F2P
Fulgo
Join Date: 2013-01-18 Member: 180399Members, Reinforced - Shadow
Join Date: 2013-01-18 Member: 180399Members, Reinforced - Shadow
Need more players. Sell weapon skins and go f2p.
Edit: Made myself clear a bit more:
Edit: Made myself clear a bit more:
I'm glad this started some discussion and some very good points have been made here and there. Whether or not going f2p is the right way to go, NS2 could use some more players and income for the developers, and I think most of us can agree with that. Sure there are players who don't care about playing in a small scene and people who just sit in forums writing stuff and really don't play that much at all and for that reason don't really know what is going on, but they are the minority.
Now let's think how UWE could get some more players, keep them and make some profit out of it. Let's start with cosmetics.
Selling harmless cosmetics is a really good way to make money. Look how much Reinforcement Program alone made profit with just few character skins and badges. Cool looking weapon skins that fit on the game's atmosphere (no pink eye blowing skins with ponies here even if someone likes that stuff), new character skins and even custom emblems would definitely be a selling point. Reinforcement Program even left many people craving for more onos badges, so there sure are people ready to pay for these things. Hell, I would even buy the black marine from NS1 and it wouldn't need a whole new character model, animations, voices, just some changes to the face. Cosmetic things also help players feel more devoted to their character and adds the feel of uniqueness, which I don't see as a bad thing at all.
Now we need players that will pay for these things. And by that I mean we need players playing the game, we need numbers. If the game has more players, it also has more potential payers. Now the way of getting these players can, will and has been argued many times before. There has been Steam sales, Humble Bundle sales (1$), updates, tournaments, mods etc. but the problem has always been in retaining the player base. Sure there are many reasons why this game doesn't fit to the masses, mainly the game being complex and hard to get in and the word going around that the game is dead, which it is not as of yet. Now some of you may disagree with me here, but I believe that some of the major reasons is the lack of good matchmaking, feel of progress (all that CS:GO, BF4, COD leveling stuff that us old school players really don't even care about, but many people do) and character customization. Players need to feel somewhat more addicted. I know people who play CS:GO for just the sake of new weapon skins. UWE has done some ground work here already, which is fantastic. But when the work is finished, we still need to attract more new players for matchmaking to properly work and I don't think it can be done when there are only 200-800 players online. Now that steam sales has been used so many times that it doesn't even get attention anymore, Humble Bundle option is used, I don't know how this game could get that final burst of players coming in without using heavy and really expensive marketing OR going f2p. If there is something else that UWE could do to increase the player base and which I can't figure out now, then for the sake of this game do it.
If the game goes f2p, it needs to be ready for it. That means good matchmaking, stable build and all that stuff I mentioned in this post before. It needs to retain the players. F2p is the final option, feels scary in a way and shouldn't be taken lightly, so it needs to be done right once and for all. This was a long post and even longer post to be written by me, but I hope you give it a thought.
Comments
Though I worry it may get to SMNC levels of inactivity. It went f2p and still didn't survive. http://steamcharts.com/app/104700
Here's ns2 in comparison: http://steamcharts.com/app/4920
Having a skin for marine weapons can already be gamebreaking if you have to think of what weapon the marine in front of you is carrying.
Isn't this the case with every shooter nowadays? CS:GO and other modern games all have countless skins and multiple guns with the same stats.
I suggest a lengthy in depth and mandatory tutorial that you have to go through first.
Else you just end up with the masses stumbling into games, faces smashed into a wall, shouting obscenities... ruining the game for everyone else through saturation of incapable players permanently.
I thought Super Monday Night Combat was F2P from the outset. The earlier paid-only game (Monday Night Combat) was quite a bit different and also never really found an audience.
Keep reaching, you'll find an argument someday.
Yes, you're probably right. One of my friends was a big fan of that game and what he talked about sounded a bit comparable to this current situation.
Don't you think this game has enough barriers already? If it's not the community, it's the learning curve, if it's not that then it's game performance and so on.
Also, some players who have already bought the game might get mad because they didn't want to spend money. Also UWE would have to start putting more development into NS2 and that isn't gonna happen.
Do you happen to know the timezone those stats are given in? From the loops I see, peak players are around 7pm-8pm, which if they are relevant to my time zone, means Eurozone players seem to be the peak, although if they relate to Steam Time zone, then the majority of the NS2 players are in Seattle :0
EDIT: added shameless picture and double post from Gorge Plushies thread.
Providing an entry barrier that keeps those who can't be asked to learn how to play from jumping into a game, would only slightly assist in filtering out the worst kind of player from those masses.
