Would love a quest for a free *basic* companion animal

[Zelrin_]

So in game you can get a palcat when you buy the cosmetic currency. It's a great incentive for players to put money into the game, yes, but I think we could do better. I have no issues paying for cosmetics, in fact I bought an outfit in game. But I think there's a simple "best of both worlds" solution so players can get a free basic sandy palcat.

It would be a great idea for there to be a quest with Hassian or Nijuma (or any character) where in the quest the player finds/rescues a palcat. In the quest we can learn about palcats, their personalities, and what makes them great companions. In the cosmetics shop there could be different colors and patterns of palcats for players to buy or maybe a completely different animal companion like a plumehound or even a chappa. Again, those companion animals could also have different skins or patterns available.

So what about those that already have a palcat? Those players could get a special, unique palcat skin as a "thanks to our early supporters" type of deal.

Tl;dr Make a quest to let players earn the sandy palcat and make different palcat patterns and other animal companions available to buy.

[lilacbun]

yes i agree

[ptarn]

Things like this should have been in the game from the start. You can't run a game on the 'power of payment' from those with enough interest/money to buy stuff alone. You need to have the goodwill of players who can't or won't invest any of their money into it.

Incentives to actually play the game? None. Unless you count the FOMO events - which I hate with a passion - and the desire to see what'll happen when you complete all the NPC quests (either as friend or as romance option). The story? It interested me at the start, but now it's kinda tapered off into a little tidbit here and a little tidbit there. Also, for a game that's supposedly an MMO, the world is incredibly small (only two regions) and the biggest disappointment, for me, was/is the fact that you cannot choose where you want to build a house.

I might have misunderstood their initial ideas about this, but to me it felt as if there would be multiple places/plots in the world that you could choose from to place a house, with people being able to admire at least the outside and/or garden without having to enter a personal instance. And that the house would have a 'base form/shape' which you could expand upon instead of being entirely free to place rooms wherever you want on your plot.

I'm disappointed by the game and by the attitude of the developer and some of Palia's players. The game is far from finished, is a far cry from an MMO, and has lots of bugs and glitches that were and still can be game-breaking. Right now it's an average game with a far too expensive shop and it does not cater to its casual players at all.

[Roan]

Originally posted by Zelrin_:

Honestly, this really all started because I assumed playing a game called "Palia" I would at some point be given a "pal". I know that it's the world that is called Palia, but, come on, "pal" is right there in the name!

Ah but you see that's where you made the mistake.

It's pronounced pay-lee-uh.

Emphasis on the "pay."

[ZeroGiven]

Game hemorrhaging money and people still wanting free stuff. You should join their Discord, you'd fit right in.

[ZeroGiven]

Originally posted by PopPopPopCat:

Originally posted by ZeroGiven:

Game hemorrhaging money and people still wanting free stuff. You should join their Discord, you'd fit right in.

I don't understand this snark remark. Are you bootlicking?...

Are you one of those people who says "yes try the game but also spend money so they survive!!!!"? Are you telling us we must spend money to play the game and shouldn't expect anything for free?... Huh

Are you going to pay for consistently disgusting and cold food at your local go-to restaurant because you "owe them out of loyalty"? No-one owes loyalty to a business as a customer, they must earn it. And Palia is a business.
Let them figure their ♥♥♥♥ out and stop putting out cold and ♥♥♥♥♥♥ food and then you can consider spending money, don't shill your hard earned money on a corpo that can't get it's ♥♥♥♥ together and constantly shows no care for their customers or community.

And asking for a free pet when the only pets are locked behind real money is perfectly ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ valid.

Someone telling their community that the game is trash and shouldn't be played is definitely a bootlicker.

S6 wasn't willing to offer free pets before it was obvious they were short of cash. Now, they'll probably raise the qualifying spending, first.

The people that are still going to that restaurant are the same ones playing this failing trash game and expecting a GOTY.

[ZeroGiven]

Originally posted by PopPopPopCat:

Originally posted by ZeroGiven:

Someone telling their community that the game is trash and shouldn't be played is definitely a bootlicker.

S6 wasn't willing to offer free pets before it was obvious they were short of cash. Now, they'll probably raise the qualifying spending, first.

The people that are still going to that restaurant are the same ones playing this failing trash game and expecting a GOTY.

NGL I am hella confused, how is me telling people to wait for them to fix their mess before spending/playing being a bootlicker? whose boots am I licking?
On the other hand, you telling people who want a free (even ugly at that) pet while the only pets in the game are behind spending real money that they are beggars or whatever? sounds like you're telling us we need to support s6 with our hard earned money and that demanding free things in a free game is bad?...
I'm really asking you for your reasoning behind that because that's what it sounded like, and given your other comments against the studio I cannot comprehend how you think this way as well.

