polygone  Hi.  Thanks for responding to some of my points.  Before I reply to what you wrote I want to say I like the ideas you posted, such as much more expensive pets (nugget sink) and the new user OOTS discount.

frieza sounds ever so slightly salty.polygone

You know, it’s kind of funny.  As I was telling people in chat yesterday, I am a weird creature on MC (though not entirely unique).  The loss of interest hurts me more than most because I currently have a high amount of interest.  But the loss of interest also hurts me less than most because I grind the 3k per day anyway.  Although I have a vested interest/bias in keeping interest, tons of users who have trouble grinding the 3k per day are worse off than me.

I wouldn’t say I am salty.  I would, however, say that I am temperamentally conservative and so have a gut reaction to resist change.  I think it’s easier to tinker with a system and end up making it worse than to tinker with a system and end up making it better.  So I need very thorough convincing across a large span of time to get on board with something.  Some people are more wired to embrace change more readily.  The tricky part is you don’t know group is right because not all change is equal.  It depends on the change in question and how it plays out in reality.  I also have a side to me that likes to argue, though it’s not as big as you might think despite my posts. 

 

It’s a massive gap between 2k and a few hundred nuggets, and it adds up really quickly when you’re collecting daily. polygone

I’ve talked about this before but I don’t really agree that the proper way to conceptualize this is as an upper class making money at the expense of the lower class.  Both the economy itself, and the mechanism we are discussing the removal of, are actually designed to help struggling players.  Some people making 2k a day off interest and some making 100 a day off of interest doesn’t translate to an economy where the poor can’t buy because of the actions or even existence of the rich.  In fact things like interest let the richer players invest in OOTS to sell back later to people who weren’t around or couldn’t afford everything that month.  And we’re not talking extreme mark-ups, either.  Generally speaking, and this is the formula I personally use to sell OOTS items to other users, OOTS items increase 1k per month of retirement (and many cap at 25-30k too, not everything keeps marching forever).  I think a reasonable case could be made that people earning over 1k in interest per month actually help the economy.  Or, if the economy was healthier than it is now (buyers buyers buyers), would serve to help the economy.

 

With a few months of diligent work you can sit back and earn what’s almost max cap for a new player just for logging in every day. Rich person gets to push a button while a poor person has to grind away for hours.polygone

If you buckle down severely, and delay gratification in a way our generation doesn’t actually know how to, you would earn about 1/3 of max cap after 4 months.  And from there it gets slower.  I am not all that great at math and so my figure is a little rough, but with reasonable spending it is probably taking you 1.5 years to hit the interest levels we are condemning.  Maybe more if it’s a bit of a struggle for you to save/grind.

And again I think this evil rich player narrative is a bit warped.  Yes yes the evil rich player is making a good amount of interest, how dare they?  And yet…. interest actually helps the poorer and less able to grind as well.  We need to be 3 dimensional in our analysis of these sorts of things.  Granted yes, maybe interest needs to be removed for the sake of limiting nuggets in the economy, say.  But it doesn’t need to be eliminated because rich players are putting poorer players in a worse position.  It’s not really the case, and sometimes it can actually be the opposite.

I am actually incentivized to spend nuggets on people’s stuff right now.  Or at the very least, so heavily non-disincentivized to spend that it functions in the same way.  (I hope I said that right lol.)  If I spend 400k in the economy, I lose less than 100 nuggets in interest.  If someone with 400k total decides to spend the same amount, they lose 738 (all) of their interest.  So while the interest system helps poorer players by rewarding interest more readily for lower amounts, it at the same time encourages rich players to spend in the economy.  Not only do they lose little, but they might be able to make more profit investing in items to sell to other users (and again, typically in a very fairly priced way).  Why keep 10k in the bank when interest increases so little?  Spend it on an oots item and sell it for 15-20k later on.  I think we underestimate the role of interest in economic activity on the site, if I am being honest.  Aside from the people who can’t keep ANYTHING in their bank account, interest helps people of all wealth levels take hits and afford items.  How many poorer players have already spoken up about how spending will be tighter for them with this change?  How they will have to pick and choose more carefully what to get.

