Rent Free housing - KS/grace period only? -- (Dev) Replied

I too thought those who pledged only during the actual KS campaign would get rent free housing. Without ranting about this, I can only say I am disappointed.

 

I also was of the mind that I only had the chance to get a rent free house if pledging before the end of KS. Otherwise probably I wouldn't have spent so much money at that time, It would have been much easier for me to do this little by little. And I thought the prices after KS (for pledging generally) would be much higher than during KS and I potentially wouldn't be able to afford it then.

The statements during and shortly before the end of the KS campaign in my opinion suggested it to be an unique chance to get these things. We users didn't know what rewards would be available after KS and I really thought rent free houses wouldn't be there any more.

 

I think anyone getting caught up with getting 'dissappointed' that someone else might enjoy similar backing advantages as them for a higher price is being fallow and overly melodramatic.

I'm assuming you're all responsable adults who weighed the cost to benefit for your personal situations and you decided you could justify the cost. You have the right to bemoan the fact you had four extra weeks and it could have been easier, nutthe fact is at the time you decided it was good value and bit the bullet. I can only assume none of you defaulted on morgages or internet bills since you are still with us.

If you look at this from the point of view that some others might have who are not so finacially stable to have donated to a sufficent level, Portalarium is being accomidating and not measuring fan's enthusiasm or desire to back based on liquid assets. Some people get paid monthly and the extra time afforded allows them to participate with us early adopters. Now the Uni student can save up and back when he has money, or the minimum wafe worker who loves the idea of SOTA can strive to try and be a part of this community.

These exclusionary sentiments will ultimately splinter the community between haves and have nots and frankly in a game with the social elements of SOTA I think the more the merrier. If rent free for backers before relases means more player that have at it.

And to be clear I am not a have not, so I am not writing this out of envy.

 

This is not the first or the last time that during a KS campaign things that were thought to be 'exclusive' will turn out to be necessary to keep a funding campaign going post KS.

Chris Roberts had the same issue with free insurance for ships.

If you are selling an expensive digital asset, like a house, which can decay or be destroyed in game it is hard to persuade people to part with large sums of real cash unless they can be persuaded that their digital purchase is 'protected' in some manner.

For Chris and 'Star Citizen' that was Life Time Insurance, for Shroud it is 'rent free'.

The basis is the same, a small in game payment can have the same effect as the backer benefit, but people are still worried that they will 'forget' and somehow lose what they paid for with real money.

Extending the protection component post-KS is the logical approach to keep the money flowing and in the end, does it really matter if someone else is paying rent or not?

Seems like there were enough other parts that are not there now to justify the 'exclusive' feeling.

I'll also comment on the 'early backer risk' point that people often offer as justification for early benefits.

When you back through KS you only have to make the payment if the project successfully funds and right up to the last minute you can change your mind. There really is no difference in the risk profile between those who back during KS and those who back in the months that follow KS when we are talking about a game dev project running over a much longer period.

I backed early and backed at the Knight level, I'm not worried about the way the pledges are set now.

I was concerned that it took way too long to move into the post-KS phase, but that is a separate issue.

 

We sincerely apologize for the confusion created by the "tax free" statement in the Player Housing section of our Kickstarter page. It was not our intention to imply that the tax free property deeds were going to be exclusive to Kickstarter backers only, although we certainly understand how the wording of that statement would create that impression. During the Kickstarter campaign we endeavored to clearly specify if a reward was going to be reserved exclusively for Kickstarter-only backers (sometimes referred to as "founders", or "early backers"). We readily admit that things were moving fast during the campaign and some things were not presented as clearly as they could have been. To clarify, once the game is publicly launched, players that did not pledge for any of the housing tiers will have to pay regular taxes and commissions on basic property deeds and vendors. And to answer some of your posted concerns, the number of property deeds is limited, and can only be increased when we expand the size of the map.

