Other Making Theonite more attractive / watching Ads for Theonite

[Ryouhi]

I really really love this game, as someone that always loved the style and atmosphere of the original game, but was too bad at it, to enjoy it consistently.
Which is why i'm really happy the mobile version is much easier to get into casualy.

Now, seeing as the game is free to play, i'd still like to give something back to the devs here.
Yes, there is theonite, but after roughly playing for a week, i haven't felt the need to spent much of the currency i have got by playing - though maybe that changes when i get farther into the game.

That's why, for me buying more theonite doesn't interest me too much, which is why i'd suggest giving us the option to watch ads in return for a small amount of theonite.
Giving it a cooldown or a max amount of ads you can watch per day would probably necessary however.

I'll probably buy something soon anyway, just to throw some support at the devs, but i think this suggestion would let f2p-players also support the game, even if only a little bit.


Another suggestion to make buying theonite more attractive could be adding special items to the shop, like the extra announcer voices of the original game for example.
As someone that hasn't played enough of the original game, i don't know how much unused content there is left from the original, aside from the characters.
But if there's more things like the announcer packs that could be sold, like unlocking voice lines or unique animations for characters - i think that could be fun as well.

tl;dr: Let us watch ads for a small amount of theonite on a cooldown or max-per-day basis, so f2p-players can support the game.
Also putting more unique items in the shop, like announcer voice packs, or unused Animations and voicelines for characters - so you can spend money on something else than Relics.

 

[Cellsai]

Definitely for the sake of the devs I'd like to see more ways to make buying Theonite an actual thing people want to do. Currently there's so many ways to get Theonite I never consider buying any at all.

Adding in ads to generate more Theonite seems like a bad way to go though. We need more ways to spend Theonite at high volumes, not new ways to get more Theonite.

 

[Ryouhi]

Definitely for the sake of the devs I'd like to see more ways to make buying Theonite an actual thing people want to do. Currently there's so many ways to get Theonite I never consider buying any at all.

Adding in ads to generate more Theonite seems like a bad way to go though. We need more ways to spend Theonite at high volumes, not new ways to get more Theonite.

Yes, i think giving us more options on which to spend theonite would be the priority, but i think optional ads would still serve a way of helping the devs for people that want to stay f2p.
Personally i'm more inclined to spend some small money on f2p games regularly just to support devs, but there is plenty of people that want to stay completely f2p, so giving them a way to support the game still could be valuable i think.

 

[BrolaireOfAsstora]

There's a balance between the two, in my opinion. While having ads does generate revenue, it may also annoy some people. I liked your idea of having things to by, like dlc, but maybe we could buy relics for certain characters instead? For example, the ability to buy shard to get relics, or if MF and the other characters get in the game, the opportunity to buy relics for them from the store.

 

[Stilhouette]

I assume that once Eliza has been out for awhile, character relics for her will also appear. Otherwise there would be no possible way to obtain character relic exclusives like bloodbath Eliza. I think the same will also apply to any future characters. Prize Fights for a few weeks before releasing the character relics.

 

[Ryouhi]

There's a balance between the two, in my opinion. While having ads does generate revenue, it may also annoy some people. I liked your idea of having things to by, like dlc, but maybe we could buy relics for certain characters instead? For example, the ability to buy shard to get relics, or if MF and the other characters get in the game, the opportunity to buy relics for them from the store.

My idea was making it an extra button on the main menu where you could OPTIONALLY watch those ads, they shouldn't be forced on you.

 

[Poringsmasher]

I mentioned this a little in the new player thread about what to spend it on. With 11 gold fighters and tons of gold moves I don't need to buy any boxes unless I want to chase some specific versions of fighters.

I also want to give them some money cause I feel like I've gotten enough enjoyment at this point to justify it but I already don't know what to spend what I currently have on. It was also weird that Eliza was given free instead of offered in a relic first. Maybe next new character they'll box up first. Maybe an exp booster to buy too?

I dunno, I just want to give them some money at this point =P

 

[Ryouhi]

I mentioned this a little in the new player thread about what to spend it on. With 11 gold fighters and tons of gold moves I don't need to buy any boxes unless I want to chase some specific versions of fighters.

I also want to give them some money cause I feel like I've gotten enough enjoyment at this point to justify it but I already don't know what to spend what I currently have on. It was also weird that Eliza was given free instead of offered in a relic first. Maybe next new character they'll box up first. Maybe an exp booster to buy too?

I dunno, I just want to give them some money at this point =P

I feel the same, i just want to throw some money their way, but i'm not really interested in buying relics (at this point at least), so having some more variety in the shop would be interesting.

I only recently started playing, so i thought eliza was available for some time now, but making characters relic-exclusive for a week or two could make it worth spending theonite on - but with things like this i'd be careful, since this could turn off f2p-players perhaps, though being able to earn theonite through playing, this might not be too much of a problem.

