- "Five Five Five" is something that I would pay for, which others might too.
Specifics:
- It's the "Five Five Five" deal... or whatever you want to call it---I'm not very creative. The basic idea is: Donate FIVE dollars, and you get to play up to FIVE games for FIVE months. Instead of four. For non-premium members, obviously. They'd keep their non-premium status; the only change is that they can play up to 5 games. I don't know. Maybe launch it on Cinco de Mayo.
This will improve the following aspects of the site:
- Why do something silly like this? Because I think that you are missing a large opportunity for additional revenue. I know $25 is nothing (it's like $2/month) but it is still perceptively a large amount for many players who play casually and don't really NEED to play more than 4 games at a time. In fact, I find myself thinking, "It'd be nice to play more games, but unlimited is overkill... I don't want to drain all my time at CC." So I think of the Five Five Five deal as an excellent opportunity for casual players to donate $5 to CC---something easier to do than $25---and also more in line with their casual-style. Sometimes I even think, "I don't want to get a premium membership because then maybe people expect (perceive) me to be a hardcore/serious player. Which I'm not. But they'd expect me to be much better, which is not necessarily true." When someone with a gold ranking icon beats me, I used to (and still do!) think that it's not as "earned" as when a person with a silver ranking icon beats me. I know it's irrational, but I fall for it sometimes. Okay, if you still don't buy it, let me try some economics jargon: I believe that Conquer Club is a highly inelastic product, i.e. consumption is extremely sensitive to price, and you are missing a critical potential for revenue. I think if everyone's made aware of such a Five Five Five deal, you will make a decent amount of profit, for low maintenance cost! (Is it really that hard for developers to raise player max games to five? It's probably just adjusting a field in the database, no?) For implementation, I would suggest releasing it on May 5th or something, seeing how it goes, and then considering whether it should be an option that players can pay for anytime. COUNT YOUR FIXED/VARIABLE COSTS. If it's worth it, make it an option all-year round! I know I'd always pay for it. Of course, like I said, no change in non-premium/premium status. Users stay non-premium. I also have this theory that when you give a lot of value for little, e.g. unlimited games for $25, people readjust their perception of incremental value, and they view the product as a luxury (as opposed to normal) good, even when it's completely in their budget! "Oh, for $25, I can get all this and this and this. But wait, I don't even play speed games. And I doubt I'd play more than 6-7 games at a time anyway. Forget it." So I think a $5 option is more in line with the "Hey! Just donate $5 and support a site you love. We'll give you an extra game in return. And you'll feel good about what you did." kind of thinking. Still don't like it? Well... please tell me it's a good idea anyway so I feel better about myself.
