Paid content for which version?

[Robert Maynard]

People who don’t have horizons are not important

From the latest official figures from Frontier, 3M copies of the base game have been sold - and 1.3M copies of Horizons.

I doubt that Frontier would consider 57% of the potential player-base to be "not important".

 

[Marc_Hicks]

The thought crossed my mind: if the upcoming paid content is able to be bought independently of Horizons, it will have to have features unrelated to those provided by Horizons.

Or the content will require Horizons.

Hmmmmmm.

My suspicion, such as it is, is that Seasons 1, 2 & 3 will all me merged together into a single game, in order to reduce the total number of different versions that FDev have to do updates for once Season 4 is released.

 

[Flin]

They'll wrap Horizons into the base game to justify maintaining its price tag and sell it as a present for the 25th anniversary. Anyone who bought horizons some time period before the announcement get cosmetics as a "don't feel too ripped off" console present.

Let's consider this question from a buying perspective.

Would you advise one of your friend to buy

* Elite + Horizons + DLC + cosmetics for 60
* Horizons + DLC + a bit more cosmetics to get those with the base game owners to convert for 50
* DLC + cosmetics for 40

Maybe throw in Cobra IV to get base owners to convert. May be an extra for the Mac OS owners.

Key is to get base game owners to buy the DLCs.

 

[Koen]

May be an extra for the Mac OS owners.

Seems you did not get the memo.

 

[Flin]

Seems you did not get the memo.

I knew about the announcement, but did FD give original Mac OS players any incentive to keep playing on bootcamp or whatnot?

 

[Deadlock-3000]

From the latest official figures from Frontier, 3M copies of the base game have been sold - and 1.3M copies of Horizons.

I doubt that Frontier would consider 57% of the potential player-base to be "not important".

I'm sure they have at least some speculative market research on how many of those 57% are never coming back.

 

[Robert Maynard]

I'm sure they have at least some speculative market research on how many of those 57% are never coming back.

No need for market research when they can interrogate their game analytics to determine how many players have not logged into the game for time - both base game and Horizons owners.

 

[Deadlock-3000]

No need for market research when they can interrogate their game analytics to determine how many players have not logged into the game for time - both base game and Horizons owners.

That's not the same thing, but true.

 

[Robert Maynard]

That's not the same thing, but true.

Market research relies on sampling - which may not be representative. Analysing actual gameplay statistics, over the entire population, does not rely on sampling.

 

[Deadlock-3000]

Market research relies on sampling - which may not be representative. Analysing actual gameplay statistics, over the entire population, does not rely on sampling.

Yes. And?

 

[Robert Maynard]

Yes. And?

Market research takes time and costs money - whereas game analytics are already available.

 

[Deadlock-3000]

Market research takes time and costs money - whereas game analytics are already available.

And heaven forfend that Frontier should ever take any time or spend any money on any important decision ...

I'm still not sure what point you're trying to make, but consider it made.

 

[Flin]

And heaven forfend that Frontier should ever take any time or spend any money on any important decision ...

I'm still not sure what point you're trying to make, but consider it made.

I'm guessing FD knew why so few purchase Horizons. Beyond being feed try to make the Horizon purchase more compelling. Strategy would be to make the new DLC compelling to buy Elite + Horizons at the current 10 pounds or Horizon for 5 pounds. It's so cheap now, that they might as well give it for free. But for optics and sale count, it'll never be free accounting wise.

 

[Robert Maynard]

And heaven forfend that Frontier should ever take any time or spend any money on any important decision ...

I'm still not sure what point you're trying to make, but consider it made.

Oh, but they already have - remember the Ship Transfers poll?

Then there was the DDF before that.

More recently there were the Flash Topics during Beyond development.

They have, more recently, reminded us that the game design is not a democracy (i.e. it's up to them, not us).

 

[Garbarrage]

From the latest official figures from Frontier, 3M copies of the base game have been sold - and 1.3M copies of Horizons.

I doubt that Frontier would consider 57% of the potential player-base to be "not important".

How many of those who just bought the base game no longer play, or played for a while and decided it wasn't for them? How many active players only have the base game?

My guess would be that it's significantly less than 57%.

Horizons is currently £4.80. Anyone not willing to buy it at that price is probably not all that interested in the game anyway. I'd consider them unimportant.

Any major content update worthy of a full price game would probably need as few barriers as possible to do well though. If someone is willing to fork out £50ish for a game, throwing £10 worth of a game that's no longer selling at peak levels would seem like a good idea.

There will be salt. There will be endless forum threads about how unfair it is, but really, this is unimportant also.

 

[Deadlock-3000]

Oh, but they already have - remember the Ship Transfers poll?

Then there was the DDF before that.

More recently there were the Flash Topics during Beyond development.

They have, more recently, reminded us that the game design is not a democracy (i.e. it's up to them, not us).

So, to summarise, Frontier don't need to do market research because they have game analytics, except for those occasions when they did do a kind of forum-based market research, which they're obviously free to ignore if they want.

I mean, if you were a cynical soul, your take-home bullet point might be that the act of doing public consultation was just a performance.

Anyway, I've got the LEP, so it's moot.

 

[Robert Maynard]

I mean, if you were a cynical soul, your take-home bullet point might be that the act of doing public consultation was just a performance.

I will certainly admit to being a cynical person - also pessimistic - however, having been a bystander to the game's development since the Kickstarter, I'm not inclined to characterise Frontier's forum consultations as a "performance".

 

[Gully Foyle]

Hmmmmmmm indeed.

They are a few (obvious) options:
1. Make Horizons a pre-requisite for any new DLC
2. Make the new DLC independent of Horizons
3. Give anyone who buys the new DLC horizons for free.
4. Summon Cthulhu from his eternal sleep in R'lyeh and release the new DLC while everyone is being eaten/sacrificed/going gibberingly insane and hope no-one notices.

5/ Base game would include Horizons when the new major DLC drops (atmos landings, not legs )

6/ Praise our Lord Of Chaos ARIOCH

 

[zombieapocalypse]

4. Summon Cthulhu from his eternal sleep in R'lyeh and release the new DLC while everyone is being eaten/sacrificed/going gibberingly insane and hope no-one notices.

I fear that this may be the only viable option...

 

[Taimaru]

Hopefully we find out monday.

Which Monday?