Pay to play
Has haypi considered making HD a pay to play game and to add in app purchases for the various features on new updates ? This model works with most pc games. Right now, those that spend reap the greatest rewards, which makes sense since they are footing the bill for the other players. However, perhaps if the reward system was a level playing field and the game was subscription based, the longer standing players would most likely have the advantages they deserve being the more senior players. Furthermore, this would also help keep players longer. People would think twice about canceling their subscription when they know it would require them to start over if a new update came along. This game has tremendous potential that from a business perspective hasn't yet been realized as it's not managed in the most effective way.
People play regularly because they like the people they play with. Yes, the game itself must be fun (obviously) but everytime a long standing player leaves that puts several others at risk of following suit. An argument can be made that with an adequate pipeline of new players the model can support higher turnover of older customers, but the reality is the new players are spending less per person given how much is handed to them for free in order to catch them up with the more experienced players.
I know there are many players that do not want to pay a monthly fee to play and will be infuriated by the mere suggestion but I think the game and the players would benefit from this.
1. There would be much less disparity between the haves and the have nots.
2. With the more steady revenue stream haypi could focus on content delivery issues and enhancing service levels.
3. Player retention, I cannot adequately express how important this is. No mmorpg has ever survived without establishing a very strong community within it's servers.
4. Being an annuity style revenue stream the games profitability would become far more predictable which would give haypi more transparency into their businesses health help them better manage decisions.
Anyway, mull it over, this freemium fad will eventually whither and if haypi intends to become a front runner in the gaming world of the future they will need to figure out a way to sustain their user base. Evolve or dissolve.
Phillygrk (s9) Player Lvl 40
All Dragons Level 40, 8 OJ