Wurm stipends for players in need

[Ekcin 2,407]

I want to come back to a post Brash where she wrote

Quote

You know some people can be working two or even  three parttime  jobs, spending a few hours a day just commuting and getting ready for the next job,  and STILL have problems making ends meet, and paying basic food rent clothes medical etc? They might have 2-6 hours a week for a game if that.   I know the usual response is to tell them "hey just get a better job! Like I did!" but I don't think some people who are well off, realize how much others are truly struggling.  Some people who have kids and families and cannot spend hours a day just grinding bricks et al for other people, at what works out to maybe 50 cents an hour. Or maybe they can, but that is not their idea of a game!

 

I agree that such situations exist for a wide range of reasons, and are even worsening in the current worldwide economic crisis, and we should not easily shrug them off. Yet it is not the business of a business enterprise to make up for the shortcomings of national or world economy without ruining itself fast.

 

What could be done, though, and is already done silently behind the scenes, are player initiatives to support fellow players in need. It would not be a bad idea to found an institution supporting players who want but reasonably cannot afford to go premium.

 

My idea is kind of a charity fund giving out codes for 1 to 3 months premium, with a maximum of 3 month for a single player. This would be funded by donations of players from all servers. There may or may not be rewards for contributing (not sure), e.g. a few marks points. Also, the company might consider supporting the premium stipends by some discount. 

 

Sure, 3mth prem per year is less than prem all year, but it would allow to participate to a considerable extent, maybe even get some silver for additional months. In particular, it could help to hold players ingame who want but cannot reasonably continue paying.

 

To avoid abuse (at least to wide extent), one or more "established" player would have to vouch for an applicant. Furthermore, even if somebody is abusing the opportunity, the damage from 3 month "free" premium would be affordable, and abusers could not well hide inside this rather small community.

 

This is just an idea so far, maybe a stupid or naive one, comments please.

[Cipacadrinho 390]

I think that in theory is a great ideea but  sadly in reality people will try to game the system and have alts and such getting these free prems instead of the people that we were trying to help out.

 

I am not saying it would not work i am saying it would be a nightmare to try and evaluate who is that actually cannot afford  the prem and who is dishonest or pushing alts thru.

[Alpengeist 86]

It's great to look out for others, but please no organized socialism/communism in Wurm. 🙈☠️ 

 

If you would like to donate to players who say they can't play as often as they would like, for whatever reason they may give, you can do that without staff or game-based mechanisms to do it. Just reach out to the person and donate. If others want to donate, they surely will also. I've seen a lot of organized good done here via the forums too. If you read the sleep bonus page in the pedia, that's what that mechanic was designed for, though it's used for much more than originally intended. 

Edited August 7, 2020 by Alpengeist

[Ekcin 2,407]

25 minutes ago, Alpengeist said:

It's great to look out for others, but please no organized socialism/communism in Wurm. 🙈☠️ 

Sad to see ideological fanaticism and politicization as a comment. Is Rotary Club communist? Is charity communist? Btw. isn't anti-communism one of the most murderous ideologies, from Cavaignac over Himmler to Suharto?

Stop that.

 

25 minutes ago, Alpengeist said:

If you would like to donate to players who say they can't play as often as they would like, for whatever reason they may give, you can do that  ..

That is not the point. The point is that people who have real issues with going premium could be given ways to apply for a grant without the need of publicly humiliating themselves. I see the potential for abuse, sure, and that has to be thought through carefully. But also I see a chance that more wealthy players funnel a bit of their silver funds for the public good, and a chance to retain players in the game. If you like to defame that as "socialist/communist", I can't help you.

[Etherdrifter 2,518]

I think that the wurm devs would be adverse to running this, mostly becuse of the fears Cipac enunciates.  If player X gets a grant but player Y does not, is it because the devs are showing favouritism to player X over player Y?  Such a system would need to be heavily transparent to work, and Wurm's team don't do transparancy well.

 

That is not to say I am against the idea; I think that if a workable method on how to allocate grants is devised then something like this could only enrich the wurm community.

