DLC, DRM, Monetization

This thread is for fan suggestions as to how Uber can get as much money as possible. Because we all want them to make a ton on this game right? IMO that form of monetization is acceptable which:

1. Doesn't mess up the game.
2. Doesn't piss off the fans.

This rules out any kind of F2P model as well as a pay model with excessive EA style DLC. Unacceptable DLC includes "pay to win", "pay to progress" and "pay for basic game functions".

In my opinion, here's what Uber COULD charge for.

-Cosmetic DLC. I don't see anything wrong with this at all. The more the merrier. Just so long as it doesn't harm moddability, but Bethesda and Paradox have shown that this doesn't have to be the case.
-Mod tools. Iffy, on the edge of PFBGC. Probably better not, but not totally out of the question.
-Campaign. I think this is OK.
-Expansions. Debatable. On one hand, this is RTS tradition and thus acceptable to fans. On the other it would split the playerbase.

Uber may have planned an overwhelmingly free update model but I still think cosmetic paid DLC is workable. With Steam workshop or something similar you can let modders sell the DLC and Uber and/or Gabe get a cut.

So much for DLC, how to fight piracy? I only have one idea for now.

-A line at the bottom of the menu screen saying "Help us make more games - buy our stuff at uberent.com". The pirate will see this every time he logs on and may be guilted into paying.

lol

The best way to fight piracy is:

No DRM
No DLCs
No P2W

If you do that, people get motivated to buy the game, because they know that the studio is friendly and doesnt want extra money for content they could get for free.

Personally I think the idea of cosmetic DLC is a very good one. It does nothing to upset the game balance. Nor does it give any player an form of advantage over other players. Kickstarters all ready have a custom skin so this is basically all ready being implemented.

Honestly I'd love to see a campaign story DLC added also. Perhaps in an Episodic fashion of three missions per faction at a time. Using that formula Uber can sell a seasons pass to get up front money rather then worry about just how much each DLC will bring in. Yes it may mean less over all but it's a trade off for guaranteed income.

These types of DLC and regular patches/updates in my opinion help combat piracy best as you should need a valid license to activate them. Rather then draconian DRM give us reasons to give Uber more money. History has proven that hackers love a challenge and will actively go after companies that use them if for no other reasons then to hurt those companies.

So the one thing I am worried about with DLC is how it will effect modability. So to make money off DLC you need to make sure that the people who payed for DLC get it, and the people who didn't pay for it don't. This means that you are going to have to lock off chunks of your game, which means people won't be able to mod whatever it touches.

Let's say you join a game with someone who paid for the alpha or a custom commander, and they have a commander that you don't. Now you still need to be able to see their commander, which means that it's model has to be downloaded or sitting on your hard drive somewhere. And if someone knew what they were doing, they could take that other commander model and redirect their own avatar settings to point towards that one. Now they are running around with things they didn't pay for and breaking your DLC model.

The only way TF2 can get strict hat control is by locking down their game assets.

yeah convenience kills piracy. A lot of people would rather just pay a few bucks on steam to have a game that they can install whenever they want and will always stay patched and up to date on it's own.

I am ok with cosmetic dlc.

I am highly ok with a little fee for constant updating. But dont start this beginning with the start of th game. Start it maybe a year after your registration. Just lik professional anti virus software.

Campaign: you could even go steven king style: relase some parts of it and finish only if enough money comes in.

Merchandise is a thing to think of.

You could sell apps: statistic stuff. Replay viewer.

No.

Well lots of people pirate without even knowing it hurts the devs. And for those that don't care, when they see that for the 100th time at least one in 10 might think "damn I got 100 hours of entertainment from this game, that's worth $10 on steam". It's something.

Do you really though? I mean you could say that about the game itself: To make money off the game you need to make sure the people who didn't pay for it don't play, hence DRM. It would be interesting to see how well cosmetic DLC sells if you can basically download comparable DLC for free. Somehow I think it would still sell, just as the game still sells despite the fact you can get it for free on TPB. Are there any examples of such a model? Maybe they could enforce it on Uber servers but keep it open everywhere else. It would be an interesting experiment for sure.

