Free Memberships Gameplay

[Woodruff]

I can see that $25 is a lot at a single shot for a 'game'. I've often thought that if it were, say, $7 for a 3 month subscription, I might give it a shot. Although, I'm rather happy getting to play 4 games for free.

Let me get this right.
You're suggesting a trial period, to see if you like it?
Don't you already have that, with Freemium?

No, not really. It's not the same "product", if you will.

[jleonnn]

Weeeelll, maybe since lack ALREADY has a FULL-TIME JOB, maybe he could lower the price. Like I said, in Singapore, we could buy 5 risk sets with $25 usd

[SirSebstar]

not where i live

Premium would certainly make a nice St. Patrick's Day Gift.

If the price of a membership is a genuine budget killer? I suggest collecting aluminum cans for an hour a day, in about a week or so you can recycle them and go get a pre-paid visa/mastercard and you're all set. Three trash bags of cans smashed flat should cover it.

[drake_259]

Well i used to be premium but i had cut it off after the membership had run out because i was in too many games and i had no time to live, i was missing enough turns as it was.

Anyway i would prefer 5 games with freemium but then that would settle me and wouldn't need to go to premium, so 4 is just perfect for freemiums, it gives you enough games to have a good time and yet you get pushy wanting that one extra game to make you go an pay for premium, so if we gave that 1 extra game to all freemiums then there would be less premiums = less money for lacks pocket

Also here it costs £18.10 which is equivient to 5p a day (there goes all my unwanted coppers)

But for under 16s i feel sorry for, i joint up when i was 15 (17 now, woot!) and on my 16 birthday when i got my debit card the first thing i did i bought premium. However all the moments getting the that day was killing me, wanting it even more everyday, and for me my parents would not buy it. So if you want premium get your parents to buy it (or any other family member). Or earn some cash, paper round, etc and give the money to you family to buy it for you. And of course you have the premium prize tournaments, i have one running at the moment (funny a freemium giving away a premium) which is 13 and had 104 players involved.

Last of all my brother plays World of Warcraft and he is only 13, so he has to buy the gamecard to play, but he wants it even cheaper so what he does is gives me the money to pay for him for a subscription. (even though he still owes me £90 for wow atm, costy game) and what he is doing is buying bulk cans of coke from the shop and selling them for 50p and he makes £3.50 a day, and now i have gave him a helping hand with giving him red rooster (energy drink), chocolate bars and coke for him to sell at skool which i buy even cheaper from wholesale. (50% profit to me so its all good), but the point is he used his own imagination to earn himself some extra cash, i just helped him along

[jleonnn]

(even though he still owes me £90 for wow atm, costy game)...

lol. Anyway, it's irritating when players don't take their turns, I was playing with simi123 and he last visited 5 minutes after he joined, and he missed al turns starting from his first. If I was premium, I wouldn't mind, but that one game would drag on for ages and I coudn't play anymore.
Anyway, the only good thing that came out of it was that I got points.

[Dave67]

just pay $25 and play as many as you want.

Problem for some is that you also have to figure in the exchange rate - for Canadians at the moment that is $32.21, from the online currency calculator I just checked - and the cost of the cheque or money order used to pay for the membership. (Not everyone here has a credit card I would assume.)

ahh, yes, so it works out to 9 cents a day instead of 7. Horrible!

Thing is, many people have tight budgets, and even though it's only "Pennies a day" - an annoying advertising phrase which is designed to bring in those who don't think it through, IMHO - that large one-time chunk of $25-35 can cause some real pain. I do like the idea of a 3-month memebership for $7 that someone else put forth here. Yes, that works out to $28 over a year, which would not make economical sense at first.

However, this is how I see it. A member buys a 3-month membership, enjoys himself, and decided to buy the annual membership. The other way, a member might buy the annual membership, find out how lousy it is, and deadbeat. Now, you might say "Hey, cc just made a nice profit off that deadbeat.", but how would players in a game with that deadbeat when he left feel about that?

[Timminz]

a member might buy the annual membership, find out how lousy it is, and deadbeat. Now, you might say "Hey, cc just made a nice profit off that deadbeat.", but how would players in a game with that deadbeat when he left feel about that?

The only thing that would be different about this scenario, if 3-month memberships were available, is CC would get less money from the deadbeat.

[Dave67]

a member might buy the annual membership, find out how lousy it is, and deadbeat. Now, you might say "Hey, cc just made a nice profit off that deadbeat.", but how would players in a game with that deadbeat when he left feel about that?

The only thing that would be different about this scenario, if 3-month memberships were available, is CC would get less money from the deadbeat.

I would contend that the opposite would happen. I'm sure that there are many freemium players who are on the cusp of purchasing a premium membership, but are still warry of laying out so much in one chunk right off the bat. The three-month membership would give them a chance to 'test the waters', so to speak, and then decide if an annual membership is what they want. (Yes, it can be argued that the freemium membership is also 'testing the waters'. But there will still be some poeple who will balk at the large one-time outlay of cash.)

In addition, you might get someone who thinks, "I'll just get a three-month.", and then gets another, and another, and before they know it, they've been playing for a year - and cc has $3 more from them then if the only choice for them was an annual membership.

[AndyDufresne]

The arguments can always be made either way---but so far CC has chosen to opt for the single 1 year purchase.


