Em-8ER Backer Recognition

[Grummz]

We've had a lot of big supporters of Em-8ER. It's time to give them some recognition.

The best concierge program of any game is being designed right now. No dev activity yet, as our focus in on the new build.

When we eventually launch the Concierge Program, lot of folks gonna have big smiles.

It's a better solution than just some colors on Discord. Recognition should be game-wide where it matters the most. The majority of dev time should be towards features for the game and that's where the bulk of the recognition will go.

But how do you feel? Let us know in the poll below:

 

[Pandagnome]

Recognition would be great in the game / game features because i think that's where i'd like to see even if it was credits where the names and avatar icons appeared next to it with a small useless information such as
Dana Cat was once a officer of the law until she stole someone's fries :O

Its nice to have it in the forum too but what i think is also important too is Reaper Alpha Staff awards

Where every end of milestone there is a ceremony for the Best reaper staff award could it be The Big Cheese G, Fae with cheese light rays or the Ronyn cheesenator then again the deep undercover staff who silently and tirelessly work in the shadows among the cheeses hmm

 

[PartTimeJedi]

So how much you spend will accumulate towards different levels of perks? With a minimum threshold that has to be reached before program eligibility starts.
Depending where this minimum threshold is many or few backers will be in the program.
Love the premise and we'll see where this brings us backers!

 

[Mahdi]

Keeping it simple would be nice and inclusive to all. Founders wall, decals, badges, titles. Inexpensive to put in.

But honestly, I want to see Em-8ER big enough that there could literally be a museum on the home station. A wing for each milestone with a plaque for names and some small models on stands showing off the content for that milestone. My reference is from Star Citizen with the decorations in your hangar. Have a simple interactive script that can pop up to read info on.

 

[Grummz]

Some have asked, and a Concierge Program is where a crowd-backed game recognizes the generous supporters of the game by offering them special titles, cosmetic items, and in-game areas, etc.

Ours may have a few other ideas not seen anywhere else....shhhhh.

 

[Darker7]

Maybe put us in the lore? That could be really fun to design :Ü™

 

[Nausical]

I love the idea of custom armor/titles/mounts/particle effects, or an in-world area only certain people can access or an in-world museum with plaques.

What I do not like, is the idea of like... Announcing server wide or battlefield wide when someone who paid money logs on or shows up. Anything that forces it's way into everyone's experience would be embarrassing for the person and get old for the general populace really fast. Probably turning into a joke/division between players.

I think that division is a tricky thing to avoid when fomo is the chosen path.

 

[Grummz]

I'll be clear.

The Concierge Program is a paper idea, and no dev time is being put towards it until we have more builds.

The program poll is put here to reflect the communities desires for the focus of such a future program. If it were a major announcement, it would have been made in email and on our dev blog.

This is not any sort of appeasement. But it does highlight that it's pretty silly to be arguing over discord colors when we can and will focus on building a game and already had plans for a much bigger backer program down the line when we have a game further along. The program was inspired by Giga's big push for Discord Roles. But I think the Concierge Program is better, and Ronyn sparked the idea that eventually lead me to the Conceirge Program.

My view on perks for this is that is should be in-game, and that whatever we do for program, we should make sure it has ripple effects that benefit everybody in the game. It is also not a priority for implementation compared to getting the next couple of builds out and getting that heartbeat of development strong.

Please check out our dev blogs where we post actual progress. We just started it and already have a few posts up and more coming on a regular basis. Medium.com Em-8ER Dev Blog

 

[Sy]

I had to look up and really try to understand what "concierge" might mean in this context.

I missed the impromptu, will it be a Thursday announcement?

 

[Thorp]

I had to look up and really try to understand what "concierge" might mean in this context.

Same here. Fortunately I didn't miss the surprise voice chat about it earlier today. The gist of my understanding is 'concierge' will cover community members and financial backers alike; community members including widely recognized members and content creators. A sort of "no purchase necessary" program.

I may have recommended keeping this reveal to the next Chief Chat (CC); I was certainly confused what concierge meant. There's been a lot of talk about financing and in this topic the phrase 'crowd-backed game recognizes the generous supporters' made my immediate reaction think concierge meant 'money supporters'. The topic just wasn't crystal clear to me.

