An alternative to the energy system.

121 votes

Instead of adding an energy system, I think it would be better to have no free version but give players a 30 day trial of Griffin AI that includes 10 days of access Dragon AI before players are split. Either:
* Given free version with energy system
* Pay a subscription fee of $5 per month for Griffin and call it a standard subscription
* Pay $10 per month premium subscription for Dragon AI.

This would allow players to test both AI's for a short period and pick the one they want the most if they decide they want to continue playing.

This would increase the games income while also avoiding the annoyance of energy systems which have a good chance of simply making users stop playing altogether as it would be almost more trouble that its worth. People come to play this to escape the annoyances of reality and relax and an energy system would just add the stress of worrying about how long you're be able to play today before having to stop.

Suggested by: zero (07 Nov, '20) • Upvoted: 15 Jan

Under consideration feature scales

Comments: 11

07 Nov, '20
NO
NO
LET PEOPLE PLAY FOR FREE
07 Nov, '20
Binary
The $10 fee is still too little to cover dragon based on short discussions I've had in other suggestions about the cost of it. No actual cost chart vs the current subscriber fee coverage was given, however it was implied $10 is not enough based on subscribed users average usage. I agree with this concept, but the tier for dragon will still need to be higher, not sure how much higher though.
07 Nov, '20
Binary
Add a tier that covers unlimited usage and I'd be on board.
07 Nov, '20
Munsterlandr
NO
The free-to-play, web-based nature of this is probs what makes a community possible for this game, and since the status quo is this being free, all that'd happen is a bunch of great creators will be gone from the platform.
07 Nov, '20
Me too
@Binary Keep in mind that they are also bringing in over $15,000 a month on Patreon (an amount that will almost certainly plummet as people drop their support in response to the pay to play energy system.) And although their initial equipment investments are high, their monthly hosting fees are probably quite low. After all, plain text uses very little bandwidth.

Maybe they could use the energy based system for the free tier but not for premium subscribers. I'm willing to support a monthly flat fee for unlimited play. But I won't play at all anymore if they go forward with this pay to play scheme. Been there, done that. Fallen into that money pit too many times already.
07 Nov, '20
Binary
@Me Too I'm inclined to agree with you, just without the data on actual income and actual costs it's difficult to come to a clear conclusion beyond the devs absolutely stumbled into a wasp nest with the mere thought of adding an "energy" system, let alone for people who are already paying for it.
07 Nov, '20
Devon Admin
@Me too even if they lose 15000 in revenue from patreon their reduced costs could be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, making it still worth it.
07 Nov, '20
Devon Admin
10$ a month for unlimited dragon is not financially viable, but they do have a similar solution to this planned. See https://aidungeon.io/2020/11/07/ai-energy-update/
07 Nov, '20
Binary
I am 100% okay with the changes in that update, it's very nice to see Latitude come around like this.
12 Jan
Day_Owl
No.
I absolutely would leave the platform if even the Griffin would be on subscription basis. Several reasons. First, currently AIdungeon is one-of-kind, and there-at least in my eyes- is no equivalent replacement. Second,putting a price tag on every single feature will create more problems than solve. It will drive the players away, and cause an untimely death of otherwise great platform. Since ads aren't planned, and energy doesn't work, maybe it is time to shut down the Dragon model. Because if they ran only one engine, then they'd only have to pay the rent and maintanance of that one engine.Disclaimer: *I am just trying to use common sense to solve a problem. I am no mean a person qualified to make finance decisions for corporations.*
12 Jan
Day_Owl
No.
I absolutely would leave the platform if the Griffin would be on subscription basis. Several reasons. First, currently AIdungeon is one-of-kind, and there-at least in my eyes- is no equivalent replacement. Second,putting a price tag on every single feature will create more problems than solve. It will drive the players away, and cause an untimely death of otherwise great platform. Since ads aren't planned, and energy doesn't work, maybe it is time to shut down the Dragon model. Because if they ran only one engine, then they'd only have to pay the rent and maintanance of that one engine.Disclaimer: *I am just trying to use common sense to solve a problem. I am no mean a person qualified to make finance decisions for corporations.*