Re: Running a free game as a customer attaction tool. was:Re: Just Out Of Interest

From: "Enno Rehling" <enno@despammed.com>

Date: Sat, 12 Jan 2002 02:29:16 +0000

"Dan Reed" <danreed@nospamcableinet.co.uk> wrote in message =
news:%dE%7.4629$oX1.449697@news1.cableinet.net...
>
> But where do you draw the line when running the same game both free =
and
> commercially? KJC are planning a pay to play version that allows more =
than
> one group, and will also have extra features not available in the free =
game.
> Do others use just one of the two "limits" on the free game, or even
> neither?  It's just that I wonder how well you manage from a =
commercial
> viewpoint to get people to hand you cash if they can get away with =
playing
> the game for free!

I can speak for Eressea (which is the game I was talking about in the =
post you replied to). The game can be found at http://www.eressea.de/ =
(german and english) and there is a commercial version of it at =
http://www.vinyambar.de/ (currently only german games).

Calling the game commercial is grossly exagerating. Players pay 1.25 =
Euro per week, an extremely low price for a PBEM. And yes, we place no =
artificial limits on the free game (like slower turns, limited playtime, =
etc). However, the commercial game has a few benefits to offer:
* In a free game, there's very little control over players playing on =
multiple accounts. In most PBMs, playing from several accoutns can, =
expecially during the first turns, be a huge bonus. Having to pay for =
each account, the likelihood of people playing 10 or more accounts =
(we've had that happen in the free game) is very small.
* There is a smaller dropout rate in the commercial game. This is one of =
the bigget problems in the free game: Allies will drop out, and people =
who are playing "to see what it's like" leave after a few weeks, leaving =
gaps on the map you'll have to fill. This can easily become a problem =
for the remaining players - in the commercial games, players already =
know the game, they pay for a certain amount of turns in advance, and =
they are less likely to dissapear over night.
* In our free game, the number of units you can play is larger than in =
the commercial game. This may sound counter-intuitive, but in fact one =
of the major problems of the free game is that players with too much =
time on their hands can beat others by the sheer number of units they =
can effectively control. Similar effects can probably be seen in other =
games, and starting a new game (we launched the free one before the =
commercial, as a testing ground) gives you the opportunity to right =
things that are off balance.
* In our commercial games, everyone starts at the same time. In the free =
game, you start in a world that is 5 years old. while that isn't nearly =
as bad as it sounds, there is a psychological factor behind being one of =
the "pioneers" in the gameworld that you cannot have in the free game.
* The commercial games are smaller. You get a chance of exploring them =
to a larger percentage, and getting to know all the people you play =
with. Our commercial games have between 50-100 players. In comparison =
the free game has 1800 of them.
* Stability. Our free game is as ongoing Beta Test - We add new =
functionality, change the game balance, etc. on a regular basis. This =
means that we don't guarantee that if catapults are the coolest weapon =
today, they will still be next month. Players are often unhappy because =
our decisions have quite an impact on the way they shape their game, =
although we try to keep such surprises to a minimum. This doesn't happen =
in the commercial game, where we're not touching the ruleset at all.
* In addition, there are some minor tweaks to the rules, but I wouldn't =
call them essential to the differentiation between free and commercial =
game.

Enno.

References

Re: Just Out Of Interest
madcentral@aol.com (MadCentral)
Thu, 13 Dec 2001 12:50:22 +0000
Re: Just Out Of Interest
"The Mad One" <pdse05448@cableinet.co.uk>
Thu, 13 Dec 2001 14:36:36 +0000
Re: Just Out Of Interest
"Enno Rehling" <enno@despammed.com>
Thu, 13 Dec 2001 18:41:29 +0000
Running a free game as a customer attaction tool. was:Re: Just Out Of Interest
"Dan Reed" <danreed@nospamcableinet.co.uk>
Fri, 11 Jan 2002 16:16:59 +0000