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Would Rift sales be higher without open beta?
gainesvilleg
Member CommonPosts: 1,053
I've been thinking about this and despite the open beta being good for consumers, I think this may have been a mistake for Trion. I think this may have reduced the numbers of subscribers at launch.
For instance, I probably would have bought the game based on the positive buzz and initial reviews if I didn't actually get to play the open beta first. Maybe I would have waited a few days to see the reviews, but once the buzz was clearly positive I would have pulled the trigger and bought it (because I'm bored with my current MMOs). But instead I got to play the beta for free myself and formed my own opinion, which was less positive than the buzz and initial reviews.
But if I was forced to pay to test it out, I probably would have. And who knows it may have eventually grown on me, or I may have simply kept playing because I might have gotten hooked on the advancement/achievement system.
Just my 2 cents. Like mothers used to say to their daughters in the old days: if you give them the goods for free why would they marry you? lol
GW2 "built from the ground up with microtransactions in mind"
1) Cash->Gems->Gold->Influence->WvWvWBoosts = PAY2WIN
2) Mystic Chests = Crass in-game cash shop advertisements
Comments
Well i dont know whats a mistake for you, and why this could have been a better launch. They had to open several more servers and even after almost a month all servers are packed some with queues.... almost 1 month in.
It was as good as they could hope for and much better than they thought it would be.
I'm not saying Rift was a mistake nor am I saying it isn't successful. I just got to thinking that I probably would have bought it if they didn't have the open beta, and I'm wondering how many others think the same?
GW2 "built from the ground up with microtransactions in mind"
1) Cash->Gems->Gold->Influence->WvWvWBoosts = PAY2WIN
2) Mystic Chests = Crass in-game cash shop advertisements
Without the betas there wouldnt have been any "huge buzz". Also poll is useless since there is no "would you still have bought Rift had you not had the chance to try it in open beta first"?". No way to tell without it.
Could launch really have been any more succesful? I think it already is way bigger then Trion had hoped.
Not to sound obvious... but I think this goes both ways.
Many people didn't find interest in Rifts' open beta, but on the other hand, many people would not have bought it unless they tried open beta.
Yeah, I was going to try to get that aspect in the poll as well, but it was too confusing so I simplified it to just a yes/no for those who didn't buy.
But to your point, I'm wondering how many who actually made the effort to register, download, and install would not have bought the game anyway as the reviews came out positive. I mean going through the effort to play the beta means you are interested already, so it seems Trion had more to lose than gain in people playing it for free before launch.
Again, I'm just hypothesizing. But I am definately one who probably would have bought it if they didn't have the beta.
GW2 "built from the ground up with microtransactions in mind"
1) Cash->Gems->Gold->Influence->WvWvWBoosts = PAY2WIN
2) Mystic Chests = Crass in-game cash shop advertisements
Personally, I hated the open beta. I hated the entire game. I thought it was a waste of time...
Then I got bored, decided that I'd just buy it eventually anyway so now I've got it and I absolutely love it! I don't know why things changed for me, but I dig it so much and I'm glad I invested.
Without the testing, I would have taken a chance and believed the hype/marketing. At E3 (I was there), their producers sold the game pretty well with WORDS and a flashy booth. It was only until playing it that I realized what they had done, cut a lot of design corners, make up hype and over market an ultra generic game. I know I was not alone in being surprised by the type of Linearity and small scale of the level/world design. When you think, dynamic events, you actually assume its fully dynamic with quality scripting inbetween, but that was also not present. The gimmick (marketing phrasing) of many classes was shown to be a lie, as all they did was rename skill trees to Souls and call them classes. The game really only has 4 classes, but lets you have more freedom with the choice of skill trees. I also would not have expected the type of skill over laps which revealed that the unique souls were not trutly unique from one another. Without the play testing, many would have assumed the marketing was on par with the actual execution and design of the game.
I think its a fair question to ask really. I can tell you EA Bioware lost out on quite a few sales because they released a demo for Dragon Age 2, showing that the sequel was nothing like the original Dragon Age turned many away.
I didn't say it wasn't good for consumers, I was just wondering if it was good for Trion.
I know I often shell out $59.99 for games without playing them first if the reviews are positive, and after buying I sometimes agree with reviews (e.g. Oblivion) and sometimes I don't (e.g., DA:O). But in either case they get my money.
Trion would have gotten the benefit of the doubt based on the positive reviews...
GW2 "built from the ground up with microtransactions in mind"
1) Cash->Gems->Gold->Influence->WvWvWBoosts = PAY2WIN
2) Mystic Chests = Crass in-game cash shop advertisements
Rift would have launched with as much hype as WAR and Aion when you were limited to entry levels. Open Beta let people form solid yes or no opinions and get large reviews around.
It is possible because something unexpected happened with Rift. It attracted bored GW2 players...somehow...do not ask me how, but it has.
So people are seeing this as a viable option to pay until GW2 or even SWToR comes along.
I for one was glad there was a beta. It let me see formyself. I knew already the first minute I played it it was not for me.
So in one way it cost them, but I would never have got it anyways when the started that were not in azeroth anymore, to me that add was tastless and let me know who they were aiming at.
I think Trion did good by having a true open beta, instead of doing like alot of devs have done in the past. With the pay fileplanet to access the beta or preorder to play in the beta. For 1 that showed me that they had confidence in their product and their ability to create an MMO that people would want to play. I played in betas 1-6 and i hated the game, but than i went ahead and played the OB with my wife and that changed my whole outlook on the game. The fact that they were willing to let you play to such high levels in the game was a real seller for me also, that showed me that there was content past 20 or 30.