After Grummz's forum clarifications stating that it will have "ripple effects that benefit everybody in the game", the context was changed. Then during today's surprise voice chat, Grummz clarified that the program will also incorporate members who have been recognized by the community. Therefore, it's my understanding this is not a favoriting program that spoils only specific users (or users with money), but a means to grant perks to thanked members so they can then spread the thanks to fellow players.

I am excited to hear more of what is brewing. It'll be interesting to see what perks the dev team can conjure that will benefit the wider community in terms of "ripple effects".

It makes a lot more sense that the rewards are in-game simply because we'd all expect these members to be playing Em8er. Considering that not all users participate in all the modes of communication (discord, forum, twitter, ect), the in-game perks will encompass all users...at least I'd expect all the recognized members are playing the game...would be weird to me if they spend energy to promote the game but don't play.

As to what the rewards could be, I'm intrigued to see what they've created. Perhaps unique portrait borders, localized resource boosts, world event trigger controls, a personal space station?

A perk item I can think of now would be something that equips to a gear slot that is invisible to other players. Something like an extra flag slot, decal, or beacon that floats over the player. An item that this member wouldn't need to choose between a store bought item or a unique item they were granted by the dev team. For example, in SWTOR (Star Wars The Old Republic) I pre-ordered the game and got the pre-order color for the lightsaber and blaster bolts. I could never get myself to ever change the color because then I wouldn't be showing that I pre-ordered the game...

 

[VanityTXC]

It would be cool if the concierge rewards had a more outwards effect from the concierge members, such as being the leader of a guild providing downward benefits to your members, like increased resource gains from activities.

 

[Sy]

I can't speculate what it might be. I do know that it was thought about for some time because it was hinted at quite some time ago in a chief chat.

This notion actually bothers me somewhat. I think that's rooted in the fact that I've been holding back on how I could participate with Ember (Though I've decided to be more present lately to help provide community "volume" - the visibility of active members), I know I'll disagree with some getting what I'd think as undeserved recognition, and maybe other things. Maybe also because I'm a shy person and am selective about being noticed myself.

I am worried that I'll need the concierge concept to be somehow impressive as a reflection on the project as a whole, which is a problem. I also can't allow myself to have concierge appease me; actual game effort will still have to be demonstrated for my improved morale.

-

It would be cool if the concierge rewards had a more outwards effect from the concierge members, such as being the leader of a guild providing downward benefits to your members, like increased resource gains from activities.

If paying gets concierge, then resource gains is winning = pay-to-win = no.

But there's something with the idea. I don't really want to guess though; I am deflated of most of my hype.

 

[VanityTXC]

If paying gets concierge, then resource gains is winning = pay-to-win = no.

Personally I dont see that as pay to win at all, because it's a benefit applied to their community as a whole in a PvE game.

It would be another thing cementing them as some of the leading players of the game.
Keep in mind that Grummz had mentioned concierge not being all about money.

 

[aeri#3211]

My two cents:

Something like this should definitely be more of an in-game thing, rather than on Discord/social media. A lot of people don't interact with the social media platforms for specific games they play. For me, personally, I would have even preferred the dev blogs on Medium to have rather been made a part of the official site, instead.

That being said, it also needs to keep any hint of pay-2-win out of the program. While it does seem like it's not going to be completely as paying more = concierge status, there is almost no doubt that some people will likely be more recognized by the community due to expenditures. To be clear, I'm not saying those people aren't appreciated, but if someone gets recognized through monetary means, and then gets benefits/advantages in the game itself, I wouldn't be terribly happy about that. Doesn't matter if it's a PvE-only game or not.

Will definitely need to see some of the actual ideas for what the program entails in the future.

 

[liandri]

Caught the impromptu chat (all 20-30 minutes of it). The idea of a "rewarding the rewarders" program isn't bad on paper. In fact, it's very good. But it begs the question that while the game is sitting pre-pre-alpha, no date on the Kickstarter, no game build in the past 6-7 months, this gets announced when a lot of big backers and original M1 and M2 guys are posting about their gripes with development. And it comes without fanfare and so open to interpretation.

It's hard to argue against, because it's for their benefit really, but still. Also, great job owning the people who apparently jump in and out of the project slinging complaints around by having a no-notice chat and saying "oh, now we're talking about it, they're suddenly not here". Got 'em.

