I do not think it will ever drop to that level.
Well they have to do something. The only time the MA hit a sustainable player number is US prime time. All other times have such low numbers that it never really gets the game play rolling.
Heck last Saturday there were so many fights going on that you spent half the night in a gun
seems to me maybe he should be working on CUSTOMER RETITON. seems there is a vacuum sucking players out of here very quickly and not being addressed.
the old saying stands true here, its cheaper to keep her. in just the two years I played I can see a decline in the numbers. maybe with WOP hes trying to keep both ends of the candle burning inviting guys that want to fight in to that game and sand box players in to the MA of AH.
Retention is the only thing that has saved this game. ALL games have player turn over. What keeps things going is new players coming in to replace those that leave. When we were running at 600 players a night new incoming players matched or exceeding the number of players calling it quits and moving on.
The numbers started dropping because AH wasnt attracting new players as fast as they were losing them. Now we have gotten to a point where number seem to have stabilized a bit. These are the hard cord players that will stick it out through thick and thin. These hardcore player are what have kept AH going.
Now we need new players. We need these players to be able to spend the time necessary to get hooked on this game, 2 weeks wont cut it any more. With all the options available out there why bother if your first day/hour is getting your bellybutton handed to you. Why invest any more time in it? You KNOW your never going to learn the game enough to be competitive in two weeks, why bother?
What works in WarOP may, or may not work in AHIII. I can't say it will. You can't say it won't. You can't know that. No one can, not even Hitech. They could get some experience with the model in WarOP, and decide if they ever want to try it in AH. Only then would they know.
I will say feature limit F2P accounts are not a new concept. It has proven to be a productive model in many games across many genre. Many apples, many oranges.
Their two nearest rivals, both persistent world, WWII sims, have permanent F2P account levels, not just trials. (I won't provide the link here but I assume you know how to use the interweb.)
"Play Online Forever (Limited Plane Set)"
"Rifleman: Free"
Never say never.
LOL!!!! lets see....
WOP
air spawn, small area fast action furball, timed matches with options to play challenge match/tournaments
AH
continual world with multiple fields, towns, vehicle bases, all of which are capturable to an end game of win the war. 100s of fighter, bombers, and vehicles available as well as ships. Mission editor and team play. Air, sea, and ground battles avialable at all times, no waiting for a que to fill, just launch and have at it.
Thats like having a bunch of pick-up available and seeing hundreds of people come in to use them. If it works so well with trucks, lets give them the same deal with priuz's!
Totally different player base. WOP isnt a test ground for AH, nor is AH a test ground for WOP. the only thing they have in common is art and code. Even the flight dynamics are different.
Nope, the only thing I see transferring over from WOP to AH is those players that get bored furballing and are looking for something more. Sadly, I see more players moving from AH to WOP. Too many player are looing for a furball, fewer and fewer are looking to wage war.
