Funcom - How to avoid Revenue Loss! Please do not forget my type of Customer you have

Conan Exiles General Discussion
1

Hi Funcom

What type of Customer am I?

44 years, family with 2 kids in school and kindergarden, highly enjoy Conan Exiles currently.

Playtime:
Late around 10 pm to 12 pm…- after kids are asleep late evenings often.
Weekend sometimes early morning before kids and wife are awake from 5:30 am to 7:30 am - then i go make breakfast and get fresh bread from the bakery.
My wife , my brother also play the same char and official server. ( thinking of getting additional copy - but need to get gaming PC first.

  • I like Official Servers and PvP.
  • To often private Servers owners suddenly leave or change settings or do decision i do not like.
  • I enjoy your Purge and Attack System from 5pm to 11 pm as this gives a father after work the option to compete with younger gamers who would else be able to attack mainly when i am at work.
  • I already made like 100 hours Gaming time, enjoy building alot and making nice towns but look forward to getting attacked and no problem to rebuild as this is part of the Game!.
  • I do not like joining Clans as they have different styles of building then me and different strategy and demands.

I presume i am not alone with my Type of Time and Gaming Style as i met already on the Server i play many who voice the same concern about the upcoming vacation time.

Further Revenue of my type of Conan Gamer:

Willingness to spend extra money for future DLC very high.
Getting new customers in from family and recommendations.
High probability to also purchase the collector upgrades

How you may loose me as customer.

In Germany the Vacation Time is Coming - as a Family this means travelling - all of us.
I will be gone . We will be gone more then 144 Hours!!
I had other players on my Server who are also confronted with Vacation Time Problem.

We first had the idea to make a Vacation Clan so we can help each other out to avoid your 1 week max Decay time.
But after you joined a Clan you can´t leave after vacation the Clan. Why: All your Buildings stay with the Clan!
We did not want that.

We think there should be a room for a Customer Type you definatly have that is i am sure delivering you not a bad revenue for the future. I have met alot of Player Types just like me and my family.

We want to enjoy the Official PvP Server Style but without being forced to join clans during our Vacation Time.

I see me being demotivated to keep on playing getting destroyed by a very harsh and short 144 Hour Decay Timer.
I also noticed that to many of these Threats Exist and go down to fast.

I think you should be aware that in Europe the Vacation Period is starting very soon. From Holland to Germany and more Countries. You are risking loosing a Customer Base due to your 144 Hour Decay System.

And i think you should concider moving this up in your priority very fast. As after August and September you will feel a impact.

That is my Feedback as a happy Family who enjoy your Game and hope to enjoy it longer.

But not with being in a “pressure situation” due to your 144 Hours Regulation of Decay.

Take care Funcom!.

Great Game.

10 Likes
2

I must agree tho this, and as Funcom resides in Norway they are totally aware of this.

Make the decay timer to over 5 weeks would be my trick, not difficult, and just a server setting.

I go on holliday soon as well, and i wouldnt like my castle to disapear, that would mean that the only way to go is start fresh, and that seems like a lot of low level boredom just to get back to where you where.
I could keep my lvl 60 char and rebuild everything, but really, its not satisfying as it takes time to furnite and speck your favorite build.

I like the decay system, and it really works against server griefers that are mostly kids that leave the server after a massive foundation spamm, so that will not have an impact if just the timer was a bit longer.

On my server most of the foundation spam is gone because of this, i love that fact, and by making the decay timer on official longer us with family and holliday could actually take the trip and know that we still have a game to play when we get home.

1 Like
3

Here in Russia we have ‘Vacation Time’ all the year…

2 Likes
4

5 weeks too long, maybe a month (3-4 weeks), after all that should be long enough BUT then as already mentioned they play on a PvP server so what would stop their base from being deleted by other players anyways, i know some like to just do that obliteration with divine gods just so they destroy someones game. Wouldnt it just still have the exact same outcome as the decay system (if not worse than that)?

5

I agree, actually 5 weeks was a typo:)

3 weeks is fine, because most people dont leave for more then 3 weeks.
The most common is 2 weeks, so in this case its fixed, hopefully they can adjust this before the masses go on holliday.

1 Like
6

I would agree 3 weeks is a reasonable time for the decay system and not so long that vacant structures would cause an issue for servers

7

I as a Customer am of course aware of the Challenge they have with those Building Spams and keeping the World Clean.

But i was told that prior to release they had 2 weeks Decay Time Max you could reach. I as a Customer would find that acceptable. I would argue that 2 weeks gone from home is for most the max standard.

But sorry. 1 week is just plain a truly challenge.

I hope they find a solution. to be honest i would even Pay if they had a like once a year Vacation Ticket i can get against Decay.

So yes - i would pay money for “additional Decay Time”. If they would have a button: 100 Hours Extra Decay Time for your Account is - 5 Euro. I would purchase may 200 Hours more to cover my time gone.

