Turn Frequency and Pricing

[Ry Vor]

Looks like almost all the PBEM are still charging by turn, with $5 per turn the lowest we are seeing and up to $20 per turn.

We feel players are better served by a monthly subscription, and allowing turns to process as quickly as the players themselves like. In a subscription plan as we intend, the cost per turn goes down the higher the Service Level, meaning the number of games a player can be in at one time.

What would you like to see as the maximum time between turns in Alamaze? The default at this point is 7 days.

[Lord Diamond]

Looks like almost all the PBEM are still charging by turn, with $5 per turn the lowest we are seeing and up to $20 per turn.

We feel players are better served by a monthly subscription, and allowing turns to process as quickly as the players themselves like. In a subscription plan as we intend, the cost per turn goes down the higher the Service Level, meaning the number of games a player can be in at one time.

What would you like to see as the maximum time between turns in Alamaze? The default at this point is 7 days.

I couldn't stand a game with more than 7 days between turns. I don't know if I can stand many turns that long.

[Kalrex]

I think the subscription idea is great!

The three position thing is quite a bit more work so I'd like a little more time running a set of kingdoms versus just one position. One position I could do every day/other day or something... A set of three I'd like 3 days between turns. That might be pushing it though for people with busy schedules. Also, consider the diplomacy aspect and maybe more time works for some people.

I'd suggest offering different options such as 1-3-5-7 day turnaround games or something if it's possible?

I think it depends on how long you're having to input turns manually as well.

I'll go with whatever though.

[Lord Diamond]

I think the subscription idea is great!

The three position thing is quite a bit more work so I'd like a little more time running a set of kingdoms versus just one position. One position I could do every day/other day or something... A set of three I'd like 3 days between turns. That might be pushing it though for people with busy schedules. Also, consider the diplomacy aspect and maybe more time works for some people.

I'd suggest offering different options such as 1-3-5-7 day turnaround games or something if it's possible?

I think it depends on how long you're having to input turns manually as well.

I'll go with whatever though.

I think the plan is to run the turns whenever everyone is ready or at the deadline, whichever comes first.

[Gamejunkie]

Flying Buffalo, KJC games, and Ab Initio games all have pay per turn games under $4.00. KJC also has a pay per week for a few of their games. I know its roughly $6.00 a week for unlimited games of It's a crime! Ab Initio games has a per turn cost but you can buy mulitiple turns at a cheaper rate. For instance their game Empires is around $3.00 per turn but if you buy 20 turns at once their only about $2.40 a turn.

I do like the idea of a monthly subscription such as you have with Fall of Rome. I'd have to try it out to see if it really is a good value though. I haven't had any intrest in Fall of Rome, so I don't have any experience of paying a subscription for a game such as this.

I would think that a three or four day turn around would work good. Most of the games I've been playing over the past several years had this and it works fine. (Feudal Lords, World's of Kaomaris ect.). A few have options of speed games where the turns are much faster also.

[Ry Vor]

I don't mean to be harsh, but I mean the serious games are not less than $5 per turn. I remember playing Its a Crime some 20 years ago, and it meant filling in 10 bubbles on a card. Flying Buffalo started the industry, and Star Web was a great game in 1975, but, what's their best game now?

Alamaze in 2013 is in interesting waters, still being a text based, multi-player strategy game. But the effort that went into producing Alamaze I am fairly certain is on a level of magnitude greater than some of the FB games. That's why I consider seriously only the contenders for attention like MEPBM, HW, and Legends. Do any of those games offer options for less than $5 a turn?

[Gamejunkie]

I didn't intend to ruffle your feathers. You said that $5 was the lowest priced games out there and I thought that I would point out with that there are loads of games much cheaper (many free) granted Alamaze is superior to these, but they are out there none the less. I thought I would just show some examples of how pricing has been handled by different companies to give you some ideas to work with. It seems you are a bit touchy when it comes to pricing your games though so I won't touch the subject again.

[Lucky Tiger]

I'll chime in here to say that a week was always about right for me. I did dream about having games where the turn around was measured in hours, but then I imagined everyone in the same room at a conference or something. Being able to go sooner if everyone was done would be great, so that people could go faster if everyone wanted to. I recently reviewed some old emails from other games and it seemed that sometimes you just needed the week to be able to plan and confer with your allies.

As for pricing, I don't know what a fair price would be. I have never played any of the other pbm/pbem games nor have I ever really wanted to. But a subscription style format gets a thumbs up from me.

[Ry Vor]

I didn't intend to ruffle your feathers. You said that $5 was the lowest priced games out there and I thought that I would point out with that there are loads of games much cheaper (many free) granted Alamaze is superior to these, but they are out there none the less. I thought I would just show some examples of how pricing has been handled by different companies to give you some ideas to work with. It seems you are a bit touchy when it comes to pricing your games though so I won't touch the subject again.

A misunderstanding. I didn't ask "What is the cheapest game available?". I thought it understood we were talking about games of a certain caliber that take maybe years to develop and can attract a player base like we are discussing, unlike say, "It's a Crime".. If I reply, it doesn't mean "I'm touchy", it means I am acknowledging your post. Thanks for your input and keep the ideas coming.

[DuPont]

I'm really kind of indifferent on price. I don't even remember what it cost back in the old days, but money was tighter for me then than it is now, so I probably cared more. As for turns, I would prefer rapid turnover. 7 days would make me really impatient - 3 days would be what I'd want.