News: Preferred Colonist program

[711]

An exciting new donator program has been introduced.

The Preferred Colonist program offers players a host of features as thanks for a small donation to help support FinalEscape.

For just $4, donators receive a 30 day Preferred Colonist Card, which gives their avatar special influence with key Phiela Government officials, aiding in the securing of lucrative missions, jobs and more. Full benefits of the Preferred Colonist Card include:

• Access to high-paying Preferred Colonist jobs
• One Mission Request item each day (6 additional mission points)
• 30 days HyperTram access
• No fees for transactions at the Phiela Bank (deposit/withdrawal/transfer)
• 50% discount on Phiela Auction listing fees
• Expanded contacts list (50)
• Colored username on various game pages

As an additional bonus, when the Preferred Colonist Card is activated, your avatar will regenerate 100 stamina and health (so make sure you spend some stamina before activating ).

Your current remaining Preferred Colonist days are displayed at the top of every game page, next to available Mission Points.


Important Notes
HyperTram access time is extended by 30 days, so no existing time credit is lost.

Only two Mission Request items can be used per day, per player.

Once a Preferred Colonist Card has expired, players who still hold a Preferred Colonist-only job will not be able to sign in to work (but will be paid for any accumulated hours). They will then have the option of applying for a regular job, or purchasing a new card to restore Preferred Colonist status.

The contacts list upgrade is permanent, and is only increased the first time you activate a Preferred Colonist Card (subseqent activations do not increase the number of contacts beyond 50).

Preferred Colonist Cards can be traded (allowing you to offer gifts to friends or faction mates), or even sold on the Phiela Auction.


Thanks in advance for your suport of FinalEscape!

[711]

Please note that the auction fee calculation is currently being recoded in order to allow the sale of low value items on the auction. Fees will be changed from the current 25 PMU flat rate per listing to a system based on the resell value of the items being auctioned. This will result in lower overall auction fees for most items, and will allow small quantities of low value items to be sold.

Once this adjustment is complete, players with Preferred Colonist status will enjoy a 50% discount on all auction fees.

[Daemon]

and with this you lost a user
thanks anyway for the time i played, the game was quite fun

[Sheryo]

I find it interesting, I don't know if I will use it but I won't quit for that...

If you like the game, why do you mind this new feature ? Also, remember that FinalEscape is still in beta version and I'm sure there will be a lot more free features.

[Daemon]

well, simply enough, they locked the job i was doing.
i'm fine with the open beta, still, i find that giving the "iwin" button for money is a bit saddening. i've seen this happen in every brower game, i know it seems to be a must, yet it annoys me, a lot.

[NeutrinoX]

I can't say I'm too happy either, and this will certainly be a cause of much reduced play, but I don't think I'll be quitting. With this a job I was aspiring for (That is, training and taking courses for the skills it required) got locked. If this really needs to remain, I'd like to at least see the job unlocks to become permanent much like the contact upgrade. Only a suggestion. Alternatively just make it harder, but possible for free users to obtain the job unlocks through some rare object, something like that.

[711]

Thanks for the feedback.

It seems that much of the disappointment relates to the available jobs. I will point out that lots more jobs will be added to the jobs system, including non-donator jobs with higher hourly pay rates.

I apologize to anyone who was working as a Govt. File Clerk when the Preferred Colonist system was introduced. Please send me a mail in game, and I will reimburse you for any costs you incurred for changing jobs or lost hours, as well as a bit for your inconvenience.

FinalEscape, with all of its unique custom features and game systems, requires lots of time, energy and money to develop. I feel that the donator program we have added to the game is very reasonably priced, and the donator benefits do not have as much of an impact on avatar advancement as in many other games. This allows those who are unable or unwilling to donate to still enjoy the game and indeed be competitive.

[Hunter484]

May I just ask why you introduced this feature before introducing more jobs? Would it have been so difficult to code in some more jobs to replace the jobs that were going to be only for preferred colonists? Just my two cents worth.

[711]

Originally Posted by Hunter484

May I just ask why you introduced this feature before introducing more jobs? Would it have been so difficult to code in some more jobs to replace the jobs that were going to be only for preferred colonists? Just my two cents worth.

Only one entry-level job was affected by this system: Govt. File Clerk (and its supervisor job, Junior Bureaucrat). Since the Preferred Colonist system involves improved influence with key Phiela government officials, it made sense to have one of the Government category job chains be reserved for Preferred Colonists.

All of the other donator-only jobs are completely new, and all other existing jobs were unaffected.

[Daemon]

main issue i see is, the govt file clerk was the only one increasing intelligence.

btw, there's no need for reimbursing or such, it was just a bit annoying to see major game changes (and this was, to me) once someone has started developing his avatar.

[Stoikow]

I don't really get why anyone would be upset over this. Since the item can be traded it's not really any different than donating for platinum bars.
I would guess the market value of a card on auction will be around 5000pmu, which should be a good value for any active colonist.

[Compusmurf]

Daemon,

The one thing to keep in mind....

The game IS still BETA. Things can and will change.

That's the key word on a beta.

Nice thing tho, you find bugs, have suggestions and the like and you tell them, you can sometimes see them implemented. If it were FINAL, well, what you see is usually what you get until the producers send updates out.

If you think it drives you nuts, you should have seen all the, uh, changes we had to deal with when a few of us were in the closed beta....

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by Daemon

main issue i see is, the govt file clerk was the only one increasing intelligence.

btw, there's no need for reimbursing or such, it was just a bit annoying to see major game changes (and this was, to me) once someone has started developing his avatar.

Its the only easy entry level job, but not the only job.
The two higher bank jobs boost intel, and so does the top store job.
All three med tech jobs give a intel boost, too. They do take more academy classes to qualify for.
Im sure there will be more jobs before long, too.

[Twitchie]

I don't see what all the fuss is about. Being a beta, the game dynamics are going to change. 'Tis the nature of the beast. Shoot, games that have been gold for years have massive changes from time to time. This is just adding an additional level for people willing to donate a bit. And I mean, $4. Not gonna' break the bank. I think it's a cool idea and one I'll be taking advantage of myself.

[Axel]

This was, for me, a bad ide at start.
I lost my job, and i was some uppset. But, hey, 4 dollar... so i went ahead and got a Preferred Colonist membership.
Now, i work like hell again, get free travet and.... i get 300 extra a day.
Even if i dont sell my extra missionpints at auktion, thats still 300.....

This IS a god ide. Let's se if 50 contact is enough.... Time will tell.