Alpha Key Delusion - Return Pre-Order Packs

The idea of selling Alpha Keys because you need testers is absurd. A better way to go about it would've been to do a yearly sale where all previous pre-order, not kickstarter/summer backer packages are available, akin to Star Citizen's free fly week. You have a far better chance of getting people to purchase if they get a cosmetic along with an Alpha key.

Attempting to FOMO people into buying the ability to QA your game is ridiculous, it reinforces the feeling I've had for a while that this product is becoming a bottomless pit of funding. Anyway, what I proposed is a better solution.

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Comments

Garrtok

You shouldn't mention star citizen for anything positive, there is nothing.

TheAshen

The keys will likely sell out regardless of the cosmetics or the price.

nanfoodle

You think about the number of combinations that they need to go through for servers types race types for buildings to events and different story arcs. To get everything tested to make sure that works for lunch is going to require one of the largest testing phases ever done for an MMO

Lanaya

I bought the $250 pre-order pack two years ago. Obviously, that is an insane price tag for Alpha and Beta testing access plus some cosmetic stuff I don’t even care about. I willingly spent that money because I genuinely believe in the project that is Intrepid Studio and Ashes of Creation and because I believe in Steven’s vision for the game, and I want to support it. To me what’s truly unique about Ashes of Creation is that the studio has taken in no external investors or publishers. The funding comes from Kickstarter, the community, and from the founders’ own pockets which they’re doing out of love and passion for the MMORPG genre. For this reason, I’m okay with supporting the development by purchasing what would otherwise be an outrageously overpriced Alpha testing key.

Could Intrepid have done a better job designing and communicating their pricing strategy for the Alpha keys? Yes, absolutely:

1. The price brackets for the three Alpha phases ($120, $110, and $100 respectively) suggests that they are aware of and intentionally pricing around the FOMO effect which rubs people (me included) the wrong way. All phases should cost the same.

2. The steep price tag should have been addressed in the announcement. Communication is all about controlling the narrative and right now the narrative is about Intrepid charging the community to do their testing for them. Instead, the announcement/AMA livestream should have included a section on the financing of the project, disclosed a few key metrics (total funding, burn rate, expected server costs during the Alpha, etc.) and spoken to the unique aspects of Intrepid Studio within the gaming industry as mentioned above.

Ultimately the narrative should be “we’re rolling out $120 Alpha keys because we want to keep the project in the hands of dedicated and passionate MMORPG loving owners and away from profit hungering investors” instead of “we’re doing this because we need more testers”. The community perfectly understands that developing an MMORPG is a massive and costly undertaking and I think that a lot of people like me would be happy to support the development in this way. But we need to be given the right reasons to do it.

wakkytabbaky

honestly i doubt IS will need testers for P1 and P2, new key sales should have only been for Phase 3 imo

Otr

Lanaya wrote: »

Ultimately the narrative should be “we’re rolling out $120 Alpha keys because we want to keep the project in the hands of dedicated and passionate MMORPG loving owners and away from profit hungering investors” instead of “we’re doing this because we need more testers”. The community perfectly understands that developing an MMORPG is a massive and costly undertaking and I think that a lot of people like me would be happy to support the development in this way. But we need to be given the right reasons to do it.

They don't need investors.
They just filter away players who would want to check the game to see how it feels and then leave.
Even though some who pay this price might still leave after they check the state, because who wants to work?

Ludullu

So in an attempt to "not have fomo" you suggest having the fomoest fomo ever? Seems legit

arkileo

wakkytabbaky wrote: »

honestly i doubt IS will need testers for P1 and P2, new key sales should have only been for Phase 3 imo

There isn't a win situation for them. If they did this then a big group of people would rage that they can't join P1 and P2.

bloodprophet

There is no win for them no matter what they do.
Far to many people refuse to listen.
If they don't sell keys they are assholes.
If they do sell keys they are assholes.

No matter how many times they says this is a testing phase and there will be a lot of bugs and limited content for testing. People will not listen. We saw this with Alpha 1. We will see it in alpha 2.

A lot of the people whining have no idea why they are whining.

Made a few mad last time I said this is because most people have never built anything more complex then a paper airplane, but people keep proving me right.

Most people never listen, they are to busy waiting for you to stop making noise, so they can.

RocketFarmer

At this point they could have auctioned the Alpha Keys. State “we have 10,000 Alpha keys covering Alpha 2 that will be released for bid in blocks of 500 during the course of Alpha 2”. Using their pace, every 6 weeks. They should also state that should Alpha 2 participation drop over time then they will offer more blocks for bid. BTW, they could also reserve blocks for different regions/countries so that pricing is comparable to those markets.

They could also open up a select number of tiers that include bonus assets (digital, physical goodies, merchandise, etc) for those who like, want that and are willing to pay. This is because all of this is really just an extension of the crowd funding campaign.

Third, they should just take donations for the vision arranged by lump sum or monthly payments.

I’ve also previously stated they need to reward good testing by either offering free months of subscription after release (based on criteria) or a discount to the subscription over a period time in lieu of payment and to reimburse investment.

For those who essentially bought lifetime free subs, need something special for them. Possibly something in game or an NPC modeled after them.

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