Generating a Small Income from Subscriptions

[bodhi]

Has anyone used the following publishing model, and if so, how successful does it seem to be?


The game is published to the internet, is free, and is freely distributable.  Income is generated by subscriptions to the game's official website, which adds and updates material on a regular basis.  The subscription fee would have to be pretty small, I think - maybe a couple dollars per month.

This way, the game can be enjoyed for free, while those who want to delve deeper can do so.  And those who want to delve deeper won't have to buy each product individually - one subscription, and they get everything.

[Nathan]

This is an idea I have toyed with.

The problem is -- it is a lot of work, for what might be only a little benefit. The first difficulty is that you have to convince people to sign up. You have to have a good enough product, that they want more. This means that you will need to design this FREE game with enough holes so that people are drawn into the subscription. The second difficulty is the resources. You need to have enough writers producing enough material to make it very worthwhile. The material needs to be of high enough quality as well. So, you won't be just raking in cash -- you will be paying writers and artists as well who are supporting the game.  If you can get 10,000 gamers signed up to your site per month, this would be ideal! Unfortunately, that is hardly realistic. Third is the other side -- you need staff. You need technical support. You need someone to code the site and make sure it works for that one customer running the Amiga. :)

Now, you could do something a little more low key, but in the end, is it going to be worth it? You might take a look at Pyramid mag from sjgames. They have two columnists, a variety of guest authors, reviews, newsgroups, playtest files, comic strips, and chats.

Something like that can work, but the problem is, you will be building your own customer base with little support. Unless your game is D20, it will be an uphill battle.

thanks,
Nathan

[Ron Edwards]

Hi there,

Forge: Out of Chaos used this method, and their website is still active, although it hasn't been updated for a long time.

I think it's a good idea in some ways, but I think that it has to be bolstered with product especially, not just access. Plenty of great readable stuff is free-access on the net, so if you're requiring money, make sure that you have more than just "great readable stuff." The Gaming Outpost provides a troubling lesson about this, although admittedly there were other factors involved.

Best,
Ron

[Nathan]

If anything, this is my only area of expertise with gaming at large.

Currently, I am the Development Coordinator of Gaming Outpost. I have seen their stats, user number, and situation, and I have tried to deal with it in a variety of ways. I served time also as a server administrator for the Magicstar IRC Network, so I understand the difficulties of technology and serving people. I've run my own e-zine through Mystic Ages Online for about six months. I've run chats for Rpg.Net for roughly the same period of time (before their merger). In the past, I've put together and administrated four online conventions with special guests, prizes, rpg tournaments, advertising, and more.

For a short while, I was a member of an early attempt at an online game design community (whose name shall remain nameless), which had chat, free webspace, email lists, developer tools, and a bunch of other kinds of funky stuff.

The most difficult thing about it is keeping it going. In Basement Games case, I think most have been impressed in the way in which they have maintained steady support and kept customers happy. Unfortunately, there is always a point when it becomes a drag, especially because it is a lot of work for only a little gain. The technical issues begin to become a drag, real life becomes to pull away, and soon -- the site hasn't been updated in a while.

Speaking of which, I need to update Mystic Ages today. :)

Maybe there are some other facets we can talk about -- what are some ways such an endeavor can succeed? What are some ways to make it worthwhile? Face it -- most services such a thing can provide are free anyway.

Thanks all,
Nathan

[Nathan]

And to begin the discussion: what are somethings you can do to insure that it succeeds?

a) In Pyramid's case and in a couple of other cases, if you pull in a "big name" to write/contribute/or just hang out, people will be willing to pay to be able to interact with that "celebrity" on a regular basis. A great way to draw people in -- but it is being used up. I think the ENWorld community, for example, is FREE, but they have a ton of d&d designers who post there. That helps big time, but again it's free -- are people going to pay to bump shoulders with Gary Gygax or Monte Cook if they can bump shoulders with them for free?

GamingOutpost was most popular when Wick or GMS wrote for the site. When they left, the notoriety of the site seemed to go down.

Thanks,
Nathan Hill
nathan@mysticages.com

[Matt Machell]

The problem with this method is that it's a bitch to get anybody to pay for internet content straight off. The situation is getting better, but people still have that mental association of "if it's on the internet it's not worth paying for".

You have to build your appeal over a considerable amount of time, then people start shelling out cash. Lots of sites have hooked people when free, then moved to pay for use(http://www.another.com is a good example), so that's a model worth considering. You have to be providing a service that people are willing to pay for, or unwilling to do without.

Just my thoughts.

Matt