SlopranoDark said:
M'lords and ladies,
Please remember, it's not that the money being kept in a big safe. In the contrary! The money's meant to make those updates, and in order to keep those updates happening, Plarium needs their money.
Notice that the game has been growing a lot. A little more than 1 year ago, when I started playing, it wasn't as big as now, hence it didn't cost too much money. Even on a level up in that time, you'd get Sapphires! Unfortunately, that has been removed for probably the same reason as I wrote before. Plarium desires money, in order to keep the game running.
So think about it as giving a gift to them. Think that you're not just a Lord or Lady, but rather a hero for spending it on Stormfall, because it definitely helps Plarium!
Remember, though, that purchasing Sapphires is completely optional and thus if you prefer not to spend your money, then you'll have to obtain this in-game currency, which is worth real money, for free in a little more difficult way; earning them at Hamlets for example, which is completely logical in my eyes!
If you're uncertain about where to earn those Sapphires and how you can spend them wisely, check out this wiki article.
I'm sorry if this wasn't really helpful, I try my best to assist!
> SlopranoDark
Honestly we wouldn't know. Because Plarium doesn't release any stats and metrics. How many players logged into this game (on this server) within like last week? Its easy to pull such data from their database. How many players over 5 months playing and so on. You say the game is growing, but dead and abandoned castles that litters the map does not equal growth.
I got a bot line above me and beneath me on the map, the most interaction in my part of the sandbox is people raiding and using these as fifes. I got several Russian alt castles around me that is just used to make units to act as feeders for pvp tournies and such. They been there since I started play this game. And please don't ask me to report this, because nothing happens with this no matter how many times it get reported.
As for where money being keept, I wouldn't know. I do know a healthy business does use the income to cover bills, wages, overhead and so on. Problem with Stormfall how it come across for many players now, is what is consideded the level of greed of Plarium.
In a more or less healthy enviroment the players get offered a choice between spend to speed things up or grind with their time and effort. In Stormfall the grind aspect is more or less not here at all. The rewards you can get from events and tournaments takes months and years to get you anywhere.
Although this new dragon thing was kinda neat, the cost of 150 sapphires to go again after one fight seemed a bit high, consider you get slowed down by the training time of the dragon arts anyways. The biggest beef with the last update is the sketches cost way to much. Even a older player that have maxed out their buildings and have little to spend on in that regard find this quite extreme. 4500 worth of sapphires to upgrade market one level, does that sound even reasonable to you? How long does it take the average player to grind for 4500 sapphires in this game if they going to earn it through tournaments?
Players (me included) is inclined to spend money when we feel we get our moneys worth. Feeling like being a cash cow to get milked have the opposite effect. Plarium need players to spend, but they do need the players to actually be there to spend too. I find myself play this game less and less. I guess I'm reaching the end of my cycle -) The number ONE thing in this game to do is.. WAIT, and people in general think their time is valuable.