Payment for developers

I know I touched into this in my earlier post, but I believe that if anyone wants the content updated and all our ideas to be used that maybe there should be a premium gamer type deal. If you look at all the free to play mmo's out there the also have the payment option for updating content.

Sure I know that alot of people are being like oh man blah payment but game developers need some revenue to update and create a world we all can enjoy.

Think of all that these people can do with a measly 15.00 a month donation wise, maybe they could actually make a non linear world ala runescape which I think would be awesome, plus new races and class combinations.

Myself I plan on donating to tjier cause in the near future how bout anyone else.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. The current Freemium model works well, as I don't care to pay 15 a month for a slimmed down WoW. When I get busy with work and can't play for weeks at a time, i cringe at paying a "measly" 15 bux for time I didn't spend playing. Add that 15 up over a few months and thats enough to buy a boat load of apps.

Look at it this way, ever stop to think why the new free mini dungeon drops level 30 epic loot?

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Originally Posted by FeralDruid

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. The current Freemium model works well, as I don't care to pay 15 a month for a slimmed down WoW. When I get busy with work and can't play for weeks at a time, i cringe at paying a "measly" 15 bux for time I didn't spend playing. Add that 15 up over a few months and thats enough to buy a boat load of apps.

Look at it this way, ever stop to think why the new free mini dungeon drops level 30 epic loot?

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Seconded.

Seph you said in your previous thread you started the game 7 Hours ago ( Alot of us have been here for weeks supporting them from the start ), for you to suggest additional payment plans and such is quite lacking in regard to having a Good understanding of PL.

I don't think there is enough content yet to be able to charge $15 a month. Don't get me wrong though, the content they have so far is great but I might as well go off and play WoW if I wanted to pay $15 a month for a MMO.

I've been playing this ever since it came out, and I have to be honest I worry some about how Spacetime is going to make a profit from this game seeing how unwilling many seem to be to even shell out $1.99 for a respec. If there is no profit, eventually there'll be no way for them to keep this game on servers that bleed money. And then there will be no more Pocket Legends in any incarnation, free, freemium, anything at all.

While I don't think there'd be enough interest for a subscription-based service, perhaps there could be a Pro account sort of thing you can buy that would give you some extra treats. Keep the basic version free, but then for the die-hard fans have an option to give them some more fun stuff. It wouldn't be things that would give them an advantage, gameplay-wise, but perhaps it could include things like being able to customize your character, and more advanced features that Average Joe who plays it just for free doesn't care about. The danger of adding a lot of advanced features like mailboxes, guilds and banks is that it might just make it seem more complicated for the casual gamer, while for the fans it's a must-have.

Before Pocket Legends I'd never ever played a MMORPG in my life, and I think the fact that it's so easy and non-complicated to get into is a great strength. Had this game been far more advanced from the get-go I'm not sure I would've fallen into it the way I have, just because it would've seemed really overwhelming and too advanced (even if it necessarily wouldn't be). So yeah, for all these advanced features everyone wants, it'd be a good idea not to lose track of appealing to new gamers too.

No no NO to subscription.

Seriously guys come on. This is an on-the-go game, one to play quickly at a restaurant while your girlfriend goes to the bathroom. (Just don't get caught - it's not fun)

A subscription will put people off. People who may very well come on and spend a few on in-game content.

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Originally Posted by _ck

While I don't think there'd be enough interest for a subscription-based service, perhaps there could be a Pro account sort of thing you can buy that would give you some extra treats. Keep the basic version free, but then for the die-hard fans have an option to give them some more fun stuff. It wouldn't be things that would give them an advantage, gameplay-wise, but perhaps it could include things like being able to customize your character, and more advanced features that Average Joe who plays it just for free doesn't care about.

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I agree with this. I want to see this game survive and I would happily part with a 1 time payment of around $10-15 for a 'premium' account or whatever.

But NO subscription!

Let's face it, NgMoco ain't exactly swallowing up other developers on IOUs. I was playing We Rule for a bit, and as much of a "shell" it is of what it "can be" its still up high on the charts for Top Grossing games in the Appstore. Not bad for a Freemium game that only sells Mojo, whereas in PL you've got 3 classes with Gear, Re-Specs, Pots, Gold, and new Level Packs... Thats a lot of room for monetary compensation. I have paid for a Re-spec on my bear Glavius, and I plan to again when I'm end game. I paid 1.99 for the first, and soon another .99 and then some. Compare that to Galcon, I paid .99 for it only once, and I've been playing it online for over a year.

