The Marketing of AH - Ideas on how to increase player base

[Tilt]

I think that if HTC made a whole arena free then it would attract a group of free playing folk who have no interest in the the other arenas as may carry various charges. With respect to the WW1 arena the risk is that it is populated by WW1 players who have no interest in WW2 anyway.

For me logic dictates that any free access should be to either the late war arena or all arenas but severely restricted (by ride type)  such that there is a strong motivation to upgrade the account.

I would agree(retrospectively) that any sort of war bird fighter would just create a massive group of players flying this fighter for free. The danger being that they start to horde in this type of bird alone. (thus ruling out even a P40B and  even the c202).

In effect the Free choice could be severely limited to variances of the M3 and the Storch, maybe the C47.

In this way the free players take on the role of mechanised infantry.

If there were a "half price" account then this could be for Gv's only.

[The Fugitive]

I've posted this before but I think a tiered system would work.  Give everyone WWI for free to start to learn a few of the basics.  Add EW and the TA for $5/mo., add MW, AvA and DA for $10/mo. and add LW, scenarios/events and access to perk rides (not available with lower subscriptions) for the full subscription price.  This is just an example.  Access, money and time can be tweaked.

This get's people gradually warmed up to the game, fills some of the emptier arenas and might encourage more high ENY plane useage in the LWA since many will cut their teeth on EW/MW planes.

I don't think a tiered set-up would be good. While I think it would bring in more people I see one big problem with it. Whats to keep the sharks away from the new guys?

Learning this game is tuff enough, add in the frustration of getting hammer before you get a half mile from your base.

I think that if HTC made a whole arena free then it would attract a group of free playing folk who have no interest in the the other arenas as may carry various charges. With respect to the WW1 arena the risk is that it is populated by WW1 players who have no interest in WW2 anyway.

For me logic dictates that any free access should be to either the late war arena or all arenas but severely restricted (by ride type)  such that there is a strong motivation to upgrade the account.

I would agree(retrospectively) that any sort of war bird fighter would just create a massive group of players flying this fighter for free. The danger being that they start to horde in this type of bird alone. (thus ruling out even a P40B and  even the c202).

In effect the Free choice could be severely limited to variances of the M3 and the Storch, maybe the C47.

In this way the free players take on the role of mechanised infantry.

If there were a "half price" account then this could be for Gv's only.

The problem with limiting the planes but opening the arenas to the guys is everyone will be looking for those plane types as "easy" kills. This will add to the "shark" issue.


Opening a free arena like EW to ONLY new players and Trainers will give new players a chance to learn the game with out the top dogs, or even "average" players hunting them for easy kills. They must put a limit on the free part as they are in the business to make money. 2 weeks is too short a time. Most players  today are gamers. Gamers don't read instruction, they don't do training, they don't practice. They jump right in and stumble n. Doing that in this game doesn't get you much farther than learning to fly in the horde.

If a new player is given time to learn the game with out having to hide in a horde to survive you may get two good things out of it. First, a player that becomes interested in the game, enough so that upgrading to the mains isn't even a question. Second, a player that moves into the main with a decent base in playing the game. Someone who knows how to take off and land, how to dive bomb and level bomb and knows the difference between the two, knows which plane "is the best" and why.

A lot of the players that have come here were from other flight sims. They had an idea how to fly.... well sort of  Now it's more generic, with a wider band of backgrounds. Giving the new players more time to get on to some steady footing BEFORE running into what "IS" the mains can only be a good thing.

 

[Peyton]

Said exactly what the Fugitive has just stated in my earlier posts....+1


Also I might add, tiering is too complicated and will turn AH into NetFlix.
Stick with simple solutions that pay off.

[TinmanX]

I don't know why you bother. HTC will do what HTC wants to do. This thread is like the entire Wishlist forum... Allowed to exist so it appears that you have a voice.

You don't.

Even the times where it seems like you do have a voice are like cheap magic tricks where your decisions are made for you "Here are 4 planes we're gonna make anyway, why don't you vote on which one we make first".

AH gameplay will remain broken. AH will remain 10 years out of date. AH; "Working as intended".

[Daubie]

I don't know why you bother. HTC will do what HTC wants to do. This thread is like the entire Wishlist forum... Allowed to exist so it appears that you have a voice.

You don't.

Even the times where it seems like you do have a voice are like cheap magic tricks where your decisions are made for you "Here are 4 planes we're gonna make anyway, why don't you vote on which one we make first".

AH gameplay will remain broken. AH will remain 10 years out of date. AH; "Working as intended".

I agree.

I radio chatted to a guy today I've known for awhile.  I found out another long time Aces High player, himself, is calling it quits after over 10 years loyalty to the game.  I have known a few other game old timers that quit the game basically for the same reasons, the game has changed too much and they do not like to play it any more the way it is.

