Forum Thread
Deluxe Currency (PokeGems)
Forum-Index → Suggestions → Rejected → Deluxe Currency (PokeGems)Just to be clear, I am not discarding this idea because I don't buy nuggets, I am against it because I know a number of players who are completely incapable of buying nuggets. This suggestion would make part of the site completely inaccessible to them and give an unfair advantage who those who can buy nuggets. Being able to buy nuggets is already an advantage, we don't need to make it any more so. At least nuggets are available to anyone if they're willing to work hard enough.
No support.
Now, considering the exchange rate for nuggets from USD, this is 5 cents every 5 days and 7 cents from the Golden Slots after spending 5,000 Golden Game Chips.
With this in mind, those who can afford nuggets usually buy them. Plus, it's unlikely to earn enough for premium accounts in a timely manner if you're only trading for nuggets.
Adding another currency that's IMPOSSIBLE for users who can't afford nuggets to get would imbalance the game. ESPECIALLY if you're going to restrict pokemon via this method or sell rare candies to this method. I mean, you're pretty much making it, at that point, where if you want a very powerful pokemon for the high leveled battles, you are required to pay to play.
And when a feature like this gets added to the sites, most often more and more gets added to that very restricted shop to further entice those who can pay for it, and to keep the repeat customers with something new. While this would work to keep the repeat customers happy, it further limits those who can't afford it.
I've seen this feature destroy "free to play" sites, and would rather not have that happen to PH.
And, while I can't afford nuggets (sorry, food and taking care of real life comes before game play additions), this is not why I don't support this suggestion. I just really don't want to see this added and have it be the downfall of the site like it has been for so many others.
And Proud owner of the first shiny Eruption Castform!
I joined ph because it WASNT exclusionary. Premium is nice, but you can still shiny hunt, no pokemon are "nugget only", etc.
This suggestion would create a rift between users tbh. Anyone who can buy nuggets or has money is now "special".
I do not support, and I buy nuggets with real money.
If you can read this, you know how to read.
Trick and Treat art by Podunk
So you are saying it is unfair to users who buy Nuggets with real money, because you can just buy Nuggets from other users with PD/Pokemon/Items?
Well, actually no it's not unfair. Those people choose to buy Nuggets with their real money. They know they can get Nuggets from other users, but I gotta say, getting large amounts of Nuggets from other users is a hassle.
So it really isn't unfair because you can get a fairly large amount of Nuggets faster and easier than from buying them from other users.
This suggestion would only make it unfair to the users who can't buy Nuggets with real money, making an even larger division. People complain enough already about how much Premium users - people who can buy Nuggets - already have that's more than a normal user.
So no support.
That is an extreme (and unreasonable) accusation. Not supporting this idea has nothing to do with wanting PH to close because there is no evidence that this would help the site stay alive. It's done just fine for two years without it. That this suggestion's implementation will increase the purchase of nuggets is an assumption; we don't know.
This game is free-to-play because there are no activation fees for your account, there are no parts of the site that absolutely require you to pay, and there are no goals that premium players can have that non-premium ones can't. Free-to-play =/= free-to-run.
For anyone who is going to argue that there are things that require payment, yes I am aware that there is a Berry Garden available only to premium members, and there is a slot in the WT and SWT obtainable only by being a premium member. However, these are not essential to gameplay and you can participate in both of these things without having the premium slots- those are just convenience.
Premium membership is only to make gameplay easier. Whether this makes it unfair or not is up to the person you're asking about it, but I personally don't think it's unfair. Users who pay to get premium spent their real money on it, so they deserve it. People who work hard to earn enough Nuggets without buying them deserve it just as much because they worked towards it.
Yeah, this is totally the only reason I don't support it. I totally want PH to close down, despite having spent real money on it and working my tail off to get some of my rarer things. I totally don't support the site despite my reason for not supporting this is because I have seen it destroy countless other sites. I totally think that it's fair to totally give those who have zero money to spend on these things a middle finger by making things completely unavailable to them. Yeah, my opinion against this is because I hate PH and Riako and everything that it stands for.
