Natural Selection Free to Play

ghostdlrghostdlr Join Date: 2015-07-02 Member: 205950Members
I found some old topics but lots of things changed since .

This game needs a steady flow of new players to stay alive .
There are plenty of ways to monetize everything ... skins DLC or a donation system like the one for Reinforced , stuff that is already implemented .

This works well for Dota 2 and Counter-Strike GO , without giving an advantage to those paying so I don't see why it won't also work for Natural Selection .

Any new thoughts on the subject ?
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Comments

  • ghostdlrghostdlr Join Date: 2015-07-02 Member: 205950Members
    edited July 2015
    There is already a DLC system for skins implemented .
    And all natural selection servers are hosted by the community . So if the community increases , the number of people hosting the servers will increase .

    And regarding the rookies , natural selection 2 doesn't have a toxic community like Dota or League of Legends . A new player can easily integrate and server owners can set up restrictions if they only want experienced players.
    There's force balance team option so you can have a fair game , even with rookies .

    It's sad to see only 200 people online in the evening . A free to play model might change this .
  • ghostdlrghostdlr Join Date: 2015-07-02 Member: 205950Members
    edited July 2015
    I think the game is just fine as it is . I just played the NS2 tutorial and it pretty much covers all the basics and gives you enough information to start playing on public servers . Lots of FTP titles are doing a lot worse . Dota 2 for example, didn't even have a tutorial system in the first 2 years .

    There is no team of admins in Dota, LOL, CS GO. Everything is fully automated .

    There are currently 130 servers active and 210 people playing . They could handle around 2500 players .
    I don't remember exactly how many users were online during the last free week-end . NS2 was briefly on top 100 on steam so I guess around 2000 .

    I'm currently renting dedicated servers from OVH . You can get a Xeon 1245V2 with 32 GB RAM, SSD or HDD for 40 EURO + VAT / month . And they actually work ... I had no uptime or loss/ping problems in Europe . There is no need for a big investment in infrastructure.

    I understand you're not there yet . I think Free to Play should be the next step for Natural Selection 2 . Only a higher player base can turn it into an esport title .
  • NordicNordic Long term camping in Kodiak Join Date: 2012-05-13 Member: 151995Members, NS2 Playtester, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Supporter, Reinforced - Silver, Reinforced - Shadow
    The biggest problem with ns2 is player retention. If the game stayed as it is, any potential gains from f2p would be pointless. Within a few weeks or months we would have the same exact amount of players as we do now.
    I would imagine any potential infrastructure would be designed to help retain player so the game has a sustained playerbase.
  • PelargirPelargir Join Date: 2013-07-02 Member: 185857Members, Forum Moderators, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Squad Five Silver, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Supporter, Reinforced - Silver, WC 2013 - Silver, Forum staff
    Nordic wrote: »
    The biggest problem with ns2 is player retention. If the game stayed as it is, any potential gains from f2p would be pointless. Within a few weeks or months we would have the same exact amount of players as we do now.
    I would imagine any potential infrastructure would be designed to help retain player so the game has a sustained playerbase.

    Stop copy-paste your message from your clipboard. I caught you!
  • MauvaisVitrierMauvaisVitrier France Join Date: 2014-04-10 Member: 195291Members, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Diamond
    LOL dem F2P threads. I don't have the patience to copy paste like freaking @Nordic over there, but I think @IronHorse got everything you need to know. No properly designed f2p economy, no infrastructure to hold it together = dead end. I'd like to see a free WEEK though, in like a patch or two, with new stuff implemented and see how it goes. Wont hurt anyway
  • SantaClawsSantaClaws Denmark Join Date: 2012-07-31 Member: 154491Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    LOL dem F2P threads. I don't have the patience to copy paste like freaking @Nordic over there, but I think @IronHorse got everything you need to know. No properly designed f2p economy, no infrastructure to hold it together = dead end. I'd like to see a free WEEK though, in like a patch or two, with new stuff implemented and see how it goes. Wont hurt anyway
    Even free weekends is questionable imo. It is as Nordic says, retention is the problem. I don't agree that a free weekend is harmless either.

    First, I think we need some kind of player segregation based on skill levels. Whether that means rookie only servers or full fletched out matchmaking systems integrated with hive skills, or some kind of Hive skill requirement for entry on certain servers - I don't care. But there needs to be some mechanism to separate these players, otherwise rookies are going to continue to be stomped, and player retention will suffer.

