Make free accounts more playable

[Aetou]

Obviously it is important that paid accounts have an advantage to encourage people to pay to upgrade but I think that since the implementation of Government and Population the balance has swung too far against free planets. Right now they are almost unplayable - or rather, they are almost unplayable as anything except a support planet.

At the start of the round their research is significantly handicapped compared to everyone else which means that they quickly fall behind. Even the roids they do have don't generate as much income as everyone else's, as lets face it everyone in the universe pretty much has 25% Miners. And then there is the fact that you can't self-cover (because cov-op immunity is effectively impossible and you can't get the 60% bonus to your build speed in an emergency). Imagine what it would be like to play the entire round with 0% in all your population settings...


There are adequete handicaps to the free accounts as it is without giving people these addition limitations. The research caps are a huge disadvantage as is the lack of bonus resources initially.

So what am I proposing? At the very least it should be changed so that free planets are simply unable to change their population settings. Give them defaults if you want to retain a disadvantage in this area (20-20-20-20-20) or something. As for governments... they aren't such an issue I suppose as each also (in theory) has disadvantages too.

Why is this necessary? Because free planets are really the only way we are going to get new players. This game is slowly dying and if people sign up only to find that they are unable to compete they will never progress to paid accounts. Give them a chance and they will have more fun and are more likely to stay. Personally I think that enabling free planets to set government and population wouldn't be going too far but at the very least the compromise I outlined above is necessary...

[Mzyxptlk]

I like the idea of default pop settings. It doesn't necessarily have to be 20 for every setting, but the basic idea is good.

[Gerbie2]

Yes, I like it. 20/20/20/20/20 seems quite fair to me.

[Gerbie2]

How about doing this in exchange for taking away (or reducing the tick amount of) prelaunch for free accounts?

[Mzyxptlk]

That would be pointless. There would be two possible outcomes. If you reduce it too much it'd force new players to get up at night to attack if they want to be able to cap. If you reduce it too little it'd have no effect whatsoever (I personally rarely prelaunch, and I've almost never seen anyone use a prelaunch of more than 4-6 ticks, while still intending to launch, and land, as opposed to making the opponent ruin his sleep). I don't see a meaningful middle road here.

[Gerbie2]

Originally Posted by Mzyxptlk

That would be pointless. There would be two possible outcomes. If you reduce it too much it'd force new players to get up at night to attack if they want to be able to cap. If you reduce it too little it'd have no effect whatsoever (I personally rarely prelaunch, and I've almost never seen anyone use a prelaunch of more than 4-6 ticks, while still intending to launch, and land, as opposed to making the opponent ruin his sleep). I don't see a meaningful middle road here.

I don't see anything wrong with making it so that ppl with free accounts have to put in more work to get the same chances as people who pay. Better something like this, than not giving them population, which means they have 0 chance of doing well.

[Mzyxptlk]

The idea of free planets is to give new players a chance to try out the game. If you restrain them so much they stand no chance, you'll just drive them away.

[Duo]

Prelaunch is the only reason I chose to play a freebie this round. And I am doing fine thank you.

Income is a problem because you need about 50% more roids to get the same amount of resources. Which means you already need to put in more effort. Removing prelaunch will just remove people.

[Bubert Samson]

Personally, I think that the restrictions on free planets works out, if my alliance would let me use it, I honestly think I could secure a top 200 finish at least by the end of the round, though, if my alliance would let me is the key phrase in there.

The biggest problem with free accounts is that any alliance that would get you to the top rankings or anywhere near that do not allow them, and thus limiting you considerably, other than that, you are just trying to solve a problem that isnt there.

[Duo]

CT let me without any problems. Its mostly the galaxies that need some convincing.

[Bbud2]

they need it . i paid 60$ fo 6 account now its 20 , and you can manage to let them jpg

[Gerbie2]

Originally Posted by Bubert Samson

Personally, I think that the restrictions on free planets works out, if my alliance would let me use it, I honestly think I could secure a top 200 finish at least by the end of the round, though, if my alliance would let me is the key phrase in there.

The biggest problem with free accounts is that any alliance that would get you to the top rankings or anywhere near that do not allow them, and thus limiting you considerably, other than that, you are just trying to solve a problem that isnt there.

The problem is that we don't have enough people playing with free accounts. And people that do try out a free account quickly give up.
I think the free account needs to be changed so a lot more people will want to play a free account, even if that means at the start that part of the people who used to pay, will now choose to play free. We need more players. Not only to get more paying players in the long run, but also to get more targets. The piramid needs a broader base.
You won't get new players as long as there are severe restrictions to free accounts. New players immediately get exiled simply because they are unlikely to grow to any decent size. This is the same reason alliances don't let you in: you are unlikely to build enough ships to help defend your alliance.

