My thought is, at least if I were Sony, I’d be wanting to get as much volume and diversity of games on there as I can and hit lots of niches. Someone looking at maybe subscribing, when comparing it to the over 100 or so on Game Pass now, they probably aren’t going to look TOO deep at offerings they aren’t familiar with… my feeling is they will want to see that it is at least somewhat in the ballpark of GP (so having 100 rather than 40 or 50 will help a lot) and stuff that looks intriguing at a glance.
This is sort of what I did when looking at Game Pass. And the thing here is, there is going to I think be far less “buyer’s remorse” with something like this if a game doesn’t click with someone… just move on to the next one; I could be wrong but one not spending to play it specifically (getting it as part of a very large package) who don’t like it, probably less likely to bash it online. Like with GP, first game I downloaded was Craftopia. I don’t like to be mean/negative with games, but while I didn’t give it much time (I might do more later) and mechanics seemed ok at the outset, it left a bad first impression by the awful quality of the translation - like it was run through Google translate. But since it was something I got on GP, I’m like, haha… well, ok, put that one in the pile!
Boundless is very fun and complete as it is even though things like the NPE do need work if they want to aim for a higher retention rate; enough at least to give ones who come in and stick with it past the tutorial enough time where they’ll like that it came with Spartacus I think and give Sony reason to stick with it even if development is halted. And if Sony does this (from link I posted) -
The devs here could show Sony the number of hours some of the players play. That while it might not keep a high % having this game will fill a needed niche for the service and the ones who do stick with it might well put in 1000s.
Edit: Put another way, I think Sony needs to do everything it can to have a really great offering when they go Live with this… even if some games might be INDIVIDUALLY perhaps not really profitable for them, they have to look at the bigger picture, making the deal overall as good as possible by the numbers for people tempted to subscribe.
Flip side though: Going in with this might pull in too many people; 80 person planet cap could cause issues. Hard to predict how many people will sign up for it and of those, how many will download it, and how soon they’ll fire it up. But I think it is worth the risk, especially at this point.
It’s an interesting notion, and it would be good to get it on there to act as second-hand advertising. My only concern would be:
While I believe what you’ve said is true, there’s also the flipside to that. Players also give games they acquire for (more or less) free, less of a chance before moving on too. It’s not big deal to put down a game that you start playing but don’t feel like you clicked with if you didn’t pay (much) for it.
So the real question becomes, “Do we think Boundless’ first couple of hours are the ones that are going to grab people’s attention and make them want to stay and explore more, or are they going to be put off”?
I can’t give a full answer to that, because a lot has changed since I started the game with a fresh new character and no idea about what to do. If it’s still anything like I remember though, it felt like a slow-to-start version of minecraft (albeit with better graphics), and I can’t honestly say that would have held my attention if I wasn’t already mentally and financially invested in Boundless (and everything else I thought it was going to become).
It’s a great out-the-box idea though. That’s exactly the kind of thinking we need.
Perhaps an enthusiastic community manager that did regular livestreams and showcased the stuff that can be achieved in game could help encourage new players to stick with it.
I’ve always felt the game could benefit from YouTube/Twitch streams showcasing the great things the game has to offer. If they also did giveaways, such as a gleamclub sub, or free plots, etc during streams it could really entice people to keep going.
That’s a very good point… we may lose a larger % of those before a few hours of play than we do now. There are some NPE issues that really need addressing to help that.
But even without any work, I think that if the number of subscribers is in the millions, enough of those that download it and try it will end up liking it enough, becoming long-term players and sticking with it, to provide funding over time for further development. While we’ve definitely got some issues still like the NPE, mid-level grind, complexity of some systems, with SE not willing to invest in more marketing, seems the most likely way to fund development and get work done on the issues. It might always be a niche game as Phil said, but if Sony can even get to a quarter to half of MS’ GP subscription numbers, that could still be a good number of people who both try and stick with it. Say 5 mil sign up first half year, half a percent download and try Boundless (I think those are fairly reasonable and probably conservative guesses but could be way off), that’s 25k, keep 5% of those and we’re then at an average higher than the free weekend.
