incentives
Latest
Maryland is already out of EV tax credits for 2019
Maryland's electric vehicle (EV) tax credits are so popular, they're already gone. According to the state's Motor Vehicle Administration, the $6 million fund meant to cover the tax credits was depleted before the fiscal year began on July 1st. The state offers a $100 credit per kilowatt-hour of battery capacity for EVs and plug-in hybrids (with a maximum $3,000 rebate), but so many drivers have applied for the credit, there's a waiting list with more than 700 applicants.
New York spurs EV sales with fast chargers and lower power rates
Federal electric car tax credits might disappear (if just due to strong sales), but that isn't preventing individual states from stepping up. New York has unveiled a string of programs that it hopes will incentivize EV purchases in the state. In addition to an existing Drive Clean Rebate knocking as much as $2,000 off EV purchases, the state is deploying as many as 200 150kW fast chargers in "more than two dozen" locations around major traffic corridors, JFK International Airport and five large cities outside of NYC (Albany, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Yonkers). In theory, you can buy an EV knowing you'll always have enough battery life for an upstate jaunt.
Lyft rewards its drivers for picking you up more often
A ridesharing service only helps you out if drivers want to pick you up in the first place, and Lyft clearly knows it -- the company just countered Uber's new perk system with one of its own. Accelerate, as it's called, puts drivers in one of three status levels depending on how many rides they offer in a given month. Everyone starts out at silver, which offers basic access to Lyft's preferred providers for services like health insurance. If they handle at least 20 rides a month, though, they'll move up to a gold rank that gives them discounts on everything from car maintenance to movie tickets. And if they're committed enough to offer 200 rides a month, they'll get platinum-level status that bumps them to the front of the queue whenever they ask Lyft's headquarters for help.
The Daily Grind: Do login incentives work on you?
MMOs really, really want you to log in and play them every day, mostly because if you do, there's an increased chance of you spending money on them. So above and beyond hopefully providing an engaging game experience, the studios often outright bribe players with login gifts. I've seen these gifts in RIFT, Trove, and Lord of the Rings Online, as well as a particularly insidious gift system in Neverwinter that doles out rewards every hour. Soon we'll be hiring employees to just sit at our desks to keep our characters logged in while we sleep; mark my words. So do these login incentives work on you? Do you make a round between MMOs that have these, even if you're not playing them as much? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Officers' Quarters: Faster leveling through bribery
Every Monday, Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. He is the author of The Guild Leader's Handbook. Rewards can be powerful motivators. But what is the right way to reward members for leveling the guild and earning guild achievements? This week, a new leader asks just that. Hey Scott, I'm a newly established guild leader with hopes of having a decently successful guild. You see I've had my hand in a handful of guilds ranging from the most casual to the semi hardcore and then in ranks ranging from your run of the mill raider to substitute guild leader. From what I noticed in my experience is that most guilds have tons and tons of members that either pvp or raid and it seems that only the few named personnel only show up to check raid times (if any) or to do the occasional battleground. What I want to accomplish with my newly establish guild is some sort of incentives for work towards achievements or overall leveling of the guild. My officers are just down right stumped and I am looking at you for a piece of advice maybe. I guess to sort of elaborate more on what our goals are is that I'm looking at just making a casual raid/pvp guild that not only rewards its players for achievements but for progress in leveling the guild. What do you suggest? Sincerely, Wet Behind the Ears GL
FCC to vote September 28th on proposal auctioning UHF spectrum, Weird Al might still approve
The FCC has been more than a little eager to repurpose spectrum as wireless internet access takes off: white spaces and iDEN frequencies have already switched roles, and that's not including the myriad of spectrum swaps. Add one more wireless variety to the list, as FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has confirmed his agency will vote on a proposal for incentive-based auctions of UHF spectrum. When the Commission meets next on September 28th, it will decide on whether or not to lure broadcasters into giving up the usually TV-focused space for the sake of data lovers everywhere. The freed-up airwaves in the proposal would mostly be unlicensed spectrum with "WiFi-like uses," but at a much lower frequency than the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands that WiFi needs today: as the first consistent, unlicensed spectrum at that range in the US, it could create opportunities for longer-ranged, free wireless that aren't even on the table in 2012. Not that we have much of a choice in taking action today. Any accepted rules won't be completely finalized until mid-2013, and the auction itself won't take place until 2014. Still, the UHF plans foster dreams of more wireless for everyone -- and we suspect that even one Mr. Yankovic wouldn't mind giving up Channel 62 for a long-distance home network.
