It always starts the same way...

"How long is the trial?"

"How much does this cost?"

And then it always transitions to complaints about it being too expensive, or not worth it, etc.

Every single time, we respond in one of a few predictable ways that does nothing to help the situation.

1. Stop trying to sell the bulk rate. If they are balking at $10, they are going to balk at $20, or $30, or $40.

2. Stop being apologetic about the price. Someday it may be free. Right now it costs $1 or $10. Own it. Be proud of it. We have a great community, a fun game. Yes it costs money.

3. Stop treating them like their opinions are valid. All opinions are not equal. You are here playing the game, you have experience, you have an informed educated opinion. They just downloaded the game and have a free bus. They are in no position to argue what the game is worth. Stop pretending they do.

I would like to see higher retention through a FtP model, but until we have such a model, this is what we have, and it's worth selling as a valuable product. You are what make it valuable. Stop behaving like the domestically abused housewife of a Heroine addict.

^ What he said.

+ (a very large number).

Dent.

\o/ SAVET!!!! +Pi to infinity!!!!

Is this game free? : YES! You can play in the training sector for as long as you like.

How long is the trial period? : eight hours.

eight hours isn't long enough. : Eight hours is long enough for people that are smart enough to enjoy this game.

How much does it cost? : $1/mo for light, $10/mo for full sub.

This game isn't worth $10 a month. : Nope! It isn't worth $10 a month to every one, and that is why not every one subscribes. Have a nice day!

hmmm +Pi to DE lol

yup

@Savin Exactly

The price is not the problem, it's the transparency topic that people may have issue with..

The free trial we assume people understand means (not free). However, it does not express how much thereafter if you like the game. Also indicates no strings and/or no credit card needed.

I understand the wording, however when it comes to games I speculate people are not considering this the same way they would read a legal document. Therefore the technical details are slipping through the cracks.

This is likely why you see the constant same questions with similar surprise to the fact that it actually costs money to play.

In this case the quality of the sales lead is poor because they may not have even downloaded it to begin with if they really knew this up front.

On the other hand if someone downloads the game knowing in advance that it could possibly cost them $1 or $9.99 each month to continue to play after their free trial period you have a very very strong sales lead in advance because they downloaded and played knowing what it was.

From the questions I've seen in the text in the past I get the impression they are not aware of any costs or prices in advance.
Regardless of the fact that the site indicates no strings, no credit card needed for the 8 hour trial which assumes (non free)

But people don't think so deeply about these technicalities when it comes to downloading a free game.

This generation seems to want or think that everything is free and they are entitled to it, when in the "Real World" not much is free, someone somewhere has to pay for it

Captain... you seem to say that people see "free trial" and understand that that means it isn't free, but even though they understand it isn't free they think it actually is free.

Please try again when you are sober.

Also, LMAO, I would like to point out that while the current generation surely has its faults, it's probably no more moronic than the many generations which have preceded it, because they were all idiots. Just in different ways. Whenever my grandma gets up on her high horse about how much worse the world is than in her day, I think to myself snide comments about how apparently girls who dress like sluts are a worse problem than the rampant racism of her vaunted "good" old days.

I am most likely in your grandmas generation. yes racism was bad, very bad. I grew up in a town that did in fact have railroad tracks and whites lived on one side and blacks lived on the other, I went to all white schools there. I am just saying that this generation does seem like it thinks they are entitled to things others have had to work for.

Without straying too much into broader discussions of today's youth and/or entitlement.. the simple fact is that most online games are now "Free To Play". Those games with subscription models, like ourselves or EVE, are very much in the minority. From Farmville to WoW, people are used to some kind of totally-free experience, while getting prompted for microtransactions or upgrades.

So, that's a big part of the expectation that newer gamers are bringing with them, and that's part of the impedance mismatch encountered when they discover there's an actual payment requirement.

This is x10 on mobile, where practically everything is "free". And it has been our (and practically every other developer's) very strong experience that no one reads the descriptions anyway, they just download stuff and then are happy/unhappy based on whatever pre-determined expectations they may have. Educating them in the process is a big challenge.

So, yeah, going back to the OP, I'd say "we are what we are" and be fairly unapologetic for that, until such a time as I can engineer a free tier without potentially driving ourselves out of business.

I understand where they are coming from. The point I was trying to make is that our response to their skepticism can be a very strong conversion factor if we represent a united front. Based on the responses, I think I have done a good job of conveying that and appreciate you guys' support.