Ideas to attract new players.

Cylence · 2014-04-17 17:55:41

Hopefully there's away we can attract new players to the game.
http://steamcharts.com/app/249570#3m
This isn't the only factor as some people are playing non steam versions, but it would be nice if the numbers were up.

I was thinking, since there will be no more sales. Could there be a weekly or monthly offer of new accounts getting more in game start money for the first week?

Like, Castle Doctrine limited time offer, buy and receive a copy of the game and your first 5 lives will start with $10,000 instead of the usual $2000.

Lord0fHam · 2014-04-17 18:20:22

And how long would those first 5 lives last? 10 min? maybe first week.

Cylence · 2014-04-17 18:30:28

I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be much benefit to new players but so are most marketing ploys . That money will most likely be dumped into a house and they'll spend every last dollar and then wonder why it takes awhile to get visitors. (that's how i started)

Lord0fHam · 2014-04-17 18:43:59

btw, i meant maybe first week for the boost to last. as in all lives for a week. not that those lives would last for a week.

gyuri · 2014-04-17 18:51:54

Cylence wrote:

Like, Castle Doctrine limited time offer, buy and receive a copy of the game and your first 5 lives will start with $10,000 instead of the usual $2000.

Let's invite more players to the dark side of multiaccounting?

Cylence · 2014-04-17 18:57:39

gyuri wrote:

Cylence wrote:
Like, Castle Doctrine limited time offer, buy and receive a copy of the game and your first 5 lives will start with $10,000 instead of the usual $2000.
Let's invite more players to the dark side of multiaccounting?

I'm not sure what the question or implication is here.

Keynom · 2014-04-17 21:28:50

IDEA:
You die..
You wife goes to your children and says to them, " Children your father has died... he died in (insert name here)'s house... he.. he.. he was trying to rob him to make money for use so we could eat."
Your kids look in sadness and say, " Dad was our hero!.. One of use must take his place..."
Long story short. You kids are your lives. Should you die your son takes over, die again your daughter. Should they die before you do, then you have no lives left to spare.

Pohaku · 2014-04-18 00:34:03

I believe it's already been said that there won't be any sales, but honestly - I think pricing is the problem. It was ~£12 here, which is more than the game LOOKS to be worth UNTIL YOU PLAY IT for a while. The game is addictive, but you have to get people in.

If this game was £3-4 ($5-6?) then a lot more people would give it a whirl just for the hell of trying it, because it sounds kinda fun and it's only a few quid / bucks.

I wonder - could it not be implemented that you get the game for £4, but if you want to continue playing after, say, 3 weeks, you have to pay the rest?

I dunno...

gyuri · 2014-04-18 01:43:31

Cylence wrote:

gyuri wrote:
Cylence wrote:
Like, Castle Doctrine limited time offer, buy and receive a copy of the game and your first 5 lives will start with $10,000 instead of the usual $2000.
Let's invite more players to the dark side of multiaccounting?
I'm not sure what the question or implication is here.

With such an offer I would really consider buying a second account, if only for building purposes. And if I had a second account, well I don't think I could always resist the temptation to enjoy the advantages of that. I might be not the only one here.

For a beginner, 5 lives are nothing. For an experienced player such an offer is a big invitation to buy a second account.

Cylence · 2014-04-18 02:20:31

Ah. Well, I think those okay with the idea of using two accounts have already done so. In any case if it can generate new players, it may be worth the risk. Would you have any ideas on a bonus for new players since a monetary discount is not an option?

gyuri · 2014-04-18 02:39:45

I think most advantages are wasted on beginners, as they die a lot, and are more beneficiary to experienced players.

The only thing I can think of is a couple of days without permadeath on self testing. I can't imagine any abuse and it would be really nice for beginners.

TheRealCheese · 2014-04-18 08:09:04

Giving new players an in-game advantage for a short period, is exactly the same as having a sale, which Jason is against. Or even giving all players it for a short period. Jason has stated he wants people to buy the game only if they actually want to play the game. Luring people into buying it doesn't really facilitate that. What could be done is more exposure. Advertisement. Word of mouth is good in this internet age and all, but it's just not the same as active advertisement.

