loss of members

[hitech]

Paladin:
I don't disagree with what your wrote, nore with you basic premises.

But there is a miss conception that we are loosing players at a faster rate then we used to. That is a completely falls assumption. We are a sink with an inflow and out flow. In fact all our business models from day 1  have 2 primary variables,The number of new customers per month. and Customer life span.

Guess which one I'm most concerned about?


HiTech

[bustr]

I wish most of you guys had been doing testing since August 2014 versus all of your attempts to tell each other who , what, why and how Hitech has gotten it wrong. I'm ready to take up knitting and try out for the USA Olympic knitting team at this point. I had to keep playing AH2 after I spent all this time in proto-AH3 even when it was just a tadpole and all of the bases and strats were 1000ft tall Bock Beer bottles sitting on dust. I was praying beta3 was go live.

At least watching those of you who are playing in the beta now made it worth walking and driving through the town so many times when I wanted to quit out of boredom. You missed an exciting 2 year game of getting the next patch for what, about 120 patches now, to see what Hitech had cooked up or, what would be broken to report back.

The "open alpha" was a surprise, and more of you could have joined us to watch Hitech at work. Some did and Hitech allowed the good and really rotten personal posts to generate speculating how he has gone wrong yet again.

I still cannot figure out what he personally did to any of you. At least I think this time AH3 may be close. I really hope so, then you will have something more fundamental about the game itself to harangue him with. 

[TheBug]

I hear ya, just teasing.  I voiced my opinion with my wallet, it's the only way to get any traction.  <S> Good luck.  I do hope things improve more than graphics and realistic star positions.

[JunkyII]

Both...

Paladin:
I don't disagree with what your wrote, nore with you basic premises.

But there is a miss conception that we are loosing players at a faster rate then we used to. That is a completely falls assumption. We are a sink with an inflow and out flow. In fact all our business models from day 1  have 2 primary variables,The number of new customers per month. and Customer life span.

Guess which one I'm most concerned about?


HiTech

I do like this action I seen in the comments section here https://youtu.be/Wqp_e9ve904

You can see there is definitely still interest in the game by people outside of the community....looking forward to seeing what you guys do advertising wise after AH3 release.

I hear ya, just teasing.  I voiced my opinion with my wallet, it's the only way to get any traction.  <S> Good luck.  I do hope things improve more than graphics and realistic star positions.

I know you were but some think I'm just trying to get people to play my way when actually I'm just hoping they engage in combat....Notice I don't ever have any problems with JG11...because I know you guys fight

[Paladin3]

Paladin:
I don't disagree with what your wrote, nore with you basic premises.

But there is a miss conception that we are loosing players at a faster rate then we used to. That is a completely falls assumption. We are a sink with an inflow and out flow. In fact all our business models from day 1  have 2 primary variables,The number of new customers per month. and Customer life span.

Guess which one I'm most concerned about?


HiTech

I would hope both honestly, for reward to product loyalty.

If I'm reading that right you are saying we are loosing the same amount as always (a range I imagine) but that we aren't attracting new players to keep up with the standard rate of attrition? Thus we have shrunk?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[hitech]

I would hope both honestly, for reward to product loyalty.

If I'm reading that right you are saying we are loosing the same amount as always (a range I imagine) but that we aren't attracting new players to keep up with the standard rate of attrition? Thus we have shrunk?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Correct.
I should have said "Currently most concerned about."

HiTech

[Vudak]

I have seen posts like the one I quoted many many times over the years. They all are based in the same issue. The player played for a long time and simply is not having as much fun as they used to. They fail to realize that a lot of the fun they were having was discovering new things and over coming the challenges that Aces High gave them. The fact that they are no longer discovering new things is what is causing them to no longer enjoy the game.

You have a point here, HiTech.  I think a lot of the reason I don't have as much fun in this game is because I'm at or near a plateau. Even so, and with respect, this sandbox is not set up to help the higher skilled players continue to find the challenges that are out there – each other – at least not without leaving the MA to go to KoTH, Midwar Madness, or the DA.  So, basically, they get siloed in these little compartments that lack all the variety of the MA.

It can be very difficult to find someone who is willing to interact with you in the MA.  It’s a lot like fishing a drop shop – you have to go through a ton of bluegills before you ever catch a bass.  While you can’t be held accountable for human nature, you do make the rules for the sandbox, and they aren’t helping things.

-You maintain enormous maps as part of your rotation despite very low numbers (really, bases outnumber players sometimes - not fun).

