View Full Version : "free" trial is losing you customers
Hi,
I was interested in trying neocron, seemed somthing id like to play, so i downloaded the client, pretty big, 1.7G, but i downloaded it anyways..
Approx 6hrs later it finished d/loading, and i commenced patching,which all went fine..
so, into the game i go....but wait..whats this?..i need a credit card?!?..Ah great, so it isnt a "free" trial after all..Yeah ok , so you get 10 days free gameplay, but its not a free trial, not if you have to enter credit card details..
I for one am massively dissapointed that this is not stated at the download area, my isp is relatively restricted as to how much i can download a month (10GB) and having wasted 2GB on something i cant play im not too happy..
Im currently unable to enter any credit card details for several reasons i wont go into, but suffice to say if the download area had mentioned a credit card is required i wouldnt of bothered downloading it.
I can only imagine the number of potential customers you have lost through this issue, but with MMO's struggling to keep there subscribers you really cant afford to put off new potential subscribers like this.
As i've never bothered with the other carebear mmo's i wouldn't know if one needs to enter CC details to register for the free trials offered in other games.
I would of thought it was standard practice when creating even a trial account so that if the user decides to continue playing everything is in place to enable the transition from free trial to full account as quickly and simply as possible.
Which decent games do offer a free trial where no payment details are required? I might try some
Apocalypsox
15-10-06, 19:36
err...it is free...it just makes you enter your details prior, if you dont like the game, cancel the account and it wont charge you.
havent you had to create a trial account, register it to a card and tie that account to your forum account to post this ? I sure as hell had to do that to start posting oO
It's common practice within the genre to request credit card information (WoW is another example of an MMORPG that requests such information). This allows us to monitor trial usage and prevent people from "farming" free time and starting equipment/money.
Even though we require that you provide credit card information at the outset, the trial is free since no charges are made until the trial time expires. Should you cancel before that time then absolutely no charges are levied.
N
/edit - @Drakoh, you can post in New Runner's Corner without tying your forum account. Hello again, btw. ;)
wow dosent "require" cc info, i've played it for over a year just using pre payment cards..
My point was, if your going to ask for cc info, it would be wise to say as much on the free trial message so as to not dissapoint people similar to myself..
AS far as im aware, SOE products dont require any cc details on there trials either, ive played SWG for a while, and EQ2 on trial with nothing other than a station user id..
Im currently unable to enter any credit card details for several reasons i wont go into, but suffice to say if the download area had mentioned a credit card is required i wouldnt of bothered downloading it.
Isn't there any other way to register? It's only CC? I mean, I can understand some people's reluctance in giving CC details, but there is also a need to restrict trial access with a CC or something similar. On a sidenote, can't you get a CC from your parents? or friends? You can always cancel it, or pay by cash
Please refer to WoW's Billing Support (http://www.blizzard.com/support/wowbilling/?id=abl01926p) help page for details of why they require credit card information during trial creation. It's essentially the same reason as I gave above.
N
lol..no offence, but im 34 years old..im having issues with my cc company at the mo, which is why i cant "pre-purchase" the trial..
There dosent appear to be any other way to play the trial from what i understand.I can understand there trying to keep out some of the people who pick up a demo, play for a few days then leave, but this isnt the way to do it..
RE:wow--ive played wow for over a year using pre paid cards..there was no requirement for cc details when i joined..
wow dosent "require" cc info, i've played it for over a year just using pre payment cards..
Ok but did you get a free trial without giving cc info, or did u have to buy a prepay game card and go straight into playing on a full account?
Like jini said, if the issue is a security one, not wanting to give out cc details over the net fair enough, but there are alternatives using PayByCash.
And it is worth giving it a go, Neocron is totally unique. Hell you've downloaded the client now.... you might aswell.
AS far as im aware, SOE products dont require any cc details on there trials either, ive played SWG for a while, and EQ2 on trial with nothing other than a station user id..
I said decent games that give free trial without needing cc info :)
Pre-paid cards implied that you paid money in advance so how is that a free trial? The link I gave you clearly states their policy.
N
while we are on the subject of wow,this is there trial download link:
ttp://teaser.wow-europe.com/
youll see that is states youll need a credit card to sign up..nice of them to state that..somthing you need to take into account..
i started wow from a full cd version, not a trial..
My point is, if there was a statement about needing a credit card to play on the download site, i would of been able to make a decision there and then, without having to find out after downloading it..
In terms of prepay if you live in the UK Splash Plastic in conjunction with PayByCash is the best prepay method for neocron.
It would mean u dont get a free trial but its easy as hell to use.
Niddhog i know there was an issue with new splashplastic cards having a longer number than allowed in the PBC payment process (or something like that), has this been sorted out?
while we are on the subject of wow,this is there trial download link:
ttp://teaser.wow-europe.com/
youll see that is states youll need a credit card to sign up..nice of them to state that..somthing you need to take into account..
i started wow from a full cd version, not a trial..
