HT i think you should consider more priceing options

[Hotdog]

Hi guys i know this has been dragged up before but its getting close to pay to play and I belive HT will be missing out on a larger user base with his option of 1 price only.

Now first let me say I dont disagree with the US $30 unlimited play price, in fact I thinks its a fair price for the game and the development HT & Pyro will put in to it over the next 2 - 3 years.

But I really think HT is going to lose lots of pilots from the beta game by not haveing other priceing plans for people to chose from, AH really is like a ISP there are people playing it who love the all you can eat type play for the price, there are also the casual games who spend time doing other things with there lives other than playing on the net, these guys are the ones HT will be missing out on and I would guess there are a lot of them out there playing the FREE AH beta, also to be considerd are the people in other countrys where the US $ is very strong this makes AH expensive to play at US$30 month in New Zealand that is NZ $60 for us, still not a bad price but its getting up there considering the avarge wage in NZ is $400 week after tax.

Anyway as I said I would really like to see AH with priceing plans like most ISP have, in NZ my ISP has many plans to chose from.

Flat Rate NZ $39.95
Advanced 10 10 hours = NZ $10
Advanced 20 20 hours = NZ $20
Advanced 50 50 hours = NZ $35
Hourly Rate = NZ $2.50 hour

This gives my ISP customers the choice to pick and use the hours they would on the net, its a great idea and one I really think HT & Pyro should consider, I have seen many people say they would sign up for 10, 20, 30 hours or even a houry rate, these are the people who will help build the numbers in AH along with the unlimited all you can eat guys and I really do think its a shame and waste that HT is ignoring them with his 1 price plan policy.

Anyway like I said its not a slam at the price of AH, belive me I think HT & Pyro really should do very well with AH and deserve to make lots of money.

If your one of those people who would like to see more priceing plans for AH, add a msg here maybe we can convince HT he is missing out on lots of customers who want to play his great game.

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Hotdog
CO RNZAF Warbirds/Aces High

[wells]

Good points!  Perhaps something like 1.50/hr up to a maximum of $50?

[Grater]

As a pilot also living in NZ, I would also like this to be considered.  It is such a worthwhile game, and as I would probably pay the current rate, because I think it's worth it, there are quite a few who probably won't.  This is not an off-the -shelf s/w and think AH stand to make a huge advances in their technology.  Keep us all hooked!!! It's an awesome sim!!!

[Dskies]

I work at sea and $30 a month seems a little high for the 2 weeks I'm off every other month.

[dolomite]

I can see this would complicate billing somewhat.

Why not $1 a day? The most anyone would have to pay would be $31/month, and those that only want to play half the month won't lose out.

[drdoyo]

Dolomite,

If I play for 15 minutes, I pay a dollar? Considering climb to alt, etc, etc, probably more like 1 hour minimum. Lets see, WB is $1.25 / hour......... Sounds GOOD to me   !! THen those of us who still "WANT" to give AH a chance, CAN. I for one just installed a voodoo 3 3000 AGP Saturday, and have not had a chance to adequatly check out FPS with "TRACER SMOKE" flying. This was my "ONLY" (Pay attention pls HT) issue before, as my FPS dropped to 0.54 when I attacked a B-17 just after the George was released. WE were the only 2 planes in the area BTW, and when he opened fire with those linked guns, GAME OVER for my FPS, and ME   . My test yesterday with the new vid board seems to have gone well, but further testing required    .

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Drdoyo, Lt.
VF-17 the Jolly Rogers
8X

Damn emoticins

[This message has been edited by drdoyo (edited 01-24-2000).]

[This message has been edited by drdoyo (edited 01-24-2000).]

[CptTrips]

>Why not $1 a day? The most anyone would
>have to pay would be $31/month, and those
>that only want to play half the month won't
>lose out.

Then you'd have people complaining that they didn't get home from work until 7pm and so they shouldn't get charged for a whole day while someone else has been playing since 8am.

These people are missing the point behind the "All You Can Eat" stategy.  The secret that allows a company to sustain that is cost averaging.  Some people will eat more than average, some people will eat less.  You pick a cost that will average it out.  People tend to like that because whether they eat as much as the next guy, they're garunteed to be allowed to eat as much as they want until they've had their fill.  

But to silence the whining I say they should offer $30.00 flat rate or $2.00 per/hour for those that don't mind watching the clock out of the corner of their eye while flying.  But thats it.  No endless ladder of different payment schemes.  

30 flat, or 2 bucks per.  Keep it simple. :>


IMHO,
Wab

[dolomite]

I see more problems than that. I don't do the billing, but I'm sure part of what the $30 per month plan does is guarantee what income will arrive each month. The flexible plans invite fluctuations of income.

I'd best stay out of the money arguments, I can't even manage my own checkbook.  

[dolomite]

ack, Wab, rendered my argument moot 3 minutes before I posted it!

[jedi]

OK, I'm probably not gonna spend $60/month to play 2 online sims.  WB gets $30.  That means you have to either "steal" me from WB, which you can't do with the current state of the two games, or provide me with a way to play AH for less than $30.

Give me a way to play AH for $10 and I'm in.  If that means only 5-10 hours, I'm probably still in.

Force me to choose which game I think is best, and you have to actually BE the best.  Not there yet IMO, but I WILL support the development of the sim.  Just give me a way to do it.  Want guys like me?  I played both AW and WB for 3 years before WB finally outpaced AW on MY "quality scale."  Both sims got my money.  You want some of it?  Give me some options...

--jedi

[Daniko]

I think at least 1 alternative pricing method based on hourly usage is a good idea, like the 2$ an hour.  I think AH is a great game, and i want to continue to be a part of the comunity etc.  But 30$ a month is a significant investment to me.  And personally, while u can find me flying in the "beta" arena now cause it's free, . .this isn't what i really enjoy about sims like this.  I may not be willing to pay 30$ a month just to fly and fly,  but give me a 2$ an hour option, or an option to fly "Special events" for something between 5 and 10 dollars and you will see me there often.  I want to fly scenerios, and that's pretty much it.  From what i understand, there is going to be extra charges for certain events anyways,  what if the only thing we want to fly is "special events?"

daniko

[TT]

 Jeez guys. There is going to be an 8 player free game. These guys are doing everything but buying you a joystick.

[bod]

Agree with Jedi and others. One month i play a lot, then nothing for two other months etc.

What about MIN 10$/month (MIN 5 if you pay up front for 6-12 months), MAX 30$/month and 2$/hour in between ?.

It is a beautiful sim, but.....  


Bod

[Disco Fever]

Pardon me if somebody already stated this as I didn't bother to read all the replies, keep in mind this is a startup company. They are trying to keep their expenses low. For them to be able to offer a metered plan, they would need one of two things neither of which may be in place. Either a piece of software to compile user usage and lock accounts when a limit is reached or a person to wade through logs or a combination of these two things. There may be nothing like this in place so they may not have the ability to offer anything other than the current plan.

[Yeager]

Dont spend too much time on this guys.  Its a done deal until the numbers start coming in.

In any event, I dont see HTC bringing the rates down regardless.  Either she flys or she doesnt.

And besides, everyone shuddup or well start getting charged $2 an hour and even that would be worth it!  SHUDDUP!!!!!!!!

Yeager