Alternate Payment Options

[Hungry]

Please forgive me if this has been mentioned before, I'd like to start flying again but I just don't see myself glued to the monitor every night of the week like I used to in AW and AH.

These days though I'd love to be able to pop in pop out in the main arena when time permits.  Any chance or my wish if you will is to be able to pay lets say $5.00 a month to select one fighter (from a list by HT) and be able to fly, something like a F4U, a 51, a KI something capable.

To expand it maybe for $10 a month one fighter, one bomber and one GV (Tank with Gun, again something capable)

Sorry I know $15 isn't that much by itself but for a retired guy the spent dollars all add up, especially for something not really used a whole lot.

Who knows the above may even make a gentler entry point for new players wanting to get in and try it out for more than the two weeks.

My biggest concern would be that it would require too much accounting (programming to make it work) on HT's part

Just a thought, thanks for your patience, thoughts and understanding, best wishes to all

Hungry (Hungry or Eldo in game, I think that's the last handles I used in AH, Mims from the 4th FG in AW and early AH)

[toasted]

i think it would be a good way to boost the numbers, but you need a mechanic that encourages people to convert to the full paid subscription.

i really like the idea of a letting some free players into the arena, the number of players is really critical for this game.

i think the problem is you cant just let them have p51's and spit16's for free because then there is no compelling reason to pay. and there are some non zero percentage of people who would downgrade from 15-5$ which doesnt help.

and people would get pretty frustrated in nothing but spit 1's or other low eny planes.

then you get the argument that it's pay to win. which people are just morally opposed to.

i think maybe one idea could be give them a random aircraft (weighted toward competitive but not uber planes_ and never a perk plane) and base skins only.change the aircraft every flight as long as it has been 30 min since the last change.you could even charge them a one time fee to buy the game.


example , buy access to the main arena for a one time fee (or ideally free) , but the game picks your plane, you dont earn perks, you cant have skins. youd get some people hooked, who would convert to full memebers, and increase traffic at the same time.

of course it would be better to solve the new player retention problem also, but i think cost is a huge factor in that.
just more probably bad ideas/

[hitech]

The only thing I have ever thought about like you are requesting would be a 1 day pays type thing.

HiTech

[bustr]

A popup when you sign in to use your credit card for a fixed one day charge. Interesting and might work. Would it be possible to purchase "One Day Credits" ahead of time then on login input one of those? Then somewhere on their client side a 24 hour timer ticks down that day credit.

[Hungry]

Do credit card company's still charge 1.5% per transaction to the vendor?  If so the fewer of those the better.  I would think a flat monthly fee might be better in terms of the potential number of transactions and I wouldn't have to concern myself with how much credit I have.  One monthly would fall back to autopay to HTC.

And ps in regards to Toasted, I don't want anything uber, that's the penalty so to say for not going full $15.  I think the last two planes I used on a regular basis was the F6F and the KI84, but you're also right though, what would stop someone from downgrading their account, not good.

Rough numbers how much would a 1 day pay cost?

For me I'm just looking for one plane per month, next month I might pick a different one from the "list available" whatever they are, or stay with the same one. 

The side affect might be for a newcomer a month in the same plane might help their development, again just a thought.

Thanks

Hungry

[toasted]

the pay per day thing could be good.I know there are people who would play but cant justify the 15$ a month for a few flights.

one thing that can be annoying for the player base is how you count time, if i buy a day access do i get 24 hours of in game time, or 24 hours of real time.(something to think about pros/.cons both sides)it may be better to charge per flight, (maybe some game mechanic that gives you a redo if you dont make it off the ground)
it probably has to be 24 hours of real time, but you will frustrate some players like that. the whole "i paid for 24 hours but only played 1" thing.

I'd still like to see some thought given to a free option to allow people in the arena. and i kind of like how games like say heroes and generals work from a marketing perspective.
i totally understand being opposed to the idea, but i really think some variation of these things are at least worth looking into.

give players access to the absolute minimum, like one eny 40 plane, tank,bomber for free. let players earn points in game to unlock flights in better planes, (basically everything becomes a perk plane for free members) make it take a good amount of perks to fly one. this will give people a chance to save up and try new rides, while keeping them playing in the arena.
players could in theory just play enough to not have to pay, but the trick is it forces them to play which is good for numbers and activity.
then you could sell perk point packages, or monthly subscriptions.
free players could earn enough to get a flight in a p51- or could just buy seat time (by purchasing tokens or perk points) without breaking the bank.
a lot of players would opt to pay the 15$ just for unrestricted access to everything.

even if you could buy single flights in any plane for $1 (hell .50C) a lot of those people would probably be spending more than 15$ a month and it may be easier to convince them to go with the plan.

make skins and weapon packages extra points to unlock also for free members.

i also think making people work to unlock skins and maybe loadouts could be an option to engage players a bit. you'd be suprised how long some people will grind doing some very un fun stuff just for a little bling.

