Sleuth Home - Message Boards - Sleuth Talk


0 0
Sleuth Costs/Money
  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

Chronestrian
Chronestrian

Oct-6-2004 11:46

1. That whole week when the server change was going on may have had an effect.
2. Ads would not have to be very intrusive, so my vote is go for it.
3. Sleuth merchandise is a great idea, because I've personally wanted to find a way to reward my own team members.
4. Yes to further limits on non-subs.
***5. I wouldn't mind if you raised subscription price.

elvenwonder
elvenwonder

Oct-6-2004 12:07

1) I agree that the server change seemed to affect new players, they didn't want to wait around if they were just trying it out. I also wonder how many of the new players are unique users, not additional agents for a live person. I must admit while trying to get specific contacts we had a number of unsubscribed agents we played planning to subscribe whoever got the approriate contact first. Also, how many new users are building the addiction and will subscribe in the future.

2) I would not have a problem with ads in the margins, or for unsubscribed players. I would have a serious problem with pop up ads for subsciribed players. I find Sleuth's lack of pop ups refreshing. Maybe you could even have two levels of subscription, $4/month gets you the subscription benefits, $6/month eliminates ads. Also I would have a problem if I found something related to Sleuth started putting Spyware on my machine, but I am pretty sure you would stop that.

3) I am not sure about Sleuth merchandise. I would pay a modest amount ($10) for a mouse pad, but don't know how many would sell vs how many you would have to buy to get started. One thing that would also be cool is I have developed a Case Worksheet. Others in my agency have really liked it, selling pads of them, or a dry erase board with it on there could be cool, let me know if you would like to see it.

4) I don't know what else you could limit on non-subscribed players. I know if I had logged on to Sleuth and been required to pay to play I would have never done it. I had to build my addiction before I was willing to pay. Maybe limit the amount of time logged in to 2 hours a day or something, but I don't know how technologically feasable that would be, or limit it to 2 unsubscribed characters per IP address unless they contact you with their specifics, such as work internet with multiple people you can verify.

5) A modest increase (50%) on subscription prices would be fine by me.

elvenwonder
elvenwonder

Oct-6-2004 12:08

Also, maybe charge a one time fee to get your own avatair.

Detective_Smart_Ass
Detective_Smart_Ass

Oct-6-2004 12:12

I agree w/ the onetime fee for avatar. I dont' mind what you do as long as we can still play!

Greyling
Greyling

Oct-6-2004 12:12

Sorry to hear that - I actually thought the subscription rate kept increasing.

1) So no idea at the moment except that maybe people had more time during the summer period?

2) Sure ads can be placed in a way that won't offend the overall look of the game, and I'll gladly click on them all if that means more money your way.

3) Possibly.

4) In which way would you add further limits on non-subscribers?

To Chronestrian's suggetion
***5) It's been said many times that the price is quite cheap, so maybe it won't hurt raising it a bit?

Faeryshan
Faeryshan
Old Shoe

Oct-6-2004 14:05

I agree that $8 for a three month subscription is EXTREMELY reasonable, especially given what some people are paying for online gaming these days. I would personally be fine with a modest increase, and would love to see some ideas on merchandising. If ads would help and we could limit them to non-subscribed players, or out of the way, I would also be okay with that. Anything that helps you in the long run, Ben and Sunny, I'm sure we could work around. The fee for having your own avatar is a great idea, as well.

Pokecat
Pokecat

Oct-6-2004 14:12

I would not mind a few banners,I would even click them for you too. :)

jstkdn
jstkdn
Well-Connected

Oct-6-2004 15:04

1) I have no idea why there are less subscribers.

2) As long as they are not pop ups, I think it is a great idea.

3) Yes that's a great idea. Provided you ship internationally. However, I know of people that have done it on an email list I was once on. It seems that offering someone for a cheaper price, has no return of investment.

4) I would let someone play non-subbed with 3 cases a day, for a month. Most software packages work like that. I think a month with 3 cases a day, is enough to evaluate if you want to pay for this game or not. If you don't, well no entertainment is for free.

5) I have no issues with a higher subscription price. It is the cheapest hobby I have. How my product people determine a price, is by sending out a questionnaire to a sample group of people. In that way trying to determine who would stop playing the game, who would not want to start.
Also another way to rake in extra cash, is by having different kinds of subscriptions. Light version, 3 cases a day. Classic version with 6 cases a day, Plus with 9 cases a day. Or one version to have favours, on the other less, on the other none. (Ok can you tell I implement internet products for a living :) Or do something with the agencies in that respect. Another idea is charge 5 bucks to open an agency.

6) Simply ask for donations. Explain that you run this thing on your own time, so we can keep playing this game. Livejournal for instance, when that community grew, they said they wanted to buy a new server, if anyone willing to help out, to donate.

I don't know, think of some extra perks you could charge us more money for.


jstkdn
jstkdn
Well-Connected

Oct-6-2004 15:06

You can also do something with off peak hours with a cheaper subscription, and peak hours with a higher subscription fee. 24/7 with the highest subscription fee.

KerrBear
KerrBear

Oct-6-2004 15:09

I'm pretty new to this game, and I must say that it's awesome and is run very well.

I was thinking that there seeem to be a lot of people that have been around for a while and if you want to look into merchandise, maybe you could try to do a presale with the people that are really wanting the merchandise. I don't really know much about that stuff, but it's an idea.

Or maybe somehow send a message to all players or even post something on the log-in page asking players to answer wether they would buy anything, for sure, maybe, or no. That could give you a good idea about how sales might go, at least to start off.

As for ads, great idea. easy way to bring in a little money. I'd support that idea.

Also, I would be willing to pay a bit more for the subscription. I think it's worth it.

  Next>  |  Last Page>>  

[ You must login to reply ]