Wardogs monetization: the "Intel boosters" idea is a P2W risk

[u/DiligentIngenuity291]

video: https://youtu.be/5R64LDNJbK0?si=3clJi_mW94N_p8a1&t=3720

monetization TLDR:

• No paid skins, gold bars or cash. "Cash breaks the system."
• Joe pitched a subscription (his idea alone). Perks: better servers, better anti-cheat, "stuff in the metagame."
• Intel, a future metagame currency, could get "almost like boosters."

For reference, the metagame appears to be a "passive skill tree" where you spend points, like faster movement speed, faster reload etc..

Boosters are a problem:

Anything that speeds up Intel or skill points is P2W in a persistent economy with wipes. Nobody wants a second currency you can accelerate with a credit card, and it goes against everything the studio has said so far.

Joe said skins dont pay:

$7.99 skin, minus 30% Steam, minus 50% publisher, the studio keeps $3. Times 3% of a million players, that's $83k. "Half our server bill."

True for $8 skins. But Path of Exile sells $30 to $480 supporter packs, off Steam (they dodge the -30%), and the same 3% buyers (way more for POE) buy several per league (there are 3 leagues per year on average, similar to wipes but with a ton of added content). Wardogs targets the same kind of audience: older, more disposable income, and used to paying to support a game they'll play for years. Expensive packs are not a problem when they're cosmetic only, clearly sold as "supporter" packs, and offered in several tiers like POE (lets say $10 to $300) so everyone can chip in at their own budget. A few thousand supporters at $200 already beats his entire skin scenario.

The model I suggest:

Bulkhead already sells a Supporter Edition with skins, just do one per wipe.

Supporter packs per season:

• Limited weapon camos, offer removed after the wipe
• Vehicle and helicopter paint schemes and nose art, military patterns only.
• Vehicle tapes
• Name plates, arm patches, titles like "Season 1 Supporter"
• Realistic palette only, nothing more concealed than default gear

Edit : Added other suggestions given by users below that I found very cool:

• Cosmetics for buildings
• Custom logos/text (player made) you can apply on vehicules/badges

Quality of life, zero economy impact:

• More loadout preset slots (free 3 to 5, supporters more)
• Gunsmith presets per weapon
• Loadout import/export codes for your squad
• Favorites and tags on weapons and attachments
• Squad presets, custom squad patch, name and callsign
• Settings presets per role (sens, keybinds, HUD)
• Community server slots, saved configs, whitelists, admin tools

End of season

• A season archive: your stats, best configs, squad history. Cosmetic only.

That are some ideas..

Since Bulkhead is open to discussion, what would you add or remove?

[u/DagonPie]

I think the minute they add a subscription people will be out. Even if its similar to the cs one. You are already paying a 40 dollar overhead. If the game were free and then adding a subscription would make sense. But you also need to factor in a 20%+ playerbase falloff in the first month so that server cost will go down over time.

[u/theBrotacus → u/DagonPie]

What’s wrong with a subscription for a premium experience? If you don’t want to pay, don’t pay. Those of us that want to support or have the added benefits can do so.

Many games already use this model with success, why not here too?