In-game transactions in lieu of $15/m

[Wiley]

I'd take some plague if it meant I had targets to shoot at, as long as the squelch list was up to the task.

Wiley.

[19zac]

I want to point out one review of AH on steam.

"Aces High 3 quite a fun game, but I'm not paying $15 a month for this. I figured when it was free to play and had in app purchases it was skins or perk points for planes, not paying for the one server with maybe 175 people on busy days.
Would not even be leaving a bad review if it was upfront about the monthly subscription on here, which is ridiculous unless you have tons of disposable income. I would pay $30 once for the whole thing, not $180 over a year which is about a third of the cost in equipment to be competitive. (Vr, good joystick, pedals)

Otherwise likely the best combat flight simulator, really makes me sad to not recommend it."

The thing is, there are countless reviewers raving about the game, about how it is a top notch flight sim, that is a ton of fun to play. But monthly subscriptions just are not a thing anymore for games. (And clearly, as stated before, EA's style of making money is total crap. Who wants to buy half a game for 60 bucks and then pay another 60 for the rest of it, and then need to buy things in game to stay competitive).

Isn't there a way to get around the monthly fee? or atleast make it less? When I started this conversation my intent was not to claim that I have the best idea out there for how to make this game more popular. My intent was to get us talking (which I must say, I am impressed by how much chatter this produced) and maybe, in the end, come up with a way that would get more people to stick to this game. I get that some of you old folks are content to just pay your 15 a month and go about playing the game like you always have. I personally do not mind paying the 15 a month for this game either, its worth it to me for the fantastic gameplay. I just wish others would get on board. It would be awesome to log on and see 400 in the MA. And if it got to 400 through some change in the system, no doubt it could get to 700.

Definitely not suggesting Pay-to-Win, guys, so please don't tell me about how no one is happy with EA because of their micro-transaction system, because yes, they suck and I would never suggest that system be implemented in ANY game, nevermind AH.

[The Fugitive]

We can "discuss" all we want. It is ultimately HTC's game and decision about subscriptions/rates.

Personally I think HTC is going to have to look into changing something. The Steam numbers where way beyond Hitechs expectations when it went live, but I dont see the numbers climbing all that much in the arena. Why is that? My guess is the subscription scared away a lot of players. Subscription base is NOT the way of todays gamers. Hitech is going to have to change with the times if he wants to entice more new players from that pool of gamers.

If on the other hand he is happy with what he has then we all should learn to be happy with what we have.

[FESS67]

I think the payment model is a good conversation to have.  Seems to me the game is populated by many people my age (50) and up.  We are probably not the people best placed to ask about change as we love the game as it is, just with more people in it.

When I see suggestions like this I always think of Uber.  Traditional players in the market place hate Uber, it is somehow unfair and is taking their business away from them.  The customer loves Uber for its convenience and slightly lower price point.  But if you think about it, traditional taxis and Uber both do exactly the same thing.  Call for a ride, ride to destination, pay fare.  The only real difference is the medium in which the transaction is done.

I think free to play with in game purchases is a good idea.  I would definitely pay for a unique skin.  Trading paints seems to do ok in iRacing.

My $0.02

[bustr]

If free to play means free gets you everything $14.95 gets you, then what does that mean for everyone paying $14.95? At that point we all should cancel our subs and play for free. If a limited ride set is enough for the freebe players, and the arena fills back to 400 a night, then what good is that for Hitech to meet his bills and make a profit.

How do we have this conversation when we only talk about taking money away from Hitech so the arena will fill up with free loaders? If you give them a limited ride set with the option to buy additional goodies. Those free loaders were cheap skates to begin with, so why should they pay for anything if the limited ride set can get them through the evening? You can't just give them garbage rides if you really want to hook them, at which point making them semi competitive, most of them will live with that since it will be free.

Could always war thunder them and give them the ability to fly in a very limited F3 mode just behind the rudder viewing only forward requiring keypad views to look around. Put a fixed dot on their screen for the gunsight. Tie this specifically to a gamey xBox style controller system for them and let them fly in our physics environment sitting on top of the rudder using key views. That would solve the hardware cultural shock issue, give them a gamey perspective keypad view system, and probably get them killed more than it would be worth to any of us. As soon as they plug in a joystick, they only get the standard cockpit views. But, it would bridge their familiarity gap transitioning to this game. GV's would be simple for them in commander mode and gunner mode. This might hold their interest a bit longer.

[Chalenge]

If you follow the gaming threads on Twitter and Groups on FB you would know that the trend of micro-transactions (pay to win) has lost favor with gamers, and the games that start life out with this model are having trouble earning followers (and money).

[The Fugitive]

If you follow the gaming threads on Twitter and Groups on FB you would know that the trend of micro-transactions (pay to win) has lost favor with gamers, and the games that start life out with this model are having trouble earning followers (and money).

