..

Last auction was coins. This now is for credits, which you may still use to gain coins..but in the end you keep that extra stuff from credits you get, you just forsake a chance at bonus creds if you do it this way in small payments.

[Muratus del Mur]

I am glad you asked all those questions, because I wanted to answer them.

1) the number of tickets you have is exactly the number of transactions you see in your paypal account. I will use directly the paypal logs for the extraction. The winner will be selected based on a random number picked probably by one of you that will be online at that time, or something like that. There is no need to be paranoid, if i want to cheat such a tombola i can simply give the rewards directly, i can actually do that , remember? So stop being paranoid.

2) It is indeed a conflict of concept, but please do not mistaken these prizes with something you can purchase. You will never find WPs or these rare occasion creatures in the shop, otherwise they will not be rare but only "premium". I am careful about the values and their proportions in MD, but hard times require such measures. This is an event , not a shop...

3) The reason I placed one ticked per transaction is not to encourage small transactions but to give equal chances to those that pay 5$ and those that pay more. The tax is considerably higher but thats not a problem.

4) Md is sustained in high proportion by a small group of veteran players that are constantly supporting it regardless if they need the credits or not. I should have simply awarded them a few rare creatures directly, but i am not. I will treat both paying members and nonpayong the same always, remember that. You see when paying members get an opportunity like this but you don't see all the other things I do for members that cant or wont pay anything...what can i say.


Again, and again, md is far from being a money machine. Because you complain, please listen and listen good. I am forced to put such things up, like a tombola or payed reward codes, because we are short of some money this month (I will detail the exact required payments to those concerned) , not to mention Rendril deserves a bonus and i am unable financially to give it to him. I have a few other things to use in emergency situations but I am running out of options fast. I am sick and tired of this, if you feel more confortable considering md a money hungry machine, do whatever you think. I used to tell you these things openly and discuss them, but i am sick of sounding like a crying granny and complain about md not having enough money to SURVIVE. This is probably the last time i will justify such a thing. Md costs are of about 1k$/month and without advertising (that costs a lot more than tha), its slowly going down, and its being on that path for a very very long time. The small number of loyal players that come daily is very limited and already supported md financially on -too many- occasions.
The solution is to have more players, then things would be different... but we don't and i dont forsee better times.

You are complaining about me destroying some concepts in md for the love of money..or something along that line... well think also that after years of building and maintaining MD maybe i could have used such money raising occasions to live out of it, myself i mean, it looks as if its a business afterall. Well i am not, money that comes in md is used for md.
Considering that i am currently psychologically incapable of working anything anymore, I could have at least enjoyed a salary supported from my own business, WELL I AM NOT.

The only luxury i enjoy from md financial part , right now, is the fact that there is a programmer that can take care of things, and that i sometimes can pay some periodic online thigns such as the countless domains i gathered over the years and never developed, a lot of them in connection with md.

Excuse me for being angry, but if you think the tombola is abnormal, suggest a better way.


ps. i will read your remarks again when i am less nervous, dont get me wrong, i really appreciate your feedback and it matters...just the situation makes me want to say fu and such.

[Shadowseeker]

I am a conceptualist.

As such, there are certain things I dislike being broken, and one such unwritten rule of MD (for me) is: "An uncolored creature is not to be officially associated with money."

That's the main reason I am against the dark. Colored Yes, Extra features, Yes. Dark? No.

There are certain creatures you can gain access to by exploring, some by storymode, some by quests, some by events. I count the auction as well, given the flow of coins in the realm, this was very well a trade event, allowing people who had [i]something[/i] to toss together and bid for it. Those richer have a big advantage, yes. But it would not end with I paid 500$, so I can get this for sure. The lottery isn't like that as well..but it gets too close to overstep that one rule up there.

So the dark is where I draw the point, as for the other...I still don#t like the idea, but I see the need of it, so I'd shut up about that. The dark? No, I will not shut up, simply because I feel it is not correct.

Edit: Obviously there have been cases where real money was offered for such creatures. Yet, the official source of it, should not be associated with money that closely, if you ask me.

Edited October 28, 2010 by Shadowseeker
make something clearer

[Muratus del Mur]

noted, dark wont be subject of payable opportunities, same like the other bw creatures.
but , i will probably add it in wish shop, and tombola will feature a new morph probably.

i will give the prizes by allowing the first winner to pick out of 3, the second out of 2 and the third gets the remainin prize

tombola awards and auction awards will have similar prizes,... yes there will be other tombolas, not sure when or with what.

This also means no bw creatures in auctions or tombolas from now on.

Bw creatures will be placed on the marked for free, as adhoc gifts, special occasion awards, but never payed. What the owner will do with it after (like sell it for 200$ directly to his pocket), is no longer my concern.

happy?

whats the next thing you dislike?

update, any direct money offer in my direction, for a creature or benefit in md will result in ban without warning,... just to avoid any temptation

[Yoshi]

So, since its through paypal transactions, those that are currently subscribers will automatically have one ticket?

