Potential GMR change, feedback requested!

[m4stermel]

So for some time now Brian and I have been considering changing the game limit, and subsequently, the donation amount required to unlock unlimited games on GMR. As many of you are aware each account created on GMR is limited to participating in 10 games, and if you were to support us with $15 or more your account would be flagged as Premium, allowing you to participate in unlimited games. We implemented this design for two reasons: to throttle the amount of new games created on the system (which prevents spammers), and to create an inherent value in the system that we can use to reward people who support us financially.

We feel that this design has worked well in meeting both of those goals; however as more and more people have been using GMR we’ve realized that our numbers are probably off. Consider the following metrics for GMR (taken today):

1,432 Total players
12 Players have supported GMR and have Premium Accounts

445 (31%) Players are in no games
590 (41%) Players are in exactly 1 game
219 (15%) Players are in exactly 2 games
88 (6%) Players are in exactly 3 games
32 (2%) Players are in exactly 4 games
16 (1%) Players are in exactly 5 games
32 (2%) Players are in 6 – 10 games
9 (0.6%) Players are in more than 10 games

As you can see about 87% of players aren’t in more than 2 games and 95% of players are in less than 5 games. It’s only a brave few who have attempted more than 10 games, with Foffaren juggling the most at 28 games!

Given these numbers it seems that allowing 10 games by default is kind of overkill, and we are considering lowering it 5. With that we would decrease the donation amount required to achieve unlimited games to $8. We feel this change would make it easier for players who want to support us and participate in unlimited games accomplish that, while at the same time not imposing too much of a limit on the player base as a whole.

For those of you who have yet to become Premium users, but are in over 5 games don’t worry. If we change the game limit it would only prevent you from joining new games and would have no effect on the games you’re currently in.

So please tell us what you think! Does this all make sense? Would you be in favor of such a change or would you resent it? Would you few Premium players out there feel cheated if we lowered the bar to getting unlimited games? Do you like the limits we’ve suggested or do think something else would work better? Or perhaps do you see this as no big deal and don’t really care one way or another?

I know that’s a lot of questions and information to process, and we would appreciate whatever feedback you feel you could provide, even it was as simple as “cool”.

Thanks guys, you all rock!

 

[Foffaren]

So I had the most. Wasnt sure. It feels good to be the .

I have no problem with paying more than 8 whatevermoneys. You deserved every bit of it and I wont feel cheated one bit.
I dont mind a shining star next to my name though.

 

[m4stermel]

So I had the most. Wasnt sure. It feels good to be the .

I have no problem with paying more than 8 whatevermoneys. You deserved every bit of it and I wont feel cheated one bit.
I dont mind a shining star next to my name though.

Shining stars are definitely going to happen! Probably even a badge or title for biggest game juggler

 

[AxeMurder]

I at least would be more likely to pay at the 5/$8 mark. Seems great so far, want to get a least a few turns into the game(s) I'm trying before I commit $.

 

[Islandia]

Sounds good to me. Whatever helps you pay for the servers. For myself, I made donations based on my perceived value of the enjoyment I have gotten out of GMR, so I would not feel cheated if someone donated less and had the premium membership. Then again, I didn't make the minimum donation so my answer may not be representative.

 

[m4stermel]

Sounds good to me. Whatever helps you pay for the servers. For myself, I made donations based on my perceived value of the enjoyment I have gotten out of GMR, so I would not feel cheated if someone donated less and had the premium membership. Then again, I didn't make the minimum donation so my answer may not be representative.

Yeah you definitely went above and beyond, which makes it clear that you have found more value in GMR than just the unlimited games. Thanks for your feedback!

 

[m4stermel]

I at least would be more likely to pay at the 5/$8 mark. Seems great so far, want to get a least a few turns into the game(s) I'm trying before I commit $.

Awesome, thanks for the feedback!

 

[Tabarnak]

Good idea. I was thinking about a donation but i don't only play gmr games and i don't play that much. I'm just too lazy with general payments(ask my girlfriend )

But i will support you anyway. Been some months already and i think i'm going to donate you 20 $ for all the good work even if i don't add gmr games on to my list

I will take note of this and the money will be sent in next days. The program you made is fantastic and deserves contribution

I hope you will have some more ''currency'' success with your program for the future

 

[DevilHell]

So for some time now Brian and I have been considering changing the game limit, and subsequently, the donation amount required to unlock unlimited games on GMR. As many of you are aware each account created on GMR is limited to participating in 10 games, and if you were to support us with $15 or more your account would be flagged as Premium, allowing you to participate in unlimited games. We implemented this design for two reasons: to throttle the amount of new games created on the system (which prevents spammers), and to create an inherent value in the system that we can use to reward people who support us financially.

