Free Trials....what's the right / wrong way to do them....

SagaBoy

This post came to mind after finishing off the Ever quest II free 7-day free trial 4 days ahead of schedule.  The main question is simply what is the right or wrong way to implement a free trial.  I'll just jump right in by doing a comparison of trials I've used and the results they yielded in no particular order.

Ragnarok Online: It was a free 7-day trial an eternity ago.  Didn't have any restrictions and allowed unlimited access to the game.  After playing the trial I ended up subbing to the game for ~ 2 years.

World of Warcraft BC: I had played WoW up until the Rogue review that was implemented around August 2006.  I saw an offer in my mail from Blizz to try BE for 7 days.  Now though I still found that the game no longer interested me, the trial gave me full access to the game.

Dark Age of Camelot: I honestly can't remember if the trial had any restrictions but I know I ended up subbing for at least 4 months.

Planetside:  A while back there was this thing called "Reserves," which basically meant you could play absolutely free of charge for like 6 month period I think it was, but the catch was you could only level up to BR 6 and CR 2 I think it was.  The restriction wasn't that big of a deal because leveling in PS only gives you more combat options and doesn't necessary make you stronger/ better than your opponent.  In addition to the that you had a wealth of time to actually see how the game worked.  I didn't sub up when reserves were around; however, after quitting WoW I remembered having so much fun with it that I am currently subbed and have been for 3 months now.

City of Hero / Villian:  I forget if it was a 7 or 14 day trial but anyway it too had no restrictions and I ended up subbing to it for 3 months or so at which point tedium of doing the same thing over and over got to me.  Quicky burn out due to my WoW experiences I'll admit.

Star Wars Galaxies: 7-day free trial.  Now when I played this you started out on some kind of station in space and you did some rather lack luster quests.  All of this was to lead up to traveling to the main planet / outpost but *BAM* Restriction...if you want to go on you have to get the full game.  I hadn't been shown enough of anything to be interested so I didn't bother subbing.  If I had to base my entire view of the game off of that heavily quest driven tutorial....no thanks.

Everyquest 2:  This one happened recently.  It is a 7-Day trial called "Play the Fae," which is (at the time of this posting) still available to download.  As a said before, it's a 7-day trial; however, you can only level up to level 10 and travel is rather restricted depending on what race you roll.  Having not been too impressed by the first 10 levels, I've decided not to sub.

 

OK OK we get it, you've experienced a lot of free trials...what's the POINT??!?!?!?

The point is that for me having experienced WoW and a few other MMO's, I expect a free trial to be just that.  I don't want what might amount to the sugarcoated beginner portion of your game.  I want to know what happens after that.  I get the feeling that SoE has something to hide when they put restrictions on their trials like in Everquest and SWG. 

I know there are a plethora of reasons for restrictions.  For example, in RO and WoW trial accounts became little more than endless loops of bot / gold seller accounts.  I also realize there are players out there that use free trials as a means to kill time and have no intention of buying the game.  That is very true, but shouldn't a company have enough confidence in there game to assume that the end product will be so enticing that it'd make even the most adamant of freeloaders take notice.

I know the risks, it's just that I personally feel that the tactic of handing out free trials works against itself when a better portion of the game is set aside as restricted.  This seems to be something that SoE does more so than other companies but please don't let that insight a SOE flame war.  I'm just making observations.  Furthermore, in the case of EQ 2 I really believe limiting the advancement to level 10 ultimately hurts them more than helps because from my personal experience all the classes seem very similar in the 4 or 5 different categories (i.e. scouts, healers, fighters, etc).  And, though I read on the forums that the class differences become apparent in later levels I won't even have the chance to find out for myself.

And there it is.  I'm just wondering what you all think about the "how to," of free trials. 

 

 

 

jaharbour

Trials should definately contain an in depth tutorial for noobs.  Sony lacks severely in this department.  I try to recruit people to Sony games, but I'm always losing them in the first week.  It seems that they quit because the can't figure out how to play the game.  It's frustrating.  But to your point, they should offer a glimpse of real game play.  You should be able to level the entire duration of the trial and you should also be allowed to experience actual game zones, not just the island or whatever the case may be.

for the record, i do like the planetside trial...

Jeff44

Good post.

Many playing EQ2 would tell you that the "Trial of the Isle" or "Play the Fae" really don't give you an adequate enough taste of the game in order to make an informed decision as to whether to subscribe. That, of course, being your point.

I seem to remember, however, from my time playing WOW that the free trial accounts were restricted in several ways including their ability to communicate, this in an effort to combat spammers.

Do you remember this or am I confusing my memories?

 

gpett

Well, the main reason companies segregate free trial participants to a "newbie isle" like place is to lessen the impact of gold seller spam bots within the game.  If a free trial has unlimited access to the game then spambots could advertise anywhere in the game for free.  Thats not good.

So, while I like the idea of a free trial being able to see more of what the game has to offer, there has to be a way of shielding paying customers from people who just want to advertise in the game through free trials.