    When you have that, a free weekend would make sense, but not before imo.
  • Rifle-StarRifle-Star Austria Join Date: 2015-07-04 Member: 205990Members
    Disagree on the player segregation. Rather we need integration. Here's an attempt.
  • MauvaisVitrierMauvaisVitrier France Join Date: 2014-04-10 Member: 195291Members, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Diamond
    edited July 2015
    That's why I said "in like a patch or two". Because I know they are looking into this stuff, and having a free weekend or entire week with the proper infrastructure, could then work. Not as is of course
  • NordicNordic Long term camping in Kodiak Join Date: 2012-05-13 Member: 151995Members, NS2 Playtester, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Supporter, Reinforced - Silver, Reinforced - Shadow
    I actually typed that out from my phone, while on vacation. No copy and paste here. Is it bad that I can't go 48 hours with out checking the forums here?
  • NotPaLaGiNotPaLaGi Join Date: 2014-05-29 Member: 196291Members
    IronHorse wrote: »
    if NS2 went free to play in 30 days and notification was given to every private server owner, we still wouldn't have a 10th of the needed servers to support those numbers. It would be a tragedy.

    I guess Ironhorse works for Faultline Games now. (too soon?)
  • Cannon_FodderAUSCannon_FodderAUS Brisbane, AU Join Date: 2013-06-23 Member: 185664Members, Squad Five Blue, Squad Five Silver, Reinforced - Shadow
    @Nordic I agreed with your message, you really need to take a break from the forums (on holiday). @ghostdlr in case you are new to the forums, I have a steam guide for rookies (see my sig). There is also some amusing comments (the latest comment had me rofl).
  • PelargirPelargir Join Date: 2013-07-02 Member: 185857Members, Forum Moderators, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Squad Five Silver, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Supporter, Reinforced - Silver, WC 2013 - Silver, Forum staff
    @Nordic I agreed with your message, you really need to take a break from the forums (on holiday). @ghostdlr in case you are new to the forums, I have a steam guide for rookies (see my sig). There is also some amusing comments (the latest comment had me rofl).

    You don't have any signature.
  • N@uralBornNoobistN@uralBornNoobist Gorge-N-Freeman,2Gorges1Clog Join Date: 2012-12-24 Member: 176138Members
    edited July 2015
    How to bind obs or anything is Ctrl+1 2 3 4 etc...no more selecting the obs with your mouse...such outdated hardware.

    To drop Command Chair press Q+A as com..."my bindings"...change map key from C to G

    best pro tips.eu

    moar to comr from ur local troll dispensary

    THIS ISNT A JOKE stop laughing. NO!!!!!!!!!!...no.

    +1 troll xp

    funny as every post has to be checked so that there are no inappropriate comments or visions from the future. ha+1
  • UncleCrunchUncleCrunch Mayonnaise land Join Date: 2005-02-16 Member: 41365Members, Reinforced - Onos
  • Cannon_FodderAUSCannon_FodderAUS Brisbane, AU Join Date: 2013-06-23 Member: 185664Members, Squad Five Blue, Squad Five Silver, Reinforced - Shadow
    Arrrr, my sig keeps disappearing.

    Author of a ePaper manual for NS2, now also a steam guide
    Co-wrote the Marine EXO Suit Protocol

    I copied it from my sig settings.
  • Soylent_greenSoylent_green Join Date: 2002-12-20 Member: 11220Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    ghostdlr wrote: »
    This works well for Dota 2 and Counter-Strike GO , without giving an advantage to those paying so I don't see why it won't also work for Natural Selection.

    How do you propose to not turn NS2 into a F2P-cesspool like TF2 or Dota 2?

  • IronHorseIronHorse Developer, QA Manager, Technical Support & contributor Join Date: 2010-05-08 Member: 71669Members, Super Administrators, Forum Admins, Forum Moderators, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Subnautica Playtester, Subnautica PT Lead, Pistachionauts
    NotPaLaGi wrote: »
    IronHorse wrote: »
    if NS2 went free to play in 30 days and notification was given to every private server owner, we still wouldn't have a 10th of the needed servers to support those numbers. It would be a tragedy.

    I guess Ironhorse works for Faultline Games now. (too soon?)

    Funny, but just to back up my claim, this is based on prior stats.
    We average 6-9 thousand players on free weekends, despite considerable time passing after launch.