But that is OK.  There are more newcomers to the game that do not remember how it used to be and they like it.  One more old timer quits, 5 new guys join up.

I know these sentences will get a reply by an upper echelon guy that this is nothing more than nonsense and hearsay.  My reply?  Not true.

The freebie issue?  Not likely and I do not agree getting it free.  It is quite remarkable we get the offline version of the game for free.

[MK-84]

    *MK rant alert* :/
 I believe the marketing direction is attempting to cater to the "general public" <--I use that loosely, take it for how you want.
     What I mean is subscription through numbers,  If I can contact 1million people, X people will join. (Thats how I view the commercials on Discovery)
     While this is certainly true and will get subscriptions, I would wager that it caters to MA players (which there is so much more)  and that considering the very steep learning curve, and the tendency for the "veterans?" to make it difficult, tend to...leave frequently.
     
     Lets face it, a commercial on Discovery is unlikely to yield a player who wants to fly for 3 hours recreating a battle in Guadalcanal. (in numbers)
     Most of them would be better off with an arcade/style sim, WOA?
     But ask any...ANY, pilots out there, Columbo, Tupac...others...would you guys even touch WOA?  Or what about the people that want to be like them (the pilot part   I'm one, and for me this is a combat sim, that goes above what else is available in terms of the experience)

     I would like to see more players with the same retarded enthusiasm that I have, and I think that this is what people mean by "it's not the same anymore"
     I wonder if we are a minority or a majority vs the (loosely arcade players)
     I wonder who is easier to recruit as a customer?  I think it's the hardercore players.  (the ones that want to fly for 3hours in a scenario, for 5min or less of combat, and then try to make it home)
     

[Daubie]

    *MK rant alert* :/
 I believe the marketing direction is attempting to cater to the "general public" <--I use that loosely, take it for how you want.
     What I mean is subscription through numbers,  If I can contact 1million people, X people will join. (Thats how I view the commercials on Discovery)
     While this is certainly true and will get subscriptions, I would wager that it caters to MA players (which there is so much more)  and that considering the very steep learning curve, and the tendency for the "veterans?" to make it difficult, tend to...leave frequently.
     
     Lets face it, a commercial on Discovery is unlikely to yield a player who wants to fly for 3 hours recreating a battle in Guadalcanal. (in numbers)
     Most of them would be better off with an arcade/style sim, WOA?
     But ask any...ANY, pilots out there, Columbo, Tupac...others...would you guys even touch WOA?  Or what about the people that want to be like them (the pilot part   I'm one, and for me this is a combat sim, that goes above what else is available in terms of the experience)

     I would like to see more players with the same retarded enthusiasm that I have, and I think that this is what people mean by "it's not the same anymore"
     I wonder if we are a minority or a majority vs the (loosely arcade players)
     I wonder who is easier to recruit as a customer?  I think it's the hardercore players.  (the ones that want to fly for 3hours in a scenario, for 5min or less of combat, and then try to make it home)
     

Could be worse.

Startup on tarmac takes 10 minutes.  Taxi to runway, CORRECTLY without going back to tarmac and starting over.

CORRECTLY taking off, flying out to target / engagement zone without hitting birds, random system failure, or that SAM you did not see coming, never even getting your 5 minutes worth.

Most of the guys I hang out with in Aces High (and other sims) but mostly here, are former military guys, the Southern gentlemen and they are most likely the guys answering the call from "The Military Channel" ad.

There are a few guys in here that are former military aviation pilots and quite a few real live pilots and a few guys that train real pilots; as is true with the other flight sim games.

We the minority?  To Aces High?  I've seen same, not arcade players, on the other flight sim MMORPGs.  Try the other air combat sims, Aces High is not unique in finding dedicated, hardcore people to learn the game and fly air combat sorties, not arcade in nature.

The GV and ship-board gunnery has changed a whole lot is what I mean by "it is not the same anymore" .  I really miss the ship board guns of 2 years ago. 

HiTech said once, paraphrased, "if you can do better, create your game, go to the bank for money to get setup and business plan in hand and get going with your new venture". 

It is his game, he will do what he wants to do.

[MK-84]

Could be worse.

Startup on tarmac takes 10 minutes.  Taxi to runway, CORRECTLY without going back to tarmac and starting over.

CORRECTLY taking off, flying out to target / engagement zone without hitting birds, random system failure, or that SAM you did not see coming, never even getting your 5 minutes worth.

Most of the guys I hang out with in Aces High (and other sims) but mostly here, are former military guys, the Southern gentlemen and they are most likely the guys answering the call from "The Military Channel" ad.

There are a few guys in here that are former military aviation pilots and quite a few real live pilots and a few guys that train real pilots; as is true with the other flight sim games.

