Profile Balance, Steamtech UI DLC, Voratun Coins... oh my!

[darkgod]

(Copy from: http://te4.org/blogs/darkgod/2014/01/ne ... y-goodness )

My minions,

Over the last days I've worked very hard to upgrade te4.org to handle donations better and to allow many new things.

Balance Tab
First thing, you may have noticed a new "Balance" tab in your user profile which list all donations, DLC purchases, game purchases (like on Steam, Desura, ...) and so on.
Check that yours seems ok, if not please report it on ToME's forums.

Voratun Coins
Voratun coins are awarded for each donation you make, for each purchase on Steam, ... for 10 coins per euros.
Voratun Coins are used to acquire DLCs and to unlock donator features.
*Every* donators get the donator features unlocked, even if they donated less than the "default" cost (60 coins), to keep in-line with the way things worked and just because I like being nice.
This means if you donated 5€ your balance will show -10 coins remaining, this is not a bug.

DLCs
For people who go above the minimal donation there is now the possibility to acquire DLCs. Yes I've said the D-word!
But DarkGod I thought you were a nice guy!
Well I hope I am yes (a nice dark god of pain and withering obviously!) but this does not prevent me from thanking people that go out of their way to support the game, does it ?
But DarkGod, does this means you will never give anything for free anymore?
Not at all my good friend! Updates to Tales of Maj'Eyal have always happened and will keep on doing so, for it is something I like doing. New DLCs will come yes, but free will always be free as I hope I have proven more than enough
You can find all the available DLCs there: http://te4.org/tome/dlc

Steamtech UI DLC
This is the first, and currently only, available DLC which can be found there: http://te4.org/dlc/steamtech-ui
This is the very same you can get on Steam (for the same price too obviously), as many people have requested to be able to grab it even though they do not have Steam. Now they can!
I wanted to have this available sooner but it required all the other stuff to be working first.

Now my minions, go donate, go grab DLCs, and most importantly, go enjoy the game (and die many deaths to fuel my Throne of Tears!)

[Sradac]

Hooray for microtransactions currency on top of a paid-for game on steam..?

:p

[YanniFirewind]

And free off steam. This is just a method to give non-steam accounts the same DLC access of steam.

[Zeyphor]

I hope the other future dlc is just cosmetic

[Crim, The Red Thunder]

Read the description for the current one. 'Orc DLC in the future'. New orc campaign, and the steam-tech that comes with it. Yeaaaaahhh...

Hoping that goes the route of free DLC. Would hate for anyone to miss out on the continuation of his excellent story thus far.

[Razakai]

As long as it's reasonably priced, I have no problem with non-cosmetic DLC. Considering I've gotten more hours out of this game than half a dozen of the recent 'AAA' mainstream games put together, and at no cost at all.

[migizi]

First I don't see an issue with DLC for this game. Let's remember that the game and engine are released under the GPLv3 license. If people really don't want to pay for more features, then take the code and make the game you want.

Second if this helps bring in revenue to improve the game, then we should all be happy.

Third the game is free to play, no one says you have to pay to play. Modules and add-ons are free.

Forth if you spend a lot of time playing the game why haven't you donated already, hmmm?

Lastly, it's free, GPLv3, don't donate if you feel offended, but remember he is a man creating a fun game. Even free isn't free, he has bills, needs, necessities. Our free enjoyment doesn't come from imaginary effort.

[evouga]

I both gave a straight donation, and bought the game on Steam. The account seems to have been linked correctly to Steam, but "Balance" only credits my donation.

Don't get me wrong, I have more than enough Vorutun coins already, but I figured I would report it since something is glitched with the system.

[YanniFirewind]

I forget where (on these forums somewhere), but I recall seeing a mention that the orc campaign would be paid DLC.

[Ivels]

DLC

Well now I have to post this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTYpKlIc_fg

[IgnatiusReilly]

lol

That video actually makes me like the idea of DLC.

EA should hire these guys.

[Darkmere]

As long as new stuff is available in Steam (and hence, easily fits in my current game budgeting system) I'm completely fine with throwing my money at stuff. I've gotten so many hours out of this already, I'll gladly support it more.

[Sradac]

My problem with this, like how so many silly mobile apps do it, is it will now have BOTH paying for the core game, and micro-transactions. Either pay for the game and get everything, or dont pay for it and only get things through micro transactions is fine. But mixing both seems more like a quick greedy cash grab than an honest business endeavor.

Yes you can DL off te4.org for free. That dosent mean you can play on Steam that way which is where all this comes into play and matters.

Yes I donated a long time ago before steam was ever in sight. No I have no problem throwing money at DarkGod. I'm just turned off when games make you both pay for the game, and pay for in-game currency for micro transactions. Im not talking about DLC here, im talking about these little 1-off microtransactions like the steam UI or the item vault. item vault is hardly worthy of the "DLC" title.

[Grey]

Im not talking about DLC here, im talking about these little 1-off microtransactions like the steam UI or the item vault. item vault is hardly worthy of the "DLC" title.

I think at the moment for the Steam UI it's a bit of a patch-in to make sure that donators aren't losing out to Steam buyers. Don't consider this representative of what future DLCs will contain.

[darkgod]

Indeed, I've rushed this out because it was requested and because I didn't want old donators to feel left out.
This is meant in the end for more meaty things