[Dev Diary] June 2012

[BilboBadger]

dose anyone know what the production time will be on the gem mine. I did some quick maths and if the price stay the same (20,000gems) and it got the same item time as gold production ie 24 min+transport time then it will take nearly a year to pay for it self? (347.2 days or close to) that not really worth the investment. I'm hoping for an olympics event as well since they add some spice to the game. Quest keep you interested in the down time between advancements and adventurer.

Production time is 13mins 9secs + travelling time. Assuming things don't change when it goes live, cost is 20K gems & it produces 40K gems over a one year period.

I was a little suprised to see there doesn't appear to be a limit on the number of gem mines you can purchase (other than the size of your wallet, I suppose). I managed to build two on the test server & I presume I'll be able to build two more after 6 months are up. Of course, the test server is likely to be wiped by then, so I'm only guessing

[ben001]

well it better than i thought it would be i suppose. Still need you to stick with the game for at least six months to get your investment back. I would hope they start chucking in a load more stuff to you keep you occupied for that length of time??

[WylieQuinn]

Is there going to be an option to opt out of PVP, alot of us and myself included like this game because we don't get attacked and can just build and talk with others-we have put so much time and effort into creating our settlements it would be more than heartbreaking to see them destroyed and also there would be a large migration from TSO onto other games.
It was because of the PVP on Travain I actually joined TSO in the first place, and I know others have done similar!

Fully agreed. I hate getting attacked all the time and have no interest in destroying the hard work of others. I left Travian because of that, despite the lovely...
resource stock and +/- production reports at top of screen *wink wink* *nudge nudge*

[BilboBadger]

Yeah ... I personally think the concept of a gem mine is a good idea.

Even so, 20K gems is around 75-80ukp at current gem prices (around 10 quid cheaper if you buy the retail packs off amazon to fund it). It's a big ask, even for those who can afford to pay it.

Edit: Assuming you have no gems to start with, the cheapest cost of one gem mine is currently 67.12gbp/83.58eur with 8 x retail packs from the 'preferred e-tailer' + all the other Paraphernalia. Quite what you'd do with 8 additional Generals is beyond me but still ...

How's about a scaled-down version, perhaps a smaller return for less cost & one that doesn't blow up in your face after a year, eh BB?

[ben001]

Am i missing some thing why would it blow up in your face after a year???

[BilboBadger]

Am i missing some thing why would it blow up in your face after a year???

Because that is exactly what it does. Ok, maybe that's a bit dramatic It runs dry after one year & with no way of refilling it, it becomes useless.


Whichever way you look at it - it is still expensive & a huge ask for something that is supposed to be F2P. I don't know if there are any other ways of obtaining gems (I'm only lvl 22 & have spent most all of those I've picked up thus far) but at the current F2P rate of 45 gems per week its going to take over 8.5 years to get one.

& whilst I'm on the subject of charging exorbitant prices for 'micro-transactions', yes I have used the gem store but I haven't bought one of those Veteran Generals - @ 5k I have no intention of buying one either.

[SirRoy]

The one in the test server has a confirmation button.

I hope that has a confirmation button.

[RawrUK]

I don't really have a problem with the cost of the Gem Pit for 20,000 gems. For those people who are in it for the long haul and have a flexible friend, the Gem Pit makes some sense, providing you completely ignore the economic principle of opportunity cost.

The Endless Copper Mine, however, I'd be curious to know the maths behind exactly how BlueByte arrived at 20,000 gems (or £75) being a fair and reasonable cost. In fact, overall, I believe the items available in the gem store are overpriced by a factor of five.

[BilboBadger]

I don't really have a problem with the cost of the Gem Pit for 20,000 gems. For those people who are in it for the long haul and have a flexible friend, the Gem Pit makes some sense, providing you completely ignore the economic principle of opportunity cost.

And what about those that are in it for the long-haul that don't have a flexible friend at their disposal? I doubt there are many (if any) 7-18 year olds that have plastic at their beckon call. OK, they may have their parents but that's another argument entirely - and one I can testify to. In my particular case (& I'm sure I'm not alone in this), as a player & a father to another player, I'm not having to pay once, I'm having to pay twice.

This game is 'sold' to Joe-Public as Free to Play yet the longer it goes on the more obvious it becomes that, yes, you can play it for free but to be 'competitive' (& I'll include PvP here) you need deep pockets. The irony is that while 'those that can' keep paying the prices, there is no incentive to drop them. This, in turn, creates a 2-Tier game by splitting the populous into those that can & those that can't/won't.

I'd be very interested to know how many people are considering PvP & how many of those have bought one or more Veteran Generals because you can bet that PvP will be repleat with them.

The Endless Copper Mine, however, I'd be curious to know the maths behind exactly how BlueByte arrived at 20,000 gems (or £75) being a fair and reasonable cost. In fact, overall, I believe the items available in the gem store are overpriced by a factor of five.

& I presume that when the tooltip says something along the lines of 'Amortizes after 600 days @ base extraction rates', they mean it too will disappear in a puff of smoke just like the gem-mine does.

EDIT: The Endless Copper Mine is like the Silo/Re-cycling plant, etc in that it can be taken down & goes back into your Star-Menu. Dunno if that adds anything to it's value or not but useful to know, nontheless.

[Stoof]

Just wanted to add my 2d's on this. Looks like some good stuff upcoming, my biggest concern is the gem price of new features and buildings. Bottomless copper mine is way too expensive and auotmatic update I will never use. I am already assuming that moving buildings will come at a steep gem cost too and am greatly concerned that the new science system will be gem intensive to boot.

I was, to be honest, shocked to see the bottomless copper mine come along at 20k gems. I know this has alarmed many other players as well, considering the number of posts here and in the test forums, and it is very concerning that no dev has even acknowledged they are aware of this. I understand a game is made to make money for the developer, but I don't believe some of the costs in this game are justified.