15/mo is fucking steep for what this game is anymore. Just sell ads or DARE I SAY IT, ask your community for help. A one month free trial to a cellphone game is kind of a joke, and I doubt im the only one to realize that.

I would love to still play vo, but its basically a 90s game with a subscription fee now. ten years ago, it was worth paying, anymore its not. The price point is too steep for what you get. (especially if you count the pace of development)

$15 a month? Last I checked it was $9.99. And on phones lite version is $0.99 a month. Lite version isn't terrible, you get some of the good things :p

its not anywhere close to worth 10 bucks a month anymore. Ive seen deeper games on newgrounds. ten years ago, it was worth it, and I paid it. But anymore, it isnt.

If you doubt my monetary commitment, check my post history.

Sadly the vo devs have the marketing of a friendless corky. They keep getting in bed with nigerian princes.

Im actually kind of curious how many devs are left, im guessing inc, since its his credit thats toast if it nukes. Maybe ray, but it looks like he hasnt to do anything in a while. Andy... maybe? Momerath I imagine has since moved on to a project that isnt sitting still.

You know how you're not supposed to call your ex when you get super drunk? Same goes for the VO forums.

I guess I'd be pretty upset if I had been paying 15 a month for a 10 dollar per month game (6.67 per month in my case, actually: 2 year plan) too. The devs are in the middle of reworking the pricing model, although the subscription option likely isn't going away soon, for those who appreciate it. Stand by.

And yes, it is worth it. For me, it's paying to support game development of one of the longest running, earliest examples of a twitch-MMORPG, supporting server costs (to keep this from becoming peer to peer), and allowing some long term PCC whittlings to flourish. I'm sure others have found even more reasons to contribute.

The current devs are Incarnate (John), raybondo (Ray), momerath42 (Michael), and Musabi (Curt).

...I'm not sure whether this is a Suggestion that got misplaced in General, or just a late night drunken rant as ARF suggests.

I don't understand why so many people want to live in a world filled with shitty ads and constant extortions just so they can play a game for free. Is it really so difficult to get a job? Or do they only truly feel alive when they're sucking on the teat of Momma Media? "Uwaahh, uwahhh, Baby need more Billy Mays! Waah, need Old Spice Man! Mazzzzda! Mah zu dah! Dah! Uwaaahh! Ooo Micheal Jordan underwear.... *claps tiny hands* Gimmeee!"

Dont get me wrong I love the game, and im sorry I said 15 instead of 10, it was obviously a sore spot for you guys. But compared to current offerings, it doesnt justify its own cost, there are much better space sims out atm, and even more coming.

From a purely business standpoint, thier subscription fee has always been a bit reaching, and itll only get less enticing as time goes on.

Perhaps you could enlighten us as to what other amazing space sims you have found, especially ones that are online in a persistent universe, that also run seamlessly cross platform and are device agnostic, and 3d Newtonian, too.

I'll join you playing them! Let's make it under 10 bucks, too, since money is such an issue here.

We tried ads on Android. With several hundred thousand installs we made like $150. We did not find signs of a sustainable model there, even if we completely flooded the game with interstitials and banners. Advertising seems to work best with browser-based games that have practically zero server overhead or installation time.

Tramshed, I'm going to go out on a limb and say you "mean well", but you aren't going to get a very good response with your approach. You start by claiming the game costs 50% more than it ever did (even when you were around), then claiming that all the developers are gone (we're all still here! and we hired new people, and we're working our asses off), all the while saying the game isn't worth this or that or the other thing.

In the meantime, our average online player counts are higher than they have.. perhaps ever been? (except for a couple of brief promo/launch periods), we have a ton of new development and major launches coming up, including new platforms like Steam and so on, and generally a lot to look forward to.

We're also experimenting quite a bit with the business model, just not with advertising (I mean, the very top message on the General forum when you posted, is thanking us for the $1/month Lite plan, but still you post this..?).

So, maybe it wasn't meant that way, but your posts come across as trolling.

I'm going to lock this now, as I don't think it's productive.