And to that, they had millions, and years and you say they couldn't make free pets because "they were strapped for cash"? holy hell that is absolutely hilarious

At no point did I call you a bootlicker, call people beggars or say/imply that S6 couldn't make free pets because they were strapped for cash. Either English isn't your first language or this is the boldest strawman, ever.

[ZeroGiven]

Originally posted by PopPopPopCat:

Okay we cleared that part out, but what about this?

Originally posted by ZeroGiven:

Game hemorrhaging money and people still wanting free stuff. You should join their Discord, you'd fit right in.

We can't ask for them to add free stuff because they are hemorrhaging money?
The whole reason we want free pets and outfits is because that benefits the entirety of the community, being able to earn things is a driving force in wanting to spend money.

Again, never said anyone couldn't ask.

Before strong evidence that S6 was cash strapped, they refused to release a pet for free because the pets were used to incentivize purchases. Now, with strong evidence that S6 is cash strapped, people are still asking for free pets. Why would someone think S6 would change their mind? The Discord is full of asks, with multiple years of evidence that those asks aren't going to be fulfilled (see #Accessibility-Discussions).

[MadDawg2552]

I'm not trying to defend anyone here, before someone accuses me of it.

If you have over 40 hours of played time that you enjoyed, don't you think you should chip in some money? Even spending just $5 gets you a pet.

If this game isn't worth your money, then why is it worth your time? Your time is more valuable.

[MadDawg2552]

Originally posted by PopPopPopCat:

You should not give your money just because you spent 40 hours playing this game.
If the game is unplayable, how does that warrant spending money?

If the game is unplayable, I stop playing it. That's how it works. I don't ask for free stuff (a.k.a. a bribe) to keep me playing a game I don't enjoy.

[MadDawg2552]

Originally posted by PopPopPopCat:

There's nuance to it, it's not ape like that, you love the premise of the game but you don't love what the devs are changing or the things they're adding. So you give feedback.

Live service games like these tune and change their gameplay entirely to attract and retain players so they will spend money. It's not the same as a play it and be done when you finish it game.
The entire model is based on retention. And you can't have retention when so many are unhappy.

I agree with that, but what does it have to do with free pets and cosmetics?

When you're playing a free-to-play game with a cash shop, and you choose to be a free player, you have to accept the fact that you're not going to get the same perks as a paying player.

The perks in this game are pets, outfits, and glider skins. You have to pay if you want these things. If you are a paying customer and suddenly the stuff you paid for is now free (or similar items, it doesn't matter), you'll stop being a paying customer. The people that don't spend money are still not going to spend money.

[ZeroGiven]

Originally posted by MadDawg2552:

Originally posted by PopPopPopCat:

There's nuance to it, it's not ape like that, you love the premise of the game but you don't love what the devs are changing or the things they're adding. So you give feedback.

Live service games like these tune and change their gameplay entirely to attract and retain players so they will spend money. It's not the same as a play it and be done when you finish it game.
The entire model is based on retention. And you can't have retention when so many are unhappy.

I agree with that, but what does it have to do with free pets and cosmetics?

When you're playing a free-to-play game with a cash shop, and you choose to be a free player, you have to accept the fact that you're not going to get the same perks as a paying player.

The perks in this game are pets, outfits, and glider skins. You have to pay if you want these things. If you are a paying customer and suddenly the stuff you paid for is now free (or similar items, it doesn't matter), you'll stop being a paying customer. The people that don't spend money are still not going to spend money.

Why spend money on a game that isn't released? They are getting free testing. They have ignored feedback from those testers since Alpha. The fact that people are still testing the game baffles me but people have different tolerances, I guess.

[Zelrin_]

Originally posted by MadDawg2552:

If you have over 40 hours of played time that you enjoyed, don't you think you should chip in some money? Even spending just $5 gets you a pet.

I did. I think I mentioned in the post that I had bought an outfit, so I have a palcat. I am just trying to think of giving something extra to the community as a whole, especially the ftp players. Adding new pets in the cosmetic shop would add incentive for players to pay for items and would just be nice in general. A quest for players to earn a palcat would also add a bit more flavor and would be a milestone for players top look forward to.

In another point, there shouldn't be pressure for players to play, especially in free games. Even if a game is my all time favorite, I shouldn't feel pressure to pay the company for anything. Some people can't afford things like that either.

There are games like Sky (which is heavily cosmetic based) where free players can earn cosmetics, and there are still cosmetics specifically for those who pay for them. Now I think the company that runs Sky is larger than Palia's, but the point is that in Sky there is a lot of incentive for players to spend money, while also servicing the free players.

I actually enjoy this game, I was just trying to throw out a suggestion that I feel would improve it further using my experience with other games and as a player of this one.