We the minority?  To Aces High?  I've seen same, not arcade players, on the other flight sim MMORPGs.  Try the other air combat sims, Aces High is not unique in finding dedicated, hardcore people to learn the game and fly air combat sorties, not arcade in nature.

The GV and ship-board gunnery has changed a whole lot is what I mean by "it is not the same anymore" .  I really miss the ship board guns of 2 years ago. 

HiTech said once, paraphrased, "if you can do better, create your game, go to the bank for money to get setup and business plan in hand and get going with your new venture". 

It is his game, he will do what he wants to do.

I really think you have your own agenda here or did not get the gist of my post at all.

[TequilaChaser]

Daubie,

I would think anyone that has been in Aces High anywhere from 3 to 5 years or longer...... is truly subjected to becoming burnt out........... depending on how long they would play each day, each week, each month.......  it is easier to say I am quitting because I do not like how Aces High is these days and blame it on that excuse than to man up and tell it like it is........ they are simply burnt out.......

I know many who have played multiple years longer than myself...... and I have seen them go , then come back....... then go again....... then come back......

I am not saying what your friends told you is not true..... they may very well feel like that and may feel it is time to move on....... I have seen some of my friends and squad members do the same........ but me personally, I still associate it with them having finally come to a full burn out of playing......

they can see the arena list/player numbers then curiosity will get the better of them and sub up the full price.

Or just put the player numbers visibly on the website somewhere.   People will then be like wow 400 people playing together screw il2's 32-64 player nonsense.     

I think that is a great idea, Bruv......   + 1   


TC

[Tilt]

<snip> They jump right in and stumble n. Doing that in this game doesn't get you much farther than learning to fly in the horde.

If a new player is given time to learn the game with out having to hide in a horde to survive you may get two good things out of it.

 

I think the assumption that "education" will avert horde tendancy is fundementally flawed.

I would expect that you will find the same mix of free players in EW as you do "paying" players in LW each doin much the same.

"Sharks" are every where........  in every game and every noob  learns stuff the hard way cos (in general) he/she is too lazy to learn any other an its all in fun.

Fundementally, IMO if a free player is in the same arena as account players but severely ride restricted then there will come a point when he/she wants what the other players are enjoying. Even if it is his/her dream to ride with the horde in his/her bomb toting cannon firing uber ride so that he/she to can become a "Shark".

[grizz441]

I think that if HTC made a whole arena free then it would attract a group of free playing folk who have no interest in the the other arenas as may carry various charges. With respect to the WW1 arena the risk is that it is populated by WW1 players who have no interest in WW2 anyway.

Players who weren't going to pay anyways playing for free and providing more fun for paying players who want to enjoy both WW1 & WW2 is not a risk.  The risk would be paying WW2 players settling for a free WW1 arena and canceling their subscriptions.  I can't imagine this being a high number.

[coombz]

I don't know why you bother. HTC will do what HTC wants to do. This thread is like the entire Wishlist forum... Allowed to exist so it appears that you have a voice.

You don't.

Even the times where it seems like you do have a voice are like cheap magic tricks where your decisions are made for you "Here are 4 planes we're gonna make anyway, why don't you vote on which one we make first".

AH gameplay will remain broken. AH will remain 10 years out of date. AH; "Working as intended".

[Tilt]

Players who weren't going to pay anyways playing for free and providing more fun for paying players who want to enjoy both WW1 & WW2 is not a risk.  The risk would be paying WW2 players settling for a free WW1 arena and canceling their subscriptions.  I can't imagine this being a high number.

I agree. but given that premice what advantage is a free WW1 arena to HTC?

[grizz441]

I agree. but given that premice what advantage is a free WW1 arena to HTC?

1. Populated WW1 arena will allow for "something else" fun for subscribed customers to do in the game.  This will help sustain active players longer before burning out and taking breaks potentially.
2. Would open the flood gates for players to come to the game.  When you integrate guys playing for free and paying customers, the paying customers act as free marketing for the paying WW2 arena.  They will say things "This was fun, but i'm back off to the WW2 arena".  Many free WW1 players will inquire about WW2 and will realize that is where the fun is at.

This would be the smartest thing HTC could do, and advertise the heck out of it.  We'd be back to split WW2 arenas in no time! 

[The Fugitive]

I think the assumption that "education" will avert horde tendancy is fundementally flawed.

I would expect that you will find the same mix of free players in EW as you do "paying" players in LW each doin much the same.

"Sharks" are every where........  in every game and every noob  learns stuff the hard way cos (in general) he/she is too lazy to learn any other an its all in fun.

Fundementally, IMO if a free player is in the same arena as account players but severely ride restricted then there will come a point when he/she wants what the other players are enjoying. Even if it is his/her dream to ride with the horde in his/her bomb toting cannon firing uber ride so that he/she to can become a "Shark".