Same with exp-boost - something i thought about before, the problem may be that playing without the boost could be too sluggish in comparison then, which could seem kinda pay-to-win-eqsue.

I'd personally like more cosmetic items, like the announcer packs and other unused assets from the original game i think. (if possible)

 

[Wulfy-prime]

but with things like this i'd be careful, since this could turn off f2p-players perhaps, though being able to earn theonite through playing, this might not be too much of a problem.

Same with exp-boost - something i thought about before, the problem may be that playing without the boost could be too sluggish in comparison then, which could seem kinda pay-to-win-eqsue.

Unpopular opinion incoming. Read at your own risk!

The game is free. The characters come really easily, and you can get the Gold rarity ones for free from events without too much trouble. We already get SO much for free, and I wouldn't mind an EXP boost item that's available for real money. Remember, these gaming companies want to make money, they're not doing it for charity. As long as the prices for optional items aren't outrageous, I would gladly welcome some premium items. Even silly things like alternate costumes.

 

[BrolaireOfAsstora]

My idea was making it an extra button on the main menu where you could OPTIONALLY watch those ads, they shouldn't be forced on you.

My mistake. Nonetheless, with the sheer amount of theonite rained into us by the game, I feel the button will be untouched by many people.

 

[Poringsmasher]

Unpopular opinion incoming. Read at your own risk!

The game is free. The characters come really easily, and you can get the Gold rarity ones for free from events without too much trouble. We already get SO much for free, and I wouldn't mind an EXP boost item that's available for real money. Remember, these gaming companies want to make money, they're not doing it for charity. As long as the prices for optional items aren't outrageous, I would gladly welcome some premium items. Even silly things like alternate costumes.

Wouldn't say it's that unpopular, but it definitely depends on the game. I'm sure all of us have played plenty of f2p games and some are stingy and some super generous, some are pay to win and some even the freeloaders can compete in.

This game I feel is both generous and not pay to win, which not often are games both at once. They can definitely try harder to get some money out of us.

On the point of exp booster specifically, you'll still be getting the most usage with a bigger PF streak, and will also cause people to recharge their best character in order to keep running lowbies at those high streak PF wins. So they kinda make a little money both ways, and is a risk reward to try and keep up the streak. Also, exp gain is sooooo slow atm the lack of a booster (or repeatable yellow energy mode) seems a bit glaring.

 

[luawei]

Unpopular opinion incoming. Read at your own risk!

The game is free. The characters come really easily, and you can get the Gold rarity ones for free from events without too much trouble. We already get SO much for free, and I wouldn't mind an EXP boost item that's available for real money. Remember, these gaming companies want to make money, they're not doing it for charity. As long as the prices for optional items aren't outrageous, I would gladly welcome some premium items. Even silly things like alternate costumes.

I kind of agree with this too. Although at first it seems impossible to get the gold character rewards from the Prize Fights, eventually you get to a threshold where it becomes ridiculously easy to get all of them and at that point golds don't have a lot of value for you. It's so easy, I'm worried about whether this game will even make a profit. I don't have any specific ideas to better monetize this game though.

 

[ThanatosDK]

There's a lot that could be done with currency that I've seen done with other mobage.

Equipment that gives modifiers, Character revives in non-competitive modes, Rerolling bonus stats on Moves.

Maybe even add assist-only characters to SGM that can be equipped like a traditional move?

 

[BrolaireOfAsstora]

Dlc should be unlockable with theonite, imo. Add the other voices in the game, and make them cost an expensive but fair amount, perhaps 500 theonite. Other fighters should be dlc too, similar to smash bros. When you first buy them, you get a gold, silver, and bronze relic exclusively containing one of that character.

 

[Cellsai]

Dlc should be unlockable with theonite, imo. Add the other voices in the game, and make them cost an expensive but fair amount, perhaps 500 theonite. Other fighters should be dlc too, similar to smash bros. When you first buy them, you get a gold, silver, and bronze relic exclusively containing one of that character.

I think adding voices and extras like that as DLC is a good idea, but they should be BIG ticket items.
Character relics are 100 each. They're priced like that because you need to buy a lot of them again and again. If you play your Prize Fights and Daily Missions you can easily get one relic every day or two. The game encourages you to have a large pool of characters, so this is good.

Character Voices would be bought exactly once, so they need to be expensive. If I were doing it I would make a single character voice cost 10,000 Theonite, or even more.

If you complete every milestone in a Prize Fights it gives you 350 Theonite. You can generally get about 50-70 Theonite every day from missions. 2 PFs a week, plus 7 days of missions is about 1100 Theonite. At 500 for character voices you'd still be buying two of them a week. After a couple of months they'll have run out of things to sell again. Again, if I was setting prices I'd have them really expensive to encourage people to drop money on Theonite, or put themselves at a disadvantage by saving up for voices instead of buying character relics.

