Monetization Suggestions (aka how to attract more whales and get more from them)

[podian]

Hey everyone on the staff team, let's start off with a bit about me:

I'm a former game dev, now full-time dad :D, having worked on titles such as Guild Wars and Auto Assault back in the day, as well as more recently having done quite a bit of consulting work for mobile or free2play game industry in Vancouver (which is where I live!), as well as a boring Unity Developer (in C#).

This post is in no way emphasizing the prioritization of revenue or monetization; it is merely a resource that can help provide ideas that allow players who want to support the server feel good about any amount they wish to donate, and donate as much as they want.
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Before I get started on infodumps, I'd like to mention that even with decades of popularity, Forsaken RO's structure and shares many aspect things with freemium and mobile games, even if the gameplay is massively different, with salient similarities being:

1. A majority of the revenue comes from a tiny portion (<1%) of the population.
2. Most whales don't know or think they're whales. Regardless of if they spend 50, 500, or 50000 dollars a month.
3. For the ones who do spend, it is very likely they will spend again if given an opportunity and a bit of motivation.

With the basic stuff out of the way, here are some basic strategies that I propose you guys start implementing (if you're not already doing so):

1. In addition to regularly releasing and cycling stuff (MTG came up with the set cycle system that many other TCG's copied) which I think is already being done, find ways of educating players on what custom items are available, have their publicly visible stats be accurate and up-to-date... and even putting in rental gear (vote points, or tokens/donation only) for rings or gear that cannot be re-rented for a long time -- so they have to "buy it and quest it" if they like it or if they don't, then no harm done because they only had it for a few hours. That way people can actually test in a somewhat live scenario and see if they like it or not. If implemented correctly, the pros outweigh the cons. More Raids like the Halloween one, but much much more difficult (read: NOT boring *cough faceworm*) will keep people interested. You know, actual tactically or strategically challenging end-game non-pvp content.

2. Maybe (subtly) start on implementing more RNG (loot box/gachapon) system here and here -- there's a reason why League switched to it after years and years and even despite "protest" and Hearthstone and Overwatch kills with it (Just look at Blizzard quarterly revenues pre-Overwatch and post, subtracting the revenue from unit sales). I think FW Raid with the 50% Gjallar drop and the 400 H-token Trick or Treat Box is a good start, but there are many, many ways to do this (and have it greatly augment revenue)

3. Putting in more ways for donation coupons (tokens) to be "used up" thus increasing their value and fighting premium currency inflation. Currently I only know of the Seed/Speed rooms and the F.King Gear room. I can think of at least half a dozen non-intrusive ways to "tax" people in exchange for providing efficiencies, conveniences, or customization's.

As to how and the various theories and methods of design and implementation, I won't go too far into detail with this post but I can mention two of the basic fundamentals that help to provide opportunity and motivation:

1. Understanding the three types of spend-happiness and wallet-openation in a game like Forsaken RO
    A) the Collector (aka The Headgear Collector) -- I liked how you guys have new premium-only headgear every month, aand you can add on to limited time HG like, for example, the (new) unique Halloween ones that came out just over a month ago, how about making some of it "can only be purchased once per account only" and then to make a set (upper, mid, lower) they need the help of other people, probably other Collectors, which increases their time and social investment into the game and makes them more likely to donate more frequently and for higher amounts in the future.

    B) the Competit0r (aka The PvP Junkie) -- You could, though it would be quite blunt and overt, make the next Custom MVP Card (Thana/Bijou tier) drop with from a new item, "Old Black Box" that you get from an NPC in exchange for <insert new Castle Drop here> + 100 tokens. Or just have something like TheNextBlackwitch cost tokens (and pseudo-tokens, such as items like Imp Boxes) to enter. It is very important that PVP is balanced, so that potential donators believe that their donations will give them an edge. That means PVP should not be insurmountable or off-putting after one to four weeks* of playing--which it "usually" is, currently; you guys should increase the relative power of ANY new player who has played 2-4 weeks--not grinded--just played; the vote reward system is a VERY solid foundation on this but you guys should create an integrated in-game, custom quasi-tutorial for this server that does away with the questionable nature of the requisite 1k Chivalry Emblems and (oh god) the boredom of making a Legendary Weapon. Just give it to them after they've shown interest and competence; say after they've won some "arena" matches -- a pvp event with fixed, pre-set gears and the prize is legendary gears (account bound) so old players won't camp it to crush new players. Have I mentioned plenty of people don't even log in to the CP once after account creation? This will spike player retention of those in this category immensely. Other than balance and progression in the sense that the various play "styles" are all represented -- i.e. if only killers are competitive then you've failed to capture the market that includes Competit0rs who prefer to play Support, stealth, etc. That's why MMORPG's have different classes. Making the items balanced (you can, occasionally do some "FOTM" stuff like Ninja Blessed and Mastersmith Cursed Ring, but those ideally should have other purposes as well, to test new metas or waters, so as to tag multiple birds with one very heavy and costly stone)

    C) the Aesthetician (aka The Cool/Cute Char Maker) -- Similar to the first, but this allows you to go deeper into monetizing appearance like, how about the next batch of clothing dye (unique) costs tokens donations to unlock? Some people really like a certain look and will pay any price to get it. Rainbow EMP is good, various rarity EMP's are good, but there's ways you can tie donations into it. Like having an NPC that offers to change the colour of your Ship Captain Hat for 10(green), 100(red), or 100(black) tokens? Ever try to make an item like Sunday Hat in vanilla RO? It had all the hallmarks of a (90s) good headgear quest: Rare and arguably useful/valuable equipment needed (the slot hats), a few easy items (fabrics), and a deceptively difficult to acquire, grueling item (soft feathers). The end result? A truly rare HG even when avrg. monthly users exceeded 100,000 in iRO.

