Membership Point systems/shops?

[missmanyface 19]

Hello Initiative!

 

I've come to you regarding a trend I've noticed is very common now in roleplays and I'm curious to get opinions on it. First a little background: I am an old lady who's been around the RP scene for 20 or so years (we're talking the beginning of chat rooms, folks). Forums have always been my platform of choice and I've gone through the transition from PB > IF > JC. I've recently come back after a few years' hiatus and everything is different than what I remember from before!

 

So now the real topic: I've noticed that many sites are doing a point system or a site shop where you accumulate points based on posting, events, etc. that allow you to "purchase" items in the site's store. I've seen things like "X many points and you can upgrade a character" or "X many points and you can buy a restricted character race/breed". etc. Back in the day this was never something I saw but it is extremely common now, and I feel like I am in the minority when I say I'm immediately a little turned off by a site that has a system like this in place.

 

I am also a grown-ass woman with a full-time job, a mortgage, and a real life outside of RP so maybe I'm turned off by them because I prefer sites with a little more lax activity requirements (and therefore don't count on high volume post counts to gain enough "points" to do something)?

 

What are your thoughts? Do you like the idea of point systems? Do you think this is just another trend that will eventually disappear, or do you think that all RP's will be using these in the future? I'm curious from a member perspective if these are good motivators for people to post, or if they just cause anxiety. From and admin perspective, is it worth the effort to set the system up and do members use it effectively?

 

There are no wrong answers here, I'm just trying to test the waters! 🙂

[Yume 99]

Oh man point systems. Okay.

 

So from an admin perspective, I totally understand the idea of point systems. They allow for "restriction" of certain character types while still making them attainable to members who want them. Sometimes these character types are downright dangerous to the rp if mishandled - I've seen it before, because certain character types just lend themselves to godmodding and you want to ensure the member(s) that take them on aren't going to run rampant with them. On that, I understand them. I also understand systems for allowing 'free' grabs of certain character types by new members, or as canons, as a way of kick starting a board at the beginning, but then restricting that type to point purchases later - as long as this is made abundantly clear from the get-go.

 

Handled correctly a point system can also allow characters to grow within a world based on how often they're, you know, doing things. And this is a good thing, in my opinion. Characters shouldn't start at the top level, in my opinion, there should always be room to grow, and point shops can - if used correctly - facilitate that growth. This is not necessarily ideal but in a good set up, it can simulate that sort of growth without tracking stat points and things of that nature.

 

On the other hand, from a member perspective they can be restrictive, and if the points are set too high they can make things entirely unattainable within realistic limits. It's... an interesting balance, finding what works for your RP, and for you as a member. I do find a well set up shop to be a motivator for me, if there is a specific goal I have in mind.

 

I can't speak to if it is a trend that will disappear, as it has grown more and more common over the last few years - it may fade away, it may not. I'm not sure if all RPs will ever use them - because of course, no one thing fits all rps, and there are plenty of worlds that sort of system just doesn't work in.

 

As an admin it's kind of a lot of work to set one up, of course, because balancing the numbers is rather important. Set the points too low and there was almost no point in doing it, set them too high... and. Well, then no one is ever going to be able to get anything out of it, which is discouraging. It's one of those things that you have to consider what you have to offer in a shop, and if you have an alternative method for auditioning for characters of that type.

[Huskerdust 625]

I don’t think it’s worth it as a member or as staff but I’m a lazy bean and don’t got time for that. 

 

I think it’s up to what you want, really. You’re never going to please all the people so just please the ones that are on the same page as you. 

[CovertSphinx 710]

From a Member and Admin perspective, I think it also depends on what you place IN the shop and the purpose of said purchasables. There's definitely ways to make it work without it becoming a Grindfest. 

[Deep Sea 326]

You think it'd be feasible to make username colors a shop item? Something like that that doesn't impact the story, but maybe improves the player's experience?

[Rune 1,099]

4 hours ago, Deep Sea said:

You think it'd be feasible to make username colors a shop item? Something like that that doesn't impact the story, but maybe improves the player's experience?

Totally.

 

Everything in ours is reasonably priced so that they can be obtained by even the laziest members. Except stuff we need to be rare and those can be ontaines through random chance if you don't want to save up.

 

Things in the shop shouldn't be necessary to participate and they shouldn't be unable to be obtained in other ways, even if those ways require other forms of.commitment.

[Samantha 64]

The way we look at our store on the site is that we want to reward activity. Meaning that someone who is active with their characters will be able to power up their characters and get more things than someone who isn't active - for me, that's fair. 

 

So we see it more like we're rewarding those members who stick around and post and everything vs being restrictive (though there are some things in our store that are higher priced because they're *incredibly* rare according to lore and whatnot). People who don't necessarily post *a lot* can still get enough points/posts to upgrade their characters, they just can't get to it as fast.

[CovertSphinx 710]

I do the same/similar as @Rune.  

 

People that are slower posters and/or less active can still gain the same items/abilities through means other than point collection. One of my joys as staff is "rewarding" awesome plot twists and IC heroic feats with expensive shinies. I recently gave a member's character a special spell out of the shop for free just for being our first official Faerie character. 

 

I admittedly DO have a few items that are "limited stock". Whereas on one side of the coin they COULD be considered "restrictive" to members that didn't earn the points fast enough to buy them; it's actually designed that like to promote characters/members trading amongst themselves said rare items and utilizing their rarity as plot points. 

[Kit the Human 759]

14 hours ago, missmanyface said:

Do you like the idea of point systems?

 

Depends on the site and what they're setting out to achieve. I don't like restricting character types, for example, even if race X is supposed to be super rare, because I remind myself that the player controlled population is not a representative sample of the place. But I do enjoy mechanics that either help enforce restrictions on say, what kind of resources the character has (because that's suitable for the setting), restricts how much they can do (because it gives characters something to work towards/because access to training or education is not great) or that gives players extra inane abilities. Like say, they can pin their plotter.

 

Sites that enforce restrictions in a setting where those restrictions aren't really a big thing doesn't really float my boat. Sites where things are uber expensive also does not float my boat.

 

As a member, I am neither stressed nor motivated by them. But also as a member, I love little baubles so will happily use a shop.

 

As an admin, depends on the software re set up. But like I said, I only use points if there's a thematic reason to.

 

Like all things RP though, they'll settle into their niche. I doubt that they will die completely off. I also doubt that they will be considered a staple.