    Even if we disregard the likelihood of those stats occurring again and assume for loss of popularity and consider half of that, (ignoring new content which would still bring in existing players) and the fact that we'd need rookie only servers specifically (which won't be 24 player servers), then we're looking at needing ~400 exclusive servers to be safe. Considering we have about 65 operational servers as of this writing (browser claims 140, but only 60 something are responsive) that barely covers the requirement of returning players, let alone the "rookie only" specific servers. I don't expect even 20% of existing operational servers to temporarily shift to rookie only at the cost of their current community.

    If the numbers end up being less, that'd be easier to handle, obviously.
    Also we could mitigate some of that need by hosting larger player servers instead.. but.. I think we'd all agree we want to give a more accurate representation of NS2. (both in performance and gameplay)
    I doubt we'll actually end up renting 400 exclusive servers or anything near that.. but it's worth considering, and it'd be better to be safe for a week than to fall on our faces with zero means for people to play.
  • FrozenFrozen New York, NY Join Date: 2010-07-02 Member: 72228Members, Constellation
    Can we just have a rookie mode for the servers that vaguely serves as a tutorial? Some number tweaks that make the game more fun in some way for when people can't necessarily aim shots or bites? I feel like just being significantly harder to kill for both teams would increase enjoyment in an all-rookie environment. Similar to how comp mod does so for veteran players (beside the ability changes). How about rookie waypoints that just show where to defend RTs and where to bite RTs. How about if the maps just showed both teams structures or even players at all times.

    But giving a lerk whos sitting still spiking significantly more tank won't really hurt those games.

    Maybe a mode where you start with certain structures already, like randomly start with 3 DCs, 3 MCs, or 3 SCs? And an arms lab with 1-1 or something?
  • NordicNordic Long term camping in Kodiak Join Date: 2012-05-13 Member: 151995Members, NS2 Playtester, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Supporter, Reinforced - Silver, Reinforced - Shadow
    In city planning, it is often better to have less parking than could be used because it gives the illusion that the location is popular. It is better to have not enough parking, than more than will be used.

    Could this concept be true for game servers too? I do not know. Would there be any value in having potentially every server full? If so, would that produce a better image?
  • PelargirPelargir Join Date: 2013-07-02 Member: 185857Members, Forum Moderators, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Squad Five Silver, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Supporter, Reinforced - Silver, WC 2013 - Silver, Forum staff
    Nordic wrote: »
    In city planning, it is often better to have less parking than could be used because it gives the illusion that the location is popular. It is better to have not enough parking, than more than will be used.

    Could this concept be true for game servers too? I do not know. Would there be any value in having potentially every server full? If so, would that produce a better image?

    But someone has to pay for those servers at the end.
  • NordicNordic Long term camping in Kodiak Join Date: 2012-05-13 Member: 151995Members, NS2 Playtester, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Supporter, Reinforced - Silver, Reinforced - Shadow
    edited July 2015
    Pelargir wrote: »
    Nordic wrote: »
    In city planning, it is often better to have less parking than could be used because it gives the illusion that the location is popular. It is better to have not enough parking, than more than will be used.

    Could this concept be true for game servers too? I do not know. Would there be any value in having potentially every server full? If so, would that produce a better image?

    But someone has to pay for those servers at the end.

    Yes, therefor making possible worth trying to under do the capacity. We don't know how many servers we need, but more than 60 (if there is 60).

    I just don't know if the same concept applies here. Cost aside, If you can not play because the server is full, does that make you think the game is more popular than it really is?
  • BensonBenson Join Date: 2012-03-07 Member: 148303Members, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow
    If NS2 ever does go F2P selling a shoulder badge, in-game icon, or skin with the express purpose of funding community servers could be a way to go.

    Im not sure how much it costs to rent an NS2-quality server per month, but this might be a way to fund "official" servers again.

    Some people would buy the pack to help the communty, some would buy it for the cosmetics, but as long as people buy it, it could help offset the cost of F2P/Community Servers.

    Just a thought!
  • ZavaroZavaro Tucson, Arizona Join Date: 2005-02-14 Member: 41174Members, Super Administrators, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Squad Five Silver, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Silver, Subnautica Playtester, NS2 Community Developer, Pistachionauts
    mattji104 wrote: »
    Can we just have a rookie mode for the servers that vaguely serves as a tutorial? Some number tweaks that make the game more fun in some way for when people can't necessarily aim shots or bites? I feel like just being significantly harder to kill for both teams would increase enjoyment in an all-rookie environment. Similar to how comp mod does so for veteran players (beside the ability changes). How about rookie waypoints that just show where to defend RTs and where to bite RTs. How about if the maps just showed both teams structures or even players at all times.

