Suggestion: Change in Beta Reward / Process

Discussion in 'The Veterans' Lounge' started by Froglok, Aug 5, 2021.

  1. Froglok Augur

    With the pending Beta Test a couple of months away.... a suggestion for consideration.

    Before I state the actual suggestion, first some reasons why....

    Players may not have been able / allowed / able to play on Beta in the past!

    * At one time, Beta was by invitation only.
    * Later, you had to be apply and be approved.
    * These days, you simply have to have a paid account and / or pre-order the next expansion.

    In short, Players may not have been allowed to play on Beta for a chance at the reward, because they were not invited, were not approved and / or were their account was temporarily FTP status or and / or they could not pre-order due finances / situation.

    Beta Tokens (aka Stone of Beta Adventuring) acquisition has been erratic.

    * Dev's have always been able to "grant" a varying amount of Beta Tokens to Players if they wanted to (for whatever reason), which is not a problem (this is a good thing, just so it is known). However, such Dev rewards are often for participation in such things as a Dev Test Raid, for which attendance is, of course, limited -- and it seems, that sometimes attendees are pre-ordained (i.e. a certain guild). Not a bad thing... just the way it is and can be necessary. However, it does mean players don't always have a chance at "bonus" Tokens.
    * Tokens were once actual items that dropped randomly off MOB's (even trash) and came as rewards (tasks, missions, etc.). They no longer drop off MOB's, as Tokens are now virtual. What this means is that Players with limited Playing time or are unable to find a group, can no longer acquire Tokens on their own (by killing MOB's).
    * The new Tradeskill recipes were once included as a way to earn Tokens by way of Tasks to make the items. Not anymore.
    * Tokens are now awarded only from tasks, missions, achievements and / or raids.
    * In the past, Token awards were in place at the start of Player participation in Beta. For the last few Beta's, Beta Tokens have NOT been in place at the start of Player participation and had to be added (usually after Players pointed it out). What this means, is that many Players have missed out on tokens they should have earned, but didn't get, as Tokens awards had not yet been added to Beta.

    In short, if Players were able to get into Beta, not only are Tokens harder to come by than they used to be, but they may not have gotten credit for all of the Tokens they "should have" been awarded. As a result, they may not have qualified for the Beta award and should have.

    Now, the actual suggestion...

    Instead of granting Characters the current Beta Award, how about, instead, adding Beta Tokens (aka Stone of Beta Adventuring) to Alternative Currency in the live game.

    Once Beta is closed, credit the related Characters (on Live Servers) with however many Beta Tokens they earned in Beta.

    No Beta Award, just the Tokens.

    Next, add a Beta Vendor to the live game!

    This Beta Vendor will sell current and past Beta Award items, in trade for Beta Tokens.

    This way, a Player can chose what item they want. They can either acquire the current Beta Award, acquire the Beta Award they missed out on and have been wanting forever, or buy which ever award they prefer (limited by how many Tokens they have, of course).

    If a Player was active enough on Beta, they may be even able to buy a two or three items.

    Now, EQ is notorious for pricing things at what Players consider inflated / ridiculous prices.

    Based on past Beta tests, it appears that the number of Beta Tokens needed to get the Beta Reward has been in the 1 to 10 range. Thus, items on the Beta Vendor should be priced reasonably, with that in mind (1 to 10 range).

    In fact, perhaps a standard should be set (i.e. 5 Tokens) and price them all accordingly.

    In case it is needed, past Beta Awards I know of (Suffixes / Titles may need an actual item created for them in order to add them to the Vendor), have included...

    *Lens of the Evil Eye
    *Suffix 'the Adventurer'
    *Suffix 'the Examiner'
    *Suffix 'the Insightful'
    *Golden Mask of the Goblin King
    *Mercenary Conscription Authorization
    *Writ of the Bellikos
    *Gumdrop Button
    *Contract of the Deeps
    *Polymorph Wand: Gelatinous Cube
    *Contract of the Tier'Dal Royal Guard
    *Tricorne Hat Ornament
    *Sul Vius Denizen Disguise Ornament
    *Cowl of the Dreadlands Yeti
    *Overthere Headwear Ornament
    *Royal Djinn Headwear Ornament
    *Velium Ornamentation (1 of 9 variants, that can be changed out on the fly to any of the other 8)
    *Metamorph Wand - Mimic
    scaethach and Skuz like this.
  2. demi Augur

    they just need to put all those in the market place and sell each one for mucho bucks .. I would buy all the illusions and would spend big bucks for them ... I dont want to beta but i do want to buy the illusions .

    heck if they put all that stuff in market , they prolly would make enough dough ray me to cover their bottom line for the whole year ..
    make it so #1
    Engage
    CatsPaws likes this.
  3. Froglok Augur


    I have suggested this in the past as well. Perhaps the reason they have not done it is due a "perceived" concern that some players would be very upset that others can get an item they "earned." What they miss is that those Players got the item for free ('earned' or not), while other players would have to spend $$ in the Marketplace to get them.

    With my suggestion, the "earned" aspect goes away. You got to play Beta and earn tokens.
  4. Benito EQ player since 2001.