So here I am essentially incentivized to spend.  So why don’t I?  Well nothing on the site interests me activity-wise so I decided to direct my income towards Sprouts.  Investing in OOTS items has been less and less productive across time as the player base has shrunk and stabilized with players who can often get the stuff as it comes out.  And those who don’t have the stuff because they can’t grind the 3k daily have a barrier between them and my items.  Items on MC aren’t even expensive.  It’s just they are miles away if you can’t or won’t grind the 3k.  And now more people will be slid farther away from the stuff they want as the interest they used to cover some of the grinding is removed from them.  All while it’s being painted by some people as a weird moral victory against the oppressive rich players.

 

Plus the rich person can get even more by also grinding, which if they’ve come this far they probably will continue to go on. That’s a ton of nuggets being shoveled into a few people’s pockets and makes the game trivial.polygone

How do we know, or why do we think, that the rich getting richer on MC is a bad thing?  I might be misreading you but when I read some of what you wrote, like this, it seems to be a built-in assumption.  If I mistook your meaning, I apologize.  But all the same we need to actually consider this stuff.  IS it bad that the rich people on MC can continue to increase their wealth?  What’s warping from this?  How are poorer players hurt by rich players?  Could it be the case that in some instances rich players help out the poorer players by mass investing in items and competing with each other in a way that keeps those prices low for the consumer?  Would the wealthy become more powerful with the removal of bank interest, as fewer OOTS items and pets get redeemed than in the past?  Is the economy stagnating because of the rich getting richer…or is it stagnating because the rich don’t want to try to stimulate the economy if there are no buyers (player growth and retention issues, which seem to be a separate issue from the existence of rich players)?  Do rich players help out the site by buying PP from users who bought the PP to sell for nuggets from the rich players?  On and on, etc.  We don’t know that people being rich on MC and raking in more interest than others is strictly a bad thing, or even a bad thing at all.  And we definitely don’t know that the removal of interest is in the best…interest… for all players, regardless of wealth.

It might be the case that limiting nuggets in the total economy can be a good thing.  But the specific way they chose to do it isn’t necessarily the only way they could have done it.  Meaningful nugget sinks are a better option than this, in my view.  But maybe they couldn’t, or maybe interest removal does somehow make sense in the context of the future changes they haven’t told us about.  All the same, from what I can see, the economic problems stem from a difficulty in retaining new players and giving old players something to do with what they make.  Removing interest is neither here nor there, unless they roll out a new part of the site that pays similarly well to interest and they needed to make financial room for it.  Either way, this rich versus poor so interest needs to go (or be capped) talk is very odd to me.  Like maybe I am wrong in calling these framings as ideological, but I’m not sure how far off from that we are here.

You sort of lose me in the final two paragraphs.  You make points that argue with other points…If I am reading it correctly.  Like if some people are shy and don’t want to get into the forums for nuggets….isn’t interest a good thing to have for them?  I guess I am asking you to clarify your last two paragraphs.  Sorry.  I do want to contest one thing, though:

 

having so much earned for doing nothing kind of kills the incentive to go chat once in a whilepolygone

Is this you framing interest as earning for doing nothing?  I mean I see it.  It’s generation of nuggets out of nothing and so the act of collecting interest is you having essentially done nothing.  But it’s more than that, you know?  The interest is generated off of the back of your own labor.  Spending months or years grinding, participating in the economy by selling things to new users, etc.  Redeeming my interest is basically nothing, but I worked harder for that nothing than some people will ever work on this site.  Like if it has to go, it has to go.  But I’m not alone.  Everyone has put in effort to reap the benefits of their interest to some degree.  It’s actually a nice thing.  You’d hope that you could either put in less work over the years, or be better rewarded for that same level of work.  I would, anyway.

A thing I’ve noticed of late:

I’m unemployed and mostly just chilling right now, so I actually have had the leisure and inclination to do the 3k games cap every day. I’m saving a bit to buy stuff that I missed when I was less-active, as well as to have a nest egg, a bit of a nugget cushion.

