What will it take? (for HT)

[Mongoose]

So anytime I get unsolicited junk email, all I need to is raise a stink with my ISP? Not only do I get loads of them, often my attempts to unsubscribe are ignored.

Unfortunately, many of those come from botnets, which are very difficult to shut down.

[dogtag380]

Well said indeed, Wab.  I'm also a former player who is rooting for this game to succeed.  I also check in periodically.  I want to subscribe again but I also don't want to be frustrated by flying around chasing a single con 3 sectors away.  I'm glad to see hitech and skuzzy respond.  I really hope the ads work. 

For me, if there was a 1 month free for returning players, I would come back and test the waters again.  You don't have to mass email everyone... just make an announcement in the forums with enough heads up and people will return. 

Rooting for you guys.

[edge12674]

For me, if there was a 1 month free for returning players, I would come back and test the waters again.  You don't have to mass email everyone... just make an announcement in the forums with enough heads up and people will return. 

I agree.  I think every squad has members that are no longer playing, but we still have ways of contacting them.

[Vraciu]

I'll re-pitch a previous suggestion once again. Certainly HTC has a data base of past subscribers, with email addresses. Do a blitz mailing with a 60 day complimentary subscription that requires activation within 14 days. If all the folks who claimed they'd return if the #'s were up, made use of the offer, we'd have 300 + players, if not more. This doesn't cost HTC a dime other than the time required to get the mailing out. Worth a shot.

And if you had read what I wrote already you would have saved yourself the trouble.   

They can't do that.  The last email campaign got them labeled as spam by numerous providers.

[Max]

And if you had read what I wrote already you would have saved yourself the trouble.   

Next time I'll meander thru your 8876 posts before making a comment 

[FOGOLD]

Been following this thread with interest as I have played since 2001 and have very happy memories. What strikes me is that this is a game for baby boomers. Young people will never play it as that fascination for WWII aviation is dwindling. I wonder what the average age of AH players is? I bet it's 40 +.

From a UK perspective the arenas are all empty except for the MA which seems to be dwindling too. There seems to be zero European interest in the game. Yet it's the best online game out there. Il2 is great but the online game is just not as good.

[nrshida]

Next time I'll meander thru your 8876 posts before making a comment 

That is funny   

[DmonSlyr]

One month free for all players who have never played AH3 would increase the risk of no first month subscribers for hitech, but I think it would pay off in a few months. With the advertisements, now might be the best time to open the flood gates. I think it's very beneficial for players to have a longer period to learn the game before deciding if they want to buy it.

Marketing. Films like Vudus FSO film, in the films and screen shots, should be cut down and used for commercials, social media, and put on the front page of the steam site. It's about looking excited! Get those people to Crave the game again. These great films practically go unseen.

Put the best aspect of the game into clear visible sight for newbies to see. Put it right in front of their faces.

[Wiley]

One month free for all players who have never played AH3 would increase the risk of no first month subscribers for hitech, but I think it would pay off in a few months. With the advertisements, now might be the best time to open the flood gates. I think it's very beneficial for players to have a longer period to learn the game before deciding if they want to buy it.

When the vast majority of new logins stay for a few minutes then log, never to return, a free year wouldn't help.

Wiley.

[pembquist]

Regarding Match Play. If you could ALWAYS get an opponent even if no one was playing than people would have a reason to go there all the time. I don't know if you want to put the resources into it but if you could have a reliable robot that would fly a good matchup plane to whatever the user is flying It might make for a stimulating experience for new and old players alike. You could go further and plan to have the robot fly a less capable plane until the user starts winning and then tighten up the matchup.

I went to the Steam and read the reviews and it seems like people don't really understand what they are getting with free. Part of that is that for most if not all of us the game is the MA FSO and Scenarios and all the other great resources you make available for free require a substantial amount of self starting or at a minimum friends to be enjoyable. It isn't completely obvious how or what to do with them and that is on top of the usual basic flight learning curve.

I believe that the Match Play is where it is at. I would make that free to play, I would put a handicapped robot/s in it and I would grey out everything else with the option to unlock for a two week free trial. I would also try to have some kind visuals from the MA when it was populated as a teaser that you could see when you were on as a free user, teasers. My thinking is that if you could whet peoples appetites with the instant action/kills etc. of the match play they would see the point of the tedious parts of the MA.

I don't like the idea of F2P but if you were to consider it for a revenue model, I would make matchplay a stand alone F2P game with airplane sales and then let people use some of what they paid for those planes towards a subscription if they subscribe, and make all the planes available in match play to subscribers.

[hitech]

Match play is free, I Really like the idea of having to unlock the 2 week offer. And the Robot to help get ti to critical mass.

HiTech

[CptTrips]

I'm gonna get creamed for this.....

