Make Feral Heart great again!

[DarkLustyHumor]

There's also one more issue that I forgot to add...and that issue is actually on legal terms.

You see, the original owner of Feral Heart disappeared, they still technically own it, so if anything were done to monetize the game, well it's technically stealing said money from the one who created the game, models, etc. Or at the very least, would be very sketchy if they decided that suddenly with the money, they want it for themselves.

The problem with using money for a game is it becomes more of a business, and businesses have to have special upkeep, can be sued, and if something goes wrong involving money, they may be obligated to pay back quite a large sum. Since this is all free and wasn't started with a loan, there's an issue with the game being forcibly shut down. Especially if the game were hacked again, and then it's "Bye Bye Feral Heart".

Also, without the source code, we lack the ability to do proper command prompts and even create more servers. So many people spend so much time within the grounds that it already lags really bad, and with the game not always working and crashing, Feral Heart could face one heck of a lawsuit by people who are impatient with the game or feel cheated out of their money for not being able to get into it correctly. Servers get overloaded and boom, the game goes down for however long until it can be fixed, losing more people because they now have to pay for the game. And even issues with the advertisers.

And then there's an even bigger business aspect....actually getting people to WANT to advertise on Feral Heart. Costs money to advertise, why, with how little players there currently are and the game could support, would people want to advertise on it? This has to do with outside advertisers, not for the game itself. But ads for the game itself would also cause too much of a rush and the server would crash anyway.

You do have some points, I would love to have more players but Feral Heart really can only sustain so many. And back onto the paying problem...competitors. There are so many games out there like Feral Heart that offer more, that are free, such as Cereal Soup, Dragon's Den, Last Moon, etc. Which means that logically, unless on an emotional level, no one would want to pay for it because there are games similar to Feral Heart that actually offer more and are more well known, for free.

Now this isn't really a critique, nor is it an attack, I'm just stating the facts of how Feral Heart is, so I hope you don't get offended or feel as if I'm attacking you.

[FlyingGrass]

Sorry to point out, but...

If the game is advertised, the old official maps will become known and web searches for Ascension Island will come up with results about the FH map of the same name.
What's wrong with web searches for the old maps: If a search for Sky's Rim comes up with results about Sky's Rim, Bethesda(Creator of Skyrim and the entire TES series) might not like the search engine confusion that may follow.

[Jango_Fett]

If any part of FH was placed behind a paywall there would be an immediate backlash I'd like to think.

As for advertisement, the only thing that would really be worth doing is just.. Making a trailer and putting it out there.

[Abbas_B]

Sorry to point out, but...

If the game is advertised, the old official maps will become known and web searches for Ascension Island will come up with results about the FH map of the same name.
What's wrong with web searches for the old maps: If a search for Sky's Rim comes up with results about Sky's Rim, Bethesda(Creator of Skyrim and the entire TES series) might not like the search engine confusion that may follow.

Then it really sucks not having the source code, huh?
Seems like we're sorta running around in circles due to it. :/

[Lucius]

Another thing I could discuss is, last but not least, moola. This game is free to play. The content within it is generously offered for free to us all. I am not advising you guys to take that away from us, but rather dwell on other options; such as a deluxe membership monthly subscription. It doesn't have to cost a fortune. Something around 10 $ a month would be a good start, I think. You guys could offer the premium members extra content - things such as, peeks into further updates to Feral Heart, exclusive wallpapers or concept art, even more body model designs (besides wolves and lions; think other animals that would fit in, such as tigers or snow leopards, perhaps), quick customer access in case something goes wrong with their game, stuff like that. (Also, I know you can basically customize your character to the point where it looks about 80% like a cheetah/snow leopard/most felines out there but that is done a lot through markings and such. I'm talking about  new body designs. Or if not, perhaps, think bigger. Elephants? I don't know.) This is only one concept that popped up in my mind (for now), but I could see it working out. Providing you guys advertise the game properly, get people interested; some people wouldn't mind spending reasonable amounts of money for premium membership. I am aware of the fact that there's also the issue of the server(s) being too populated, resulting in glitchy/laggy gameplay. My response to this would be acquiring better server management. I know it can be costly, but it is a necessary if you guys are looking to expand - and it ties into my previous point about receiving financial support from the fanbase. Perhaps implementing a server browser? I have seen that tactic used in many multiplayer games. It could be people hosting their own servers, on the maps you guys provide, for their own purposes ex. meeting new people, casual roleplay, novella styled roleplay, you name it. People can get quite creative. However, if a premium membership system were to be implemented (and actually work) there is an important factor to consider - standard customers. Not everyone will be paying for premium content. It should be something optional that does not impact the quality of gameplay to an absurd degree. That is how games wither their players away; through transforming from a free, fun experience into a play to win/pay to play one. That is how games lose players. Through ignoring the individuals who do not wish to pay and offering them inferior service (buggy/laggy servers, slow updates, etc.) The method I have implied would require a good bit of thinking and planning (a bit of consumerism), but if implemented correctly, I think it could really help the game grow.

