Remove the gold cap during maintenance?

Remove/raise the gold cap?

Yes	81.1%	[ 30 ]
No	8.1%	[ 3 ]
No opinion	10.8%	[ 4 ]
Total Votes:			[ 37 ]

[CleoSombra]

I don't know if the team will check the forum before they take the game down, but I'd like to hear some feedback, ideally from them, but others, on this.


Right now, the gold cap is set at 50k, following which, gold grants on the game are nerfed. This was originally done to prevent inflation.

But since that cap, we now have items that release that number a hundred times over at the click of a button. Gold generators have dramatically reduced the value of gold, and now 50k is pennies.

In the on-going "gold sink" we have, the lowest personal tier is 500,000 gold. It costs a week and a half of grinding on zOMG to be able to participate in the gold sink event at the lowest level. 50k means squats. So does 100k.

Removing the gold cap, or at least increasing it, would probably result in more people (at least the regs) playing for a longer period of time - which would give more casual players people to crew with in these otherwise desolate servers.

[AterAliquis]

We already raised this idea in another thread.

We didn't feel it needed its own one.

Just remember two things:

1. Botting.

2. 'Freeloading' off Gaia is bad.

[CleoSombra]

AterAliquis

We already raised this idea in another thread.

We didn't feel it needed its own one.

Just remember two things:

1. Botting.

2. 'Freeloading' off Gaia is bad.

1. If there's any botting on zOMG at all, it's approximately two people. zOMG isn't exactly a buzzing hub of activity anymore.

Secondly, the 50k cap isn't going to stop a botter. If you can create a program to play zOMG for you, you can create a program to cycle through accounts when the cap is reached.


2. If that mindset is so internalized that it becomes a reason to discourage users from playing the game too much, then the website might as well become pay to play. neutral

And secondly, all those "non-free loaders" need people to play with. That's what the rest of the population is there for. If "non-free loaders" have nobody to socialize with on a social site, they're going to go somewhere else. Gaia needs users in order to, you know, exist.

[gataka]

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeah, at this point may as well :U

[AterAliquis]

CleoSombra

AterAliquis

We already raised this idea in another thread.

We didn't feel it needed its own one.

Just remember two things:

1. Botting.

2. 'Freeloading' off Gaia is bad.

1. If there's any botting on zOMG at all, it's approximately two people. zOMG isn't exactly a buzzing hub of activity anymore.

Secondly, the 50k cap isn't going to stop a botter. If you can create a program to play zOMG for you, you can create a program to cycle through accounts when the cap is reached.


2. If that mindset is so internalized that it becomes a reason to discourage users from playing the game too much, then the website might as well become pay to play. neutral

Implying it pretty much hasn't already?

But getting back to point one, that's the crux of the matter, and you've hit the nail on the head.

If a botter is running a full six bot crew which is cycling through accounts each time one fills up, how much strain is that going to put on the economy?

Don't forget that the cap doesn't stop gold earning, it just cripples it.

That's incentive enough for a person to stop playing, but a program doesn't have that.

It can either stay there indefinitely or, as you've previously mentioned, be cycled out for a fresh bot.

So say a botter has twelve mule bot accounts.

The first six hit cap and cycle out to the second lot.

The second lot don't cycle out til the program recognizes that the cap for the first lot has been removed and cycles back to them again.

That's a constant flow of gold, and we'll not even think to go into the potential gold that could be earned from loot drops.

We want the cap upped.

Don't get us wrong.

We just want to make sure it's real people playing the game.

[Tranquilmelody7]

I'd welcome a dramatic raise - not an outright removal of the cap.

Being able to earn a significant amount of gold from playing the game would be a nice addition for some, but not having a limit may be potentially exploitable.

[Rayatia]

we will be lucky if they even put the game back on server emotion_awesome

[Anjoulie]

AterAliquis

2. 'Freeloading' off Gaia is bad.

