Warrior General Games

Originally posted by jdbolick
I didn't read the whole thread. Did anyone post things related to the actual sim that they think could be made more enjoyable? There are things outside the sim that decrease my enjoyment of coming here, but the actual game itself is working pretty well, right?

Yeah, I really think this sim is p good.

Originally posted by jdbolick
I didn't read the whole thread. Did anyone post things related to the actual sim that they think could be made more enjoyable? There are things outside the sim that decrease my enjoyment of coming here, but the actual game itself is working pretty well, right?

If QB running path could get some tweak I will be more happy.

Meh, that's really way down on the list of priorities imo.

Originally posted by Deathblade
It's also completely ignore the psychological factor of people making new dots with all of the "free flex" they get from retiring players.

I'd wager 80%+ of their current income is from people who retire a dot or two, then make new dots for teams, then gave halfway through their career and need to buy flex.

And more players doesn't offer a linear gain of enjoyment for the user.

Well, I think you'd still have that way to play available to people. You can still play the game the same even with a new flex purchase model. Such as the following (hope this formats well):

Package………….......Flex Points……Recycle Price……No Recycle Price……..Discount
Pop Warner…………............250…………..$2.5…………..$0.875………….................0
Junior Varsity…………..........500…………..$4.5…………..$1.575…………................0.1
Varsity…………....................1000…………..$8.5…………..$2.975…………................0.15
Booster Pack………….......1200…………..$9.99………....$3.4965…………..............0.17
Division III………….............2000…………..$16…………...$5.6………….....................0.2
Double Booster Pack….....3200…………..$24.99……….$8.7465…………..............0.22
Division II…………..............5000…………..$38…………...$13.3…………...................0.24
Division I…………...............7500…………..$54.75………..$19.1625…………...........0.27
Professional…………......10000…………..$70…………....$24.5…………..................0.3
Practice Squad…………..15000…………..$100…………..$35………….....................0.33
Starter…………..................20000…………..$130…………..$45.5………….................0.35
Champion…………..........30000…………..$180…………..$63………….....................0.4
All Pro…………..................50000…………..$275…………..$96.25…………...............0.45
MVP…………....................100000…………..$500…………..$175…………..................0.5
Hall of Fame…………....250000…………..$1000………….$350…………..................0.6


In other words...buying an entire team of dots gives you a very nice discount comparable to a HoF discount but that doesnt preclude somebody from playing 1 or 2 (or 10 or 20 even) dots that are at differing levels & creation dates for those specific purposes and purchasing their flex at random times as needed. The details of it (and % discount) can & should be tweaked by Bort & co. as only they know if the % I used is accurate or reasonable (I used 35%, they may want to hike it up to 40 or even 50% perhaps).

To me, the goal of something like a non-recycle flex plan is to remove the upfront cost for those players that prefer to have more dots (or an entire team) for no recycling ability without removing the ability for other players to get the same value as they do now.

They could sell reward points using that model without changing anything for flex points. It's an interesting idea, especially due to the notion that it might promote more dots and teams right now at a time when the game desperately needs them.

Originally posted by jdbolick
They could sell reward points using that model without changing anything for flex points. It's an interesting idea, especially due to the notion that it might promote more dots and teams right now at a time when the game desperately needs them.

agreed.

The cost is prohibitive for the vast majority of the population for a game like this...... I've always argued that it made sense to do this from a start-up business standpoint to get initial revenue to add to the infrastructure and make the game "complete", and at first there was more support for the game in it's infancy. Instead, Bert bought a boat or something instead, and has added very little of that money to that infrastructure when it was needed. This should have always been a subscription style game, with different add-ons or tiers for those who want to field 100 players, but the cost should be about 80%-90% less with no reward points returned.

Of course, this would have had to have happened about 4 years ago........

Originally posted by SteveMax58
Well, I think you'd still have that way to play available to people.

It's not about making it available.

It's about setting the trap and watching the flies get stuck in it.

Originally posted by Deathblade
It's not about making it available.

It's about setting the trap and watching the flies get stuck in it.

I mean, how many people do you think would leave without getting caught in the psychological trap, compared to however many people would continue playing over the price difference of a couple dollars?

I admit the disparity could be changed slightly. Maybe 75% of the current cost and 50% refund, or something. But a no refund option would cause more harm than good as far as sustainable userbase.

Originally posted by Deathblade
I admit the disparity could be changed slightly. Maybe 75% of the current cost and 50% refund, or something. But a no refund option would cause more harm than good as far as sustainable userbase.
This userbase isn't being sustained. It's continuously dropping.

Originally posted by jdbolick
This userbase isn't being sustained. It's continuously dropping.

It's been around for 5 years, and hasn't had many new accounts since 2 years in.

It is sustaining remarkably well.

I'd argue that GLB probably has a higher retention rate among spenders than most other MMOs.

Yes, a lot of your friends have quit in the past 3-4 years, but the game certainly hasn't went from 2 million down to 20,000 like RIFT did within it's first year.

Originally posted by Deathblade
It's not about making it available.

It's about setting the trap and watching the flies get stuck in it.

I know what you mean but I dont think its at all obvious to a new user that you get to recycle the flex & how far x amount of flex will take you. Then retire & it will get you x far along on the new dot you create.

I think people who get lured in under today's flex model want to get lured in. Whereas others may not be so interested in making the same level of feet-first commitment & simply wont spend that much upfront.

Without knowing the userbase numbers from peak to now its hard to say this....but I think GLB would be better off using the lower upfront flex cost model to try & make 10% on 35,000 users rather than 40% on 7,000 users. Certainly the 7,000 users may have a higher ARPU but the 35,000 is a substantially more stable income stream & userbase to cash in on in other ways. Pulling those numbers out of my a$$ of course but the general idea is where I'm going.

GLB actually is pretty consistent in it's "sustainability" factor. The number of active users that have logged in the past three days is pretty much the same it was one year ago. Granted, it's down from our peak years but a good portion of the customers that still play GLB are the type of customers any business would want. Ones that are active and spend money.

There have been debates about GLB's pricing structure since back in season 1. It's a fairly genius idea if you think about it because the main thing it encourages is people to stay around and use their flex. That being said, I know with future games that things might be a little different. The pricing for GLB, however, is not going to change.

Originally posted by Catch22
GLB actually is pretty consistent in it's "sustainability" factor. The number of active users that have logged in the past three days is pretty much the same it was one year ago. Granted, it's down from our peak years but a good portion of the customers that still play GLB are the type of customers any business would want. Ones that are active and spend money.

There have been debates about GLB's pricing structure since back in season 1. It's a fairly genius idea if you think about it because the main thing it encourages is people to stay around and use their flex. That being said, I know with future games that things might be a little different. The pricing for GLB, however, is not going to change.

Reports tell you what you want to hear....put the marketing spin on it