2. Timing;
    As I mentioned earlier* this is simply put, aiming for new players to "not quit" for at least 3-4 weeks after they've joined fRO--that's the critical "dating" phase--of course it's not like you're kicking them out of the server after a month (like some Subscription With Free Trial games do) because fRO, like any other MMO, benefits from a large active population. But that doesn't mean you can't try to streamline content (I can't stress this enough how you guys need to rework the "first impression" and "knee deep" experiences that causes tons of quitting) and get them exposed and invested and caring about as many of the above three aspects as you can in the first month, then if they think you've made a good gam--server, quite a few people would be willing to fork out even dolphin amounts, if not outright going whales-deep. That's the rationale behind otherwise questionable "starter packs" and "first time tokenshop gifts" that many, many games have -- make it One-Time-Only and make the discount steep for account-bound donation items. The first time a player spends money is the hardest. As you know from your experience, repeat customers are not at all uncommon -- they just need a reason and they will give you their money! Are you gonna give them one? ...and why stop at one?

 

Thanks for your time.

 

As you guys can tell, I'm a fan of lists!

 

Dakka

P.S. Feel free to message me on forums for any development questions, planning strategies, balance consultation, or even Unity questions(zzz), all pro bono of course to any fRO player :D
P.P.S. Particularly applicable for fRO: hire competent staff (slow), fire incompetent ones (fast). Hire or train people whose sole job will be to screen potential people-for-hire.

Edited December 8, 2017 by podian
grammar and spelling :(

[Ableton]

On 08/12/2017 at 11:22 AM, podian said:

putting in rental gear (vote points, or tokens/donation only) for rings or gear that cannot be re-rented for a long time -- so they have to "buy it and quest it" if they like it or if they don't, then no harm done because they only had it for a few hours. That way people can actually test in a somewhat live scenario and see if they like it or not.

+1 Rental gear concept is i believe, would be a win win for both players and the server.

 

On 08/12/2017 at 11:22 AM, podian said:

Putting in more ways for donation coupons (tokens) to be "used up" thus increasing their value and fighting premium currency inflation

Inflation is real. Seriously. The market is dying, or already dead. We need to actually use up those tokens in the market. One good way is putting on some "really good" rewards in casino.

 

On 08/12/2017 at 11:22 AM, podian said:

the questionable nature of the requisite 1k Chivalry Emblems and (oh god) the boredom of making a Legendary Weapon.

A lot of folks made a living with these start up stuff. I believe it helps. Lets keep it that way.

 

On 08/12/2017 at 11:22 AM, podian said:

how about the next batch of clothing dye (unique) costs tokens donations to unlock? Some people really like a certain look and will pay any price to get it.

I. Am. Gonna. Be. A. Whale. For. Sure.

[Brianology]

i mean like he has solid points and backs it all up 

Edited September 11, 2018 by Brianology

[dadron3]

Bump 

[mrferret]

+1 for most of it and I would like to add another suggestion to the list.

 

3. Having a Market's Guild (The one that controls most of the market price of things)

   This is not something that everyone will agree on due to a lot of players love to lowball when buying and Overpricing when selling. The way I see it we need an NPC to control the market price of all the items. Like the NPC will list certain items and each item you select will tell you the "baseline" price of that specific thing. Players will determine whether to decrease, maintain or increase the value of the items but do remember no one likes lowball and overpricing stuff. Having this "baseline" prices will help newbies and veterans players alike to determine the price to sell it on. Plus, the GM can change the "baseline" prices whenever they choose to according to demands. 

[Maschine Studio]

Lol. A year old topic. But ye, i support most of the points (not all) he stated.

@mrferret Tho i don't quite understand how that "Market's Guild" actually work, i think economy itself is a very broad and technical topic to discuss about. We need someone knowledgeable on how the market in real life works, like currencies, inflation, deflation and stuff to give us some insights regarding economy issues.

[mrferret]

3 hours ago, Maschine Studio said:

@mrferret Tho i don't quite understand how that "Market's Guild" actually work, i think economy itself is a very broad and technical topic to discuss about. We need someone knowledgeable on how the market in real life works, like currencies, inflation, deflation and stuff to give us some insights regarding economy issues.

Like irl we have certain items market in certain prices. Take oil prices for example, the prices of oil goes high if we have few and goes back down if we have plenty. It's also nice if that particular NPC will list out how many of certain thing exist in game so that we know if its in demand or flooded with that particular item.