Multiplayer games and ensuring player numbers
by Edward Smith · in Game Design and Creative Issues · 08/08/2011 (6:22 pm) · 9 replies
Say I wanted to make a FPS multiplayer only game.
One of the issues would be if the game does not have a large enough player base then when your customer joins or creates a game they have no one to play with.
What are some of the methods to deal with this?
AI, usually seems like a poor choice.
I was thinking of having a free/demo/limited version of the game where the players can only play as the most basic unit and don't get saved stats and other extra features.
Another would be the micro-transaction model.
Just wanting opinions...
One of the issues would be if the game does not have a large enough player base then when your customer joins or creates a game they have no one to play with.
What are some of the methods to deal with this?
AI, usually seems like a poor choice.
I was thinking of having a free/demo/limited version of the game where the players can only play as the most basic unit and don't get saved stats and other extra features.
Another would be the micro-transaction model.
Just wanting opinions...
About the author
Currently working on a WW2 FPS game.
#2
08/08/2011 (6:46 pm)
In addition to the micro-payments, you could offer a monthly fee for a set number of credits, or just charge a one off payment where they get credits in the game and also have single player (no credits required), further credits can be bought for online play (to keep the servers maintained) but make it easy to win more credits, it's those that don't want to wait will pay for extra features. You could provide both payment models giving the player the option based on whether they are going to be playing the game quite a bit, or every so often. Start off on the free to play, with a little payment here and there and if they like the game, go for the full one off payment with the option to buy more credits if they need them. You'll get some users who stay on the micro-transactions paying more than the one off payment when they could have paid a single payment, but you could cap this so that if they pay (x) amount then they get free unlimited access anyway as a royalty bonus - their usage may drop by that time, so keeping the hardcore players in your game, is also good for advertising and keeping the numbers high - they spread the word.
#3
With the micro-transactions would the transactions be for say pay $1 to get access to the rocket soldier class for a month?
What is the best method? And when do micro-transactions cross the line and start to annoy players?
Is it better to just market towards the people that want everything now and not want to unlock weapons for example?
I don't want to alienate players. Even if they aren't too keen about paying because there numbers are important. Lots of multiplayer games seem to die due to the lack of numbers.
08/09/2011 (5:34 pm)
Thanks S2P, some nice ideas there.With the micro-transactions would the transactions be for say pay $1 to get access to the rocket soldier class for a month?
What is the best method? And when do micro-transactions cross the line and start to annoy players?
Is it better to just market towards the people that want everything now and not want to unlock weapons for example?
I don't want to alienate players. Even if they aren't too keen about paying because there numbers are important. Lots of multiplayer games seem to die due to the lack of numbers.
#4
On some not so popular gamemodes the game has usually more than enough servers but very little players (running a server is easy today and it doesn't require any presence), if you assume server hosting ,at least at the start, you can concentrate your playerbase on just enough servers to allow everyone to play, but not enough to have them scatter everywhere.
08/09/2011 (8:17 pm)
If you can bear it financially, when your community is small you could be the only "official server host" this let you control how many servers are up at all time.On some not so popular gamemodes the game has usually more than enough servers but very little players (running a server is easy today and it doesn't require any presence), if you assume server hosting ,at least at the start, you can concentrate your playerbase on just enough servers to allow everyone to play, but not enough to have them scatter everywhere.
#5
There are a few games out there that rake in over $290k a month, and they give away $10k a month in cash prizes for the top winner for that month (giving back to the community) only fires their desire to keep playing and spending money. Plus a bit of psychology is involved, but importantly having a good website, marketing, artwork/screenshot/videos to sell your game helps, but having a game with good gameplay keeps your users playing.
08/10/2011 (8:57 am)
@Edward - micro transactions tend to annoy people when they spend hundreds of dollars a year (hardcore players), where as the small player may only pay $60 and then not play any more. Some gamers also don't touch micro-payments, or they just stick to the free method, albeit it takes them much longer to get where they need to go. You could cap the amount of what people spend per month, when they reach that value its free until the next month (just a thought!)There are a few games out there that rake in over $290k a month, and they give away $10k a month in cash prizes for the top winner for that month (giving back to the community) only fires their desire to keep playing and spending money. Plus a bit of psychology is involved, but importantly having a good website, marketing, artwork/screenshot/videos to sell your game helps, but having a game with good gameplay keeps your users playing.
#6
You could use the Game Ranking System (GRS) that you have to record rankings/scores for paying users only. Define a table with the list of benefits of a free to play user, member, giving them maybe 2 or 3 options any more than that would just be OTT.
08/10/2011 (9:15 am)
A while back now, I did some marketing for my game, just to see what the conversion rates were, I spent about $50-100 on strategic websites that have a high number of gamers, keeping the banner minimal, and to the point, often too much detail/info will not work. Signed up 800 email addresses who were interested in playing out of the 2000 clicks. Best to work with small click through costs at first to justify the costs. One of the sites I used was www.game-advertising-online.com (G-A-O). This was based on the game selling for around $30 (retail).You could use the Game Ranking System (GRS) that you have to record rankings/scores for paying users only. Define a table with the list of benefits of a free to play user, member, giving them maybe 2 or 3 options any more than that would just be OTT.
#7
@S2P I like the idea of the max cap for a month and then having a "premium account" for the rest of the month.
By having cash prizes, your making it a serious game! As long as the prize money is based on monthly income you can always be sure its profitable. I like :-).
