AH3: Steam Edition?

[Badger85]

Full disclosure: Though I had joined AH in 2012 and supported it for a couple of years, I have not been a member for over a year.

One of the significant things that prevents me from joining again is what I perceive to be a steep pricing model. One way of lowering prices for gaming companies, in my opinion, is to offer their product on Steam and get a tremendous boost in people trying the game.

Is there any chance AH3 will be on Steam with a new pricing structure? I did a cursory search for this in the forum and have not seen a discussion of this yet (though I'm sure it has been mentioned somewhere sometime).

What are your thoughts?

[FLS]

50 cents a day for unlimited play just doesn't seem steep to me.   

[Traveler]

I guess if $15.00 breaks the bank, you need to work on bettering your salary, either through a better job or promotion at your current one.  Perhaps your efforts right now should not be spent on any online game.  You could always give up one or more of the porn sites you subscribe too.  I know that's a tough one, porn or AH, porn or AH. 

[Badger85]

I have been on a prolonged job search, unfortunately. And who needs to pay for porn these days?

My reasoning is this: AH is not really at the peak of game development these days, sadly. I don't mean offense, I'm just keeping it real. So if the top developers don't price their games at a cost of $180/year, why should AH? It's simple economics. If my community -- the one not insulting me in this thread -- were to move to another combat simulator, I'd drop AH in a heartbeat at its current price.

[Randy1]

As I have posted many times the fifteen bucks is a filter screening out the trouble makers.  Well . . . most of them.

[Badger85]

This post is not about causing trouble. I think AH does have positive things other games do not: mainly, the Special Events with coordinated squad tactics and strategy. That is unique in the flight sim world, I will gladly admit.

Notice I'm not the one throwing out ad hominem attacks. My topic is about discussing a constructive idea: what are the pros/cons of a game like AH3 being available on the Steam platform?

[Badger85]

Okay, I'll start, though sorry for the double-post. I think the "retro" quality of AH would not necessarily be a turn-off on a platform like Steam. Heck, if a game with only text and no graphics can receive a "Very Positive" review score, I think Aces High can stand on its own merits if the pricing is reasonable.

On negatives, I don't know how big of a cut Steam takes from its sales. According to this article, an average game on Steam will only sell 32,500 copies. But it does seem that Steam "early access" programs contribute to media hype that helps sales.

What do you guys think about this (re: Steam; please no personal attacks)?

[fuzeman]

I for one have never played Air Warrior or Aces High because of the graphics and I wouldn't have stopped if they got dated. It's the gameplay and the wet palm fights I'm here for.
I haven't had a job for my entire gaming career and still manage the $15 a month and a few donuts for the staff 

[BuckShot]

If hitech could increase the player base, reduce the sub. cost per month, and hitech still makes more $ through steam, I'm all for it. I'm sure he would be too.

It seems like that's the only way it would make sense.

[LilMak]

One movie ticket is 15 bucks for two hours of entertainment. The way I look at it, I've got my money's worth if I play more than two hours per month.

[BaldEagl]

Obviously, if HT lowered the price he'd have to increase the subscriber base to maintain the same revenue.  At the same time the costs of maintaining those additional accounts as well as the headaches they potentially bring also rise so the subscriber base has to increase even more to offset this.  How much more?  Only HT knows.

The bigger issue is taking a step that may be irreversible and not having it pay off.

[Traveler]

See rule #4

[caldera]

As a business, a price war can be a race to see who goes bankrupt first.   Better to make a better game and people will pay for it.

Look at car makers - how many high end companies are hurting for customers?   A lot of the cheaper brands have gone extinct in recent years.



Look at the price of your cable bill, internet bill and wireless bill.  $15 a month gets you much more for much less.

[Vudak]

$15 is a good deal for this game, but only if you don't judge the book by its cover.

[Traveler]

if the guy is out of work, it might be time to give up gaming until you can afford it.  it's much more than $15.00 a month to play Aces High or any other online game, you need a computer that can play the game,  internet connection, unless you living in Mom's basement all that comes at a cost and looking for work costs money.