StefanLindskog · 2014-04-18 09:59:32

TheRealCheese wrote:

Giving new players an in-game advantage for a short period, is exactly the same as having a sale, which Jason is against. Or even giving all players it for a short period. Jason has stated he wants people to buy the game only if they actually want to play the game. Luring people into buying it doesn't really facilitate that. What could be done is more exposure. Advertisement. Word of mouth is good in this internet age and all, but it's just not the same as active advertisement.

Something as simple as targeted Facebook ads could help bring in a steady trickle of fresh meat.

bigSadFace · 2014-04-18 11:52:37

How about a demo server? Where people can sign up for a 24 hour trial with an email address? Houses are wiped after 7 days?

Cylence · 2014-04-18 14:26:12

TheRealCheese wrote:

Giving new players an in-game advantage for a short period, is exactly the same as having a sale, which Jason is against. Or even giving all players it for a short period. Jason has stated he wants people to buy the game only if they actually want to play the game. Luring people into buying it doesn't really facilitate that. What could be done is more exposure. Advertisement. Word of mouth is good in this internet age and all, but it's just not the same as active advertisement.

Ok, so no bonuses, just marketing and advertisement.

Anybody have the skills to put my old marketing idea up?
http://thecastledoctrine.net/forums/vie … hp?id=2377

bigSadFace wrote:

How about a demo server? Where people can sign up for a 24 hour trial with an email address? Houses are wiped after 7 days?

This also sounds pretty good. A place where people can sample it.

MMaster · 2014-04-18 14:47:13

Cylence wrote:

bigSadFace wrote:
How about a demo server? Where people can sign up for a 24 hour trial with an email address? Houses are wiped after 7 days?
This also sounds pretty good. A place where people can sample it.

How about free community server?

Cylence · 2014-04-18 15:31:46

MMaster wrote:

Cylence wrote:
bigSadFace wrote:
How about a demo server? Where people can sign up for a 24 hour trial with an email address? Houses are wiped after 7 days?
This also sounds pretty good. A place where people can sample it.
How about free community server?

So we just need to advertise it then.

Lord0fHam · 2014-04-18 15:59:55

MMaster wrote:

Cylence wrote:
bigSadFace wrote:
How about a demo server? Where people can sign up for a 24 hour trial with an email address? Houses are wiped after 7 days?
This also sounds pretty good. A place where people can sample it.
How about free community server?

You still need to pay to downlaod the client though. Although Fortress Theory is free and has its own client.

MMaster · 2014-04-18 16:44:56

Lord0fHam wrote:

MMaster wrote:
Cylence wrote:
This also sounds pretty good. A place where people can sample it.
How about free community server?
You still need to pay to downlaod the client though. Although Fortress Theory is free and has its own client.

I can probably modify the registration to send an email with download link and host free server client on the server. I will not be able to build mac version however.

DaVinci243 · 2014-04-19 08:58:47

MMaster wrote:

Lord0fHam wrote:
MMaster wrote:
How about free community server?
You still need to pay to downlaod the client though. Although Fortress Theory is free and has its own client.
I can probably modify the registration to send an email with download link and host free server client on the server. I will not be able to build mac version however.

I can help with the "trial" stuff if required.

gyuri · 2014-04-19 13:47:58

Cylence wrote:

Anybody have the skills to put my old marketing idea up?
http://thecastledoctrine.net/forums/vie … hp?id=2377

I do audio stuff but I have no Autotune or any experience with it. Also I'm a bad singer. If anyone would sing it, record it and send it to me, I could do the audio editing required.

Frosty · 2014-04-20 02:57:41

The problem with letting people test on the community server is, that there are not enough players to experience the game fully. But I really like the idea of a free trial because IMO it does not violate Jason's rule of having a fixed price but it still attracts new players.

So, how about having regular "free to play" weeks or weekends (e.g. once every 2 month)? I've seen this for other steam games so it should be doable. After the f2p period all accounts that did not purchase the game are wiped others are simply left.

Last edited by Frosty (2014-04-20 02:58:27)

Cylence · 2014-04-21 13:52:49

gyuri wrote:

Cylence wrote:
Anybody have the skills to put my old marketing idea up?
http://thecastledoctrine.net/forums/vie … hp?id=2377
I do audio stuff but I have no Autotune or any experience with it. Also I'm a bad singer. If anyone would sing it, record it and send it to me, I could do the audio editing required.