Ofcourse there need to be some restrictions that should trigger people to pay, but the way it is now is too restricted.

[Mzyxptlk]

In the gals I've been in, I've literally never seen a free planet get exiled just because it was a free planet.

[Membrivio]

Originally Posted by Mzyxptlk

In the gals I've been in, I've literally never seen a free planet get exiled just because it was a free planet.

I agree. The situation is not that simple. Though, It is often an interplay of factors which are related to having a free account:

-less activity due to having not much to offer to your galaxy, for instance when def is needed a freebie might offer def, but due to the next point this often will be denied. As a consequence the freebie might not feel included and thus will lessen activity.
-less chance to build a decent fleet/planet due to the restrictions
-less incentives to make an effort, as it is a free planet and thus who cares and what can you do.

As this is the reigning idea within active and more veteran players, I think, freebies are kicked more often and faster, and thus have a hard time. This means then that newbies will not stay around.

What to do?
Exactly what you proposed Mz: make the accounts more playable and with that the above factors and views of freebies might change. Making it more playable can be done by softening the restrictions and making the freebie accounts more competitive.

[Ave]

Originally Posted by Mzyxptlk

In the gals I've been in, I've literally never seen a free planet get exiled just because it was a free planet.

I have experienced this myself... alltho I didnt promise anything major to them either, nor I would, but they didnt even bother to look or see how it would turn out.

Alltho I dont really care om which gal I play, its not gona be with friends anyway. All tho some nice person paid my account this round.

Anyway the suggestion have a good point, I played last round as a free account and I had no huge problems to stick with others (I had a decent rank in a longer run cause I took no heavy losses), in the other hand I fall more and more behind on research when time went by. In the end its impossible for example to win or compete seriously with others, unless u are a huge xp whore abusing others.

PS. ASS accepts free accounts aswell. Aslong as u can adapt systems and style we play/use.

[Membrivio]

Weren't you in my gal, Ave?

[Bbud2]

Originally Posted by Mzyxptlk

In the gals I've been in, I've literally never seen a free planet get exiled just because it was a free planet.

never eva


incoming : 2500 zikonian eta 5 ....


they just are inactive ........

[Ave]

Originally Posted by Membrivio

Weren't you in my gal, Ave?

Yeah I got exiled there, cause I was a free account. You were a very decent gc and the whole gal was pretty helpfull.

[GReaper]

The powers that be still need to make some money on the game, the more playable free accounts are the less likely people are to pay. I'd guess that people are expecting to be able to play for free on the rounds they want to take less seriously.

I really think people are barking up the wrong tree when it comes to free accounts, new players, and the restrictions they face. People say that free accounts need to be competitive to encourage new players to upgrade, yet if it's too easy to play a free account then there isn't much incentive for them to upgrade! I'd say they're currently competitive enough to have a good chance and do well, but you're never going to reach the high ranks.

I think if anything the priority needs to be on offering more value for money with paid accounts and making people want to upgrade. Make the game more appealing so that the majority of people believe that this is still a modern game which people can still get excited about.

[Kargool]

How about "forcing" a goverment called corrupt on the free planets. The free planets will only be able to use 50% of the population because the rest goes away in corruption.

[The Real Arfy]

Was just about to suggest that kargool. I agree!

[Daynan]

I have a better idea.

Give free accounts every benefit that a paid account has... for the first 14 days. Then disable the planet taking away all the perks paid accounts get.

This way players will know how good it is to have a paid account and will want it to continue. I started my first couple of days this round playing free and then when I upgraded my account I was amazed at what a difference it made. If it was suddenly taken away from me I know I would have wanted it back.

Sounds a bit like drug dealer tactics though. "First one's free buddy".

[neroon]

Originally Posted by Daynan

I have a better idea.

Sounds a bit like drug dealer tactics though. "First one's free buddy".

lol.. i like that

[Fatrick]

yea, id go for that...give the free account a shot at keeping up with the rest at the start when it matters most with reseach, etc. tho 14 days is 1/4 of a round :S i think thats a bit overkill. 7 days would suffice as thats when most growing happens then take away the privilages. well, thats my 2 cents anyway

[Daynan]

Ok. It has been brought to my attention that if people start of with full ability as a free planet and things go sour. They will simply quit without paying and start fresh next round. This isn't a good thing.

So I propose that free accounts should only have full ability during protection. After that anything can happen. This ensures that everyone starts on an even playing field while demonstrating to new players the advantages of paying for the game.

[Mzyxptlk]

That's bullshit. People don't quit playing after a few days just to start over again. It's both boring and useless, in that way you never get a decent ranking.

[Daynan]

I said to restart next round. If you are playing for a week or two and not doing well you might decide you don't want to pay for the rest of the round.