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General discussion on monetization of games.

Monetization Questions

Postby argentin » February 12th, 2013, 9:05 pm

I'm building my first multiplayer game for the Epic contest that sells virtual goods and there are some unclear things to me
The game is a puzzle casual game, where 2 random people compete against each other to score the highest score

I can compare the game to Angry Birds, as we sell power-ups that are not necessary, but greatly help the players if they use them, especially since it's a synchronios PvP

We sell power-ups in bundles of 10
The cheapest bundle costs $1.80 and the most expensive is $3.80

Question 1:
Kongregate says to start pricing high, and lower it if it's the case.Are my power-ups too cheap, and should I increase their prices?
Will users have a problem spending $5 on 10 of the best powerups the game has to offer?

Question 2:
Players can also upgrade some permanent skills to further aid them during the game, and those can only be gained by leveling up.(One upgrade per level)
Should we offer an alternative way to upgrade, by buying them with real money, or will the other players feel cheated?
Upgrades only aid the game play, they don't affect the opponent (you gain more experience, or you need lest energy to cast spells)

Question 3:
We now only have a single currency, so even unpaying players can buy power-ups (although the gaining is slow)
We plan to add aesthetics items too.Should we then add a second currency, or will the single currency suffice?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Regarding question 1, we actually have a coin shop where we sell coin bundles, so we basically sell items between $2-$100
This means, the player will not actually see the dollar value of their powerups price.They'll see a coin price.
They can obviously calculate how much they spend per bundle, but I think I have an advantage if I display the coin price and not the dollar price directly
Image
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Re: Monetization Questions

Postby Benjaminsen » February 15th, 2013, 12:55 pm

Those are some very hard questions to answer, especially for a un-released game. Anyway, here are a few pointers.

1) Price Point: Never decide on a price, rather experiment. Release with what you feel right, but don't be afraid to raise or lower the price. With an unreleased game you have no chance to understand what will and what will not sell. So be prepared to play around with prizing.

2) Should you sell power-ups? At the core of most micro transaction schemes it's simply trading money for time. E.g. if you do not want to wait or play a lot to get powerful you can use money instead. However we do seem to have a few games doing really well with selling content that can only be had by using money.

Likewise, a very powerful mechanic that seems to work very well is one where you don't know what you get when you buy. E.g. you earn something random with a chance of something really unique or cool in the package. This is similar to when you buy a pack of collecting cards etc.

3) Currencies: This is a very hot topic right now. King's new Facebook applications are changing the space as they chose a model where powerups etc can only be purcached with real money... and it really works. In the end, it comes down to how you wish to design your game.
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Re: Monetization Questions

Postby argentin » February 15th, 2013, 1:02 pm

Benjaminsen wrote:Likewise, a very powerful mechanic that seems to work very well is one where you don't know what you get when you buy. E.g. you earn something random with a chance of something really unique or cool in the package. This is similar to when you buy a pack of collecting cards etc.


This is actually a great idea
I have implemented a special place in the shop where I can sell a new Featured Item each day.
I had troubles figuring out what the best item might be and a Mystery Gift is the perfect idea, so I'm going with that
Thanks a lot
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Re: Monetization Questions

Postby mr_fiskers_fex » March 3rd, 2013, 9:07 am

Benjaminsen wrote:a very powerful mechanic that seems to work very well is one where you don't know what you get when you buy. E.g. you earn something random with a chance of something really unique or cool in the package. This is similar to when you buy a pack of collecting cards etc.


8-)
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Re: Monetization Questions

Postby Benjaminsen » March 3rd, 2013, 12:34 pm

mr_fiskers_fex wrote:
Benjaminsen wrote:a very powerful mechanic that seems to work very well is one where you don't know what you get when you buy. E.g. you earn something random with a chance of something really unique or cool in the package. This is similar to when you buy a pack of collecting cards etc.


8-)


Fex, stop showing off ;)
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