Aces High Price: My Suggestion

[LePaul]

Hey folks, the following is just my 2 cents:

As someone that has no problem paying for great gaming, I'm not really ready to chip in $30 a month for access to a server I can't always get great ping times from.  Its not HighTechCreations fault, and its not my ISPs, its just dumb luck.  Sometimes I get great traceroutes & pings, but many times, I do not.

Now I used to play Sony's Tanarus game..the online space tank game.  Great game.  You bought the game for $30~$40 and paid $5 a month to play on their servers.  Novalogic takes it a step further by allowing FREE access to their online servers OR allow you to host your own large games (no 8 player limit).

I would be STRONGLY in favor of buying Aces High (ala in the box, registration card, etc) and pay a much reduced rate for access to the online arenas, for the times I DO get decent pings to them.  Further, I would like to host my own online battles with more than 8 players, especially if I had bought the retail Aces High Program.

Feedback?  Am i totally out of line?  When it works, the online play is great.  But it isnt always, and Id really enjoy hosting a large battle but not limited to only 8 players.

Thanks for listening.

Paul Bussiere http://bd5.checksix.net

[Badger]

Hi Paul...... <S>

We've beat this topic to death in our on-line flight sims business focus group.  We currently have over 120 members, including representation from iEN, Playnet and old IMOL employees.

If you'd care to join, tag the link below and repose your question there as well.  I think you'll get some interesting and varied responses about what it takes to operate and make a profit from this on-line gaming genre.

Regards,
Badger

Looking for a different kind of environment to discuss your favorite on-line flight simulator?
 http://www.egroups.com/group/flightsimsonline  

[LePaul]

Thanks for your response.

Im going to pass on being in another EGroups Listserver.  Im already overwhelmed in my email as I am part of the BD-5 Listserver (powered by egroups).  You see, Im building my own airplane, as are others, so we all stay in touch with design changes, modifications, etc etc.  Feel free to check my site out.

But I know, there is a fine line between being profitable and giving a product/service away.  And, I do not suspect I am the first the advocate the ideas I originally mentioned.  But, I stand by my ideas and hope someone frm HTC can respond to them.

Paul Bussiere http://bd5.checksix.net

[Badger]

 

Originally posted by LePaul:
Thanks for your response.  Im going to pass on being in another EGroups Listserver.  Im already overwhelmed in my email as I am part of the BD-5 Listserver (powered by egroups).  

np....BTW, I assume you know that you can set your profile on eGroups to use WEB based access just like this system.  You don't have to receive email.  There's also a third option to receive all new posts as a batch file.

<S>

Regards,
Badger

[Igloo]

Keep in mind though, that other online games have literally thousands of people playing them.  People often refer to online RPGs and their price, but you cannot compare the two.  Online RPGs have a few 100,000 people who bought the game and pay low monthly prices.  That is a lot of income for that company.

HTC, on the other hand, only has around (my guess) 200-250 people who pay for their accounts.  That is not much profit if the price is lowered to match other games that have a much larger customer pool.

------------------
Squadron Leader, Igloo.
C/O RCAF 411 Squadron - County of York

[Tac]

200-250 people because they are the only ones that can afford to burn 30 a month.

$50 for the box game, $10 a month for online play (just like EQ) is a much better alternative to a gamer.

If you take into consideration what the LARGE majority of the players have to pay..

Most non-US countries not only charge for the internet connection, but also charge per minute bills on their telephone bills (like Germany and I think the UK).. not to mention the obvious problems that arise with the dollar exchange.

Now add that to the possible OTHER games people would play.. like EQ or whatever is out there.. say that is $10 or $15 a month as well...

Now comes along AH and asks 30 whackazoids a month.

All the above add up to what most of us consider impossible to pay. Solution? Drop the 1 or 2 other games the person enjoys playing to pay for AH? Find a cheaper ISP (which is very likely to get HORRIBLE ping from)? Blackmail your local governor?

For most of us that would like to be in AH but aren't the obvious option was to NOT subscribe to AH.

I would be really interested to see if HTC does a poll on the income range of those subscribed to AH.. I bet they are mostly in the mid-hi income range   .

[LePaul]

Thanks for your response.