Your concerns of the learning curve being a pre existing entry barrier would be alleviated with my suggestion.
I do not believe that the other two factors you listed count, considering a F2P community is generally an "anything goes" community that is well known by now (see my previous fears and LoL) and game performance.. well.. welcome to PC gaming?
I don't know about you, but If i have to choose between playing
1) with a lesser player count of mature, teamwork oriented, quality players.. and
2) having a high player count from the flooding, bumbling raging masses that plague and accompany all F2P games
..... I definitely choose #1
You can keep your F2P degree of player..
An entry barrier creates a better game through better participants, imo.
The one we have now is lacking.. so if it is removed, lets at least replace it with something that improves the player further and gets them to understand and enjoy the game - creating more player retention than before, and better game for everyone participating.
Argh, I spent 30 minutes on my reply to you and since I opened the reply in another tab and hit preview, the contents are gone forever.
Key points of the original message.
1. Toxic players are everywhere, in every community regardless of price restrictions. (Especially in competitive scenes.)
2. Most players don't want to go through a lengthy mandatory tutorial, if you forced it on the existing playerbase I'm sure there would be complaints.
3. Entry barrier's don't make better players, they make it harder for more players to be interested.
4. The game performs terribly at times and the load times are abysmal. You can look at the initial specs again for a good laugh.
Regarding your interestingly worded choice, I'd go for the choice that actually populates the official servers.
2) Good.. that solves the issue of having waves of people who cant be asked to learn how to play at a basic level. Are you honestly advocating against the #1 suggestion to address player retention for rookies?
3) I disagree. The pricetag can sure be an incentive and create interest in a game for me and most people i know. Steam sales also say hi.
4) I would obviously agree that the specs listed in the store page are laugh worthy.. they always have been and no ones agreed with them. But hardware required to play isn't an entry barrier that any other game doesn't already share - so i have a hard time considering it. If it were to be considered, i'd still say "good.. it keeps the candy crush netbook users out" .. but i realize that's just me.
I guess we're going to have to disagree in regards to the quality of players and the community we each desire.
I would not trade the NS2 community - despite any of its issues - for League of Legends' player base, just to fill largely unadmined servers. Never.
Studies have shown that when 2 groups of people are given the same item, and the value of the item is described as very high to one group, and very low to another, the group with the higher value item, generally treat it with more respect. It is less a disposable item, and instead becomes something they look out for and value. the groups with the same items, that believe them to be lower value, treat them as such.
In the games world, this same psychological pattern exists. F2P games are ok, but I would hate to see NS2 go F2P, as I have seen first hand what happens to a game that starts out paid, then goes F2P. I was a beta player in TF2, then upon release, we had a great fun, then the game went F2P, and the quality of the experience in general public play degenerated quickly and heavily.
For a complicated team-based game like NS2, I am reasonably certain, not only would we see a massive nose-dive in the quality of game, but because of the difficulty level, and the openness of the game code, we would see a quick fall off from the higher numbers, and also a massive surge in the number of cheats/cheaters in the game. This is all to do with 'perceived value'.
It's an interesting subject, and I am no expert, but there is a lot of information online about it if you would like to do the research for yourself. Overall, if I ever release any games myself, they will always be pay up front, as I don't see myself making the kind of games that would work with the F2P model. I'd rather charge £1 for a game than give it away for free.
Wait no, don't wanna step on the feet of all the preorderers...
How about a super mega dark gray armor?
:-P
But f2p? lol
But the way some people make it sound is idiotic, they assume F2P equals a toxic influx of players, which is merely assumption based on opinion. And NS2 is hardly a massive game, so even if it went f2P we would unlikely have a massive influx of new players anyway.
I think some people have a naive rose tainted view of this games players, there is already quite a few toxic players out there relative to the small size of the player base.
From my own experience of F2P, i have never found it all that different to payed games, the majority of players are nice enough if not anonymous in the since they play the game but don't get involved in the community aspect, and of course there is the toxic player who is there to troll or just be a d~~k. fortunately the toxic player is the minority regardless of F2P or payed (even if they are sometimes the vocal minority).
How many people whine about the player base of CoD, its one of the most expensive game out there, even during sales, yet it still perceived as having a awful playerbase.
I'm not saying its a perfect comparison by any means, all i'm saying is its not as simple as F2P = bad players.
The key to having decent games is to play on decent servers, un-admined/bad servers risk having toxic players play, regardless of whether the games F2P or payed.
Too many people are complaining that it'll turn ns2 into a noob infested game... truth is there isn't any single pub server out there without 70% noob players on it.