I love this game but no other game I play has me tabbing out to fill time in

[LilMak]

Jet perks should be separate if bought.  I don’t want to see an arena full of Deuces.

I don’t see why that would happen. Perks have no value now yet they are a deterrent to the use of jets already. You really think people are just going to ring up the Visa to fly a jet every sortie? If the eny kicks in and increases the cost of a 262 to 1000+ perks. You can still fly it but if you wreck it, you just lost your three dollars.

[Vraciu]

I don’t see why that would happen. Perks have no value now yet they are a deterrent to the use of jets already. You really think people are just going to ring up the Visa to fly a jet every sortie? If the eny kicks in and increases the cost of a 262 to 1000+ perks. You can still fly it but if you wreck it, you just lost your three dollars.

Jets should be earned. Let the rest be bought. 

Then again, anything would beat what we have now.   Even a small tweak will make a major improvement, potentially. 

[Brooke]

I hate the Me 262 so very much.

[LilMak]

I personally could care less about 262s. They’re not much of a threat to me unless they come in a pack of four. I say give it a shot but the values of the planes will have to be adjusted continuously to prevent an arena full of jets and Tempests.

The perks as in game currency might some merit though. If you’re planning a mission, it might be cool to offer perks from your own stash for participants who accomplish goals.

Aka: player one takes down VH and is rewarded 2 perks. Player two kills 5 field guns...3 perks. Player three destroys 20 town buildings...1 perk. Player four captures base with goon...5 perks.

You could run some serious missions. Of course there is a downside...perkfarming other accounts could become rampant and such.

Side game in the hangar...Poker for perks.


And being able to purchase perks might give HT a little extra bonus income stream.

[The Fugitive]

At what cost per user.We have advertised substantially in the past year, so far all attempts the ROI was not sustainable.

HiTech

Not that I doubt you, but I havent seen any advertisements for Aces High, nor have I seen other mentioning that they saw them. The last time there was a commercial there were a bunch of comments on the boards about them. Heck the F4F video for the Steam release drew a bunch of attention. Maybe your advertising in the wrong areas.

I’ve said for quite some time that ENY should trigger the use of perks not limit plane selection. Want to fly tha LA-7 in the horde? Sure thing. That’ll be 20 perks.

I’ve also said that heavy ord (1k or larger) for fighter aircraft should be perked as well. Wanna load up the Jug with the big bombs? That’ll be 1 perk each. And, once you drop them, those perks are gone whether you land or not.

More fun stuff can be done with perks that would drive game play but not eliminate anything from your hangar. Think HT could charge for them too. You’re a noob and don’t have any perks? You just gotta fly that 262? Click here to charge $3 to your Visa for 1000 perks.

I like this idea. While Im not a fan of the pay to win stuff I think something like this could not only generate more income for HTC, it could build a bit more activity in the game. Gamers love to "grind" out points/perks/achievements.

I do think that it should hold at that tho. No personal perk transfers just like it is now. Earn them, or buy them. You start adding personal trading, poker games and the such your just opening your self up to trouble for no real gain.   

[Vraciu]

Not that I doubt you, but I havent seen any advertisements for Aces High, nor have I seen other mentioning that they saw them. The last time there was a commercial there were a bunch of comments on the boards about them. Heck the F4F video for the Steam release drew a bunch of attention. Maybe your advertising in the wrong areas.


I like this idea. While Im not a fan of the pay to win stuff I think something like this could not only generate more income for HTC, it could build a bit more activity in the game. Gamers love to "grind" out points/perks/achievements.

I do think that it should hold at that tho. No personal perk transfers just like it is now. Earn them, or buy them. You start adding personal trading, poker games and the such your just opening your self up to trouble for no real gain.

You're not hearing the man.  He is saying the return on investment isn't worth it.  Getting people to look at the game is NOT THE PROBLEM HERE. 

[Vraciu]

Oh, and instead of just achievements and stars we could earn medals and ribbons graphically displayed after you land (also on your career page) like Microprose did in APACHE the helo game.  This gets to Fugitive's point about grinding.

[rvflyer]

I saw what he wrote and do believe him why shouldn't I? I think of myself as pretty much internet and media savvy and have not see an advertisement for many years on any media. I do have to give Dale credit for not raising the price in the last 15 years i have been here and I do not think it would kill anyone to pay a couple bucks more a month if it would help advertise the game and bring in more players or pay someone to produce a clear easy to understand but detailed video on how to set up the game and some simple explanations of how to operate a tank or aircraft and the objects of the game.

You're not hearing the man.  He is saying the return on investment isn't worth it.  Getting people to look at the game is NOT THE PROBLEM HERE.

[Brooke]

It seems that lots of people show up to try the game (at least for some moments).  They just don't stick.

We need to improve the stick.

[The Fugitive]

You're not hearing the man.  He is saying the return on investment isn't worth it.  Getting people to look at the game is NOT THE PROBLEM HERE.

