I would prefer premium with DLC add-ons. However, if you decide to make it freemium, please don't go the ngmoco route (eg. Pay 10 powercells to keep playing, buy powercells to buy credits to buy weapons, etc).
You guys need to make a great game. You also have to price it just right, so you can fund further development, and most importantly, give me my $25 worth of expansions.
I'm genuinely looking forward to this game but I've never found a freemium game that I've enjoyed, including Tiny Tower. It's just a horrible way to monetize a game, like feeding a slot machine that never pays out.
On Freemium We are not going to be like those other freemium games. Even if it means not being freemium - The draw is the increased crowd (obviously) now inevitably you need to build a system into the game that draws the user into wanting a 'shortcut' for $4.99 or what have you- we will avoid that - the game will be fully playable, beatable and fun but with the monetization along the lines of unique characters, or something along those lines - This way the game isnt forced to go slow or be painful just to entice to raise revenue - instead we will have random drops of non-important game items- and if you want that specific one - you will have to pay for it- or just keep trying to grab it. at SOME point we need revenue- and freemium might perhaps be the least painful way fo doing it- perhaps not - but it is also - as we are all mature- a good way of raising more revenue which leads to more Star Command. its tricky though.
I have a great tagline suggestion: "Star Command: Some accessories sold separately." Remember when raising revenue was directly attached to making a video game that was enjoyable, and every little piece of it didn't come with a price tag? No, you're just incorporating the same exact system as the rest of them. So let me see if I got this right: You appealed to your audience for support in funding this game, which they generously provided. All while intending to charge for the game and to continue hitting players up for more money through the game after you sold it to them. I can see that trying to make the chart means everything, despite all the positive reactions so far. Stay classy, Star Command development.
I'd have to say that I would much prefer the premium route with extra DLC content over freemium. every freemium game I've put on my device has been deleted after a few days to a week at most.
Why don't you say instead, "offering to sell your customers even more good stuff, rather than just what they can get in the initial purchase"? It certainly seems possible to design a game so that it sucks unless you spend more and more money. We all know developers who do that. It's also possible to design a game so that it's plenty of fun, and for those who want even more, they can buy more content, and that's win-win for everyone. We can also all point to developers like that. What do you have against the idea of allowing those people who want more to pay more to get more, and those people who are satisfied with less to pay less to get less? It seems to me a highly desirable way to help everyone get what they want.
In my opinion Tiny Towers is one of the most overrated games. Yes, it looks nice, but it is hollow, boring and offers no real challenge. Gameplay indeed is "Tiny", you have to search it with magnifying glas... I hope that Star Command is not going in the direction of many Facebook games, where you have to buy "Energy" to play the game as long as you wish or wait for hours until it is replenished. If it turns out that this will be the case, SC will be no-buy for me. If not, then you will have a customer. Btw, count me in for the beta
I'd also rather see Star Command take the premium route. It's just a hassle to play a freemium game and it rips the customers off. Perfect example as mentioned earlier is Tiny Tower. IMO, it was great game, but it was basically impossible to progress if you didn't buy the IAP. Premium would be much easier for both the developer and the customer.
I think you're the last person whose opinion I would ever heed, Mr. "I don't like difficult levels in games but apparently I love bending over for some IAP" Apologists like yourself may be prepared to excuse the practice when you perceive it as 'optional', 'bonus', 'premium', etc. Although I must confess some amusement that you would trot out this sort of 'well nobody is forcing you to buy it' line while getting berated in the other thread with 'well nobody is forcing you to play it'.
While I generally frown upon free to play games, in particular those designed to milk you for money in order to play or be successful. Most of these games fit the same familiar mould of mindless clicking and unlocking things. However, there are one freemium games that spring to mind that has done things right IMO. League of legends, the popular free to play MMOG. Proof that a freemium model can work while still giving you full unrestricted access to all the content. I don't know how exactly this could fit into Star Command, but it's proof that it decent freemium models can exist. Anyway, I have full faith that the developers behind Star Command will make the most appropriate choice for distributing and selling their game.
