Avatar Customization to Incentivize Subscriptions

[mang0flame]

Preface

When avatar customization is mentioned or suggested, a person automatically thinks of the worst possible examples and implementations of such a feature.  They think of Call of Duty or Battlefield, or they think of Hell Let Loose where an American soldier in a wool great coat with a white helmet cover is storming Omaha Beach.  The customization that I am suggesting is nowhere near that extreme and, in fact, is not severely anachronistic.  The customization I am suggesting will hopefully induce solo F2P users to purchase the premium subscription and incentivize clan/unit/squad members to purchase the premium subscription. 

 

The Customization Mechanic

The general idea is to allow premium and above subscribers to customization their avatar’s in-game rank (arm sleeve rank) within the realistic confines that would be expected from a US paratrooper or Wehrmacht soldier in Normandy.  I am more familiar with American ranks and unit structure; however, it can easily be laid out and converted to German forces by someone more knowledgeable. 

In Normandy, the American squad leader was a sergeant, the assistant squad leader was a corporal and the other members of the American rifle squad were a mix of privates and private first classes.  After Normandy, American high command recognized the value of small unit leadership, so the squad leader was eligible to be promoted to staff sergeant and the assistant squad leader was eligible to be promoted to sergeant. 

For F2P users, the squad leader class will be a three-stripe sergeant.  The fireteam leader class will be a corporal.  Finally, all other classes will be an insignia-less private.  The barebones of an American rifle squad in Normandy, with exception of the insignia-less private—there would be some private first classes in the rifle squad.

For premium subscribers who are not a part of a clan/unit/squad, the squad leader class can be any rank from sergeant to captain.  The fire team leader class can be a corporal, sergeant or staff sergeant.  The machine gunner and engineer classes can be an insignia-less private, a private first class or a technician, fifth grade.  The rifleman, support gunner (automatic rifleman) and ammo bearer can either be an insignia-less private or private first class. 

Players who are premium subscribers and members of a clan/unit/squad will have access to the same customization as the solo premium subscribers; however, there will be one difference when that clan/unit/squad member is playing on his clan/unit/squad’s server.  In that case, whatever rank that is assigned to the clan/unit/squad member on the official clan/unit/squad page (assuming that this will be the “clan support” that was vaguely mentioned in one of the video presentations—actually, it would incentivize clan/unit/squad leaders to be premium subscribers to create and administer the official page) that player’s avatar will automatically have his assigned rank regardless of the class selected. 

 

Conclusion

This customization is not outside the realm of authenticity and realism, and it incentivizes players who are only interested in Chokepoint now to subscribe to assist in development of both Chokepoint and WW2OL 2.0.  The carrot, which is WW2OL 2.0, is probably 4 years away (my optimistic and conservative guess), so a stick is needed to fund its development and to keep players attracted to Chokepoint.  I think that this is a simple (and cheap) way to attract subscribers who would want to roleplay in Chokepoint as a certain rank to fund future development of both Chokepoint and WW2OL 2.0. 

 

-Pfc. Smith [504th PIR] from Discord

[jwilly]

Quote

...when that clan/unit/squad member is playing on his clan/unit/squad’s server.  

Forward going, will Chokepoint operate on player-provided servers?

I've been under the impression, from discussions of development work, that Chokepoint would utilize only CRS's server network.

That however is a separate question from the proposal above, which could be developed no matter how the server game-aspect is handled.

[mang0flame]

7 hours ago, jwilly said:

Forward going, will Chokepoint operate on player-provided servers?

I've been under the impression, from discussions of development work, that Chokepoint would utilize only CRS's server network.

That however is a separate question from the proposal above, which could be developed no matter how the server game-aspect is handled.

Given how important private and dedicated servers were in Resistance and Liberation (the only reason it is alive and being developed as Chokepoint is because of PLM and the admins of RnL Lover), I'm under the impression that there will be private servers.  I think in one of the videos, CRS talks about server support as a perk for premium subscribers.  Initially, there will probably more CRS servers than private servers but as the game gains traction, I imagine that will flip.  With 18v18 servers, it would be wise to allow for community run servers for special events, clan/unit/squad trainings, etc.