Sleuth Home - Message Boards - Sleuth Talk


0 0
Sleuth Costs/Money
  <<First Page  |  <Previous Next>  |  Last Page>>  

Sleuth Admin
Sleuth Admin
Tale Spinner

Oct-6-2004 11:35

Although I try to run Sleuth as professionally as I can, realistcally, it is more of a hobby than a business. Since I began offering subscriptions in April, it has made enough money to pay for it's recurring costs (advertising and hosting), with enough left over to occasionally invest in hardware upgrades.

So, the time I spend working on the game is donated, which is fine with me, since I enjoy offering this service and watching the community grow, and there is always a small chance that this will lead to something bigger.

Over the last few weeks, there have been a few interesting trends. One, rate of traffic increase, has sped up. We now are visited by around 200 new players a day, which is great, but it means there has been a cooresponding increase in my hosting charges since I'm now over my previous bandwidth limit.

At the same time, subscription levels have actually dropped significantly. I have no idea why that is happening, but it is noticeable.

Consequently, we're now in a place where Sleuth is actually losing money on a monthly basis. A situation I can't leave it in for more than a couple months.

So, I'm looking for ideas about how to bring in a little more cash:

1) Does anybody have any ideas as to why less people are choosing to subscribe to Sleuth, even as there are more players? This seems quite strange.

2) I'm thinking of carrying ads on Sleuth, at least for non-subscribed players. I can't just slap on Google ads because Sleuth requires a login, but there are other options I can look into. What is people's opinion on that?

3) Would anybody be interested in purchasing Sleuth merchandise (t-shirts, mousepads, etc) if I opened up a Cafe Press store?

4) Should I add further limits on non-subscribed players to encourage more of them to subscribe?


Replies

jstkdn
jstkdn
Well-Connected

Oct-7-2004 04:31

I think Dr. has a point here. I think people are more inclined to subscribe, if they see the benefits of being in agency. As you can not get in to an agency without being subscribed, set up a fake thing, with a locker, and a safe, where people can play a fake game, with fake money etc.

I want that dry erase whiteboard thingy. But a small one. Does that even exist?

Bella Luna
Bella Luna

Oct-7-2004 08:12

More information about being in an agency and participating in treasure hunts may incourage subscriptions.

wenbin
wenbin

Oct-7-2004 11:12

My own experience:
I did not hesitate to join when i chance upon this site as no email is required. i hate it when i got all sorts of junk mails. after that, the help section was good to help us get started. the only time that i was tempted to subscribed was when i click on the real estate button and wonder whats in it in an agency. other then that, it seems I can just play like anyone else. 3 cases per day?? no problem. At one time, I was playing with 6 ID!!! that's 18 cases and can last me 3 hrs. So why the hell should I pay??? After playing for over 4 weeks, everything seems to get bored. Either, I solve the cases or I quit them if i can't. thinking of quitting this site totally. there is not much info to tell me what I'm missing in an agency. whatever info I get, i got it from the message board. My curiousity get stronger and stronger.With no credit card, i had to tell my friend to register for me. what do I get??? A complete different world when you are in a agency!!!! It was much more fun!!!

But you see the problems??? There is no hints about what I'm missing except from the message board. More info around to remind users what they r missing. Not info from users which r scattered all over the message board. I had requested for the agency to be included in the tutorial. when they click around the agency it may subconciously remind them what they r missing.

This may be one of the reason why people are so quick to registered but didn't bother to subscribed.

note: this id is not subscribed, I subscribed with another ID and today only keep 2 ID.

Deayts
Deayts
Well-Connected

Oct-7-2004 14:02

i think people who are not in active agencies leave after they get to a certain point because there seems to be no more for them. The agency is excellent as it adds the element of comraderie, competition of the hunt against other agencies and the sharing of case files - to name just some of the benefits.

Now I didnt want to be first to mention this, and I am not, Elvenwonder did, but i think the main reason people dont resubscribe is because they dont have to. By this I mean you can play the game for free. You basically subscribe for one of two reasons.

1. more cases
2. to join an agency

After a month or two, you probably find that you would like some of the time back for your partner or real life activities, so the cases arent important anymore, but it is the agency that keeps you.

Now this is the bit Elven alluded to, but people wont like us for saying..

Once you are in an agency, you are in. Subscribed or not. If you are in an agency and your subscription expires.. you still have all the benefits you subscribed for, but a few less cases a day and more of your life back..

So why re-subscribe?

I think this happens a lot. I almost did it today cos my subscription was about to run out.. but at the last minute i subscribed again.

To me that would be the number one reason. Right or wrong - that is my opinion.

So Elvens idea about only letting unsubscribed detectives stay in an agency for a certain period holds merit to me. Personally I would rather someone knew who is doing 8 cases a day towards the hunts etc..


I know this will cause some upset - even within my agency. but that is what i think.



Deayts
Deayts
Well-Connected

Oct-7-2004 14:03

someone new even :)

Bryola
Bryola
Well-Connected

Oct-8-2004 23:01

I have nothing new to add, except support. I agree with Elven and Deayts that unsubscribed players shouldn't be allowed to stay in agencies for extended periods. Also, I would fully support any ads or price increases. The game is well worth it.

Rivergallery
Rivergallery

Oct-9-2004 06:38

Ok. As a non-subcriber why have I not.....
First $.. we don't even pay for cable so even though the $ is small it is the main reason for not signing up.
Second I don't have time to do 8 cases everyday and have limited will power so might not be able to stay away .. and with two little toddlers, I can't spend TOO much time on the computer :).


I think ads for non-subcribers is a great idea. I would definately click them. A One month trial is a good idea also.

What would get me to subscribe?
I like this idea.

"One bizarre idea I had based on someone's request on the message boards to have a tutorial or demo that showed what it was like to be subscribed was the idea of an agency intern or apprentice. This could be someone who is on the fence about subscribing. An agency could take them in for a day without worrying about their maximum number of agents. They could store cases, use the agency contacts, participate in every way. If there was a way to do this, then at midnight, or when 24 hours was up, instead of "turning into a pumpkin" they would be back to their unsubscribed status again, and back with whatever accessories they brought into the agency."

After reading this, I am thinking more about subscribing even if I don't join an agency.

About items I think starting with Cafe-press is a good idea, it is easy to set up a "store" and you don't have to deal with product.

Rivergallery
Rivergallery

Oct-9-2004 06:43

I've been trying to even find where to subscribe and can't find in at City Hall, maybe we should make a separate link, as well as a link within the Subscribtion FAQ at the bottom of the page.

Franco
Franco

Oct-10-2004 14:18

i am from portugal.
is there any other way of payment?
how much is the subscrib in EUROS?
have you think about that?
thanks, sorry if any wrong writing.

Franco

p.s. pay by multibanc card?you now wath that is?

Sleuth Admin
Sleuth Admin
Tale Spinner

Oct-10-2004 17:17

Hello Franco,

Yes, I think PayPal does accept Multibanc card payments. Just click the buy now button and you should see that as an option after selecting your country.




  <<First Page  |  <Previous Next>  |  Last Page>>  

[ You must login to reply ]