Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Aces High General Discussion => Topic started by: Hotdog on January 23, 2000, 08:40:00 PM
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Hi guys i know this has been dragged up before but its getting close to pay to play and I belive HT will be missing out on a larger user base with his option of 1 price only.
Now first let me say I dont disagree with the US $30 unlimited play price, in fact I thinks its a fair price for the game and the development HT & Pyro will put in to it over the next 2 - 3 years.
But I really think HT is going to lose lots of pilots from the beta game by not haveing other priceing plans for people to chose from, AH really is like a ISP there are people playing it who love the all you can eat type play for the price, there are also the casual games who spend time doing other things with there lives other than playing on the net, these guys are the ones HT will be missing out on and I would guess there are a lot of them out there playing the FREE AH beta, also to be considerd are the people in other countrys where the US $ is very strong this makes AH expensive to play at US$30 month in New Zealand that is NZ $60 for us, still not a bad price but its getting up there considering the avarge wage in NZ is $400 week after tax.
Anyway as I said I would really like to see AH with priceing plans like most ISP have, in NZ my ISP has many plans to chose from.
Flat Rate NZ $39.95
Advanced 10 10 hours = NZ $10
Advanced 20 20 hours = NZ $20
Advanced 50 50 hours = NZ $35
Hourly Rate = NZ $2.50 hour
This gives my ISP customers the choice to pick and use the hours they would on the net, its a great idea and one I really think HT & Pyro should consider, I have seen many people say they would sign up for 10, 20, 30 hours or even a houry rate, these are the people who will help build the numbers in AH along with the unlimited all you can eat guys and I really do think its a shame and waste that HT is ignoring them with his 1 price plan policy.
Anyway like I said its not a slam at the price of AH, belive me I think HT & Pyro really should do very well with AH and deserve to make lots of money.
If your one of those people who would like to see more priceing plans for AH, add a msg here maybe we can convince HT he is missing out on lots of customers who want to play his great game.
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Hotdog
CO RNZAF Warbirds/Aces High
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Good points! Perhaps something like 1.50/hr up to a maximum of $50?
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As a pilot also living in NZ, I would also like this to be considered. It is such a worthwhile game, and as I would probably pay the current rate, because I think it's worth it, there are quite a few who probably won't. This is not an off-the -shelf s/w and think AH stand to make a huge advances in their technology. Keep us all hooked!!! It's an awesome sim!!!
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I work at sea and $30 a month seems a little high for the 2 weeks I'm off every other month.
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I can see this would complicate billing somewhat.
Why not $1 a day? The most anyone would have to pay would be $31/month, and those that only want to play half the month won't lose out.
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Dolomite,
If I play for 15 minutes, I pay a dollar? Considering climb to alt, etc, etc, probably more like 1 hour minimum. Lets see, WB is $1.25 / hour......... Sounds GOOD to me (http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/Smileys/default/smile.gif) !! THen those of us who still "WANT" to give AH a chance, CAN. I for one just installed a voodoo 3 3000 AGP Saturday, and have not had a chance to adequatly check out FPS with "TRACER SMOKE" flying. This was my "ONLY" (Pay attention pls HT) issue before, as my FPS dropped to 0.54 when I attacked a B-17 just after the George was released. WE were the only 2 planes in the area BTW, and when he opened fire with those linked guns, GAME OVER for my FPS, and ME (http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/Smileys/default/frown.gif). My test yesterday with the new vid board seems to have gone well, but further testing required (http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/Smileys/default/smile.gif).
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Drdoyo, Lt.
VF-17 the Jolly Rogers
8X
Damn emoticins :P
[This message has been edited by drdoyo (edited 01-24-2000).]
[This message has been edited by drdoyo (edited 01-24-2000).]
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>Why not $1 a day? The most anyone would
>have to pay would be $31/month, and those
>that only want to play half the month won't
>lose out.
Then you'd have people complaining that they didn't get home from work until 7pm and so they shouldn't get charged for a whole day while someone else has been playing since 8am.
These people are missing the point behind the "All You Can Eat" stategy. The secret that allows a company to sustain that is cost averaging. Some people will eat more than average, some people will eat less. You pick a cost that will average it out. People tend to like that because whether they eat as much as the next guy, they're garunteed to be allowed to eat as much as they want until they've had their fill.
But to silence the whining I say they should offer $30.00 flat rate or $2.00 per/hour for those that don't mind watching the clock out of the corner of their eye while flying. But thats it. No endless ladder of different payment schemes.
30 flat, or 2 bucks per. Keep it simple. :>
IMHO,
Wab
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I see more problems than that. I don't do the billing, but I'm sure part of what the $30 per month plan does is guarantee what income will arrive each month. The flexible plans invite fluctuations of income.
I'd best stay out of the money arguments, I can't even manage my own checkbook. (http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/Smileys/default/tongue.gif)
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ack, Wab, rendered my argument moot 3 minutes before I posted it!
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OK, I'm probably not gonna spend $60/month to play 2 online sims. WB gets $30. That means you have to either "steal" me from WB, which you can't do with the current state of the two games, or provide me with a way to play AH for less than $30.
