Why theHunter simply will not last.

Share your ideas and suggestions for The Hunter here
phil1
Hunter
Posts: 551
Joined: December 13th, 2012, 12:30 am

Re: Why theHunter simply will not last.

Post by phil1 »

Free to play = free to move on.
User avatar
Hawkeye
Outfitter
Posts: 3849
Joined: July 15th, 2009, 12:49 pm
Location: Fayetteville, AR
Contact:

Re: Why theHunter simply will not last.

Post by Hawkeye »

PiotrV wrote:"Going on 8 years strong" - about 1k average players online in the last 30 days. That's nowhere near strong. I don't see it getting any better since the new player experience is horrible (still). Neagtive reviews all over the place, simply based on payment system, not even getting to other aspects (neglected bugs, outdated mechanics).

The hunter will stay alive, because of veterans who are either interested only in (sim) hunting games (and have nowhere else to go), or spent too much money to simply abandon it. Anyone else will come and go. Rare updates don't really help and membership system works well enough, to keep me away. Even if I want to play for a while and go hunting, I'm limited to "free" animals and I have to pay extra for ammo.
I'm not sure if you're quoting Steam statistics there, but there's a few things to keep in mind. First, the game doesn't require Steam to run, and there is a contingent of theHunter players that refuse to use it, so whatever the real number is, it's higher than anything you can see on Steam stats. Second, 1k concurrent players is not a bad number...it doesn't mean that only 1k people played the game the entire month, it means that there are at least 1k people on the game at any given moment. Lastly, the growth in Steam players over the past 3 months has been quite impressive. November saw a 17.92% YoY increase, November saw a 28.4% YoY increase & December saw a whopping 41.2% YoY increase. Those numbers don't reflect the doom & gloom sky-is-falling mentality of this post. "Veterans" didn't give the game a 41% YoY bump. So, in spite of your own personal dislike of the game, the facts remain that it is still "going strong", as I stated.
User avatar
Tanngnjostr
Master Hunter
Posts: 8887
Joined: July 14th, 2015, 12:41 pm
Location: Moguntia

Re: Why theHunter simply will not last.

Post by Tanngnjostr »

Any game that's able to pay a team (albeit a small one) in Stockholm is going strong in my opinion! ;)

Seriously, if it wouldn't pay off for Avalanche, they'd closed the doors a long time ago.
Image Image Image
User avatar
caledonianblues
Master Hunter
Posts: 9725
Joined: September 27th, 2012, 11:01 pm
Location: London, UK
Contact:

Re: Why theHunter simply will not last.

Post by caledonianblues »

The game has to last. Pretty Boy is signed up until about 2045 :)

Seriously though, I think theHunter has a bright future and I'm excited about the prospect of being able to play this game and be involved in the community for many years to come.
User avatar
PiotrV
Spotter
Posts: 96
Joined: October 14th, 2013, 3:33 am
Location: Poland
Contact:

Re: Why theHunter simply will not last.

Post by PiotrV »

First of all, I don't dislike the game, but just hate the business model.

It annoys me that a bunch of players feel superior, because of the $$ they spent.
I hate the subscription (membership), whenever I decide to take a break, it feels like I'm losing money, if my subscription is not expired yet. I have Civilization 5 and two DLCs for Witcher waiting to be played. I can just re-download them and start playing whenever I want, without worrying that I need to pay extra, without worrying that servers might go down, and I'll be left with nothing.

(Correct me if i'm wrong) We still have different prices for Steam/Website purchases of em$/membership.

We still have lousy items in membership bundles, trying to lure new players with .44 or .270, instead of something like 7mm/9,3x62 with proper scopes.

Average bundle in the store tries to scam you by adding ammo costs (or various items that can be purchased by gm$) to original price (not the one after discount).

Then we have "features" like climbing that requires purchase of rope and medkits if you fail the minigame.

Another grand feature - dogs, purchaseable only by em$, and I've read enough complains about their AI to stay away from them.


In late 2015 I went for ~1 year break after waiting ~2 months for Bison comps, I came back in late 2016. There was 1 interesting new gun (.223 Semi-Auto) and that's about it. Baiting sites not working according to numerous reports. Visual bug next to the river in VDB still existing. Pulsar bows released (with bugged animations), grand bow competition (that was poorly explained) and finally new reserve, that I didn't get to see because of stuff in rl. Now that I finally have some time to play, I need to drop 10$ for 3 month membership or be limited to few animals + start spending silly amounts of gm$ for ammo.
Instead I came back after long break to Diablo 3. Had to download a patch and that was it. People still playing, servers are up, without any extra costs.
User avatar
Tanngnjostr
Master Hunter
Posts: 8887
Joined: July 14th, 2015, 12:41 pm
Location: Moguntia

Re: Why theHunter simply will not last.

Post by Tanngnjostr »

PiotrV, I understand that you don't like the business model - and you're probably not the only one - but that doesn't necessarily mean that this game isn't going strong.
PiotrV wrote:It annoys me that a bunch of players feel superior, because of the $$ they spent.
That is absolutely not the case. Spending more em$ means you own more stuff, maybe get a higher HS because you own more stuff. In no way does it mean anyone is superior because he's spend more money. Gameplay wise there's a difference between members and guests - that's part of the business model - but there is no such thing as a "superior member".
PiotrV wrote:(Correct me if i'm wrong) We still have different prices for Steam/Website purchases of em$/membership.
That has been corrected. Steam and website prices should be the same, maybe small differences because of currency conversion.
PiotrV wrote:We still have lousy items in membership bundles, trying to lure new players with .44 or .270, instead of something like 7mm/9,3x62 with proper scopes.
The membership bundles have recently been improved slightly, I think it's not perfect yet, but better.

