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PostPosted: Tue Mar 29, 2005 2:04 pm 
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Conscript

Joined: Tue Mar 02, 2004 6:49 pm
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I would never ever pay for a monthly subscription to a turn based strategy game like Massive Assault. I am a professional developer and I know how long it takes to get software stable and running and its just kind of a ripoff. Subscription based services only really work when there is a lot of content being continuously added or when running the game requires servers that do more than just coordinate games. I.e. an MMORPG requires lots of servers and often has continuous game content updates.

Take world of warcraft for instance. Do you think that Massive Assault is in the same class as World of Warcraft?

The one exception to this is www.lasersquadnemesis.com which seems to do pretty well for a subscription based service. However, its supported by a single player game thats free, technically it has more content than Massive Assault, only costs three dollars a month if you go for a year subscription, and most importantly, its a much more polished game. Also, arguably, moves are resolved on their servers, so they do have to pay for those. Nevertheless, I personally wouldn't subscribe to this unless I was really into it because its still a lot for a simple turnbased game. (Laser squad's gameplay is more complex/less elegant than Massive Assault)

If a game doesn't require a multitude of powerful servers to constantly handle game operations and it doesn't have gigabytes of new content a year, then its a ripoff to run it by subscription. Period. Massive Assault is a simple, elegant and incredibly buggy game. I would pay a one time fee of fifty bucks for it if it was less buggy. As is, I bought it from an amazon.com seller for 15 dollars with shipping. And I'm dissapointed that after 2 years it still has issues.

You can't put out a buggy product, take people's money for it and then try to charge them a subscription fee to pay for bug fixes that should be free or fixed in the original version. A software company's business model should INCLUDE the cost of maintaining the software for the user base. If it doesn't, that company can't expect to sell future products to those same annoyed customers.


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 29, 2005 2:31 pm 
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Tough Nut

Joined: Sun Mar 27, 2005 5:10 pm
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Location: Los Angeles, CA
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4)Majority of those who puirchase MA-D now probably will NOT pay it more than 4 months....show me ANY strategy game which you play for 4 months in row or more..probably not many of such games.


Reality check: the HOMM series, AoW series, Civ series, Starcraft and other games have large communities that have been playing the games for years, there is absolutely no truth in the above quoted statement and it verges on the edge of deliberate dishonesty. Part of the reason for the longevity of the game I listed is free internet MP and decent map editors that allow the players to produce more maps than any individual player has time to play. The excuses offered about MA and MAN have no bearing in the real world and the need for a subscription kills any interest in buying this game for most players. There is a huge market for innovative multiplayer games but MA seems to be intentionally positioned to fail in this market.

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PostPosted: Tue Mar 29, 2005 8:46 pm 
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Sea Wolf

Joined: Sat Feb 26, 2005 12:17 am
Posts: 620
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Can someone tell me if there is a game site that has this format of wargame? MassiveAssault is unique but that's only as much as I know.
I have played wargames since late 70's, namely Avalon Hill games like Panzerblitz, Squad Leader, Russian Campaign, Wooden Ships....etc....
MassiveAssault is basically very similar to those games although it is fantasy storyline instead of history storyline.
I have no interest in sports (unless I'm participating) and I am sure grateful for these cool wargames!
They aren't "perfect" but at least I have numerous gamers to play with at all times. AND we don't have to look at each other or smell each other.
:) [/list]


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PostPosted: Mon Apr 04, 2005 6:58 am 
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Conscript

Joined: Sat Mar 06, 2004 8:50 am
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I must admit I was very disappointed when I saw that Domination had a subscription-based multiplayer component. I don't care about extra maps or ladders or any of that. I just want to play an occational game online, and there's no way I'm going to pay for the priviledge of being able to play an online game or two per month.

Ofcourse, Wargaming.net are free to do what they want with their games, and my opinion doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things. But I am pretty sure that they're going to lose sales over this. Most potential buyers aren't serious wargamers, they're just normal gamers. And when they see that they have to pay to play online, many of them will no doubt put the game box back on the shelf and leave the shop with another game instead.


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