Give me a way to play AH for $10 and I'm in. If that means only 5-10 hours, I'm probably still in.
Force me to choose which game I think is best, and you have to actually BE the best. Not there yet IMO, but I WILL support the development of the sim. Just give me a way to do it. Want guys like me? I played both AW and WB for 3 years before WB finally outpaced AW on MY "quality scale." Both sims got my money. You want some of it? Give me some options...
--jedi
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I think at least 1 alternative pricing method based on hourly usage is a good idea, like the 2$ an hour. I think AH is a great game, and i want to continue to be a part of the comunity etc. But 30$ a month is a significant investment to me. And personally, while u can find me flying in the "beta" arena now cause it's free, . .this isn't what i really enjoy about sims like this. I may not be willing to pay 30$ a month just to fly and fly, but give me a 2$ an hour option, or an option to fly "Special events" for something between 5 and 10 dollars and you will see me there often. I want to fly scenerios, and that's pretty much it. From what i understand, there is going to be extra charges for certain events anyways, what if the only thing we want to fly is "special events?"
daniko
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Jeez guys. There is going to be an 8 player free game. These guys are doing everything but buying you a joystick.
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Agree with Jedi and others. One month i play a lot, then nothing for two other months etc.
What about MIN 10$/month (MIN 5 if you pay up front for 6-12 months), MAX 30$/month and 2$/hour in between ?.
It is a beautiful sim, but..... (http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/Smileys/default/smile.gif)
Bod
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Pardon me if somebody already stated this as I didn't bother to read all the replies, keep in mind this is a startup company. They are trying to keep their expenses low. For them to be able to offer a metered plan, they would need one of two things neither of which may be in place. Either a piece of software to compile user usage and lock accounts when a limit is reached or a person to wade through logs or a combination of these two things. There may be nothing like this in place so they may not have the ability to offer anything other than the current plan.
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Dont spend too much time on this guys. Its a done deal until the numbers start coming in.
In any event, I dont see HTC bringing the rates down regardless. Either she flys or she doesnt.
And besides, everyone shuddup or well start getting charged $2 an hour and even that would be worth it! SHUDDUP!!!!!!!!
Yeager
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Come on Yeager, the idea of these messages boards is so that we can voice our opinions! Nobody is saying that what we are getting is not worth every penny and more. We are all just trying to put ideas across...you know, two heads better than one? The guru's who made this game, have made it even better with the contribution of those who play it. Without us, they really don't have a market and so I am sure that they read and understand what the situation is. They are not idiots. So I think you are being a tad unfair. Whatever pricing scheme they select will benefit all of us. BUT YOU CAN'T PLEASE ALL!!!
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I think it all sucks!!! I started playing this game for 2 days ago and i love it, but i will never be able to play it anymore. Stupid!!
Why the price for plying? never heard about it before. Make a price on the game instead so other people can play it to.
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I forgott to say im already paying about $180/month just to have Internet(ISDN), thats what it costs here in Sweden. Thats for about 150h/month of surfing, we pay by the hour here.
Its stupid i know but what to do
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Zero, there will be an 8 person server free, 30 a month is just for main servers. Hence I suspect you will see several permanent free 8 person servers appear quickly after release.
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If your in range, so is the enemy.
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Hey guys settle down all im trying to do is see if there is support for other priceing options so others can play this game like I said before I certainly think US $30 is well worth it for unlimited play on AH but in todays world selling something to the consumer is all about giveing consumers a choice of options for you products and really all AH is a product HT/Pyro is selling to us the flight sim junki.
For example if you were to go in to a computer shop and look for a new computer, you say to the sales rep that you are intrested in a brand new P2 400 with 64meg Ram , sales rep takes you over to the computers and thay all look the same too you, so you ask the sales rep to show you the computers on display, sales rep replies "Oh sir there all P3 600 made by xxxx company, they all have 128 megs ram , 6.4gig HD, 19" Moniter and 4 meg 3D/2D
video card, we dont stock anything else sir
its all we have" So you say to the sales rep look I really like your company and the product you have I hear your support is the best and i really want to buy from you, but I really want a P2 400 as its not so expensive, I dont want a P3 600. Once again the sales rep say sorry sir I cant offer you that option we dont do other options only this one and nothing else.
Now tell me what you would do, Im sure you would go somewhere else that there is a choice, and in today world its all about choice, as for billing I can see that it may add some extra stuff HT/Pyro has to do to there systems so it could work but really they are running a buisness and today buisness have to be able to adapt to the needs of the customers they want to bring to
help fund there buisness..
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Hotdog
CO RNZAF Warbirds/Aces High
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HEY JEDI ! you could not have said it better, and you used so few words to make a lot of VERY VALID points. I think that there are many sim-pilots out there who feel exactly as you do. I want AH to do well over the long haul, but they have to continue to earn our respect and our dollars, or someone else will.