Anyway, complaints are for other topics. Feedback on the program itself? Presuming it's a *final game* feature, I'd put a vote on Forum/Discord still, though I only preference this really because it's what we have now, and I have no clue how the game will look when it's out beyond my own wild imaginings. The forums will still be active, they're linked to the accounts. The Discord might have integration. How about special Emberbots?

In-game rewards, because there will exist, should reflect their actions. People who put so much time into keeping the community active, getting the conversation going, bringing in more players, need in-game tools to achieve that further. Maybe they can trigger special server-wide events? How about a cross-Em-8ER skim race? Or a THMPR-stacking competition? Perhaps they can spawn in helpful items for new player (obviously needs some level of control though). Going with the Emberbot idea, why not an Emberbot OP-AI you can command for these events, like a special menu? They trigger an event in-game and it propegates to the EM-8ER server.

Cosmetic only, I'd like to see a prismatic, multicoloured frame shield override. Limited to these people only. That'd look cool.

Name/title suggestion: Magnate Program // base 'Magnate' title with suffixes when ranks increase (Ark Magnate, Prime Magnate, etc).

 

[PartTimeJedi]

Remember, as Grummz restated yesterday during the impromptu CC-
* No Dev resources will be used for this until we have more builds.
* New Builds. Kickstarter etc. is the priority.
* This idea is not new, it has been on the back burner for a while. Grummz only announced the idea now to the community because large denomination backer roles/perks and active, helpful member recognition has been a reoccurring Discord topic for a couple weeks now.
* This was less of a "reveal" and more of a discussion starter/feedback gathering announcement.

 

[Pandagnome]

If paying gets concierge, then resource gains is winning = pay-to-win = no.

Personally I dont see that as pay to win at all, because it's a benefit applied to their community as a whole in a PvE game.

What if it was unlocked part of the tech as an example if you have this concierge perk that boosts % for some in an area. After you built a tech 2 Advanced building it could unlock the bonus that way everyone gets the benefit in the region.

But i wonder if there is a cap for the % boost for all as an example several with Concierge are playing in the same area.

- Each Concierge could have e.g 4% boost
- When 3 or more are in the same area this caps at 12%
- The tech 2 building helps provide all with 15% capped including concierge. However damage/destruction of this building would reduce or stop % boost and mean all have to help to restore/rebuild it to gain the full benefits).

To be clear, I'm not saying those people aren't appreciated, but if someone gets recognized through monetary means, and then gets benefits/advantages in the game itself, I wouldn't be terribly happy about that.

Does Concierge mean you can get it whom ever you are as long as you support the game through feedback, testing, and so on?. I'd assume yes that being active and helping out would improve the chances!

Putting money into a project is just one way of supporting, so there are different ways we can support Em8er!

 

[Gigabear]

Firstly, since it has been suggested otherwise, this program was not something I had suggested at any point. I was just as surprised as anyone to learn of it.

Now, as to my thoughts on the program, I do think that at some point in the future a backer rewards program would make sense. But as said, it's not a priority right now. The announcement could have waited, but I think Grummz just wanted people to know it was a thing that would one day happen. It sounds like it's in the very early planning stages.

How does such a program benefit Ember? It is an uncomfortable truth that the monetization model Ember has chosen benefits from attracting what are commonly referred to as "whales" in the industry. However, to attract those players, you have to offer them something in return. The more you can offer, the more of them that will show up and the more they will spend.

That spending fuels the development of the game and benefits every one of us. This is not to say that game progress is not the top priority. Of course it is. However, that progress happens faster the more money that comes in.

Putting money into a project is just one way of supporting, so there are different ways we can support Em8er!

Absolutely. And I hope that all of those different ways of supporting the project are recognized. I appreciate everyone here whether they are a backer, or helping spread word of the game to others, or even just hanging out. I definitely like the idea of the community itself having a say in highlighting some of those supporters as well.

 

[xNiKiTa]

Sounds cool, just please don't give us a "top hat" and "monocle" as first 1k spent reward.. thanks.
lol

 

[Gigabear]

Sounds cool, just please don't give us a "top hat" and "monocle" as first 1k spent reward.. thanks.
lol

IDK, making an Ember version of this meme might be worth it.