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Afghan Ops Game: Underground Economy

kratz

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Ok, after posting in the wrong place  ;D

I reviewed my medals and other game activities and I have to say, if it was not for AO's underground economy I would not have been as successful as I have been. In fact, many of us would have had to spend the $200 (or more) online to Mike to gain the levels we have reached. :nod:

A suggestion for a daily challenge has been made, but as always with anything successful (ie: AO), time is always short and good ideas go wanting.

For those who know, thank you and for anyone playing who is interested, talk to those who are playing the game.
 
I did spend $300 on Milpoints and I still would not be where I am if it wasnt for the generous help of other players.
 
I hate to say I got addicted :-[ and spent more than $300 dollars on milpoints but mitigated anything further from my fine friends on the site. Thank you very much!!
 
At this point I haven't spent anything, but would still like to thank my benefactors for their kind donations.
 
I think I spent about $200, and the milpoints donations by everyone are greatly appreciated! I just got caught up reciprocating the kind +300s, so thanks to everyone especially in the last week.
 
In all respect, those dollars spent on MilPoints for AO do go toward improving the game.

I was only observing on the majority of members who at one point or another have really benefited from this underground economy.
 
I must thank everyone as well for the underground economy.

I would donate if I had the cash, but being a student and all..
 
The underground economy is no secret to me. In fact in the beginning, I received an e-mail every time someone donated points to another player. I turned off that fire hose pretty quickly though. :)

I don't have issue with this approach. Granted, it's not exactly the intended use of the MilPoints system, but at the same time I want the game to be free and enjoyable to everyone. Those who can and choose to support it through purchases may still do so, but it is not a requirement. The initial burst of purchases (many of which are outlined above) gave the game a real shot in the arm early on, and allowed me to expand the game, open up contests and fix a raft of bugs.

I'm now in a bit of a catch-22. Work has been extremely busy so I have had less time to devote to the game, and MilPoints purchases have all but dried up. Not sure if one caused the other or it was just coincidence, but I recognize that without some fresh content, it's unlikely to change. I still have one new feature partly complete that I intend to roll out 'soon', and plans for many more after that. I wish I could be more specific, but with a few work trips coming up in the next few weeks it may be hard to devote the time to complete this in May.

All this to say that I'm not against the underground economy... it allows more people to play the game more often, which is a good thing in my books. Does it chip away at income from the game? Possibly, in the short term, but the way I see it is that if players are dedicated enough to support the underground economy, it reflects positively on the game. I.E. players enjoy it enough to go through the effort of assisting others, and a certain percentage of that will materialize as financial support for the game.

Thanks to all those who have already supported the game, and to those who keep playing it and keep it going.


Cheers
Mike
 
It is ashame that I didnt' find out about this earlier  :crybaby:
 
Mike, have you gotten more subscribers since the milpoints purchasing dried off? I think I've noticed a lot of AO players instead of buying milpoints, got a subscription to boost their daily gain.
 
Mike Bobbitt said:
The underground economy is no secret to me. In fact in the beginning, I received an e-mail every time someone donated points to another player. I turned off that fire hose pretty quickly though. :)

...that would wear out the batteries pretty quickly, Mike! LOL

My thanks to the AO brethren who were always thoughtful of others.  When I was down in the "could only give 40 or 60 points" regime, it sure was nice to get a helping hand!  :salute:

Cheers
G2G
 
Have you considered renting banners to commercial enterprises on the game?
 
It's a good idea Larry, the problem is that I have to chase down the advertisers. It seems crazy, but I've been unable to make the time to chase down sponsorships which I know are out there. It's the same with the site advertising... essentially if someone comes to me I will set them up, but I have yet to actively pursue advertisers. I've come up with some good plans to do so, but so far that's all they have turned into. :)
 
I have to thank you Kratz, not only for being the first to help me out in this tough economy, but for also this thread. Now that I know that Mike is cool with it, I feel much less guilty.
 
I'll be honest, I have never bought MilPoints, and it will likely be a few more years before I can ever hope to afford to do so. (Although I was sorely tempted to buy some points to have a better shot at that backpack)

But I love Afghan Ops, and I would gladly play it even if there were blinking banners advertising v!agra covering 75% of the screen. I think you might be shocked what kind of hoops I would jump through to get cool schwag, like a knife or a new backpack.

 
I can't really afford to buy much of anything in life, and I probably shouldn't have, but I spent $20 a while back for 3,000 points. I needed them as I was pushing towards 1st place.. too bad I threw that down the drain when I didn't login for a month and missed like 250,000+ combat readiness. :p
 
Thanks to everyone who has helped me out as well. I have been a bit lax in sending them back lately but I will try to fix that :)
 
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