DLC, DRM, Monetization

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Piracy ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pretty much every person that has pirated a game has no intention to ever buy it. They've already played the base game, so why pay for the base game and some minor content if the only new thing is the minor content.

A great example of this is Minecraft. An illegal copy of the game has everything, except the ability to play on servers which specify only legitimate players, and customize your character (afaik).

It seems to have worked okay for them, but at least 1/2 the people I know that play Minecraft still haven't purchased it.

Part of the reason why it was so successful though was that since so many people were playing it (bought or not), it reached enough people that are compelled to purchase.

Ex) I was convinced by someone who didn't buy it, and I bought it myself.

For PA, I suggest:
- You can login whenever you want
- Updating requires you to be logged in
- LAN games are unrestricted
- Galactic war is unrestricted
- Playing on online servers requires you to be logged in
- Viewing stats and customizing your profile requires you to be logged in

My logic is this:
- People that are going to buy the game will have done so already
- People that really enjoyed the game will buy it to get more access
- People that didn't like the game were probably going to pirate it anyway

Also provide a free version of the game that:
- Requires a login every time you start
- Has limited map selection for LAN games
- Cannot play online
- Can only play against the easiest AI
- Can only play a few matches of the galactic war

Many people are still hesitant when pirating games, so providing a free version may compel them to try it. If they enjoy it, they will either buy it and encounter almost no interference any more, or pirate it and still be limited to most of what they already had.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Purchasable Content ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cosmetics
Should only alter the commander, and other major units that are unmistakable. I doubt there will be readability issues if this is the case.

Profile Icons / Avatars
Similar to Starcraft 2's player pictures. Some people just want to have a cool avatar

Galactic War Packs
Special story driven packs, like a campaign. Could be bought mission by mission, or just a campaign as a whole.

Major Expansions
Splitting the player base should be avoided at all costs. That said, if an update is just so significant that it is going to alter everything about the game, make it an expansion pack and require a purchase.

If possible, maintain compatibility with the old version, so purchasing players aren't cut out from the rest of the crowd.

Mod Donations
Modders should receive something for the work they do. Players could donate to the makers through in-game using the same system that is used to buy other content. Uber should probably get a small percentage of it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Free Content ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maps, ai, units, and tweaks
Should be available to everyone so there are no issues with match compatibility.

Mods
Everyone should have unlimited access to mods. It will strengthen the community. Ensure they are easy to add.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ideally, the game will release slightly unfinished. This would make the updates a requirement for a more enjoyable game.

I couldn't agree more. May I also suggest that the free version notify you when the game is on sale and show the price. Many who would balk at $40 will easily part with $10 (one more reason Minecraft is so successful)

Uber could also make a donation campaign for continuouse suppport of the game.

Am I the only one on the forum who never ever bought a DLC :shock:

As for DRM one thing I find is that it is useless and some times i think people who pirate the game get a better version as they gain more process to put towards graphics and some games the get and advantage to play single player with out requiring Internet connection.

my point to all this is the best way to stop the game from being pirated is to offer more then a hacked game so the on going support would make a positive step to stop people pirating the game.
Compared to the finish game then move one to next one.

but that just my view on it

Nope. Unless expansions count as DLC, I've never purchased it either.

And as to your second point, I'm fairly certain Uber has the same belief. In fact, I'm sure most game developers do. More often than not it's the publishers that don't seem to get the hint, because they're the ones that are more concerned with driving sales to get a good ROI. And in their limited view, piracy has an impact on sales, so they concern themselves with mitigating it.

Except it doesn't work, so less time should be wasted on those who don't pay for the game, and more time should be spent on those who do.

How about instead of demos and such, there could be a "Free Weekend" like 1-3 months after launch? Give people the full experience, make them try out some real matches, instead of being locked to galactic war like some suggest. Also, those free weekends tend to get people talking around forums and stuff.

I like the idea of a free weekend. That's what made me buy TF2 at some point.

