Tim from Hooded Horse: Although you are certainly right. In this case you are also very wrong. Do with my thoughts what you want.
I hope my clickbait title draws attention because I love BAR with all my heart.
I’m a 43-year-old dad who plays nothing but BAR and Overwatch for the last 10 years. To me they are the best games in their respective genre: crazy good gameplay, graphics, support and performance. And to make it even better: both are completely free.
My professional career has been in sales for more than 20 years where my greatest skill skill has become to create successful Value Propositions by matching the (IT)products I sell with potential (focus)markets; “What is the Need/Demand/Problem of a certain market/sector/group I can solve with my product/service and how do I tell/explain/convince them off this stance
(This explanation feels close to mansplaining, sorry for that)
Anyway: when you do something so long it almost becomes an unconscious behavior.
And that brings me to my point:
From what I have read so far about the publishing of BAR, especially the “commercial” side of it (and I’m sure I haven’t read it all) my unconscious sales skills immediately started tingling like a spider sense.
And this is not because I don’t have faith in this transition, or worry about this development. No. I’ve read your introduction and resonate with everything you say.
But…..
Even when you are right. I think you are also very wrong.
1: You are selling yourself short
2: You are about to miss BOTH of your focus groups
2: You are about to miss BOTH of your focus groups
I am going to start with number 2. For some reason that feels more logical for me.
In my opinion we can split BARS commercial audience in 2. And even though it will not be a complete 50/50 split every time, I think that, among others, the following opposites can be applied to each side:
· Casual Vs Dedicated
· Single and Coop Vs Multiplayer
· New vs Existing
· Demanding Vs Patient
· “Young” vs “Old”
Now let’s take your statement:
“In other words, people buy on Steam because they are being treated well, and feel good about treating the devs well in return, not because someone forces them to.”
What you are describing here is audience number 2. I bought OW for 50 bucks and went on to spend 100 bucks in the first year on skins because I thought they deserved it. And that’s ok: I have more then 3000 hours in the game.
But it’s not 2016 anymore. Free to play is everywhere. Even OW2 is free to play. Ironically, I (a 10-year veteran) did not spend a single euro anymore since it’s F2P.
And audience number one is not going to judge you “on how they are being treated”. No: they will look at what’s trending and how much it costs.
And this is what I mean when I say: You are about to miss BOTH of your focus groups
· Existing, Dedicated, Multiplayer focused, patient and “Old” players won’t have any incentive in the current market proposition to spend money, so to say. And just like I had with Overwatch: Their willingness to just give money to the cause for nothing (previous: donations) might well be out the window. They will be with me at least. Not because I don’t like BAR anymore or something. But simply because I feel my part in it, however insignificant it was either way, has become less.
· And casual, new, single/coop minded players who are demanding with an endless supply of F2P games of steam are not going to BUY some “indie RTS” for 20/30/40 bucks with a ridiculous learning curve which requires patient and a helluva attention span (hence the “young” 😉)
And now I’m going to a second quote from your introduction to bridge myself going to number 1: You are selling yourself short.
“And anyway, I'm not especially focused on profit. By virtue of us being entirely private (and me owning just under 70% of the company, and having the other shareholders all be individuals and no institutions or anyone with expectations of me) -- we don't really face any financial pressure. I even wrote into our corporate bylaws that we can prioritize ethics and artistic integrity and such over profit, just so everyone who ever invested in us early on knows what to expect. The point of the company isn't maximizing money, the point is helping amazing devs and strategy games. It's nice to get good returns, give our staff nice raises and build out better capabilities to help devs better, but the point is the great games. “
Again: Your statement resonates with every fiber in my body. I love it, agree with it and wish the entire world would think like this. But: You are also selling short. To BOTH your target audiences.
Let’s start with the fact that I believe BAR is not just some indie game. For the love of me I do not understand how BAR is not yet the world’s leading RTS with tens of thousands of players every day. Gameplay, Graphics, Performance, Micro and Macro, Community, Mods and the list goes on. BAR outperformance any A, AA, or triple AAA RTS game or any genre for that matter by miles. A game that has a ridiculous skill ceiling but also offer mild introduction for new players. Skirmish, Coop, Multiplayer and Mods varying from 1on1 to 150 vs 150.