This is what he said.....

Quote from: hitech on Today at 12:07:43 PM

   

At what cost per user.We have advertised substantially in the past year, so far all attempts the ROI was not sustainable.

    HiTech

If he has "advertised substantially in the past year" my question is where? I havent seen anything, others I guess havent seen anything.... they would have posted here like they have every other time an advert is spotted. The point I was making is maybe he is spending his ad money in the wrong places and so NOT getting a good rate of return.

Another thing. what are they basing the rate of return on? If its on players subscribing its one thing, but if its on players STAYING that is something totally different. Players not staying has nothing to do with advertising, it has to do with game play. As none of us has any access to HTC data we can only go by what we see in the game. I know during the Steam roll out they were getting tons of hits/downloads and so on per minute because Hitech posted that info, but how much has that dropped off now? Whats the next big idea that is going to get the new influx of players? Are they better prepared to handle  a new influx?

Game play options must change to help keep these new players interested longer than 20 minutes. Give the 2 weeker ( or player on the unlimited free plan with 6-8 planes) a triangle next to his name ONLY on the roster. This way some of us old hands can scan the roster and see a new player and help them out. If the name is only IDed on the roster they wont be hunted as "easy kills".

It seems that lots of people show up to try the game (at least for some moments).  They just don't stick.

We need to improve the stick.

I think the "stick" is there, we just need things to help new players NOT feel so frustrated strait out of the box.

[Vraciu]

Way to conveniently eliminate the second part of his statement.  It wasn't worth the money. 

I think the "stick" is there, we just need things to help new players NOT feel so frustrated strait out of the box.

No, It's NOT there or we wouldn't be having this discussion. 

[Rebel28]

LOL they could setup a jet only arena.

I vote for this...

New Arena name... "Mig Alley"
Saber Vs. Mig
No ground war... Jet on Jet combat only... with only 2 sides with only 2 planes.
We have WW1 and WW2 it is time for Korea
The name of this game IS "Aces High"
Start an Arena with 100 players and see how it goes.
No game out now that can support 100 players in this time frame.

[The Fugitive]

Way to conveniently eliminate the second part of his statement.  It wasn't worth the money. 


No, It's NOT there or we wouldn't be having this discussion.

It wasnt worth the money because he MAY have been spending his advertising money in the wrong place. You can spend a million dollars in ads in beauty magazines, or in aviation magazines, which do you think might be worth more than the other? 

The "stick" is the game it self. It is the best WWII MMO with options for many types of game play. The issues isnt the stick, if your looking your interested. The issue is the hard learning curve. If it was made easier for players to get going they would most likely stick it out long enough to become good enough at it to stick around.  The new tutorials are a step in the right direction. Making info on the game easier to find would help too. I think pointing out who the new players are so they can be helped but those looking to help would also be a good step.

The game MUST be easier to a new player. Anything that helps in that direction is a plus.

[VuduVee]

i am pretty sure i seen advertising not long ago. may have been a banner on YouTube....anyway, you can advertise all you want, but if the game is boring, and lopsided, new players will not stay.
in my opinion the answer is pretty simple: MISSIONS. when squads were doing missions, they were attracting and keeping new players. because missions are fun and anyone can do them and feel like they're getting somewhere. whereas the last 2 years i played and probably still now, the play was stagnant with fph's hanging at the end of the runway, gun sitters waiting hours for them to get close enough. 20 people doing m3 resups on a town because that team has so many players that they can afford to have that many in m3s. since the other team only has 15  to 20 people total to fight the other 2 countries, who each have double the players and are both slaughtering your team together. why would new or old players for that matter, stick around for that? imo, its the same crowd as when i started who completely blew this game out of the water eventually. HT catered to their forum whining and eventually whittled the game down to where its only good for the forum big mouths. didnt work out too well did it?   

[Vraciu]

It wasnt worth the money because he MAY have been spending his advertising money in the wrong place. You can spend a million dollars in ads in beauty magazines, or in aviation magazines, which do you think might be worth more than the other? 

The "stick" is the game it self. It is the best WWII MMO with options for many types of game play. The issues isnt the stick, if your looking your interested. The issue is the hard learning curve. If it was made easier for players to get going they would most likely stick it out long enough to become good enough at it to stick around.  The new tutorials are a step in the right direction. Making info on the game easier to find would help too. I think pointing out who the new players are so they can be helped but those looking to help would also be a good step.

The game MUST be easier to a new player. Anything that helps in that direction is a plus.

It's not worth the expense for many reasons.   Examples: Traffic-generated revenue does not exceed advertising expenditure.  People reached don't stay.   


We are getting enough initial interest WITHOUT those dollars being spent on advertising.    Thus it isn't worth the effort according to internal data.  It doesn't matter where you spend it if the people don't stay.