But once I’m done with the 3k cap, there’s nothing else to do on the site…? I browse around a bit, maybe will tinker with equipping pets, but there’s really nothing else to keep me around the rest of the day. It’s kind of frustrating, because I do like this site and want to spend time on it, but there’s not much rn to justify me spending time on it.

frieza
I actually changed it to ‘ever so slightly’ as the only edit I could stomache doing since I was just tired of reading words and even my own seemed like a chore haha. I did mention you clarified your stance more and the salty disposition I’d originally taken you for turned out to be less an actual thing. I’m fortunately one of the ones who like changes in general, and I think this one is a decent one. Just…not on it’s own. So there’s that

It’s not at expense of the lower class at all, I will give you that. There’s no /real/ economy to break in the first place. There’s items for sale on the bazaar, but it’s nowhere near as big as, say, FR’s AH. Actually Mycena’s userbase is the absolute nicest I’ve ever seen and it’s kind of amazing (and a breath of fresh air tbh) that things don’t get flipped/overinflated much as far as I can tell. So cheers to the rich not being jerks on this site. Same can’t be said for a lot of pet sites unfortunately. (Not that I’m entirely innocent, keeping FV’s wood prices high for the longest time when it first started…ah, good times.)

I’m with you on the point about interest incentivising spending. One of my main goals for Mycena has actually always been to hit 1m nuggets and be able to live off interest for the most part, only occasionally grinding if I really feel like it since the games get repetitive. Unfortunately, they are repetitive, which means spending several months of constant working at it in spare time feels like a chore or a job and not a game. I’ve actually taken more the the Creative Circle and trying to get in Echo’s top three (something I’ve been fairly diligent at I think, though this month I don’t think I bothered) for the bonus gems/nuggets that come with those things.

I was trying to just state it, not be accusing. Which speaking of, I only got one hour of rest so this post probably isn’t much better lmao. Still, do get your point. Already knew the point though not at the time of writing most of that, but yes I do get the point made. Rich help the economy if incentivized to do so and they kind of aren’t. Same hat, even from an apparently middle class citizen.

Still, the nuggets earned disparity is somewhat bothersome when you consider people who can’t get their grind on for one reason or another. I don’t know the best solution, and neither does anyone else. I do like the list I drew up. Speaking of, thanks, I came up with the discount all on my own! Am good little demon, yis! I think someone else might’ve mentioned more costly items and my mind jumped straight to more forever pets.

Oh and yes, interest earned is interest earned for sure. ‘S hard to save up that much and kudos to anyone who speedruns their way to the top of the interest ladder. I actually don’t know what my point was when it comes to them being no effort or I’d reiterate it to you, but ah well. My best guess is something something push button, get candy.

Anyways, my actual opinion is that I don’t care that much. I’m moderately displeased at my own income being sliced in fourth, but as long as they’re making other changes (which was more or less confirmed by Myla) I trust the staff enough that they’ll do something to make it suck less. The one point that’s been repeated again and again that I can’t not agree with is that they should’ve bundled this with positive changes. It would’ve helped with softening the blow and potentially filled in the void the interest break is going to leave behind. Who knows, maybe they do have something planned for the near future. Hopefully so. Because this change sucks. But that’s fine. It’s supposed to. *shrug*

polygone  Good stuff.  I don’t really have a bunch to say in response so I will keep this short.  Yeah the salty thing wasn’t taken badly by me or anything, and I did mentally note your preface to it.  It was more that it was still said so I thought I would speak to it, is all.  The only thing I will quote and reply to is:

Still, the nuggets earned disparity is somewhat bothersome when you consider people who can’t get their grind on for one reason or another.polygone

I am taking this to mean interest disparity.  This is why I don’t have a problem with income inequality in and of itself.  It’s a very surface level analysis that has no practicality in use.  What matters is how things are for the poor/struggling user on MC.  That is not dictated by a disparity in interest.  In fact, the interest mechanism is a tool they can use to move up in the economy too, just like the wealthier players.  It is dictated by how easily they can attain wealth for themselves.  The real issue with wealth on MC isn’t that the rich can rake in more and more interest, it’s that grinding the 3k is tedious to impossible for other users.  I really don’t understand an earning disparity through interest being bothersome beyond a gut reaction that it must be bothersome.  Maybe a case could be made, but my hunch is that a stronger case could be made against that instinct.

MC is a game that seems to be more oriented towards Roleplaying in general rather than buying things, so I don’t fully understand why there is a massive concern towards an overabundance of nuggets and the like. There’s nothing to really buy here except apparel items for characters. Like some people have said (and I’ve only skimmed through the first page so apologizes if I’m beating a dead horse), I think the issue is that we need more nugget sinks. There’s no way for people to really do anything on the site with their nuggets except buy the monthlies should they want them. Why not have a battle-system as someone suggested or a gardening system or anything that would permit people to use their nuggets more and more.

