GRACE: FAQ & Information

[Mastablasta]

I gave everything away to orgmates :| but then, orgmates also gave me all the stuff...

[Caloss2]

I gave everything away to orgmates :| but then, orgmates also gave me all the stuff...

Heh pretty much the same Masta.

[Phatkeep]

So is it possible to buy grace and send that code to frands so that they can reactivate?

[Alves]

This is great!! The same model has worked for many other games and helps against gold sellers too. Should help balance out the economy a bit.

Are you drunk? The price for that item im GMI is more than 1,5b credz... It's the same thing like the supple bots... There is no balance for the economy... More and More Credz will be made with these item...

Funcom, it's a fail again...


Methodes for cancel AO, but playing AO for free:
Make City AI's -> loot a Supple -> sell it for 1,7b credz -> buy a GRACE...
Buy a GRACE -> Sell it in GMI for 2b~ Credz -> Sell 2b Credz for 20 $ -> 5 $ Profit

...but who is so stupid and still buys items (for real money) for a dead game ?...

[Lordaegis]

this isn't afail it's a win win situation for fc

[Joehoo725]

More and More Credz will be made with these item...

This is not introducing new credits into the game at all, it is redistributing credits among players if being bought/sold on GMI. Also, your model of people making $5... that's making the assumption the equilibrium point for GRACE has been reached and the spread is in the 100s of millions - it was just introduced. But, one second, let me just go do a quick raid for my supple... LOL.

[Demoder]

There is no balance for the economy... More and More Credz will be made with these item...

This is not introducing new credits into the game at all, it is redistributing credits among players if being bought/sold on GMI.

Joehoo725 is exactly right. In addition, since there is a fee for sales through the GMI which takes credits directly out of the economy and doesn't return it to any player, sales of this item will help as a credit sink, helping keep inflation in check. If ever so little. (Yes, I know some of that fee can be brought back to the org with some building, but there's still a part of the fee which just erases credits from the economy.)

[candle-645]

Joehoo725 is exactly right. In addition, since there is a fee for sales through the GMI which takes credits directly out of the economy and doesn't return it to any player, sales of this item will help as a credit sink, helping keep inflation in check. If ever so little. (Yes, I know some of that fee can be brought back to the org with some building, but there's still a part of the fee which just erases credits from the economy.)

Not really.
So far - GRACE returned like 120-150bil of creds dusting in banks back to AO economy turnover, while removed only 2-3 bil tops as tax. I'm rather expect new cycle of inflation and already see it on Strong/Enduring bots // CM armor market - 13 pieces of 223-225/300 CM sold since last patch in my GMI shops, while normally I'm happy with 4-5 sales per week.

[Mastura]

Do froobs receive vet-points nowadays? I thought they where based on the months your subscription was paid and active.

Froobs/sloobs don't get vet points (they get only if you merge accounts with a full paid one)

Sl00bs DO get vet points...

Umm... whichever. Doesn't matter if froob or not, just the point of using vet points for something useful to sucker old players back and blow the dust off their own toons until their vet points run out.

In any case.. hmm I don't remember and I ragequit for a while when Shadowlands was released... were vet points around >before< shadowlands expansion or not? In any case, back then, some of us still around I guess? we used to >pay< for the rk-only content (before shadowlands and before the birth of f2p rk experience aka froob) - not sure if veteran points were around there, or they back-paid old accounts for all the time they were paying for RK-only content.

All I could find was reference to this: http://www.anarchy-online.com/wsp/an...&table=CONTENT .. what revision level introduced shadowlands? 15.1 or ?....

Cheers for pointing out the mistake tho

[Pomidor]

However I like the input of FC to introduce new things, seems its totaly PAY-TO-WIN.

Regardless course of action, buying play-time for others with real money, means the other must get them in-game, thus they need to farm more creds, said 2,5 bil or even more, and they have less pleasure-playtime, twinktime, ect. So, the richer guy is, he gets more of game, gearwise, timewise.

Besides, paying 24$ real money for this is uterly stupid.

[schloops]

Is this like buying a month subscription or is actual, real game-play-time?

An offer for actual real game-play-time would do a lot of good to the game. A lot of people are too busy to justify paying the current subscription prices... when they play 2 hours a week or a month.

Really need to correct that different price depending where people live... a price too high ends you loosing customers.

Grace looks like a good idea, I'd say that .

