The devs might want to seriously consider extending the trial account period from 8 hours to something like 24 hours. The reason for this is that the first few hours of game play can be a bit confusing and certainly don't give players a sense of the game. Especially since low level combat can be quite tedious to some players.

I know several people who tried the game and gave up on it after the trial period because it did not sufficiently interest them in that short amount of time.

It also makes sense from an economic point of view to get players hooked before you start charging them.

got exactly the same feeling here. 8 hours is too short. I was immediately hooked to the game and got me 6 extra months after the trial. The explenation for this is simple, I love these kind of games, used to play Elite on Amiga, and being on a Mac doesn't give you much options in this genre. However, i've allready told some of my PC owning friends about vendetta and a lot of complaint (well the 2 guys who tried) was about, oh the game is hard to learn and the trial is too short and stuff like that.
I think extending the trial to 24 hours (playing time) of play or maybe a week (not playing time that is) would keep more new players in the game and contributes to more active players in game wich will then again lure more players and so on. On a side note, I did 2 days over my trial account.

I don't know about 24 hours.. I do agree that 8 hours is a bit too short. at about 7.5 hours of gameplay, the game just started to get interesting. But I rush through things alot more quickly than others. I think maybe 10-12 hours would be just enough for the average user to start really enjoying the game, and likewise feel they have no choice but to subscribe. :)

No more than 12. But they probably can't change it- then all the people that used up their trial accounts will want the extra hours.

I think 8 hours could be sufficient. The first 2-3 hours are used up quite nicely by the tutorial and beginner combat & trade missions. The remaining 5 hours, however, are a little empty except for leveling up. That's kind of fun, but a little dry.

This dovetails with something I've been thinking on quite a bit, which is some way to match peoples' PvP skills more evenly. CtC is great, but it's full of veterans. It would be fantastic if there were PvP challenges targeted at inexperienced and moderately experienced pilots.

Itani/Serco suggestion: skirmish sectors in Deneb and Geira, where you can win a badge for 5 kills or thereabouts. The badge opens up 1 or 2 items that are good for newbies but worthless for anyone else. Once you have the badge there's an XP penalty for participating.

UIT suggestion: several sectors caught up in corporate war. Get a badge for 5 kills and earn standing with the enemy of those you blow up. Likewise opens up 1 or 2 items that are good for newbies but worthless for anyone else. Once you have the badge there's an XP penalty for participating.

These might not be the best ideas, but the principle is to get new players involved in PvP with other newcomers. That would fill out the remaining 8 hours nicely.

I wonder how long it would take to travel around the universe in a bus..... I'll bet it's 8 hours :)

kizzle, its longer :D

or maybe genka can test :D

I too think 8 hours is too short. I nearly didn't register because of some bad after tastes I got from being noobed-out of existence by a few seasoned players (and bots).

Given a "diplomatic immunity" thing that last until your first "aligned" bot kill or player kill or level 1/1/1 would probably require less than 24 hours for a trial pediod. Perhaps make this period level-dependent. Or make it perhaps 16 hours.

My 8 hours weren't enough and signed up for one month just to complete my trial of the game. Only after I've presented the game to my friends did they decide to try it for themselves.

Trial should be bumped to 12 hours or so if we want to focus on people who are actually trying out the game.
/me points at Boxy and Poodle
-:sigma.SB