Free To Play with Subscription Combination

[Zoney]

Yes, I see what you mean and completely disagree with the premise of Free to play still.  I do understand that this has been put into the wishlist for 'discussion" but you are discussing giving something away that you do not own, and you are absolutely just guessing if it would have a positive affect on getting paying players in to the game.  Note the "paying" part because the bottom line is that is the only thing that will keep this game viable.

Tell you what, since you are sincerely interested in getting new players to join for the good of game play, recruit one of your friends and pay for his account until he decides he likes it enough to pay his own way.

[Triton28]

Yes, I see what you mean and completely disagree with the premise of Free to play still.  I do understand that this has been put into the wishlist for 'discussion" but you are discussing giving something away that you do not own...

Of course I don't own it, but if I did, you might surmise from my position that I'd be thinking about something like this.  I thought that was how this works..    

I don't think this discussion warrants my nerd/gamer resume and/or life and business credentials, but rest assured I didn't sleep in my mom's basement last night and I understand how a business needs money to pay it's bills, maintain itself, pay it's employees, and look to the future in terms of growth and development.  I guess that's the magic of an idea like this if it works... what do you mean I gave some things away for free and got paid for them?!?! 

, and you are absolutely just guessing if it would have a positive affect on getting paying players in to the game.  Note the "paying" part because the bottom line is that is the only thing that will keep this game viable.

  A guess?  You think I flipped a quarter before I posted this?  You could have at least said I'm theorizing.   

Tell you what, since you are sincerely interested in getting new players to join for the good of game play, recruit one of your friends and pay for his account until he decides he likes it enough to pay his own way.

I bet you thought I hadn't ever done that.  Why do you underestimate me Zoney?  I pay for a few different accounts, one of which I actually play on.  The problem is, I can't do that for everyone.  If I win a lottery of sufficient size I'll buy a year for every nerd on the internet though.  Except you.   

[Zoney]

I am sorry if I hurt your feelings sir, that was not my intention.  I shall respectfully bow out of this conversation therefore. 

 

[bustr]

Zoney,

His arguments only stand on "what if" and good intentions, which makes you a mean spirited old man for using reality. It's kind of like the 8th grade locker room discussions about a hot cheer leader everyone salivates over, who goes to the High School down the street from their Junior High. At least they can dream....

The best they might get, is she holds a cheer leader clinic in their gymnasium to help their Junior High cheer leader squad one Saturday. Dream a little dream.....

[Triton28]

I am sorry if I hurt your feelings sir, that was not my intention.  I shall respectfully bow out of this conversation therefore. 

 

lol...  No hurt feelings.   You can sleep better tonight.   

[guncrasher]

Read all the replies, applying my own spin on some of the other ideas here.

Training arena = free no sub
E-M-L War Arenas, 100 hours played time (combined) on a trial account.
DA (and the rest) - subscription req.

nothing would stop those with a subscription that play ah to drop it and resub as trial account and play fso or scenarios only.

I pay 15 bucks a month and I hardly play as much as I used to due to life.  I try to fly with the pigs as much as I can and fso if I can.

I think I get my 15 bucks worth every month.  I used to play WOT with their "free" to play.  I think I would spend a little over 100 bucks a year to play the free game.

The reality is that games like WOT are not really free to play.  in aces high, you dont start with a basic engine, 1 mg and no rudder in your p51.  it is always fully upgraded.  in free to play game, you would start with some crappy engine, crappy pilot with slow response, pea shooters instead of mg, etc.  you would have to grind to get a fully upgraded pony or go premium if you wanted it faster.  by the time you got the pony, you were in a fight against better airplanes so you were forced to used gold to upgrade.

in reality free to play are an illusion.  yeah, they're free, but you consistently fight against overwhelming odds and it is frustrating as hell untill you upgrade, then move on to the next tier and start all over.  it's a never ending thing.  then you get to tier 10 and find out the plane you wanted now got nerfed because they want you to start looking towards a different plane.


semp

[Randy1]

Sure, but not for 2 weeks like HiTech does.  Nor do I give them a free one with fewer features to ride forever just in case some day they might want to buy a better one.

Now if I can buy one of your new ones for $15 a month, I dont need to try it out.

[JVboob]

Sure, but not for 2 weeks like HiTech does.  Nor do I give them a free one with fewer features to ride forever just in case some day they might want to buy a better one.

Hey you wanna try this idea? Ill take a free bike and let ya know how much I enjoy it so you can decied that its a wasteful idea. Just dont take the bike back from me lol

[Bruv119]

I was    and      when I heard my 12 yr old Nephew in law had been playing WT   "because it is free" 

after a couple of sessions offline in my Spitfire cupboard I showed him the real deal.

I also wish HTC consider a free room of sorts whether it be AI missions constantly running so that noobs can at least cut the mustard online before the squeakers get let loose in the MA.  Hopefully the new mouse control system also helps those without £300 HOTAS.   

[Traveler]

Dear Hitech,

Please consider some form of an FTP arena to help bring in new players.

Thank you.

if the free two week trial doesn't bring in new subscribers, what makes you think FTP will?  What data do you have to support your wish?

[DmonSlyr]

A free to play EW arena and TA would be perfect IMO. It would encourage people to join the game and learn how the game works. It would help all new pilots to learn how to fly older type planes in which they would actually have to learn some skills.

Vets who pay most likely would not drop subscription to play in EW.