I have full faith in SpacetimeStudios to listen to the forums and find a balance in monetization, just look at the drop in price for Re-Specs. I'm sure that carried over pretty well, I've seen a number of posts saying they've now re-specced, just imagine how many users have who don't post here have done the same.

I think that the app should have cost money in the first place. I would have rather payed $20 for this app then to have to fear a subscription for this game. Change the pricing from free to $15 if you need to but a supscription would definately turn people away from this game.

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Originally Posted by Banned

I think that the app should have cost money in the first place. I would have rather payed $20 for this app then to have to fear a subscription for this game. Change the pricing from free to $15 if you need to but a supscription would definately people away from this game.

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You ever go to the TA forums? The entire first page of posts on a new release are seething with rage if a game costs more than .99.

I don't think any game thats not an established franchise can charge 15 dollars on the hopes that the consumer will take a leap of faith, or word of mouth will make the sale. With hundreds of games released every week/month, its a gamble. Heck, even Capcom doesn't charge that much, and I think we've all heard of a game with a 20 year history called "Street Fighter."

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Originally Posted by Banned

I think that the app should have cost money in the first place. I would have rather payed $20 for this app then to have to fear a subscription for this game.

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Its true and I WOULD pay that much.

However if I had never played it there is no way I would pay. And newcomers wont know that it is worth it either.

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Originally Posted by _ck

I've been playing this ever since it came out, and I have to be honest I worry some about how Spacetime is going to make a profit from this game seeing how unwilling many seem to be to even shell out $1.99 for a respec. .

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You dont seem to really 'get it'. I am perfectly willing to shell out money for all kinds of content, but to be asked to pay money to 'fix' a character because of changes THEY made, well I wouldn't be cool with that. Its not the price point, I just dont think its fair to have to pay in that scenario. If its a respec just to try something new or 'because I feel like it' then I support paying.

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Originally Posted by Dizko

Its true and I WOULD pay that much.

However if I had never played it there is no way I would pay. And newcomers wont know that it is worth it either.

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This is a good point. I wouldn't take the chance. Banned, while it is certainly worth money to buy, consider this. if and when the content gets to like lvl 100 cap, think of how many dungeons you would have paid for. They will get their money if they keep providing content. IMO :)

They should be charging money for the game. Maybe not my over exaggerated $15 but some amount. Anything that can help the server keep running.

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Originally Posted by Xervitude

You dont seem to really 'get it'. I am perfectly willing to shell out money for all kinds of content, but to be asked to pay money to 'fix' a character because of changes THEY made, well I wouldn't be cool with that. Its not the price point, I just dont think its fair to have to pay in that scenario. If its a respec just to try something new or 'because I feel like it' then I support paying.

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It's true, I have no idea what you're talking about. Who are these THEY people you talk about that are forcing you to pay money?

In other threads, people have complained about how eventually getting to level 50 will cost about $20, but here people seem to be willing to pay all at once, but only if they had played it first. I think that the system that the developers have now works really well because eventually the developers will get their $20 from most people, and it's a steady stream.

I'm on the fence about a premium account, on the one hand it would bring in more money, but on the other it really separate the players between "premium" and "freemium". I've just seen problems with the two... A lot of people who play this game are just kids who can't afford to pay for premium accounts, and I think that it would create a real rift in the player base.

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Originally Posted by Banned

I think that the app should have cost money in the first place. I would have rather payed $20 for this app then to have to fear a subscription for this game. Change the pricing from free to $15 if you need to but a supscription would definately turn people away from this game.

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Like I wrote earlier in this thread, a solution is to simply have a free, basic version of the game for the casual fans and cheapskates, and then offer a more fully-featured experience for those who are fans that offers more features that the casual player doesn't care about. As someone who has never played an MMORPG before (and never really had an interest in them), the fact that I could download this and play it for free is the sole reason I'm here now, and consider myself something of a PL junkie.

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Originally Posted by Banned

They should be charging money for the game. Maybe not my over exaggerated $15 but some amount. Anything that can help the server keep running.

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This thread is going to go in circles.

This thread cannot be justified until Devs mention any financial issues which they haven't.

Each Dungeon they release is Easily earning them currently around 200$ ( do not forget this game is still New, The population is Going to escalate dramatically )

This is without bringing in Additional character slots which most people have bought, Emoticons, Resets & other ITune gifts available.

