Why more players don't buy the Uber pack

[metalsquid]

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.