Funcom addressing PvP issues in The Secret World
The Secret World's PvP fanbase knows that right now Fusang is more like a merry-go-round than a battleground, with groups just circling around capping facilities and anima wells. Funcom has noted this as well as other issues and has released an overall plan for improving high-level PvP. Among the changes are plans to give incentives for defending facilities and for staying in the Fusang PvP zone longer. The Eldorado and Stonehenge battlegrounds will also see some tweaks, including incentives for increased participation and a reduction in the size of the center "score circle" so players cannot gain points while hiding behind the perimeter stones. Additionally, players saving up for PvP talisman upgrade kits might soon get more for their tokens as the prices will most likely drop.
T-Mobile to incentivize select 2G subscribers with upgrade offers during five-city US pilot
Growing tired of that EDGE-only device on T-Mobile? The carrier wants you to upgrade just as badly as you do, and may be willing to kick some extra incentives your way to help motivate the switch. In an attempt to clear devices from its 2G network, T-Mobile reportedly launched a pilot this month, targeting 5,000 select customers each in Boston, DC, Los Angeles, Miami and New York City with discount offers that vary slightly by market, and may include a waived upgrade fee, up to $100 (Boston) or $50 (NYC, DC) off any phone, or, exclusively for folks in Miami, the option to swap their device for a Samsung t259, t359 Smile or Gravity TXT for free with no new contract to sign. According to TmoNews, customers may receive a targeted offer if they're Classic or Legacy subscribers with 1,000 or more monthly minutes on a 2G device (the iPhone is not included). If the pilot is successful, T-Mobile may roll out the offer to customers in additional cities, as part of the carrier's refarming effort to grow HSPA+ network capacity. A full offer breakdown is available at the source link below.
Apple's plans for Texas construction delayed due to disagreement with county
Apple's plans to bring 3,600 jobs to Austin, Texas are being delayed due to a disagreement between the company and the Travis County Commissioners Court over the terms of an economic incentive package. Apple is hoping to establish an Americas Operations Center in Austin, which would run most of the company's business operations for North and South America. Key to the deal to invest $304 million in the center is a package which would provide the company with almost $36 million in incentives over the next 10 to 15 years. The sticking point in the negotiations is with the Travis County Commissioners Court, which would provide anywhere from $5.4 to $6.4 million of the incentive. Opponents of the deal raised their objections at a Tuesday meeting of the Court, with Bill Aleshire (an attorney and former Travis County judge) and Ed Wendler (an Austin developer) picking through the details of the contract between the county and Apple. Aleshire said "I'm not sorry that Apple is frustrated ... That's a sorry contract." He felt that Apple "had it rigged so they could not comply with the contract yet end up with county staff basically renegotiating the terms that they would have to comply with." There's hope that the negotiations will end in a positive vote for Apple's expansion plans next Tuesday, May 1, 2012. If not, there are plenty of other cities in the U.S. that would be more than happy to welcome Apple with open arms.
Ford begins taking reservations for the Focus Electric, pricing starts at $39,200
We caught our first glimpse of the Ford Focus Electric way back at CES and now, about 11 months later, it's finally hit the market. The manufacturer's long-awaited EV popped up for pre-order on its website yesterday, bearing a base price tag of $39,200. Add in an extra $795 in destination charges and subtract a hefty federal tax credit, and you're looking at a final sticker of about $32,495. As our friends over at Autoblog Green point out, that's about $3,945 higher than what the Nissan Leaf will cost you (pre-incentives), though your final bill could also hinge upon whether you opt for the Blue Candy or White Platinum paint jobs ($395 and $495, respectively), or those leather-trimmed seats, which would set you back an extra $995. According to Ford, a "limited number" of Focus Electrics will be made available in select California and New York markets, though the car should make its way to an extra 15 markets by next year, once production gets ramped up. You can reserve one for yourself at the source link below, or just purr past the break for the full PR treatment.