Everyone who does not know BAR right now (audience number 1) is missing out. They deserve the chance and opportunity to experience it. We owe it to them to get the opportunity to experience BAR in full and on their level before putting a value on it.
Almost any player in audience 1 is going to get overwhelmed by the games many option is single player, coop and multiplayer. I know i did. But thats ok. But if i would have paid XX for it, i would have definitely returned it.
And at the same time, with the current strategy, you are “selling yourself short” in regards to audience number 2.
Even if the poll came back mostly positive with “I’m just a player and a I approve of this deal”. You didn’t ask for their willingness to financially contribute to the cause (donate) in the future or purchase the steam game (single player).
And with this you underestimate, and therefor undervalue and fail to recognize the love and long-term dedication these players have for this game. And now, with current plans, they (and therefor also I) become part of the masses: Unheard and unseen.
Perhaps I’m polarizing but this is how I think they would feel. And that’s where you are selling yourself short: If I was faced today with the dilemma of losing BAR or 250 bucks. It would be the latter in an instant.
If I would be faced today with that same dilemma regarding OW2, I would be playing Valorant, Apex or TF2 tomorrow.
For me, (focus group number 2): Nothing changes. Yet you give me no option to contribute to BAR in a way that fills my needs or covers my desires. And in that way: you are underselling yourself.
“I Believe it’s always possible to find a solution that covers everyone’s interest”
This is the quote I used on my resume some years back. But it’s something I still stand by, and unconsciously always aim for. So, taking all interests into consideration it brings me to the most exciting part of my thoughts: what should you do.
So: with everything you said and what I believe in. This is what I think you should do:
1: Introduce the game F2p on steam. Full Multiplayer, off course, and 1 (or 2) campaign(demo) maps (realizing the SP Exp. will take an investment)
2: Offer the Kick-ass SP campaign you are thinking about as DLC.
3: Offer a Coop (mission) mode as DLC. Make it low entry: those who have it can host it > all can join
4: Offer a mode where you can host increased size vs AI ( Raptor vs 32 or even 64 for instance). I would recommend selling this per X hosted. (low number like 4)
5: Offer a mode where one can host a (non)ranked game with 32, 64, or even 128 players. Again: X numbered games according to X hosting Cost. ( Bro: I would pay for this for sure!)
6: Offer a small option for extended but detailed stats, replays and more. Introduce a viewing option that uses a viewing port instead of the game itself. Making spec time instant for instance. (again: Great understandable extra value i would get)
7: “dedicated member”: A service level that gives value and recognition to those hardcore BAR players. An annual fee they pay in exchange for making sure they are heard. Everyone that is part of this get access to a separate forum group with the promise that every post they make is full read by at least 1 (u get the idea) developer or admin.
A lot of games struggle in balancing between casual and competitive. If the best idea to deal with this in bar is to create 2 different branches, and this idea would be in the head of 1 of the players, he would have wanted to have it heard.
Knowing the effort I put into this post due to my love for BAR, I would have gladly paid 20, heck even 30 euros to guarantee someone with some form of influence would have read it.
8: An all-in flat fee yearly, or heck: one off, fee to get it all. And trust me: this is where you hook your current 10/20/30K playerbase: we love you man. Just give us something so stand out of the crowd with.
And the list goes on.
Conclusion:
It’s a combination of my "unconscious" developed sales skills through the years and my love for BAR that both triggered this thought process and the decision to write it all down.
I hope it catches your attention and perhaps even influences your point of view. I really hope it does though: As you said yourself: "Now to be clear, we haven't finished the publishing discussions, so I'm still sort of hoping and getting excited but nothing finalized yet. "
When I suggested a change for the stats website about 2 years ago, the devs actually used it and implemented it: That feeling was amazing worth more then any amount. And although it could be pure coincidence and completely unrelated: the entire stats website is messed up at the moment.
I hope this is a not a foretell for the future