Attracting more players in the main arena or what ever it's called today.

[The Fugitive]

leaving a game because numbers are dropping only perpetuate the problem.

It creates a domino effect... .

How many folks do you estimate left this game because of low numbers?

How many folks left because game mechanics changed and they refused to adapt and find a way?

seems to me that this is a community of "I" and not a community of "we".


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

we all agree that players are leaving. why they are leaving is pretty irrelevant, unless it's some major game flaw, which AH doesn't really have. The biggest problem is little or nothing is being done to bring in new players and working to keep them.

Letting free players into the MA with a limited plane set will add numbers, and being in the MA new players will have access to players willing to help them to learn the game.

[turt21]

So if the MA is free and thats the only place we fly do the rest of us get a refund?

[The Fugitive]

So if the MA is free and thats the only place we fly do the rest of us get a refund?

Did you read the part about the limited plane set? 4 mid war fighter, a buff, a goon, a panzer and an M3. You want to use anything else, subscribe.

[Lazerr]

So if the MA is free and thats the only place we fly do the rest of us get a refund?

If you really want to save 15 bucks a month, you could fly the 4 plane free subsciption tier.  Something tells me you wouldnt.

[Lusche]

Did you read the part about the limited plane set? 4 mid war fighter, a buff, a goon, a panzer and an M3. You want to use anything else, subscribe.

To be honest, with that selection like that for a free account I would have freeloaded for years. 

[Slate]

  AH for me is a time commitment. When I don't have an hour or so to play I will just up a tank in WOT for some quick fun. I think WO-pacific may attract some to AH that want more.

[The Fugitive]

To be honest, with that selection like that for a free account I would have freeloaded for years. 

But not everyone is like you. Some want their favorite plane, some want an uber plane, some want what gramps flew. There are many different people out there. At this point, even if every new player that comes in IS like you HTC wouldnt be any worst off than they are now and the arena would have more numbers. What's wrong with that?

[Shuffler]

Did you read the part about the limited plane set? 4 mid war fighter, a buff, a goon, a panzer and an M3. You want to use anything else, subscribe.

That would cover my requirement just fine.

[CptTrips]

To be honest, with that selection like that for a free account I would have freeloaded for years. 

Yet, even then, you would not be truly "free-loading".   You would be providing the arena an important value: content.  The death of a MMOG is an empty server.  There is a critical mass you must maintain, even if you do it with free access.  50 paying customers in a mostly empty arena is way worse value for the paying customer than 50 paying customers and 50 "free-loaders".  Body count must be maintained at ALL costs. The trick then is to work out how to incentivize the migration from free to pay.  In the meantime, you are at least providing your paying customers with action and targets.

There is only so small you can shrink the maps and watch the player count dwindle before players start to wonder if they are really still playing a "massive multiplayer" game.  At some point players wonder why they are paying a monthly bill for something similar to what they could get for a one time box purchase and play on the free servers.

The REAL product HTC sells is not the flight model or graphics.  The REAL product is providing lots of real people to shoot at.  I can play plenty of offline sims that have great flight models and graphics.  The less targets HTC provides their paying customers, the less REAL value they are delivering. 

Companies used to give away shavers.  They wanted to sell you razors for life.  I know it is counter intuitive to give away any part of your product for free, but you have to learn and adapt when the old way of doing things is no longer working.  I think that is what WO:P is about.  If it has some success, maybe they will eventually try free access with incentivized upgrade in AH.

,
CptTrips
 

 

[caldera]

But not everyone is like you. Some want their favorite plane, some want an uber plane, some want what gramps flew. There are many different people out there. At this point, even if every new player that comes in IS like you HTC wouldnt be any worst off than they are now and the arena would have more numbers. What's wrong with that?

It is a really amazing coincidence how often those two are one in the same.

[Lusche]

It is a really amazing coincidence how often those two are one in the same.

mhh... 

1. Me 262       7319
2. Tempest   7105
3. Ta 152H   5898
4. Tiger I           5741
5. Bf 109K-4   5430
6. Me 163B   5215


Oh crap, you are talking about me 

[popeye]

Did you read the part about the limited plane set? 4 mid war fighter, a buff, a goon, a panzer and an M3. You want to use anything else, subscribe.

I'm guessing that quite a few current subscribers would be happy to play for free with that set.

Now, if only paying customers got their kills announced "in lights"....     

[caldera]

mhh... 

1. Me 262       7319
2. Tempest   7105
3. Ta 152H   5898
4. Tiger I           5741
5. Bf 109K-4   5430
6. Me 163B   5215


Oh crap, you are talking about me 

Mea Culpa.  I'm just as guilty.   

[CptTrips]

I'm guessing that quite a few current subscribers would be happy to play for free with that set.

Now, if only paying customers got their kills announced "in lights"....     

And maybe only subscribers get scores and stats recorded.

And maybe only subscribers can use rearm pad.

And maybe only subscribers can use GV resupply.

And maybe only subscribers get access to skins.

And maybe only subscribers get access to scenarios.

And maybe only subscribers can be added to squads.

And maybe only subscribers get to xmit on vox and text.  They can listen and read but not xmit.

A lot of ways to incentivize.   

[bustr]

What if WarOnline is also an experiment in determining what customers are willing to pay for, short of $14.95 each month that can be incorporated into the MA revenue structure? When he first went with Steam he was not convinced it was worth the trouble. Is WarOnline an experiment in making the Steam decision profitable since many of the games at Steam make money on the micro transaction model? That reflects the primary demographic who uses Steam in some ways versus AH3. Until now Hitech has refused to do free and  micro transactions in place of a monthly subscription for anything.

When Hitech makes changes they are either, today becasue he liked an idea in someone's post which tends to have immediate repercussions in the MA. Or he does something small with better testing and observes it for 3-6 months, a year or, many years to see how it changes game play. The same can be said for ideas he is looking to incorporate down the road while watching us to work them out.

WarOnline goes live this month, probably by June it will show if it's a winner while Hitech gains more feed back from it. The MA is still there and works like it always has if you want to login and play. If this is another session trying to tell Hitech he has to scrap the MA and do anything but MA under the guise of not directly stating it to his face. Start a post saying to Hitech, you need to scrap the MA and do anything but MA as your solution to saving your company and bringing in more customers.