The Way Forward?

Day 1,200, 23:58 • Published in Indonesia Serbia • by Ind1anMartyr

Dear all,

***[Apologies for the sheer length of this article, but I cannot summarise what I have to say, any further!]

This is my follow up article to the previous one I had written, to put things in the right perspective and request sanity from both sides. (admin and players)

To start off with, let me give credit where credit is due. The admin representative (Belea) DID come to speak to the player representatives. What transpired next was that he took a look at the charter and immediately said goodbye.

Now this might look arrogance by the admin but that would be incorrect. In effect the charter was written with a whole set of demands and the most striking element of it was the phrase "These demands are non-negotiable"

I am not quite sure how "negotiations" are defined but for me the first rule is for all parties to be sane and humble and begin initiation of talks without any "demands". You can only "demand" something when you are in a position to, and usually demands do not work out well on any side...what works better is to peacefully explain your thoughts and ideas and be open to alternatives.

So i would encourage a second meeting to happen, but with flexibility on both sides to reach a mutually acceptable conclusion.

Now onto suggestions for revenue (as I had stated in my comment last time)



There are basically 2 business models for online games to make revenue.

1. Via in-game advertising.
2. Via in-game purchases.

1. In-game advertising :

This usually works out better for extremely popular MMOs where the games are extremely addictive and the players are so hooked to it, that they do not mind a banner consistently being present along the side.
If this business model was to be followed, it actually means more difficulty for the developers. Since that would mean they need a good marketing team who can rope in companies that want such a user base of the "young" age group. Knowing the player database, most advertisers would know that not too many players would be clicking on the ads unless they really appeal to such an audience. (We know the sites that appeal universally but I do not really see the game having "those' ads lol)

As you can guess its quite a headache, although I am sure with its big player base, the game will get initial advertisers, so it could be alright as a temporary or possibly (if it works) a long term solution.

2. In-game purchases :

Now this seems to be a more valid business model and the one that the game developers seem to be aiming at. However the thought process needs to be refined.

Current thought seems to be a shortcut "make money quick" kind of scheme. This is obviously not working well with the players and for good reason! The logistics are all wrong! rather than targeting a select list of niche players, the admins should look to bringing down the prices of gold to make them more affordable and of interest to new players.

Look at nations like Serbia and Poland - the two biggest nations in the game and yet how many from there actually buy gold? Why is that so?

Would it not be better to allow all players to buy gold at rock bottom rates on say one day of the week, so that you do not devalue it too much. You could easily sell 10-20 gold for say 1-2 euros on ONE specific day of the week (say, Sunday?) and you can be pretty sure that day will ensure terrific sales.

[of course, restrict ALL gold sales to a specific amount on that day - say 10 G per person ONLY]

On other days, the gold prices could remain the same, you know very well that tanks will anyway continue to buy gold to win battles for their nation.

This should go a long way in making new players enjoy the game further and train with greater strength WITHOUT feeling they are going out of pocket!

***Oh and please abolish certain silly rules that make it imperative for only gold players to enjoy the game. Let it be a player's OWN interest/desire that makes him buy gold...not forcing him to buy it. That will NEVER work.***

The other reason why this model works with facebook games is because they implement NEW premium items regularly, items that just make you FEEL better rather than really altering any game mechanics. More like a personal trip...which is great!

* Could be simple stuff like new medals, animated avatars, personalised house/village/city that a player can keep upgrading.

* Could be added bonuses like giving additional attack/defence strength for a week?

The bottom line is that this model can work very well if you keep in mind 2 very important points :

1. Target the REAL players...(maximum populated nations) and study what would induce THEM to buy gold. Remember, cheap goods sell more and faster and the overall profit booking is much better as they are bulk and more importantly SUSTAINABLE sales.

2. Target the NEW players rather than alienating them...make them feel involved in the game faster - for a game based on war, if ONE tank is worth 1500-2000 players now, does it show the game to be a MASSIVELY Multiplayer game or just a nice Multiplayer game, having lost its "massive" aspect.

You should know by now that it is NEW players who are likely to buy more gold as compared to older players. Why?

Old players are more likely to easily EARN gold due to their excellent economic and military skill.



This is not a super detailed document, since this is not my game and I am not involved in any strategic decision making process but I am really amazed at the short sightedness.

My final message to the administrators is to put their goals in the right perspective and to the player respresentatives to please approach the game makers with a degree of respect and with an idea to diplomatically resolve things.

Do not take role play too far - this is not really a revolution against a dictatorship - a dictator would never bother to even speak.

Make WAR not Peace! : )