Reading all the postings here is filling me with the kind of enthusiasm I haven’t had about any game or on-line activity since… well, since I discovered WB around v. 1.07 or so. Yes, I know I am merely a wet-behind-the-ears little ragamuffin next to some of you.
So, kudos to Doug and Dale for bringing the excitement back into WWII flight sims. It is also quite ballsy to put up this discussion group well before you even have a public beta. Boy, have you guys put yourself under a lot of pressure.
In an earlier thread, miko2d, rolo, Hat Trick, some others and myself were talking about alternative capital-raising schemes for HTC. We love you dudes so much and believe in this thing so strongly we are actually trying to find a way to GIVE you money. Obviously we are as addled as smack junkies or filthy rich, and I am certainly not the latter.)
Hat Trick wrote:
"This Addiction...keep me out of bars...away from situation that could get me arrested, infected, killed. It keeps me home most nights, and spending less money in the long run. It makes me happy, and keeps me entertained. And will probably do so for many many years to come. This OnLine WorldWar II Flying addiction is something I never expected. Ive never done something for so long based on so little and gotten so much out of it.
I would and Will pay my extra money if it will help to whoever can make this experience better. If it wont help...then ill give it to them anyway...just to have first dibs at playing with it."
And then I said something like,
"Sell one-time membership fees. HTC could establish several fee levels such as Dweeb Member, Ace Member, etc. Each level of membership would confer certain benefits and goodies. In other words, it could run like a private country club or suchlike with permanent members and pay-as-you-play members.
"This could raise some minimal-regulatory-strings-attached capital and also give those of us who are so inclined the gratification of getting in "on the ground floor" as it were. There could probably be no future financial benefits such as stock options, voting privileges etc. attached to these memberships or then we get back into regulatory hassles. It would simply give some bennies of beta, perhaps some goodies (hand-painted flight jackets for a $5,000 membership for example) and free flight time."
BTW, I don't have $5,000 to give, it was just a random number. Memo to Self: Must stop reading FEC reports.
Soon thereafter Rolo responded"
"If they were selling product (i.e. memberships) rather than pieces of the company (stock) or accepting loans (bonds), I don't see how that would run afoul of the securities laws.
However, I'm having enough trouble prying $$ from the Mrs. to upgrade my computer. I can't imagine her response when I say, 'It's only $5,000 and I get this really cool jacket.'
<G>"
Horn finally brought this abortion of a thread to a close by adding:
"There's some pretty good ideas, fellers! The system works for golf--why not an equally addicting combat flight simulator? Provide guest pricing, club matches, handicaps(!), sponsorships....hmmm, a flight sim "Open?"--and with the correct pricing structure, it shouldn't cost members more than say, a new set of Ping irons....I like it!"
Anyhoo, I was sitting on my porch smoking and sipping Irish whiskey the other night putting myself in Pyro and HT's shoes and had a few ideas. Just a thought experiment, really. Regarding alternate financial models for doing something like this.
A few days passed and I got to thinking, "You know, it just might work."
I'm going to make a couple of assumptions here: 1) That the company in question -- a hypothetical flight sim. developer, let's call it AimHigh Creations -- is headed by individuals with an excellent track record for developing multi-player flight sims. 2) That the directors, having been burned once trying to grow too fast, wish to remain a closely held company for the foreseeable future. 3) That AH has secured sufficient financing for initial development and marketing up to a commercial public release. 4) The previous work of the developers of AH generated a sizeable loyal following and built a strong community.
Then why not turn the thing into what it really is; a pastime where people play at all levels; weekend duffer, scratch player, pro and everything in-between. First start with the self-organizing clubs, i.e. squads. As WarBirds progressed -- much like in the early days of baseball -- fans and the press began to cover the goings on and developed ranking systems; Argo's old news page , Spof/ Dogfighter, mili's and deft's scoring. Then formal tournaments began, Con tournaments, Yak's contest, etc. In baseball in the 1870's as player, fan and public interest began to increase, first semi-pro teams developed then the first truly professional organizations came into being.
But before I get accused of being totally off my rocker, I freely acknowledge that WWII flight sims -- or even combined with all combat flight sims-- will always be a tiny niche market. Nothing currently exists to display good dogfighting action to a spectator who would log into the arena to watch. You have to be in the cockpit. No, it is definitely an acquired taste. But, a lot of people are seriously into it. Enough to spend up to a thousand dollars a year (in serious WB fans' case) on flight time, and thousands more in telco charges, computer equipment, sticks and rudders, books and magazines, and the occasional convention.
So is it so crazy to think that our hypothetical company could start a "Fighter Pilot's Club" and have various membership levels in addition to pure pay-to-play memberships as a way of increasing revenue and build community involvement? How hard would it be to get aircraft manufacturers such as Cessna to sponsor the occasional tournament with prize money? And of course, what would the U.S. military pay to promote these skills, further magnify the mystique of the combat pilot, and possibly recurit top-notch pilot trainees? And naturally, you would have the hardware manufacturers paying through the nose to have the greats of the game endorse their products.
"I'm SCOP and I wouldn't dream of rolling down the runway without my THCS 2000 HOTAS rig."
You get the idea. Sure, it's a small market. But it's a big and increasingly wired world. And what little boy never dreamed of being a flying ace? Or girl (would never forget Carrie)? Several thousand US$ per year * (7 billion * .0001) = US$ several hundred million. A nice business to be in.
Which is what our friends at (the absolutely imaginary) AimHigh Creations would be. As Spalding is to baseballs and the PGA to golf they would be producer of one of the benchmarks platforms, the largest player organization, and one of the main sanctioning bodies. At least they would own all the good "courses" to play on. Even if they didn't keep a monopoly on sanctioning and play platforms, there are plenty of sanctioning bodies in football (real football not guys in helmets holding the ball in their hands) but there will always be FIFA and the World Cup as the preeminent tournament.
The point of this whole harangue is this: ACM is a beautiful sport. A mock violent one to be sure -- but then what is pro wrestling? -- and if one wanted to be truly far sighted in this industry one might want to begin thinking creatively about really evangelizing it and developing its commercial potential beyond "let's make a great game and charge people $X.XX an hour to play with all their friends."
There are those who will say that commercialization would ruin it, the highest ranking players would grab all the prize money, yadda, yadda. These are valid points. But, that is in some ways a best-case scenario. The main thing is, it is an interesting business model.
At least is is to me at 0200 hrs as I wait for 4GB of user data to get restored from a tape backup after a server hard drive blew up on me.
-cman- out.
------------------
-cman-
The Dweebs of Death
"Death before dishonor,
often just moments
before."
[This message has been edited by -cman- (edited 08-03-1999).]
