Hello,
So we have just had the announcement of the new frontier points and ways to earn them. It seems as if Frontier are trying to increase the amount of players buying cosmetic items and also making the paintpack store less clunkier and glitchy when viewing it. These are just some short term updates.
In addition, frontier are spending considerable resources this year in trying to increase retention of new players. For example we have seen the new tutorials announced and earlier this year we had the new anti gank starter systems introduced.
In summer 2020 we are expecting a big new DLC, the size of which we have not seen since Horizons. Possible space legs and base building if the rumours are correct. Therefore we can probably expect frontier to sell this for £20-30, which is essentially the price of a new game.
My argument is therefore that Elite Dangerous should shift to a Free to play model, with Horizons and DLC 2020 being £20 and £30 respectively. With the new ease of use when it comes to the new paintpack shop I think it would be more of a higher revenue raising venture if elite does go free to download. For example, let me try to explain.
Somebody considers buying elite dangerous, sees the price tag and also sees that the steam reviews are only "mixed". I would say that they only have a low chance of buying the game in that example unless they were confident in the game. Even if they decide to purchase in this example, the max investment from that player would be the minimal amount.
My proposed example is this(in 2020): steam user sees elite dangerous is free to play. So they think "hell why not" and download the game for free, playing through all the new fancy voiced tutorials frontier have introduced. Then, they spawn in one of the safe haven noob zones and dont experience any negative gameplay such as ganking or hacking so they are having a great time! After around 10-20 hours of game time, perhaps this new player is considering purchasing the dlc such as horizons or 2020 DLC. Or maybe even a paintpack for their new ship. And just think that this "new player" might not have even bought the base game, but now is investing £50 on DLC and £15 on paintpacks.
These are my thoughts. I strongly believe that elite dangerous should follow in the footsteps of Eve online by going free to play. I seriously think it would be the most sensible marketing decision based on current player numbers, the paintpack store rework and the new DLC package due for release in 2020.
So we have just had the announcement of the new frontier points and ways to earn them. It seems as if Frontier are trying to increase the amount of players buying cosmetic items and also making the paintpack store less clunkier and glitchy when viewing it. These are just some short term updates.
In addition, frontier are spending considerable resources this year in trying to increase retention of new players. For example we have seen the new tutorials announced and earlier this year we had the new anti gank starter systems introduced.
In summer 2020 we are expecting a big new DLC, the size of which we have not seen since Horizons. Possible space legs and base building if the rumours are correct. Therefore we can probably expect frontier to sell this for £20-30, which is essentially the price of a new game.
My argument is therefore that Elite Dangerous should shift to a Free to play model, with Horizons and DLC 2020 being £20 and £30 respectively. With the new ease of use when it comes to the new paintpack shop I think it would be more of a higher revenue raising venture if elite does go free to download. For example, let me try to explain.
Somebody considers buying elite dangerous, sees the price tag and also sees that the steam reviews are only "mixed". I would say that they only have a low chance of buying the game in that example unless they were confident in the game. Even if they decide to purchase in this example, the max investment from that player would be the minimal amount.
My proposed example is this(in 2020): steam user sees elite dangerous is free to play. So they think "hell why not" and download the game for free, playing through all the new fancy voiced tutorials frontier have introduced. Then, they spawn in one of the safe haven noob zones and dont experience any negative gameplay such as ganking or hacking so they are having a great time! After around 10-20 hours of game time, perhaps this new player is considering purchasing the dlc such as horizons or 2020 DLC. Or maybe even a paintpack for their new ship. And just think that this "new player" might not have even bought the base game, but now is investing £50 on DLC and £15 on paintpacks.
These are my thoughts. I strongly believe that elite dangerous should follow in the footsteps of Eve online by going free to play. I seriously think it would be the most sensible marketing decision based on current player numbers, the paintpack store rework and the new DLC package due for release in 2020.