My point is, if there was a statement about needing a credit card to play on the download site, i would of been able to make a decision there and then, without having to find out after downloading it..
Where on the neocron website does it tell you to download the client before setting up a trial account?
https://ssl.neocron.com/launcher/createaccount.php?LANG=ENG
You can setup an account before.
Also notice what is says next to the paybycash symbol.
"No Creditcard? No Problem!
You can sign up a new Neocron 2 account and choose one of dozens of alternative payment methods here"
I hope you get ingame and give it a try. It really is worth it.
It's not our intention to mislead so I accept your suggestion and I will pass it on to the relevant people.
N
Thank you..
Please, i would never say its was intentional on your part, its only if people like me can be confused by it, then id imagine many can..
I will attempt to find a way around my CC issue, its certainly a game id be interested in playing.
thanks for the posts,comments guys..
As far as i know only "Click 2 Pay" gives you the 10 day trial, which then requires CC info.
ReaKKtor are currently making deals with other payment methods to (hopefully) let people try the trial without a CC, this will all be announced when Evolution 2.2 is released.
So if you want your free trial but dont want to use "Click 2 Pay" you will have to hang tight.
Just to let you know.
- Napalm
Which decent games do offer a free trial where no payment details are required? I might try somePlanetSide I guess. The PlanetSide Reserves deal is running till sometime next year.
It IS free. You do NOT pay for the trial if you cancel before your 10 days are up. It just requires CC details to do so. If you want to play the game without a CC you can (PBC) but the trial isn't then availble.
Which decent games do offer a free trial where no payment details are required? I might try some
The game no one had time to play, because nc1 kicks ass and they'll fix sl bugs soon! https://secure.eve-online.com/ft/?sk=GHELL
Last time I checked there were some limitations though, only couple thousand trial accounts could be logged in at the same time and couple skills that could be used for mass scale farming (battleships, freighters, etc) were disabled.
Regarding nc trial, I'd just buy the game & 1 month at PBC instead, neocron is still one of the best mmorpgs's around. There should be an offline nc1 demo around. It's just ~100mb but it's unstable and very, very old.
lol..no offence, but im 34 years old..im having issues with my cc company at the mo, which is why i cant "pre-purchase" the trial..
There dosent appear to be any other way to play the trial from what i understand.I can understand there trying to keep out some of the people who pick up a demo, play for a few days then leave, but this isnt the way to do it..
RE:wow--ive played wow for over a year using pre paid cards..there was no requirement for cc details when i joined..
Anodine listen.. all you need is CC details, you are not paying anything, neither Reakktor will interrogate CC for ANY cash amount. So whatever issues you have with them it might work, assuming you have a valid CC to give for the trial. Try it you dont lose anything it might work. Otherwise, get your GFs CC lol...
switchnine
16-10-06, 16:08
Im currently unable to enter any credit card details for several reasons i wont go into, but suffice to say if the download area had mentioned a credit card is required i wouldnt of bothered downloading it.
I can only imagine the number of potential customers you have lost through this issue, but with MMO's struggling to keep there subscribers you really cant afford to put off new potential subscribers like this.
Hey dev's- this couldn't be more right. It's good that people can try the game for free, but it can be more trouble getting that trial that it is just paying for a full one. Since PayByCash is sometimes the only option for people. And not everyone wants to pay to try something that they are not sure they will like.
It's very bad that trial accounts (and even retail box accounts) need to be filtered through C2P before activation. Not just because it prevents people who can't use a card, but also because C2P has caused problems for people who have tried using their cards and it rejected them.
Perhaps it would be better to provide ONE registration process. This could set up an account taking personal (not payment) details. Then further one-time options are available in the account section, when logged in, these would be: activate 10 day trial, OR register retail box code, OR buy neocron. Only the latter would go through to choose a payment option (PBC/C2P) and only here are payment details taken. In this way people would not need to give any payment details unless they have chosen to subscribe.
It might be standard pracise for games with huge followings to take down creditcard details for verification for trials, and to continue subscription once it ends, but with neocron this can be seen as dangerous teritory. Only a select few potential players are curious enough to put in the current effort thats needed to set up a trial account, and not be scared away by having to give "payment details", and not simply give up if they run into trouble:
I will attempt to find a way around my CC issue, [only because] its certainly a game id be interested in playing.