If there’s stuff to save for, it will motivate others to garner more nuggets in some way to buy said things, encouraging a more diverse pool of individuals to try and earn nuggets.

Couldn’t you just put a cap on the max amount of interest?  Like once you reach a certain amount a day it would just not let you get any more per day?  I really wanted to keep the interest that I worked hard to earn, I don’t feel that this is fair

With 1k bank interest I feel I must be somewhere in the middle, yes? Not super wealthy but I’m not struggling either. This decision doesn’t surprise me, but it does concern me a bit. I’m a casual player and usually only drop by for a few minutes to collect interest, answer the occasional echo, and maybe buy from OoTS if the design speaks to me (I’m waaaay more active during events though lol). Hoarding bank interest is my main way of earning on Mycena, and I planned it out that way early on so I could earn interest and afford the pets I want. The games here, unfortunately, do not hold my attention, and I can see my savings quickly dwindling without that daily interest.

Therefore I’d like to add my voice in requesting additional games and maybe a higher nugget cap. If you get enough games I would also support switching them out monthly or so to keep things fresh. Events are wonderful but sometimes offline responsibilities get in the way, so I’d really like to see more daily options for us to earn our keep, so to speak, at our own pace.

To be clear, I am not complaining about the loss of bank interest itself. I do understand why this decision was made. Too much free money in the mix is not good for Mycena’s future. At the same time I hope this change will help cut down on the number of millionaires+ unfairly controlling the market. My concern is of course for users like myself who will now lose out on our main way to earn nuggets with no new real incentive to replace that source of dubious income xD;;

[Edit] Something else that just occurred to me. Personally, every time I’ve used real money to purchase gems I made that decision because I wanted to keep my nugget interest high. Taking away that interest means there’s no reason to hoard so many nuggets which, in my case, means there’s less of a reason to spend money here. Making the choice to save my own nuggets in exchange for real money is one thing, but with interest being cut off it’d feel like I was being forced to spend money, which I am not likely to go along with. Just a thought. Maybe it’s just me.

_{Dont know if I should voice my thoughts because it will just be an echo of others…}

I am sad to see the interest go but I do understand it will be a change for the best. I am glad if I reach an interest of 200 nuggets per day. However taking it away will not change me hoarding my nuggets because my goals are pretty expensive. Like Auswren I am a casual player, logging in just to collect nuggets and respond to messages.
I hope there will be more games to play soon, and maybe a higher login bonus (after the new system has been tested for a bit).

I am also not likely to buy things with real money. I learned the hard way that “IF” a website goes poof there is no way to get my money back. It was a real shock for me when that happened and dont want to experience that ever again. I always feel bad that I cant support websites I like in that way, but it is what it is I guess. Also I am a poor student xD

I wish I could be more active though but my study and mental health prevent me from doing so. Maybe one day I will join the RP bit of this website. Really enjoyed the winter event, it showed me how much fun it can be :3 Looking forward to other events similar to it.

_{goes back in hiding}

I do understand why this decision was made. Too many millionaires unfairly controlling the market so nothing is affordable outside of their elite ring… trust me, I’ve noticed and it IS out of control. Auswren

 

Could you elaborate more on this?  How are millionaires unfairly controlling the market, and in what way are items truly out of the reach of other players?

Couldn’t you just put a cap on the max amount of interest?  Like once you reach a certain amount a day it would just not let you get any more per day?  I really wanted to keep the interest that I worked hard to earn, I don’t feel that this is fair FiniteFeline

This is exactly what I wandered back in here to say.
It would give players just starting out something to work towards, a goal they can feel accomplished reaching, but older players won’t be fully dependent on interest for their money making.

Myla and crew, thank you. I know I’ve said it in the past but I really appreciate the level of communication and involvement y’all have with the community when changes are being made. Sometimes you give users a chance to have their say but other times it’s just not conducive to running a good site if necessary changes get voted on by the whole site’s member base. Even in those latter situations, though, y’all communicate exactly what’s going on and really explain why the changes are necessary. I can’t think of a single other site with that level of transparency and it reassures me that y’all really know what you’re doing and will do what is best for the site as a whole. So yeah, thanks to all of you running this site.

frieza I was more referring to retired pets and items, which some ultra rich users are perfectly fine asking ridiculous prices for them because it’s pocket change to them, but for an average player is unobtainable. It also shows new players from the start that they are joining an unbalanced economy where they probably won’t get what they want, so why stick around?

