[ANSWER THIS EVERYONE] Would you donate for...?

[Sportacus]

I agree the List of High Contributers is useless/worthless, but there are 4 different main types of people:

#1 - Person who will only donate for stuff.
#2 - Person who will only donate for stuff if it makes them stronger
#3 - Person who wants to donate just to support the server, and doesn't care about the stuff.
#4 - Person who does not donate.

Then it works like this: (These are just examples, and are not taken from any real data)
#1 - Cosmetic Items - 10% of players will donate $1-$20
#2 - Pay2Win Items - 20% of players will donate $5-$5000 (Yes, even on OTs I know people who donate hundreds if not thousands of dollars for pay2win items)
#3 - Weekly VIP - 50% of players will donate $5 a week.
#4 - Donate for nothing - 1% of players will donate with no rewards

Sadly, the above is mostly true.

It is very true, but I feel like if you added a prompt during the donation process of ''Where do you want your donation to go towards" and there would be a list of various project ideas/choices to pick from, it would help the donation process as a whole, give some context to it, and motivate repeat donations.

 

[Flatlander]

It is very true, but I feel like if you added a prompt during the donation process of ''Where do you want your donation to go towards" and there would be a list of various project ideas/choices to pick from, it would help the donation process as a whole, give some context to it, and motivate repeat donations.

I can agree with this, and will probably have this feature upon release. I was actually talking about this exact feature in the otland discord this morning.

[9:01 AM] Zenorex: @Flatlander I would donate for the sake of donating. There's a common misconception between purchasing something and donating
[9:02 AM] Zenorex: just because people claim they are donates doesn't make them donates
[9:03 AM] Flatlander: Yes, this is true Zenorex. 
I was actually thinking of having my donations NOT give you anything. Except you could use your donate points to "Vote" for things you'd like added to the game. 
For example: If you donate $20, you'd get 20 points. and you'd be able to "vote" 20 times. Options could include: 
--New Dungeon: Volcano Dungeon 
--New Dungeon: Castle Dungeon 
--Cooking System: Cook food before you eat it! 
--Potion Mixing System: Cook your own potions! 
--Blacksmith UI: Improved User Interface for the Blacksmith NPCs 
-Etc 
This way, the things people donate for the most, are the things I'd work on first.

 

[Zasranets]

I think @Znote made a good point about this poll being inaccurate. There is probably a variety of "spenders" that voted in the polls. There are players who don't mind tossing around lots of money (these players most likely work and don't have much time to play) so they would probably prefer to have the items that allowed them to increase their gameplay speed such as op items, boost scrolls, or other items that could be considered p2w. Then you have the players who will never donate to a server so they would rather vote to have cosmetics because they don't want those people with tons of cash to donate huge amounts and have an advantage. Then I guess you have people in the middle.

I very rarely donate to a server unless I believe the developer deserves a little something for his hard work, or if I know the server will last for a long time. I hate the idea of being able to donate for equipment or consumable items. What I mean by that is like boost scrolls, upgrade items, etc... because you will need to buy them a lot. I would much rather prefer to see a donation item such as an unlimited teleport scroll, an item that allows you to sell items from your inventory, or an all in one items (pick, shovel, rope, etc.. ). These are items that will always be useful, save time, aren't overpowered, and it's a one time buy.

Aside from all of that I think the idea @Sportacus had was interesting, but won't thrive on it's own. I think it would be great if you can still donate for cosmetics, items, or the things you choose BUT when you donate you get 2 different sets of points. The first set of points would be the donation points which you could use to buy items from the donation shop. Then you also get server points which then could be used to vote for things players would like to be added into the game.

 

[Znote]

To extend on @Zasranets list. There are plenty of things you can do that may certainly be considered an in-game advantage without taking it too far, that has the primary purpose of being more a quality of gameplay thing.
Being able to teleport between your house and depot
Being able to teleport to and from hunting grounds if you are out of combat and not pz locked (although this may very well give you an advantage when it comes to powerlevling).
Access to buy big houses/guildhalls.
Easier access to rare trading NPCs to sell stuff (etc buy the completion of djin quest)
Perhaps restrict the possibility to create guilds? (Perhaps this sounds weird but I think its a pretty good idea, it yields no pvp advantage and the status of being in a guild and be a guild leader would be greater).

