isn't the best part of referring people getting csc every time they purchase csc? making referral points come from GAs is not a bad idea.

You already get loyalty points for supporting the site financially. I don't really like the idea of giving out two different currencies as a reward just for buying yourself a GA. If anything, I'd rather they combine the two currencies just to streamline everything.

And I really, really don't like the idea of giving GA members bonus referral points for completing the same referral process as non-GA members. Obvious unfairness aside, how does this motivate non-GA members to refer new players? "Sure, I could try to refer people today, but I can't afford a GA for another month or so, so why bother?" If the whole point of the referral system is to help the site grow, you really don't want to help people justify not recruiting new players.

And going off on a slight tangent here, but does Subeta run any ads officially? It seems like all of its advertising is done by way of word-of-mouth, which is pretty terrible for business. We can't afford new programmers to fix up the site until we get enough new players, but none of the new players seem to stick around very long because the site has so many issues, so we have this whole catch 22 thing going on. I don't know what the best solution is, but sometimes it feels like Subeta isn't pulling its own weight.

And I don't know if any of this even makes sense. I think I started rambling halfway through this, and I don't know if these are even my real opinions anymore or if this is just verbal diarrhea? But I need forum points (yay, more currencies!) so I'm going to hit "post" anyway. :)

I think what you said makes sense and has some validity, so don't talk it down just because what you said was a bit long :P

- I caught myself somewhere around "Subeta isn't pulling its own weight" and that just seemed kind of hyperbolic. I'm glad the whole thing doesn't read that way. :P

I support the idea of making referral points a bit easier to get, but I'm not sure about this. A lot of users who activate GAs monthly don't care about anything in the shop, but will get the points anyway. Eventually they'll sell their points and I think that'll lower their value a lot, which isn't something I'll like to see.

I don't necessarily think we have a ton of issues on the site and it drives new people away, though it might. I don't really pay attention to why people leave, and for what I do, subeta works great a lot of the time. and lately there have been quite a few good fixes to small issues for just quality of life things.

But no, what you said isn't hyperbolic and I do think you make a solid point.

[edit] I agree it does have quite a few issues, but none seem bad enough to drive me away. though I don't really work on my HA so this might be why everyone says there are so many issues.

Love this idea. I don't have any friends to refer, so I need a different way of getting points, plus it encourages people to put money into the site. A+, please instate.

I think somewhere it said Referral Points where a way so that people would want to get more people in and it part might help bring in more money(which now feels laughable since I don't think it has really.) I kind of like if they did do this because it might mean more money to possibly save, that in turn; might help with fixing stuff and maybe adding new stuff. In part would cause new members to stay more possibly. I think that's a better gamble then having people try to refer others to no prevail and of no fault of their own. This site needs help, although, others might choose to say no and its perfect the way it is as something else breaks in the background.

The thing is, to afford one single copy of one of the most expensive items in the referral shop, you need to refer 15 people. I don't even know 15 people, dude. The alternative proposed here would be to have an active GA for over a year to earn that same item. I don't think that's at all unreasonable.

People with large amounts of friends/followers on social media would have an easier time finding referrals, and if they did that (and were in fact able to refer enough people), they could sell their points too. To amass a significant enough amount of points to really impact their value, you'd have to have a GA continuously for years. You have a better chance of the items coming up in the Crystal Shop before that happens tbh. Not to mention, you can get a 500 point Wizard Token for 1 referral point, which puts their value at like 1.1m (which is actually on par with a couple of other items actually available on the SS)

Side note: 1 point per 1 month of GA should be the exact amount, for each month of GA activated, not just purchased. Special events where you get double points for referrals would not apply, just one point per month and maybe in a few years you can afford all the collection items in that godforsaken shop.

Big question is did you get a forum point?!

You brought up some good points in that post. I'd be perfectly fine to see the two currencies merged together into one shop. It can even keep the "Loyalty Shop" name to be honest and the old items could just move over there. They would have to cost quite a but of the loyalty points though to keep the values similar so not sure about that.

