Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Wishlist => Topic started by: CptTrips on November 27, 2010, 01:03:47 PM
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(http://www.mylespaul.com/gallery/data/500/flamesuit.jpg)
OK.
Unclench. Hear me out.
Proposal: Allow unlimited time Free-Play for the WWI arena with the following limitation:
Free-Players may only spawn Camels or F2B or F2B gunner. (Perhaps mannable ack if that is ever added.)
Advantages:
"Free" gets a lot of attention. Likely to bring in some fresh meat.
More fresh meat is a benefit to the paying customers as it gives them targets in an otherwise empty arena.
Its a trojan horse that gets the AH client downloaded on to more peoples computers. They may eventually also choose to try the 2 week trial in the WWII arenas and who knows where that will lead.
Limiting them to the lesser flown planes with help balance out the arena diversity making it more enjoyable for the paying customers.
The Free-Player has a motivation to convert to pay in order to access the other plane models.
Free-Player population might lead to the critical-mass necessary for the WWI arena to initiate a self-sustaining reaction.
Worse-case: there is not very much interest in WWI and offering free play won't bring in many people. In that case, HTC won't be losing much in providing the free access.
I'm suited up. Let me have it!
Regards,
Wab
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Not a bad idea. HTC has nothing losing if it doesn't go to plan, and quite a bit to gain.
+1
I'll go down with ya, bud. :devil
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I don't think it's a terrible idea for getting new customers. However, I would limit them to a certain number of hours per day or week to make the temptation to buy a full subscription even stronger.
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I don't think it's a terrible idea for getting new customers. However, I would limit them to a certain number of hours per day or week to make the temptation to buy a full subscription even stronger.
However, the other, almost more important goal is to provide targets for the paying customers in the WWI arena.
So if you limit their hours, you limit their availability as targets for the paying customers.
I think its worth it, IMHO, to provide people flying planes that don't get often flown, as targets for the paying customers. You are providing your paying customers "content" in the form of diversified, and plentiful targets.
Regards,
Wab
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However, the other, almost more important goal is to provide targets for the paying customers in the WWI arena.
So if you limit their hours, you limit their availability as targets for the paying customers.
I think its worth it, IMHO, to provide people flying planes that don't get often flown, as targets for the paying customers. You are providing your paying customers "content" in the form of diversified, and plentiful targets.
Regards,
Wab
or you just let them pull their two weeks :rolleyes:
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or you just let them pull their two weeks :rolleyes:
There are a couple of important differences between this suggestion and a 2-weeker.
2-weekers aren't going to be numerous in the WWI arena enough to provide a rich target enviroment to the paying players.
There is less chance someone is going to take the time to download, install, and configure a 200mb client (Which might take the better part of a week for a first timer), if they know it is going to be pulled out from under them.
2-weekers can't be limited to only flying the seldom used planes. So they will simply fly the same DR.I that everyone else does so diversity will not have been improved.
Think of it as a cheap and easy way of developing an AI system like they were going to do for TD. Ready made targets flying the planes no one else does.
Free-Players could be auto-switched to sides for numerical balance.
They can fullfill grunt work that paying customers don't want to have to do, but that adds top a better gaming enviroment. They can fly the planes that paying customers can't be convinced to. Provide a diversity of targets.
They can be plugged in in any way that makes the arena more enjoyable for the paying players and thats how they pay for thier free passage.
Regards,
Wab
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so, what your saying is "LETS FILL THE WWI ARENA WITH NOOBS, SO I CAN HAVE SOME EASY TARGETS!!!!!"
i'm sorry but i dont see how being a target would attract anyone to the game, and it does have a possible negative effect.
ex- the guy starts playing in the wwI arena (as a target!) and hates the game because he cant fly 20 yards without getting shot down, later a friend of his is talking about joining Aces High but he convinces him not to just because of his expirence as a target
-1
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However, the other, almost more important goal is to provide targets for the paying customers in the WWI arena.
Winner Winner chicken dinner!!!