Having the private universes might help here too? The game could hit a larger audience because of the single player option being available, and also, more might stick it if they try that first then enter the MMO side. Private universes could also take some pressure off the public planets if it were the case the numbers trying were very large.
Drat, yeah, forgot totally about that. Unless maybe they could get it where even though the PS players can’t generate them, can maybe have templates available for download and some customization.
Well the very first BIG mistake was not taking care of the folks who backed you at launch. It created a hierarchy where James felt the need (right or wrong) to do the bidding of those backers at the expense of the regular players, This gave these backers a sense of entitlement and hurt the general population.
The game was perfect at launch in my opinion I mean it had a few bugs but the overall gameplay was great just not intuitive but I like figuring stuff out so it was fine to me. I spent most my time building and looting beacons (which was frowned upon yet everyone was doing it go figure) They removed that and promised to put something in its place but never did,
Updates consisted mainly of grief prevention, compactness, buffers ect…instead of real content. So you went from Boundless to Bound, big game killer. The sad part is after all the buffers, and all the griefs, and ban hammers, player owned planets get released, so all that wasted dev time where you couldve added content and kept player retention was for nothing.
Next on the list Politics (Created by the prior example in first paragraph)! I have never played a game that was like “Game of Thrones” on steroids. So much backstabbing just general BS. Some ppl got favors other ppl got the shaft so the ones who got shafted had to get back at the one who did it. Just day in and day out. I dont know how many times Ive seen bully pretend victimhood in this game. This game needed a GM severely (and not James.)
lastly I find it kinda ironic that most (not all) of you on this very thread had a huge hand in killing this game as well,and to hear you worried about its future is kinda rich. I thought you wanted it this way, all to yourselves?
Anyway Philelliot it WAS a great game (I got my moneys worth) sadly though the way I see it it couldve been prevented by giving the backers what the paid for at start and then enforcing the rules evenly. You really had a diamond here, Hey but we all live and learn good luck to you in the future.
Let me be clearer. First MMO where the CEO involved himself in bias to certain ingame situations unfairly. I NEVER been in any game where if you felt unfairly treated you by a GM where you couldnt appeal and go over that GM. JAMES decisions were final no appeal just “Thats it”. Its happened to you DK I saw it with the Legend issue and James removed your stuff so lets stop you know exactly what Im talking about. Im 58 Ive been gaming since there was online gaming,
I personally think community For this game is great… But rules were not the same For everyone… If you had enough name and were “golden boy” so To speak… You could remove anyone out of your way When plotting if you just have some skills To talk.
Also devs changed their opinions about something… It couldve been ok today… But tomorrow its not. (looking At you beckon spagetti beacon).
This game’s focus and intentions have definitely become muddled as time has passed but this is also a small, off-the-beaten-track game made by a small team.
This team is made up of humans ( ) who don’t follow a set of scripts regarding customer service but rather take case by case, so some more moderate, friendly voices might filter through more clearly than others, and it’s probably a little naive to think otherwise.
Basically you reap what you sow.
Its ok To change the rules, if everyone has the same rules.
Whole plotting thing is/was so confusing To begin with…
Can i plot this?
Its next to this guys house
… Ye i guess i can…
No i you cant plot cause i tend To make a cucumber farm there. I tell admins… Your plots goner.
I’ve seen it happen. Seen multiple videos of arbitrary decisions done on the fly with no way to protest. The “It’s my way or highway” heavy handed approach. At this point I’m not surprised.
It just goes to show that the Devs are human after all and subject to making emotional outbursts and mistakes on a whim.
It is what it is…
Unless maybe they could get it where even though the PS players can’t generate them, can maybe have templates available for download and some customization.
) who don’t follow a set of scripts regarding customer service but rather take case by case, so some more moderate, friendly voices might filter through more clearly than others, and it’s probably a little naive to think otherwise.
