Aces High Bulletin Board

General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: SirNuke on September 03, 2016, 03:13:12 AM

Title: EVE online adds a free to play mode
Post by: SirNuke on September 03, 2016, 03:13:12 AM
https://community.eveonline.com/news/dev-blogs/introducing-clone-states-and-the-future-of-access-to-eve-online/

In short non paying characters will have a limited skills set and capabilities, Id like to see that in aces high, where non paying players would be stuck in mid (early maybe?) war planes in late war arena, early war planes in mid war, a single WW1 plane, etc.

Shoot away  :salute
Title: Re: EVE online adds a free to play mode
Post by: oboe on September 03, 2016, 09:47:38 AM
It will be very interesting to see how it works out, especially since EVE and AH are both subscription-based sandbox games.

I wonder how well it would work in AH.  along the lines of your thinking, maybe free- or reduced-rate subscriptions would have access to a limited plane set and ordnance set (e.g., less  than 500 LB bombs and no missiles), no GVs or manned ack.  They could earn perk points but not be able to spend them until they upgrade to a full account.  The idea being getting more pilots but limit their ability to grief players, and give them incentives to upgrade.

Title: Re: EVE online adds a free to play mode
Post by: The Fugitive on September 03, 2016, 11:07:03 AM
Ive suggested the same before. Free to play has a short list of available planes to use, one med bomber a few early fighters, a couple GVs a goon. Get them interested, hooked and then subscribing for ALL the planes. Worst off it will add to the numbers in the arenas, best off, adds to subscriptions. Looks like a win win to me.
Title: Re: EVE online adds a free to play mode
Post by: guncrasher on September 03, 2016, 11:32:01 AM
I would quit my ah3 subscription and play free planes.


semp
Title: Re: EVE online adds a free to play mode
Post by: bustr on September 03, 2016, 12:36:35 PM
This is why EVE can take a loss leader on free to play, these investors are investing in EVE for the VR bleeding edge and platform expansion. Free to play is not free for the company offering it and money has to come from somewhere invested against a projected revenue return or some future prize. EVE may well be the VR future of social media and the game itself is just a spring board for these investors because right now it's the perfect world scale beta environment to shape the future of VR.

 About New Enterprise Associates 
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Title: Re: EVE online adds a free to play mode
Post by: Lusche on September 03, 2016, 12:36:43 PM
I think this new scheme might work very well with a game of the scale of EVE Online.
But I also think it would work much less with AH, it's much more difficult to balance here in my opinion.
Title: Re: EVE online adds a free to play mode
Post by: The Fugitive on September 03, 2016, 03:49:46 PM
I would quit my ah3 subscription and play free planes.


semp

And that could be your choice. Of course you wouldn't be able to fly your pony, nor your first crutch plane a spit. If you could be happy flying a hand full of planes or vehicles more power to you. That would be fine as long as the numbers climb. Im sure there would be a decent percentage that would switch over to the subscription format just to fly those ponies and spits.

The point is to get more players in and trying the game and having the chance to work out their own issues with the learning curve. Once players see and get comfortable that is when you'd see players subscribing.
Title: Re: EVE online adds a free to play mode
Post by: caldera on September 03, 2016, 03:59:02 PM
https://community.eveonline.com/news/dev-blogs/introducing-clone-states-and-the-future-of-access-to-eve-online/

In short non paying characters will have a limited skills set and capabilities, Id like to see that in aces high, where non paying players would be stuck in mid (early maybe?) war planes in late war arena, early war planes in mid war, a single WW1 plane, etc.

Shoot away  :salute

Cool!  I can play for free from now on.  :banana:
Title: Re: EVE online adds a free to play mode
Post by: Meatwad on September 03, 2016, 05:02:52 PM
I like this idea. I cant spend $15 a month on a sub if I only may be able to play just a few hours per month due to lack of spare time. If a free to play planeset was a handful of early war aircraft with one early war bomber, c47, m3, and an m8 or jeep, that would be sufficient enough to drag new players in and up numbers
Title: Re: EVE online adds a free to play mode
Post by: Zoney on September 03, 2016, 05:31:11 PM
Total unadulterated CRAP !!

50 cents a day, pay your part or see ya, period.

If you aren't paying, whom do you think is footing the bill ?  Paying customers, that's who.  If you cannot afford it here and there, there are plenty of players who will pick up your bill from time to time, including me.

I know it's harsh, but what's not harsh is......50 cents a day.
Title: Re: EVE online adds a free to play mode
Post by: Lusche on September 03, 2016, 05:44:37 PM
50 cents a day, pay your part or see ya, period.


The "see ya" part seems to work quite well for quite some time...

A filled arena can make a game so much more attractive to paying customers. One of the main reasons I canceled my AH account is the fundamental lack of activity during the hours I can play. The battles are all but gone. I only resubbed to accompany the AH II launch, and I will be gone after that again.

