One of the biggest problems with games set outside high fantasy (and a few other isolated settings) has always been racial proportions of players not conforming to what is stated in lore - if elves are supposed to be extremely rare in the lore, but every other player is controlling one, it just doesn't make sense. From what I've seen, there seems to a few main ways to get around this:
1. Enact hard caps on the number of players that can play a certain race (e.g. only 100 elf characters can exist per server)
2. Limit racial choice to races that are common enough in the lore so as to be consistent (i.e. you can't even be an elf. Just humans and dwarves for you)
3. Make the race so underpowered or limited that a small enough number of players want to control one that it doesn't conflict with lore
A fourth method is locking the race behind paywalls, whether a one-time purchase (usually cash shop), subscription (free players can't select the rarer races), or otherwise, which I know a few games have done, overwhelmingly going the one-time purchase route with it. The subscription method hasn't caught on too much, at least that I know of, and I'd like to hear some thoughts about it.
So, thoughts?
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I have two far better solutions. Firstly set the game in a world where the size and disposition of races is not an issue. A game does not have to be high fantasy for elves to me as common as humans. Alternatively don't worry about it, MMOs are full of inconsistences and poorly thought out lore. Its a game, not a template for designing a real world.
What I would do if I had the means (i.e. unlimited funds and quality Devs) is make a game with about a dozen special races and only allow one character slot to be used on these. And put perma-death on those characters (maybe with a set number of "lives".
And t'hell with pay walls.
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Poor showing from a MMO that never started with a cash shop. What are they selling these days or is it by and large still cash shop free?
This isn't a solution, it's just dodging the problem. What if you're a developer working on an already-established IP, or even if you just really want there to be rare races in the game (completely understandable - the ultra-small community of 'others' has always been a staple of myth/fantasy)?
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Luckily, I've never come across a race behind a paywall that I wanted to play.
That approach isn't perfect, but I think it worked on the whole - mainly due to the fact that not being a Jedi was still interesting. Alternatively, you could still support the Jedi cause as a non-Jedi player. If Elves are extremely appealing in your lore to some people and they can't play them, it might be an issue.
I think you need to ensure two things:
I wonder if people would be able to understand that though, especially in character creation. You might end up in people playing Elves because they like them, but not enjoying the game because it's too difficult for them. And vice versa, your hardcore players might not opt into Elves, because they might prefer Humans.
"you really want there to be rare races" .. why bother? It is not like the game will magically be better because of that.
OP, I don't think a pay wall to reach any type of content is a good thing. I would rather there be a 3 year grind than even a $5 charge just because of the principle. There are many things companies can charge money for in a cash shop that people will spend money on that does not lock anyone else out of the game.
I would opt for a lore based series of quests where you, in the end, discover the secrets to the race and unlock the ability to play one of them. The types of players that would appreciate the idea behind a "rare race" would absolutely love this method.
This could be that you need a max level character to unlock a certain race, or need to have finished hard objectives/quests/stories, or crafted access, or gotten sufficient faction standing.. Etc. That will ensure that less players are going to reroll, only dedicated players will.
Other than that as @Flyte27 mentioned, adding difficulty to certain races compared to others will do the trick too.. because the majority will go for the path of least resistance, provided the alternatives are in their taste visually and play wise.
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You had the min-maxers, who believed that unless you were THE BEST race/class combo, that you were totally inferior in every other way as well, and not worthy of playing with.
You had a few happy-go-lucky, who picked whatever, and sometimes they got lucky, and sometimes they didn't and chose something that had so many inherent disadvantages that it made the game overly difficult for them and they just stopped playing.
And you had everyone else, who just picked what they thought looked cool and they wanted to play, they went through the game without too many issues, and had a good time regardless.
But the min-maxers are definitely the vocal minority, and are usually good at making a lot of stink, and "everyone else" ends up hearing it. I always laughed because, next patch cycle, they would reroll their entire character because racial bonus was nerfed or a class perk was changed.
Pay wall would work, but I think it would be pretty negatively perceived. ESO did it and took a lot of heat for it.
I would support the achievement unlock - it would limit the number, and reward those who were willing to work toward it. I remember the SWG Jedi that was mentioned here, seems like there were a few other games that had similar hero classes that had to be unlocked. FFXIV used to be a bit like this - you had to level up a couple of varying classes to unlock the more powerful jobs. The bar was set fairly low so it didn't really serve to limit the number of people choosing any particular thing, but it still existed (and has since been removed).
Warframe represents a sort of middle ground. You can work to unlock new classes (frames), or you can buy them outright if you wanted to. The core of the game more or less revolves around changing your frame a good deal though, and you aren't locked into any one particular frame per character or anything, so not exactly the same thing.
It's not uncommon for new races to be restricted to DLC or Expansions. That isn't exactly the same thing as a pay wall, as you aren't ~just~ paying to unlock a new race, but does fall in a similar vein.
Make it eligible for varying degrees of permadeath, i.e. 1 life, 2 lives, 3 etc.
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I understand the point the OP is saying, but by doing that you would lose a player base faster than you make one. If I want to play a dwarf and I can't I am not going to play the game, it's that simple. No one should be forced to play something they don't really want to because someone else already used up all the spaces.
I would love to see a MMO game that didn't have humans or humanoids at all but that isn't going to happen either.