Auswren - Here I’d like to make the argument, if you’ll allow me, that that’s very much a standard supply/demand economy at foot. If it was an issue of one user buying up all the “reasonably priced” items/pets to turn them around at an exorbitant cost, it would be one thing, but there’s very little of that on MC (heck, very little economy at all). There’s also the issue of MC essentially having no “middle” economy, as items tend to jump from “very easy to get” to “several days/weeks’ worth of miserly saving” very quickly. That is a problem of having a small playerbase and no consumable items market (think codestones on Neopets).

In this case, the solution is not to punish the wealthy for having items that have a low supply, and, thus, a high value - in fact, getting rid of bank interest does nearly nothing to affect this specific “problem” - but instead to release more of the items worth an exorbitant cost, thus driving down their prices, or introduce a feature that creates a mid-level economy and makes the path to owning an “expensive” item like a rarer site coat seem less like a leap and more like a series of smaller steps. One of those options is easier, but a site where everything is easily obtainable is also boring.

In fact, on that note I’d like to make the argument that having extremely rare and hard-to-obtain items is not necessarily a bad thing. The reason why “capitalism simulators” are being pushed here is because that’s a gameplay that gives users goals to work toward, which leads to users returning to the site, which leads to a larger and more dynamic playerbase, which leads to every feature - RP included - being more active and engaging. And MC is pretty good about trying to make sure items are “rare” but not “impossibly rare” - that’s why Rikur’s Rarities exists.

TL;DR (sorry, I kind of went off on you) - the rare pets and items are actually reasonably priced based on supply and demand, but since there’s no active mid-tier economy, the solution here is not to lower interest - which will not affect pet prices or make them seem any more attainable to the average player (in fact, the opposite holds true) - but instead to create a more dynamic economy that makes people think there’s a path to becoming able to afford rare items that isn’t dependent on a really boring 3k grind.

Auswren  I guess I personally don’t see things the way that you do.  In fact I feel that the site is actually catered towards new players in terms of the interest mechanism as well as the low price of retired pets and items.  OOTS stuff basically rises 1k in price per month of retirement.  So if you join MC and you want an item that retired a year before you got here, that’s just 4 more days of grinding.  And all of the OOTS of the last like 2-3 years basically caps at 25-30k.  My understanding is that some of the oldest and rarest things are in the 100k range, but most aren’t and I would argue that even that isn’t so bad.  The real issue is new players can’t commit to earning the 3k a day for various reasons.  That doesn’t mean the site is inaccessible once you get past that barrier, though.

glitch Was it supposed to be rollover last night or tonight that the new system gets implemented?

Kippie

It’s supposed to be July, not June c:

Oxton WELL THEN why is my reading comprehension so bad all the time omg NEVER MIND

Late Chibi is late. As always. Needed to sort out my thoughts and I’ll probably edit this to add more I didn’t think of…

For me, I worked hard to earn my nest egg in the bank. Most days I’ve maxed out on dailies and participated as much as I can in events. Haven’t lately due to work. In any case, I feel like those with large bank accounts are inaccurately portrayed… I suppose it could be worded better. On the days I maxed out, I set aside time to actually max out so I can take it a bit easier later on thanks to interest. I see something to work toward rather than a tedious every day task. Spellstones used to be fun and so was caved in until I played them everyday to earn nuggets for my nest egg.

So in short, work hard now and play later.

Also I pitch in when I can. Now that I managed to gain some employment (temporary but still!), I’m trying to save up for RL stuff that I’ve been putting off due to my budget. I don’t mind spending a few dollars per month if the site needs to be funded for things like the server and whatnot.

I’m a collector, but I haven’t been able to collect the items from the recent events, and am missing a coat from the latest event. For me, I place a higher priority on coats than the items. That’s just me.

I guess it’s a rehash of what a lot of players are saying, but I wanted to voice my thoughts rather than say I agree with this player.

Hello!

After reading through the posts in this thread, we want to make a quick clarification about our views on players with large balances, and to re-center the discussions taking place around the purpose of this change. Chibi Envy Chan, while touching on similar topics as you, this is not a direct response to you — just a general response on topics you and others have engaged on.