As I wrote earlier, I am not sure at all that EVEs approach could work that way for AH (in particular not in a simple "all EW planes are free"" way). But there are good reasons why a none paying customer segment can actually benefit a game both from the playing players point of view as well as from a commercial one. I just imagine it to be very tricky to get the balance right ;)
Title: Re: EVE online adds a free to play mode
Post by: bustr on September 03, 2016, 08:19:08 PM
Those two investment groups put $30M into EVE and it's not because of the stellar game. It's for the development of VR as the next big direction in social media. EVE is a game that happens to be a fully developed social media platform as an evolution of the paying customers love of the game. All that's needed next is a virtual input detector so you can fling pages around with your hand, browse the internet, do data entry, check boxes and press OK or cancel. Then tie that together with your smart phone, tablet or a sensor array in a room with a micro processing unit.

Space ships are tailor made to evolve virtual reality and virtual input controls.

Free to play arenas in this game turned out to have a hoard of freeloaders when Hitech shut them down who were never going to subscribe while free was involved.
Title: Re: EVE online adds a free to play mode
Post by: zack1234 on September 04, 2016, 06:34:56 AM
We have AHIII now no need for the gibberish
Title: Re: EVE online adds a free to play mode
Post by: bozon on September 04, 2016, 06:39:34 AM
Even and AH are very different games. Even is built around time investment. You build your character and amass property over time. In AH you can start a new account every tour and except for the useless pile of perk points you will not feel the difference.

If you character development or equipment that you can use is limited in Eve this would have a big impact on your game. In AH, unless it is extremely limited the effect is minor. Heck, my nearly exclusive ride in AH is ENY 30, 1943 plane.
Title: Re: EVE online adds a free to play mode
Post by: oboe on September 04, 2016, 08:23:31 AM
Even and AH are very different games. Even is built around time investment. You build your character and amass property over time. In AH you can start a new account every tour and except for the useless pile of perk points you will not feel the difference.

If you character development or equipment that you can use is limited in Eve this would have a big impact on your game. In AH, unless it is extremely limited the effect is minor. Heck, my nearly exclusive ride in AH is ENY 30, 1943 plane.

That's true and I agree it is a very significant difference between the games.   
Title: Re: EVE online adds a free to play mode
Post by: The Fugitive on September 04, 2016, 10:17:07 AM
Those two investment groups put $30M into EVE and it's not because of the stellar game. It's for the development of VR as the next big direction in social media. EVE is a game that happens to be a fully developed social media platform as an evolution of the paying customers love of the game. All that's needed next is a virtual input detector so you can fling pages around with your hand, browse the internet, do data entry, check boxes and press OK or cancel. Then tie that together with your smart phone, tablet or a sensor array in a room with a micro processing unit.

Space ships are tailor made to evolve virtual reality and virtual input controls.

Free to play arenas in this game turned out to have a hoard of freeloaders when Hitech shut them down who were never going to subscribe while free was involved.

No they were shut down because the coad was hacked. HTC pulled the plug on it to bring the software totally back under their control. With that coad now tightened up they gave us the "custom" arenas, but only paying subscribers can build and use them.

With this "free" setup they wouldn't have their own little worlds like the old system had, they would be mixed in with everyone else in the MAs. This would bolster the numbers. As we all know, players go to where the numbers are. Sure some would be happy with the half dozen high ENY planes and a couple of GV, but I think many would either get tired of those limited rides or being out matched so often, that they would pony up for the subscription, after all its only 50 cents a day.
Title: Re: EVE online adds a free to play mode
Post by: guncrasher on September 04, 2016, 11:07:13 AM
No they were shut down because the coad was hacked. HTC pulled the plug on it to bring the software totally back under their control. With that coad now tightened up they gave us the "custom" arenas, but only paying subscribers can build and use them.

With this "free" setup they wouldn't have their own little worlds like the old system had, they would be mixed in with everyone else in the MAs. This would bolster the numbers. As we all know, players go to where the numbers are. Sure some would be happy with the half dozen high ENY planes and a couple of GV, but I think many would either get tired of those limited rides or being out matched so often, that they would pony up for the subscription, after all its only 50 cents a day.

only 50 cents a day.  if they cannot afford to pay for it or wont pay for it they wont switch from free rides to crutch planes as you call it.

semp
Title: Re: EVE online adds a free to play mode
Post by: oboe on September 04, 2016, 12:17:10 PM
only 50 cents a day.  if they cannot afford to pay for it or wont pay for it they wont switch from free rides to crutch planes as you call it.

semp

Still, even if some percentage of the freeloaders don't end up subscribing and just continue to fly a limited plane set - they would still be adding to the overall numbers of players in the arena, and so helping to solve one of the complaints about AH and one of the reasons people leave - the low MA population.

I'm sure HTC follows these developments with interest and must be considering some kind of strategy to boost the player population, besides the release of AHIII. 

Title: Re: EVE online adds a free to play mode
Post by: The Fugitive on September 04, 2016, 12:18:41 PM
Still, even if some percentage of the freeloaders don't end up subscribing and just continue to fly a limited plane set - they would still be adding to the overall numbers of players in the arena, and so helping to solve one of the complaints about AH and one of the reasons people leave - the low MA population.

I'm sure HTC follows these developments with interest and must be considering some kind of strategy to boost the player population, besides the release of AHIII.

Exactly!