Which is why there has to be something new. Free to play with a limited set of planes/vehicles, or maybe a tiered program paying for more equipment as the rate goes up. But there has to be some kind of difference, or the same old will slowly die away

[19zac]

If you follow the gaming threads on Twitter and Groups on FB you would know that the trend of micro-transactions (pay to win) has lost favor with gamers, and the games that start life out with this model are having trouble earning followers (and money).

Look at my original post in this thread. Micro-transaction does not necessarily mean Pay to Win. I have said a couple times that PtW, like War Thunder, would ruin the game. I think a Counterstrike micro-transaction system would work. No not everyone would spend the money on cosmetics but, many would, which is shown many other games in today's market (Rocket League, Counter Strike, League of Legends). In theory, the growth in population, with no monthly fee, but the input of cosmetic micro-transactions would make HTC even more money while growing the community. Maybe even allow a two week trial still to get people in but then require a one time purchase of $30. I know It would be very easy for me to justify putting money into a non PtW Micro transaction system considering ive already justified 15 a month. Ive personally seen people dump HUNDREDS of dollars into CounterStrike and League of Legends, and that's all on SKINS in those games. AH already has skins. No doubt in my mind people would put down money for plane skins. I realize that might not be enough, but I feel that this idea could be extrapolated. As Fugitive said, if the game is gonna grow something needs to change and the monthly fee just isn't cutting it. But... If HTC is happy with where the game is then none of this matters anyway.

[100Coogn]

I already have all of the skins, why would I buy them?

Coogan

[FESS67]

I already have all of the skins, why would I buy them?

Coogan

How about a skin totally unique to you.  EVERYONE knows it is you flying that plane.  How cool would that be!!  Of course you have to earn the title as well as have the skin

[100Coogn]

How about a skin totally unique to you.  EVERYONE knows it is you flying that plane.  How cool would that be!!  Of course you have to earn the title as well as have the skin

As much as I get shot down, I think everyone knows it's me when I fly...

Coogan

[19zac]

I already have all of the skins, why would I buy them?

Coogan

Its tough to implement this when you've already paid for the full game / have all the skins. It wouldn't make sense to take them away from you. Maybe the system is only implemented for new players starting at a specific date? Idk. I wouldn't want to have to pay extra for skins either, after putting all this money into the game. But a new player would have no such inclination.

[bustr]

If you follow the gaming threads on Twitter and Groups on FB you would know that the trend of micro-transactions (pay to win) has lost favor with gamers, and the games that start life out with this model are having trouble earning followers (and money).

Paradigm shift time once again in the computer gaming industry.

The brutality of this game demands more out of even our casual players if they want to spend their evening in a ride and not as a perma-scalp. Getting a controller setup that is familiar to the new player is the next hurdle to not being a perma-scalp. I believe gamers who are game pad and mouse centric hardware players are no less intelligent and able to learn this game than SIMM players who made the effort to have the niche hardware to fully enjoy our game.

Only Hitech knows how many new players try the game and leave the first night or in the first week. I will venture their real experiential problem was a lack of comfort due to hardware frustrations. It's par for the course that gamepad and mouse players can hop into games with those controllers, not RTFM, and have a good go for the first night. Free is a catchall boogyman to cover for being cheap about everything on the Internet or, not having to admit being stumped by hardware issues. I didn't start reading the game manual for 10 years. How many will look at themselves as the problem first, then try again? Free is an easy thing to toss out along with graphics and any other excuse because it's always someone else's fault the product wasn't friendly enough to the customers expected orientation.
   

[EagleDNY]

I have to agree that there has been a paradigm shift in the gaming industry - the idea of having multiple levels of player membership isn't a bad one.  AH isn't going to attract a lot of $15/Mo membership from steam until the numbers get way up from where they are now.   

[bustr]

1. - 1 fighter, 1 bomber and 1 tank, M16, 1 GV: $3 per\month
2. - 4 fighter, 3 bomber and 3 tank, wrible, 3 GV: $7 per\month
3. - 7 fighter, 5 bomber and 5 tank, m16\wirble, 3 GV $10 per\month
4. - $14.95 for the whole stable.

Don't cheap skate the fighters so those who stick around can compete and grow in skill. And promote a desire to go full stable as they develop their skill. The first 3, a system to change it up each month depending on how the player's finances are. Still in the end, how many "vets" decide to go cheap is the danger of killing Hitech's profit margin. Since $14.95 is all there is right now, no one knows how many are cheap skates wishing there were only some way to pull it off. All the voices for FPS suggests there would be a grand exodus from the whole stable price in a few months. I can already see one excuse you will hear. Why pay $14.95 to play with only 120 or less when I login only a few nights a week.

One through three would be like the salesman who said he could make up for the depression in the Industry pricing by volume of units.