How have we lost so many people to this wonderful game?

[hitech]

What about 1 free plane, but wait,...... to stop others cancelling their sub you can only go in the MA for say 45mins a day without a sub.... this enables them to get better, get hooked and also gives others in the MA a bit more action.  It also gives newbies a chance to make friends and find helpers who persuade them to join.... win win.
(dare i suggest this as not being a sub myself?, but i cant justify it at the moment, but if i was allowed even a crap plane for 45mins i would occasionally give you guys some bait and a spirited fight!)
I loved my free trial but i was useless, however i have improved vastly just from non paid arenas but i would love some MA action!

WOW, an Idea I can not remember hearing before. X minutes free time a day.

HiTech

[Volron]

WOW, an Idea I can not remember hearing before. X minutes free time a day.

HiTech

I blame my lack of coffee at the moment...

[DmonSlyr]

What about 1 free plane, but wait,...... to stop others cancelling their sub you can only go in the MA for say 45mins a day without a sub.... this enables them to get better, get hooked and also gives others in the MA a bit more action.  It also gives newbies a chance to make friends and find helpers who persuade them to join.... win win.
(dare i suggest this as not being a sub myself?, but i cant justify it at the moment, but if i was allowed even a crap plane for 45mins i would occasionally give you guys some bait and a spirited fight!)
I loved my free trial but i was useless, however i have improved vastly just from non paid arenas but i would love some MA action!

Actually a pretty good idea!

Anything to keep players in the MA fighting.

We were all garbage during the first 2 weeks. I got 1 kill in about 30 sorties.

Pretty much the only reason I stayed was because of H2H allowing me to learn the game on a smaller level. When it closed down, I was forced to purchase the subscription, but I did because I was better at the game, understood it better, and could hold my own a little better. I honestly did not like the far away bases at the time being 25 miles. (My biggest gripe). I still sucked in the MA for a while until I joined a squad that changed my abilities 10x. The MA is a very tough place. With only 2 weeks, it's like putting 1 lamb into a pit of alligators all trying to eat it. With no where else to go but the MA, it makes subscribing a tough disision.

WOW, an Idea I can not remember hearing before. X minutes free time a day.

HiTech

I think you should try it. The more people we have in the game fighting, the more will come back and subscribe due to bigger fights. It's a chain reaction. More fighters equal more fights which equals more players playing for the bigger fights.

[DmonSlyr]

I still think you should limit the plane set though. Spit5s and 109fs. With one bomber and 2 tanks. This would allow them to play the game for free during that hour, but would psychology urge them to buy the game and fly that P51D to perform better.

It would be a great promotion and could be marketed as free to play for real.

It would also create much better fights in the MA overall.

[ccvi]

It would also create much better fights in the MA overall.

Yes, more noobs with limited time to learn in inferior rides. That provides a lot more easy targets... err, better fights I mean.

[CptTrips]

WOW, an Idea I can not remember hearing before. X minutes free time a day.

HiTech

I like that idea too, but why doesn't the same attack made on the idea of a limited F2P plane set apply to this?

The argument would go like:  "If they are not completing their 2-week trial, not even staying 5 min, what good is giving them x free minutes a day after their trial ends?"



 

[DmonSlyr]

Yes, more noobs with limited time to learn in inferior rides. That provides a lot more easy targets... err, better fights I mean.

You have 2 weeks to fly all the planes. If you don't subscribe, then you have an hour a day to fly inferior planes. It still allows people to play the game. It still allows people to play for free. It still allows people to learn the game. It gives them all the more reason to subscribe in-order to get back your fav ride.

Generally most games don't start off players with the best equipment. Most newbs have to play the game to unlock better equipment. It keeps them encouraged to keep playing the game.

[Vraciu]

actually you dont need a credit card for your 2 week trial.


semp

The point remains. 

People balk at subscriptions.   

When they see that you have to pay (eventually or now) they walk.   Many Steam reviews complained about this very thing. 

[Vraciu]

(Image removed from quote.)


I blame my lack of coffee at the moment...

 

[CptTrips]

I'd also like to see improvements to the mouse flying interface. The last stats I saw you post suggested that 80% of players trying the game are using a mouse. 

Not that I want to change AH to nothing but mouse pilots, but that is a lot of potential customers that are not being well targeted IMHO.  If you could improve that experience and get them to stay longer, you have the chance of eventually talking them into getting a cheap twisty stick.  I think that is too high a percentage of your potential customers to ignore. They could eventually be convinced to get sticks, but only if they are already having enough fun in a game to want to take it to the next level.

I've been flying mouse for over a week trying to come up with a set of offline missions tweaked for them, but I've about given up.  I can see why they are not staying 5 min and I can't tone the AI down that far without them falling out of the sky.  And that interface works significantly different than I think games they are used to.  (At least I think.  I'm downloading WT again to remind myself how that worked.)

If you are ever interested in improving that, there are some discussions that could be had.   

$0.02,
CptTrips

[ccvi]

Fly for free with mouse only, joystick requires a subscription 

[CptTrips]

Fly for free with mouse only, joystick requires a subscription 

You're going to Hell!!!   

I know there are a few rare individuals that fly with mouse, but they are rare exceptions.

I think 99.98% of humans on Earth would find the current mode very unsatisfying and inconsistent with other games they've played.  (I might be confusing how BF handled mouse flight with how WT handled it.  I would lean toward WT as that is probably the most common past experience.)

[Vraciu]

Fly for free with mouse only, joystick requires a subscription 

 

[turt21]

My only issue with this is as follows. Ive been playing this game a long time and most nights Im in for less than 45 min. For me except for scenarios and stuff it wouldnt make any sense to pay for an acct/.

[Shuffler]

The point remains. 

People balk at subscriptions.   

When they see that you have to pay (eventually or now) they walk.   Many Steam reviews complained about this very thing.

Since so much software is subscription based these days....  they must not do much on their computers.