Originally posted by grapevine

They did have a free trial at launch.   Buddy keys, celebration weekend, and now this.   Its just a continuation.

I got invites to beta weekends for TSW and all that malarkey, I never got a 'free trial' of the game at any stage.  Do sub based games offer a free trial?  I can't remember SWTOR doing a free trial. In fact as I recall when the game launched I asked for a free trial as I was on the fence about purchasing.  They told me to sod off, well some R2D23445 told me to take a jump.  Only got the offer of a free trial, months later when the game was in less than good standing.

Originally posted by grapevine

Reading between the lines aren't rumours, they are projections of one's mind. 

 Oh I agree, somebody else could view things as being peachy at Funcom.

 

Unsustainable comments on what other’s may or may not have said are more aligned to slander/libel then rumours.

Well, no a rumor is a rumor I think to most people.  It basically means what is being said is unsubstaniated. Slander/libel is when you are making a statement about something that is false/untrue. We are on a forum offering personal opinion and thankfully the merits of free speech hold true. At least until the moderators and their pro bias toward Funcom kicks in. 

 

Very few companies are "happy" these days.

But some do better than others. Releasing a game that sells well at launch is always a good start.

Originally posted by fallenlords

Originally posted by grapevine

They did have a free trial at launch.   Buddy keys, celebration weekend, and now this.   Its just a continuation.

I got invites to beta weekends for TSW and all that malarkey, I never got a 'free trial' of the game at any stage.  Do sub based games offer a free trial?  I can't remember SWTOR doing a free trial. In fact as I recall when the game launched I asked for a free trial as I was on the fence about purchasing.  They told me to sod off, well some R2D23445 told me to take a jump.  Only got the offer of a free trial, months later when the game was in less than good standing.

That's cause TOR had big initial sales, given the IP and the amount of hype they generated they were in the position of doing that.  If you have a big hype wave not offering trials is the best approach, cause people is aware that your game is coming, people wants to try it, people know the IP:  you have a product that is in high demand, and if you offer a trial you risk people finding out it's not as they imained, going disenchanted and losing interes with no purchase.

Big hype games/strong franchises/IPs can grab more money at launch by not offering trials.  They point to the hype, the IP (and in many cases high critic scores/reviews) and say "wannna try it? pay for it"

An unknown franchise, that didn't push hype via PR and marketing that wen't low on the radar doesn't have that strong position, they can't use the IP as universal hook, they can't use the hype as universal hook and they might even have bad or mixed reviews, they can't say "pay to try it" cause they didn't build the interest and don't have the initial base of a large franchise or IP.

All they have is user word of mouth (if possitive as it is in TSW's case) and present a trial so people can actually see if the game is for them and get hooked.  people that due to the unknown franchise, lack of media hype or mixed reviews wouldn't try it otherwise.

Originally posted by fallenlords

Originally posted by grapevine

They did have a free trial at launch.   Buddy keys, celebration weekend, and now this.   Its just a continuation.

I got invites to beta weekends for TSW and all that malarkey, I never got a 'free trial' of the game at any stage.  Do sub based games offer a free trial?  I can't remember SWTOR doing a free trial. In fact as I recall when the game launched I asked for a free trial as I was on the fence about purchasing.  They told me to sod off, well some R2D23445 told me to take a jump.  Only got the offer of a free trial, months later when the game was in less than good standing.

Well there's been the offer of them, and yes it's normal for sub based games to offer free trials.

SWTOR has done them as well.

Originally posted by Jackdog
Good for them,  one one hand it is nice to see they have confidence in their game, one the other it seems they had an above average churn. That means they have a low retention. Best of luck to them.

I think they did have a lower than expected retention rate...the game is very niche like and I think will only hang on to a handful of players.

Originally posted by ZigZags

Originally posted by Jackdog
Good for them,  one one hand it is nice to see they have confidence in their game, one the other it seems they had an above average churn. That means they have a low retention. Best of luck to them.

I think they did have a lower than expected retention rate...the game is very niche like and I think will only hang on to a handful of players.

 

 

Actually they've said the retention rate is high, just initial sales were lower than hoped. 

That implies people who have played it generally like it, and it's more of an issue that simply not enough people have tried it.

Originally posted by grapevine

 

Well there's been the offer of them, and yes it's normal for sub based games to offer free trials.

 

SWTOR has done them as well.

Free trials eventually, but a month after launch ... that must be a new record.  Rift was about two months before a trial appeared if I remember correctly.  A lot of other sub based games that I can remember such as DC Universe,  a free trial was the first indication of it eventually going free to play.  There was no trial just after launch. Same with SWTOR that must of been at least six months before a trial was available.

Originally posted by Gargola

That's cause TOR had big initial sales, given the IP and the amount of hype they generated they were in the position of doing that.  If you have a big hype wave not offering trials is the best approach, cause people is aware that your game is coming, people wants to try it, people know the IP:  you have a product that is in high demand, and if you offer a trial you risk people finding out it's not as they imained, going disenchanted and losing interes with no purchase.

Big hype games/strong franchises/IPs can grab more money at launch by not offering trials.  They point to the hype, the IP (and in many cases high critic scores/reviews) and say "wannna try it? pay for it"

An unknown franchise, that didn't push hype via PR and marketing that wen't low on the radar doesn't have that strong position, they can't use the IP as universal hook, they can't use the hype as universal hook and they might even have bad or mixed reviews, they can't say "pay to try it" cause they didn't build the interest and don't have the initial base of a large franchise or IP.

All they have is user word of mouth (if possitive as it is in TSW's case) and present a trial so people can actually see if the game is for them and get hooked.  people that due to the unknown franchise, lack of media hype or mixed reviews wouldn't try it otherwise.