They are set to make a fortune by the time this game picks up you could be talking Thousands per Dungeon.

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Originally Posted by _ck

Like I wrote earlier in this thread, a solution is to simply have a free, basic version of the game for the casual fans and cheapskates, and then offer a more fully-featured experience for those who are fans that offers more features that the casual player doesn't care about. As someone who has never played an MMORPG before (and never really had an interest in them), the fact that I could download this and play it for free is the sole reason I'm here now, and consider myself something of a PL junkie.

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Why make 2 versions of the game when In-App purchases can suffice those willing to pay more? 2 executables = 2 versions that have to get bug fixed when they are found, introduced, or squashed. Seriously, this model isn't broken, if you want to give the devs more money, send them a paypal.

Here, have a read on the financial benefits of going freemium, and what it's done for the C64 emulator.

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Originally Posted by Tuaw Article

-- the way the app works is that you do get some games for free, and then you can buy more using in-app purchases. Carnie tells us that when the app went free, they saw a spike in games being bought -- twenty times what they were selling previously. Making the app free also vastly increased their user base,...

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The fact that you're willing to pay so much is a good thing, you are obviously enjoying the game, heck, we all are if we're here talking about it. This shows the Devs we are interested in investing more into their product, thats not a bad thing.

I think the last player estimate I heard was about 1.5 k players, amusing even just 2/3 buy the new dungeons, that's 2k per dungeon. Pretty dec, I would say. However, I do think that anyone who works hard and is providing something that has a higher value than what they are being payed for (and I believe that PL is much more underpriced than it could be) should be rewarded with more financial support, regardless of how well they're doing right now. I fully support the current prices, and wouldn't mind paying a couple dollars more.

@ infamous

That's the thing. I don't want to hear the devs come out one day and say the game is going to be closed down because they don't have enough money to run the servers. I'd rather them just charge for the client and not risk the chances.

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Originally Posted by FeralDruid

Why make 2 versions of the game when In-App purchases can suffice those willing to pay more? 2 executables = 2 versions that have to get bug fixed when they are found, introduced, or squashed. Seriously, this model isn't broken, if you want to give the devs more money, send them a paypal.

Here, have a read on the financial benefits of going freemium, and what it's done for the C64 emulator.

The fact that you're willing to pay so much is a good thing, you are obviously enjoying the game, heck, we all are if we're here talking about it. This shows the Devs we are interested in investing more into their product, thats not a bad thing.

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Why couldn't the Premium/Pro just be an in-app purchase? Just like buying a map pack unlocks the ability to play in more dungeons, shouldn't it be possible to buy a "Premium Player Pack" within the game that unlocks more features that are otherwise hidden from you if you are just playing the free basic version?

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Originally Posted by _ck

It's true, I have no idea what you're talking about. Who are these THEY people you talk about that are forcing you to pay money?

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You know full well who the game developers are, and I would kindly ask you not to put words in my mouth. I never suggested anyone was being forced. However when I have a character I am happy with, and they make changes rendering that character less effective, or useless. I dont think it fair to ask to pay to fix it.

The bean counters won't let them just suddenly announce they are closing up shop. You'll see a number of changes with their business model before they decide to fold. Remember, they also have other products, they're not scraping by with PL alone. Seriously, I think they know a thing or two about having the rug pulled from under them ;)

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Originally Posted by iNFaMous

This thread is going to go in circles.

This thread cannot be justified until Devs mention any financial issues which they haven't.

Each Dungeon they release is Easily earning them currently around 200$ ( do not forget this game is still New, The population is Going to escalate dramatically )

This is without bringing in Additional character slots which most people have bought, Emoticons, Resets & other ITune gifts available.

They are set to make a fortune by the time this game picks up you could be talking Thousands per Dungeon.

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I'm certainly not saying that they should start charging money if things are going well and they are making money. I have no idea how they are doing.. But you gotta sell a lot of maps, respecs, etc. to not only be able to keep servers going, but also pay the staff, and pay for the continued development of the game. At least on my part, I'm just thinking of ways that they could make more money off of it because I'd hate to see Pocket Legends die out if there aren't enough ways for them to make money.

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Originally Posted by Xervitude

You know full well who the game developers are, and I would kindly ask you not to put words in my mouth. I never suggested anyone was being forced. However when I have a character I am happy with, and they make changes rendering that character less effective, or useless. I dont think it fair to ask to pay to fix it.