I'd love to see just the smallest little bit of upgrade to the free WWI arena.  I know people will say that all effort should be on the LW Main, but there might be some benefit here. 

The free WWI arena is a great place for people to try out the game.  WWI have a certain level of simplicity.  No convergence, flaps, WEP, raised gear.. choosing between 4 planes instead of 80! There is just no game there.

A very simplified true arena there might serve as a minor league to farm talent for the Main. 

I'm not talking the full monty.  No strat, or radar, or HQ. 

Just a couple of bomb load outs.


The fighters could knock out a field's 30 cal gun pits and then bring in a truck within x distance:


And let out a troop of grunts to storm the field command tent.  Get x number of grunts into the tent and flip the field.

Fighters would have to take out the field guns and establish air dominance over the field long enough to get the grunts in.  Grunts can be strafed.

That seems like it would be a relatively small thing that would make that a great place for people to cut their teeth on some of the basic concepts they will see in the Main.  In a simplified form.

I'm not talking about starving the LW Main of resources for months.  That is something you should be able to knock out in say...I dunno....two weeks?   

[Kingpin]

Match play is free, I Really like the idea of having to unlock the 2 week offer. And the Robot to help get ti to critical mass.

HiTech

During my interactions with new players, especially during the Steam launch last year, the biggest single complaint was the difficulty in flying with either mouse/keyboard or a game controller.  I think much of this had to do with the sensitivity of the controls, the default key bindings and the out-dated nature of the "clipboard" GUI.

I specifically sought out and attempted to help dozens of new players and most were having issues along these lines.  For every player willing to take the time to get help, there must have been 20 or more who simply couldn't figure it out on their own and left.

I like the idea of a free arena with simple and obvious things to do (maybe add a few bomber mission areas too).  However, players will not stay in a game if they can't control their aircraft/vehicles or simply have no idea what to do once they can.   In my opinion, a focus on an easy to use mouse/keyboard and game-controller oriented flight model (at least in the free arena), along with perhaps a simpler and more intuitive GUI with obvious mission/activity choices, would be the most critical improvements that could be made to AH to retain new players.

[CptTrips]

During my interactions with new players, especially during the Steam launch last year, the biggest single complaint was the difficulty in flying with either mouse/keyboard or a game controller.  I think much of this had to do with the sensitivity of the controls, the default key bindings and the out-dated nature of the "clipboard" GUI.

I specifically sought out and attempted to help dozens of new players and most were having issues along these lines.  For every player willing to take the time to get help, there must have been 20 or more who simply couldn't figure it out on their own and left.

I like the idea of a free arena with simple and obvious things to do (maybe add a few bomber mission areas too).  However, players will not stay in a game if they can't control their aircraft/vehicles or simply have no idea what to do once they can.   In my opinion, a focus on an easy to use mouse/keyboard and game-controller oriented flight model (at least in the free arena), along with perhaps a simpler and more intuitive GUI with obvious mission/activity choices, would be the most critical improvement that could be made to AH to retain new players.

I think you are right.

Something else I would do if I were King, is on first newbie startup, I would baby step wizard though the absolute minimal controller set up and and then to test the setup, drop them in mid flight behind a slow moving goon and let them line it up and shred it. After the goon is dead, then bring up the normal start UI.  Let them get that first explosion as fast as possible against something defenseless.  It might be a while before they get that thrill again.    Dropping them in the Main, it might be days again before they can stay alive long enough to get something close to being in their gun sights.

I think it's hard for everyone to realize how intimidating and confusing this game can be to a new user that isn't a Warbirds or AW refugee switching over.

In that first 10 minutes that a new person tries the game, they need to kill something.  If they flail for 10 minutes to take off and find their way to an enemy after wandering around lost another 10 minutes, just to get instantly annihilated  by a vet...

Close.  Uninstall.




 

[DmonSlyr]

I think you are right.

Something else I would do if I were King, is on first newbie startup, I would baby step wizard though the absolute minimal controller set up and and then to test the setup, drop them in mid flight behind a slow moving goon and let them line it up and shred it. After the goon is dead, then bring up the normal start UI.  Let them get that first explosion as fast as possible against something defenseless.  It might be a while before they get that thrill again.    Dropping them in the Main, it might be days again before they can stay alive long enough to get something close to being in their gun sights.

I think it's hard for everyone to realize how intimidating and confusing this game can be to a new user that isn't a Warbirds or AW refugee switching over.

In that first 10 minutes that a new person tries the game, they need to kill something.  If they flail for 10 minutes to take off and find their way to an enemy after wandering around lost another 10 minutes, just to get instantly annihilated  by a vet...

Close.  Uninstall.

Totally agree with you here! Great points!