Sandbox mode?

[jchris98]

(02-26-2014 10:50 AM)CombatEX Wrote:  Who wouldn't want this? It's not really a question of who wants sandbox but of what is pragmatic for Alex and Adam. As Alex said in regards to a non-async ("live") Outwitters mode, there are many features that would be good for the game in an ideal world, but from a business perspective it doesn't make sense. Still, I'm glad this was brought up as it's important to convey what features the community finds important so they can be considered in the event that OML makes a sequel.

In response to the notion that making this an iAP for Outwitters or a separate app which would recoup and hopefully exceed production costs, I'm not so sure this is the case. How many people would really buy this? As we can see from this thread, "everyone" would love a sandbox mode, but how many people would pay for one? Firstly, "everyone" is 21 people (at the time of posting) so it's hard to really know the broader demand and secondly, sandbox can already be somewhat replicated either in pass and play or on Harti's map creator. Though an in-app sandbox would be far more convenient, it isn't an absolute necessity due to free alternatives and not all players who want a sandbox mode will be compelled enough to buy one just for the sake of convenience. Now, even assuming that everyone really does buy the iAP/companion app instead of using free workarounds, it's not clear that OML would make enough for it to be worth it.

The following are some very rough approximates extrapolating from the $300,000 production cost in 1.75 years used to make Outwitters. If sandbox mode costs $1 and 100% of active Outwitters players buy it (I believe ~5000-7000 daily unique users as of a month or two ago), then OML would have to spend no more than ~2 weeks to break even. Now, some of the $300,000 figure can be discounted as OML doesn't have to pay for custom sounds and a host of other things that were necessary in producing Outwitters. Even if we cut expected costs in half ($150,000/1.75 years), OML would have to spend no more than 1 month producing this content under the assumption that ALL (100%) of currently active Outwitters players buy it at a $1 price point (half of players at a $2 price point, etc). And this is just to break even. Maybe it's possible and this is just speculation based on very limited information, but basically, don't get your hopes up =/

Exactly what I was thinking, just far more eloquently put.
Edit: only person who voted no? Seriously?