Why more players don't buy the Uber pack

metalsquid · 12-06-2012, 12:24 AM

Firstly, I think there is a large misconception about the additional packs. A lot of players seem to think that they are just different skins and therefore not worth the price. Not enough has been done to communicate to each and every downloader, that each race has their own special unit that radically alters ones playstyle. So what happens? Most people will be pleased enough to go with the Scallywag look for free and think that's the whole game.

Of those that do know about the special units being unique, the more casual players, of which we must assume are the majority ie. not you guys here on OML forums, probably aren't skilled enough to be able to bring out the Bombshell because it's so expensive and the learning curve is pretty steep once you get it out on the map. This leads them to assume that the special units of other races would be equally hard to use. So the perception is, why pay money for another race whose unique selling point is a unit you rarely get a chance to use? Might as well stick with the free one you got now.

What are the possible solutions? I don't know whether this was tried during the beta test but what about reducing the cost of the special to 6 wits? In making it slightly easier for players to spawn the specials, hopefully players will be exposed to them more often, possibly leading to more fun and curiosity about the other race specials. Personally, I like the way it is now. Careful planning needs to be done before spending a large amount of wits on bringing out a special. However, I consider myself and most of us here on this forum as hardcore players and in a minority. I would gladly accept special units being easier to use for more casual players, IF it would mean more revenue for OML so they could fix their server issues, whether that meant being able to upgrade the server if they had to or more salary for a programmer to fix the code. I don't know where the problem lies. But I do know that after 3 point updates and months later, I've come back to the game to play the new race, with the hope that those initial 'teething problems' with the server would be resolved by now, only to find they still exist and worse, there are newer problems still.

OML have made a marvellous game and I'm saddened they've only recouped about a tenth of what it cost to make. Another studio has just shut down their servers for a fantasy-themed, 3D turn-based strategy game due to piracy. There were more pirated copies than paid ones overloading the server to the point they couldn't fix it and just decided to shut it all down. I would hate to see that happen to OML and Outwitters due to not enough users spending money on the game. According to their Oct blog post, only 2% out of 500,000 downloads have spent money on the game. So well done the other 9,999 of you. What about the rest? How can we help to get the other 490,000 people to spend a little money on the game? Me personally, I like the Scallys as they suit my playstyle more, so I'm going to start playing more non-league games using other races and just bring out the specials early, even if it means losing, just so that more unranked players can see the difference and possibly be encouraged to purchase an uber pack.

bmike · 12-06-2012, 12:46 AM

I don't know the answer to that - maybe they could let the paid players have longer timeouts (free players can only let a game sit for 48 hours - paid players 4 days) or make the leagues work better or give them a badge in the rankings to show to everyone that they paid for the extras.

It's a fine line between making it too blatant and doing it nicely, but I would think that adding leagues for each team might be a nice way to let people see who has paid for the teams in a similar way to how the bases let you know your opponent chose to spend some cash on the game.

I like the changes where people had to pay to get more game slots open - when it was a free for all - there were tons of new players that would start 20 games and then be gone the next day.

It's tricky to make it fun enough to encourage new players to join and decide that it's a fun game - so you don't want too many pay barriers - but you also need some real benefits to capture the people that are not used to spending. There will always be a large subset of people that disable in app purchase - so those people will never contribute to this game and the trick is allowing them to play without using too much server resources to require a few of us to fund things heavily through the existing IAP.

garcia1000 · (This post was last modified: 12-06-2012 12:57 AM by garcia1000.)

I have a suggestion:

Make the free team the Adorables.

Spectromancer originally had Holy (a defensive class) as the free team. After they changed the free class to Illusion (an aggressive class) they had much better results.

the duck · 12-06-2012, 01:09 AM

OML should give one game with each team for free so people can try the extra teams.

metalsquid · 12-06-2012, 01:32 AM

the duck, how would that work? Then no one would have to buy anything. If they wanted to play a different team they would just load a different app.

garcia1000, that's an interesting thought. What if in the next update, the free team became something else? For players who already use the special, they might miss the Bombshell or the Scally look. Would they feel like it was a bait & switch to now have to pay to use the team they previously were using for free and had gotten used to? Some might give up the game completely if they had to choose between paying for something the already had or being forced to learn a whole new playstyle against their will. Tough call.

bmike, I agree with your last paragraph. I think with 500,000 downloads, Outwitters has done well in attracting players. The problem has been converting them to paying customers. I'm just surprised there isn't more goodwill towards this game because it's so good.

worldfamous · 12-06-2012, 01:50 AM

(12-06-2012 01:32 AM)metalsquid Wrote: the duck, how would that work? Then no one would have to buy anything. If they wanted to play a different team they would just load a different app.

garcia1000, that's an interesting thought. What if in the next update, the free team became something else? For players who already use the special, they might miss the Bombshell or the Scally look. Would they feel like it was a bait & switch to now have to pay to use the team they previously were using for free and had gotten used to? Some might give up the game completely if they had to choose between paying for something the already had or being forced to learn a whole new playstyle against their will. Tough call.

bmike, I agree with your last paragraph. I think with 500,000 downloads, Outwitters has done well in attracting players. The problem has been converting them to paying customers. I'm just surprised there isn't more goodwill towards this game because it's so good.

Actually, the way I understand the situation, the 500,000 is the problem. Apparently 2% conversion is the standard. The 500,000 is the weak number. I wish they would use some of their amazing artwork and change the icon. Maybe it will draw new players, maybe not, but it sure seems worth a shot.

metalsquid · 12-06-2012, 02:01 AM

(12-06-2012 01:50 AM)worldfamous Wrote: Actually, the way I understand the situation, the 500,000 is the problem. Apparently 2% conversion is the standard. The 500,000 is the weak number. I wish they would use some of their amazing artwork and change the icon. Maybe it will draw new players, maybe not, but it sure seems worth a shot.

I didn't realise 2% was standard, thought it might be higher. You're right about the icon, could definitely use some new artwork.

the duck · 12-06-2012, 02:06 AM

(12-06-2012 01:32 AM)metalsquid Wrote: the duck, how would that work? Then no one would have to buy anything. If they wanted to play a different team they would just load a different app.

garcia1000, that's an interesting thought. What if in the next update, the free team became something else? For players who already use the special, they might miss the Bombshell or the Scally look. Would they feel like it was a bait & switch to now have to pay to use the team they previously were using for free and had gotten used to? Some might give up the game completely if they had to choose between paying for something the already had or being forced to learn a whole new playstyle against their will. Tough call.

bmike, I agree with your last paragraph. I think with 500,000 downloads, Outwitters has done well in attracting players. The problem has been converting them to paying customers. I'm just surprised there isn't more goodwill towards this game because it's so good.

I didn't though on that my bad.

joelduque · 12-06-2012, 03:01 AM

(12-06-2012 01:09 AM)the duck Wrote: OML should give one game with each team for free so people can try the extra teams.

Maybe this would work if there was a trial period or x number of games for the free team. Smile

**TheQwertiest** · 12-06-2012, 03:02 AM

(12-06-2012 03:01 AM)joelduque Wrote:
(12-06-2012 01:09 AM)the duck Wrote: OML should give one game with each team for free so people can try the extra teams.

Maybe this would work if there was a trial period or x number of games for the free team.

maybe all teams are allowed for the first 5 placement matches?