Lost Pages of Taborea: Runes of Magic's potential for EVE combat
I've been thinking a lot lately on other ways that Runes of Magic reminds me of EVE Online. Not that any systems are exactly the same, but they have certain similarities. Wurm Online and Minecraft are arguably different in how they function, but they both scratch the same creative itch. RoM's gear-modification system lends itself to EVE-esque combat. Keep in mind we're not talking about how the mechanics or guts of the games are similar or different; we're talking about how the same itch is being scratched. In the case of RoM's PvP being like EVE, it's more like tickling the itch with a feather, which makes you want to scratch it even more. I want to scratch that itch with a Brillo pad by exploring how RoM's open-world PvP could function more like EVE's, thanks to the arcane transmutor. Let's start with how I think battlefields differ from open-world PvP.
Wings Over Atreia: Bribing for Balance
Nope, this isn't a new game show on a cable network but rather the idea behind the latest program from NCsoft to help increase and balance the populations of the servers in Aion. In a game heralded for its PvPvE, keeping enough enemies around to ensure PvP is more than just a passing fancy -- it's vital to the welfare of the game. And of late, on some servers it almost seems as if Asmodians are just mythical creatures that Elyos tell stories about. Although I won't speculate (here at least) on the decline, Asmodian populations have dwindled across many servers as has their participation in PvP. Besides the universal events that celebrated the release of patch 2.5, Aion has aimed some new (or revamped) events specifically at reversing this population trend. The basic premise is this: If you bribe them, they will come. The plan, unveiled in May, would encourage players to return to their furry-backed roots or even try some claws on for the first time by offering special faction incentives. Couple this with the free trial and the hope was that servers would see an influx of Asmodians and a return to the days of faction warfare glory. Just what exactly are the incentives and -- more importantly -- how well are they working? Glide past the cut for details and to join in a discussion on the matter.
Microsoft incentivizing chipmakers and tablet manufacturers to form 'sole alliances'? (updated)
A trio of sources speaking to Bloomberg have seemingly shed light on Acer's concerns with Microsoft's new tablet strategy. Seems that the boys beneath Ballmer hope to speed delivery of the company's new tablet OS by limiting variations. To accomplish this, Microsoft is offering incentives to chip and computer makers that agree to form sole alliances (i.e., one chipmaker works exclusively with one computer manufacturer) including enhanced feature sets and lower prices on Microsoft software. Under the plan, chip suppliers will be able to select a second company to produce a clamshell-style laptop using Microsoft's next wares. The plan is not mandatory and does not apply to desktop use of Microsoft next operating system, according to Bloomberg's sources. However, if true, then it represents a dramatic departure from Microsoft's traditional war-of-attrition approach to the laptop and tablet market that has resulted in a near limitless choice of brands and configurations so synonymous with Wintel. It all sounds incredible until you consider Microsoft's approach to Windows Phone that already marries its mobile OS to a highly restrictive specification sheet. With Windows Next (or Windows 8, if you prefer) set to support both Intel architectures and ARM (and all its licensees), we can understand Microsoft's desire for tighter control over its partners in hopes of accelerating development and testing. After all, Microsoft is conspicuously absent from the tablet discussion these days. We guess Steve wasn't kidding when he called this OS Microsoft's "riskiest product bet" yet. Update: And now DigiTimes has jumped in with support for Acer CEO, J.T. Wang, claiming that Taiwan's PC makers have been excluded from Microsoft's Integrated Development Program (IDP) for Windows 8 tablet PCs. According to the Taiwanese rumor rag, long time Microsoft partners Acer, ASUS, and even HTC have been shut out of the proceedings. Instead, DigiTimes claims that chipmakers Intel, AMD, TI, Qualcomm and NVIDIA have been invited by Microsoft to choose manufacturers from a first-round list of participants limited to Dell, HP, and Samsung. Hopefully Microsoft will add some clarity to all this later today when we get our first look at its next generation OS. [Thanks, Pradeep]