Now you are making me feel sorry for TSW.   The small unknown game that is battling the big boys.  No that would be a lie.   With an in-built shop it's kind of obvious that TSW is built with free to play in mind from the start.  In May of this year Funcom  secured 22 million in a standby equity facility, that we were led to believe was to be used for PR on TSW. Oh and another game I have never heard of, Fashion Week or something.  I am not sure in this case you can utilise the above excuses for this company.   They have to an extent classed themselves in the same bracket as SWTOR by the business model they have chosen.

They have also had their chance with a large IP in the past and blew it big style.   How many mediocre MMO's can you produce and still survive as a company?  Let us also not forget they initially said TSW would launch on the Xbox 360, they flat out lied about that. I am not even sure this company has much credibility left to be honest.

I don't know what a free trial will achieve at this point.  Go free to play and make the transition now, admit your screwed up on the initial model.   But I don't see where they are going to get any new subscribers from without them doing something more.   Who doesn't know about TSW that has any sort of interest? Is there a large untapped pool of players that are miraculously going to pop out of the woodwork.  If they haven't subbed yet I don't see they will sub ever.  At the same time look to the horizon, new WoW expansion and GW2.   Average video game sales are down, you have to do something good in this day and age to get the users.

Overall I would say word of mouth has been mixed.  I mean Funcom are blaming the Metacritic score for their dip in share price.  It's not like everybody saying this is a fantastic game they just go the marketing wrong, like I said before this was always a niche game with a niche market.  All in all Funcom were wrong in their expectations I think for this game. Indicated very early on when the day prior to launch the then CEO steps down.  

Originally posted by fallenlords

Free trials eventually, but a month after launch ... that must be a new record.  Rift was about two months before a trial appeared if I remember correctly.  A lot of other sub based games that I can remember such as DC Universe,  a free trial was the first indication of it eventually going free to play.  There was no trial just after launch. Same with SWTOR that must of been at least six months before a trial was available.

There used to be a time when you could get a free trial for just about any new release. Even single player games used to have playable demos, but now, not so much. I mean, there are some, but overall the amount of free time developers are giving potential customers has dipped considerably. Which is a shame as I think it does the game well. I know I've bought games that I never thought I would, purely after playing a demo version.

To look at it as you do, that it must be a bad thing, that the game must be underperforming, that they haven't got the sales, that it means it'll be going free to play... Yeah, tell that to ID Software who had demos from original Doom through Quake and onwards. They seem to be doing alright. Batman: Arkham City, Half Life 2, Bioshock, Total War, all games with demo's which are the equivalent of a free trial. Does that mean those games have done badly?

A free trial is not the last gasp of a dying game, it's a way for the developers to open the doors to gamers who are unsure about purchasing. After all, in the gaming industry the only way we know if we're going to like a game or not is if we spend money on it, something which people are wary about doing. Would you go into a restaraunt and order something worth $50 without knowing if you even like it?

Originally posted by UsualSuspect

A free trial is not the last gasp of a dying game, it's a way for the developers to open the doors to gamers who are unsure about purchasing. After all, in the gaming industry the only way we know if we're going to like a game or not is if we spend money on it, something which people are wary about doing. Would you go into a restaraunt and order something worth $50 without knowing if you even like it?

Talking as a gamer that pre-orders most of his games, I tend to research a game prior to release.  My pre-order list goes into early next year.   Most of it is based on past developer performance, franchise loyalty and if something floats my boat.   Very few games now are offering a free trial/demo until their initial sales period is over and the ones that do offer a trial/demo tend to do it prior to release.  So not sure I agree with your logic.  Typically example of panic stations was when id said specifically there would be no demo of Rage because they couldn't show the concept in a demo.  After poor sales what do we get, a Rage demo.  Games like Darksiders2 played the demo already, Resident Evil 6 played the demo already ...  Straw Dogs took a punt, pleased with the results - great game.   Now MMO's are different, they use beta's as trials because lets face it they aren't true beta's anymore. 

With regards to Funcom, it's not their form to offer a free trial so quickly.  It's out of character and you look at what is happening around, their share price continues to drop.  Then you have to look beyond the game a little,  this could be an attempt at a smash and grab.    Last ditch push, get people to buy and then fold the company.  I don't know, layoffs, new CEO's, poor performance - who knows what is happening at Funcom at this moment in time.  Does the the future look bright, A Fashion Week game, a Lego game ... all I know about at the moment.   Hardly like they have a lot of worthwhile projects in the pipeline.   No, I think they might be living on borrowed time.  When they themselves are saying people should not lose faith in the game or the company, that is to me is the time to worry.  That is the time to not have faith in the game or the company.

As for spending $50 in a restaurant without knowing whether I would like it or not, well by your logic you would never try anything new.  Unless you had the opportunity to sample it.   I find that odd, sometimes you take a leap of faith.  Life can be adventurous that way.

Originally posted by SuprGamerX
Yeah a free trial is always good , and for TsW it's a god send.    Just don't try it with high expectations , if you do you'll most likely throw your keyboard out the window.

Actually heard quite the opposite from people in the first area of the game.  Surprisingly positive comments and more so than beta or release IMO.

Originally posted by sumdumguy1

Actually heard quite the opposite from people in the first area of the game.  Surprisingly positive comments and more so than beta or release IMO.

That is right, since the trial I see a massive amount of new people starting out in Kingsmouth during primetime. Recently helped a little and gave away all my low tier stuff away for free which was clogging up my inventory,  via general chat and got about 50 responses in less than half minute.

I´d say it´s beginning to get traction, word of mouth is spreading and people want to check it out and get their own impression. After all it is a great, extremely enjoyable game,  for gamers who want something different and more innovative than the standard medieval setting fantasy MMO.