-You maintain a very long country switch time (basically if I don’t wake up and log on before I head to work to switch my countries, I’m going to spend ½ of my available play time as part of a horde).  I understand 1 hour isn’t happening.  Would you consider 2 or 3? Is it so wrong for me to want to be able to switch sides during an evening play session?
 
-Radar is very limited and easily damaged which makes it difficult to find cons.  This is nice from a historical perspective/bounce perspective, but very frustrating from the perspective of someone who has a short time to play.

-You do not celebrate people who try to interact with each other on your home page.  The only difficult tasks that are celebrated are those who score well, which often leads people to not interact.  This is all well and good – it is difficult to achieve #1 – but it would be great to see you mention who wins KOTH, or what side won a scenario or FSO or squad duel or race.  It’d also likely drive more subscribers as the place would look lively, and one of the best things AH has over its competitors (the numerous and varied special events) would be at center stage.

-The war mechanism, at present, encourages the path of least resistance.  Why bother doing anything other than NOE?  I'm looking forward to seeing if this changes in AH3.

I do respect you for working with us every day and hope this post doesn't offend you.

[Shuffler]

If we're being honest about analysis of the gaming industry and whatnot,  HTC missed the starting gun on creating a new version by 2 - 3 years.   Doesn't make much sense to be a proudly small development team and start late, but here we are.  From my observation that lack of responsiveness was due to a combination of overconfidece,  distraction,  and general disdain for any customer that wasn't stroking the ego of the developer.

Please post the website of your game so that we may try it out. With such obvious knowledge of the gaming industry you must be on the forefront of game design and marketing. I can't wait to check it out.

 

[Estes]

Please post the website of your game so that we may try it out. With such obvious knowledge of the gaming industry you must be on the forefront of game design and marketing. I can't wait to check it out.

I'm sure he would link it, but it's probably on one of those "anti-social sites" you don't use. 

[Shuffler]

I'm sure he would link it, but it's probably on one of those "anti-social sites" you don't use. 

That would mean he doesn't have a website.

[Bear76]

Your analytical ability of the software and entertainment industry shows how much of a clueless bloviated dolt you really are.

HiTech

Unbelievable

[DmonSlyr]

You have a point here, HiTech.  I think a lot of the reason I don't have as much fun in this game is because I'm at or near a plateau. Even so, and with respect, this sandbox is not set up to help the higher skilled players continue to find the challenges that are out there – each other – at least not without leaving the MA to go to KoTH, Midwar Madness, or the DA.  So, basically, they get siloed in these little compartments that lack all the variety of the MA.

It can be very difficult to find someone who is willing to interact with you in the MA.  It’s a lot like fishing a drop shop – you have to go through a ton of bluegills before you ever catch a bass.  While you can’t be held accountable for human nature, you do make the rules for the sandbox, and they aren’t helping things.

-You maintain enormous maps as part of your rotation despite very low numbers (really, bases outnumber players sometimes - not fun).

-You maintain a very long country switch time (basically if I don’t wake up and log on before I head to work to switch my countries, I’m going to spend ½ of my available play time as part of a horde).  I understand 1 hour isn’t happening.  Would you consider 2 or 3? Is it so wrong for me to want to be able to switch sides during an evening play session?
 
-Radar is very limited and easily damaged which makes it difficult to find cons.  This is nice from a historical perspective/bounce perspective, but very frustrating from the perspective of someone who has a short time to play.

-You do not celebrate people who try to interact with each other on your home page.  The only difficult tasks that are celebrated are those who score well, which often leads people to not interact.  This is all well and good – it is difficult to achieve #1 – but it would be great to see you mention who wins KOTH, or what side won a scenario or FSO or squad duel or race.  It’d also likely drive more subscribers as the place would look lively, and one of the best things AH has over its competitors (the numerous and varied special events) would be at center stage.

-The war mechanism, at present, encourages the path of least resistance.  Why bother doing anything other than NOE?  I'm looking forward to seeing if this changes in AH3.

I do respect you for working with us every day and hope this post doesn't offend you.

 

I like the part about radars.

[Masherbrum]

It is unprofessional, rude and disrespectful, not to mention seems to me to be conduct in violation of rule 4. The OP may be in error but that is not good PR. As far as analytical ability I have a post graduate degree in social sciences so I'm pretty sure that as I make my point I at least do not have to do so by resorting to name calling.

I am disappointed that the company is that willing to be abrasive to people having spirited debate and that the community is that willing to abuse one of their own. This is not the Aces I left a year ago, and it isn't in game either.