And I have never seen Subeta ads around the net. Subeta is at the very bottom of the list when you search "Pet Site" on google. A site called "Goatlings" is number one and and man it looks like it came from the 90s. Subeta really needs to get some ads out there if they seriously want to start growing in size. Referral Shop obviously isn't doing the trick. , do you guys currently run any sort of advertising other than some random Facebook contests or whatever every blue moon?

I like this idea even though I can't afford a 1 month GA yet. Most of the people I know are not interested in playing a pet site, and the one person I know who is into playing them already has an account here. Not to mention it encourages people to buy GA accounts, which puts money into the site to fix problems. The way it is now can actually backfire, since the people could sign up, leave, and badmouth the site because of its problems, making even less people want to join. Doing it the suggested way rewards people who are dedicated to the site and want it to improve, and improving the site could attract more players.

Maybe something like "loyalty shop", instead? because referring and GA are both ways to show site loyalty

- I did not! :(

And yeah, I did a little research into other pet sites a few weeks ago, and most of the competition out there is really sad. Like you said, it all looks like it came straight out of the 90s. Microsoft Frontpage would be proud.

While I wouldn't say no to this idea, I really don't feel like it'd happen. I feel like the two "well if you want it, you have to work for it" aspects of the site are the referral shop, and battling.

Not saying I'm hyped about that, or that I'd say BOOO if this happened (in fact, I'd adamantly buy a GA every month forever) but I still don't see it really happening.

That said, though, I suggested something similar only loyalty points instead of referral points? Every time you activated a 1 month+ gold account, you'd get somewhere around 2-3 loyalty points. This would be good for hoarders like myself who may or may not want several copies of most things when new rewards cards come out (or nothing, and want to save those for good cards.. like this new one), a good thing for people who want copies but would also like to sell some points/keep a small nest egg, just like to hoard currency, and ALSO be good for users who can't literally donate to the site. 1 month gold accounts aren't exactly cheap by today's csc prices, but I feel like those bonus loyalty points could make it worth while? Especially if someone could only buy a small amount of csc (say $10) a month, that + the points from a GA (assuming they bought one with that csc) would add up a lot quicker for them and make it feel more worthwhile. Y'know, opposed to "cool I bought what csc I could and I got 1 point :'D... yippie, I'll be sure to not spend that all in one place".

It would be pretty hard to sell the points from the Referral Shop. There isn't a item you can buy that converts to the currency (ie Esther coins, Trinkets, etc) so in order to sell you'd have to find someone wanting to buy specific items. Which isn't too hard but does add an extra hurdle.

It would take years for the points to devalue, especially by "a lot". If a user can only get a max of 12 a year its going to take quite a few years for them to go on the market.

Another thing to maybe think about would be if all the points are given out at once. What I mean is if I activate a month GA I get 1 point, if I activate a 5mth GA I get 5pts, and so on. If a user activates a year long GA, you can be nearly certain they are going to remain with the site for at least another year and probably much longer which is turn leads to more donations to Subeta most likely. If you're plopping down cash to buy a 12mth GA at once it is highly likely the user will continue to donate.

Edit:

I really like that idea too if this can't or doesn't ever pan out.

Oh I didn't mean selling the points (the items actually, as you said) is the bad thing. The problem I see with this is that there're gonna be a lot of users with unwanted points, since they have to make 0 extra effort to get them. So, there'll be a lot more points for sale than now, that will make them lose some of their value. Hope that made more sense.

Yeah maybe you're right and they won't devalue quickly. Honestly I don't have the data nor the economy knowledge to be sure haha. But I think it's something to consider anyways. There aren't that many items for sale at the shop at the moment, so I guess the demand of items is kinda low compared to the amount of users who get GAs every month.

I also think the idea of getting 1 point per month no matter which GA you activated is better than getting all at once. I just don't like things you can get in an instant with enough money :P Having long term goals which require time and effort spent on the site are more fun imo

Ah, I got what you mean.

I mean personally I cannot fathom how people could satiate on points for those items, but in the interest of full disclosure, I have 7 points (somehow) over 3 referrals, and most of my friends used another friend's referral link, then quit after half a year. I haven't got recourse to gain more xD so I'm intensely interested in buying what I want from that shop!

I like the idea!