Forums » Suggestions
I know you guys cannot spend any time thinking about marketing with everything going on lately but....
You are giving a free week to unsubbed players who were unsubbed more then 60 days prior to xmas.
All good but by setting this rule you are actually punishing subscribers who's sub run out in those +60 days.
My sub run out in November but I was unable to play and actually did not log in game from mid September.
So, yes, now I am punished by not being able to enjoy free week.
I could renew my sub today but it's a matter of principle - I like getting a present from my favorite game once a year.
As Inc once said - I have been here forever, I paid for yearly subs over a decade, bought gift keys for other players, etc.
So, here is my tip:
If you indeed want to give your loyal players a gift, give a free week to everyone.
Previously subbed players deserve it, even f2p who play on a daily basis deserve it and... who knows, if you give f2p players to experience what it means to not have to worry about crystals and can get their levels up and buy better ships and equipment - some of them might even decide to become a regular subscribers.
Merry xmas and happy New Year GS
You are giving a free week to unsubbed players who were unsubbed more then 60 days prior to xmas.
All good but by setting this rule you are actually punishing subscribers who's sub run out in those +60 days.
My sub run out in November but I was unable to play and actually did not log in game from mid September.
So, yes, now I am punished by not being able to enjoy free week.
I could renew my sub today but it's a matter of principle - I like getting a present from my favorite game once a year.
As Inc once said - I have been here forever, I paid for yearly subs over a decade, bought gift keys for other players, etc.
So, here is my tip:
If you indeed want to give your loyal players a gift, give a free week to everyone.
Previously subbed players deserve it, even f2p who play on a daily basis deserve it and... who knows, if you give f2p players to experience what it means to not have to worry about crystals and can get their levels up and buy better ships and equipment - some of them might even decide to become a regular subscribers.
Merry xmas and happy New Year GS
Lovely present +1
+1
Just spend 10 bucks and buy a sub...
^
-1
I've gifted many subs in my day, and etc etc and you should just follow the rules instead of questioning them Bojan
I've gifted many subs in my day, and etc etc and you should just follow the rules instead of questioning them Bojan
+1 to bojan
A permanent free week to anyone subbed for more then 18 months seems to be a small thing and may get some old players to resub if they see a lot of changes since they last played....
Come to think of it -> players that do sub for 18 months or more should get a badge as well that appears on all their characters.....
Come to think of it -> players that do sub for 18 months or more should get a badge as well that appears on all their characters.....
"A permanent free week to anyone subbed for more then 18 months seems to be a small thing and may get some old players to resub if they see a lot of changes since they last played...."
Except that old players whose sub lapsed long enough ago that they haven't seen recent changes already get the free play period. Bojan's suggestion would only impact people whose sub has recently lapsed. I don't have a problem with the suggestion, but saying that it would entice old players back into the game is not a valid argument.
Except that old players whose sub lapsed long enough ago that they haven't seen recent changes already get the free play period. Bojan's suggestion would only impact people whose sub has recently lapsed. I don't have a problem with the suggestion, but saying that it would entice old players back into the game is not a valid argument.
This would be to replace the current free week....and usable at any time..
Getting charged for a week everyone else gets free seems rather ....upsetting in some contexts.
Getting charged for a week everyone else gets free seems rather ....upsetting in some contexts.
The OP is an interesting notion, but it isn't the goal of the promo. The point is to bring old players back. Pushing all subscriptions forward by 9 days could be financially dangerous to the company.. that was certainly a concern in years past.
I wouldn't be against this, if we had better overall revenue. But at the moment, I would rather give "gifts" that are in some other form, like liveries or whatever, instead of things that directly impact the financial stability of the company.
I wouldn't be against this, if we had better overall revenue. But at the moment, I would rather give "gifts" that are in some other form, like liveries or whatever, instead of things that directly impact the financial stability of the company.
Inc, I understand your concerns....but I think there is a lot of value in simply making a free week for all players.
If you created one week a year that allowed even free sub players to play unrestricted it would help demonstrate the benefits of a full subscription while providing consistency for players to know they had a free week on the holidays to return to the game even if they recently let their sub lapse.
