Free players in shared cockpits

[Mars Exulte]

1 hour ago, probad said:

you want to poison the dcs community further with low investment audience?

 

sometimes more is not automatically better.

 

 

  More income is arguably better for everyone. Low investment is annoying on the forums, but so what? I have dozens of ignored users, I am happy to make it hundreds for the game's benefit Like I said, even FC3 is too much trouble for most people. This is community will always be niche for the hardcore enthusiasts, nothing's going to really change that.

Japo, yes piracy was an issue at one time. Some of your ideas are from inexperience and a bit overreaching

[StevanJ]

4 hours ago, Mars Exulte said:

 

  More income is arguably better for everyone. Low investment is annoying on the forums, but so what? I have dozens of ignored users, I am happy to make it hundreds for the game's benefit Like I said, even FC3 is too much trouble for most people. This is community will always be niche for the hardcore enthusiasts, nothing's going to really change that.

Japo, yes piracy was an issue at one time. Some of your ideas are from inexperience and a bit overreaching

Im sure Op just feels a bit like this..

[Evoman]

5 hours ago, Japo32 said:

Of course!! To continue use by their own, they would need to pay! it is really that simple!! 

Imagine yourself after 2 or 3 missions with your friends that had so fun, and they don't own none of the DCS products... Wouldn't "you" buy one of the planes for not depending on "your" friends to try again?

As you said, you own not all the planes (I almost have everyone but the Anton and the ChristianEagle). Imagine a friend invites you to a mission in the future hind as shooter and you enjoy it... if you didn't plan to buy it, would you change your mind after that mission and buy it? or whould you need to wait a full year until ED would allow you to use DCS for free 15-30 days?

 

ED would have sold another module, and your friend would have fun also having you in his cockpit. I don't see where others see the trouble... really. OF course ED could not like it somehow, but normal users???

 

 

I agree on several of your points from experience.  Every time there is a free to fly event I tell as many of my friends about it. But even if they are interested they may be busy with something else at that time and end up forgetting about it. So the timing may not always be ideal for everyone.  However even if someone happens to give it a try there are other determining factors that will affect their impressions. Not having a HOTAS is a big determining factor in just how much someone will enjoy the experience as a pilot. Which is why inexperienced friends will have a better experience trying it out as a RIO or gunner since they are basically just going along for the ride with minimal instruction.

 

It would be great if ED could work out some sort of method to allow demo rides anytime that could be restricted to a specific DEMO server and functions. I think having this feature will attract more interest to DCS and result in more perspective buyers.

[NineLine]

On 3/31/2021 at 8:20 AM, Japo32 said:

IL2 Great Battles allow usage of maps in multiplayer even they are not payed. 

The Hunter call of the wild do the same...

 

I know ED has to make money on this, but even sometimes they offered 1 month or 15 days totally free play. 

We have friends and those friends not always buy the same planes/helicopters we do. 

UH1H, MI8, F14, Gazelle and future Hind (and Apache) offers the option to play together with a person in shared cockpits, and it is difficult to find your friends joining those aircrafts.

 

What if ED allow everyone to use NOT the pilot seats, but only in multiplayer, the gunner (or RIO) positions for free? 

What if maybe, if you think that it is too much generosity, users can win mile points somehow in minutes playing for free in those gunner seats? (would be needed lot of time to learn those positions).

 

As The Hunter and IL2 finally people that play free, ends buying the maps to play alone and not depending on someone, you could have the same result in DCS? and we could have more possible human crew for our flights.

 

 

 

This has come up a lot, and I dont know if that is something we can do right now, if you buy the Huey, you get all the Huey assets such as cockpits, etc. If you dont own it, you dont have it, we would have to either force everyone to download everything, even if they never use it, or make a co-op version, I dont know if there is an easy answer, but I will certainly pass it to the team for consideration.

 

For things like maps and such, sorry I didnt read through every comment, but that doesnt work here, we give away the core game for free, we have 1 free map, soon to be two, so our pricing model doesnt function the same as someone else if you get my drift.

6 hours ago, Japo32 said:

 

 

Have you seen anytime any DCS module pirated? Me not. Even Campaigns.... 

Yes, yes we have been. I'll leave it at that.

[Japo32]

Thanks for the reply! @NineLine and glad you pass it the idea internally. Maybe they will say no, but at least I tried. The idea is not for me to having free content. I want to support ED with all I can (of course if I feel I can have fun with it), but also beeing selfish to allow me have fun, seeing my friends inside the sim. 

 

As said by @Evoman one of the barriers, that new users find when they try DCS is that they have to pay 30-50$ in a sale period to buy a module, and then buy a joystick, that usually can be 100-500$, so I don't think so much people will jump into DCS, because of that.

But if you put the hability to get inside the planes/helicopters for free into gunner/navigation positions, and manage all with mouse/keyboard, then some of them will get more attention to DCS and possible buy something.

 

Maybe a reduced downloable aircraft for cooperative free flight, could be done. For example, in XPLane, if we remove the hidden manipulator geometry and remove some lines from programming code, even pirates cannot do anything to make work the areas you don't want. Maybe DCS has something like that. Don't know. 