The Soapbox: The selfish gamer
Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column. It happened a couple of months ago. I was in a remote area in Lord of the Rings Online when another player -- the only other player in this small zone -- sent me a tell. "Can you help me? I need to finish this quest, and I keep getting killed in this cave." Honestly? My first instinct was to say no. It had been a busy day, and I was sitting down to a brief, 20-minute session that would be my only chance to get anything done until tomorrow. I was hoping to knock out a couple quests of my own, and I really didn't want to log out without accomplishing something with that character. So I responded and declined to help, which he took in good humor. Then it hit me what I just did. In a social online game, I'd refused to help someone who blatantly asked for it, all because I was being self-centered. So I sent him another tell. "You know what? What the heck. I'm sorry; I was having a me moment. Let's do this." And so we did. It was fun, and I logged out 20 minutes later without having advanced my character but feeling as though I accomplished something substantial even so. It was at this moment that I started to realize just how MMOs have conditioned me to be as selfish as possible -- and I made a promise right then and there that I'd start fighting back against that conditioning. I didn't want to be a selfish gamer any longer.
SmithBucklin distributes iPad 2s to employees
There was a time when if you saw an Apple product in a corporate environment, you were either hanging out with the company's designers or actually at Apple HQ itself. So it's great to see companies not only using Apple gear but using it to incentivize and reward its staff like SmithBucklin, the world's largest association management and professional services company, is doing. It's giving its 600+ employees 32 GB Wi-Fi iPad 2s, plus $50 toward accessories "as a way to reward excellent staff performance, improve productivity and enhance the company's social media capabilities," according to the company. "Now that our company is entering a new growth phase, we wanted to do something special for our employees to thank them for staying the course as well as help them continue to embrace social networking," said SmithBucklin President and CEO Henry S. Givray. You can apply for a job with SmithBucklin here -- note that you'll be able to upgrade your iPad 2 to 64 GB and Verizon or AT&T 3G service "for a nominal fee." [Via BusinessWire]
Wings Over Atreia: Anticipaaaaaaaaaaaation
You know the feeling -- you learn about some upcoming goodness and you want it. Or do you crave it? You can fall anywhere along the spectrum of anticipation, provoked by things you just look forward to all the way to things that make you squeal in schoolgirl giddiness at the mere thought! It's a game in and of itself. Such is the way of Aion updates, which tantalize and tease players for quite some time before going live (and even longer if you can translate the original Korean patch notes yourself!). Not yet having a release date for updates is not dampening the anticipation of many Daevas but rather is fueling it instead. So what brought about my musings on this topic? I squealed! More specifically, an announcement this week that put me right into the giddy mode: Winter is coming! George R.R. Martin's fifth book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series will release in July. Now, while my fangirliness in its supreme is reserved for this outstanding literature, I also have things that I am looking forward to in game. However, there are those who have a virtual heart attack when new goodies for Aion are announced; I have one legionmate who will only re-sub when update 2.5 rolls around and brings with it all the little bells and whistles he is pining for. It is quite interesting to listen as he randomly pops into Ventrilo to trumpet the greatness of this upcoming gaming salvation, then disappears again into the night. So what about 2.5 has my legionmate so excitable... and excited? Skip-to-my-lou past the cut to take a look at some of the upcoming features.