I have learned that if you have to pay to play in an OB being it thorough pre-order or fileplanet, than the game really isnt worth it in the first place. Trion showed that with their full access OB that they werent afraid to show their product or take negative feedback. In the end it worked out pretty well for them. Had they went with one of the other methods i wouldnt be playing the game today. Im not one to go off of what other people say, because different people have different tastes. Alot of people love DCUO me myself, i hate it and the same can be said about WoW. Lots of people hate the game, but i found it to be lots of fun for the 5yrs that i played it and that was another game that had a full access OB.
Sure, not everyone is going to like the game, but for the most part the response to Beta was overwhelmingly positive. I think that response encouraged a lot of people to give it a try who otherwise would have stayed away. I know there are many of us, myself include, who will NEVER buy a game without trying it first... Trion knew that, and they responded accordingly. They were also smart enough to make sure that the game was polished and ready for the public, and they were amazingly responsive to issues that popped up, which is even more important than the original polish.
Truth is was thinking the same , but in the end it wouldn´t had matter .
Cause the open beta brought in more sales then none .
And much more Mouth to Mouth commercial and whole changes to the soul system .
And rift stuff then you see now .
Infact they were appraised and vindicated for there IT solutions , and quick response to problems.
And openess to the situation , It really shows in the way they handled the problem of hacking .
The way the redid a lot of stuff , from beta to final version , people are complaining a lot .
Cause basically people are spoiled , you have a smooth lauch a game thats barely (minus 1 day from this post) a month old.
And people are feeling like they have been playing for years and years .
So the familiarity is the problem , the other is that smoothness of the launch , Que handled in 2 weeks , wow needed 2 months to handle que problems .
If you would something developed , then definetly Trion is the man , if you think your idea is so wonderfull would enrich Rift.
Then i would suggest if its coding possible , by all means post it for them .
Playing a MMO before it is launched will reduce the long term appeal of any MMO. I never play betas and the MMO's I do play are always freash as a proverbial daisy to me.
In answer to your question yes, but I would not play betas so it would have no effect on my decision.
Well, it's tough to create a poll that captures the question I asked as well as whether you bought the game because of the beta, or regardless of beta, and whether you think the beta was good for the game, bad for the game, etc. That is just too many concepts to get into a poll question that has a "select one choice" format.
Believe me I started wording it that way and it became a total confusing mess.
So I put the question to those that didn't buy it like myself to see if others, like me, think they would have bought it if there wasn't an open beta. I definately would have, which got me thinking how many others like me and whether open betas are really that great of an idea from the developers perspective?
Agree that the buzz/hype from beta helped, but that existed prior to the OPEN beta, which was the nature of my question...
I'm not throwing vitriol on the game, it just wasn't for me, so you don't have to be so defensive, it is a theoretical question that has real implications on what developers should/shouldn't do to garner interest in their game while maximizing subscribers.
If you bought the game then this poll is not meant for you...
GW2 "built from the ground up with microtransactions in mind"
1) Cash->Gems->Gold->Influence->WvWvWBoosts = PAY2WIN
2) Mystic Chests = Crass in-game cash shop advertisements
The open beta was handled very well by Trion, and as others have stated, it generated much word of mouth buzz as well. I personally know two people who went out and bought the game after I told them about my beta experiences. They are still enjoying the game. For me, the game just wasn't different enough to warrant a purchase, even though I find the soul system a refreshing take on classes.
Sales most likely would have been less if not for the open beta, and the VIP betas before that. Trion having weekend betas, and betas that lasted a few days was also beneficial, since folks didn't get to burn themselves out playing for weeks straight before launch.
Before beta nobody knew and nobody cared about Rift.
Now its one of rare sucessful MMOs
You be the judge how much beta hurt it
I think the open beta helped it. It let the people who were on the fence try the game, it let the people who were gung-ho about rift try the game as well. Both got to try it, test it out, and figure out if they liked it or not before the head start. Now we got a population in rift that we know enjoys the game, it will see a much smaller fallout after the first month because of this.
well open beta gave it the publicity since trion could not afford to spam it on tv and in uk is nit even in all retail shops .
Conclusions- let's jump to them ;D
Maybe they would be higher but in that case many of those new players would spend a week trolling the chat and months on the forum. You don't want people that don't like the game to buy it in hopes it is something else.
The more people that like the game the better, it will make a community that is happy instead of upset and a game is as fun as the people you play it with, if most people have a boring time it will be boring for you as well.
Anyone remember the first month of AoC? It wasn't worth the extra income from box sales, too many people left becuae they though the community sucked and it did.
It is in all MMO devs interest to sell the game to people that like it, advertising something you don't have only leads to problems. MMOs earns most of it's money on monthly fees.
Rift did right, if the game will be one of the big ones or not is still early to say but they did handle the OB excellent, with the exception of the beta key handout in the beginning.
It depends on the individual but I got the feeling it was great for the consumer bad for RIFTs inital box sales. Good for the consumer because they could try before they buyed and could make an informed decision. Bad for sales because there's always some people who buy on impulse and instead they had a chance to, 'scratch that itch',without making a financial commitment.
Yes it's very successful.....but then most MMOs are within their free month...:P
It was bad for impulse sales, but on the other hand it was good for the overall game reputation. Those who bought it knew what they were getting themselves into, while the voices in these forums crying about same old same old haven't invested any money into the game.
In theory it should help retention after the first month is over.