[AKKuya]

The $14.95 a month is the best method.  50 cents a day on average. 

You put in your CC info and select 2 or 3 dollars for a 24 hour period and get a few sorties to quench your AH thirst.  Repeat each time during the month as your schedule allows.  That might work until you look at your bank statement and see 10 dollars total.  That's what you see on your account.

A business pays a percentage on each transaction.  They don't receive the full amount that's deducted from your account.  From that 10 dollars, the business might receive 8 dollars and 12 cents pending charges and rates.

Having the 14.95 as a steady number per account, this should keep all the rates and charges on an even keel.  This allows HT to keep the 14.95 model going.

Of course, this is an easy example of transactions.  Only Dale knows the true financial numbers with the banks and CC companies.


Alternate Payment Options:
1) Case of HT's favorite alcohol
2) Complimentary European vacation
3) Year's supply of Charmin tissue

Think barter system.

 

[Hungry]

I just realized one downside to pick a plane a month that could be turned into an incentive to go full bore.  With pick a plane you probably cant be included in any FSO, WW1 or other events that require specific plane sets, (Pacific stays free) however that could be a great incentive for new folks to move up once they feel comfortable enough to do so.

I can see the email blast now to all of the 5 and 10 dollar subscriptions a few months down the road, Upgrade Now! and get full access to all planes, GV'S and all of our player events by subscribing now to a full membership.  In addition if you subscribe within the next two weeks we'll give you 6 months of all access Aces High 3 for the price of only 5 !!

PS the fewer transactions the better for everyone

Hungry

[toasted]

The $14.95 a month is the best method.  50 cents a day on average. 

the 15$ a month should be the best method, just i'm not sure it should be the only method.

we are leaving a lot of players by the wayside.  and while 15$ a month may seem reasonable to you (or me), that is a large psychological barrier to a lot of people. and  just more than some others can afford.

however i really believe you could get 50c a day or more out of a lot  of the "free" players especially once you got them hooked.

one of the issues is getting new players hooked, you need them to spend enough time in the game, and a few free aircraft would do that.
then you start upselling them.

[toasted]

also i came from the steam version, check the steam reviews. (im sure hitech has)

it seems 4 of 5 of the bad reviews are directly related to the $15 month charge.

and i get there point, aces high says free to play.

and technically that is true. but the only draw this game has is the online content. and that is not free.
even the two week trial is marginal at best for enticing players.
the offline stuff is fine and all but if your playing single player by yourself then other games do that better.

the strength of aces high is the online battles.

[Hungry]

15 dollars a month to me is like buying a great steak for 15 dollars eating only half and leaving the rest go to waste in the refrigerator until you pull it and give it to the dog.  I just don't anticipate that I would play enough to get the value out of my money and whether I can afford it or not is not in question.

If you charged 50 cents a day selectively or randomly as I was able to play on a multi transactional level and I played just 12 times to pick a number during the month, 12 transactions for HT would be ridiculous along with 12 transactions on my credit card or debit card bank statements

I was hoping for something much simpler

Hungry

[toasted]

the solution for that is to let you buy blocks of days at a time.

i still dont think its a net win.
i bet there are quite a few people who only play on weekends.
this would probably have the net effect of converting full time subscribers to part time.

i would think that if subscribers are paying 50c a day then non subscribers would have to be  more to be worth it for hitech.
so maybe 1$ a day to fly, but then if your flying your 12 flights a month your saving 3$ vs a monthly subscription.that may be good for you.
at 50c a day per day i for one would probably go to only playing on weekends to get my fix in and save a few bucks.

where at 15$ i play a bit extra because i enjoy it and want to get my money worth.

something like this could work, but i still think a lot of the player base already only plays a few days a month. and that this alone would not be a net win.
though it may make up for it by more part time players.

mostly just playing devils advocate here,

im totally for anything that gets more players in game, and cost is a huge factor.

[hitech]

It would be in the $5 a day range if I would implement something like this.

HiTech

[toasted]

well done microtransactions, may be more productive. i know i know, microtransactions is a dirty word to some people.
but i've seen it work.and it can be done well.


this is one of the better videos that explains some of the bonuses of the idea for annyone interested. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXA559KNopI

and has some really great ideas.that have proven themselves, just check nearly any modern game.

like maybe a limited number of free lives every day(i would say 3). which both helps people get hooked, and gives them incentive to get better, or pay for more time.

[CptTrips]

It would be in the $5 a day range if I would implement something like this.

HiTech

I suggest $16 a day.   

Just kidding.

An ad hoc payment system might be a cool way to lure back some veterans to participate in events.  Extra points if it is tied into the event registration.  So you can go to register for the event and if you are not a subscriber, you can pay $5 and you're in and your day is set ahead of time to be the day of the event.


$0.02.