+1
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so, what your saying is "LETS FILL THE WWI ARENA WITH NOOBS, SO I CAN HAVE SOME EASY TARGETS!!!!!"
i'm sorry but i dont see how being a target would attract anyone to the game, and it does have a possible negative effect.
ex- the guy starts playing in the wwI arena (as a target!) and hates the game because he cant fly 20 yards without getting shot down, later a friend of his is talking about joining Aces High but he convinces him not to just because of his expirence as a target
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I'm sorry, but what you're saying is you were either too lazy or too incompetent to read Wabbit's original post in its entirety.
Yes, I am mocking you.
Wabbit, I really like your idea. In addition to more possible players in the WWI arena and future subscribers, I think it would also encourage more of the paying customers to fly WWI as there are more players flying there.
I'd be curious to see where this idea would take the game, if implemented.
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Wabbit I think your idea has merit, hopefully HT will give it a shot.
Not sure if the tools are in place to limit free accounts on plane types. But even if they are all in DR1's its still fresh meat. :)
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Since noobs will get killed in any plane they fly, why not let the entire planeset in WWI be free?
Having "Free WWI Action!" on the AH webpage will get people into the arena. They will get slaughtered at first but some may stick around and become good enough to give the regulars a good fight. Do you want good fights or unending easy kills by restricting the Dr I from the people who need it the most?
Having it this way will be good PR for Aces High and will get people in the free arena curious about the WWII arenas = more customers.
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Since noobs will get killed in any plane they fly, why not let the entire planeset in WWI be free?
From a marketing point of view you are correct. However I was envisioning 3 basic goals:
1. Increased marketing for HTC by offering unlimited-time free-play in their non-premier arena.
2. Serve the needs of the arena by limiting them to role that are benifitial to the the arena but are less likely to be chosen by paying customers.
3. Provide critical-mass forr the WWI arena and targets for the paying customer.
So allowing them the full planeset wouldn't server goal 2, IMHO. The arena would still be nothing but DR.I's for the most part. I think getting the other, less seen planes in the air, giving the paying player more variety to shoot at, is a good way for them to pay off their free passage. If they get to the point they really want to unlock those other aircraft, they can convert to pay. ;)
I can see the free-player be switched to what ever side serves the arenas needs. You don't get to pick a country when you launch. You are assigned a country based by the sever to balance numbers.
Maybe you don't even pick a field, or even a plane. Maybe you only have a "Volunteer" button and when you click it, the server places you in the country, the field, and the plane it thinks is needed to balance game-play.
Or maybe it places you in a manned ack at a field under attack.
Or in the unfilled gunner position of a bomber or recon plane.
You get to play for free, but you don't get to choose. The server assigns you where ever is needed to improve game-play.
Regards,
Wab
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Since noobs will get killed in any plane they fly, why not let the entire planeset in WWI be free?
Having "Free WWI Action!" on the AH webpage will get people into the arena. They will get slaughtered at first but some may stick around and become good enough to give the regulars a good fight. Do you want good fights or unending easy kills by restricting the Dr I from the people who need it the most?
Having it this way will be good PR for Aces High and will get people in the free arena curious about the WWII arenas = more customers.
They will come to the realization that the Camel we are presented is barely competitive, and they will BEG their moms for the credit card# that they night get German aircraft, and thus win fights :D (On the whole, good idea Rabbit :aok)
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Rios' reply is completely valid within it's context. There is a reason everyone flys the DR.1 in there. Forcing them into anything else is tying their hands, particularly for noobs.
The op gets +1 for the concept, but limiting the planeset to target drones makes the experience unpalatable, so that part of the suggestion is counter productive imo.
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Rios' reply is completely valid within it's context. There is a reason everyone flys the DR.1 in there. Forcing them into anything else is tying their hands, particularly for noobs.
The op gets +1 for the concept, but limiting the planeset to target drones makes the experience unpalatable, so that part of the suggestion is counter productive imo.