As much as I'd like to think that people playing this game would be mature enough to understand that funds don't grow on trees and that when people pay money for things, a virtual item is akin to a small reward for helping to support the game with hard earned cash, you'll find many people will disagree with that idea. I think that any child being given allowance money would be able to buy prepaid visa cards at the local corner store to use for online purchases, so I don't think that age is a restricting factor.

However, there's more things that aren't being accounted for. First of all, getting FeralHeart popular on the market in it's current state would be near-impossible. You've got competitors like Isles of Eventide, that not only look better, but have planned more features than FeralHeart. WolfQuest, while it might be more restrictive than FH, gets regular updates and has objectives in the game, like hunting. Animal Jam; much more child-oriented than FH (and much more elitist too), but has subscription based rewards like items and new species. CerealSoup, where you can pay 20$ for a preset slot and access to premium species, but still play the base game for free. The only issue here is that it looks (arguably) better than FH and also get updated regularly.

FeralHeart, in it's current state just can't compare. You're looking at adding a whole team dedicated to creating new content to satisfy the people who pay for the game. The meshes, textures, particles, coding and other background necessities have to be managed and created by someone (chances are those people will want to get paid). Then you need customer support in case something goes wrong, so about a team of ten extra people (looking at the current number of players, I do believe ten is enough) that need to get paid (no one works customer support for free, trust me). Even if you did manage to find people willing to work for free, you need to pay for expanded server size and that's not cheap.

Second, you need regular updates. If people would even consider paying for a game, it's because they want to have something to pay for. FH can't take itself seriously if it begins charging people to participate in what is currently a nicely decorated virtual chatroom. Even a flat, one time fee of 10$ is going to get you raised eyebrows.

I pay 15$ a month for Elder Scrolls online. That's usually the standard MMO subscription fee. If someone compares the two, they're going to find FH seriously lacking in graphics, engine capability and plot. The only thing FeralHeart has going for it is character customization.

If anything, I would pay to have my preset be added into the game, so that everyone could see me without having to download any extra files. But that's all I'd invest in right now.

[[Vengeance]]

Honestly... I'm quite opposed to this premium membership idea because it leaves out a lot of people who can't pay for the game.
Second of all, without the source, what would we be paying for exactly? New meshes... Textures? Things that people already provide for the game for free?
I, myself, without a job currently would not be able to take on a premium membership if there ever was one.

The only time I'd consider handing over money to this game would be if there was a Donation pole and that the game was actually updated regularly.

However, I would never pay for a premium membership as that just doesn't sound good.
Having premium memberships just doesn't make Feral Heart Feral Heart.

You would be leaving out people that can't pay for the game.
You would only be giving high quality content to people that actually pay for it.

Honestly, again, the only time I'd ever come up with cash to pay for Feral Heart would be if there was a Donation pole. I'd never get a premium account because then the fee is monthly. If it were a one time thing like WolfQuest? Possibly...

If there ever comes a time where a Donation pole is set up to have this game rebuilt from scratch, then yes I'd scrape up the money to pitch in.
But a premium account? Consider that a No.