If you dontated for a certain package, you have access to a limited range TP via our wrapper. it has a spool up time that requires you to stay in the same sector to work that is calculated based on mass and distance, and we will soon be adding mass into the calculations.
How about just
not having the donor system change personal gameplay capabilities in any way? That is the best and the most honest way to run this. If you're giving them anything in return for their "donation", it's not a donation anymore. It's them paying you and you providing them a service in return. That is not a donor system. That is a business, and one that has no place in a fair Star-made game experience.
So sure, such a benefit like teleportation is nice to the people who donate, but for the people who don't or can't donate, it puts them at an unfair disadvantage. For people who have money, they have a dishonest incentive at hand by which to encourage their donating: not to help upkeep the server, but to give themselves an edge in combat. Call it what you want, but that's abusive no matter what way you spin it.
For example, those donors are able to use such a feature to skip having to put jump drives on their ships. They can just TP somewhere when they need to, not having to expend as much effort to mine for materials for jump drive components.
It also enables them to TP out of and into combat with their enemy whenever they want.
Your idea of using mass is noble, but there's a major problem with that: the donors could also simply build a little stickship and take advantage of its light mass to TP to their enemy's space quickly, then spawn in a pre-filled-up Titan blueprint to destroy their enemy, then run, hide, quickly build it down, then TP back again, no problem. There is just no way to solve that problem.
And for those non-donors, when they lose, it makes the donors who just kicked their butts look like abusive A-holes, and it makes the donor system appear very corrupt, and in turn reflects badly on the server administration.
The solution to all that frustrating bullcrap? Just run an honest, non-interfering donor system. If they
really love and enjoy your server, and aren't simply interested in gaining teleportation powers so they can more easily destroy everyone and piss people off, then they will donate to the server regardless of what benefits or lack of benefits you give in return.
o im sorry are you sugesting that donators just be given a nice ol "thank you for your money now go f*ck yourself"?
Not at all. But having the donor system give players any sort of access to such a powerful command is abusive and encourages pay-to-win gameplay. A donor is just that - someone who gives money to a cause expecting nothing in return. If you're giving them something back to encourage donations then it's no longer a donor system but a pay-to-win scheme.
Even so, there are surely other incentives that can be given to players who contribute money to server upkeep that does not give such "donors" such an unfair and abusive power on the server. They could have special access to VIP warpgates, like CyberTao suggested. Players could then know to build their bases away from the vicinity of those gates to avoid attacks from donors in titans.