Well, I think I disagree, and I could make an argument to that effect...however, let me offer an alternative based on the brainstorming in my last post.
If all control is surrendered to the "Volunteer" button, the server can control the percentages of flights in various aircraft. So the server might "roll dice" to see what plane you get to fly that sortie. Maybe your odds are:
DR.I 10%
D7 20%
F2B 30%
Camel 40%
These weights could be adjusted real-time base on balancing out player population.
So you will get to fly the DR.I occationally. The longer you play, the more chances you get to fly one. However, some variety is enforced on you to serve the needs of the arena. I think since you are getting to play for free, it is fair to ask for some compromise.
Regards,
Wab
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Thats a really good idea, considering other P2P (paid to play) members could convince the F2P players to buy the subscription to play the WW1 AND WW2....
I'd give it a +5 :aok
edit: we could do another 'BETA' for the F2P players to see how they like it, after the end of a month or so, we could have a poll to see if they like it? If they like it, they would either continue to play and ADVERTISE to friends, or the would pay the whole $15 to play the whole version AND ADVERTISE to friends.
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A good crack dealer ALWays gives potential new customers a few freebies---good business sense in the longrun :)
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A good crack dealer ALWays gives potential new customers a few freebies---good business sense in the longrun :)
wondering how you know that............ :huh :lol
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wondering how you know that............ :huh :lol
Well, drug ed. in middle school, high school, adult ed classes, guy could be a cop. Any number of things.
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Well, drug ed. in middle school, high school, adult ed classes, guy could be a cop. Any number of things.
maybe......maybe not :lol
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Let's not hijack this. It's about WWI arena, not why some guy knows about Illegal substances.
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I can't see htc devoting more resources to the WWI arena without a better return, but they might be able to recover some of their investment by accepting your idea of a free, or a longer free period arena.
btw They can't appear to be driving a competitors' product out of the market without risk of lawsuit.
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good point....... its not!!! just advertising is all it is.
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A few more random thoughts.....
Once you have the "Volunteer" button and dice roll plane choice mechanisms in place, you can then adjust those weights in all kinds of interesting ways.
For instance, perhaps you not only take into effect plane diversity but also apply a modifier for the number of sorties that free-player has flown.
So maybe for his first 20 sorties his weights look like:
DR.I 70%
D7 20%
F2B 10%
Camel 10%
Now he has flown with training-wheels abit, sorties 20-50 might adjust to:
DR.I 30%
D7 20%
F2B 20%
Camel 30%
After sortie 50, he's had his training period. Now he's just playing for free. Thats OK, but he needs to start paying his way with some target diversity duty:
DR.I 5%
D7 15%
F2B 30%
Camel 50%
At this point he is providing targets in the form of lesser flown planes. However, he is still occationally thrown a bone 5% of the time to remind him of the benefits he would get converting to pay.
The possibilities are endless.
Also, if this mechanism proves successful, could it also not be applied to Early-War and Mid-War? AVA?
Is it a preferable mechanism to the 2-week trial?
Regards,
Wab
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Does this mean I can cancel my paid account? :rofl
...... and where do you guys get off calling my favourite flying machine a 'target'?
(http://img602.imageshack.us/img602/2300/termites2.jpg) (http://img602.imageshack.us/i/termites2.jpg/)
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You make a good point Wabbit... it is akin to what many software developers do now. Instead of a full version that only works for a short period of time, they release a "feature limited" version that works forever. The only problem I see, is that some people will gladly accept the limitations in order to never have to pay. The question becomes, will they get more to sign up for paid accounts, or will they end up having a mass of players who just never end up paying at all?
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Frankly AKP if it puts 50-100 people in the WWI every night, I'm not sure I care.
Perhaps it should be a limited time thing, 2 or 3 months free in WWI. After that to stay you'd have to start paying.
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Frankly AKP if it puts 50-100 people in the WWI every night, I'm not sure I care.
That would be pretty cool...
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Frankly AKP if it puts 50-100 people in the WWI every night, I'm not sure I care.
