Forums » Suggestions
Bigger customer base
I think there are two things that vendetta could do in order to achieve a larger customer base/more users..
1. Either lower the 10usd per month to half or extend the trial period of 8 hours to either a week trial or 20 hours. I just signed up and its just not enough time to get to know the game. This will get more people time to have fun and get addicted.. 8 hours wont do that.
2. Different pricing for different countries. If you want Asians to play (2.4 billion people i might add), they just don't have the cash to pay 10 bucks a month. Its a simple verification of the country of the credit card. I live in Asia and i know this game would definitely be popular, but its damn expensive for both Chinese and Indians. Pricing is based on the same principle that music industry uses.. Russians only pay about 2usd for an album in Russia, while a Norwegian would pay 30usd and Singaporean 8usd.. you guys have to adapt to the different markets if you want to grow.
... and to conclude ofc.. you need help in marketing it in Asia im here to be used :) (paid)
1. Either lower the 10usd per month to half or extend the trial period of 8 hours to either a week trial or 20 hours. I just signed up and its just not enough time to get to know the game. This will get more people time to have fun and get addicted.. 8 hours wont do that.
2. Different pricing for different countries. If you want Asians to play (2.4 billion people i might add), they just don't have the cash to pay 10 bucks a month. Its a simple verification of the country of the credit card. I live in Asia and i know this game would definitely be popular, but its damn expensive for both Chinese and Indians. Pricing is based on the same principle that music industry uses.. Russians only pay about 2usd for an album in Russia, while a Norwegian would pay 30usd and Singaporean 8usd.. you guys have to adapt to the different markets if you want to grow.
... and to conclude ofc.. you need help in marketing it in Asia im here to be used :) (paid)
i'm getting me a russian mastercard!
You know what? After a short time on the game, I start thinking that Guild Software has no time/will/drive/chance/resources to actually expand the player base.
I'm not saying there's no need for such an expansion. I firmly think it's needed. But, well, I see many signals about them not really pushing the envelope to the goal.
They give us a terrific game, they work hard to improve it, they really deserve as much respect as they can. But still, not much effort to let us play in a game with 500/1000 players at once. There's the distinct feeling that's BETTER to be a small community, with only veterans and elites battling, than to open floodgates to everyone.
Oh, well, that's their bottom line problem, not mine.
I'm not saying there's no need for such an expansion. I firmly think it's needed. But, well, I see many signals about them not really pushing the envelope to the goal.
They give us a terrific game, they work hard to improve it, they really deserve as much respect as they can. But still, not much effort to let us play in a game with 500/1000 players at once. There's the distinct feeling that's BETTER to be a small community, with only veterans and elites battling, than to open floodgates to everyone.
Oh, well, that's their bottom line problem, not mine.
Oh, here's the official word on the matter (possibly misquoted, but here's the jist)
The devs do not want a large base ATM. They aren't advertising and have asked for us not to other then word of mouth.
Eh, they want to put more stuff in before they get a 1000+ people
Eh, that's what I remember.
Whistler?
The devs do not want a large base ATM. They aren't advertising and have asked for us not to other then word of mouth.
Eh, they want to put more stuff in before they get a 1000+ people
Eh, that's what I remember.
Whistler?
Well, sounds like a marketing genius to me. When're ya hiring this kid?
[Edit:] While you're at it, send a job offer to Syylk too! He seems to know exactly what's good for the game and whatnot!
[Edit:] While you're at it, send a job offer to Syylk too! He seems to know exactly what's good for the game and whatnot!
Well, it is your bottom line problem, because most of what you've attributed to them is false, Syylk.
You admittedly only have a short time on the game, so you are unaware of the facts of the matter.
Guild is a small company, so their resources are indeed limited. That much is true.
As for the will or drive to succeed, you are completely wrong. The fact that Vendetta exists at all in the hostile world of space-genre MMO's is testament to their will. That it is multi-platform and continuously updated is extraordinary proof. The game we're playing is evolving from a hard-coded tech demo of Guild's proprietary game engine - it was never intended to be an actual MMORPG itself. When the game engine was not purchased by a larger company, it was necessary to radically alter Guild's business model. Most people would have given up, but Guild REALLY wants to make this game.
As for the chance to succeed, that is debatable. They have already shopped Vendetta to the larger companies with more resources and were turned down because space-genre MMO's are not "sexy" as far as the industry in concerned. If they had waited for that chance, there would be no Vendetta. They are trying to make their own destiny happen. I'd guess that they have a better than average chance of making it big - someday. I believe that they have already achieved an Honorable Mention in future discussions of space-based MMOs. Time will tell.