[Ekcin 2,407]

I agree that it would be not easy to do such in a perfectly fair way, but it should not be the concern of the devs, rather a fully player driven initiative. The only involvement of the company would be the opportunity to buy giveaway subscription for silver or cash. The company could (or could decline to do so) give some discount on such expense e.g. in form of marks.

Edited August 7, 2020 by Ekcin
addendum

[Alpengeist 86]

53 minutes ago, Ekcin said:

ways to apply for a grant

dude, this is a video game   🤣   and a really cheap one at that that allows for you to even earn your way to totally free play forever on if you want.  there are loads of other free games out there too, and when i cant afford a game, i dont play it. grants to play wurm? yes, the idea of others-funded grants to play a video game is some new-wave ideological stuff here as i suggested above. but kudos for caring for others, sincerely. if you manage to get such a system setup, i guess i should apply - terribly abusive childhood, parent committed suicide, homeless as a teen, been a single parent for 15 years to a disabled child with zero support from anyone, house burnt down, tragic accident that left me unable to work for a long time, and more, but somehow I manage wurm and making money irl. we dont need 'grants' to play video games.  just think about that idea. if you cant earn enough silvers through game play or real life work or both, then you likely have much bigger problems than the inability to play a game in general

 

 

Edited August 7, 2020 by Alpengeist

[Alpengeist 86]

if this would be all player-done, then go for it, i have nothing to say but that that's really nice of people for sure. you can support players in woe or whatever cause you like. but the idea of it possibly being game mechanic or game-supported officially is a big no

Edited August 7, 2020 by Yldrania
Moderation Edit

[Retrograde 12,013]

I can't tell if this is a suggestion for something for US to manage, but I can say it would be an absolute nightmare to manage fairly and objectively. 

 

If this is your suggestion that players work to help other players let me know and I'll move this to the town square.

[Madnath 3,113]

Like Retro said, this just sounds like it'd be total hell for players and/or staff to manage, beyond any resonable worth. The desire to help others is good, but really, an idea on this level would be hell to properly manage. Something that would be better said is a better distrobution of premium code giveaways instead? Currently they're mostly, if not almost only, on the Twitch platform. What if there was an easier, less time restricted way for a player to get into a competition?

[LionIX 354]

2 hours ago, Madnath said:

Like Retro said, this just sounds like it'd be total hell for players and/or staff to manage, beyond any resonable worth. The desire to help others is good, but really, an idea on this level would be hell to properly manage. Something that would be better said is a better distrobution of premium code giveaways instead? Currently they're mostly, if not almost only, on the Twitch platform. What if there was an easier, less time restricted way for a player to get into a competition?

Most of the giveaway stuff the staff do are annoying imo. They reward people who are able to play longer parts of the day and particular people more than others (yes I understand you want to boost player engagement, but still it’s annoying). Trivia rewards vet players who know obscure things. Enki’s visits are more likely to happen to people who are online more through the day and rewards trivia/vets (For some of the challenges). Twitch streams are time restricted. Christmas gifts are pretty much the most fair giveaway (though people still complain when they’re on holiday and can’t play). 

 

The premium giveaways  also don’t at all target the people the OP would like to support in this thread. (Granted, there’s no real way to legitimately know who is actually in need and would benefit from the premium) I do think the giveaways on Twitch should be less restrictive, but it’s kind of a thing on that platform that game devs do to push viewers which equals more players coming into game. Making buying prem for someone easier would help (but that opens some security issues)

Edited August 7, 2020 by LionIX

[Martynas5 435]

Maybe add option to buy prem time in hours ? if you dont have much time to play you can just buy couple hours and not worry much about wasting coin.

[Muse 2,222]

On 8/7/2020 at 6:50 PM, Martynas5 said:

Maybe add option to buy prem time in hours ?

 

I have often thought players should have the option to buy a 3-day long weekend's worth of premium at the token for 1s. Even 2s.   Sometimes you don't need 15 or 30 days, just to cook some pizzas, heal a friend, seal a dangerous drop-shaft or cure a pet.

[Wilczan 2,048]

Games are entertainment not a first need. And reasonable people do not go for entertainment activities, they cannot afford. And even if they do, do not ask others for sponsorship.

Edited August 19, 2020 by Wilczan