    But giving a lerk whos sitting still spiking significantly more tank won't really hurt those games.

    Maybe a mode where you start with certain structures already, like randomly start with 3 DCs, 3 MCs, or 3 SCs? And an arms lab with 1-1 or something?

    I think it'd be nice to have a mode where people are all around harder to kill, and then keep NS2 as it is making it a "hardcore" mode or whatever. Most games do this nowadays.
  • IronHorseIronHorse Developer, QA Manager, Technical Support & contributor Join Date: 2010-05-08 Member: 71669Members, Super Administrators, Forum Admins, Forum Moderators, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Subnautica Playtester, Subnautica PT Lead, Pistachionauts
    There's already a damage scalar that could be used..

    @Pelargir nope, that's not what I am planning for. Maybe you skimmed over it?
  • MartigenMartigen Australia Join Date: 2002-11-01 Member: 2714Members, NS1 Playtester, Contributor, Reinforced - Onos
    edited July 2015
    IronHorse wrote: »
    Even if we disregard the likelihood of those stats occurring again and assume for loss of popularity and consider half of that, (ignoring new content which would still bring in existing players) and the fact that we'd need rookie only servers specifically (which won't be 24 player servers), then we're looking at needing ~400 exclusive servers to be safe. Considering we have about 65 operational servers as of this writing (browser claims 140, but only 60 something are responsive) that barely covers the requirement of returning players, let alone the "rookie only" specific servers. I don't expect even 20% of existing operational servers to temporarily shift to rookie only at the cost of their current community.

    If the numbers end up being less, that'd be easier to handle, obviously.
    Also we could mitigate some of that need by hosting larger player servers instead.. but.. I think we'd all agree we want to give a more accurate representation of NS2. (both in performance and gameplay)
    I doubt we'll actually end up renting 400 exclusive servers or anything near that.. but it's worth considering, and it'd be better to be safe for a week than to fall on our faces with zero means for people to play.
    Just my 2c on this:

    Number of servers -- While we would certainly need more, I don't think we need more than a few dozen. Lots of reasons for this:
    • Players rotate on servers over time based on global timezones, so it's automatically spread throughout the day
    • Having lots of full servers when people first fire up is a great impression. There's a line of course between empty servers and not being able to get on for a game, however.
    • Inherently, just as we ourselves have done in this community, new players will start their own servers. Especially in fact if there aren't enough and they like the game.

    Server size -- I'd strongly suggest all rookie servers are no less than 24 players. Lots of reasons for this:
    • Even among rookies skill gaps will start to appear. No one likes to feel their team lost because of their gameplay -- this will stop them coming back. On large servers, an individual's performance contributes less to a win. A rookie can learn and make mistakes as part of a team and not feel they let the team down.
    • More players means more interactions, more learning from others, more social bonding, and more freedom to experiment with gameplay and (in aliens case) lifeforms. See point above.
    • We'll attract all walks of players. Like it or not, many games have large servers. These players will feel more comfortable joining a server with many players.
    • Spectating -- more slots means opportunities to spectate to learn. Many people like to learn by watching as well as playing. Just because a server has 24 slots doesn't mean every game is 12v12.
    Yes you can argue NS2 is designed for 6v6, but training wheels come in many forms across many disciplines, and for rookies large servers make it easier for them to learn and have fun -- and thereby, most importantly of all, stick around.

  • babblerblingbabblerbling Join Date: 2015-05-27 Member: 204951Members
    Careful Marti, you're gonna get banned. This is the hater forum, remember? They don't like the truth.

    On a more important note, why are you suddenly accepting the ns2 killing concept of rookie only servers?
  • tallhotblondetallhotblonde Join Date: 2012-12-11 Member: 174770Members, Reinforced - Supporter, Reinforced - Shadow
    lets just take it one step at a time guys, the next patch is still weeks away.

    I would like to see any upcoming free weekend/week coincide with a new rookie tournament announcement to show people the amazing side of competitive which is the biggest player retention mechanism at the moment.
  • babblerblingbabblerbling Join Date: 2015-05-27 Member: 204951Members
    Correction: The biggest player retention mechanism at the moment is Wooza's Playground.
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