Ersahi Kir
Freelance Mining Company
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Posted - 2012.10.26 20:49:00 -
[1] - Quote
Inquisitor Kitchner wrote:Spoken like someone who actually has no idea about how to run a business.
As someone who sits right outside the Finance Director of my company's office and right next to the Finance team (they are all accountants btw) they couldn't care less if one of our customers left the company, as long as we gained 2 more. Any business finance team wont be concerned about the minority of players unsubbing from the game, they will (if they are any good) be more interested in the long term appeal and attraction of the game. If you lose even 1000 players next week with some changes but you feel the game will produce a long term attraction that will draw in 6000 players over the next 12 months, what are you going to do?
Likewise I doubt the finance team has much to do with the game itself. I'd even bet most the accounts don't even have a "CCP [Unfunny in-joke]" name to post on here with. They'll look at the game like this: How many players did we lose over the quarter? How many players did we gain? Have the development team given us a reasonable expectation that player growth will continue?
Even a dip in numbers in one quarter isn't a concern.
TL;DR You're wrong.
The most expensive part of the software industry is getting someone to buy your software; more time and effort is spent trying to do that than anything else. Or, to put it another way, it's easier to keep a current customer then it is to get a new one. I figure this would be doubly important in an 8 year old MMO.
I'm not saying that they shouldn't change the game, because they definitely should. But you can't quantify how many paying customers you'll gain vs how many you will lose when you're making said changes. The discussion takes place, but it's always going to be a hazy "We'll lose some of these subscribers, but with these changes we may keep these subs for a longer time and may be able to pick up some new ones." Sales probably doesnGÇÖt have any direct input with the developers, but I can guarantee that when they have concerns theyGÇÖre addressed.
Will the proposed changes be better or worse for the game? ThereGÇÖs too much speculation to be sure one way or another, and all too often it doesnGÇÖt materialize outside of the forums. The developers just have to try to make the best game they can.
On the subject I will say that rarely is giving established players tools that they can leverage against new players is rarely going to cause anything other than grieving. WeGÇÖll see how it plays out though. |