Hello,
Low priority cosmetic idea here..
Something like this may of already been suggested but I would like to suggest my take on this.
I know some people do not like this type of stuff while others are quite interested in being able to customize their ships appearance.
Me personally, I would love more options to customize my ships and I am happy to throw a couple bucks to do so and more so reward the talents of community members out there as I have already seen a few mock-up paint jobs people have done.
Ideally I would love all this to be free, and so on but we live in a world where revenue makes the wheels turn and more importantly keeps them running smoothly.
As such, this idea orientates around rewarding community content creators but still allowing Frontier to profit from that content and also to be able to focus on other things.
THE IDEA:
The idea here is to allow for the community to produce 'cosmetic content' for use within Elite: Dangerous(ED).
This system would reward and encourage creators of content while providing more options on cosmetic choices to consumer users thus expanding customization choices for the game.
Alongside this it would also provide more ongoing revenue towards ED via the means of Community Content sales and reduce the focus on small time cosmetic content creation away from developers who can focus more on more major projects and taks.
This would be achieved via a submit and review process where users can submit content to be put into the game and a review process can be done by both the community and developers to ensure that there is no eyesores or copyright content brought into the game.
HOW IT WOULD WORK:
APPLICABLE CONTENT:
Primarily this would be focused on cosmetic items but could be expanded on later to encompass other community created content that Frontier sees fitting.
Initially though it would focus on simple things like paint jobs and decals.
QUALITY CONTROL:
Quality control is a two stage process, the community can indicate their interest in the item, and then Frontier can release it for sale IF they are happy with it.
The review process could last up to a couple months so to allow for users to see and share creations on the site to gain interest and support for an item.
Frontier would reserve a final say on content being used and choose not to use content for any reason they want but I dare say most commonly would be Copyright, Inappropriate or Unsuitable reasons.
Content submitted to the site would remain for a few months before being removed automagically.
Quality Control Moderators(QCM) could also be assigned to maintain the quality of things on the site similar to the forums with a guideline of what is acceptable publicly available.
To control the quantity and quality of content being submitted a filter could be put in place to restrict how quickly content creates can make content.
'POSSIBLE' CREATOR RANKS:
Initially users may only submit one piece of content a fortnight(could be more/less) as to prevent and discourage crap from being spammed on to the review site and to moderate the quantity of items being submitted so it is not unrealistic for Frontier to allocate time to review submissions the community is interested in periodically.
A user can progress in ranks and become allowed to publish more frequently as their submissions gain good interest and or are actually put into the store or Frontier see potential in what they are producing, Frontier may also bump a users rank up for this reason should they wish.
A higher rank would allow the ability to submit more content.
Alternatively, no ranks could be used at all and submission could be free and unrestricted.
OFFENDERS:
People posting crap, copyright materials, inappropriate content maybe warned and blocked from submitting to the site by Frontier or a QCM.
This would stop their ability to submit content to the site for as long as the block is in place.
REWARDING THE CREATORS:
In the above I mention paying out a % towards successful creators of content based on sales.
This is a suggested ideal situation and one I feel is win-win both for Frontier and Content Creators because it benefits both parties.
Frontier wins via sales on their site and the content creator wins because they are rewarded store credit and could save up that credit to discount the cost of a shirt or maybe a paint job or other purchase.
This could be worked anyway Frontier sees fit but rewarding those who make quality items that boost revenue for the company should be rewarded in my opinion.
TL;DR:
I suggest that a system be made so users can create content and submit to a site for everyone to review and or express interest in, if successful it should go up for sale on the ED Store.
Commission from the sale should be credited to the creator and that credit can be used to purchase items from the Frontier Store.
IN CLOSING:
Some would not agree with this idea, some simply hate cash shops, others may think that Frontier profiting from content that others make is unfair.
The fact of the matter is it is a very viable revenue avenue, there are already games out there that do this or something like it with good success and digital fashion(cosmetic items) are serious business to some people, thus there is money in it.
Cash shops are in MANY games now, they are especially successful with cosmetic items and I think Frontier could benefit from expanding on this revenue stream to further develop the game and produce more for everyone as they already do with their current store.
The major difference here is that they do not have to worry as much about actually making this small time content as the community would do it, especially if there is a potential to earn something for it, others are quite happy to do it for free but regardless Frontier would remain in control of the aesthetics of the game.
This is simply a suggestion for the future, and something I feel that the the game and Frontier could benefit from and not only contribute towards its feature sets but also development and on-going running costs.
Low priority cosmetic idea here..
Something like this may of already been suggested but I would like to suggest my take on this.
I know some people do not like this type of stuff while others are quite interested in being able to customize their ships appearance.
Me personally, I would love more options to customize my ships and I am happy to throw a couple bucks to do so and more so reward the talents of community members out there as I have already seen a few mock-up paint jobs people have done.
Ideally I would love all this to be free, and so on but we live in a world where revenue makes the wheels turn and more importantly keeps them running smoothly.