 

On, a side note... yet SOE has something to hide with their games.  EQ2 for example has the same skills every tier.. you just get "more powerfull" versions every 10-15 levels.  The bait and switch is that the spells actually get weaker and/or loose some of thier abilities as you reach the level caps.  They have to nerf you a little bit before you get to the raid mobs.  Ugh... eq2 skill/level/gear system is crap.

SagaBoy

Originally posted by Jeff44


Good post.
Many playing EQ2 would tell you that the "Trial of the Isle" or "Play the Fae" really don't give you an adequate enough taste of the game in order to make an informed decision as to whether to subscribe. That, of course, being your point.
I seem to remember, however, from my time playing WOW that the free trial accounts were restricted in several ways including their ability to communicate, this in an effort to combat spammers.
Do you remember this or am I confusing my memories?
 

I never played the initial WoW trial (before the expansion) so maybe that one did, but the one for Burning Crusade had no restrictions.  I played it after my 2 year bout with the game and only made it to level 30'ish before losing the will to go on so that's about as far as I can speak on WoW BC trial restrictions.

BuzWeaver

Originally posted by Harbro


Trials should definately contain an in depth tutorial for noobs.  Sony lacks severely in this department.  I try to recruit people to Sony games, but I'm always losing them in the first week.  It seems that they quit because the can't figure out how to play the game.  It's frustrating.  But to your point, they should offer a glimpse of real game play.  You should be able to level the entire duration of the trial and you should also be allowed to experience actual game zones, not just the island or whatever the case may be.
for the record, i do like the planetside trial...

Are you referring to EQ or EQII? When I played EQ there wasn't a tutorial, which wasn't all that bad, I enjoyed the learning process. The dumbing down effect can only go so far.

Ackbar

The correct way to do a trial is 14 days long no credit card required with full access to the game.  Also your game must have a strong beginning tutorial to allow players to get acclimated and experience some of the goodness of your game, otherwise you're just wasting your time.

Death1942

the only problem i see with trials is the HUGE downloads needed.  its so crap sitting there for 6-12 hours waiting for patches that i will never use just to play for 7-14 days.  they really gotta find a way around these huge downloads as many people cant afford 8gb of downloads in a single month.

SagaBoy

 

Originally posted by gpett


Well, the main reason companies segregate free trial participants to a "newbie isle" like place is to lessen the impact of gold seller spam bots within the game.  If a free trial has unlimited access to the game then spambots could advertise anywhere in the game for free.  Thats not good.
So, while I like the idea of a free trial being able to see more of what the game has to offer, there has to be a way of shielding paying customers from people who just want to advertise in the game through free trials.
 
On, a side note... yet SOE has something to hide with their games.  EQ2 for example has the same skills every tier.. you just get "more powerfull" versions every 10-15 levels.  The bait and switch is that the spells actually get weaker and/or loose some of thier abilities as you reach the level caps.  They have to nerf you a little bit before you get to the raid mobs.  Ugh... eq2 skill/level/gear system is crap.

You see that's what I worried about, and not because it was specifically an SoE trial.  After being a PC gamer for so long,  very seldom do I buy into the pretty bells and whistles a game has to offer.  I like to see the underbelly of a game's mechanics and access its value then and there.  The thing about MMO trials is that after the trial you have to fork out 40-50 bucks without  being able to see all the game features. (Compared to basic PC games where a demo typially encompasses the whole of the game)  What I mean is even the the most hardcore of gamers will struggle to get max level in a game that's totally new to them, so at best you get a feel for maybe 60% of any MMO from the 7-14 trial.  I'm not saying I need to know what endgame is like or see the whole of each zone, but I do need the freedom to see as much as I possibly can to actually make an educated purchase.

 

But then again, maybe MMO trials don't really want you to experience as much as possible.  Maybe it's the intent of some companies, to make you wonder if you might enjoy it as opposed to knowing that you will enjoy it from experiencing the trial.  Maybe it's just a point where the industry differs from my personal opinion.

Ecranomical

Originally posted by gpett


Well, the main reason companies segregate free trial participants to a "newbie isle" like place is to lessen the impact of gold seller spam bots within the game.  If a free trial has unlimited access to the game then spambots could advertise anywhere in the game for free.  Thats not good.
So, while I like the idea of a free trial being able to see more of what the game has to offer, there has to be a way of shielding paying customers from people who just want to advertise in the game through free trials.
 
On, a side note... yet SOE has something to hide with their games.  EQ2 for example has the same skills every tier.. you just get "more powerfull" versions every 10-15 levels.  The bait and switch is that the spells actually get weaker and/or loose some of thier abilities as you reach the level caps.  They have to nerf you a little bit before you get to the raid mobs.  Ugh... eq2 skill/level/gear system is crap.

One way they could to the trial, with in depth access is to have you do quests, lets say these quests would take on average 5 days (assuming this is a 7-day trial). Then after those 5 days of questing and so on, you get 2 days out of newbie zone.

Personally, if i was a gold farming bot leader person , i wouldn't waste the 5 days for 2 days out of the newbie zone. Hell you can make it quests that take 6 days, and have 1 day of full access.... my 2 cents.