The TA would be there for their support.


Eventually they would get tired of the older planes and sign up for a month with the late war planes to try it.


I think something needs to happen to "attract" new players to the game and keep them playing the game. What we are forgetting is that this genre has become a lot more popular now that WT has made it into a popular event. If Hitech wants to compete with that player base, and potentially take away many of their players, we have to give them a sound arena for them to learn and enjoy the game without the stress of buying it and being disappointed that they aren't good enough and that it is too hard. With FTP TA and EW would really give them a chance to learn and play the game with their friends. It would also bring back the enthusiasm of older vets who want to get back into the game or want to give it another shot.  I think it would really help out the player base in a very good way and make this game exciting again in multiple arenas.

[Traveler]

A free to play EW arena and TA would be perfect IMO. It would encourage people to join the game and learn how the game works. It would help all new pilots to learn how to fly older type planes in which they would actually have to learn some skills.

What are you basing this fantasy on? 

Vets who pay most likely would not drop subscription to play in EW.

Perhaps, perhaps not.  How do you know?

The TA would be there for their support.

Really, how so, suppose your 100% correct and 20,000 free player sign up world wide.  how does that help , will HTC be required to upgrade servers to allow more free players, set up additional free arenas who pays for that?

Eventually they would get tired of the older planes and sign up for a month with the late war planes to try it.

Eventually they would get tired lf the game and leave having provided no profit.

I think something needs to happen to "attract" new players to the game and keep them playing the game. What we are forgetting is that this genre has become a lot more popular now that WT has made it into a popular event. If Hitech wants to compete with that player base, and potentially take away many of their players, we have to give them a sound arena for them to learn and enjoy the game without the stress of buying it and being disappointed that they aren't good enough and that it is too hard. With FTP TA and EW would really give them a chance to learn and play the game with their friends. It would also bring back the enthusiasm of older vets who want to get back into the game or want to give it another shot.  I think it would really help out the player base in a very good way and make this game exciting again in multiple arenas.

Yes, an improvement to the game and strategy would go a long way to bring in new paying players.  This game is old and hasn't changed in almost 20 years.

[Triton28]

The baby is the free to play option.  The bathwater is the potential options you could provide the FTP player.  Let's stop throwing the baby out with the bathwater, and start debating how warm the bathwater should be.  If you're of the opinion that the baby doesn't need a bath, that's cool, but it seems odd to me that some in this thread come across like they're taking offense to the notion in general.  Whether you like it or not, game devs are getting creative with how to hook people into playing their game, and giving them something for free, or a somewhat robust demo option is not abnormal and has lots of precedent in the gaming world outside of AH.   

[DmonSlyr]

What are you basing this fantasy on?  Perhaps, perhaps not.  How do you know?

No, I am basing this off over 9 years of playing this game and watching/listening to how new players cope with the difficulty of the game. I played in the H2H model in 2005 and it was very exciting for a 14 YO who loved this game but couldn't afford it. It was still small so it encouraged players to check out the MA. People still played in the MA because it was a lot of fun, once you understood how the game worked. The H2H allowed me to learn the game and get to know some players. That never would have happened if I had 2 weeks to play in the MA for free. I'd have no idea what to do.

Really, how so, suppose your 100% correct and 20,000 free player sign up world wide.  how does that help , will HTC be required to upgrade servers to allow more free players, set up additional free arenas who pays for that?

Suppose that did happen! You don't think a % of that 20,000 would sign up for the late war arena to fly faster and better planes? You don't think people would cave in and purchase the MA and other arenas if they became more populated? This would create a huge marketing incentive based on word of mouth. Plus more than 1 arena would have people to fight against. Also, this would be great for old vets to stop in once in a while and play the game for a few hours, if they don't have the time to pay enough for their $15 a month. This would be great to get my friends to log on and play. The majority of gamers (like hitech has said) don't stay around for very long and go from game to game. This would at least populate the arena again and maybe encourage some of them to sign up for the MA.

The best part is, it is not free to play to make your plane better than someone else's. It is free to play to understand the game and learn it, there will always be free loaders, but if you can get 15 more people a month to sign up one time, you are achieving your goal, regardless of the free to play.

Eventually they would get tired lf the game and leave having provided no profit.

Who cares? I didn't give a dime to WT when I tried it, You think that hurt them? If 20,000 people played in the EW arena for free. lets say even 1000 of those people eventually sign up for the MA. That is 1000 more than you had before. You have 20k Word of mouth players getting their friends to check out the game. They say wwow this is cool, take 2 months to learn the game in the EW, and then they may sign up for the MA! It would create a much more popular trend to join the MA after learning the EW planes.

Yes, an improvement to the game and strategy would go a long way to bring in new paying players.  This game is old and hasn't changed in almost 20 years.

True, so how do we go about attracting more people to the game?

1. commercialization
2. graphics
3. A way for new players to learn the game in a challenging environment.
4. bring them in with a free to play model, make them crave flying in better planes, present the MA as a much better and more challenging world, 25% of non paying members will sign up every month to try the MA. PROFIT.

[Ack-Ack]

I think a lot of people are of the misconception that going to a F2P business model is what will "save AH from the ashes".  Changes and improvement to the game play will bring in more potential customers than switching the game to F2P.  Without changes and improvements to the game play, making the game F2P isn't going to make people stick around for very long and then the game withers on the vine and dies, like the majority of F2P games.

ack-ack