For the type of game I'm thinking of, a multiplayer team based FPS. I could have a team/clan ladder. And the clan that wins that season wins say 3% of profits, and each month there is a winner taking 1% of profits.
Each member of the clan, that wants to play needs to put up $5 for that month lets say. On top of the other optional, features.
Every member of the team/clan is paid equally.
Some pretty serious security is needed to ensure its fair if money is involved. Good ideas though, I'm impressed.
Of cause gameplay is key to all of it too.
08/10/2011 (8:47 pm)
@Kyrah my problem with doing the servers myself, is that because I'm in Australia I know what its like to not have local servers :-P. But it is a good idea to reduce the spread. Maybe to have servers in many parts of the world. Many ISP's host servers as a selling point for their company is it hard to/cost much to get them to host your game? And these could be official servers?@S2P I like the idea of the max cap for a month and then having a "premium account" for the rest of the month.
By having cash prizes, your making it a serious game! As long as the prize money is based on monthly income you can always be sure its profitable. I like :-).
For the type of game I'm thinking of, a multiplayer team based FPS. I could have a team/clan ladder. And the clan that wins that season wins say 3% of profits, and each month there is a winner taking 1% of profits.
Each member of the clan, that wants to play needs to put up $5 for that month lets say. On top of the other optional, features.
Every member of the team/clan is paid equally.
Some pretty serious security is needed to ensure its fair if money is involved. Good ideas though, I'm impressed.
Of cause gameplay is key to all of it too.
#8
On the server front, it's worth contacting GSPs (Game Server Providers) as they have lots of servers that are not being used, create a deal where if they can use their customer base also to get slots filled up on the servers you can pay them a percentage, but to be safe make sure the game server version is compiled, with registration always pointed to your site with a reference number (like an affiliate) that has the GSPs identity so you know who you are paying commission to. If you plan on going down the micro-payments route.
Alternatively, you could give away free copies of the server version to GSPs to charge for each slot connected so that people buy the game from your store if its just a single retail cost. Then you don't have the server overheads. A bit like steam, but then you can set your price and not sell your game less than its worth, although you'd need a fair few GSPs signed up, or at least the top ones to justify not going to places like Steam/Direct2Drive to generate volume sales, an avenue you could use as a last resort if sales are low. It really depends on the route you want to take and how much time you have to implement the functionality/plug-ins to cover the connectivity and how much of a margin you want to make.
08/11/2011 (3:09 am)
@Edward - I wouldn't do cash prizes straight away, you need to see what your margins are first. But it's something to consider later, when you have created a few updates with extra security in preparation for giving away prizes, and you don't need to give away just cash, hardware (xbox, ps3) that sort of thing is also appealing, and you could maybe get a sponsor for that to supply the stock in return for advertising, so you're not losing out on revenue. Sponsors would want to see numbers of visitors/players before they commit to anything like that.On the server front, it's worth contacting GSPs (Game Server Providers) as they have lots of servers that are not being used, create a deal where if they can use their customer base also to get slots filled up on the servers you can pay them a percentage, but to be safe make sure the game server version is compiled, with registration always pointed to your site with a reference number (like an affiliate) that has the GSPs identity so you know who you are paying commission to. If you plan on going down the micro-payments route.
Alternatively, you could give away free copies of the server version to GSPs to charge for each slot connected so that people buy the game from your store if its just a single retail cost. Then you don't have the server overheads. A bit like steam, but then you can set your price and not sell your game less than its worth, although you'd need a fair few GSPs signed up, or at least the top ones to justify not going to places like Steam/Direct2Drive to generate volume sales, an avenue you could use as a last resort if sales are low. It really depends on the route you want to take and how much time you have to implement the functionality/plug-ins to cover the connectivity and how much of a margin you want to make.
#9
08/15/2011 (11:30 pm)
Hey Edward. GMMS may be useful for you, for game memberships / subscriptions and a new feature is being added for micro-payments, where you can purchase credits and use them for in-game items. I remember from a previous blog that you were interested in this product. So thought I'd let you know here in case you've not visited the GG site recently. More info on it here 
Torque Owner Jules
Something2Play
Micro-transactions is a good idea, making the game free up to a certain level (capped) or only allow a set number of turns/minutes of play per day per account, or restrict missions or number of free slots (else your game will have more free users than paying ones). It can take a while to build up revenue, but can often exceed what a standard method (one off payment) would bring in, and you could always make revenue off advertising on your site by bringing in the numbers. All this would have to be worked out of course. Servers cost money for 3D multiplayer games, and only scale up/down when you need to. Dynamic cloud servers as a cheap alternative will enable you to up the spec without having to move servers.
You could have AI in the game, reducing the number of AI based on the number of real players in the game, eventually phasing out the AI players as your game gets bigger.
Perhaps you could appoint a certain number of free accounts (BETA testers) that would continue to get free credits based on how many users they bring into your game and site, to promote it like affiliates, and once the game gets busy you could take on board some of the top affiliates and pay them some revenue share for a while as long as they maintain the user numbers (only if they convert to paying members).
Another option would be to create a cut down mini-viral game to promote your game using the artwork you have, maybe convert it into 2D with the sprite app in the GG store. Create a set number of levels and at the end of it display an advert (Now play the full 3D game - its free (or offer a 7 day trial). Upload the flash game to all of the free flash game websites. One way to drum up some free marketing, although the uploading process may be time consuming.