Forums » Suggestions
currently you can pay $9 to have 6 alts on pc or $1 for a 4/4/4/4/4 or you can play free on mobile
I think a $5 sub for just 1 pc pilot is a good idea
not everyone needs 6 alts or can afford $9
yes you will lose some cash as pc players switch but you will gain free players who cant afford
(don't want to pay) $9
I think a $5 sub for just 1 pc pilot is a good idea
not everyone needs 6 alts or can afford $9
yes you will lose some cash as pc players switch but you will gain free players who cant afford
(don't want to pay) $9
Just extend the lite/f2p to PC, and polish the game assets for steam, perhaps rework the crystals for micro-transactions like livery.
You already can get sub for nearly 5$ a month if you buy 24 months at once.
We need MORE players on computers, not less. They are the ones who take full advantage of VO, and are the ones who pay the 10$ subs which will be needed for a larger development/management/marketing team in the future.
You already can get sub for nearly 5$ a month if you buy 24 months at once.
We need MORE players on computers, not less. They are the ones who take full advantage of VO, and are the ones who pay the 10$ subs which will be needed for a larger development/management/marketing team in the future.
erm. It allready only costs as much as a pizza. You dont wanna buy a pizza, once a month?
We need MORE players on computers, not less. They are the ones who take full advantage of VO, and are the ones who pay the 10$ subs which will be needed for a larger development/management/marketing team in the future.
Lulz. This shows how little you actually understand about how the game industry makes money, leave alone GS.
You already can get sub for nearly 5$ a month if you buy 24 months at once.
As has been mentioned before, this is not a reasonable response to somebody who has not yet decided that the game is worth $10/month. Somebody who doesn't want to spend $10 is not going to spend $120. The suggestion of a lower price point for reduced pilot slots is very reasonable and is a great way to get people engaged in the full game experience.
+1 to a $5/month tier.
As has been mentioned before, this is not a reasonable response to somebody who has not yet decided that the game is worth $10/month. Somebody who doesn't want to spend $10 is not going to spend $120. The suggestion of a lower price point for reduced pilot slots is very reasonable and is a great way to get people engaged in the full game experience.
+1 to a $5/month tier.
To be honest, I always thought there should be a little more incentive to even go for a lite sub. I'd actually make a counter suggestion to raise the lite cap to 5/5/5/5/5 and leave F2P at 4/4/4/4/4 forever.
But +1 anyway, why not as-well. If it is easy enough to do of course; the character slots are probably buried under more ancient code than your mom.
But +1 anyway, why not as-well. If it is easy enough to do of course; the character slots are probably buried under more ancient code than your mom.
$10 monthly with no box price is extremely generous for a subscription-based MMORPG. Many will charge something like $60 for the game itself plus $15 monthly on top of having a cash shop where cosmetic items or even buffs can be purchased for real cash.
We should consider ourselves lucky. As Blaqk mentioned, the subscription price drops to as little as $6.67 monthly when purchased in bulk for the economically minded. This is more than fair.
Once upon a time I gave away an entire year to an apparently intelligent newbie who was ranting about the subscription cost. Guess what? Never saw him again. Some people you couldn't pay to play the game, and rather than come to this realization they displace onto the nearest obvious object of criticism.
It was a tough life lesson, but it's true.
We should consider ourselves lucky. As Blaqk mentioned, the subscription price drops to as little as $6.67 monthly when purchased in bulk for the economically minded. This is more than fair.
Once upon a time I gave away an entire year to an apparently intelligent newbie who was ranting about the subscription cost. Guess what? Never saw him again. Some people you couldn't pay to play the game, and rather than come to this realization they displace onto the nearest obvious object of criticism.
It was a tough life lesson, but it's true.
Sorry Phaser, I know you mean well but [removed by Whistler] up. If the current sub model was working for VO then why add mobile and F2P tier in the first place?
I'm not pretending to know what's best for the game; I'm stating that, from my perspective, $6.67 monthly is well worth being able to infinitely progress compared to what else is on the market right now. Furthermore, I like only having to approach the decision once every two years.
I'm also noting that VO has a very low barrier to entry.
$10 monthly is worth it just to try it out for a couple months. The local pinball arcade charges $30 monthly (or $10 nightly), and I'm not sure I'd be receiving 3x the utility from that. I'd love it if it was free, but to advance the old adage: few things in life are.
I'm also noting that VO has a very low barrier to entry.
$10 monthly is worth it just to try it out for a couple months. The local pinball arcade charges $30 monthly (or $10 nightly), and I'm not sure I'd be receiving 3x the utility from that. I'd love it if it was free, but to advance the old adage: few things in life are.