Edited April 2, 2021 by Japo32

[StevanJ]

2 hours ago, Japo32 said:

Thanks for the reply! @NineLine and glad you pass it the idea internally. Maybe they will say no, but at least I tried. The idea is not for me to having free content. I want to support ED with all I can (of course if I feel I can have fun with it), but also beeing selfish to allow me have fun, seeing my friends inside the sim. 

 

As said by @Evoman one of the barriers, that new users find when they try DCS is that they have to pay 30-50$ in a sale period to buy a module, and then buy a joystick, that usually can be 100-500$, so I don't think so much people will jump into DCS, because of that.

But if you put the hability to get inside the planes/helicopters for free into gunner/navigation positions, and manage all with mouse/keyboard, then some of them will get more attention to DCS and possible buy something.

 

Maybe a reduced downloable aircraft for cooperative free flight, could be done. For example, in XPLane, if we remove the hidden manipulator geometry and remove some lines from programming code, even pirates cannot do anything to make work the areas you don't want. Maybe DCS has something like that. Don't know. 

 

I like the idea, because it puts people in the seats that arent getting used in MP.

[SharpeXB]

I don’t think anyone would buy a DCS module just to be a gunner. That doesn’t seem very interesting. DCS is already free to play and even has free trial periods. 

[StevanJ]

15 hours ago, SharpeXB said:

I don’t think anyone would buy a DCS module just to be a gunner. That doesn’t seem very interesting. DCS is already free to play and even has free trial periods. 

Well, I would. I cant fly the Apache if its released without 'Touch Control compatibility' as im on a laptop and dont have a HOTAS, But id definitely jump at a chance to do my best in the module with either an xbox controller or Keyboard in mouse.
Same goes for the Tomcat.

Although i think id have a bad time keeping the seat, if my pilot thought i was lousy. 

[SharpeXB]

32 minutes ago, StevanJ said:

Well, I would. I cant fly the Apache if its released without 'Touch Control compatibility' as im on a laptop and dont have a HOTAS, But id definitely jump at a chance to do my best in the module with either an xbox controller or Keyboard in mouse.
Same goes for the Tomcat.

Although i think id have a bad time keeping the seat, if my pilot thought i was lousy. 

Yeah but you’re a DCS enthusiast already. A new player would find this to be really boring

Or in the case of a RIO etc way too technically complex and a simple door gunner with a mouse is again just too boring to be worth playing. 
DCS just doesn’t appeal to everyone, it’s a very niche product that people will either have the motivation for or won’t. Trying to recruit your friends into it is usually a lost cause really. And ED can’t give away free modules and the game is already free to play in any case. 
And forget needing a joystick, the device everyone needs to get anything out of DCS is head tracking or VR and your friends probably don’t have that. 

[StevanJ]

13 minutes ago, SharpeXB said:

Yeah but you’re a DCS enthusiast already. A new player would find this to be really boring

Or in the case of a RIO etc way too technically complex and a simple door gunner with a mouse is again just too boring to be worth playing. 
DCS just doesn’t appeal to everyone, it’s a very niche product that people will either have the motivation for or won’t. Trying to recruit your friends into it is usually a lost cause really. And ED can’t give away free modules and the game is already free to play in any case. 
And forget needing a joystick, the device everyone needs to get anything out of DCS is head tracking or VR and your friends probably don’t have that. 

 

I feel you.

 

Still, I think we might get the player who wants the kills without the work.

 

If I were flying an apache, my only worry would be the new player I let in the seat who just spewed the ammo without thought for the resupply.

 

And i can't buy/pre order the hind as I don't know if it will be released with touch controls compatibility (I'm in a niche I know),

But id definitely would if I could pay half towards the module if it meant I could 'gunner' and 'try the module' from that person.

 

Side gunners you may have a point as I don't really see many enemies that can be destroyed by them in MP.

 

I also doubt it's achieveable right now.

 

Still, you raise some good points. And a guy can only dream..

 

 

 

[SharpeXB]

1 hour ago, StevanJ said:

Still, I think we might get the player who wants the kills without the work.

I think DCS is work no matter how you package it. Even the second seat player needs to read a few hundred pages of a manual and own flight controllers and VR or head tracking, have a capable PC etc. So anyone motivated and equipped enough to do that would be motivated enough to buy the entire module. Also I’m sure the vast majority of players do solo and not co-op. A half-price / half-access module doesn’t seem to have a market IMO

[MAXsenna]

Yeah but you’re a DCS enthusiast already. A new player would find this to be really boring
Or in the case of a RIO etc way too technically complex and a simple door gunner with a mouse is again just too boring to be worth playing. 
DCS just doesn’t appeal to everyone, it’s a very niche product that people will either have the motivation for or won’t. Trying to recruit your friends into it is usually a lost cause really. And ED can’t give away free modules and the game is already free to play in any case. 
And forget needing a joystick, the device everyone needs to get anything out of DCS is head tracking or VR and your friends probably don’t have that. 

I agree. But for some funny reason, headtracking would be the cheapest on the list.

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