 

[Xagul]

This is probably very inaccurate. I'm interested to see a comparison, these results vs actual results from players who have donated to your server. After 50-100 recorded transactions on your OT server, add this poll and measure the results then (only allow those who have donated to vote).
To see what the guys that actually fund your server wants.

I think they will go more toward pay to gain an advantage, if not unique OP items unaquired in-game through other means, then at least starting gear to get them started quickly.

Kito from mtibia measured his paying consumers, and found out that many of them are busy people. (earning a living). Thus small things that lets them enjoy the limited time they spend on the OT is important for them. You will loose some of these players if you don't have anything to compell them with.

You got to find the golden thread for your server.

Over the past several years I have noticed a similar trend as your friend but I also think there are reasons other than what you have suggested.

First off I would like to suggest that if a game is fun, and I mean it's really fun not just an addicting mind game like most, then people regardless of the amount of time they have to spend on the computer will enjoy it.
I also think that the cosmetic/utility option cannot be fully explored by normal OT servers due to client restrictions. A custom client with all new outfits/addons/mounts and even as Flatlander suggested shiny colors might be appealing. I think evidence of this is real tibia, they seem to be pumping out premium mounts and outfits like no tomorrow so it must be working. Another example is Path of Exile which is a free to play MMO-ARPG that deals almost exclusively in cosmetic micro-transactions (the exception being space in your bank to hold more items).

The big discussion is always pay to win and while I have to agree that most people seem to prefer an "advantage" or a "speed up" I think this is only as apparent as it is because once said advantage exists, it becomes a requirement to compete.

An example:
Zelda (Single-Player): You offer a 20% stat/exp boost.
League of Legends (PvP): You offer the same 20% stat/exp boost.

In these two scenarios I would be willing to bet that given any sample size, more players proportionally on the pvp game will own said boost simply because it is now required for them to compete with the rest.

Now with all of that said, to answer your original question/interest. Synthetic and myself have actually been collecting data on every item purchased in our reward shop and it is very clear that items that provide some boost to gameplay are by far more popular (as expected on a pvp game). But one thing to note is that we run an 8.6 server that doesn't have many cosmetic options. Also another interesting thing that you might not even consider is random chance rewards (kinda like gambling). The most popular reward for us is a lottery ticket that lets you spin a wheel for random rewards. Now something to also note here is that each ticket is extremely cheap so that could also contribute to this statistic but the sheer number of tickets sold over the course of a year is astonishing when you compare other reward options on our server.


So a tldr for most that don't want to read an essay.
I think "power" donations are only popular because tibia does not have many new/unique cosmetic options. Also if said "power" donation exists then it becomes a requirement to compete in a PvP environment. The only way to truly test this would be to make a server with 2 worlds, 1 with power donations and the other with cosmetic/utility only and see which one is more popular.

If you really are interested to see if power donations matter I suggest you take a look at this games business model https://www.pathofexile.com/shop this game has been around for years and has almost exclusively sold cosmetics, the only exception being stash (bank) space to store items.

 

[Himii]

I have bought loads of p2w items on servers but i would like to just donate to a well made enjoyable server for something that isnt gamechanging

 

[Bredaase]

I chose I would not donate for the exp boost and loot boost and i didnt vote for anything else. Yet I think 10% boost is totally acceptable and legit since it is no major advantage and developers need to be paid (except if you want Open-Tibia to be your expensive hobby). The best way to go is to have the system that CS:GO for example has. Only cosmetic items since they dont give you any advantage but still help you to make your character individual.

 

[Damon]

Usually I dont donate because there is something to get from but rather because I enjoy playing the server. That being said it could be the Sword of Thousand truths (South Park reference hehe xD), a cool outfit or even some deco^^

 

[Animera]

Usually I dont donate because there is something to get from but rather because I enjoy playing the server. That being said it could be the Sword of Thousand truths (South Park reference hehe xD), a cool outfit or even some deco^^

i would defiantly pay my month salary for backdoor sluts 9 cipporn dvd rack armor