Wild Terra blog. Answers to questions about the in-game store and the model of distribution for the gameWhy do I need to pay for the Wild Terra?At the time of this articles publication, Wild Terra is in Early Access and is distributed as a buy to play game. We chose the buy to play model for server reasons.
1. Players willing to buy a game during the early access stages, generally do so with a desire to watch a game develop and be part of that process. They also do so with a general understanding that development is challenging and there will be bugs, problems and changes. A burden they are willing to accept as the games concept and end goals are truly appealing to them. These are the type of players we are excited to have involved. As this enables us to gather feedback, concepts and suggestions from a player base who are excited by precisely the same sort of game we are. Without this vital input the development of the game would be nearly impossible.
Secondly, a lot of development time in alpha is put into refining and improving existing mechanics without players using these mechanics, reporting bugs and offering feedback; the time required would be exponentially longer.
2. If we had made Wild Terra free to play, would have been nearly incapable of developing it further. Simply put it would have become an impossible burden on a small team of developers.
All our resources would have been poured into servers, technical support and ensuring a stable network. In turn adding to and improving the project would have become secondary.
Our main source of income for our project is the sale of early access to the game. This stream of income allows us to continue active development. In this way we are able to constantly and frequently release major updates and continue a steady progression to our major release. As such we are avoiding the risk of being stuck in the cycle of eternal early access.
Why does Wild Terra have the in-game purchases? I've already paid for the gameThe main purpose of the in-game store is to offer players the ability to provide additional support to our development efforts. The store offers in game bonuses that do not break the general balance of the game. A form of thank you for donating that does not give anyone an unfair advantage, simply perks.
We do not have sponsors or publishers; all the proceeds from the shop go toward the development of our project. This includes the game servers and hosting of the websites and forums. By using the shop you are supporting the various services that keep Wild Terra operational and help us attract new players.
But is it pay to win?Simply put NO. Its very important to us that nothing in the online shop disrupts the in game balance. Spending money cannot generate major tangible advantages in the game to players. Most importantly any thing available in the store is available and achievable by playing the game. Except for decorations, costumes and titles, which are purely cosmetic in nature.
The financial support we receive is very important to the project. We plan to continue adding new items and opportunities to the game store. At this stage it’s a major contributor to the cost of development. All new items will adhere to the above-mentioned principles and not break the game balance.
Premium bonus.At the time of this articles publication, the premium bonus provides one advantage: The acceleration of actions such as collection, crafting and construction. How can this not disturb the games balance? The process of searching for resources and moving around the maps takes far, far longer than the process of collecting a resource. You can search for five minutes for an iron deposit, by which point the acceleration of mining for two seconds will not give you a realistic advantage over other players. The same holds true for crafts and construction. The process of preparing and extracting materials for construction of a wall will take many times longer than erecting the structure. So this bonus makes the game easier but does not deeply impact the balance at any serious level. With our latest update scrolls of premium bonus can even be attained through in game means.
A lot of MMO games have stimpacks or XP boosters or mechanics that make the game easier. However as long as payment does not allow a player to achieve something another player cannot, we are not practicing play to win. Most vitally we are not even offering any real bonuses, simply shortening the grinding aspect of resource gathering and crafting.
Sale of crafts and building recipes.At the start of the game the first time players is greeted with a large list of buildings and items available to build and craft. This list grows with the players level and is designed in such a way that the player can from the get go, create everything needed for survival and development.
Through game play, players will discover new recipes and drawings, this mechanic was setup to allow a natural and rewarding player progression. The godsends with recipes do not require skills to discover and are unlimited. The player simply needs to travel through the map investing time to discover them.
The system is setup in such a way that the higher tier recipes require more time to search for them. Recipes for buildings and crafts can also be purchased in the store. This adds convenience but does not supply any advantage that cannot be attained through game play. A new player could in fact buy all the recipes but they would still lack the skills required to build and craft the recipes they now own.
It allows players to advance without leaving their home but does not supply a paying player with anything that cannot be achieved by simply playing the game. The scrolls are freely available in game through exploration and killing monsters.
Scrolls of warpScrolls of warp give a slight increase to the quality of an item and are not a mandatory requirement. They also risk damaging the item or lowering its quality. In addition to the store scrolls can be obtained as a reward for finding treasure and killing monsters. Skilled artisans are able to produce things of the highest quality without the use of scrolls.
ElixirsElixirs increase the battle focus and the craftsman insight. It can be obtained in the same ways as the deformation scrolls. The number of available elixirs is strictly controlled by a recovery period between uses. Only time in game is taken into account. Effects of battle focus and craftsmans insight can be obtained completely free through game play daily in several times the volume of one elixir. So once again we are offering a convenience from the store, nothing that players cannot organically achieve through game play.
Mounts.At the time of publication store mounts are identical to any tame animal. They are stored in the same way and abide by the same rules and mechanics. Aside from the fact they can be restored after death. Future updates will see us adding the ability for all animals to follow their master. As well as imposing a time restriction on summoning a purchased animal after death, so that instantly re-summoning a store mount is not possible.
In this way there will be a balance between the two types of animals. Aside from the time in finding a new animal the store bought and tamed animals will as such be balance wise identical.
Cloaks and titlesThese are purely cosmetic items and have no bearing on the mechanics or balance of the game.
Gold BarsConverting gold from your account into gold bars allows one to exchange them with other players. When a gold bar is activated, gold will be credited to the account of the owner. In this way we are offering all players access to the any of the items in the store.
In this way everyone has access to the small benefits the store offers.
We hope that we have adequately explained, the current state of affairs, our motivations and what the benefits of the store mean to you and the games balance.