This would make three kinds of players:
Casual players will happily just grind along and get their free theonite and save up for big ticket voices.
Competitive players will ignore the totally optional voices and focus their free theonite on getting new character relics.
People that want everything and have the money to spare will buy Theonite with real money to get both optional voices and a steady stream of relics.

 

[BrolaireOfAsstora]

I think adding voices and extras like that as DLC is a good idea, but they should be BIG ticket items.
Character relics are 100 each. They're priced like that because you need to buy a lot of them again and again. If you play your Prize Fights and Daily Missions you can easily get one relic every day or two. The game encourages you to have a large pool of characters, so this is good.

Character Voices would be bought exactly once, so they need to be expensive. If I were doing it I would make a single character voice cost 10,000 Theonite, or even more.

If you complete every milestone in a Prize Fights it gives you 350 Theonite. You can generally get about 50-70 Theonite every day from missions. 2 PFs a week, plus 7 days of missions is about 1100 Theonite. At 500 for character voices you'd still be buying two of them a week. After a couple of months they'll have run out of things to sell again. Again, if I was setting prices I'd have them really expensive to encourage people to drop money on Theonite, or put themselves at a disadvantage by saving up for voices instead of buying character relics.

This would make three kinds of players:
Casual players will happily just grind along and get their free theonite and save up for big ticket voices.
Competitive players will ignore the totally optional voices and focus their free theonite on getting new character relics.
People that want everything and have the money to spare will buy Theonite with real money to get both optional voices and a steady stream of relics.

That's a good idea, bar one thing: there's not a package that would give enough theonite to buy them. Priced at 10000, it would cost someone about $150 for ONE voice. That's clearly too high. Not even the most gung-ho Skullgirls fan would buy that. It has to be WAAAYYYY lower. I'm thinking around the range of 2000? If you're impatient, you can spend 30 bucks, or save up your gems. To me though, pricing them this high seems kinda of ridiculous. I feel that following the path of the games on PC and setting the bundle of the voices at a flat price to be bought with real money at the store would be better. As for extra characters, I feel like we need to set a price for each one. With the purchase of the character, you get 3 bronze relics, two silvers, and a gold relics for them. Now, let's set the pricing like this: one bronze move relic is 40 gems, silver is 80, and gold at 120. Then let's double the prices for each. That means 80,160,240. Then, 80x3 =160. 160x2 is 320. Adding 240, we get the total of 720 theonite for the package, or as you said, almost week's worth of theonite. We could set it at 1500, which is about a week and a half, or we could charge 15 bucks for them. This way, it deters parents of kids who just want to buy things, and ensures people who want them WANT them. Competitive players would also want them, as these new characters would have a slight edge compared to the base game. Though Im worried the game would catch flak for charging "this much for one character". Thoughts?

 

[BambooEarpick]

I really, really, really, hope the devs are making enough on this game.
I don't think ads for a very small amount of theonite is bad idea.

I wonder if they have someone working on the money side. The cost of theonite is really high in comparison for what it:
a) actually gets you
b) how much they give out for free

Paying 30 dollars for a 6% chance at a gold character is not amazing.
And you get about enough theonite to pull once a week or so.

Depending on what their revenue stream looks like right now the price elasticity of demand may point that either acquisition is too high (maybe, maybe not -- if you make it too hard to get RMC then the playerbase shrinks and the numbers look bad on their side for investors) or that the price point at which theonite is being sold for is too high (likely if they're not getting a lot of buyers).

 

[Ryouhi]

I really, really, really, hope the devs are making enough on this game.
I don't think ads for a very small amount of theonite is bad idea.

I wonder if they have someone working on the money side. The cost of theonite is really high in comparison for what it:
a) actually gets you
b) how much they give out for free

Paying 30 dollars for a 6% chance at a gold character is not amazing.
And you get about enough theonite to pull once a week or so.

Depending on what their revenue stream looks like right now the price elasticity of demand may point that either acquisition is too high (maybe, maybe not -- if you make it too hard to get RMC then the playerbase shrinks and the numbers look bad on their side for investors) or that the price point at which theonite is being sold for is too high (likely if they're not getting a lot of buyers).

I hope so too, because i can finally enjoy skullgirls in a casual way, since i suck at normal fighting games.

 

[Stilhouette]

I hope that this game also increases the sales of Skullgirls, I also bought the original game because I had so much fun playing this one!
Also, how about buying alternative intro animation? I think that alternative skin colours might confuse players because that's how I primarily distinguish between different fighters, but different styled intro animation would be fun and wouldn't affect gameplay either.

 

[fatfursatan]

I'd be happy to pay up for really good one-time deals. Like, idk, paying $5 for $20 worth of theonite. Or, getting a few silver or better rolls and a bunch of canopy coins for $10. Something like what Love Live does.

This game's monetization seems like it was an afterthought--on one hand, whoo, they focused on making a fun game and did it! On the other, there isn't anything I'd spend money to get in the game right now, even out of good will (the amount of theonite you get for $ is pitiful).