We feel that this design has worked well in meeting both of those goals; however as more and more people have been using GMR we’ve realized that our numbers are probably off. Consider the following metrics for GMR (taken today):

1,432 Total players
12 Players have supported GMR and have Premium Accounts

445 (31%) Players are in no games
590 (41%) Players are in exactly 1 game
219 (15%) Players are in exactly 2 games
88 (6%) Players are in exactly 3 games
32 (2%) Players are in exactly 4 games
16 (1%) Players are in exactly 5 games
32 (2%) Players are in 6 – 10 games
9 (0.6%) Players are in more than 10 games

As you can see about 87% of players aren’t in more than 2 games and 95% of players are in less than 5 games. It’s only a brave few who have attempted more than 10 games, with Foffaren juggling the most at 28 games!

Given these numbers it seems that allowing 10 games by default is kind of overkill, and we are considering lowering it 5. With that we would decrease the donation amount required to achieve unlimited games to $8. We feel this change would make it easier for players who want to support us and participate in unlimited games accomplish that, while at the same time not imposing too much of a limit on the player base as a whole.

For those of you who have yet to become Premium users, but are in over 5 games don’t worry. If we change the game limit it would only prevent you from joining new games and would have no effect on the games you’re currently in.

So please tell us what you think! Does this all make sense? Would you be in favor of such a change or would you resent it? Would you few Premium players out there feel cheated if we lowered the bar to getting unlimited games? Do you like the limits we’ve suggested or do think something else would work better? Or perhaps do you see this as no big deal and don’t really care one way or another?

I know that’s a lot of questions and information to process, and we would appreciate whatever feedback you feel you could provide, even it was as simple as “cool”.

Thanks guys, you all rock!

Since the beginning I thought "10 games are really too much "

I think, as Foffaren said, thaat you deserve every bit, Giant Death Robot is a great program and system and I love how it works and I love hotseat
I haven't bought G&K and therefore I am in the 15% of 2 games
I think that is fair that whoever wants to play more than 5 games knows is worth paying 8 dollars, So yeah, I am agree

 

[Regul]

As i know, growing and managing this program holds you guys quite busy and servers cost money.

I like the GMR program, anyhow i have first spotted it some days ago. It seems we managed to find out a problem with more then 1 mod in a couple of testrounds and got it working now.

The premium thing is ok for me, a limit of 5 games is fair enough to keep games free.
8$...is about 6,5€ in Europe and is suitable from my view. Is it planed as a lifetime donation or timed? I better sign lifetime then timed ones...but the more GMR is advancing, the more i could be willing to support.

Have you thought about a step system?
Normal Account (0$) = 1 to 5 games
Silver Account (5$) = 5 up to 10 games
Gold Account (10$) = unlimited
Premium Account (>= 20$) = unlimited + probably noticed as 'supporter' in the guide

With these steps you could keep those who allready donated with their allready given permissions, get some new and probably find folks that like your idea a bit more. Any account holder could upgrade if he likes to or be satisfied about what he has.

 

[EEE_BOY]

The step system sounds fine, but silver gold is too commercial feeling, maybe use some CiV terms, like 'Great Engineer' account, etc. What ever way implemented, I'm cool with that and I'm planning to make a second round of donation once it's come out.

 

[michaeltrnka]

I'm kind of that you haven't gotten more support than that. I'm for anything that helps you justify spending more time on making GMR better. In addition to $$ support I also want to offer a thank you to Mel and Taz for their hard work.

Also I would like to suggest to the GMR community that it would be nice if you donated a few $$ to GMR when requesting support. Mel is always on top of everything that he is asked to do and I'm sure that he must have a full time job probably a family. $180 is barely enough to take a family out to dinner and a movie. Mel deserves more.

Also Foffaren deserves a metal for playing all those games. He doesn't slack either. He is actively involved in the games I am in with him.

 

[Banman]

I agree with michaeltrnka -- I'm astonished the number of premium users is so low. I have no problem with higher price/lower threshold -- pound for pound the GMR service has proven to be far better value than even the game itself in my view ... what you guys have built is awesome, and definitely worth more than the initial price.

