Idea to get more players

[Seris]

You guys should give everyone one free week upon signup, long enough for anyone to try the game and get the gist, but not long enough to get a huge amount done. You'd need to buy the month (or more) to finish your game. Personally, I don't mind a $2 risk on a game I knew little about, but most people are fairly paranoid about spending money on apps.

So that's just my suggestion, I thought about this because my family is interested in the game but they don't want the spend money without trying it first.

Also make an iPad version!

[surjl0827]

I agree 100% with this post. When I'm out to buy a game I've never heard of, I aleays look for demos to try them out first. This is the case with most buyers. I eould highly recommend this.

[Balian]

Not saying this is a bad idea or anything of the sort, but I have never once in my time as an MMO lover been more pleased and or satisfied with a subscription fee and it's respected game. Probably wrong about this, but I feel like I've read something about the ability to play free in a limited sort of capacity in one of the devs posts?

[ChickenHawk07]

I love the game, and have written a review that states as much. And I've spent up to 5 times the amount it costs to play one month here on games I've played maybe a few times and then deleted. Not saying that's a common thing among all users, but I'm sure most of us have paid for apps that we rarely if ever use. On that note, I don't see it as a bad thing if you were to initiate some sort of system that allowed people on the fence to get the game and play 1 free week in the tutorial server. Definitely DO NOT want free loaders or window shoppers in competitive matches though.

[ColfaxJones]

Maybe limit them to to the tutorial server,can't leave their starting home world sector and only research up to tier 2 skills?

[zarkwizard]

This has certainly been discussed internally quite a bit. There are several things we have discussed, and in the future we will probably do something. One of the things we might look at doing is allow people to play, but they can only skill up to say Tier 3, and if they were to play on a server there would be limited slots available to them. Something like - Start a server, open it up to paying customers, then 2 hours before the game starts open it to free slots. Something like that.

A free player would not be able to win the game.

[ChickenHawk07]

I don't like the idea of free players even being able to play in Competitive servers. What's to stop some enterprising players from getting friends to farm planets and then leave, giving that player or others a well established colony? It'd be easier, I think, to just allow them free play in the tutorial server. Once they get the hang of the game (which takes a few hours) they can decide if they want to pony up and join the big leagues.

[Seris]

I don't like the idea of free players even being able to play in Competitive servers. What's to stop some enterprising players from getting friends to farm planets and then leave, giving that player or others a well established colony? It'd be easier, I think, to just allow them free play in the tutorial server. Once they get the hang of the game (which takes a few hours) they can decide if they want to pony up and join the big leagues.

That's an excellent point. But personally I think that it should be time limited, not skill or tier limited. Time limited lets you have everything, and lets you get the feel of the game and it's entirety--but not for long. However, I do think a free player should be able to continue their game in a competitive server if they sign up? It's an idea.

[ChickenHawk07]

Yes, if they could make it work. But what happens to their Homeworld and their production if they decide not to continue on by paying? Does their Solar System's Sun go Super Nova and wipe out that entire sector? It'd kind of have to, otherwise whomever gets to claim the Homeworld just got a leg up on the rest of the competition.

[ravenzachary]

The free player scenario I like is weakling free players, where they are there, and can be easily bullied by paying players, and can't do any real harm. This gives free players a chance to explore the game without actually impacting the outcome of the game.

Another possibility - limiting them to tutorial servers. The problem there is you'll have tons of tutorial servers going and probably less incentive for a free player to upgrade.