I'd say premium. I mean if Square Enix can charge $15.99 for a game and get it - surely this would go for the before mentioned price of $2.99 or so. Seeing how quickly you hit your Kickstart goal (and exceeded it) I'd say there's a lot of interest in this game. For myslef personally - if this game actually does everything you've said it does...this would be the first game I'd actually consider paying $15.99 for! (no offense to Square Enix, but rehashes don't cut it for me...unless it's Chrono Trigger...) You'll get your money out of it I'm sure! This game is awesome and I'm super excited about it! ...now get back to work (cracks whip) LOL
No offense but I dont think you know what you're talking about. Tiny Tower is an example of freemium done right, not freemium done wrong. The IAP basically revolved around buying "Tower Bux", but there was an unbelievable amount of ways to get these bux just playing normally. The pace at which the game progressed was done right and you could buy IAP if for some reason you needed it to be faster. Youd never get stuck progress-wise in that game though. Compare this to games like Lil' Pirates or Dragonvale where the IAP currency is next to impossible to gain from just playing the game. You basically have to by it. Those are examples of freemium done wrong.
I agree - I thought Tiny Tower was well done in that regard - I played it for several weeks and really enjoyed it without ever purchasing anything. I still would prefer to just pay up front and get expansions and updates for free or low cost. Just personal preference.
As long as my $25 includes unlimited consumables, I could care less what the rabble has to pay for in your new freemium hell. Really, though, the best way to do this imho is to keep consumables out of the equation. No tri-lithium packs for $0.99 or stupid shit like that. Durable IAP, even if they don't affect gameplay (ship styles, uniform styles) or do so in a balanced way (unlock alien race X, unlock ship Y) are more desirable. By balanced I mean that you can unlock them for cash money, or explore the galaxy/get far enough into the timeline without paying to access these things. I'd pay IAP for "episode packs" of plot/situations to occupy my time. 7 Words is a good example here, offering packs of puzzles for a buck a piece. Your IAp now lengthens gameplay, and keeps me going further in, keeps me in your game. Maybe a $3 game that comes with one full season's worth of episodes, and IAP of $1 seasons that make the game longer, keep the fun going. TL;DR: No consumables, lots of durable IAP, some style-only, some content.
@Dip We haven't committed to anything, and the game at its core is still a typical premium game. You get all the content, all the galaxies to explore, all the ship types and all of the aliens, rooms (except Dr. Leach's Lab) that everyone else gets. This is far from bait and switch. As a gamer, I don't resent Valve for introducing the DLC medium into Team Fortress 2, and that is literally one of my favorite games ever. I don't care if people pay for hats, and Valve is utterly fantastic with offering just free content - new weapons, new maps, new everything all the time. I bought the game when it came out, and as they have introduced those elements I haven't grown to resent the new culture. I understand it. And more than anything, they encapsulate "Games as a Service". Which brings us to the real point. Games are changing. You can't just release a game, people play it, and it's over. The entire industry has changed in the last 3 years, and gamers expect elongated experiences. I play Red Dead Redemption, and they release DLC that I can take advantage of to extend the game. I don't feel slighted, and people that may not have embraced the game like myself don't really care about the content. We emulate Valve. They are our favorite company, and we really love everything they do - from steam, to their quality over quantity "policy", their fair treatment of customers and the introduction of hats into Team Fortress 2. They think about things and make sure it's done right. Which is what we will do. We merely asked what everyone thinks of Freemium vs. Premium. But please acknowledge that isn't quite as simple as "Release a premium game and be done with it" cause thats not the culture anymore. Games need to have much longer legs these days to keep the audiences attention. Yes, you need a quality game to begin with, but even that isn't enough these days. And in particular on the mobile market. There is a ton of shovel ware to get around and on top of that you have to compete with Chillingo, Rovio and the other big companies owning the top 10 on the charts. That is a difficult market to penetrate (cue trolls), so it begets us to ask the people who are really enthusiastic about our game what their opinions are. We are also releasing onto a market where 72% of sales are through In App Purchases. I know you want us to, but that's something we can't just ignore. Revenue is something we are taking into account. We don't want to own an island and build a private army - we just want to make more games. We want to make expansion packs, sequels and new games for everyone to play and be able to make a living. And we believe that making a really great game will lead to that success. However, we have to be cognizant of the current market. All of that said, the system we are considering would be something like Hats in Team Fortress 2. Any bonus that you pay for will be purely aesthetic - space dogs, new uniforms, alien skulls and almost every single one of them will be in the game for you to find naturally. But, again like TF2, some items will be more rare and difficult to find. WoW does a similar model if you think about it, and you don't hear people complaining. You have to pay a monthly fee and they continue to release new content. It's not as micro, but really your paying for the ability to search for rare items and explore new areas etc. Food for thought, and love to hear everyone's feedback. TL;DR Probably premium, with IAP. Think hats in TF2
Also, expansion packs will be pay as well. Things like the ability to explore planets is a ton of work as far as asset generation, or the ability to take control of different species.