I strongly disagree with the OP proposal of limiting a subscription to one character, especially because GS locked us out of content/ships (with the faction redux) unless we play differently aligned characters.
If the current sub model was working for VO then why add mobile and F2P tier in the first place?
The current sub model was working for VO, on the PC. Mobile users (particularly Android) have different expectations. We actually tried the Trial / Premium model on Android for awhile, and were battered with negative reviews from angry Android people who want everything to "have the perception of being free". We had to re-structure the business model for Android.
Premium purchases, on the other hand, has actually made a bit of a comeback on PC, as people get exhausted with the F2P hamster-wheel mechanics pushed by some of the bigger titles. It's still a mixed bag (especially for MMOs), but premium is at least still "a thing" on PC, unlike Android.
As far as the OP, I'm not against evolving the business model, I've actually been working on aspects of that recently.
But, understand that there's also an inherent risk to this kind of thing. There was a time when we changed our Trial length to be much longer, and experienced an immediate drop in conversions and overall revenue. By the same token, adding a $5 bracket may shift more existing subscribers than it attracts new subscribers, resulting in more loss of revenue than gains. Frankly, I have no data to support the notion that $5/month is especially compelling to any meaningful market share, compared to $10. Usually the problem is not "$5 vs $10" but rather "any dollars vs nothing".
So basically, it's relatively easy to say "yes you will lose some cash as pc players switch but you will gain free players who cant afford (don't want to pay) $9", but if the assumption is wrong, it also runs the risk of driving the company out of business and killing the game entirely.
Plus, once you change, it's pretty impossible to change back (if you realize it's killing your revenue). You can't even actually do that, as you'd have to ask every sub to re-add their subscription again (we can't change the dollar value of existing subscriptions), and some people would probably be upset about a perceived price increase and then simply quit.
This would all be well and good if I had hundreds of thousands of dollars in the bank and could do lots of random experimentation with revenue, without risking solvency. But I.. don't, at present. So basically, if we tried something like this, and it went badly, it could go very badly.
The current sub model was working for VO, on the PC. Mobile users (particularly Android) have different expectations. We actually tried the Trial / Premium model on Android for awhile, and were battered with negative reviews from angry Android people who want everything to "have the perception of being free". We had to re-structure the business model for Android.
Premium purchases, on the other hand, has actually made a bit of a comeback on PC, as people get exhausted with the F2P hamster-wheel mechanics pushed by some of the bigger titles. It's still a mixed bag (especially for MMOs), but premium is at least still "a thing" on PC, unlike Android.
As far as the OP, I'm not against evolving the business model, I've actually been working on aspects of that recently.
But, understand that there's also an inherent risk to this kind of thing. There was a time when we changed our Trial length to be much longer, and experienced an immediate drop in conversions and overall revenue. By the same token, adding a $5 bracket may shift more existing subscribers than it attracts new subscribers, resulting in more loss of revenue than gains. Frankly, I have no data to support the notion that $5/month is especially compelling to any meaningful market share, compared to $10. Usually the problem is not "$5 vs $10" but rather "any dollars vs nothing".
So basically, it's relatively easy to say "yes you will lose some cash as pc players switch but you will gain free players who cant afford (don't want to pay) $9", but if the assumption is wrong, it also runs the risk of driving the company out of business and killing the game entirely.
Plus, once you change, it's pretty impossible to change back (if you realize it's killing your revenue). You can't even actually do that, as you'd have to ask every sub to re-add their subscription again (we can't change the dollar value of existing subscriptions), and some people would probably be upset about a perceived price increase and then simply quit.
This would all be well and good if I had hundreds of thousands of dollars in the bank and could do lots of random experimentation with revenue, without risking solvency. But I.. don't, at present. So basically, if we tried something like this, and it went badly, it could go very badly.
Perhaps if things were more consistent across platforms this wouldn't be such a shot in the dark.
Crystals in their current application don't work well, remove them and the painful experience they bring to pilots and use credits instead.
Crystals in their current application don't work well, remove them and the painful experience they bring to pilots and use credits instead.
I'm happy with my 10$ a month payment.
I don't really see the point of this, personally. I love alts >:D
However:
"I'd actually make a counter suggestion to raise the lite cap to 5/5/5/5/5 and leave F2P at 4/4/4/4/4 forever."
+1 to yoda's suggestion. I think lite sub accounts should get 5/5/5/5/5
However:
"I'd actually make a counter suggestion to raise the lite cap to 5/5/5/5/5 and leave F2P at 4/4/4/4/4 forever."
