Shattered Kingdoms

(speaking as me personally, not as an administrator/immortal)...

Frankly, the amount of entertainment SK provides for free, I'm very surprised there aren't a lot more stepping up to at least admit that it's worth the odd $5 -- an amount much less than what is probably thrown away on pretty dodgy 1-2 hours of entertainment on any given weekend (I know I've watched a few movies that made me regret the waste of money).

Anyway, that's just my own perspective.

Lastly, I'm fairly sure "Elite Subscriber" was a short term solution (it wouldn't be my personal choice) so that at least those who subscribe were not ignored while the final titles are decided on.

My suggestions...
"Mortal Subscriber"
"Generous Supporter"
"Philanthropist"
"Contibutor"
"Noble Mortal"

And for immortals...
"Immortal Subscriber"
"Generous Immortal"
"Immortal Philanthropist"
"Immortal Contibutor"
"Noble Immortal"

(yes, that's right.. I think immortals should also have a title if they pony up... speaking of which )

Tell you what. I'll cover you this month, if you set it up so that I can donate more than $5 at one given time.

sleeper

I have tried, but paypal are being tossbags about it and suspended my account and I have been too lazy to get up and running again. I will do though.

bug Alshain is an immortal.

I'm still open to suggestions for titles. I tried to get more discussion about this earlier but got very little (serious) response. The one thing I don't want is for people to get custom titles. Then that means we have to start making judgement calls on what is appropriate, and I guarantee that it will eventually become a headache and timesink for an immortal who could be spending that time on something fun for the game.

Once we get a complete list of recommendations, I will create a poll.

Then heres my official statement. Donaters shouldn't be given special status. I don't think there is a way you can make it work. But, if your dead set on giving them a special title, I suggest making it something less obnoxious. "Contributing (Im)mortal" would do the trick I think. Or, something like "Supporting (Im)mortal".

My two cents.

sleeper

This whole title issue is a direct result of donations. So let me start off by saying a sincere thanks to the few people who have donated so far.

Unfortunately, not very many people have donated so far. The reason for this is because we do not yet have a community culture where contributing is honored. The titles are my attempt to start one. Because of this, my aim is obviously not to make obnoxious titles. I'm completely against that. Instead I want it to be something desirable. It should be a marker of status that let's you say "I support SK. I'm proud of it." And makes other people want to also support SK so that they can do the same thing.

We have to start now to foster a community culture where contributing is valued. Because, frankly, I've been paying monthly expenses for SK out of my pocket (with occasional help from other imms) for years now. But with future costs going up quite a bit, if I don't get more help, I am not sure I will be able to justify keeping the game alive. I am not asking for a big sacrifice from anyone. A subscription costs about $0.10/day. It's both cheaper for you, and, due to transaction fees, gives the game almost as much money as someone who would regularly give $5 per month. So obviously, I am hoping to get more subscribers and I think it's affordable for pretty much anyone who is not living in a third world country.

If I got only as many subscribers as we have players on the average WHO list, even with our reduced player count, then I don't think there would be a problem paying the bills. But it's obvious that 99% of the players think that someone else will be the one to pony up. Newsflash: That's not happening. So go check your hours. If you have spent at least 20 hours playing the game this month, I'm asking you to sign up for a subscription or at least make a $5 contribution every once in awhile.

And yes, let's get some titles that everyone likes and will be proud to have associated with their name. Maybe we can even associate a small graphic with each title, I'm not sure yet what's possible. But the bottom line is that if simply asking people to donate got results, then I wouldn't be having to make this plea for money or spend time pondering ways to get people more interested in helping out the game.

I sent this as a PM to Alshain (Sorry! ), who informed me I should post it here, or send it to D. I mentioned this before, but let me bring it up again. I don't understand why we're limited to just a $5 dollar donation. I really don't. Is there a reason for it, because I'd imagine you would just as willing accept $10 or $15 as you would $5. Afterall, it'd be up to us to change to choose to donate more, if we donated at all.

sleeper

I would also like to be able to donate more. Jada has (or is going to) set up the regular donations, but I wouldn't mind throwing a bit more your way when I can, and five dollars doesn't seem worth the effort for me. Personally, I'd like to throw a $20 your way and forget about it for a while (as I know I will forget. )

If you're just going to throw twenty dollars out, you may as well have us sign up for a second subscription.

It would be nice to be able to choose the amount you donate, if possible.

As far as tittles go, I'm not concerned over them. Setting our own would be fun, but I understand that people might abuse it and cause problems to the IMMs.