Article
It's all right that you want more money.
I won't join the choir of whiners complaining about you being 'greedy'. Anyone with the slightest insight to running internet ventures knows about increasing server and web traffic costs and low internet advertising revenues. No, most of us players won't click on banners (even if some of us don't block them). No, most of us players won't buy Premium accounts only to have a few extra stats.
A browser game is a business enterprise, you have to pay the bills and wages, and it's rather understandable that you want some profits on top of that too.
I also understand that you chose the path of selling in-game advantages over advertising, premium accounts, donations, merchandizing or a one-time entry fees. There's a certain business logics in that.
But don't sit back with a sigh of relief: it's a slippery slope.
Turning the game into a one-armed bandit is generally a bad idea. One-armed bandits got boring fast, especially if costs are out of proportion with the prize offered.
When you're thinking about selling in-game advantages like the new 'items' you're merely trying to squeeze more out of the model you've made Secura for: selling the opportunity of getting ahead others to the minority of players who are willing to pay. And here comes the trap: you are obviously happy to see hard cash flowing in and can't wait to work out more and more 'items' and 'payment methods' to increase that revenue. But if you lose focus on the game itself, you're doomed.
Selling in-game advantages means people buying them can get ahead of those who don't, even if they lack the skills, experience or insight of those others. For the former, it's a great opportunity to buy themselves progress instead of achieving that the hard way, while for the latter, it allows them to play the game free - financed by the former.
However, in that structure, the balance of competition is key.
On the long run, people will find battling each other's wallets boring.
Obviously, with your fresh in-flow of euros all you can think of caring about are your Gold-buying customers. However, don't forget why they are here: to find entertainment in a browser game. And they won't find it entertaining if for their Gold all they'll get would be ever increasing costs of reaching the same goals - and an ever decreasing environment of free players, who'll leave the game because they feel they could never even keep up with the Gold-buyers.
Keep balance, limit and continuously inflate the advantages that could be bought by Gold - and most importantly, keep it so that purchased Gold would flow through and back to the economy module.
Instead of simply offering those new items for Gold, include them in your production-market-consumption cycle, thus keeping a better balance of competition between Gold-buyers and non-buyers. With your current scheme you're simply offering more and more advantages for more and more money. Ultimately that would only lead to a boring competition of wallets, and as such a disappointing 'inflation' of Gold bought. Inflate those advantages in a cleverer way: make those advantages slowly vanish in time, thus giving an incentive for Gold-buyers to buy Gold regularly - if they wanted to keep up with - not only each other, but the rest of the players too.
Ultimately, you're running a game, and there is a solid relation between how financially successful it'll be and how entertaining it is. People can't cash out here, they pay for entertainment. You're running a game, not a poker site.
Keep it simple in basics but complicated in structure.
Now that you went for selling in-game advantages instead of the advertising/Premium stuff, you won't need all those non-Mastercard-players reloading and reloading pages - and ads - all the time. Simplifying action & info surfaces, decreasing the number of page reloads and clicks would decrease your server & web traffic costs - and would make it more fun to play your game. Make well-organized screens where people could spend time doing this and that and send the info in one pack. Add clever shortcuts, comprehensive data screens. Hire a software ergonomist.
Instead of adding newer and newer 'items' for sale for real cash - add less but incorporate them in your game so that they'll increase competivity, give a better diversity of personal goals - and act as an incentive for more people to buy smaller amount of gold. Your current scheme seems to prefer a few gold buyers dedicated enough to buy more and more and more Gold. Think about the many more who'd be willing to buy the occasional few Golds too - if they had their own goals to reach, there own game to improve a little. Give them goals and keep their hopes of competing massive Gold buyers on a variety of fields. They'll spend on your game.
You should also return to the 'Donate for development' system, I'm pretty sure ppl would be glad to support developments like adding contract options to Stock Market Companies, adding the option for them to buy other companies shares and merge, turning the Import Tax to what is should be: a tax based on the country of origin instead of the nationality of the seller, etc.
Complicate the strategy level, allow MUs to travel together - with members having the right to opt out, introduce MU vs MU pvps ... there are so many ideas that could make your game better, don't go for the easy but ultimately boring way.
You asked for our feedback. So here's my advice: measure twice, cut once; think ahead; think out of the box. Cut your technical costs by organizing data traffic better; hire some innovative developers to keep the game balanced, fun, and attractive enough to spend money on it.
Don't go ahead on the path of becoming the zillionth boring and doomed clone of the Game We Don't Name. Think ahead and believe that you could be better than them!
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About the game:
USA as a world power? In E-Sim it is possible!
In E-Sim we have a huge, living world, which is a mirror copy of the Earth. Well, maybe not completely mirrored, because the balance of power in this virtual world looks a bit different than in real life. In E-Sim, USA does not have to be a world superpower, It can be efficiently managed as a much smaller country that has entrepreneurial citizens that support it's foundation. Everything depends on the players themselves and how they decide to shape the political map of the game.
Work for the good of your country and see it rise to an empire.
Activities in this game are divided into several modules. First is the economy as a citizen in a country of your choice you must work to earn money, which you will get to spend for example, on food or purchase of weapons which are critical for your progress as a fighter. You will work in either private companies which are owned by players or government companies which are owned by the state. After progressing in the game you will finally get the opportunity to set up your own business and hire other players. If it prospers, we can even change it into a joint-stock company and enter the stock market and get even more money in this way.
In E-Sim, international wars are nothing out of the ordinary.
Become an influential politician.
The second module is a politics. Just like in real life politics in E-Sim are an extremely powerful tool that can be used for your own purposes. From time to time there are elections in the game in which you will not only vote, but also have the ability to run for the head of the party you're in. You can also apply for congress, where once elected you will be given the right to vote on laws proposed by your fellow congress members or your president and propose laws yourself. Voting on laws is important for your country as it can shape the lives of those around you. You can also try to become the head of a given party, and even take part in presidential elections and decide on the shape of the foreign policy of a given state (for example, who to declare war on). Career in politics is obviously not easy and in order to succeed in it, you have to have a good plan and compete for the votes of voters.
You can go bankrupt or become a rich man while playing the stock market.
The international war.
The last and probably the most important module is military. In E-Sim, countries are constantly fighting each other for control over territories which in return grant them access to more valuable raw materials. For this purpose, they form alliances, they fight international wars, but they also have to deal with, for example, uprisings in conquered countries or civil wars, which may explode on their territory. You can also take part in these clashes, although you are also given the opportunity to lead a life as a pacifist who focuses on other activities in the game (for example, running a successful newspaper or selling products).
At the auction you can sell or buy your dream inventory.
E-Sim is a unique browser game. It's creators ensured realistic representation of the mechanisms present in the real world and gave all power to the players who shape the image of the virtual Earth according to their own. So come and join them and help your country achieve its full potential.
Invest, produce and sell - be an entrepreneur in E-Sim.
Take part in numerous events for the E-Sim community.