[Demoder]

I ragequit for a while when Shadowlands was released... were vet points around >before< shadowlands expansion or not?

The Veteran Rewards Vendor was added with patch 15.9.5 (built on 20th June 2005), and this page seems to confirm it was actually enabled with that patch as well.

I believe Shadowlands was added with 15.0.3 (The first point where the small and large client were in sync, dated 7th september 2003. The SL CD had version 15.0.0 and seem to have been directly patched to 15.0.3). The items added in the 15.0.0 to 15.0.3 patches, in addition to the quote "The company went on to create expansions, including the Shadowlands expansion in 2003 that earned several Editor's Choice awards." found in this wiki article, seems to confirm this.

[Lheann]

Demoder has it right.

My SL disk is version 15.0.0 if I install from it.

A bit of history: The original release of AO was either 11.0 if you pre-ordered or after a few weeks the store boxes started coming with 12.0 in them. I know the 11.0 and 12.0 for sure and my friends install disk installs 12.0 and my pre-order installed 11.0. Also the FTP patch site has patches for 11.0 to 14.7.3 and 12.0 to 14.7.3 still to this day.

[Gargle]

GRACE and 30 days game-time code

These kind of virtual socioeconomic experiments are awesome to watch unfold.

My question is what made you implement it right now? Are there hidden motives?

[Literary]

Obvious Motives:

1. Good idea

2. Instant revenue stream

Super Double Secret Burn Before Reading Motive(s)

Getting all the kinks worked out before going on Steam. 3+ months of transactions would be a
solid test.

[Gargle]

Getting all the kinks worked out before going on Steam. 3+ months of transactions would be a solid test.

That is one answer for sure. Although this was suggested for many years prior to 2010 if not going back go 2005. So the timing is odd to me. Lack of revenue? Are things slipping? Am I trying to start a conspiracy? All this and much more in the next episode of the Twilight Zone.

[mcpala]

it's quiet simple to start a conspiracy:

FunCom needs to generate more money (with AO) and one of the managers said: "hey we got all these free to play games where people buy in game stuff for more money then our subscription cost. Who knows a way how we can make more money with AO? How can we get money from people who refuse to buy subscriptions."

Now one of the people who just accidentally works on AO said: "We should create items people buy for real money and sell it to other players via GMI. The advantage of this solution is: we get more money from people when the inflation grows stronger and stronger."

Another guy then said. "How about we create an item that gives you 30 days of playtime. So the person who buys the playtime is not the one who uses it. That way we can get money indirect from people who are not willing to spend money on subscriptions."

Later that day one developer was ordered to create such a thing by the end of the week.

The name was given as internal name for the job as it is the grace period that FunCom AO gives to make proper money and it came in game as the developer was too much in hurry to figure out a proper name at the start of the job and at the end of the week there was no time to re-brand it before go life.

[Gargle]

it's quiet simple to start a conspiracy:

FunCom needs to generate more money (with AO) and one of the managers said: "hey we got all these free to play games where people buy in game stuff for more money then our subscription cost. Who knows a way how we can make more money with AO? How can we get money from people who refuse to buy subscriptions."

Now one of the people who just accidentally works on AO said: "We should create items people buy for real money and sell it to other players via GMI. The advantage of this solution is: we get more money from people when the inflation grows stronger and stronger."

Another guy then said. "How about we create an item that gives you 30 days of playtime. So the person who buys the playtime is not the one who uses it. That way we can get money indirect from people who are not willing to spend money on subscriptions."

Later that day one developer was ordered to create such a thing by the end of the week.

The name was given as internal name for the job as it is the grace period that FunCom AO gives to make proper money and it came in game as the developer was too much in hurry to figure out a proper name at the start of the job and at the end of the week there was no time to re-brand it before go life.

I just find the timing odd. This has been suggested repeatedly (nearly 9 years back) until today. Maybe it's something simpler; like Funcom cut the free doughnuts and they're trying to collect money to bring them back? I do love a good conspiracy... especially if doughnuts are involved.

[Ekarona]

I just find the timing odd. This has been suggested repeatedly (nearly 9 years back) until today. Maybe it's something simpler; like Funcom cut the free doughnuts and they're trying to collect money to bring them back? I do love a good conspiracy... especially if doughnuts are involved.

Or that some exec didn't find anything more productive for billing team to do.

[Ciex]

Throw in a few days for free so frozen accounts can buy and use them.