Gyuri
Yeah, I don't have any Autotune experience either. However if you find someone that does, you don't need a good singer and can do it yourself. The purpose of Autotune is to adjust the bad singing to good singing.

Anyone
Anybody out there with Autotune experience able to help gyuri with the marketing project?

DaVinci, MMaster
Any way you can setup the server to load the neighborhood with retired houses? I figure plenty of people have shared their designs with both high value and low value (cost, not listing). This would give a sense of a fuller neighborhood complete with houses built by the community for free to play sampling. (the harder the house, the more reward)

They might not get robbed a lot as a protector, but there would be plenty for them to explore as a robber.

Also, a tutorial would go a long way into introducing anyone who's interested in the game but can't get over the hurdle of learning from the wiki or building traps themselves to test.
Hmm... maybe some houses that are specifically tutorials.
Like a house named Tutorial Drug Meat. And have the house only protected by dogs.
And so on. Tutorial Water, Tutorial Switches, etc.

gyuri · 2014-04-21 14:16:10

Cylence wrote:

Yeah, I don't have any Autotune experience either. However if you find someone that does, you don't need a good singer and can do it yourself. The purpose of Autotune is to adjust the bad singing to good singing.

Well, not quite, it just adjusts the pitch, that's still not good singing. That isn't the main problem, english isn't my first (not even my second) language, and I think you would want to have this without an Eastern-European accent.

If you record your lyrics, preferably not just spoken but with the slightest hint of singing and melody, I'll find a way to do this. Sometime.

Cylence · 2014-04-21 14:22:36

gyuri wrote:

Cylence wrote:
Yeah, I don't have any Autotune experience either. However if you find someone that does, you don't need a good singer and can do it yourself. The purpose of Autotune is to adjust the bad singing to good singing.
Well, not quite, it just adjusts the pitch, that's still not good singing. That isn't the main problem, english isn't my first (not even my second) language, and I think you would want to have this without an Eastern-European accent.
If you record your lyrics, preferably not just spoken but with the slightest hint of singing and melody, I'll find a way to do this. Sometime.

Ah, well then my voice wouldn't cut it either. Hopefully some American idol hopeful will lend their talent to the game.

The Castle Doctrine Forums

#1 2014-04-17 17:55:41

Ideas to attract new players.

#2 2014-04-17 18:20:22

Re: Ideas to attract new players.

#3 2014-04-17 18:30:28

Re: Ideas to attract new players.

#4 2014-04-17 18:43:59

Re: Ideas to attract new players.

#5 2014-04-17 18:51:54

Re: Ideas to attract new players.

#6 2014-04-17 18:57:39

Re: Ideas to attract new players.

#7 2014-04-17 21:28:50

Re: Ideas to attract new players.

#8 2014-04-18 00:34:03

Re: Ideas to attract new players.

#9 2014-04-18 01:43:31

Re: Ideas to attract new players.

#10 2014-04-18 02:20:31

Re: Ideas to attract new players.

#11 2014-04-18 02:39:45

Re: Ideas to attract new players.

#12 2014-04-18 08:09:04

Re: Ideas to attract new players.

#13 2014-04-18 09:59:32

Re: Ideas to attract new players.

#14 2014-04-18 11:52:37

Re: Ideas to attract new players.

#15 2014-04-18 14:26:12

Re: Ideas to attract new players.

#16 2014-04-18 14:47:13

Re: Ideas to attract new players.

#17 2014-04-18 15:31:46

Re: Ideas to attract new players.

#18 2014-04-18 15:59:55

Re: Ideas to attract new players.

#19 2014-04-18 16:44:56

Re: Ideas to attract new players.

#20 2014-04-19 08:58:47

Re: Ideas to attract new players.

#21 2014-04-19 13:47:58

Re: Ideas to attract new players.

#22 2014-04-20 02:57:41

Re: Ideas to attract new players.

#23 2014-04-21 13:52:49

Re: Ideas to attract new players.

#24 2014-04-21 14:16:10

Re: Ideas to attract new players.

#25 2014-04-21 14:22:36

Re: Ideas to attract new players.

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