I am a developer myself. I want to have money for the work I do, the time and ideas I invest into any project, and as most geeks (developers who are really talented) I also do a lot of work for lesser money or no money at all (e.g. open source projects)
I was also part of a lot of industry stuff. So I kind of know a lot of the game business, even if my work is not oriented there (but my free time goes there all the way)
So if I say, that Star Conflict is breaking a cardinal rule of “what not to do” with this squad limitation thing, take my word to be professional. There is no valid discussion about this. If you have a different viewpoint, yours isnt balanced, period. I have money for games, I can spend it, I already did, and I dont mind.
But this feature KILLS this game before it becomes as popular as it may deserve.
I almost played any game, that might have influenced this one, from eve to elite, from wing commander to moon breakers, I could even count star battle in. It’s really well made, and deserves a boom in players.
But the registration process which should be more “automagic” for steam users in the first place, the bad idea of gaining popularity by describing this game as MMO (which it isn’t, and never should become), and the hiring of SOME more writers and ui designers to keep “help screens” up to date etc. aside - the squad limitation to 2 people for freegamers is the biggest flaw it has.
Now, I understand, a certain percentage of the gamers should pay, If they can afford it, to keep the community and development alive. And they most certainly would do that. There is also no need to “hide” this truth.
Most people already said why. If people are not squadding up, the team play element of this game will get stuck. Inhouses will never occur. Soloplayers are not engaged to socialize and squad up (I read someone even found that positive, yikes). Corporations have no upside for their own players besides a nametag, and will have lots of inactive players in the end or, as they already do, invite random people just to get more stats.
Constructively, there are a lot of ideas how to make this better.
- at least have squad sizes at least at 4 for free play.
- have no squad limits for corporations if all players are from the corporation
- introduce more game modes or rights for licensed players. Game modes which are about corp vs corp engagements, inhouses, etc. but keep the main gameplay completely free. So its only about setting up those games.
Or:
- Explain explicitly on the website and in steam, what the limits of free 2 play are in this game, or the first lawsuit will come if the game gets really popular. Believe me.
Just to be clear. The goal is to reach an immense playerbase, because the statistics never lie: if you have a lot of fans, a certain percentage of these fans is paying you.
If you try to make “sure” they pay you, you cannot reach critical mass, because even if you keep a certain paying fanbase, many people will quit, and at a certain point, no newcomers will be there.
This is a team vs. team oriented game. It’s a game we all hoped somebody would finally do this way. If gaijin does not wake up and realize this completely, they just dig their grave next to their own dreams.