We do not view players with large balances or a lot of Mycena Cave wealth as a problem to be dealt with. Quite to the contrary, if you’ve built up a sizeable nest egg on Mycena Cave, it’s most likely because you’ve interacted with Mycena Cave a lot, and hopefully you’ve had fun doing so. The overwhelming majority of our players with a lot of wealth contribute heavily to Mycena Cave’s success: some by purchasing gems to keep Mycena Cave viable, but most by sheer presence and positive community and activity engagement. We love having you around, and your investment into keeping our website alive and fun (whether via monetary investment, emotional investment, or a combination of both) is sincerely appreciated.

In spite of the months of discussion behind the decision to remove bank interest and replace it with a daily login bonus, the final reasoning is pretty straight-forward: interest was utterly failing to accomplish the task for which it was intended (providing a leg up for newbies), and it was accomplishing a task which we felt was detrimental (costing us an impressive monthly sum to provide a perk for a relatively small number of players). Early in our discussion we considered keeping interest but capping it to max out at 100 nuggets per day. Then it occurred to us that it was silly to have a system which gives established players with a comparatively negligible amount (what player with a a few hundred thousand nuggets lying around cares about the next 100?), while continuing to not be at all useful to players starting out (without spending money, it takes a long time to acquire a bank balance which will pay out 100 nuggets per day). A clear response to that became “just give everyone 100 nuggets”, to which we added a small ‘streak’ aspect for encouraging continuity.

I know that it can be easy to misconstrue some of the details and purpose behind the statements in the initial post, especially given that this update engenders strong feelings from people who care deeply about this website. While we hope this change will have a number of positive effects, the replacement of bank interest with a daily bonus is primarily about replacing an unsustainable perk with a sustainable one while increasing its effect on those who need it most.

Thanks for reading!

Thanks for the response, glitch.  My concern with all of this is it basically amounts to tinkering with things that don’t need to be tinkered with instead of fixing the deeper issues of the site.  So many to most users aren’t taking advantage of the interest in the way you’d like, right?  Does that actually mean interest should go, or should you try to ameliorate the grinding process with better payouts or new games, etc.?  The fact remains that the interest system helps the poor gain nuggets AND encourages the wealthy to spend.  The issue is many find it hard to grind (or even save, that’s its own problem) or come up with a reason to spend.  These don’t go away by removing interest.  In a way, it doesn’t even make sense to remove interest.  It’s a tool that helps the poorer players move up in the game, just like you intended. 

 

interest was utterly failing to accomplish the task for which it was intended (providing a leg up for newbies), and it was accomplishing a task which we felt was detrimental (costing us an impressive monthly sum to provide a perk for a relatively small number of players).glitch

Interest didn’t fail.  The players failed themselves because they didn’t put in the effort to benefit from it.  You maybe could argue the site failed some players who mentally or physically can’t grind the 3k a day.  But the thing that deserves the least blame is interest itself. 

What did you mean by detrimental, exactly?  Many players have relayed that they wouldn’t have spent this money on the site and so it’s not lost revenue for MC.  Also, given what you said in your last post it wouldn’t be that rich players generating 1-2k off of interest would be detrimental to the site, right?  I think a case can be made that high levels of interest encourage economic activity from the rich that also benefits poorer players.

 

Early in our discussion we considered keeping interest but capping it to max out at 100 nuggets per day. Then it occurred to us that it was silly to have a system which gives established players with a comparatively negligible amount (what player with a a few hundred thousand nuggets lying around cares about the next 100?), while continuing to not be at all useful to players starting outglitch

How much does the new system give?  I had seen a figure of around 100. 

 

(without spending money, it takes a long time to acquire a bank balance which will pay out 100 nuggets per day)glitch

With all due respect, it doesn’t take long at all.  It takes 2 weeks to reach that amount, not counting interest as you go or fishing profits.  I feel like people are getting really weird with time when it comes to MC.  They want everything 5 minutes ago when in reality the idea is people will be here for months to years.  Most things on here are actually fine in how long it takes to get them, whether items or interest levels.

