Questoins Regarding The 'account Upgrades'

Because there are always questions about everything ever! So, here are mine.

1. Does Gold Membership include the Level Yellow donation or are they separate?
2. Under De Vermis Mysteriis (Yeah Bloch/Lovecraft references!), it lists a Unique Sealed First Edition comic book. Will there be other opportunities to acquire this, like a donation to the Kickstarter?

I ask as I figure the more money I can through at the actual Kickstarter, the better, you know?

 

From what I understand, the Gold Membership and Yellow Clearence level are two seperate instances.
- The Gold Membership gives you access to private sub-forums, which includes sneak-previews of upcoming content, and a more direct line of communication with the Devs (primarily in the sense that your opinion won't drown out as easily as if you posted in the standard forum - because let's face it; Anashel's pretty darned active regardless).

- As mentioned in the description of "Yellow Donation", it grants you 1 year of Senior Agent status, as well as the Multipass - which isn't included in the Gold Membership package.
As for "Senior Agent" status, I believe that is primarily - for the moment being - access to sub-forums related to previous ARGs (End of Days, etc).

In regards to De Vermis Mysteriis, Anashel has mentioned that it might be included among the Kickstarter pledges, and act retroactively for those who purchased it here on the forums.
Beyond being the "life-time" version of the Gold Membership + Yellow Donation, from what I understood, it's price is also due to the Comic Book.
Whether or not that first edition will be available as a seperate pledge, I wouldn't know - but I can imagine it would be, perhaps at a slightly higher price than the part it makes up of the total price for the De Vermis Mysteriis ($65?).

So, in summary:

Gold Membership = Dev/sneak-preview sub-forum acces, 1 year
Yellow Donation = pre-TBW sub-forums (Senior Agent), 1 year + Multipass
De Vermis Mysteriis = Dev/sneak preview sub-forum access, pre-TBW sub-forums (Senior Agent), lifetime + Multipass + Comic Book

 

Thank you! That clears it up for me then.

 

I've been running on about the same assumption. I'm sorely tempted to just snap up De Vermis now, but unless there's some clever accounting behind the scenes, money put towards the upgrades now is money that's not going to be counted towards nailing that Kickstarter goal, which seems rather counterproductive.

I want to highlight this (in fact, I just did) because it's something that really doesn't come across on the upgrades page - I didn't catch it at all, until Anashel mentioned it in irc - and it's kind of a big deal. Without that, De Vermis ($250) is just Yellow + Gold ($195) with a whopping $55 comic book. With it, if you're thinking about yellow/gold and in for the long haul, you're effectively looking at the same $195 for this year, only $55 for next, and then a free ride. And a comic book.
(I suppose you could also look at it as being an effectively free lifetime yellow+gold membership with a $250 comic book, but... don't.)

There are two points I'm still wondering about:
1) The wording for Red/Orange/Yellow on the upgrade page is interesting: "Donation to ... automatically grants ... Agent status as a bonus." This seems to be specifically worded to convey that you're not buying a membership/subscription, you're just donating money, and that agent status is something separate and distinct being tossed in as a bonus or thank you gift. Am I reading too much into this, or is there a reason (legal, kickstarter rules, business model, game structure, etc) for drawing this distinction?

2) Orange and Yellow both list "Senior Agent status" - is there any difference, for those of us who don't need the multipass? Are the R/O/Y clearance levels still distinct, or is it just divided into Active & Senior agents now? Or have I been misreading this all along, and the active/senior agent status actually is something separate and distinct from membership & status/clearance in the game?


-Bats

 

Oh, good! I meant to ask about that. I would've hated to get a nice, pristine, sealed comic with no greasy fingerprints... and then never actually be able to read it. That would been tragic.

-Bats

 

I'm going to second this question. There's a pretty big distinction between access to the ARG and access to message boards, and if someone comes across the 'upgrade page' and gets the latter without the former, I bet they'd be pretty miffed. With the prices they're set at, I'm assuming that they do include subscription, but I think the language should be a little more clear.

 

Does this mean that you're going to run them through CGC before they're ever mailed out, so that every comic has a 10.0 grading?

 

I don't think you have to register the specific comic with CGC, and it probably would be a bit expensive, though orders are cheaper if done in bulk. They grade on the state that the comic is in when it arrives at their location, so you likely don't have to register the specific comic with them, and I don't know if there's any "official comic book" thing that you can get. Indie comics come and go out of print all the time, and as far as I know the CGC will still grade those. They look at things like staple rusting, print errors, creases in the covers, tears, writing, page yellowing, signatures... etc... As far as I know, the only way to get a 10.0 graded comic is for it to be sent to CGC directly from the printer (at least, those are the only one's I've ever seen graded that high). Signatures actually detract from the score, but if witnessed by a CGC representative, get labelled as "signature series" which increases the overall value of the comic.

... I own a lot of comics, so I know a little of how it works... For example this is hanging over my mantle:

(not CGC graded, though it should be around a 7.5)

 

Same thing I was thinking. As long as we know for sure De Vermis Mysteriis will exist on the Kickstarter, I'd rather wait and and donate then to help the campaign hit critical mass.

I am also curious what HE has in mind for Senior Agent status moving forward?

 

I'm with the others, I'm all for pitching in for the Mysteriis, but I'd rather hold off and have it count toward the kickstarter....

 

I think what Anashel said on IRC serves repeating here (paraphrasing):

- All donations via the forums, are related to the forums.
- If you want exclusive access to the private Dev sub-forums/sneak previews during development, go with Gold or De Vermis.
- If you want perks related to the PARG specifically, wait for Kickstarter.

