TheCatholic
Caldari
The Dark Space Initiative
Revival Of The Talocan Empire
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Posted - 2011.06.16 23:13:00 -
[1]
I have a little bit of constructive criticism to offer.
For what its worth, there will be 4 classes of 3rd party developers created when this goes into effect. The first class will be the developer that will do business with Apple, Android, etc. They will pay the $99 to be allowed to turn a nice income for themselves and give us some apps for our mobile devices and Macs that we have so sorely been missing. Personally, these people haven't been the bulk of the QQing in this thread so they are probably pretty happy that if they make a $1.99 app, and they get 1000 downloads, the cake won't be a lie. I'd be pretty happy.
The second class will be the developer that asks for ISK donations for the privilege of using their applications. These guys represent the bulk of the QQing as this class is by far, the trickiest of all. The ISK donations have a very real monetary value. I don't think I need to remind folks that approximately 400,000 ISK is equivalent to $15. These developers also represent the largest developer-base in the game. But the ISK donations remain in-game and are used to re-sub, while the cost savings to the developer is applied to their web hosting needs. They profit, but it all stays in-game.
The third class of developer will be the kid that creates a website, or a fansite, with a Shattered Crystal ad, or a Battle Clinic ad, that provides them with a few pennies if someone purchases game time when users click the link. Although this developer, technically, would be commercial, it in no way matches the first class, yet would be subject to the same $99. Which brings up another point; If a kid is using the fan kit, which requires strict adherence to CCP TOS anyway, aren't they already bound by a license, sort of speak? I say this because my son set up a fansite, using Incursion, but just recently linked Shattered Crystal. I really can't justify spending $99 on a fan site every year just because he made have made a profit of 10 cents.
The forth class will simply be the fansite that asks for nothing and therefore is non-commercial.
I think that a well thought out tier system should be set up so as to not alienate any of the development community that has been so active and helpful. Ninety-Nine dollars should be the VERY top tier in the model, as all of the other tiers will just be scrapping by. Lumping the first three classes into the same payment model just doesn't make sense. You could create a professional license, standard license, amateur license
and non-commercial license.
That's my 2-cents.
Long Live The Caldari!
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