I don't expect Uber to go overboard on DRM or DLC, that's for sure. Sorian's response is reassuring.

I do, however, expect them to add cosmetic DLC. They've got it in SMNC, so they're familiar with how it works. With all the factions using the same units, cosmetic changes are a way to make yours stand out. As much as some people don't like it... It's not too intrusive. It's not pay2win, and there's always the option of player-made stuff being added to the microtransactions store.

If they do, though, I have one thing to ask of Uber: Keep your microtransactions micro! I'm more likely to buy fifteen new unit skins for $1 than one commander skin for $10.

Also makes it really hard to tell if Tank A is actually Tank A or really just Tank D with a cosmetic DLC.

Part of the reason Uber chose the simpler Aesthetic is to make things more readable. Cosmetic works against that.

Mike

I'm not opposed to cosmetic DLC, but I don't see how it could work with the open / moddable nature of PA. And if I have to choose between cosmetic DLC and full moddability, I'd choose modding any day.

This.

DRM is expensive to make, doesn't actually stop pirates or even affect pirates in any way, and pisses off your actual customers.

It's actually amazing it has become commonplace- it is such a terrible idea from every angle, including business.

As long as I can turn it off and not have to see other people's cosmetics, I won't argue against it too much.

Y'know, since *some* multiplayer servers are going to be hosted by Uber (i believe) it's not a big stretch to consider cosmetic DLC to be 'official' and therefore you can play with it on the 'official' type servers.

Also, a subscription to a weekly/monthly chapter-style releases of an ongoing storyline for a campaign would be worth a bit.

Finally, I'd pay for more units / new factions, even if it's just new models.

No worries, if they release mod tools, hopefully have the game on steam and include steam workshop, then the community will do the work for free. Take a look at what the community is making for DOTA 2, Team fortress, Skryrim, etc.

For example in DOTA 2, valve only allows cosmetic mods, and if they're good enough (they get enough votes from the community), they actually make them part of the game where players can buy them in-game, i believe the author of the mod gets a cut. So in the end you got the community working for you, making all sorts of stuff for free.

If you give modders a monetary incentive to work on your game, expect to see a LOT of high quality stuff. You got nothing to lose and everything to gain.

IMO cosmetic DLC:

-should probably be limited to commander skins since new unit skins would get confusing in battle.
-should work on all servers but not be locked down outside of Uber's servers. This lets you keep mod openness, while you do get lockdown on the most competitive ladder players, who are most likely to buy skins to look fancy and/or support the company. Many other players will also buy the skins despite being able to download them for free. (It's not like people don't already pirate DLC)
-There should be LOTS! And there's no limit to how silly they can be.
-Edit: There should also be no way to get them except paying for them. Nothing to incentivize suboptimal gameplay like TF2 with its stupid grinding. And they should be displayed next to each player's name in the lobby so you won't be confused in game - and so you will be tempted to buy one yourself. :twisted:

Subscription=no thanks. one time payment is already stretching it.

I wouldn't mind paying a subscription for $1 per month.
If you get 100,000 people to buy the game (which PA will and 100,000 is really low)
thats $100,000 per month (a bit less with taxes etc) which is enough to create a decent revenue for Uber and continue to upgrade and fixing the game (basically for the game to support it self for the years to come).

So $12 per year to be able to play the game.

You have to be extremely cheap not to afford $12 per year.

There is nothing wrong with subscriptions, World of Warcraft has it with way more per month and is still going strong.


Seriously, $1 is no big deal at all.

I believe in games as a product, not games as a service. There are all kinds of issues with the concept of games through subscription. One that I particularly dislike is that you essentially have to play the game in order to get your money's worth. Suppose you only have time to play for 2-3 hours total out of a month? That would be a waste of money! Or I could play the game as much as possible all month and get good value for my money, but waste time on it. Perhaps I'm old-fashioned, but I don't do subscription games.