[/sarcasm]
The reason I don't support this suggestion is because I LOVE this site and have spent a lot of time on it. Before I took a few months break, Fuku Ryu was in the strongest pokemon list, I was on the most game time stat, and in several of the other stats.
I have spent money on the site in the past to support it as well as to make my own game play easier. Honestly the perks of premium are enticing enough to make most users want to pay for it with real money.
Adding in the small things around the site that nuggets can get you as well (better breeding, the Event Points/Event Pass, DW points, etc) are further reasons that people already buy nuggets. I promise you that over half the nuggets that are on the site have been bought.
Right now I have 486 Nuggets on my account. Though I, personally, have not spent any money on that, two of the users who I traded with did buy it with real money. And I'm sure some of the users who have paid for my art with the nuggets bought them with real money.
So, again, you're looking to add a new part to the site that cuts out the larger portion of the userbase to "help" the site and convert it to a pay-to-complete site. And, again, as time progresses, more and more will be added to this exclusive shop for those who get more gems than they know what to do with. This will imbalance the game, especially for users like me who are trying to complete the normal dex and egg dex.
I would rather not see this on the site than see the site hurt by this feature. And I have yet to see a single website with this feature that has NOT been utterly destroyed by it in the end result. (For example, I have seen a website which had 5K users online at any given time add this feature and that number plummeted to around 500 online at any given time, losing users and potential buyers because when they can't pay, there are features that they absolutely can't get)
I'd like to point to another site, PokeFarm Q as an example. They have a special pay-for currency called Zophan Canisters, which are required for many nearly game-breaking advantages to players, including many things that aren't obtainable otherwise, an UNGODLY higher shiny chance, and the ability to get some pretty rare items on a whim. They also have Gold Poke, which is the equivalent of our nuggets here.
I've also been on a very short lived MMORPG where a special "reward" currency was instated, and within a month of the reward currency being instated, 45% of the population of the servers had left, because there were suddenly completely over-powered clans with exclusive items running around, and no one else could get anything done. Albeit that this site isn't entirely an MMORPG, but it's still dealing with several thousand people all competing to get the same things.
Not to mention it will trash the entire economy. Suddenly, Retros, Legendaries, and possibly other rare pokemon and items (you didn't state much), will be worth less because there will be an influx of people just tossing them into the pool for PD or nuggets, or being more frequent on site. A Pixelmon server I used to play on made it so that you could purchase Fully IV'd, Perfect nature, Shiny Pokemon, and the Elite 4 Champion had bought one of these pokemon and essentially became a dictator.
Making a currency specifically for one group of people makes disasters. It unbalances the game and makes the site popularity decrease. I'd surely hesitate to recommend the site to any of my friends if such a currency was instated. There's already incentive to buy nuggets; Premium comes with Retros and lots of features for longer amounts of time, and longer amounts of time cost more nuggets. A new currency isn't necessary.
And as it was pointed out if this was implemented it would create a gap between deluxe users and those who cannot buy nuggets and it wouldn't end up nice that I can tell you.
People would want more and more and more stuff to be obtainable with deluxe currency only and in the end more stuff would be available for deluxe users only- So the majority of people would end up being left out.
I can imagine with a currency like this more and more exclusives will be added and eventually it will be pay2win. What i like about Pokeheroes is that everyone is included. You can for the most part get everything without buying a single nugget with your own money. And that's great! Because not everyone can afford it or are allowed to buy them due to parents. This is why I love and support Pokeheroes, because it's so inclusive. Yes premium has its perks but it doesn't block non-premiums from whole features like the currency would do.
Currency like this will exclude so many people and we might end up losing a good portion of the userbase. Me included, because even though I do support the site(I've bought so many nuggets it's not even funny), I will not support a feature like this.
If Riako was really that desperate for money, then he'd at least have ads(which are a good way to sustain a website) on the site. And as far as I'm concerned he took those off quite awhile ago. I think we spend enough on nuggets to sustain the site as is.
So no support