    I would probably spend $100 on Cowl of the Deadlands Yeti. I am not joking.
  5. Skuz I am become Wrath, the Destroyer of Worlds.

    I think the point of beta rewards is to only get them from activity in beta, old or new items.

    I like the suggestion a lot and it may actually encourage a bit more engagement with beta if the items are reasonably priced for beta currency.

    Totally against these being put on the marketplace though.
  6. demi Augur

    this thing about "perceived " and "earned" needs to go away .. I was extremely butt hurt when they gave all accounts new and old max veteran rewards .. now i think its the best thing can delete any toon and make new ones and they get vets ..

    I also would pay 100 bucks for each item .. they really need to implement this ..

    make it so #1
    Engage
    Froglok likes this.
  7. Froglok Augur


    You have a good point there. I was not happy with entitling Vet rewards either. However, they quit creating them after... what... 14?

    However, I can see where the thinking may have been that Players will 'never' catch up on Vet Awards who didn't start from the beginning, forgetting they offered bonus credit on years played if you pay for a full year at a time.

    However, this does go to support my suggestion, as Players were literally not able to even try for Beta Awards in the past. But in this case, rather than just blanket grant them, they sell them via a Beta Vendor.
    Skuz likes this.
  8. demi Augur

    the only problem with this concept is that to get the beta tokens one needs to do beta to accumulate the tokens/coin ..
    now if they had in game quests either via overseer or actual live missions to get beta tokens (besides the obvious, which is playing beta) then I think a beta vendor would be good ..
  9. Froglok Augur



    Yes -- that is the intent of my suggestion. You need to play Beta to earn the Tokens.
    Skuz likes this.
  10. Andarriel Everquest player since 2000

    I would like to get the fairy wing Beta TSS reward.
    [IMG]

    Andarriel
  11. Yinla Ye Ol' Dragon

    Skuz likes this.
  12. Yinla Ye Ol' Dragon

    That's the whole point of beta rewards you can only get them from doing beta.

    They are awarded for helping get the expansion out the door.

    A vendor or a drop down choice in /claim to pick from past rewards is nice Idea to get past beta items on chars which have missed out on them.
    Skuz likes this.
  13. Skrab East Cabilis #1 Realtor


    Meh, Beta is too close to launch to actually be of any effectiveness.
  14. demi Augur


    The whole point is to open beta rewards past and future to anyone that is willing to pay for them .. something that DP should get behind to make income ..

    heck they didnt make a dime from opening up vet rewards .. imagine if they were to sell vet rewards in market place instead of just autogranting them to every account ..

    they opened up Illusions for all classes even perma illusions (unless you die) or rez tokens on loyalty vender so now all classes can rez or how bout an AA for fade so every class can Fade now and be there own puller .. granted some classes can only do it once every 10min.

    lets not forget giving all classes the ability to gate not once but twice and removing the need for porters with Pok books and teleportation assistance..

    I've been asking for years for them to make the clicky CR stick and Brells rest clicky gates Heirloomable or to sell them in market to make extra money .. I would of paid good money to be able to purchase them not once or twice but a possible 6 or 7 times from each diff account i play and different toons on those accounts .. im happy after all these years they finally made them Heirloom this past patch .. BUT THEY COULD OF MADE MORE MONEY by selling them ..

    I can understand why they dont want to offer Lifetime memberships anymore. The demand is out there though for other things they could sell ..

    how bout an Vet AA that you can buy in marketplace that works like the AA forceful rejuvenation but for vet rewards only and can only be used once a week .. so during said week someone who purchased vet AA FRejuvenation could theoretically have 2 lesson burns or 2 AoE or 2 expedient rec once a week back to back ..burn lesson and want another 30min again hit Vet FR aa .. just a thought .. it would be character based just like any other AA .. so if you wanted it on multiple toons on same account you would have to purchase it multiple times..

    or how bout bringing Silver accounts back to purchase .. they used to be 5 bucks in marketplace ..ive got at least 5 accounts that I'd spend that on .

    how bout selling loyalty tokens in marketplace or adding those items to the markeplace..
  15. Froglok Augur


    Yes, I think I noted this earlier. However, this variant suggestion takes away certain concerns and also presents the argument of why (re: Players were flat out not allowed to even play Beta in the past, thus never had a shot at any reward... this will make up for that).
    Skuz likes this.
  16. Bigstomp Augur

    I like that beta rewards are unique. They (at least the ones I have earned) don't give any sort of power in game. I participated in that years beta. If you didn't, then you don't deserve the reward for that years beta.

    I'd change my mind on this if they gave actual power because I believe anything that gives actual power should be available in the live game.
  17. Shredd Augur

    just no more stupid hats
    Elyssanda and Stymie like this.
  18. Skuz I am become Wrath, the Destroyer of Worlds.

    More stupid hats please!

    Baseball
    Cowboy
    Beanie
    Panama
    Bowler
    Beret (in many fruit flavours)
    Fedora
    Aviator
    Ushanka
    Rasta Tam
    Hamburg
    Pork-Pie
  19. Skrab East Cabilis #1 Realtor

    You should take this one off your list, it’s disrespectful to Rastafarians to call it stupid.
  20. demi Augur

    lot of good hats listed there Skuz .. id wear a few of those :p