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The skill was broken, it was fixed. Those who dumped points into the talent wether they knew it was broken or not took a risk speccing full dex anyway (who does that?). You shouldn't have had to pay for a respec however, the Devs should learn from this, and when they see a trend and have to fix it due to it being broken, those classes affected should be offered a free respec, as Blizz does whenever it makes changes to a class in WoW that can affect how it is to be played based on any existing specs.

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Originally Posted by Xervitude

You know full well who the game developers are, and I would kindly ask you not to put words in my mouth. I never suggested anyone was being forced. However when I have a character I am happy with, and they make changes rendering that character less effective, or useless. I dont think it fair to ask to pay to fix it.

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Well I wasn't trying to put any words in your mouth, I'm sorry.

I haven't seen any changes to the game that have been so dramatic that they render some skillset worthless though, and like FeralDruid says, most of the changes that have been made are tweaks to make the game balanced. If this makes you feel uncomfortable playing when things can be changed around, maybe it's better to take a break and come back when these infancy issues have been ironed out?

Ok ok people just cause I played for seven hours doesn't mean I can't have a oppinion, I just see alot of oppertunity for this game and plan on donating for these developers time and effort.

I said I would would donate to the cause soon and I plan on doing so, as for the premium pack I think it is a good idea, and still will root for it. I'm actually glad I started this thread because I'm seeing so many boast thier oppinions which automaticly makes this game great with all the support and ideas.

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Originally Posted by FeralDruid

The skill was broken, it was fixed. Those who dumped points into the talent wether they knew it was broken or not took a risk speccing full dex anyway (who does that?). You shouldn't have had to pay for a respec however, the Devs should learn from this, and when they see a trend and have to fix it due to it being broken, those classes affected should be offered a free respec, as Blizz does whenever it makes changes to a class in WoW that can affect how it is to be played based on any existing specs.

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For the record, I didn't even have an evasion archer, or a warrior. I simply disagree with recharging for spec changes after they change the skills.

@ck we can agree to disagree, but I am allowed an opinion and I am certainly not the only one who thinks the same.

I really think this game needs a lower cost of entry and more premium items in the store. Like it or not, people are turned off buy the $1.99 per pack pricing and stop at lv13. These are all potential customers that may buy respecs, gold, and other items down the line. Look at actual freemium games like We Rule, Eliminate, Korean mmos. PL isn't freemium, its a 'lite' game where you purchase the real game in app.

I wouldn't want a premium version. That's all I can say.

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Originally Posted by Dizko

I agree with this. I want to see this game survive and I would happily part with a 1 time payment of around $10-15 for a 'premium' account or whatever.

But NO subscription!

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I agree, there could be a premium account upgrade for like $10-$15 that gives players lots of extra features and stuff. but untill lots of extra features and stuff are thought of and implemented in the game, the game should be like it is now with free new stuff/features/content coming out, and I like the having to pay for expansion packs and the other stuff players have to pay real money for, but the expansions/level packs should be a little cheaper, and to make up the little cheaper, there could be an option for players to be able to change their character name for a price of $2.99 or $1.99 because a changing name feature would make more money for spacetime studios and would be a nice option for the players too.

Lots of good points in these posts. For my 2 cents, I think the current pricing system is the most fair and business-minded approach.

The free period is quite substantial. Yes, two characters for 13 levels each can be "done" fast, but it's more than enough to let you feel the game out. Some say they're not getting enough value for the parts they pay for; that they can get many other games for a one-time 0.99/1.99 fee and play forever. Yes, but obviously PL offers much more satisfaction than those games (otherwise, you wouldn't be clamoring so), and that interactivity is part of what you're paying for.

As this release is still young, I'm sure many changes in the prices and game are coming. But I recommend against a subscription. Even though I think a small monthly fee would be very fair, even $0.99 a month would turn away too many players who would otherwise spend much more than that on in-game upgrades.

@Lan~ Judging by the number of people on the forums, and the number of people online at all hours of the day, I wouldn't say that people are being turned off at all. I've told a few of my friends about this game, and they've all become avid players.

I don't think that PL isn't a freemium at all; rather, You get a full game for free, which, while somewhat short, allows you full access to everything the game provides other than higher levels. The level packs are practically their own game within their selves, the only thing you're really purchasing is "part 2" They're expansion packs.