Why are we losing members? I think HT is onto something with the graphics. It needs an update and we all are fairly agreed on that point. But when I talk to people who come back it is less to fly a cartoon airplane than the sense of community. That is anecdotal of course, but it seems to be the big thing people say.

Maybe folks should say their peace and not be targeted for it. Agree to disagree, and do so without lashing out. This is a forum after all. We aren't always going to agree with others, and can do it without being rude, and thus reducing the impact of our point.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Paladin, you were more rude than Dale was.   Even I knew what his response would be.  If he ships it out now to appease the masses, some of you will piss and moan for months on; "Why was this rushed?"  Putting him against the firing squad.    But the majority of his player base, understand what he is doing and needs to do to get this right.   

Hitech

With all due respect we as players in an effort to "help" do get it wrong, but might I suggest that the forums here wouldn't get to the point above if there were a different style of moderation.  Don't get me wrong Skuzzy does a great job but his guidelines appear to be Rules Violations and Technical Support.  Some of these long drawn out peeing contests could be resolved before they ever get to this point by a simple interaction from your staff.  Too many times the players are left to pure conjecture and anecdotal information.  See the Control a Destroyer thread an example where two words from someone on your staff could have changed / ended / clarified the whole conversation before it got to the point it did.

Respectfully

I like the sly "Hey Dale, this part over here is broken.   Drop what you're doing there real quick and fix it, while dragging out the release just a little bit longer and potentially lose even more players."

Some of these posts to Dale should be a wake up call.   Instead, most will shift the spotlight to something else rather than to try and be part of the solution.

[nrshida]

I think Vudak expressed this best from a long-term player's perspective: it's the plateaus which cause disillusionment. At the same same time there's an awful lot of vets who still enjoy playing or even pop back from time to time.

But there is a miss conception that we are loosing players at a faster rate then we used to. That is a completely falls assumption. We are a sink with an inflow and out flow. In fact all our business models from day 1  have 2 primary variables,The number of new customers per month. and Customer life span.

Guess which one I'm most concerned about?


HiTech

Regarding the attention to which group you are more concerned with. Clearly new players are vital and needed for the continuation of AH and of course we all recognize and want that. I propose however you ought not underestimate the importance of the second group: the long-term players, because in addition to having helped support your business for an extensive amount of time they also act as ambasaors for the game. Not polite, welcoming, accomodating ambasadors but as beacons of what is capable when you push these excellently flight-modelled simulated aeroplanes to and beyond their limits and the limits of the accepted convention of ACM.

Sure they only pay one subscription per month but they might engage (or contribute to the engagement of) a dozen subscribers who aren't as skilled but aspiring to be so. Speaking for myself it was certainly this minority that kept my interest engaged because I wanted to get as good as them and they showed it was possible. They aren't proportional to one subscription's worth of business perhaps as would outwardly appear.

Regarding criticism, well I hesistate to say this and perhaps it's informative that I feel that way but you do seem rather reactive to criticism. I know that your handling of some of the members of that facton over the 12-hour rule for instance was considered unreasonable, confrontational, unsympathetic and draconian. I know for a fact that the way that incident was handled drove several top sticks away from the game when you could have equally said: 'okay, players with a subscription longer than 2 years can swap countries every hour', say. A small and trivial concession on HTC's part. Instead people were suspended or PNGed from the forum for essentially disagreeing with you and especially disagreeing with you in a certain way.

The point is regarding criticism / suggestions the danger is that one becomes convinced that they've heard it all before and are right. In the education system I am involved with receiving critical feedback is a required stage and designed to prevent this. You might not be aware or unable to integrate how players experience this or that. Sure you know your business well, one can hardly have survived for so long otherwise (I also love the sink analogy. Perfect), however the community of players, especially the long-term level-headed ones that have contributed quite a lot do have important things to say or suggest from time to time. Taking advantage of that and listening where appropriate would allow you to have your cake and eat it, so to speak.

[Vudak]

Not for nothing but last night I had the perfect storm and had a blast:

1. It was a small map (Baltic)
2. I was on the right country to start (Knight) which allowed me to switch to Rook later as numbers swung - I always had stuff to shoot at
3. Radar was up in the Gulf of Finland region so I could find people quickly

I basically spent the night fighting Anti-Horde.  They got me more than I got them, but it's not about winning (despite what so, so many people on this forum mistakenly think) - it's about being challenged and finding/fighting your friends.  I like those guys - they fight.

This game is still freaking brilliant when it works, but a lot of things have to fall in line for that to happen.  From my perspective, a lot of things you, HiTech, can control.