All of you Early Founders that made SotA possible by backing us during the Kickstarter campaign are extremely special to us. To show our appreciation, Early Founders can purchase/upgrade their tiers for about 10% less than new backers, and Early Founders have significantly more (and cooler) rewards per tier reserved exclusively for them. And Early Founders have priority on property selection. Quite honestly, we feel that we stripped the tier rewards to the bare bones after the grace period and left just barely enough rewards for new backers to find the tiers appealing enough to pledge, while simultaneously providing our Early Founders with a strong sense of special exclusivity. We are committed to delivering to you the best game that we possibly can, and all additional funds that we can raise during the development of SotA are going 100% into making a better game for you. Raising more development funds with housing tiers is important to continuously improving the game, and including tax free rewards for the housing tiers is fundamental to their appeal to new backers.

Once again, we apologize for the confusion or frustration this matter has caused some of you. If you are dissatisfied and feel you have been mislead by the tier information you pledged toward, please contact us directly at support@portalarium.com and we will strive to resolve your concerns.

 

@Dallas : Thank you for clearing that up and being honest. I agree, the housing tiers are key to fundraising. They must stay appealing or we risk losing future backers.

Its commonsense..

Star Citizen got some flak for extending the Lifetime Insurance, but there was also a lot of support for it in the SC forums (even those that pledged during KS). Star Citizen blew past the 9 Mil Mark (the LTI unlock for all backers before the new website). I witnessed a jump from about 8.2 to 9.8 mil in less than a month. That all goes to funding the game my friends.

 

@Dallas Thanks for clearing that up. We appreciate all the hard work y'all are doing over there.

My $0.02 ... I'm very satisfied with what my money's bought me, and just glad to be a part of this project. Yes Kickstarter is basically a pre-order system, but pledges are really a donation that backers are given rewards for, and not a retail business transaction. While I appreciate that everyone wants to get their money's worth, I'm rather surprised at how some folks seem to feel betrayed or entitled to creative control.

So yes, protect your interests, but let's stop paying homage at the Shrine of Greed and remember that each person who pledges to this project provides for its success, and is potentially a friend and fellow adventurer.

My favorite part is going to be gloating at my friends who wanted to "wait and see if this thing gets off its feet". -5 Humility? NOOOOOOO!!

 

@Vagabond Sam Well said

 

I'll keep it simple.

(A) Yes, I thought that rent-free housing was a Kickstarter-only reward.

(B) I don't care that it turns out that it isn't a Kickstarter-only reward.

(C) I just want to play this game, because regardless of who's paying rent and who's not, I have the utmost confidence that it's going to be my "home" in the gaming world for years and years to come.

 

Right, even now we were talking about in chat how we were wishing we had bought a couple more pledges before the deadline to give to friends once they realized how awesome the game was so they could get awesome high level pledge rewards too.

I think it's still worthwhile to pledge, but not nearly as much as it was. I do hope they can continue to attract new people so we can get the funding to do a lot of really great things.

 

I was out for a few days so just getting to this...

@dallas - appreciate that, well said

@vagabond sam, @rild - I think you guys are still missing the point of this thread. Basically, what is said and promised has to be important. If anything can be changed and original promises don't matter, there's no point to saying or promising anything. No one is upset as far as I can tell, but just pointing out a confusion in language that is important to clear up. Even a post-KS could have been confused and said, "oh shucks, I missed tax-free housing so I'm not going to pledge."

Don't confuse pointing this out with a lack of support for the game - I'm 100% behind it and I want things to be clear as possible. I don't care that post-KS are going to get tax-free. I'm happy to get as many people behind this as possible.

 

Content removed for violation of forum rules ~ FireLotus

 

I realy think there shold be no deeds but a plot of land to purchase and tehn you actually build your own house like you want it ot be. It qill take time but then it wil be something you worked atand give you moreof a sence of belonging. This plop a deed down has always been a cheap way to do the process. If they like to keep more realistic then they should go by the learn how to make house, and then gather and build it as you like it.

 

I really apperciate the challenge for Portalarium. They want to make the founders feel special (which we are ) and at the same time have enough enticement to bring in more supporters. It looks like they are trying to play a balance by giving some rewards that are exclusive to people who donated before a certain date, while still keeping some of the rewards for all backers.
I personally am happy with this setup, though I think I can understand how others could feel mislead. That being said, I don't really see how another person getting a house hurts me, especially if it means $500+ more for the development team.
Especially since my house would have priority and water-front.

Just my $0.02

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