[Kamisha]

I wish I could participate in this but I don't have a paypal account. Just like most things I find this a necessary evil. This is the first game ive actually seen that both tries to keep people balanced in both paying in non-paying accounts (though it has gone a little downhill with tokens, Yes I do agree with that!). Its also the only game that has actually been willing to lose money in order to keep its self alive. Lets just say it how it is. It is not mur who needs money its MD that needs money.

MD needs money to pay for its self. It needs cash in order to advertise so people join. If the only way to do that is to offer extra incentive to put in cash then that's what we need. Ive already put in a donation of $200 this month because as soon as the free credits went down my alarm went off. You have to come to a consensus.

If you must know yes I am against the tombola. Yes I do find it as a way to make money but hey the world revolves around survival of the fittest and when that doesn't work then you have to ask for some help.

[Lifeline]

I was completely fine with the announcement stating that a tombola will be made and i still am. In my point of view it makes little different if 1 really rare creature more will be in MD. That one single Dark wont make a huge difference in my opinion. for me the trouble start when things that used to be really hard to accomplish suddenly loose all their value by becoming openly available either in the shop or wishpoint shop.
That is how i see values and their proportions in MD and hope that really rare stuff stays rare like first intended in the announcement. if there is value and porportions than escpecially the porportions are crucial for the value. once to many get on "the market" the value will drop like in an inflation. so i would suggest to leave the tombola as a very rare event where 3 new rare things get added to the market but not make it to something that totally throws over the market because it leads to a rare creature becoming openly available in the WPShop.

[Tarquinus]

There's an awful lot of whining about the dark as though they were in danger of becoming as common as angiens. They aren't. What is suggested here is a [i]lottery[/i] held every so often, and there is no mention of darks being given away like, oh, I don't know, credits were until people abused the gift to death. Further, in my opinion, the dark creatures are too rare. I see them in the odd fight here and there, and it just pisses me off that certain players have managed to collect something that the average player won't even hear about, let alone stand a chance of acquiring.

MD is very far from a money-making machine, and even to imply that it is money hungry is to commit an atrocious straw man fallacy. The reaction to the tombola strikes me as entirely disproportionate, and it really comes across as oligarchs trying to protect their own interests. There's enough of that in real life politics, ffs.

Mur is a generous man. If he wants to be generous, [u]let him be[/u]. It's clear that you think you know what's best, but it sounds eerily as though you know what is best for you and not for MD as a whole.

[Kamisha]

I think the actual argument is the need to pay to be entered. I don't think people would be upset if it was a random give away Tarquinus. People believe the integrity of the game has been compromised.

[Eon]

Thanks for answering my question.

Is it possible for a person to have 2 of there tickets win and receive a prize for each, or is it 1 prize per person?

[Udgard]

Spelldocs for tombola prizes?

Seems like a unique, useful, but not that harmful to release periodically.

[Kamisha]

[quote name='Eon' timestamp='1288320696' post='71094']
Thanks for answering my question.

Is it possible for a person to have 2 of there tickets win and receive a prize for each, or is it 1 prize per person?
[/quote]

I guess its possible I dont know it might be left up to mur to tell you that.


[quote name='Udgard' timestamp='1288321158' post='71095']
Spelldocs for tombola prizes?

Seems like a unique, useful, but not that harmful to release periodically.
[/quote]

Well Personally I would be ok if there was a limit of 1 ticket per person and it didn't have to be a papal account. Some of the younger players and my self as an abnormally (,im 20) don't have paypal accounts though I'm guessing paypal is the only traceable source.

[Muratus del Mur]

- only paal payments, regardless of reason, so yes subscriptions too
- no spelldocs, they fit in the wish shop kind of items and they will be available in that section. they are also not tradeable and in case you didnt figured it out yet, giving such gifts to random people will cause market movement, and that is a good thing. spell docs wont.
- no two prizes to same person, the point of three prizes is to have three distinct winners. so the chances are higher.

[Curiose]

The one thing that confused me, was the mention of coins... Perhaps I read it wrong, but non-paying players are able to join the raffle by submitting coins?

[Udgard]

[quote name='Curiose' timestamp='1288337000' post='71104']
The one thing that confused me, was the mention of coins... Perhaps I read it wrong, but non-paying players are able to join the raffle by submitting coins?
[/quote]
No, this one is Paypal payers only. The coin mention, I believe, refers to the coin auction from a while ago, which was being compared to this raffle due to coins coming out of credits too.

[Curiose]

Ah, Okay.

Because it made me wonder, since the previous announcement had stated that it was only for Paypal.

Thanks for clearing that up. :3

[Kyphis the Bard]

I'm confused.

The Announcement post stated that there where a variety of prizes that the three winners would pick from, but Murs post indicated that there would only be three.

Please clarify, as this will determine if I spend more than my normal subscription amount or not (I can only pay what I budget for, the joys of married life >.>)