I believe the short-term solution is to add more money sinks that provide player benefit and/or status, and donât require significant coding.
Example of expensive sinks available only to level 60+:
⢠The ultimate griffon / bat / etc. pass. Free flights from any city to any other, all the time. Flight speed is 200% of usual. Distant cities can be linked with a single path, or multiple-destination path transfers are automatic.
⢠Blessing that gives all items and all items found in future unlimited durability.
⢠Cartography service. Pay for each land and receive a complete working map with all monster levels listed, all minerals and herbs, etc. This would require some coding.
⢠Housing; others have covered this nicely. But this requires lots of coding.
⢠Permanent movement speed increase (20%?) that works in all areas and doesnât require a mount. When used in conjunction with a mount, increases mountâs speed.
⢠Elite designation. Your characterâs name and/or story are used in the development of future quests and place names by Blizzard, giving you a permanent legacy across all servers. Basically they ask you for a 2,000-word review of your character, one time, and they use that to create future stories. Some existing quests could even be changed very easily to name your character instead of an NPC.
⢠Hall of honor / round table. When youâre logged off, your character appears as an NPC standing in the rulerâs hall. He doesnât have to be interactive, just there with a nice short script than you can help Blizzard write.
⢠Mark of honor. A nice customizable halo that surrounds your character, basically just an elite âlook at meâ perk.
⢠Minor shapeshifting. One-time fee to change your characterâs appearance.
⢠Major shapeshifting. Can change your characterâs race and/or sex. Must stay within faction.
⢠Bonus race. Pay X gold and your account is âunlockedâ to use goblins, which are neutral characters with no bonuses, but who can travel anywhere in the world unchallenged, and can access all quests on both sides. This would carry the ultimate price, because it allows you to power level new characters. It would be good because it would keep the game fresh for veterans by offering a new experience. Coding heavy but might be worth it. Would have to be carefully balanced.
Etc., etc. The possibilities are endless.
Example of expensive sinks available only to level 60+:
⢠The ultimate griffon / bat / etc. pass. Free flights from any city to any other, all the time. Flight speed is 200% of usual. Distant cities can be linked with a single path, or multiple-destination path transfers are automatic.
⢠Blessing that gives all items and all items found in future unlimited durability.
⢠Cartography service. Pay for each land and receive a complete working map with all monster levels listed, all minerals and herbs, etc. This would require some coding.
⢠Housing; others have covered this nicely. But this requires lots of coding.
⢠Permanent movement speed increase (20%?) that works in all areas and doesnât require a mount. When used in conjunction with a mount, increases mountâs speed.
⢠Elite designation. Your characterâs name and/or story are used in the development of future quests and place names by Blizzard, giving you a permanent legacy across all servers. Basically they ask you for a 2,000-word review of your character, one time, and they use that to create future stories. Some existing quests could even be changed very easily to name your character instead of an NPC.
⢠Hall of honor / round table. When youâre logged off, your character appears as an NPC standing in the rulerâs hall. He doesnât have to be interactive, just there with a nice short script than you can help Blizzard write.
⢠Mark of honor. A nice customizable halo that surrounds your character, basically just an elite âlook at meâ perk.
⢠Minor shapeshifting. One-time fee to change your characterâs appearance.
⢠Major shapeshifting. Can change your characterâs race and/or sex. Must stay within faction.
⢠Bonus race. Pay X gold and your account is âunlockedâ to use goblins, which are neutral characters with no bonuses, but who can travel anywhere in the world unchallenged, and can access all quests on both sides. This would carry the ultimate price, because it allows you to power level new characters. It would be good because it would keep the game fresh for veterans by offering a new experience. Coding heavy but might be worth it. Would have to be carefully balanced.
Etc., etc. The possibilities are endless.