Perhaps it should be a limited time thing, 2 or 3 months free in WWI. After that to stay you'd have to start paying.
This :aok
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guys give it up, guys that play this game dont really care to go there (and that sucks) what makes you think that some noobs are gonna log a ww1 arena just because it is free.
semp
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The only problem I see, is that some people will gladly accept the limitations in order to never have to pay. The question becomes, will they get more to sign up for paid accounts, or will they end up having a mass of players who just never end up paying at all?
What you see is not a problem at all! It doesnt matter if they never pay, it's a dead arena anyhow. And anyone who seriously wants to play there and willing to pay for it WON'T stay a customer if that arena doesnt attract more players.
Hitech will be wise to implement this because it's a fantastic idea.
Free players are great publicity and in all likelyhood they will pay at some point. Maybe they cant afford it and only pay for a month or so at a time when they can. Some people dont live in countries where 15 bucks is pocket change like in the US. IL-2 has THOUSANDS if not hundreds of thousands of free players for this same reason! It shouldnt matter if a thousand guys play the WW1 arena and don't pay. Its all free publicity, and it attracts paying customers to a well populated game.
And I propose they take this idea further. Indefinite free accounts should be available with access to certain aspects of the game. Like gunning from any air or ground manable guns. This gives people access and experience in the game that 2 weeks is completely inadequate for. Plus it gives paying players more freedom to do other tasks. Bomber dudes wont need to look hard to find someone to gun for them and will likely end up with a group of highly skilled gunners. Also likely, all manable cv guns would be occupied while engaging enemy ships and bases instead of the often single 8inch turret trying to defend a cv. Free players should also be allowed to operate vehicles or aircraft to deliver sups to players or bases. Anything that doesnt compromise the profitability of the game and adds to the experience should be open to free accounts. Which is exactly what the things suggestions do. They are not things that draw the paying customers.
guys give it up, guys that play this game dont really care to go there (and that sucks) what makes you think that some noobs are gonna log a ww1 arena just because it is free.
semp
Again with the negative waves semp?
Hitech used to have free 8 player. It was more popular than the WW1 arena is now. So I think you are wrong again. I think there are plenty of people willing to play if it's free.
(http://www.gothicalchemist.com/catalog/oddballkellysheroes2T1.jpg)
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I fly Camels when I'm in the WWI arena. Does that mean everyone's going to be attacking me?
BTW, I think HT should have a tiered subscriptions system. Say $5/mo. for only WWI, $10/mo for WWI, EW and MW and $15/mo. for everything or something similar.
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+1, cool idea :aok
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See what you started...
http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,301180.0.html
http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,301179.0.html
http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,301185.0.html
:huh
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if this dose work it will be me in the WW1 arena. but im going to kidnap the noobs, and add them to a fake squad. quick fallow me to all those enemy
Dr.1's and D.VII's.
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+1 :aok :aok :aok :aok :aok :aok :aok :aok :aok :aok :x :banana:
Paying Cutomer: :airplane:
Free Player w/less experience: :joystick:
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good idea,but we should expand the ww1 arena,to give a better first impression.
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suggestions do. They are not things that draw the paying customers.
Again with the negative waves semp?
(http://www.gothicalchemist.com/catalog/oddballkellysheroes2T1.jpg)
I feel violated. You'll be hearing from my attorney. :old:
Hitech used to have free 8 player. It was more popular than the WW1 arena is now. So I think you are wrong again. I think there are plenty of people willing to play if it's free.
And how many moved from 8 player to paying customer while it was free? After?
The argument seems to be, "give it to them free and they will start paying." Why? It's free.
What incentive does a business, that already offers a limited, free trial to play, have to give something away in perpetuity?
wrongway
wrongway
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The argument seems to be, "give it to them free and they will start paying." Why? It's free.
What incentive does a business, that already offers a limited, free trial to play, have to give something away in perpetuity?
I get the feeling you either did not read this thread fully, or I didn’t explain myself clearly. Assuming the latter, I will make another attempt.
