Kodie Chapman medal 5000 12 years 140 days ago (edited 12 years 140 days ago)
Hi i'm not here to just moan or say i am cheap, but does anyone else think the subscription prices are way too expensive?
I mean, i love this game and you get what you pay for but to be paying £5.49 a month is just a joke.
After all, even though this game is quite detailed, there is only so much you can do until it's all prepared and ready for the race.
I only really need to spend 10 minutes per race day to get things right, without messing around on forums, looking into statisics and playing around with designs etc. I pay less than that for some important bills in my life, i shouldn't be paying it for a game.
Subscription prices
Realistically, if i were the manager of iGP manager, i would have it priced at £2.50 per month/ £6.99 for 3 months/£13.00 per 6 months/£20.00 per 12 months - 12 months at such a bargain price because you can't put a price on active and committed players!
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This is a great game..why don't you shout it from the rooftops?!!
The only reason i found out about this game is from my brother. And i would like more managers to be in this game.
I think there are a few too many leagues with not enough players, and not enough active members. If you were to reduced the subscription cost you would have more active managers (problem solved) The more managers, the more word of mouth advertisement there would be. In effect, bringing in even more potential subscribers and creating a higher chance to make more money than you would if subscription costs are high. It's a circle effect..makes sense right?
BIG Advertisment
Then you could go even bigger and start advertising the game. Google adverts etc. to the final big step advert of a commercial TV advert with the F1 racing (targting the games primary auience and gaining thousands, if not millions of player)
- but you would need a bigger dev team and more orgainised league structure. A final step when the game is at it's best.
Real life brand sponsorship (in-game)
I would also reccommend to look into the possibility of getting actual sponsors from real brands.
Some brands, especially the smaller brands/companies, would be willing to pay iGP for in-game advertisement.
Therefore, being able to provide the players with a better service, fund the game development and pay the dev team good wages.
Furthermore, it would be a highly recommended to offer long contacts to these real life sponsors (in-game) as i believe that if this game is priced, advertised and marketed to it's full potential, that it could earn the rights of full game development - to be released on PC/ XBOX 360/ PS3 for online download. Possibily disk purchase if there was more detail introcuded to the game.
Person:"F1 manager has been done before". My reply: "not with the potential this game has!"
Conclusion of suggestions/ My YouTube Channel
In conclusion, i am not the manager or anyone of the design team but i am just as important. Just like all the people who play this game.
Hopefully others will agree and it would be great if this were to get read by someone. Someone who has a important role to play in the develpoment of this game and bring us not only one of the best F1 manager games, but to bring it to us all for cheaper, to be enjoyed to it's full enjoyement.
I hope you agree or can discuss these topics and am grateful for my suggestions towards this game.
Also, if the subscription charges fall near my realistic price, i will even make a free game commerial and review on this game for my YouTube Gaming Channel "KodieCollings360" - "it's nothing special but word soon gets around"!
-please comment if you think it could be cheaper and at what "realistic" price.
Dane Richardson medal 5000 12 years 140 days ago
Ive just subbed today.. for a taste.. I knew what I was getting but... honestly.. £5.49 wasnt worth it! I wont be subbing again for that price.
£2.50 on the other hand.. yes i would.
Adverts are a great source of income to run these type of sites
Jack Basford medal 5029 CEO & CTO 12 years 140 days ago
Firstly, we appreciate your concerns and this is why we offer a free version, if for any reason you do not wish to or are unable to subscribe.
Costs of running a company
Before I ran a company, I used to see things exactly as you do, so I know where you are coming from. Until being on the other side of the fence I made similar observations about countless games and products. Then the reality of taxation and all of the other fees involved in running a company became apparent. We have to put in a healthy margin to cover all of that. We can drop the prices by 21% off the bat if you can stop taxation in the UK. :D That alone takes £1.16 straight off the top of a 1 month sub, and we never get to see that money again.