 

A clear response to that became “just give everyone 100 nuggets”, to which we added a small ‘streak’ aspect for encouraging continuity.glitch

The same 100 nuggets that was of no real use to either established or new players?  Glitch could you speak to the idea that a big part of this revamp is to limit nuggets in the economy?  If this isn’t specifically MC having issues with rich users on MC, could it still be about wanting to limit nuggets from what we had been seeing from the old interest system?  Why else change it so drastically?  If it’s about wanting to help poorer players only then other, better ideas would have come up.  There seem to be other factors in play that aren’t being brought up for whatever reason. 

And can you speak to the issue of a lack of wealth-based interest system in regards to PP?  I have 2.5m nuggets and I actually feel broke, if I am being frank with you.  I don’t know that I will be able to buy ANY sprouts in the future.  Is this interest revamp designed to make us get sprouts for USD and not for free/nuggets?  It feels like that’s what is going on.

 

While we hope this change will have a number of positive effects, the replacement of bank interest with a daily bonus is primarily about replacing an unsustainable perk with a sustainable one while increasing its effect on those who need it most.glitch

Along what dimensions was the interest system unsustainable?  I don’t quite see your meaning here.  Those who need interest most are those who can’t grind easily or at all, whether it’s a mental block of physical/health issues/etc.  They are hurt by this new system.  The wealthy are hurt by this new system as well.  In fact, the only people who this will help are those conscientious enough to grind every day but have poor discipline and are too broke to generate interest.  Game design/economy-wise…why are we catering towards this demographic, again?  They can work towards the things they want.  It’s those who can’t grind who can’t do that…and we’re removing a tool that helps many of them on a daily basis. 

glitch how does the daily bonus work? where do we get this?

Fie95 Looks like they added a new area under the ‘Places’ tab called ‘Daily Bonus’ where you can collect some nuggets.

Er… well I guess there’s no need to use the bank anymore.

Mind you, I really never made much on interest anyhow and I don’t have much use for nuggets nowadays, but still feels bad to lose my source of non-fishy nuggets.

Fie95 see here

Thank you for asking and posting where to go for this. I’d completely forgotten altogether there was going to be a ‘thing’ to get for daily logging in. 

...just curious, why couldn’t the daily bonus be loaded on the same page as the Bank? 

thanks! and i agree with Ore lol

The daily bonus currently has the banker tending it until we have a new NPC ready to pick up the ropes. With the exception of the temporary standing-in for the NPC, it has nothing to do with the bank, which is why it’s not available on the bank page.

glitch  Ahhhhhhhh…okay, that makes sense!  Thank you for explaing it glitch!!

I know I’m nitpicky about lore, but what “place” is the daily bonus/reward actually?

It would be nice if it had framing like the other places - Maybe a Quarry?

I can understand why a lot of people are taking this bank change really hard, but I think it could be a good thing in that it gets people to look to other places for their nuggets. Like the forums for example. If you RP or write a lot (which I feel is a HUGE part of this site), it earns you quite a few! Also participating in the forum games can earn you nuggets, gems and cool items.
My only complaint is that you have 5 games (if you count fishing) to earn nuggets from and it can be time-consuming to get the cap every single day. I feel that some people (including myself) don’t have the time to do that. I feel that 3,000 isn’t very much also… If you’d at least put it at 3,600 so there’s a chance to earn practically a gem a day, that would make it at least a little more rewarding if you’re able to hit it.

I know what’s done is done, but that’s my little input for now

Jacq we’re still working on the lore. It’ll get more fleshed out in the near future, with its own NPC etc :)

Skipena that’s a fair point, and it’s something we’re working to find a good balance for. In spirit, I like the notion of getting to the value of a full gem with the daily cap, as it would provide a sense of completion (especially as compared to the “good job, you earned not quite enough for a gem!” we have in place now). We’re treading very carefully in that regard for two reasons:

• Once given, it becomes extremely difficult to take away again should it be discovered / decided that we’d rather accomplish this a different way. Adding bank interest to begin with was a near-trivial decision, removing it was painful
• Raising the cap also has its downsides — it means that you have to play longer in order to hit it, and there’s a certain feeling of “needing” to hit the cap every day. We could balance this by raising game payouts as well, but again that’s non-trivial because of the point above, and because it also generally re-balances the site as a whole towards the games (and away from RP, etc).

All that said it’s not off the table, and my goal with this post isn’t to “explain why we won’t do it”, but just providing some of the background as to why it isn’t an easy “oh sure we’ll just do that!” kind of decision :)