But neocron is a great game, and one-of-a-kind. If more people got through the trial registration, I'm sure many of those would come back. And then once they know what they are missing, they would be happy to put the extra time/effort in to reactivate/subscribe. :)
Apocalypsox
16-10-06, 16:35
Switch you know KK cant do that, as if they did people could easily farm the Jones equipment and make about 10 mill in a solid day of farming these things. :(
switchnine
16-10-06, 18:13
Depending on how they do it, I suppose thats possible. To get around it they would have to:
- Limit it to one account per person
- Remove the trial option once it has been used
- Remove trial/box/buy options once one box has been used (game fee paid) and replace with "continue subscription" to go to C2P or PBC
- Remove trial/box/buy options once "buy" has been used (see above) because if the person uses they will already have a C2P or PBC subscription
Only problems are that people would only be able to have one account at a time, and the possible legal problems with the boxsets. But I'm sure they'd look into that :D
Oh or they could have "profiles" in your account, which would let you have many subscriptions/retail boxes, but could track that you only use the trial once. But that would make it more confusing (still easier for new people to get their trial though). :cool:
Not all games require you to entre CC details , ive tryed a good few and so far only this is the only game that i have played that requires you to entre cc details for trial acc. Your points might be valid to stop abusing etc im not disputing that. But at the same time i do see where the OP is coming from.
Have KK planned anything about paying from trial to full account via paybycash?
Wouldn't need any creditcards for that, since direct bank transfers are avaible too.
And what comes to the creditcard & trial, it's for your pleasure there. Imagine from the noob players perspective, he tests trial, likes the game and wants to continue the playing, so it automatically charges the account and you can continue playing happily for rest of your life :P
If you don't want to continue playing, just cancel and move to other game.
/edit - @Drakoh, you can post in New Runner's Corner without tying your forum account. Hello again, btw. ;)
um i didnt try this forum lol, guess i should have :P anyways... i guess ya know who this is :P
[€] oh by the way, found a easier to use method of paying by credit card, without a automatic monthly recharge, and no stupid phonecalls at 7am from c2p with their 'security checks', paynova is under the paybycash options and worked great
ya know, it might also be smart planning on KK's part to require CC info as to determine the players AGE. Neocron has a rating of:
ESRB: Mature (17+) **USA & Canada
and a
ELSPA: 11+ (which I think is now PEGI:) **European
AFAIK all CC companies require that the customer be at least 18 yrs of age before appling for a CC. At least if the player doesn't have a CC then the parent or guardian does and KK, 10tacle, or whomever are no longer liable. I'm not a lawyer or anything just thinking and typing.
Can't very well have an 8 yr old running through Pepper Park and noticing all the Neon signs of boobies. (Don't want to get to graphic here) Not to mention the drugz and even though it's really funny when you 1st start playing, being able to run up to someone and "Sex"ing them. :) Just my thoughts, I very well could be wrong on this. But I'm pretty sure I'm close.
ok what about a better billing system... Click2Pay is extreamly bad and 2 3rd party and also to far away in location in the world :P I'm not going further then that lol..
But we need paypal for one thing and its easy to add. I even had paypal work INSTENTLY with conferm in cpanel for web hosting. So I know for one paypal will work.
Also theres another 40 diffrent billing companys.
ok what about a better billing system... Click2Pay is extreamly bad and 2 3rd party and also to far away in location in the world :P I'm not going further then that lol..
But we need paypal for one thing and its easy to add. I even had paypal work INSTENTLY with conferm in cpanel for web hosting. So I know for one paypal will work.
Also theres another 40 diffrent billing companys.
theres diffrences in setting up a personal paypal and a commercial one, id presume thats where the problem lays
CC info, lol you can send your money via post if you wanna get annoyed enough -
But yea, ive had accs go randomly Paybycash before , then they say they cant change them back.... btw Nid, I e-mail'd KK about my account ages ago, they said all i can do is E-mail C2P , But they wont reply.
Good use that is.
CC info, lol you can send your money via post if you wanna get annoyed enough -
But yea, ive had accs go randomly Paybycash before , then they say they cant change them back.... btw Nid, I e-mail'd KK about my account ages ago, they said all i can do is E-mail C2P , But they wont reply.
Good use that is.
you know C2P is german if that helps answer ur questions.
(not says germans are bad just letting him know there geographical location)
switchnine
19-10-06, 18:04
ya know, it might also be smart planning on KK's part to require CC info as to determine the players AGE. Neocron has a rating of:
ESRB: Mature (17+) **USA & Canada
and a
ELSPA: 11+ (which I think is now PEGI:) **European
CC are often used to verify age, but since a player can pay by posting cash and various alternatives I doubt it's the case here. I expect in the agreement you have to acknowledge before you can play, it says something about the age restrictions. If they then click the "I Agree" or "I am 18" or whatever, and they are not old enough to play, then they are committing fraud. And the company isn't liable.
DX-Defender
31-10-06, 09:20
KK isnt really a company i like giving my CC info too, i played the game for about 2-3 years, cancelled my account right after DoY came out and KK still charged me for my inactive account till 2005.. when i contacted the billing team they couldnt explain to me why. but now i cant even reclaim my old account.
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