First, Im not asking for a price reduction:  I'm asking to be able to buy my own copy so I can host my own games, since I've had many times where my connection to their servers are less than adequate.  In its current [free] form, I can host a game for 8 players.  Id much rather be able to have 16 to 32.  

Like I said, I do not mean to come off as someone whining about the price.  Not at all.  I love the game, but sadly I can't get a good connect to the servers consistently.  There are several in this area that are very interested in the game and if I could host my own battles, it would draw more in.  Their Internet access costs $19 to $25 a month, few are really willing to pay that for access to a game server (especially if their response times from the host servers are poor).

That is all.  Maybe an alternate means of income for HTC...selling a model for small ISPs like me who have people that want to play.

Paul http://bd5.checksix.net

[LePaul]

Tac:

Well said, exactly my point.  

They may get more members for $20 a month than they currently are for $30.

Without going on like a broken record, we all agree the game is great and enjoy seeing the rapid enhancements made to it by the developers.  As a fledging programmer myself, I can understand what they are going through to make it all happen behind the scenes.  So far, I have -zero- dollars invested in the game.  I'm willing to invest some, if I can have better options, as my prior post mentions in detail.

Paul http://bd5.checksix.net

[AaronGT]

The advantage for HT for a $30 set subscription and unlimited play is that revenue predictions are much easier, which makes for a better way to deal with accountants and investors. From that point of view it is a very good idea.

The problem is that there are also people (e.g. me) who are unlikely to play enough to make the $30 seem competitive compared to the competition (e.g. Warbirds).

I can play Warbirds for 15 hours a month for what it would cost to play AH for 1 hour a month, or 100 hours. If I averaged 10 hours a month online then AH would seem a bad prospect unless it was so much better than the other online simulations to make the extra outlay seem worth it.

If I was a regular 10 hour a month player I would probably not be interested in AH, unless there was, say, a $20 option which gave me 10 hours of play, with maybe additional hours at $2.50 an hour.

To my mind what AH needs is a sliding scale
of options, which will be more difficult for
acounting, but might attract more people.

E.g.
$10/month gives you 5 free hours
$20/month gives you 10 free hours
(additional hours at $2, or $2.50 or something)
$30/month gives you unlimited hours

So you can work out the minimum monthly
income from the mix of subscriptions, but the
$30/month looks enough of a bargain to
encourage people to go for that.

To be successful AH needs to poach players and entire squadrons from WB. Also it needs
to offer something other than just capture the flag with the addition of tanks. If WW2
online gets going than capture the flag + tanks will look like old hat.

At the moment the graphics and additional ground targets and flight models outperform
WB 2.76, but WB III might be a serious threat.
 

[LePaul]

Very good points.

I notice no one from HTC has responded.  Perhaps the rates/fees are not up for discussion, which is fine, I can understand and appreciate that as a business owner myself.

But, if I see I have a potential larger audience for a modest price cut, I'd be inclined to listen to it.

Take care
Paul Bussiere

[Toad]

Maybe they don't respond because this horse has been beaten into absolute dust.

 

[Ripsnort]

 

Originally posted by Toad:
Maybe they don't respond because this horse has been beaten into absolute dust.

 

Beaten since 1995, when Warbirds  went pay.

[LePaul]

Well to those of you that have been in here a lot longer than I, apologize if this issue is a re-run to you.

I really enjoy the game and wanted to voice my thoughts on this forum.  If this annoys those that have already spoken on the issue, I appeal to your good humor.

Thanks guys

Paul Bussiere

[easymo]

 These price threads just baffel me. First its no ones business what they charge, but HTC,s. Second H2H is frikken free. What else do you want.

[LePaul]

EasyMo:

Rather than spout off a response that makes you look like an ass, as your has, why not read the *entire* thread!

Duh!

In case you are incapable of doing this, let me summarize:  Not all of us get good connections to the HTC Game Server(s), and some of us (ala ME) would like to buy a copy of Aces High that would allow me to host my own 16 or 32 player games.

Furthermore, the number one complaint I hear from friends I reccomend Aces High too is that they aren't about ready to spend more then they do for Internet Access per month on a game they only play a few times a week.

As mentioned above earlier, I, and others, feel more would play if the price were less.

That is all.

Please review the forum messages before posting your 2 cents.  

Paul