Apart from that I think normal expansionpacks are the best deal, at least if the actual gameplay will be changed. Smaller DLC's that change the gameplay would split up the community too much.

Reminds me of the reason why I played SupCom, pledged quite a bit for PA and participate here: A friend of mine who gave me a self-burned cd labeled in a near unreadable writing "Total annihilation" many years ago.

I'm starting to think that even expansion packs may split the community to much. Just like they broke with the tradition of having several factions maybe it would be best to break the tradition of expansion packs. Instead, give out all "expansion style" gameplay and content updates for free to all buyers of the game. The more I think about it the more I conclude that all DLC should be purely cosmetic.

Realy why do u need drm on a game wich is mp focused?
who will download a game just for tutorial. Obviously Internet and account is needed to play.
+ My opinion about money makers:
DLC: Yes if only cosmetic
Singleplayercampain: sounds good
Expansion: better not... splits community basicly forces player to buy new stuff
Some sort of premium, free DLCs extended stats some gimmiks: yes

What's wrong with an expansion that gives you new features etc, maybe a new faction to play, and then distributes that content to all players so they can play together - the one with the expansion gets more options in his menu, that's all.

Not a lot of people would buy the expansion if they could hike along with another player, I think. Would be cool though if you could play the expansion factions in a game that has players without those factions. So they could see them in action, but not use them.

Of course that only works if the new faction and/or units don't influence balance all too much.

People will download it for the ability to play Coop vs AI for free. You see this with Starcraft as well, which is also very MP focussed. Thing is, you're not really losing any sales over these people most likely.

DLC belongs on cereal boxes. Print out a scratch ticket, put it in every box of cereal, and teach kids to shatter worlds while eating bite sized worlds!

community splitting or not (there will be enough game modes/types/mods which will split the community anyway) continued development requires continued income to finance the devs. Content, good/extensive content in particular, doesn't create itself. Don't think "cosmetic" DLC will pay for that.
There might be free updates for a time continuing the base development, but at some point you have to have fresh money from old players to continue development, and at that point, buy-able expansions seem to be the fairest solution. (or just say at some point: game finished, that's all)

And community splits from major expansion packs have never been an issue over their entire existence.

SupCom is a good example of this, when FA came out pretty much the greater majority of players switched over, thought you still need to make sure you create a good expansion mind you.

Mike

Large expansions have historically been effective because the publisher has to make it worth their player base's purchase. Typically the entire active playerbase likes the base game, and is prepared to pay for an expansion/refinement/improvement.

DLC does break player bases because it's death by a thousand cuts, and none of the content can be critical to the game experience, or a huge rework and refinement of core mechanics.

You may well be right. In that case I'm all for expansion packs.

As for what the expansion should include, some have said extra factions (unit sets). I disagree. I'm feeling more and more that one faction is not a limitation but a core feature. It creates inherent balance that's just not present in any other RTS. Instead of adding new factions the expansion should add new units to the core faction (useful ones, no gimmicks please). Leave the rest to modders.

The expansion could also add new gameplay features like more astronomical objects and more detailed simulation, strategic terraforming (if the players actually want that), mod tools upgrades, new singleplayer features etc. This should all come in one package so you don't split the base.

Would you pay, for example, for an expansion to the single player experience where they introduce a new storyline and a brand new set of units to fight against?

I would. Chickens Upgraded perhaps? New singleplayer modes, packages and professionally polished.. the more the better.

Ya, put it all in there:
DRM with 5 installs max
Always-Online
Provide 1 planet type and additional styles are DLC at 9.99 each, with modding tools an extra 19.99 + content distribution license fee.
Oh, and a monthly subscription to play on their server.

I don't recall any of that sh*t growing up. Single Player expansion maybe, or just a base to allow fans to create their own campaign.

I would pay for Expansion(if its not more expancive than game itself AND if its at least 2 years after game release), singelplayer campain, and maybe for visual dlcs (pls dont make P2W)