I do see that guaranteeing a free week would lower the perceived value of a subscription for the month that the free week is offered, and to mitigate that I would suggest using your gift idea to provide people with an active sub for that month with the livery (or other) gift to encourage uninterrupted subscription.
If you created one week a year that allowed even free sub players to play unrestricted it would help demonstrate the benefits of a full subscription while providing consistency for players to know they had a free week on the holidays to return to the game even if they recently let their sub lapse.
I do see that guaranteeing a free week would lower the perceived value of a subscription for the month that the free week is offered, and to mitigate that I would suggest using your gift idea to provide people with an active sub for that month with the livery (or other) gift to encourage uninterrupted subscription.
So your suggestion is:
Free 9 days for past subscribers who are not subbed (current plan)
Free 9 days for all other unsubbed players.
Livery, special equipment, etc. for subbed players - PLUS a free week?
If so, I think you are missing Inc's concern that pushing current subscriptions out 9 days diminishes the actual value of the subscription. They would have to discount all the subs down to roughly 2/3 the price for the month. We don't know how any subs there are, but Inc seems to indicate that this would represent a significant financial loss.
Perhaps subbed players could be gifted special liveries, unusual (but not functionally superior) weapons, etc. in lieu of free time.
Free 9 days for past subscribers who are not subbed (current plan)
Free 9 days for all other unsubbed players.
Livery, special equipment, etc. for subbed players - PLUS a free week?
If so, I think you are missing Inc's concern that pushing current subscriptions out 9 days diminishes the actual value of the subscription. They would have to discount all the subs down to roughly 2/3 the price for the month. We don't know how any subs there are, but Inc seems to indicate that this would represent a significant financial loss.
Perhaps subbed players could be gifted special liveries, unusual (but not functionally superior) weapons, etc. in lieu of free time.
"The point is to bring old players back."
People move on, it's a fact. They get invested in other games or stop playing altogether for various reasons.
Giving free week to "old players" is completely risk free, the chances someone who played years ago returning for good and suddenly buying a 2 year sub are 1 in 1.000.000.
Maybe chances would be better if there was a significant improvement of development and new content that could entice their interest once more but that's, to say the least, dubious given the current circumstances.
However, the chance of new f2p tier players getting hooked over the free week (when they can see their levels getting up past the limit and a new world of ships and equipment opens up to them) and deciding to buy a full sub at least for a few months is significantly higher.
In my opinion, the right course of action would be to concentrate on players who recently stopped subscribing and new players who come in as f2p.
It's about keeping the current (new, recent, active, semi-active) player base happy and showing them you care.
People move on, it's a fact. They get invested in other games or stop playing altogether for various reasons.
Giving free week to "old players" is completely risk free, the chances someone who played years ago returning for good and suddenly buying a 2 year sub are 1 in 1.000.000.
Maybe chances would be better if there was a significant improvement of development and new content that could entice their interest once more but that's, to say the least, dubious given the current circumstances.
However, the chance of new f2p tier players getting hooked over the free week (when they can see their levels getting up past the limit and a new world of ships and equipment opens up to them) and deciding to buy a full sub at least for a few months is significantly higher.
In my opinion, the right course of action would be to concentrate on players who recently stopped subscribing and new players who come in as f2p.
It's about keeping the current (new, recent, active, semi-active) player base happy and showing them you care.
Giving free week to "old players" is completely risk free, the chances someone who played years ago returning for good and suddenly buying a 2 year sub are 1 in 1.000.000.
No, actually it's quite effective. That's why we do it. People love to come back and check things out, and usually some of them do stick around and re-subscribe for lengthy periods of time. Bringing people back after "churn" is a well documented thing, it's why basically everyone runs some kind of promo to attract previous players.
People drop out for lots of reasons. Time availability, life complexity, whatever. They often just need a small reminder or enticement to bring them back. This is well established.
However, the chance of new f2p tier players getting hooked over the free week (when they can see their levels getting up past the limit and a new world of ships and equipment opens up to them) and deciding to buy a full sub at least for a few months is significantly higher.
I don't have any problem with giving a free-sub week to F2P players (at least, not at present, while our IAP monetization is pretty poor). My issue is with giving a free-sub week to existing subscribers, because that has a big impact on our bottom line.
Most of your post was about giving a sub to people like you. You are not a F2P person who needs convincing. I'm not going to give you a "gift" that puts the company's finances at risk.. that would be stupid, and ultimately not something you should want either.