Don't get me wrong PiotrV, I understand your frustration, but on the other hand I strongly believe that this business model is the only one which can keep a niche product (this game will never be as popular like the Witcher or GTA V) - one that is constantly in development - profitable. Saying that you dislike some of the features (like climbing or the dogs) and some of the bugs are annoying (true!) is valid, but imo it is a different thing. It does not mean that the game is going down business wise.
Image Image Image
Isabella the Fox
Newbie
Posts: 2
Joined: October 2nd, 2018, 3:18 pm
Contact:

Re: Why theHunter simply will not last.

Post by Isabella the Fox »

Hey here, just wanted to give my 5 cents on that topic.
I've created this account a few days, maybe a few weeks ago (can't remember honestly) but played theHunter for a long time. I'm still considering myself a newbie (score of 300something). I know that the score is no indication of skill since that's only the summary of your achievements but as you can see on that score, it's pretty low hence it's obvious that i've not played too long so i guess my opinion is at least of some worth.

Regarding the "come and go" argument i'm completely with the people who said this. I, too, think that most people come and go. A few get what they wanted and maybe even have found a game they really like. Me too.
I've enjoyed the game so much since i've started playing. I had a long downtime in between but when i came back eventually this September i've immediately got a 3 months subscription and i personally think the game will stay alive for a very long time. You know why? Because you can play the game for free immediately and see if it's something for you. And if not you move on. But if you like it and want to hunt everything then you just have to pay 9,99 for 3 months. That's less than you'd have to pay for ONE month in World of Warcraft for example.

To further support my argument here:
You don't pay to play the game per sé, you pay for the over 8 years of development and polishment the game recieved.

Call of the Wild on the other hand is a great game for people who don't want to pay monthly and on top of that have a more graphically and mechanically evolved game. CotW uses a more advanced engine than theHunter and you simply level up for skills and equipment which you don't need much money for since you make so much money if you go hunting a lot. So the game basically has no limitations except the "pay to play" concept itself. Everything else, DLC and new reserves is something you get on top of that game hence why you'd have to pay for it. Time and resources went into the dedication of designers and programmers who created this beautiful content. The game itself can't keep up the massive update schedule and stuff as well as theHunter can because the CotW-Budget draws the money from sold copies and sold DLC. That being said there literally is no way it could be as successful as theHunter because not everybody buys the DLC and stuff. The budget becomes less calculatable.

With numbers such as subscriptions and their duration you can calculate your income a lot better. So the original game will get more attention for sure. And let's face it:
TheHunter Classic is still the "Main"-Game so to me it's just logical and no surprise at all.

That and all of the above is my reasoning why theHunter WILL indeed last very long. And i'd love for the game to last even longer than i can play the game.
Every generation should be able to experience the game and what it offers. Some will like it, some will go. And the community will grow with every new player.

That was my 5 cents.
Have a good day everyone and Good Hunting!
User avatar
DYEUZ
Trophy Hunter
Posts: 6796
Joined: October 11th, 2013, 3:36 pm
Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Re: Why theHunter simply will not last.

Post by DYEUZ »

Hello Isabella the Fox .

Coming from a player that is quite new to the game , its normal the way you think . You should have seen the game couple years back ! You would see that it is a very different gameplay right now .
So , real quick , and don't want to start a debate on who is right and who is wrong , but , i do not agree at all with you ,when you say that this game is healthy and is here for a long time still . You did not say it in these words , but feels like that to me anyway .

When players , people will stop for a moment and analyse this game with seriousness , they may be surprised at how it is really playing .
That's the problem that the new players have , they can't compare their experience with before !

About CotW , idk at all how it plays , because i did not play it at all . So not even talking about it .

BCKidd's 2019 COMMUNITY COMPS SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP
FIRST PLACE
MASTER HUNTER TROPHY

Image
User avatar
gas56
Outfitter
Posts: 4340
Joined: April 4th, 2014, 12:51 pm
Location: Ohio
Contact:

Re: Why theHunter simply will not last.

Post by gas56 »

Fletchette wrote:Well, this game has been around since 2008, and 8 years is a pretty good run for a video game. It's still going strong, and development continues, so there must be something "right" in the business model.
Agree completely since I didn't have to say it................ :lol:
Isabella the Fox wrote:Hey here, just wanted to give my 5 cents on that topic.
I've created this account a few days, maybe a few weeks ago (can't remember honestly) but played theHunter for a long time. I'm still considering myself a newbie (score of 300something). I know that the score is no indication of skill since that's only the summary of your achievements but as you can see on that score, it's pretty low hence it's obvious that i've not played too long so i guess my opinion is at least of some worth.
That was my 5 cents.
Have a good day everyone and Good Hunting!
Well that was the problem with your statement in the 1st place... it's over rated!
When did my 2 cents go up to my 5 cents???
:lol: :lol: :lol:
User avatar
HooCairs
Champion Hunter
Posts: 23416
Joined: March 4th, 2011, 7:30 pm
Location: Switzerland
Contact:

Re: Why theHunter simply will not last.

Post by HooCairs »

Isabella the Fox wrote:Call of the Wild on the other hand is ... a more graphically and mechanically evolved game.
Agree on graphically, but what do you mean by mechanically? For me CotW plays very clumsy compared to Classic. Game mechanics is one of the main downsides of CotW. I never liked them. And then you have a user interface from hell.

Compare what it takes to get ready for a hunt in Classic compared to CotW. Classic is worlds ahead even though it has much more equipment to select from.

Would love to hear what you mean.
My Youtube theHunter Wiki
Spoiler:
Image
Post Reply

Return to “Thoughts & Suggestions”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest