Turboxide Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 (edited) CONCEPT: Community voting drives cartel market item (Armor, Weapons, Mounts, Crystals, Dyes, Toys, Emotes, Etc) selection in future and/or past cartel packs. METHODS: Two potential methods to incorporate the concept follow below: 1. New Community Cartel Pack - This method would allow the art department to work with the community managers to show multiple new concepts of armor/weapons/mounts/crystals/etc and allow the SWTOR community to cast a vote on what they want to see in the new cartel pack. The winners in each category would be placed into a new cartel pack which would go on sale in the Cartel Market for a limited time or even permanently. This method could occur annually or semi-annually and would require some development costs on creating new cartel market items that the community has voted on. 2. Community Choice Cartel Pack - This method would allow the community manager to open a voting session on existing cartel market items from previous packs that are displayed in armor/weapons/mounts/crystals/etc categories. The winners in each category would be placed into a new cartel pack which would go on sale in the Cartel Market for a limited time or even permanently. This method could occur annually or semi-annually and would not require new development on cartel market items as it will use pre-existing items. DEVELOPMENT: The most effective method to reach the community and open voting on either method would be as follows: 1. BioWare develops and publishes a "Voting Portal" extension to swtor.com. This extension is able to display thumbnails and imagery from either existing cartel market items or concept artwork. 2. Players receive an email advertising the community cartel pack and voting system along with a link to the portal. 3. Players log in and have the option to vote on cartel market items by using the Voting Portal. 4. Once a player enters the voting portal a splash screen appears with brief instructions on voting and a disclaimer. 5. Player is then moved to the categories page and is able to expand or collapse each section. (Mounts, Armor, Dyes, Weapons, etc) 6. Depending on the method used, a player can view new items in development (concept art) or existing items and vote accordingly. 7. Upon completion of voting, the player is asked to finalize their choices on a summary page. The player may cast their vote or edit their selection. 8. Voting data is collected and the voting process closes after a period of time to allow for development and publishing. 9. A community email is sent out with highlights of the category winners by community vote. Detailed results for each item could be viewed on swtor.com for those interested. 10. Depending on the method used, the cartel pack would be announced and released in typical fashion. CONCLUSION: I came up with this idea after trying to gear out my Trooper and Bounty Hunter recently. While there is plenty of armor to pick from, I personally would like to see more armor sets that follow those iconic roles (Jedi, Sith, Troopers, Bounty Hunters, Smugglers, Agents) without having to worry about the backpacks/jetpacks being the size of a sand crawler or some ungodly attachment dangling off my shoulders or helmet. With that said, everyone has their own preferences and I realize that pleasing everyone is never going to happen. However, this concept could bridge the gap in that regard and I truly believe it would be a smashing success. Not to mention the data collection on what your customer base wants to see. I really like the Cartel Market and I believe most of us realize that it is a good revenue generator for BioWare. However, the best way to take advantage of that revenue generator is to allow the customer to have a stake in what they are buying. If the customer has input on the product they are more likely to purchase that product. As an example... I'm 100% more likely to spend real money on a cartel pack or hypercrate that has a LOT of great items in it. If it has 1 or two items in it I really like I'll just buy it in game with credits on the GTN or I won't worry about it. So, consider this idea and think about what it would mean for the community if BioWare were to set this up. You are going to have a lot of happy customers and even if I dislike the majority of the items I will buy them solely because I know someone else loves the items and they will sell on the GTN. Thank you for your time! TL|DR - Allow the community to vote on new cartel market items or create a new cartel market pack using existing items. Edit: Corrected a formatting issue and modified the concept slightly. Edited April 20, 2015 by Turboxide Minor Corrections. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonnypirate Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 I like the idea of voting for what you want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DresG Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 I just want a Darth Bandon armor set. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoskitoMando Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 This is an amazing idea, full support! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theeko Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 I vote for Swtor Sub coins that copy WoW's version, 15$ for a 30 day sub coin you can sell in game for about 5m seems fair. But if you were to use Sub coins they should remove the CCs per month then cause you aren't spending real $ on your sub to even it out. Also if you were unsubbed already WoW let you buy your first WoW token straight on the login screen just added the total amount of gold you had on all toons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EisenhowerNixon Posted April 21, 2015 Share Posted April 21, 2015 I vote for Swtor Sub coins that copy WoW's version, 15$ for a 30 day sub coin you can sell in game for about 5m seems fair. But if you were to use Sub coins they should remove the CCs per month then cause you aren't spending real $ on your sub to even it out. Also if you were unsubbed already WoW let you buy your first WoW token straight on the login screen just added the total amount of gold you had on all toons. This and what the thread is all about are what SWTOR needs. Having a set price for the Sub Coins crushes the Credit sellers because A: No insta ban for this and B: The set limit helps make it more worth it. As for the voting, it's a great idea. It allows for the majority of the community to get what they want. Maybe you could rank different items in a 1, 2 and 3 voting system where say there are 5 pieces of Eye Candy armor, well you can list 3 of them according to how you want them. Now what will happen is that there could possibly another pack or two that could be set at a slightly lower price than the pack that got the most #1 votes. Call it the 'Best of the Rest Pack' or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roxie_Stoner Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 Awesome idea!!! I would love that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DreadtechSavant Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 I too like the concept, would it work in reality? would players who did not get there choice throw a paddy? probably. Still worth a try. can always drop it if it proves to big an issue. Personally I think the vote would be better saying if you could pick one suit of armour , one mount, one whatever! which would you pick please vote now, all choices have to be from X cartel pack. Lets say for arguments sake the contraband pack, though could be from any old packs. The winning vote gets put on one on the in-game venders for a limited time for cartel certs. like Mira's armour set is on the bounty Rep vender. I guess it does not have to be cartel certs that's just an idea. I do think though that the OP's post has merit and is worth considering by bioware. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts