Some brainstorming here to "force" players to spend their credits.
I had the following guidelines in mind:
- It should cost a huge amount of credits, say 100M+, but depends on the "cut-off" point where the devs define someone as going from "rich" to "too rich".
- It should not be an investment; there should not be a way to make more credits out of it, directly or indirectly. ( ie more lots for an account would not work as they can then gather/sell even more resources).
- It can be a pure credit sink (aka tax), or be distributed among the less wealthier somehow.
- It should be offered "by the game" using for example Etinoca Auction House, or PAAS, or something similar. If you have dev time you could even make quests out of it.
- It should not even resemble the idea of "pay to win". Ie, if you offer a good weapon, it should not be better than what current crafters can do, it should just be different.
- It should stay within the Star Wars Lore, we wouldnt want pink Bantha's with angel wings running around in Theed do we?
Some idea's of "products" that should come with a hefty price tag:
- Introduce rare, high-end items. These could include
- unique weapons and armor, but only craftable by other players such that the rich player puts it back to the community. These should look fancy, but the DPS should be similar to regurarly crafted items. (It shouldnt give an advantage).
- iconic vehicle/swoop skins, like the Sorosuub Yacht.
- ships
- Offer luxurious housing options like
- Unique visual features such as spires or dungeons with extra rooms to decorate
- Allow the player to place items around the house (but within the lot range), or on the roof/balcony.
- Larger storage, such that they can spend even more on items to put in their house.
- Properties in prime locations that can only be bought by the wealthiest players, is something im a bit skeptical about. Because it gives an extra benefit of prime location. Oasis in Mos Eisley for example is nice, untill you notice that new players just go to Oasis to buy weapons/armor for ease of convenience. it negatively impacts other (new) crafters who dont have the network/luck to get a spot in Oasis. Something they cant really compete with.
- Introduce badges to buy. 10M for Wood badge, 100M for Platinum badge, 1B for Duralloy badge
- Introduce resource "names" to buy. Everybody knows the name "Ditwafese" because its the best steel for years. Lets say you spend 500M credits to name the next big resource name "Aconite". You can not dictate that it should spawn but when such a material spawns it will bear your chosen name.
- Introduce titles,
- create new titles, ie: "Team Ornj" title will cost 150M, or "Ewok Ambassador" costs 450M credits.
- let the player "buy" their own created title (within ethical limitations ofcourse).
Regularly introduce limited-time offers and auctions for these rare items. Wealthy players will be more inclined to spend their credits if they know the opportunity is fleeting and highly sought after.