to the devs; how to get more players to ryzom

[hijii]

Greets, im still a new player to ryzo - about 7 days in the 14 day free trial - and i have to admit i am quite impressed with the game as is.

However as i was considering going on pay to play, i noticed that you need to "buy" the game for 29.95 in order to end the trial and continue playing.

Now, i understand this 30$ comes with a month gametime included, but nonetheless i feel its a little steep - and perhaps one of the main reasons people dont continue playing after the trial.

All games require you to buy the game before you can pay to play - that is fine... but look at star wars galaxies... buying the game there costs 19.95, same for EVE online. I would imagine players, once the trial ends, would be more likely to continue playing if they only have to pay 5$ for the game (monthly gamecosts are usually what... 15$?).

I see how the devs need to fork up the cost of developing the game, but now that i know i have to dish out 40-50$ (CAD) just to "buy" the game and then pay a monthly fee, im reconsidering it. technically, would it hurt the game to lower the "buy" price to 20$? i mean, the people who finish the trial already have the client... im sure the 10$ decrease in price would be counter balanced by a much greater amount of new players willing to jump to pay to play.

Just posting my opinions.

[systemv]

Before I attempted to buy it online I called the EB Games in my area and found it for $15 Canadian.

[amcyr]

Good deal. I payed $49 CAN back in October.

[predzz]

You should be happy they lowered the prices. People that bought the game once it was released had to pay the price of a normal full-priced game: 50 € ( $65 ? ) Now its 30€
Nevertheless seeing as how much u get in return, its a better bargain than most singleplayer games where u get avg 10-50 gameplay hours, after which u've already done and seen everything.

[dakhound]

for the same of $30 you get you moneys worth again and again and again I can assure you of that

[systemv]

Also I've never seen Galaxies lower than $35 Canadian in stores. I bought it at $45 Canadian last May and that $19.95 is US currency which comes out to about $25 Canadian...

[zumwalt]

SWG - EB: $14.95, Babbages: $14.95, Rhino Games: $9.95 (are they running a special, who knows)
WoW - Everywhere including wallmart, $49.95 (and worth every penny)
Ryzom - can't be found around where I live, and when I asked after the announcement if they were getting them, they all said nope, to high of a return risk.
EQ2 - EB, Babbages, and Rhino = $19.95

Big difference between SWG, WoW, EQ2, compared to Ryzom?? Corporate backing, income, size of parent company.

Ryzom = more intelligent and creative dev team IMO, there black hole is the lack of support.

[vinnyq]

I totally agree with hiji.

Nevrax can only stand to gain if they lower the game fees for those 2 weeks=trial players that already started playing, to $15-$20.

They'll get 5 new subs of recurring revenue as oppose to 1 with a slightly higher one time fee.

Think about it.

(I am also referring to the Jolt server where you can purchase the game online, which was where I bought mine).

[madnak]

Even under ideal conditions it costs $9-$12 per player per month to support the infrastructure for this kind of game. If you think Nevrax is just pocketing your monthly fee, you're sorely mistaken. At this point, and based on some of the press we've had recently, I wouldn't be surprised if Nevrax is losing money on each player.

Also, if someone isn't willing to pay $30 for a game, it doesn't seem likely to me that they'll be around long.

[zumwalt]

I got liniage for $1 from EB, and they have thousands of players, think about it another way, you give away the client to get people hooked they pay a monthly sub, thats equal to 3 months of free time if you pay 30$ for the software.

Everyone will play a beta because its free, everyone will play a game that cost them a $1 until there trial is up, if they like it they stay, if they don't they go and no grumble about $30 up front cost for nothing.

That $1 purchase got 10 more friends in because it only cost them $1 to try for 30 days, in Ryzom's case its free for 14 days, I don't play enough to determine if I want to stay in an MMO if I only have 14 days, where as I can decide in 30.

AND there are no additional costs to paying that $1 for the software, just my monthly sub, but Ryzom you have to pay at the end of the 14 day trial, $30, then that rolls into another 30 days I think before your sub starts, so thats 44 days for $30, its still a jump.

You know how much easier it is as a working parent to give my kid a $1 to buy an mmo and then give him an allowance of $15 a month to pay for his gaming addiction?

Let me tell you, its easier to do that, than pay $30, then turn around and pay $15, thats $45, instead of $16, see the difference in cash?

I do, but thats me, a working father of 3 children, with rent and tons of other bills to pay, but hey, if your rich and have money to blow, charge $100 a month, and $500 for the game, I am sure rich people will throw the money away.

Look at EQ1, they have a $50 month sub for uber elite servers.