As such, this idea orientates around rewarding community content creators but still allowing Frontier to profit from that content and also to be able to focus on other things.
THE IDEA:
The idea here is to allow for the community to produce 'cosmetic content' for use within Elite: Dangerous(ED).
This system would reward and encourage creators of content while providing more options on cosmetic choices to consumer users thus expanding customization choices for the game.
Alongside this it would also provide more ongoing revenue towards ED via the means of Community Content sales and reduce the focus on small time cosmetic content creation away from developers who can focus more on more major projects and taks.
This would be achieved via a submit and review process where users can submit content to be put into the game and a review process can be done by both the community and developers to ensure that there is no eyesores or copyright content brought into the game.
HOW IT WOULD WORK:
- User creates content and submits it using a tool Frontier would provide either a program or a website interface.
- The tool/site would provide a form where the user can fill out info about their submission(What it is, what it is for etc)
- This tool would upload the content to a server where entire community can express interest in it and Frontier can review.
The site might include a in browser 3D model viewers for things like skins and paints etc or content tools should be provided so users can do this locally and produce screenshots. - The front end of the site would allow users to filter submissions by Ship, Content Type, Creator, Submissions date, Expiration etc.
- If enough votes/support/interest for the item are given and Frontier are satisfied it is not going to compromise the aesthetics of the game it can be put into the store for users to purchase.
- Those who expressed interest would get a notification indicating an item they were interested in has been made available via a weekly email digest they can opt into and they can purchase as normal from the store.
- Once purchased a % of the sale would go to the creator of the item to which they can use this credit to purchase other items in the store like Cosmetic items, Merchandise and or DLCs or simple use as a discount towards a major purchase.
APPLICABLE CONTENT:
Primarily this would be focused on cosmetic items but could be expanded on later to encompass other community created content that Frontier sees fitting.
Initially though it would focus on simple things like paint jobs and decals.
QUALITY CONTROL:
Quality control is a two stage process, the community can indicate their interest in the item, and then Frontier can release it for sale IF they are happy with it.
The review process could last up to a couple months so to allow for users to see and share creations on the site to gain interest and support for an item.
Frontier would reserve a final say on content being used and choose not to use content for any reason they want but I dare say most commonly would be Copyright, Inappropriate or Unsuitable reasons.
Content submitted to the site would remain for a few months before being removed automagically.
Quality Control Moderators(QCM) could also be assigned to maintain the quality of things on the site similar to the forums with a guideline of what is acceptable publicly available.
To control the quantity and quality of content being submitted a filter could be put in place to restrict how quickly content creates can make content.
'POSSIBLE' CREATOR RANKS:
Initially users may only submit one piece of content a fortnight(could be more/less) as to prevent and discourage crap from being spammed on to the review site and to moderate the quantity of items being submitted so it is not unrealistic for Frontier to allocate time to review submissions the community is interested in periodically.
A user can progress in ranks and become allowed to publish more frequently as their submissions gain good interest and or are actually put into the store or Frontier see potential in what they are producing, Frontier may also bump a users rank up for this reason should they wish.
A higher rank would allow the ability to submit more content.
Alternatively, no ranks could be used at all and submission could be free and unrestricted.
OFFENDERS:
People posting crap, copyright materials, inappropriate content maybe warned and blocked from submitting to the site by Frontier or a QCM.
This would stop their ability to submit content to the site for as long as the block is in place.
REWARDING THE CREATORS:
In the above I mention paying out a % towards successful creators of content based on sales.
This is a suggested ideal situation and one I feel is win-win both for Frontier and Content Creators because it benefits both parties.
Frontier wins via sales on their site and the content creator wins because they are rewarded store credit and could save up that credit to discount the cost of a shirt or maybe a paint job or other purchase.
This could be worked anyway Frontier sees fit but rewarding those who make quality items that boost revenue for the company should be rewarded in my opinion.
TL;DR:
I suggest that a system be made so users can create content and submit to a site for everyone to review and or express interest in, if successful it should go up for sale on the ED Store.
Commission from the sale should be credited to the creator and that credit can be used to purchase items from the Frontier Store.
IN CLOSING:
Some would not agree with this idea, some simply hate cash shops, others may think that Frontier profiting from content that others make is unfair.
The fact of the matter is it is a very viable revenue avenue, there are already games out there that do this or something like it with good success and digital fashion(cosmetic items) are serious business to some people, thus there is money in it.
Cash shops are in MANY games now, they are especially successful with cosmetic items and I think Frontier could benefit from expanding on this revenue stream to further develop the game and produce more for everyone as they already do with their current store.
The major difference here is that they do not have to worry as much about actually making this small time content as the community would do it, especially if there is a potential to earn something for it, others are quite happy to do it for free but regardless Frontier would remain in control of the aesthetics of the game.
This is simply a suggestion for the future, and something I feel that the the game and Frontier could benefit from and not only contribute towards its feature sets but also development and on-going running costs.