 

[Turjo]

Do you assign premium status with a one-time donation or is that a monthly fee? If I were in charge, I'd try to implement Regul's suggestion of a tiered status. I'd probably knock the lowest tier down to just a couple of dollars and implement it at two or three games simultaneously.

I just started using the GMR myself and from what I have seen so far, I have been impressed. Not only is it so much easier to do the PBEM-type game, but the response for any technical questions or issues is very prompt.

 

[michaeltrnka]

What about charging to use different parts of the game? E.G. you can play as Russia, USA and Japan for free. Pay $1 to unlock additional civs, pay $5 to unlock all civs, pay $1 to unlock DLC, pay $5 to unlock G&K, pay $5 to unlock mod support or pay $15 for full access. The UI for this may be more trouble than it is worth. I have no idea what goes into creating something like this. I am just making suggestions.

 

[Banman]

I'm guessing it will be easier for the devs to automate and charge based on number of ongoing games -- I imagine there's probably no systematic tracking of what civs folks are playing ...

 

[Foffaren]

What about charging to use different parts of the game? E.G. you can play as Russia, USA and Japan for free. Pay $1 to unlock additional civs, pay $5 to unlock all civs, pay $1 to unlock DLC, pay $5 to unlock G&K, pay $5 to unlock mod support or pay $15 for full access. The UI for this may be more trouble than it is worth. I have no idea what goes into creating something like this. I am just making suggestions.

To me this sounds like what you do with full games and not mods. We are supporting, not paying to play a game we already payed for.
Everyone should be allowed to participate and have fun but show those that support you a little appriciation. Like it has been all along.
I support the lowering of limits. It might bring in a few extra bucks to make it break even, because that is the ultimate goal, am I right?

 

[m4stermel]

But i will support you anyway. Been some months already and i think i'm going to donate you 20 $ for all the good work even if i don't add gmr games on to my list

I will take note of this and the money will be sent in next days. The program you made is fantastic and deserves contribution

I hope you will have some more ''currency'' success with your program for the future

Awesome, thank you so much for your feedback and support Tab! I'm glad to hear that you've enjoyed GMR and playing with the likes of us. You sir, are awesome

 

[m4stermel]

Since the beginning I thought "10 games are really too much "

I think, as Foffaren said, thaat you deserve every bit, Giant Death Robot is a great program and system and I love how it works and I love hotseat
I haven't bought G&K and therefore I am in the 15% of 2 games
I think that is fair that whoever wants to play more than 5 games knows is worth paying 8 dollars, So yeah, I am agree

Thanks for the feedback! G&K is absolutely awesome, especially in the multiplayer games I've played. When you're finally able to get it I think you'll love it!

 

[m4stermel]

As i know, growing and managing this program holds you guys quite busy and servers cost money.

I like the GMR program, anyhow i have first spotted it some days ago. It seems we managed to find out a problem with more then 1 mod in a couple of testrounds and got it working now.

The premium thing is ok for me, a limit of 5 games is fair enough to keep games free.
8$...is about 6,5€ in Europe and is suitable from my view. Is it planed as a lifetime donation or timed? I better sign lifetime then timed ones...but the more GMR is advancing, the more i could be willing to support.

Have you thought about a step system?
Normal Account (0$) = 1 to 5 games
Silver Account (5$) = 5 up to 10 games
Gold Account (10$) = unlimited
Premium Account (>= 20$) = unlimited + probably noticed as 'supporter' in the guide

With these steps you could keep those who allready donated with their allready given permissions, get some new and probably find folks that like your idea a bit more. Any account holder could upgrade if he likes to or be satisfied about what he has.

Thank you, that's some really good feedback! Once you've become "Premium" you're that way for life! We won't ask you to make recurring contributions but for those of you who do we absolutely love you guys!

We hadn't really considered implementing a tiered account system, but perhaps that would be the ideal way to go about it. That would allow those who want to contribute more to get a higher reward and those who can only contribute a humble amount to still be rewarded. I'll talk this over with Brian and see what we think.

The step system sounds fine, but silver gold is too commercial feeling, maybe use some CiV terms, like 'Great Engineer' account, etc. What ever way implemented, I'm cool with that and I'm planning to make a second round of donation once it's come out.

We would definitely pick some titles that were CiV related, perhaps after the difficulties: Prince, King, Emperor, and Immortal

This will all be a lot cooler once we've enhanced the community features of our website, where you can earn achievements/badges/titles for participating and taking your turns. Being a supporter of GMR will definitely come with some awesome recognition and status!