Microsoft comes clean on doling out cash, free hardware to entice Windows Phone devs
Microsoft director Todd Brix has apparently revealed what's been known from a series of non-denied rumors for a while now: they're making it rain on mobile developers with good ideas. According to a BusinessWeek report, it seems they're pursuing a number of angles to entice software shops to help build out Windows Phone 7's launch catalog, ranging from offering free test hardware to simply paying cash, sometimes in the form of revenue guarantees that Microsoft will meet if apps don't meet sales goals in the Marketplace. Of course, there's not really anything wrong with Microsoft inorganically pursuing support for its ecosystem like this -- they've certainly got the pocketbook for it, and considering their come-from-behind position, they ought to be using any tool available to 'em right now to get this thing as ready as it can possibly be for app-hungry customers later this year.
Help stress test LotRO to win cool prizes and meet devs
Isn't it funny? People are always clamoring to get into closed betas but once an MMO launches, test servers are usually pretty empty, even for special events. Turbine has decided to offer some great incentives for players to participate in their upcoming Lord of the Rings Online performance test and is giving away several high-powered computer accessories and making sure the devs are online to interact with. Subscribers and even trial-account holders can log into the Bullroarer public test server between 9:00PM and 11:00PM Eastern on Thursday, May 14 and have a shot at winning: Two (2) first prizes - AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition CPU + OCZ Platinum 4GB DDR3 SDRAM Five (5) second prizes - OCZ Vertex 60GB MLC Solid State SATA II Hard Drive Ten (10) third prizes - ATI Radeon HD 4890 Video Card Twenty (20) fourth prizes - Signed copy of The Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria In order to qualify, you must play the entire two hours of the event and be a resident of the United States. Disconnects will not disqualify you as long as you log back in immediately. You can download the Bullroarer client here. Good luck!
More incentive for guilds to claim keeps in Warhammer
Claiming and defending keeps in Warhammer Online can be a costly endeavour, but it just became a lot more rewarding. Guilds that own a T4 keep when the zone their keep is in is captured will now receive a gold bag containing Annihilator gear. They will receive another gold Annihilator bag for each successive zone that is captured. If the fortress falls in the pairing where you own a keep, you will recive a gold Conqueror bag. Guild masters can transfer these gold bags to anyone in the guild.Recently, Mythic added other incentives for keep claiming. In order to lock a zone with the new Zone Domination System, all keeps must be claimed. The most recent patch also included a keep upgrade system. Guilds who claim keeps can upgrade the the gate, guards, and add special merchants. The intrinsic incentive for claiming and defending a keep is of course guild pride. Wouldn't we all like to see our heraldry flying in the wind?
Feds and creditors decry Midway's 'key employee incentive plan'
Like flies to honey, Midway can't seem to stop attracting controversy as it attempts to stay afloat during its "planned" bankruptcy phase. This time around, the besieged developer is coming under fire from its creditors and the government committee overseeing its bankruptcy proceedings for planning to dish out $3.755 million to 29 of its employees as part of a "key employee incentive plan."According to The Cut Scene, the bonuses were set up to reward the select employees (five of which are supposedly Midway executives) should they manage to sell the Wheelman and Mortal Kombat franchises. The feds and creditors took issue with these goals -- when the "incentive plan" was submitted, Wheelman had already been sold to Ubisoft. The incensed parties also took issue with attaching incentives to the sale of Mortal Kombat -- a duty mandated by Midway's "obligations under the Bankruptcy Code."There are other troublesome points in the plan, such as the fairly high amount of cash it would dispense -- cash that the owed creditors would like to see in their own coffers. Midway will reportedly file an updated (and likely less lucrative) version of the "incentive plan" before its public bankruptcy hearing tomorrow morning.Update: The revised "key incentive plan" was submitted by Midway last night and alters the previous plan in a few key ways. Midway CEO Matt Booty has been subtracted from the equation, leaving four out of 28 potential employees receiving bonuses, and of those 28, the bonus will be based on the amount of money various properties are sold at. The sale of the Wheelman property will no longer be considered as part of the bonus requirements and the Mortal Kombat franchise will only count if "all of its assets" are sold along with it. To read more about what has changed, check out The Cut Scene.