Is it really, though?
(Honestly, I've already argued this so many times, but let's reiterate it.)

If someone puts in the time to accumulate enough gold to buy a GC-item from another user,
there is still that other user who originally had to put down real money for said item.
Lots of people buy more items than they want to keep, so they can sell them to other users
to get gold to buy other items they want that aren't currently being sold in the shop directly.

If it wasn't for those non-GC-buying users creating a demand, there would be much less of an incentive
for GC-buying users to buy more items than they want for themselves.

^ At least, that's how it used to be.
The introduction of gold generators has been changing the game since now
GC-buying users don't have to rely on non-GC-buying as a source for their gold anymore.
At the same time, the influx of tons of gold devalues gold and therefore devalues the efforts of everyone,
especially those who cannot or do not buy their gold.

Also, even non-GC-buying users contribute to the community,
which is part of what attracts people to be on Gaia in the first place.

Acting like non-GC-buying users were basically parasites on the site is wrong and short sighted.

[AterAliquis]

Anjoulie

AterAliquis

2. 'Freeloading' off Gaia is bad.

Is it really, though?
(Honestly, I've already argued this so many times, but let's reiterate it.)

If someone puts in the time to accumulate enough gold to buy a GC-item from another user,
there is still that other user who originally had to put down real money for said item.
Lots of people buy more items than they want to keep, so they can sell them to other users
to get gold to buy other items they want that aren't currently being sold in the shop directly.

If it wasn't for those non-GC-buying users creating a demand, there would be much less of an incentive
for GC-buying users to buy more items than they want for themselves.

^ At least, that's how it used to be.
The introduction of gold generators has been changing the game since now
GC-buying users don't have to rely on non-GC-buying as a source for their gold anymore.
At the same time, the influx of tons of gold devalues gold and therefore devalues the efforts of everyone,
especially those who cannot or do not buy their gold.

Also, even non-GC-buying users contribute to the community,
which is part of what attracts people to be on Gaia in the first place.

Acting like non-GC-buying were basically parasites on the site is wrong and short sighted.

Oh don't get us wrong.

We think we've spent a grand total of $10 on this site since we joined up in '03.

All we're saying is from Gaia's point of view we're "non-profit customers."

Remember, Gaia isn't a game, it's a public forum for the discussion of a wide variety of topics.

As long as you can type a few coherent sentences to get across your point on a subject, it's fulfilling its roll.

Having some pretty pixels to represent your online persona is just a fringe benefit that has turned into a major focus.

It's just a shame that Gaia advertizes its Gaia Cash/Cash Shop in such an aggressive manner to lure people towards that side of the site.

We feel a tad hypocritical saying that though, with our avatar and all.

[Anjoulie]

AterAliquis

Oh don't get us wrong.

We think we've spent a grand total of $10 on this site since we joined up in '03.

All we're saying is from Gaia's point of view we're "non-profit customers."

Remember, Gaia isn't a game, it's a public forum for the discussion of a wide variety of topics.

As long as you can type a few coherent sentences to get across your point on a subject, it's fulfilling its roll.

Having some pretty pixels to represent your online persona is just a fringe benefit that has turned into a major focus.

It's just a shame that Gaia advertizes its Gaia Cash/Cash Shop in such an aggressive manner to lure people towards that side of the site.

We feel a tad hypocritical saying that though, with our avatar and all.

Indeed.
You just happened to hit on one of my pet peeves on this site is all.
I really can't stand the "You don't pay? You're a waste of bandwidth then, get out." attitude anymore
that Gaia seems to have adopted.

[Transparent Blue]

Anjoulie

AterAliquis

[...]
It's just a shame that Gaia advertizes its Gaia Cash/Cash Shop in such an aggressive manner to lure people towards that side of the site.
[...]

Indeed.
You just happened to hit on one of my pet peeves on this site is all.
I really can't stand the "You don't pay? You're a waste of bandwidth then, get out." attitude anymore
that Gaia seems to have adopted.