However, as Anashel also mentions - and I'll quote directly, as it needs to be "from the horses mouth":
[19:55] <Divsion66> Exact, forums are separate donation.
[19:55] <Divsion66> But I could include forums perks in the kickstarter
[19:55] <Divsion66> example: kickstarter pledge give you forums upgrade account.
[19:55] <Divsion66> I am still looking to see if it's possible.
[19:56] <Divsion66> If so, I will do both ways, if someone bought Di Vermis, he will get the kick starter perks.

In other words, forum donation are for benefits here on the forums - more visibility, more direct lines of communications, various dedicated sub-fora, what have you.
Some interchangeability might come into play, but it's an "IF" (I.e., don't take either the above quote or my word to mean it will absolutely be the case).

 

I think it may be this statement (or possibly this whole conversation with Anashel) - combined with the fact that the forum upgrades are, well, labeled "forum upgrades" that's led to some confusion and worry. Nikel asked above, and I've seen a couple other people (and that nagging little voice in the back of my mind that never quite shuts up) wondering nervously whether that means the upgrade packages are actually granting only forum status/access, as something separate from membership/access to or status in the game itself. Voices in my head aside, that doesn't seem entirely likely, given the price tags relative to the Crowdtilt campaign's tiers... but it'd be reassuring to have a definitive statement one way or the other - or an explanation on the upgrades page - that could be pointed to.

Anashel saying this the other day almost got me to whip out the bank card immediately (and, hell, I'm still tempted), until I realized that, benefit crossover or not, the money wouldn't get counted in the campaign... although at that point I was still running on enthusiasm and assumptions based on the earlier campaign, and hadn't had taken the time to really read the new descriptions, or to register the fact that that there actually could (and probably would) be substantial changes in the structure this time around.

This would seem to imply that yes, the upgrades only grant forum access (and a multipass & comic book, of course), while actual participation in the game is going to require people to make a separate, additional expenditure on Kickstarter (which might end up added on to a forum upgrade) - I'm not sure whether that was what you intended.


Personally, finding out - after (hypothetically) dropping $250 on De Vermis - that I still need to shell out for for a separate packages before I can play obviously wouldn't drive me off (it's far, far too late for that now), but I expect a lot of people would be quite upset to suddenly discover it when the Kickstarter starts. Even in my case, knowing in advance would make it a whole lot easier to plan for - I suspect I'm not the only one for whom this sort of expense (especially if this is only going to be half of it) is something that's not quite out of reach, but requires finances & life being rather significantly arranged to allow for it. So... how many months worth of ramen do I need to stockpile?


-Bats

 

Hehe, indeed. Most of what we can say at this point is conjecture, at best.

The best thing we can say right now, is: Wait for the kickstarter!

For what it's worth, I've personally shelled out for the De Vermis package - and this is in no way meant as a "bonk" or "superior, RAWR!" statement, it's merely information I'm including to give you a somewhat reliable, informed voice on the matter, until we get more concrete information from Anashel:

Right now, there is very little to be gained from the Gold Member or De Vermis package.
There's a 1 or 2 posts discussing something yet-to-be-revealed, but that's basically all that you are missing by not rushing in and buying the packages yet.

So, regardless of whether or not the Forum packages will be included in the Kickstarter, and vice verca, or they will be conservativist "Forum upgrades are for forums only!" package, I'd advise anyone to wait a bit longer.

Wasn't giving a definitive yes/no, thus ther highlighted, "IF".
Either way, as mentioned above, wait with stockpiling until we know for sure - the benefits for any of the packages aren't going anywhere soon, and right now, there isn't much to gain from them.

 

I just need to test this, because there's no way to make images thumbnails according to the BB code list.

Spoiler: This is a test of images in spoiler boxes

EDIT: This might be a good option for large pictures, since it shrinks them down a bit. I'll leave this here then.

 

That's what I'd resigned myself to as soon as it became clear that anything different would be on offer.

Oh, I'm not overly concerned that I'm missing out on anything important at the moment (I actually worry much more about all those missed hours when I'm not on IRC and haven't checked the forums - sleep is a terrible thing)... it's just that HE has this gigantic cash magnet that they keep pointed squarely at my wallet, which makes it really uncomfortable to carry around if I don't let all the money out.

Err, actually that would mean just the opposite - the towering stockpile of ramen is, of course (as it always is), hyperbolic metaphor - but the problem of planning out expenses in advance is a literal one.

To gain, no.... but how much is there to lose from the confusion and ambiguity?

Given the items already being sold and their respective price tags, it strikes me as fairly reasonable to ask "what am I buying?"

Or, what I suppose the essence of this all comes down to - and the one thing that really needs to be specified clearly on the upgrades page - is the answer to a very simple question:

"Is this everything I need to play TBW?"


-Bats

 

I agree, that is the question - and one I'm rather sure Human Equation will answer soon enough. Keep in mind that we came across the forums before they were official (not even sure they are official yet?), and most of the going ons here are "works in progress".

They could, of course, have waited with writing up the items available - but that is part of the reason why Anashel's been encouraging people to wait for the kickstarter, while he finds out the various avenues of how Forum Packages connect with Kickstarter.

So, while I'm in no official position to give you the answer to your simple question, my conservative, personal answer would be; Forum Packages are likely not all you need to play TBW. If this is your primary concern, wait untill the Kickstarter is completely up and running, and Forums as well as the official Web-site are finished.

 

Not to dredge up old posts, but I made this spreadsheet with details about the account upgrades, to be completed with a kickstarter reward tier spreadsheet, should one be necessary!

Presumably, the forum will have more activity soon, so it would be great to have these details checked and double-checked and made as crystal clear as possible, so as to make explanations easier for new recruits. It's set to public edits, I can change that if I need to.

EDIT: Deleted spreadsheet, was redundant with other information and out of date.

 

Did we ever establish if the De Vermis Mysteriis gives you lifetime access to the game or if it will be on kickstarter?