Perpetual updates
If you go to the store and buy Battlefield 3 in a box it costs say £40. They are now releasing an expansion for that game, and it costs another £40. They charge you again because a lot of work goes in to that update, like our updates. The difference is we operate on a model of perpetual updates, not just one or two. We are committed to updating the game for years to come, with major steps each quarter. Each update also increases the value of the game.
iGP costs less than competitors
Do a comparison with other online F1 Manager games. GPRO for example costs €0.40 per race and has no live interactions at all. All of the extra bandwidth we require to support live interactions costs money. At the price of GPRO per race, a race a day on iGP would come to over £9 per month. We have to benchmark ourselves against our competitors, and this is a competitive price point.
No advertising
Unlike our competitors, we are ad-free.
For everyone else, there's a free version.
£1.99 per month would be reasonable if we were (A) never going to update it again, (B) had no obligation to pay tax (C) weren't already undercutting our competitors.
Teo Fabulous medal 5000 12 years 140 days ago (edited 12 years 140 days ago)
I agree that the subscription rate is high, but only because the value added for subscribing is still somewhat low. Your money buys you the ability to "design" your car livery, have more options when hosting leagues, and - the reason why I subscribed, personally - the unlimited 2D racing.
If more value was added - i.e., the ability to run more than one two-car team or at least run additional "junior teams" within the same league structure a la the real life race teams, as well as maybe making wind tunnels, testing rigs, KERS, or other options subscriber-only - then the cost would not seem so prohibitive, IMO. The "free play" teams could be considered the "privateer" type teams while the subscribers would have the advantages of the top-level "factory" teams.
I fully understand the costs of operating your own company and development expenses for building the product (I have both operated my own company and have worked for a game company in the past), so I think it's unrealistic to move your price point, but if you offered more perks for subscription it might entice more people to step up with their money.
Kodie Chapman medal 5000 12 years 140 days ago (edited 12 years 140 days ago)
Thanks for replying and for all of the infomation.
I just wish i could make my own active league, 1 race per day. I'm not really bothered about the 2D, i prefer the tention of times.
Honestly, if this had more depth, i would happily pay a one off fee of say £25 for the download and then a small sub fee each month.
About the advertising, i meant like on the car sponsors like in real life (Not on the website itself)
Once again, thanks for the reply and keep developing...Great game.
As for taxation..i will see what i can do =D
Jack Basford medal 5029 CEO & CTO 12 years 140 days ago
No problem, sorry if I am a bit grouchy, I've had a long week! :P
Keep an eye out for the Q2 update. There are quite a few changes coming to add depth in that, especially with design which has become a bit one-dimensional under the current system.
Jamie Franklin medal 5000 12 years 140 days ago
"Kodie
Thanks for replying and for all of the infomation.
I just wish i could make my own active league, 1 race per day. I'm not really bothered about the 2D, i prefer the tention of times.
Honestly, if this had more depth, i would happily pay a one off fee of say £25 for the download and then a small sub fee each month.
About the advertising, i meant like on the car sponsors like in real life (Not on the website itself)
Once again, thanks for the reply and keep developing...Great game.
As for taxation..i will see what i can do =D
Regarding the car sponsors, take a look at iRacing ;) - I know it's not what you're getting at, but it's definitely a start to great advertism.
http://www.iracing.com/inracingnews/iracing-news/iracing-brasil-partners-with-igp-manager Alin Costrasuc medal 5000 12 years 140 days ago
"Kodie
I only really need to spend 10 minutes per race day to get things right
You're slow. I do it in 4 minutes.
Kodie Chapman medal 5000 12 years 140 days ago
Kodie Chapman medal 5000 12 years 140 days ago
"Alin
You're slow. I do it in 4 minutes.
Hey..i'm new =)
Jason Lee medal 5000 12 years 140 days ago
Have you considered doing a "life time" option Jack, or is it simply not possible? I'd much rather pay a hefty one off fee (say $100 or whatever) over small installments. I mean I have no intentions to stop playing any time soon so I'll probably be 2D forever.