There are many, many, many companies that have chosen the alternative approach of providing a limited version that is not time-limited but instead feature limited. Additional capabilities can be unlocked by becoming a paying customer.
I could sit and make you a list but just to pick one off the top of my head that you may be familiar with: “FRAPS”. It is free to use and does not stop working after 2 weeks. Instead the length of recordings are limited, and a watermark is applied. But you can use it forever, free, if you are OK with being limited to those constraints. The version of AVG virus software I use to use was free to download and use, and did not stop working after a trial period. Instead, you bought it to get access to continued updates of the virus database. I could go on ad infinitum.
It’s an approach that has many advantages. Consider the following points:
1. There is a certain impedance to convincing someone to download a 200mb client, get it configured, figure out the basics of playing, only to have it yanked out from underneath them before they’ve even had time to decide if they liked it or not. I see a short trial period like that I wonder if it’s even worth the hassle.
2. A lot of stuff can happen during those 2 weeks. Life can interfere and keep me from giving it a full evaluation. Unless you are willing to grovel and beg HTC for an extension, you are screwed. Most people will simple shrug and move on. Lost sale.
3. Someone does their free trial on version 1.0. A month later, HTC releases version 2.0 and it’s a lot better. Or so people say. Generally HTC does not renew trial periods so many people will not go back and check it out again except for screenshots and such, or tooling around in the empty offline mode. Probably another lost sale.
4. I suspect many players of the H2H were wee little squeakers who couldn’t pay for play if they wanted to. But the H2H ignited their interest in flight Sims and familiarized them with HTC as the premier supplier of online flight sim experiences. Someday those squeakers will grow up and have jobs. Does some limited free play help plant the seeds today for customers tomorrow?
5. By keeping the period unlimited, but slowly reducing the available features, you keep them in contact with the game longer. They may start having their features limited more over time, but what you are doing is extending that decision window they have to choose to go pay or not. This keeps him engaged longer. This keeps him applying the patches longer. That gives him longer to form relationships with paying customers and squads. That makes it easier for him to decide to pull the trigger at anytime. Instead of giving the potential customer an ultimatum, you are working in the thin end of a wedge. Slowly applying pressure, instead of calling all-or-nothing.
6. As I said “Free” get a lot of attention. A subset of permanent Free-Play will get HTC more exposure to the gaming community than their 2-week only trial IMHO. More exposure means more opportunities to make a sale. It’s the law of big numbers.
7. Even if a Free-Player never converts to pay, HTC would have the ability to slowly adjust the features available to them until they are actually providing more benefit to the arena than they are costing HTC. That’s a good thing for HTC’s paying customers. IF they are willing, they can do the grunt work, fly the planes no one else will, man the acks, fly the supply goons, etc.
8. The features available can be balanced differently in different arenas. This can “highly” encourage the Free-Play to go provide content in the lesser used boutique arenas like WWI and EW. Maybe they get a wider selection of features when they play there. That makes it a more valuable product for their paying customers that want to enjoy those venues.
9. Free-Players can get shuffled around to give support to sides that have low numbers.
10. When an arena cap goes into effect, Free-Players can be plucked out and re-assigned to the newly opened arena to get it seeded quicker.
11. Etc.etc. etc. The possibilities are only limited by HTC’s imagination.
I think it’s a more flexible, more powerful approach. It gives HTC more opportunities to carefully reel in those reluctant fish instead of just yanking the pole hard at the end of week two. And for those that can’t or won’t convert to pay, they can slowly be transitioned from a cost to a benefit or at least a break-even.
In my opinion, the 2 week trial approach is as archaic and outmoded a model as pay-per-hour was when HTC abandoned it. I think its time for HTC to think outside the box again.
Regards,
Wab
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I get the feeling you either did not read this thread fully, or I didn’t explain myself clearly. Assuming the latter, I will make another attempt.
Fantastic job Wab. I think you nailed every point on the head. Unfortunately I think you will need a billy club.