Goblin Squad Member
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I wanted something I could easily link to that would give a full description of what Goblin Balls are, while also giving credit to the originator of the concept.
First, the nod to Valandur, for a great idea:
Bet if we started calling them Goblin Balls they would give us a name fairly quick <wg>
Now, the great explanation from Decius*:
During one of the discussions on MTX and their consequences, the term "PLEX-equivalent" was being thrown around a lot to reference PFO's mechanic by which someone could buy subscription time with cash and then trade it to another player in-game for whatever in-game stuff was agreed.
Because of the clunky nature of using "PLEX-equivalent", someone tried to blackmail GoblinWorks into providing a name for said item so that it could be talked about; the blackmail was substantially "If you don't offer a better name, we are going to start calling it Goblin Balls."
No alternative name has yet been provided.
* Yes, I call him Decius, even though his forum handle here is DeciusBrutus. He's a Steward of The Seventh Veil, like me, and his forum name on our forums is just plain Decius, so that's what I know him as. On a side note, I've contemplated the import of his seeming reference to Brutus, but decided the anti-dictatorial connotations were more relevant than the friend-assassinating ones :)
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Goblin Squad Member
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Pretty sure its SkyMetal bits...?
No, Skymetal bits are the cash shop stored-value currency. Like Neverwinter/Star Trek Online/Champions Online's Zen or the Xbox store's Microsoft Points. "Goblin balls" are referring to an item that can be purchased from the cash shop, which becomes an in-game, tradable item, and can be redemed for training time.
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Goblin Squad Member
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I anticipate GW may preempt the move to socially control them by adopting the name proposed, perhaps adding the 'golden', 'silver', and 'bronze' tier descriptor.
So long as the rules for trading are simpler than HERE.
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Goblin Squad Member
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I anticipate GW may preempt the move to socially control them by adopting the name proposed [...]
I personally am against wasting a perfectly good profanity. The term would find much better use as an insult, swearword or expletive in the game than as something so boring as PLEX-equivalent.
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"We'll see who wins at the end of the day! We'll see who ends up grieving! I'll go to the Unnamed Company right away! I'm taking my Goblin Balls and leaving!"
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Goblin Squad Member
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I have not stopped giggling. I can just imagine a trade-like channel ...
"WTB Goblin Balls!"
"Eww, dude, no."
"Hey, what you do with the Goblins' corpses after I'm done looting them is your own business, just don't make it public!"
"Sold in stacks of 2?"
"What possible use could you have for Goblin testicles?"
"NOOO! Goldshire followed us here!"
"How about I just sell you the whole Goblin and you do what you want with it?"
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Goblin Squad Member
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Sort of tangential to this whole discussion, but what do you all think about the fact that there will be no real market in-game for Goblin Balls until month four or five of EE*? Personally, I think it's a good thing. It keeps everyone on fairly even footing for the most formative period of the game's development.
*I say this because everyone in EE from the kickstarter has 4 months of free time, and the earliest anyone will be coming in from post-kickstarter options is month 2, with (presumably) one month inlcuded. Adjust a bit for enough new people to form a reasonably sized market and you end up in month 4-ish.
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Goblin Squad Member
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*I say this because everyone in EE from the kickstarter has 4 months of free time, and the earliest anyone will be coming in from post-kickstarter options is month 2, with (presumably) one month included. Adjust a bit for enough new people to form a reasonably sized market and you end up in month 4-ish.
That's not necessarily true... this is a free to play game (yes, you need to pay to get XP, but that's different) that probably won't have a shelf presence in stores. In other words, there is no reason for players to have been given a month of free playtime when coming into the game.
I can see everyone starting with X amount of free experience to do the initial customization of their character, but that's not really the same thing.
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Goblin Squad Member
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Talk about an annoying ear-worm. :)
Have you seen this? Get that tune out of your head - scientists find how to get rid of earworms
Apparently, the key is solving palindromes :)
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Sort of tangential to this whole discussion, but what do you all think about the fact that there will be no real market in-game for Goblin Balls until month four or five of EE*?
I don't think there will be any Goblin Balls until Open Enrollment. As I understand it, the entire Early Enrollment period will be subscription-only.
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Goblin Squad Member
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*I say this because everyone in EE from the kickstarter has 4 months of free time, and the earliest anyone will be coming in from post-kickstarter options is month 2, with (presumably) one month included. Adjust a bit for enough new people to form a reasonably sized market and you end up in month 4-ish.That's not necessarily true... this is a free to play game (yes, you need to pay to get XP, but that's different) that probably won't have a shelf presence in stores. In other words, there is no reason for players to have been given a month of free playtime when coming into the game.
I can see everyone starting with X amount of free experience to do the initial customization of their character, but that's not really the same thing.
The game will not be Free to Play until Open Enrollment, Early Enrollment will require a subscription. Free To Play (OE) is well outside the window I projected. Even if they receive no free play time with their EE access, though, will people paying real money for goblin balls be willing to accept a low enough coin amount that characters in their first month or two can afford it? That seems like a terrible return on investment to me.
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Goblin Squad Member
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the earliest anyone will be coming in from post-kickstarter options is month 2, with (presumably) one month included.
I was referring to that comment.
Also, I imagine Goblin Balls will be put out at the same time as release even with EE. Why? Because it's not for the developers to decide when people will start getting a good deal from something, it's the players.
Also, you don't have to auction it off to the highest bidder. You could end up giving it straight up to a friend who didn't isn't one of the EEs as a gift to keep them caught up. I've had friends gift each other with game cards for other games simply so that they could play on the game with each other.
Goblin Balls are as much a gift card for play time as it is a way to make money in game.
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Goblin Squad Member
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Also, I imagine Goblin Balls will be put out at the same time as release even with EE. Why? Because it's not for the developers to decide when people will start getting a good deal from something, it's the players.
I'm fairly certain Goblin Balls will not be available at all during Early Enrollment.
During Early Enrollment we'll only have the subscription system available. It will take time to develop and test the components that we'll eventually have available for people to purchase using microtransactions.
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During Early Enrollment, you'll have to have an active subscription to access the game, but that will change after Release. After Release we'll have a lot of different options available for you to pay to play the game in increments less than a one-month subscription.
Goblin Ball: A cherished toy of the goblin race, crafted from an inflated animal carcass. Goblin balls are used for many different games--Goblin Don't-Catch (used with an inflated porcupine), Goblin Sportz (an effort to imitate and 'improve' the Sports of the longshanks, consisting of no discernible rules but many pointy sticks and croquet mallets) and Bounce-Da-Bird (a game in which goblins attempt to bounce the Goblin Ball to hit birds flying overhead, while other goblins try to defend the birds with a supply of throw-able venomous snakes). Goblin Balls are hard to come by, as most animals do not inflate well, but are prized when goblins are able to get ahold of them. They are, without a doubt, the most important aspect of goblin culture as a whole, representing that adorable, childlike innocence of those demented little a~*%#!&s.
I'm very offended that you would so callously dismiss another race's favored pastime as "absolutely disgusting", Drakhan. I suppose next you'll be criticizing my kind's Gnometrapping Games as immature and boring.
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Goblin Squad Member
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The first thing that popped into my head when I heard about Goblin Balls; the half-goblin, half-rooster hero from the show "Code Monkeys":
The making of C**k-Goblin,
Pitching the C**k-Goblin idea