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Very interesting thread. Amazingly I don't see the operative word in business mentioned in any of the posts; competition! I've been flying AH for about 3 days and like it a lot but I've got a real hangup about shelling out $30.00 to play it. Why? Cause for the last year I've been playing Fighter Ace about 3 hours per day minimum for $9.95/month Though I like many of the AH features somehow I think that all I have to do is hang in a little and FA2 will be everything that I expected. On the other hand as it stands today based on what I've seen if AH was $9.95/month there would be no question in my mind where I would be hanging my hat. Creative people aren't necessarily good at business, remember Gary Killdall sent IBM away when they came to offer him the contract for an operating system. To get me to switch at the quoted price I would need a flight sim that was everything I've got in FA2 PLUS perfectly modeled planes, country scenarios which are a little closer to reality and included "special events" as we have (yeah, I know they're not too good). Please let's not get into MS bashing, I don't particularly like them either. Anyway back to competition, what do the "financial guru's" say? Will the market support a flight sim at $30.00/month competing vs. one that charges $9.95 and is backed by "deep pockets"? Maybe, just maybe, somebody wants to keep a low profile and go for a niche market vs. going up against Goliath?
Time will tell
Beeg
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Yea and ICI sold to IEN. . .
As long as WB has it price at 2$ an hour it surely will work, but if IEN lowers the WB price to an flat rate similar (spelling?) to AH´s things are gonna go downwards. . .
// -nr-1-
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"Maybe, just maybe, somebody wants to keep a low profile and go for a niche market vs. going up against Goliath?"
Goliath? More like Borg. Microsoft assimilates. I think calling them Goliath is too much of a compliment.
With those deep pockets don't you think that MS or VR-1 should have been able to come out with a knock out product and not the hack of a job that they did? That's my honest opinion of FA 2. Not a flame.
-Westy
[This message has been edited by Westy (edited 01-25-2000).]
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They're not going to fail because I sat watching from the fence. They've got the guts to put themselves on the line - they're getting my support.
HiTech et al - check your fax, not your 6 ;-)
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skeet - out
Aces High - Fight Stimulator
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$30.00 is kind of steep for the initial investment on a limited flight sim.
Average Cost:
ISP= 19.95 monthly
Aces 30.00 Monthly
anything else ? (toll charges etc.)
Starting to get into the luxry seats.
I could see a gradual step up to that amount over time once more planes and terrains etc have beeen included but for the initial cost? seems kind of steep.
I understand cost and overhead but urge Hi tech inc. not to get into the mind frame of "you pay for quality" and "we only care about the serious flight sim jock" because Aces is not to that point yet nor will HT inc. be able to support a flight sim that caters to the (only) serious flight simmer.. I'm sure in the near future it could be but for the average consumer it will be just another expensive game over the internet that costs too much.
This is only my 2cents but I hope your listening. I also hope this game isn't dubbed Warbirds II... which it could easily be if the right people aren't careful with pricing and how they are preceived by the public.
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So ya Want to Be A Pilot!
Justa Mutt
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The main reason I see for haveing a steeped plan would be to snag some of the low income/casual flyers.
I remeber a while back, someone in College was complaining that $29.95 was too much, and he didn't fly much.
If there was a Tierd plan, HT could snap up some of the folks that really can't afford $29.95.
I want to see what WB 3.0 looks like, but I can't get 2.75 working, and iEN says the problem is on my end?
Funny how Aces High doesn't cause me any probs.
I will probably get an AH Account cause I believe I can afford it. The WB/iEN will have to go because I can't play it.
But I think allowing the likes of.
$9.95 for 5 hours.
$19.95 for 10 Hours.
and $29.95 for Unlimited will bring in more money.
I guess we will all just have to wait and see.
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Lincoln "Downtown" Brown.
lkbrown1@tir.com
http://www.tir.com/~lkbrown1 (http://www.tir.com/~lkbrown1)
Those who don't remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
Hals und beinbruch!
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30 flat or 2 bucks per.
Teirs, smeirs.
Keep it simple,
Wab
or even simpler, 30 bucks flat. ;0)
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hmmmmm... my 2 cents worth...
How about 20 bucks/mo., plus an additional 10 per for each additional user on same account (per my previously mentioned "son and I wanna fly together" message)? 30 is steep for one pilot, 20 seems a perfect compromise for everyone who has a concern about it, and the extra user fee helps out those parents like me who have a family of AH junkies. One son is hooked, and the other has been beggin for me to set him up a user name. This initial rate would make AH more easily accessible to more flyers, yet avoid the mess of tier plans, hourly rates, and other hocus-pocus rate plans. Just a random thought, floating around in those beautifully rendered AH clouds. (http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/Smileys/default/smile.gif)
[This message has been edited by Skorpyon (edited 01-25-2000).]
[This message has been edited by Skorpyon (edited 01-25-2000).]
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hi all,
for me AH is just pure fun although it's still not finished.
Some people spent their money on expencive cars, some on disco nights, others need a new TV every year.
To me it seems that 30 bucks/month has a very good fun/dollar ratio.
Only complain i have is that these 30bucks should include special evends - otherwise i want my drinks for free ;-)
I'll give it a try.
blitz
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I am more than willing to pay $30 a month to try and help HT and crew start up.
Maybe after everything is up and running they can look at the priceing again.
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Dewey
Wimp
Mighty1
Baby Harp Seals