+1 to yoda's suggestion. I think lite sub accounts should get 5/5/5/5/5
+1 to Yoda's idea also
Make it so that you can buy lite subscriptions from your pc. This won't convert many people that are already subbed on pc. I can imagine that many old vets that dont stay subbed anymore would keep a lite sub if they could just buy it from their pc.
And the added convenience of it being an option on the official website for the game would definitely produce results. I told one of my friends about the lite sub. He said he would try it out. Then, I was like ok download this app on your phone and do this process. Needless to say he didn't go through the hassle. Had that option been listed on the website, that'd be one more lite sub.
And the added convenience of it being an option on the official website for the game would definitely produce results. I told one of my friends about the lite sub. He said he would try it out. Then, I was like ok download this app on your phone and do this process. Needless to say he didn't go through the hassle. Had that option been listed on the website, that'd be one more lite sub.
Inc, you make some very good points. The only thing I would add is that we have been at a crossroads for a while. When many of us subscribed to the game, Linux gaming was a pipe dream. We were happy to support VO because it supported our native platform. But Linux gaming is no longer a dream but a reality now that Valve has officially embraced Linux.
As you mention, I don't know if $5 is a compelling price point, but we are at a point where we need to do something or we risk fading into obsolescence . So whether the price point is $1, $5, or $10, something needs to be done to encourage PC adoption or VO is going to fade into obscurity as a mobile game with bad reviews because it could never align its mobile offering to the F2P mentality. I know this is scary because it means VO may cease to exist and that is not an outcome I want either, but as it stands merely covering payroll for another month or two is not a recipe for success.
As you mention, I don't know if $5 is a compelling price point, but we are at a point where we need to do something or we risk fading into obsolescence . So whether the price point is $1, $5, or $10, something needs to be done to encourage PC adoption or VO is going to fade into obscurity as a mobile game with bad reviews because it could never align its mobile offering to the F2P mentality. I know this is scary because it means VO may cease to exist and that is not an outcome I want either, but as it stands merely covering payroll for another month or two is not a recipe for success.
Darth: Yup, I'm aware.
Savet, I appreciate the intent, but.. don't worry too much about it, ok? :)
I only posted a response to correct someone's wrong assumption, and to try to clarify why this is basically not a good idea (although we'll continue iterating on business models in general, nor do I have a problem with pricing spreads.. it's just more complicated an issue than I have time to write about on here?).
Your post is making a lot of other assumptions, with much more dire "scary!" ramifications attached to them.
To put it simply: "If players start making assumptions about complex factors where they have no insight.. those assumptions are always wrong" (often hilariously so). This is especially true involving stuff like revenue, conversion rates, churn, F2P psychology, and other stuff that's inherently complicated (even if you have access to all the raw data and analytics).
Relax. We're doing our jobs, we have lot of changes coming, in terms of market side, and business-model side, and content side.
Just because development takes a long time, doesn't mean we don't have a plan.
Savet, I appreciate the intent, but.. don't worry too much about it, ok? :)
I only posted a response to correct someone's wrong assumption, and to try to clarify why this is basically not a good idea (although we'll continue iterating on business models in general, nor do I have a problem with pricing spreads.. it's just more complicated an issue than I have time to write about on here?).
Your post is making a lot of other assumptions, with much more dire "scary!" ramifications attached to them.
To put it simply: "If players start making assumptions about complex factors where they have no insight.. those assumptions are always wrong" (often hilariously so). This is especially true involving stuff like revenue, conversion rates, churn, F2P psychology, and other stuff that's inherently complicated (even if you have access to all the raw data and analytics).
Relax. We're doing our jobs, we have lot of changes coming, in terms of market side, and business-model side, and content side.
Just because development takes a long time, doesn't mean we don't have a plan.
Perhaps a 6 or 7 dollar sub with the option to buy alts at a dollar per month?
Taking stuff back has always been poorly received to the point of players actually quitting over minor changes. <Shrug>
What about?:
f2p trial sub limited to 3/3/3/3/3 and phone only
1$ lite sub with 1 character limited to 5/5/5/5/5 and all platform access
5$ full sub with additional alts at 1$ per
BTW sharable storage at 10$ per month for 100kcu would also add to revenues
Taking stuff back has always been poorly received to the point of players actually quitting over minor changes. <Shrug>
What about?:
f2p trial sub limited to 3/3/3/3/3 and phone only
1$ lite sub with 1 character limited to 5/5/5/5/5 and all platform access
5$ full sub with additional alts at 1$ per
BTW sharable storage at 10$ per month for 100kcu would also add to revenues
I realise that I don't have a clue about the business model or the ramifications of changing it but something needs to be done if you don't want to end up like http://jumpgate-tri.org/