Most of us that are more comfortable outside of the horde have come from another flight sim. With that extra time and training we feel a bit more comfortable fighting with out 10 wingman, most prefer it with out all those wingman. Letting a new players get his feet wet fighting players with the same skill set will give them a chance to win now and then and not be so frustrated.

That is why the limits MUST be set. As new players excel and start to become "sharks" they hit that score/kill level that locks them out. New players and old players don't mix until the new as learned some skills and has gotten a number of kills under his belt.

Players who weren't going to pay anyways playing for free and providing more fun for paying players who want to enjoy both WW1 & WW2 is not a risk.  The risk would be paying WW2 players settling for a free WW1 arena and canceling their subscriptions.  I can't imagine this being a high number.

I don't think so either. I'm sure there are a number of clueless, skillless dweebs that would feel they have to "cheat" the system to get their "kills" but I think they would be few and far between. Also, I'm sure the skilled programmers at HTC would be able to monitor and curb that kind of action.

Daubie,

I would think anyone that has been in Aces High anywhere from 3 to 5 years or longer...... is truly subjected to becoming burnt out........... depending on how long they would play each day, each week, each month.......  it is easier to say I am quitting because I do not like how Aces High is these days and blame it on that excuse than to man up and tell it like it is........ they are simply burnt out.......

I know many who have played multiple years longer than myself...... and I have seen them go , then come back....... then go again....... then come back......

I am not saying what your friends told you is not true..... they may very well feel like that and may feel it is time to move on....... I have seen some of my friends and squad members do the same........ but me personally, I still associate it with them having finally come to a full burn out of playing......


I think that is a great idea, Bruv......   + 1  


TC

To me, I think burn out is there, but not as much as before. I think burn out is when a person has become very good at the one thing they do in the game and the challenge is now gone. The game is no longer fun because they "win" almost all the time. There is nothing new for them, so they get bored, burned out and move on. Some come back and once they knock the rust off they become as good as they once were and the thrill goes away again.

Some people have told me I am burned out   I don't think so. I enjoy this game immensely ! I have for years. Of course I'm not "very good" at anything. I like to bomb, and while I can pretty much hit anything on the ground I'll NEVER be able to shoot like 999000. While I can fly a plane as good as anyone, my aim is so poor I'll NEVER be known as a killer. And GVs, well the best I can say of those is I can drive the crap out of them ... until I'm picked off   There is so much room for improvement for me it isn't funny. Each fight I enter I haven't any idea if I have it in the bag until I see the system message come up.

Then there are guys like Grizz. He hasn't been playing for a bit, and I don't really know why, it's not my business. To me he is a perfect candidate for burn out. He his VERY good at killing. I'd bet in 90% of the fights he enters he could tell you that he has it in the bag before the first turn, he's that good. But it is all he does. Sure he does a few buff runs, maybe a couple of GV runs, but these things don't seem to interest him that much, and lets face it he is not as good at them. So he gets tired of the game once he can pretty much beat anyone. There isn't any challenge, and so maybe that is why he has taken a break.

I think burn out was seen more often in the old days due to the lack of options. Then as the game progressed more options were added and it flourished. Burn out was something you say only now and then. Today it's seems to be coming back because players don't explore any other options and do the same thing over and over. Yesterday I started flying about 11 eastern. There were a few "hordes" from the Bish that the Rooks beat back, and I joined a couple of missions and helped capture a base.... ya I know! Rooks capturing bases!!!   Any way, the Bish were hitting the Knights pretty hard trying to push them back to the mainland so they could make a rush through the Rooks later to win the war. About 6 eastern the Bish numbers got high enough that they could work both fronts at the same time. As they started to roll... and the fun fights disappeared, I thought I'd go over and see how the Bish ran things. Chewie was leading the rush. He ran his "Hulk Smash" mission a few times in a row, and then a "Your in the Navy now" off a cv. I didn't run in the missions but half the Bish nation did. All of them were NOE, and the only instruction on launch was "Stay low please!".

That kind of repetition is going to burn out a player just as easily as being super skilled in one area does.

1. Populated WW1 arena will allow for "something else" fun for subscribed customers to do in the game.  This will help sustain active players longer before burning out and taking breaks potentially.
2. Would open the flood gates for players to come to the game.  When you integrate guys playing for free and paying customers, the paying customers act as free marketing for the paying WW2 arena.  They will say things "This was fun, but i'm back off to the WW2 arena".  Many free WW1 players will inquire about WW2 and will realize that is where the fun is at.

This would be the smartest thing HTC could do, and advertise the heck out of it.  We'd be back to split WW2 arenas in no time! 

I think WWI would be too limited an area to draw in the new players. WWI planes are not flown like WWII as well as the game play options that are NOT available in WWI that some players ....buffers and tankers wouldn't get to try.