They have already made it abundantly clear that they will put effort into advertising the game when they feel it is ready for the masses. Currently it's good enough for people who love this genre and will tolerate a few rough areas - but that's a relatively small group. Guild knows it needs to tackle a few more of the show-stopper issues before they make a big advertising push. If people come in droves now, and encounter some of the more troubling issues that the devs are tackling right now, they may leave and never look back. Not only would the advertising costs be wasted, but a negative view of the game could be spread to a larger audience. I don't think Guild is transmitting the signals you attribute to them, Syylk. I think you are not getting the message they ARE sending and have made your own erronious conclusions.
As for this being a community of "only veterans and elites", there are many of us who have been around for a few years, that is true. But (with a few exceptions) we're very welcoming and supportive of newcomers. We love them. We want them to stay, and die, and die, and improve, and retaliate, and pwn 49% of the time. See:
http://www.vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/1/15668
http://www.vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/1/15844
http://www.vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/1/15834
http://www.vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/1/15809
http://www.vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/1/15625
New folks sometimes draw fire when they publicly spout off about something they are ignorant of. That's true ANYWHERE.
ON TOPIC: Those are interesting suggestions, PAFT. I didn't know about the variable pricing. It makes sense.
You admittedly only have a short time on the game, so you are unaware of the facts of the matter.
Guild is a small company, so their resources are indeed limited. That much is true.
As for the will or drive to succeed, you are completely wrong. The fact that Vendetta exists at all in the hostile world of space-genre MMO's is testament to their will. That it is multi-platform and continuously updated is extraordinary proof. The game we're playing is evolving from a hard-coded tech demo of Guild's proprietary game engine - it was never intended to be an actual MMORPG itself. When the game engine was not purchased by a larger company, it was necessary to radically alter Guild's business model. Most people would have given up, but Guild REALLY wants to make this game.
As for the chance to succeed, that is debatable. They have already shopped Vendetta to the larger companies with more resources and were turned down because space-genre MMO's are not "sexy" as far as the industry in concerned. If they had waited for that chance, there would be no Vendetta. They are trying to make their own destiny happen. I'd guess that they have a better than average chance of making it big - someday. I believe that they have already achieved an Honorable Mention in future discussions of space-based MMOs. Time will tell.
They have already made it abundantly clear that they will put effort into advertising the game when they feel it is ready for the masses. Currently it's good enough for people who love this genre and will tolerate a few rough areas - but that's a relatively small group. Guild knows it needs to tackle a few more of the show-stopper issues before they make a big advertising push. If people come in droves now, and encounter some of the more troubling issues that the devs are tackling right now, they may leave and never look back. Not only would the advertising costs be wasted, but a negative view of the game could be spread to a larger audience. I don't think Guild is transmitting the signals you attribute to them, Syylk. I think you are not getting the message they ARE sending and have made your own erronious conclusions.
As for this being a community of "only veterans and elites", there are many of us who have been around for a few years, that is true. But (with a few exceptions) we're very welcoming and supportive of newcomers. We love them. We want them to stay, and die, and die, and improve, and retaliate, and pwn 49% of the time. See:
http://www.vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/1/15668
http://www.vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/1/15844
http://www.vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/1/15834
http://www.vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/1/15809
http://www.vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/1/15625
New folks sometimes draw fire when they publicly spout off about something they are ignorant of. That's true ANYWHERE.
ON TOPIC: Those are interesting suggestions, PAFT. I didn't know about the variable pricing. It makes sense.
Gods... where to begin with these two. Maybe I'll just be nice?
logic 101 wants that if I have an opinion on something then I may be wrong, not false. English 101, however...
logic 101 wants that if I have an opinion on something then I may be wrong, not false. English 101, however...
All nice and good points.
But all promises on an hypothetical, uncertain future. As you said, time will tell. For now, I'm just taking the bet. One year already paid - so to dispel any doubt that I could be a doomsayer.
But today, at 20:45 GMT 20070128, there's no special drive to expand the community. And in your words, not mines, that's by design. I never said anything about will to succeed, I was mentioning will to expand the customer base - check the topic title, please. With your words you just confirmed me what I thought: thank to your facts, now I know they don't WANT to expand the userbase, partially in fear of bad publicity, at least till the game is "ready for the masses", whatever it means.
You know what? That's also fine with me: as I said it's their bottom line, not mine.
As for loving noobs, are you just patronizing, or want me to really dig any post where pitifully self appointed bad guys (like the one right above my post) insult, deride, dismiss, play the denial game with, etc. Joe Random Newbie? Cmon, you're a moderator, you know better about your "with a few exceptions".
And just to be sure: logic 101 wants that if I have an opinion on something (I start thinking that Guild Software has no time/will/drive/chance/resources to actually expand the player base) then I may be wrong, not false.
But all promises on an hypothetical, uncertain future. As you said, time will tell. For now, I'm just taking the bet. One year already paid - so to dispel any doubt that I could be a doomsayer.
