[Time to change the business model]

34 minutes ago, blundertwink said:

 

This has been suggested a few times through the forum's history, but the challenge is that changing the billing model doesn't suddenly make the game more marketable.

 

To say it another way...if you can't get people to play the game at $14.99/month, you won't sell them just by changing the purchase model (likely even making it more expensive to try). Even if they went free to play, it doesn't change the math around retention. 

 

There's no reason to believe that simply changing the billing model will result in a "flood" of new players...that's not a claim any reasonable company can work from without evidence. If you or your friends really wanted to play the game so badly, you'd pay a sub and try it for a month. 

 

We're not talking about an Eve-level niche game that can change billing models and have some inertia, we're talking about a game with maybe 100 concurrent players a day at peak -- so it'd basically be starting from scratch...for an MMO that's already released with no future updates on the horizon...?

 

All that being said...there's also no reason to believe you can just throw cash shop items into the game and make enough to sustain an sandbox MMO where costs are constantly growing over time in a way that traditional MMOs don't need to deal with. 

 

That takes study and time and deliberation, and I find it really hard to believe that you'd be so willing to buy cash shop items from a game when you aren't even willing to pay for a sub to try it...how can you know that you'd be so willing? What makes you think that simply changing the subscription model will make this game better to the point where it will attract a lot of customers? 

Oh I believe there is a lot of evidence that people are scared off by the model itself. I could cite 15 people in my own circle that are just like that: They'd easily pay 30, hell, even 50 bucks to play the game. They would pay for shop items, etc.
However, ALL of them are scare off the subscription model to the point they will not even give it a try. I myself got on DU by serendipity, a special set of favorable circumstances.
I see your point with marketable. Yes, DU is very complex and it is a sandbox, that is not a large player base.

But as I said, ask a 100 people why they are not on DU. 98 of them will tell you its the subscription model.

[Time to change the business model]

I have done a tour of all the (creative) space games: star citizen, empyrion, space engineers, KSP, you name it, I've been there. DU is by far the most amazing, complex game out there. It is the best. In terms of multitude of things to do, the depth of building, permission system, materials, scenery, lighting, etc.
Of course, there is still plenty of room to do better. For instance, the space brakes simply violate conservation of energy.

I understand and respect your decision to make it a monthly billing model, @NQ-Admin. But that decision was taken close to ten years ago!

In the name of the gaming community, in the name of bringing people onto this amazing game, in the name of more players and the future of DU: Please, pretty please shift to a purchase model instead of the monthly billing. I assure you, ALL of the friends I tried to get to play, including myself are scared off of this horrible model.

To compensate, add a shop for skins and rare deco items like star citizen and others have it. Add the option to buy ships, etc. You will get the needed revenue by getting a flood of new players once you move away from the subscription model. New players, that, in turn will start purchasing skins and the likes from the shop. Hell, I would buy skins!
Just please, get away from that trap, that horrible scarecrow of a subscription model.

Cheers

[THE FUTURE OF DUAL UNIVERSE - Discussion thread]

Hey, I just came onto the forums and I have to say this: I have done a tour of all the creative space games: star citizen, empyrion, space engineers, KSP, you name it, I've been there. DU is by far the most amazing, complex game out there. It is the best. In terms of multitude of things to do, the depth of building, etc.

So in the name of the gaming community, in the name of me bringing people onto this amazing game, in the name of more players and the future of DU:
I understand and respect your decision to make it a monthly billing model. But that decision was taken close to ten years ago! Please, pretty please shift to a purchase model instead of the monthly billing. I assure you, ALL of the friends I tried to get to play, including myself are scared off this horrible model.
Add a shop for skins and rare deco items like star citizen and others have. Add the option to buy ships, etc. You will get the needed revenue by getting a flood of new players once you move away from the subscription model. Hell, I would buy skins.
Just please, get away from that trap, that horrible scarecrow of a subscription model.
Cheers