Populate the Free Arena?

[popeye]

A noob was in the MA last night asking if he would be locked out after his trial.  He was told that he would still be able to play in the Free Arena, but he said it was empty.

Since AH is being advertised on Steam as "free to play", would it be a good idea to populate the Free Arena so that new players won't be discouraged?  Or, just let them have a taste of the MA and hope they subscribe?

I'm willing to spend some time in the Free Arena if it would raise the prospects for attracting new players.

Thoughts?

[Chris79]

I agree, especially WW1 if people are actually logged.
Short flight times
All planes are competitive
BNZ does not work to well.

[Kanth]

especially WW1 if people are actually logged.

[waystin2]

I have to ask though... isn't the free trial the hook to get them to subscribe and participate in the Melee on a regular basis, get into FSO, Scenarios, KOTH, Etc.?   

[popeye]

I have to ask though... isn't the free trial the hook to get them to subscribe and participate in the Melee on a regular basis, get into FSO, Scenarios, KOTH, Etc.?   

Ideally, yes.

I'm not a Steam subscriber, so can't see the reviews there and don't know if people are turned off when they discover that the "Free to Play" option isn't much of an option.  That was my impression from the one interaction last night.

[Blooz]

When I found AH it was free to play... for two weeks. Only took me a couple minutes in the training arena before I grabbed my credit card. Been a paying customer almost fifteen years now.

AH3 will work it's magic. For those looking for a simulation of course. Those looking for an arcade game won't be sticking around.

[Wizer]

Ideally, yes.

I'm not a Steam subscriber, so can't see the reviews there and don't know if people are turned off when they discover that the "Free to Play" option isn't much of an option.  That was my impression from the one interaction last night.

I am not a steam subscriber and just reviewed player comments and reviews there.

[popeye]

I am not a steam subscriber and just reviewed player comments and reviews there.

Ah.  Yes.  <cough>

Well, it seems that no one is complaining about "Free to Play".  So, I'll stay in the MA and try to do my part to set the hooks.   

[nrshida]

Doing my best. In the Match Play arena as much as possible (Euro daytime). I can confirm it is largely empty for much of the time.

I'd be happy to start a Breakfast Club furbal lake arena, but most of my old furbal lake colleagues seem to have left the game by now.

[Shuffler]

I'm betting new players have friends they can bring to fight for free.

[hitech]

I would not expect people trying the free play until there 2 weeks are up.

Also the player created arenas are equivalent to our old H2H which used to stay very populated.

HiTech

[Bizman]

I am surprised that the free arenas aren't populated the way the old H2H arenas were. Back then it was the nursery school before any Training Arena existed. It also served as a recruiting office and a boot camp to practice formation flying and other group tactics without having to fear for a 262 coming for a bunch of easy kills. A bunch of friends killing each other is much more fun for a beginner than trying to make a sortie from a vulched field...

[wil3ur]

I got my feet wet in the old 8v8 while being a broke HS kid after my 2 weeks ran out.  Played there until they went byebye... and eventually decided to upgrade my machine to run the new version and came back and had some spare money as a broke adult.  As I recall it was pretty much Spit V arena, but a lot of fun.  I think they'll do fine, but the greater aspect of the game is definitely the MA.

[LilMak]

Don't think I would concern myself too much. The free play areas are limited in the number of players are they not? If they get some MA time and refine skills in the free areas then I'm guessing the players who get hooked will long for more action at some point.

I suspect we'll see a pretty steady influx of people asking "how do I take off" in the near future. I think that's a little improvement that could be made in the interface. I remember (back in the dark ages) it took me like 5 minutes to figure out how to get a plane on the runway because it's not very intuitive.

[rvflyer]

You can read the reviews on steam without being a subscriber.  Just google Steam reviews on Ace's High

Ideally, yes.

I'm not a Steam subscriber, so can't see the reviews there and don't know if people are turned off when they discover that the "Free to Play" option isn't much of an option.  That was my impression from the one interaction last night.