But today, at 20:45 GMT 20070128, there's no special drive to expand the community. And in your words, not mines, that's by design. I never said anything about will to succeed, I was mentioning will to expand the customer base - check the topic title, please. With your words you just confirmed me what I thought: thank to your facts, now I know they don't WANT to expand the userbase, partially in fear of bad publicity, at least till the game is "ready for the masses", whatever it means.
You know what? That's also fine with me: as I said it's their bottom line, not mine.
As for loving noobs, are you just patronizing, or want me to really dig any post where pitifully self appointed bad guys (like the one right above my post) insult, deride, dismiss, play the denial game with, etc. Joe Random Newbie? Cmon, you're a moderator, you know better about your "with a few exceptions".
And just to be sure: logic 101 wants that if I have an opinion on something (I start thinking that Guild Software has no time/will/drive/chance/resources to actually expand the player base) then I may be wrong, not false.
Thanks for paying up for a year. That's putting your money where your mouth is.
I hope you'll warm up to the community and see that there are a lot of decent people here. I hope that you'll be one of them.
I won't engage in argument for argument's sake. I've provided the information you were lacking, and so my work is done.
I hope you'll warm up to the community and see that there are a lot of decent people here. I hope that you'll be one of them.
I won't engage in argument for argument's sake. I've provided the information you were lacking, and so my work is done.
Syylk, You lay down a good arguemnet.
Welcome.
Welcome.
Debate concluded.
Welcome to VO, Syylk.
{gently locked}
Welcome to VO, Syylk.
{gently locked}
Just a couple of quick points. Thanks for the input on the variable pricing in asia. That's an interesting model, but not one that we can explore right now. We also will probably be expanding the trial period, we've been kicking that around for awhile.
As for the general idea of marketing the game.. the big problem at present is that our new user turnover rate has been (to date) rather terrible. It's only within the last six months or so that our new user experience has become something better than abominable (due to new tutorials, interfaces, etc). Thus, we had large influxes of users, who would become confused and irritated, and never know half of what the game had, or be able to figure out flying, and then leave with a bad impression.
Based on this, it became our intention to clean up the game to a higher standard than what we had, before embarking on a large scale marketing campaign. Yes, this is a debatable course, and has the danger of becoming a "moving target" in terms of whatever "Ready" may be; but we do have a specific goal in mind. Of course, this goal, like all software development, is effected by exciting unforseen bugs and problems cropping up, which is just.. life. That all said, we do definitely intend to do some serious marketing, and have a many-faceted plan for exactly what that will entail. We've already made a lot of progress in the direction of making things more intuitive to new players; so we're pretty optimistic about how things are going, despite the bugs and setbacks.
If our marketing plans seem oddly conservative, keep in mind.. since 1998 we've watched a number of would-be "competitors" die out, or be plowed under by their inability to match their game to their hype. Disparity between hype and reality are kind of a bitter joke in the game industry (even more than most industries), and this makes reputation even more of a delicate thing to handle. We will push the game, we will grow the game, but there will be a right time.. or at least a better time (close enough), and already we're far closer to that than we were, say, a year ago. The new-user influx we've garnered from even really light recent marketing has been quite favorable, so I remain optimistic.
Anyway, welcome to the game, and thanks for the support. Hopefully I will be backing up the above words with actions before long.
As for the general idea of marketing the game.. the big problem at present is that our new user turnover rate has been (to date) rather terrible. It's only within the last six months or so that our new user experience has become something better than abominable (due to new tutorials, interfaces, etc). Thus, we had large influxes of users, who would become confused and irritated, and never know half of what the game had, or be able to figure out flying, and then leave with a bad impression.
Based on this, it became our intention to clean up the game to a higher standard than what we had, before embarking on a large scale marketing campaign. Yes, this is a debatable course, and has the danger of becoming a "moving target" in terms of whatever "Ready" may be; but we do have a specific goal in mind. Of course, this goal, like all software development, is effected by exciting unforseen bugs and problems cropping up, which is just.. life. That all said, we do definitely intend to do some serious marketing, and have a many-faceted plan for exactly what that will entail. We've already made a lot of progress in the direction of making things more intuitive to new players; so we're pretty optimistic about how things are going, despite the bugs and setbacks.
If our marketing plans seem oddly conservative, keep in mind.. since 1998 we've watched a number of would-be "competitors" die out, or be plowed under by their inability to match their game to their hype. Disparity between hype and reality are kind of a bitter joke in the game industry (even more than most industries), and this makes reputation even more of a delicate thing to handle. We will push the game, we will grow the game, but there will be a right time.. or at least a better time (close enough), and already we're far closer to that than we were, say, a year ago. The new-user influx we've garnered from even really light recent marketing has been quite favorable, so I remain optimistic.
Anyway, welcome to the game, and thanks for the support. Hopefully I will be backing up the above words with actions before long.