--Andy

[Kotaro]

The arguments can always be made either way---but so far CC has chosen to opt for the single 1 year purchase.


--Andy

Is there any change that, in the future, we'll get different purchasing options?

[oVo]

However, this is how I see it. [...] a member might buy the annual membership, find out how lousy it is, and deadbeat. Now, you might say "Hey, cc just made a nice profit off that deadbeat.", but how would players in a game with that deadbeat when he left feel about that?

When someone has done the freemium test drive they already have a general idea how they feel about both this site and the game. So I seriously doubt "how lousy it is" would be part of the equation when choosing to purchase premium. Once a player advances beyond ? the likelyhood of them deadbeating all active games and quitting the site is also diminished.

[JubjubS22]

I don't think I lasted a whole month as a freemium before getting premium, so I don't have a problem with paying $25 for unlimited games, but I can see where it can be a stretch for others, especially where the cost of living is drastically different. Why not do a 10 for $10 special? Create a standard package that cost $10 USD per year and allows 10 games at a time. It still brings money to the site, but gives financially challenged players an entry into paid membership and additional benefits that a freemium account does not afford.

Like I said, not a factor for me, I'm just trying to see it through other people's eyes.

[just_in_ross]

I was sitting here, telling myself how much i love this game. I've been playing it for a long time, and do appreciate the hours of entertainment it has provided me. I thought it would be sweet to be able to have the ability to play 5 games at a time. Maybe a free member could acquire this privilege after a the member had earned a certain ranking or won a certain amount of games. I know the point is to get free member to eventually get hooked and get a gold membership to have unlimited games. But for those who can't afford or just unwilling to pay for such service would enjoy the "goal" of reaching the point where u can game 5 at a time. Personally, I would love to be able to have 5 games on the go, or, to be able to play one speed game (at a time) along with my 4 pending games. Just a thought.

Justin Ross

[The Neon Peon]

And the benefits for the owner of the site would be... ?

[Joodoo]

I think complete acess to all the forum features, 4 games, and a wide variety of maps available for freemiums is sufficient
p.s.I've heard your name before from a friend of a friend of mine (who goes on facebook)...do you play mafia?

[Woodruff]

I was sitting here, telling myself how much i love this game. I've been playing it for a long time, and do appreciate the hours of entertainment it has provided me. I thought it would be sweet to be able to have the ability to play 5 games at a time. Maybe a free member could acquire this privilege after a the member had earned a certain ranking or won a certain amount of games. I know the point is to get free member to eventually get hooked and get a gold membership to have unlimited games. But for those who can't afford or just unwilling to pay for such service would enjoy the "goal" of reaching the point where u can game 5 at a time. Personally, I would love to be able to have 5 games on the go, or, to be able to play one speed game (at a time) along with my 4 pending games. Just a thought.
Justin Ross

Win one of my tournaments...or even finish "the same as second". I have premium prizes in them.

Of course, I have no new tournament openings at the moment, but they do come!

[Night Strike]

Going up to 5 games won't happen. Freemiums playing 1 speed game at a time also defeats most of the purpose of purchasing premium. They get free speed games on some special CC events (like the St. Patricks Map).

[ubersky]

I think the level of access that freemiums get on this site is more than most other community sites. They have to pay the bills somehow.

[cicero]

Merge post:
premium and freemium - posts from 28 February to 2 April 2009 - first post here
Free Memberships Gameplay - posts from 9 to 10 April 2009 - first post here

Cicero

[Rocketry]

It ain't easy to see $25 USD come floating by

Collect about 500 soda cans. Take them down to the recycling center and I think they'll pay for them.
5c per can, that'd be enough to buy a membership.

There are plenty of ways to collect $25, just be a bit creative.
You could even put your spare change in a jar. 6.8c per day and you'll have $25 by the end of the year.

Perhaps he just doesn't want to give lack $25.

Rocket.

[pimpdave]

I think it should be 4.5 games.

In the .5 game you get half as many terts as everyone else on the drop. If you win, you become automatic conqueror.

It's the only reasonable solution.

[Woodruff]

It ain't easy to see $25 USD come floating by

Collect about 500 soda cans. Take them down to the recycling center and I think they'll pay for them.
5c per can, that'd be enough to buy a membership.

There are plenty of ways to collect $25, just be a bit creative.
You could even put your spare change in a jar. 6.8c per day and you'll have $25 by the end of the year.

Perhaps he just doesn't want to give lack $25.
Rocket.

In which case, he should expect the same in return, of course.

[Thezzaruz]

Freemiums playing 1 speed game at a time also defeats most of the purpose of purchasing premium. They get free speed games on some special CC events (like the St. Patricks Map).

Understand the issue with "1 game at a time" but I could see giving 1 free speed game per month (or more infrequently) as a good marketing ploy. Not that I would use it much (hell I still have 1 free speed game left, don't even remember why it was given to us).

[jleonnn]

you guys can stop now, I got myself premium, no choice after getting busted for multis!

[jonka]

Yes, extend it to 5, then I'll ask to move it to 6, then to 7, then to 8... eventually to unlimited games. In my opinion, freemiums should only have 1 game at a time, be glad that lack is more generous than I am and gives you four.

I think I would quit if you ran CC.