Dungeon Runners

Or, Stephen Nichols'(TM)Dungeon Runners(TM).

Hey, I like to boost his ego. It seems to make him all giggly.

"Is it really free-to-play?"

I get asked that question a lot. The answer.... yes, yes it is. There is NO catch. You don't have to pay for any software either, just download and start playing. We don't try to lure you in with some free content then pull some evil bait and switch on you. For some reason a lot of people think you have to pay for high level content, but there is no CUT OFF. You can play, play, and play, leveling all the way up to level 100. (BTW, whoever started that rumor, I will find you one day and set the record straight!) And I'm not talking about agonizing, painful "OMG I must start paying now because I take this anymore" type of gameplay, either. The balance is pretty solid. You may not have some of the extra perks paying members have (which is still only 4.99 a month) but it still quite do-able, and quite enjoyable.

So how do we make money? Surely we're not some non-profit organization. Alas, we are not. We got bills to pay, bling we want to buy.

Like I just mentioned, premium content is 5 dollars a month. Most people like paying because they don't ever have to see an ad (although we haven't seen too many of *those* lately...). You also get extra bank space, which is a BIG plus, because it's always nice to have extra space for your extra gear. I personally like having the major potions that together nicely. Members can also wear purple and rainbow loot - that's the good stuff - while non-paying members will find they can only wear certain types of purple and rainbow gear. Certainly, being a member usually means you can up your quest difficulty (which in return boosts the chance you'll get something sweet) while non-paying members may find they will need to weight the risk vs reward a little more carefully.

HOWEVER....you aren't gimped as a non-paying player. You just don't get the extra perks, but there are plenty of perks there already. Dungeon Runners isn't meant to be a hard game, although there is enough of a challenge to keep the interest up. It's very casual, very fast paced.


SO WHY DON'T WE HAVE MORE PLAYERS!!

I often wonder why. Why don't we? Sure, we got a decent player base, but as a gamer I've tried a playing a zillion MMOs. And they are not forcing me to say this when I say Dungeon Runners far surpasses the expectations I have for any "free to play" game.

Well, Dungeon Runners was originally intended to be a "word of mouth" game, ala online viral marketing.

*Shivers at the mention of the word 'viral', but continues on*

The idea is that the game would market itself, just by being free. Well, unfortunately, it takes a little bit more than that; if not enough people know about the game in the first place then how on earth can we expect them to tell their friends? Awareness is the first thing any product needs.

And is it the responsibility of the community to tell the whole world? Isn't that a lot to ask? We're a low budget game, yes, and to keep our prices low *insert yellow smiley here* we do have to have to keep our marketing budget small. That is something we may have to live with.

So, let's go on the theory that we want the community in the streets in ridiculous costumes holding big DR signs. (Hmm, I see a future contest idea brewing there....) The game is still intended for casual game play, yes? It seems kinda strange, we do want to attract the casual gamers, yet this is basically volunteer WORK that you primarily only see out of hardcore gamers.

It's a pickle. So where do we strike the balance between the two....?

Tools. Hand over the goods, and throw it all out there, and see what happens. This is the current goal, we'll see how it goes from there.

That, and I try to do what I can :)