That was actually what surprised me the most, when I decided to come back to this site after a two years or so hiatus.

Cash shops are fine and all, but this has gotten beyond ridiculous.
It's... pretty disgusting to see, really.

[Old Man Rome]

AterAliquis

CleoSombra

AterAliquis

We already raised this idea in another thread.

We didn't feel it needed its own one.

Just remember two things:

1. Botting.

2. 'Freeloading' off Gaia is bad.

1. If there's any botting on zOMG at all, it's approximately two people. zOMG isn't exactly a buzzing hub of activity anymore.

Secondly, the 50k cap isn't going to stop a botter. If you can create a program to play zOMG for you, you can create a program to cycle through accounts when the cap is reached.


2. If that mindset is so internalized that it becomes a reason to discourage users from playing the game too much, then the website might as well become pay to play. neutral

Implying it pretty much hasn't already?

But getting back to point one, that's the crux of the matter, and you've hit the nail on the head.

If a botter is running a full six bot crew which is cycling through accounts each time one fills up, how much strain is that going to put on the economy?

Don't forget that the cap doesn't stop gold earning, it just cripples it.

That's incentive enough for a person to stop playing, but a program doesn't have that.

It can either stay there indefinitely or, as you've previously mentioned, be cycled out for a fresh bot.

So say a botter has twelve mule bot accounts.

The first six hit cap and cycle out to the second lot.

The second lot don't cycle out til the program recognizes that the cap for the first lot has been removed and cycles back to them again.

That's a constant flow of gold, and we'll not even think to go into the potential gold that could be earned from loot drops.

We want the cap upped.

Don't get us wrong.

We just want to make sure it's real people playing the game.

There will always be botters on ZOMG they might as well take the cap off. It would make it better for the new people , since they would be able to win gold easily. Besides people on ZOMG are so quick to report a bot it shouldn't even be worried about.

Hell i get reported all the time because i run around Village greens with my chat-box thing off.

Its comes down to this, if you see something weird like a bot report it.

[Anjoulie]

Transparent Blue

Anjoulie

AterAliquis

[...]
It's just a shame that Gaia advertizes its Gaia Cash/Cash Shop in such an aggressive manner to lure people towards that side of the site.
[...]

Indeed.
You just happened to hit on one of my pet peeves on this site is all.
I really can't stand the "You don't pay? You're a waste of bandwidth then, get out." attitude anymore
that Gaia seems to have adopted.

That was actually what surprised me the most, when I decided to come back to this site after a two years or so hiatus.

Cash shops are fine and all, but this has gotten beyond ridiculous.
It's... pretty disgusting to see, really.

And it's not even just from Gaia, some users seem to have adopted the same attitude. sad

[ZachIes]

What do you hope to gain from removing the Gold cap?

It's just going to make inflation worse than it already is, and that's not something that the Marketplace needs help with. I vote no.

[CleoSombra]

ZachIes

What do you hope to gain from removing the Gold cap?

From my first post:

Quote:

Removing the gold cap, or at least increasing it, would probably result in more people (at least the regs) playing for a longer period of time - which would give more casual players people to crew with in these otherwise desolate servers.

Quote:

It's just going to make inflation worse than it already is, and that's not something that the Marketplace needs help with. I vote no.

The most recent gold generator apparently gives out about 1.6 billion gold per 100 pack, and you can open all 100 at once.

It takes a zOMGer maybe an hour or two to earn 50k on zOMG.

Opening up a 100 pack of the recent GG (which, according to others, pays out less than other GGs does) grants 32000 times more gold than the gold cap on zOMG.

If you're concerned about increasing inflation, then perhaps you should encourage people to stop posting because each posts accrues a sum of 100g or thereabouts. neutral

Users essentially cannot meaningfully participate in the market unless they spend money, make art, or vend. zOMG is not responsible for that, but it can give some users a fighting chance to join in.