Changes to the subscription system with the release of Steam WO

[Retrograde 12,013]

This isn't really a game decision as more of a business decision, and while discussion is welcome don't expect changes based off it. We have our own goals to meet and while the idea of the game being true free to play it means heavy promotion of a cash shop to maintain current income. There's downsides too 

[atazs 965]

As i have said, the subscription system doesnt nessecarily need to go away. It just needs to be looked into and changed as to how it works right now. Simply allowing non premiums to raise their skills to 100 in exchange of giving them other restrictions and giving more bonuses to being premium would also work and does not require a cash shop.

For example, a premium only server, with unique mobs, and unique items that does not exist on other servers and cannot be transferred to other servers, and more deed restrictions for non premiums would go a long way in tackling the problem. 

Edited October 3, 2019 by atazs

[Ekcin 2,414]

37 minutes ago, Retrograde said:

This isn't really a game decision as more of a business decision, and while discussion is welcome don't expect changes based off it. We have our own goals to meet and while the idea of the game being true free to play it means heavy promotion of a cash shop to maintain current income. There's downsides too 

 

Thanks for confirming that the discussion is welcome. As to me, and most probably all others as well, it is clear that those are business considerations, and therefore up to the management.

 

But as loyal customers being concerned about the future of the game which we all want to flourish we are contributing with such proposals. And personally, I agree to atasz so far that subs have not to go completely but maybe the subscription system has to be thought about and possibly adapted. Same goes with the shop. Not more is to be expected than that you just think about if you haven't done already.

[Yldrania 1,430]

6 hours ago, Eobersig said:

 

The cosmetics cash shops usually don't bring in enough coins. Sure, some people buy the cosmetics but it's not enough to maintain a consistent cash flow. With cash shop games it's frequently the 90/10 rule: 90% of your players create 10% of the revenue (by the occasional cosmetic item, a one-off sale), but the other 10% of your players create 90% of the revenue (by frequently buying loot boxes, XP boosts, fighting boosts, etc.) The latter is what brings in the coins, the cosmetics are just icing on the cake - but not the cake itself.

 

To make Wurm a F2P game with cash shop you need to sell cakes to the 10%, the cosmetics for the 90% are just an added bonus, nice-to-have but not enough to pay the bills. 

Yea I believe cash shop + an account system would be the perfect solution to be honest.

Wurm is a game where you essentially NEED multiple characters, but instead of being rewarded for playing more, you get "punished" by having to pay more.

 

Other MMO's that are pay once such as Guild Wars 2 heavily rely on cash shop items from the gem store and honestly, they have things for sale that are sometimes worth 50 euros, easy, and within minutes of release, many of my mates own it. Wurm has less players but the same kind of dedication so on a Wurm scale, if I can call it that, it would be the same. There just would have to be a steady chage and influx on the cash shop for it to produce continued cash.

[Jeston 316]

Cash shop doesn't need to really exist, they have hurt mmos far more.

Edited October 3, 2019 by Jeston

[Druidnature 1,118]

42 minutes ago, Jeston said:

Cash shop doesn't need to really exist, they have hurt mmos far more.

 

While partially true, there are only two big MMO’s left on a sub at the moment, one of which had most of their income still from the cash shop, and the other bringing in 40%. 

 

The rest died out because gamers do not want to pay to pay a subscription, thus, the devs were made to introduce shops more and more. Now adays it’s the only realistic way to sustain a mmo unless you are a well known triple A dev ontop of getting very lucky.

 

so saying they have hurt MMOs far more, while I understand your point, is false. Without them, Mmo’s Would not even exist anymore outside of possibly one... they are sadly what is keeping them afloat currently.

 

shops done right are also great. Do I have confidence Wurm could do that? Well, no. Not at all to be honest. If it was to be done correctly they’d require a lot more Art devs to make cosmetics 24/7 while still adding a good fair amount to the base game to keep it fair, and not go p2w (Which Wurm already is, but that’s a longer story)

 

if we see more staff hired on, and I mean a lot more. I could see it working well.

[solmark 546]

11 hours ago, Eobersig said:

 

The cosmetics cash shops usually don't bring in enough coins. Sure, some people buy the cosmetics but it's not enough to maintain a consistent cash flow. With cash shop games it's frequently the 90/10 rule: 90% of your players create 10% of the revenue (by the occasional cosmetic item, a one-off sale), but the other 10% of your players create 90% of the revenue (by frequently buying loot boxes, XP boosts, fighting boosts, etc.) The latter is what brings in the coins, the cosmetics are just icing on the cake - but not the cake itself.

 

To make Wurm a F2P game with cash shop you need to sell cakes to the 10%, the cosmetics for the 90% are just an added bonus, nice-to-have but not enough to pay the bills. 

 

I think there is a lot of potential to expand on the idea of cosmetics in Wurm, for example buying decal for your Wagon (there are some amazing examples of what is possible in WU), buying a 2x2 clay/tar/peat spot for your deed, buying naming rights to mountain ranges or waterways. If we get creative I am sure we could come up with a whole host of cosmetic stuff that would look great, but don''t defeat the main essence of the game. Would this mean we could take away the subscription, probably not, but it would reduce the impact of relying solely on subs, and maybe over time, with the addition of Quality of Life changes that have already been discussed, the player retention rate would improve and lead to a brighter future!

 

Edited October 3, 2019 by solmark

[kochinac 1,395]

I agree that sub model should be modified. Removing subscriptions completly might be unrealistic at this moment, but income should start to rely on cash shop more and more gradually. There are a lot of good ideas, mirrors to change look, custom template like pmk but just for your wagon, banners with your sigil, or premade unique banners, banners of past kingdoms that cant be made anymore, past Christmas gifts, sails for ships with motives, skins for weapons and other items(shileds, armour, furniture), resource tiles, 100ql metal veins to place at your deed. But most of this things(not all ofc) should also be available ingame through hard work to make it fair.

Also buying or paying some extra for slots for characters on one account with one sub would be great. 

Fremium model should be improved vastly, with introducing more subtle restrictions so new players have more time to get motivation to by premium, most of them won't to that if they hit wall pay or quit playing so early, but if you give them couple more months to play free and progress they might eventually.

And most important of all, this really must come before release on steam.

[TheTrickster 2,284]

On 10/3/2019 at 3:04 PM, Xor said:

I agree it shouldn’t be more restrictive than what we already have, but also thinking any amount of free deed for free toons can cause too many problems.

 

But if you didn't know it was happening, realistically how much of a problem can it have caused?  The answer would seem to be "negligible" at worst.  

[TheTrickster 2,284]

You could have paid billboard advertising on highways!  😁

If the stagecoach-like auto-travel that has been suggested is ever implemented, ads could be on the side like they are on buses!