Amelia Lyons medal 5190 12 years 139 days ago
Sub Prices are fine, Jack has a family to feed.
Jake Goodhall medal 5000 12 years 139 days ago
These discussions are very interesting and even when pretty negative can be quite constructive.
There was a great deal of discussion about prices before launch, and what we have is the best option, which was agreed by most of the beta players (i think).
The devs can never please everyone but Jack has quite clearly stated why it is the way it is, and I agreee with him. I was actually one of the few who thought that he was selling it too cheap!
You are helping the developement potential of a game that hasn't even scratched the surface yet - just think what you will be able to tell your grandchildren!! :)
Alex Purchase medal 5000 12 years 129 days ago (edited 12 years 129 days ago)
"Jack
Firstly, we appreciate your concerns and this is why we offer a free version, if for any reason you do not wish to or are unable to subscribe.
Costs of running a company
Before I ran a company, I used to see things exactly as you do, so I know where you are coming from. Until being on the other side of the fence I made similar observations about countless games and products. Then the reality of taxation and all of the other fees involved in running a company became apparent. We have to put in a healthy margin to cover all of that. We can drop the prices by 21% off the bat if you can stop taxation in the UK. :D That alone takes £1.16 straight off the top of a 1 month sub, and we never get to see that money again.
Perpetual updates
If you go to the store and buy Battlefield 3 in a box it costs say £40. They are now releasing an expansion for that game, and it costs another £40. They charge you again because a lot of work goes in to that update, like our updates. The difference is we operate on a model of perpetual updates, not just one or two. We are committed to updating the game for years to come, with major steps each quarter. Each update also increases the value of the game.
iGP costs less than competitors
Do a comparison with other online F1 Manager games. GPRO for example costs €0.40 per race and has no live interactions at all. All of the extra bandwidth we require to support live interactions costs money. At the price of GPRO per race, a race a day on iGP would come to over £9 per month. We have to benchmark ourselves against our competitors, and this is a competitive price point.
No advertising
Unlike our competitors, we are ad-free.
For everyone else, there's a free version.
£1.99 per month would be reasonable if we were (A) never going to update it again, (B) had no obligation to pay tax (C) weren't already undercutting our competitors.
Personally I would not mind a few adverts on the site if it helped make the game better/ lower subscription costs. However I think your prices now are fair seeing as you need to make some money out of this.
Jaxon Voom medal 5000 12 years 129 days ago
Is this thread serious? I can't think of any other online game that's this cheap per month.
David Stafford medal 5000 12 years 129 days ago
I had the subscription before but haven't renewed it because I can't use 2d on my android. It was awesome to have but I found myself missing a lot of races due to not being at home and I can't use it on my computer at work. Really hoping for a mobile version of 2d at some point! :D
Brian Adie medal 5000 12 years 128 days ago
I too agree that the cost of the game is pretty good, I have seen online games especially on iPad which are way more expensive!! Also, you have the option of paying a year up front, this means it doesn't actally cost £5.49 a month...I'm new to the game and really enjoying it, keep up the good work...:-)
Viktor Kenji medal 5000 12 years 93 days ago
The current model is flawed imo
If you are in a league that race daily, you pay around (5.49/30) 18 pence per race. If you are in a league that race twice per week, suddenly you are paying 45 pence per race. A better option is to have 2D passes per race for people who don't need the premium feature, for example: 2.49 for 10 2D races pass.
thiago silva medal 5000 12 years 92 days ago
i kind liked the suggestion. Charging for races or seasons instead of months.
Of course igp can have both. More options is not a bad thing.
Jake Goodhall medal 5000 12 years 92 days ago
I think updating subscription rates are something that is being considered but at the moment they have to fit in with the constraints of the system.
I like those ideas Victor - and this has been highlighted previously.