No, actually it's quite effective. That's why we do it. People love to come back and check things out, and usually some of them do stick around and re-subscribe for lengthy periods of time. Bringing people back after "churn" is a well documented thing, it's why basically everyone runs some kind of promo to attract previous players.
People drop out for lots of reasons. Time availability, life complexity, whatever. They often just need a small reminder or enticement to bring them back. This is well established.
However, the chance of new f2p tier players getting hooked over the free week (when they can see their levels getting up past the limit and a new world of ships and equipment opens up to them) and deciding to buy a full sub at least for a few months is significantly higher.
I don't have any problem with giving a free-sub week to F2P players (at least, not at present, while our IAP monetization is pretty poor). My issue is with giving a free-sub week to existing subscribers, because that has a big impact on our bottom line.
Most of your post was about giving a sub to people like you. You are not a F2P person who needs convincing. I'm not going to give you a "gift" that puts the company's finances at risk.. that would be stupid, and ultimately not something you should want either.
I think giving a free week to subbed players is silly.
But I also kinda feel like giving a free week to old subbers without giving anything to people currently subbed isn't very fair either.
However, I think everyone misunderstood Savet's suggestion.
I don't think he meant give a free week to current subbers. That would, as you've said, require you either give some sort of discount for the month of December or something else along those lines. In any case, it would directly lower the value of the month that the free week was in.
I think what Savet meant was a free week for everyone, and then on top of doing that also give incentive to be subbed during this time period. Something along the lines of new exclusive "subbed during free week" skins or ships. Maybe even some free credits or something somewhat significant. This would give the value back that was lost by making the free week.
In fact, some would argue that gifts given for being subbed would make them want to sub instead of just getting a free week. Speaking for myself, I wouldn't cancel my sub just get the free week, nor would I expect any discounts during free week, if I knew that I was getting some goodies for being subbed.
He can correct me if I'm wrong, but it seemed like that's more along the lines of what Savet meant.
But I also kinda feel like giving a free week to old subbers without giving anything to people currently subbed isn't very fair either.
However, I think everyone misunderstood Savet's suggestion.
I don't think he meant give a free week to current subbers. That would, as you've said, require you either give some sort of discount for the month of December or something else along those lines. In any case, it would directly lower the value of the month that the free week was in.
I think what Savet meant was a free week for everyone, and then on top of doing that also give incentive to be subbed during this time period. Something along the lines of new exclusive "subbed during free week" skins or ships. Maybe even some free credits or something somewhat significant. This would give the value back that was lost by making the free week.
In fact, some would argue that gifts given for being subbed would make them want to sub instead of just getting a free week. Speaking for myself, I wouldn't cancel my sub just get the free week, nor would I expect any discounts during free week, if I knew that I was getting some goodies for being subbed.
He can correct me if I'm wrong, but it seemed like that's more along the lines of what Savet meant.
No incarnate, it's not about me.
I actually never ever used a free week in all of the time I played VO and for once thought I could use a "gift" and feel good about it.
Now you made me feel bad about it since GS financial future depends on me not using free week.
Also, I never said anything about adding a free week to existing subscriptions.
I think Savet's idea of giving already subbed players some kind of in-game gift (as a replacement for a free week) is a sound one.
I actually never ever used a free week in all of the time I played VO and for once thought I could use a "gift" and feel good about it.
Now you made me feel bad about it since GS financial future depends on me not using free week.
Also, I never said anything about adding a free week to existing subscriptions.
I think Savet's idea of giving already subbed players some kind of in-game gift (as a replacement for a free week) is a sound one.
Does this mean i could get my "Eckachewtoy Pleasure of the jaws Ed" as a free widget?
: ]
: ]
Whistler, my suggestion was supposed to indicate that players subbed during the free week would get a special bonus like the livery, but non subbed players would get the free week.
If I'm subscribed for $10/month, it would be worth it to me to stay subscribed and I would see that livery as a bonus to offset the $2.50 I'm spending on the free week.
If I'm subscribed for $10/month, it would be worth it to me to stay subscribed and I would see that livery as a bonus to offset the $2.50 I'm spending on the free week.
That's clear now. Thanks.