I mean it is currently loosing 100 Hours Time invested or paying 10 Euros to keep it my Buildings and not loose my prior Game Time Invested.

Just my honest way i see it.

Kind regards

8

The difference for me would be - i can see if my set up of defense did work… i can “Play” motivated as i now have a enemy to play against.
It is a - OK - you got my Base this time… bu i am going to show you that we are back soon.
And you can see what was your weak part of the Building.

so it is still “The Game” .

But Decay Timer - it is not a Gaming Outcome - it is just a pure - Deleted

So for me “getting attacked” is part of the Game and is "Fun"com. :slight_smile: But getting deleted because of Vacation is not fun.

9

I agree totally, please link this thread in the suggestion forum also, with appropriate heading.

As this is a server setting i believe it could be a quick fix if they have time to inform and implement it.

Fingers crossed.

10

I keep telling this, the 145h decay is useless! It only hurts ACTIVE players!

Think about it, the way its implemented stuff only decay when the player doesnt intend to come back, they are done with the game and dont bother losing their progression… semi active players can log in just once a week (or be in a clan that will refresh their stuff) and keep everything up forever… so why it has to be this short???

This short timer only hurt ACTIVE players! Everyone is vulnerable losing their entire progression if they are unable to log in, here are some examples:

  1. Unexpected technical problems (account issues, HD problems, internet provider issues, console sent over to the support, etc…)
  2. Business trips
  3. Vacation break

So really… I think everyone falls into this situation, every active player is on the risk of losing their stuff even when they dont want to, thats a terrible concept! PURGES should also be important when it comes on clearing the server. The decay timer should be much higher, it only wipes out structures from players that DONT INTEND to come back, even its longer, say 3 weeks, it WILL go away eventually.

Purges in the other hand should punish Semi active players in the long run, wiping out structures or forcing them to reduce their bases (to be on pair with the time they dedicate online). Logging in once a week shouldnt be enough, if bases are constantly raided/damaged or destroyed the player should either dedicate some time online fixing/rebuilding or be reasonable and reduce the number of bases/outposts they have (making room for more active players).

That would be a fair system, it wouldnt punish active players and be kind to semi active players. The less you play the less you should have. But active players would not be at the risk of losing everything due to a situation their cannot control.

1 Like
11

Totally agree decay times are too low, much lower than maximum decay timers in other survivals.

Higher tier structures need at least double decay timer, 300h or more.

Im a pve player, concerned about abandoned buildings (so I also dont want to remove decay timers or making them too short) and not gonna go holidays / will be able to play this summer.

Even with that, 144h is too short, I can play every day, but have a couple or three small bases, and decay timer is too short even for me.

Unconnected structures with 100h or less disappear if you dont play intensively.

Also, even if timers were good for me, which arent, I know for certain my official server lost lots of players after their base got removed due to decay timer.

So this too short decay timers make me visit every base much more often than I would like, plus at the same time its decreasing the player base, and the revenue of it, cutting sales (and thus the games life) with this too short timers, that kill many customers each day.

1 Like
12

Thanks for the feedback. I certainly understand the sentiment and where it’s coming from.
We had an internal discussion about this but no decision has been made. I just wanted to mention that we are looking at options (take this as an info post for now. I can’t really comment on any changes or plans for this) :slight_smile:

3 Likes
13

There really needs to be a longer decay timer. At least two weeks if not longer.

14

I agree that decay timers need work, but you can work around it if your server has at least one friendly clan with 2 or more members.

Player 1 leaves clan – leaving all buildings to Player 2. Player 1 joins with Player 3 and ‘house-sits’ for the duration of the vacation. After vacation is over, player 1 disbands the clan and resumes exclusive rights to his/her buildings and Player 2 rejoins his/her original clan.

I know it can be hard on a server of solo players to find someone trustworthy who is also willing to give up their buildings, but as long as you can find ONE player willing to bounce from clan to clan it will work – you can even recruit a friend from another server to create a character just for ‘house-sitting’.

15

I agree with the OP, We (adults) need a longer decay timer. I think 2 weeks would work well for most players.

2 Likes
16

I agree, double the current timer, for higher tier structures like black ice etc would be a great improvement.

I can say my official server, where I play since release, doesnt really have a problem with abandoned bases.

Its not that its a ghost town with many empty bases…on the opposite, now I am happy to see floating thralls (ehem) cause that means there was some base there, time ago.

As it is now, noob river is almost spooky, as you hardly see any base now xD

ie—> doubling decay timers wont leave my server full of abandoned bases, it will bring some life to a half dead server…

17

i live in the UK and are in a somewhat similar situation to the OP, with family, work etc which means playtime is normally evenings and parts of the weekend. Family holiday of 2 weeks coming up soon and would like the decay timer extended

1 Like
18

Well I already guessed how 144/145 hours has probably been meant as a launch setting.
Lots of people already quit, and one can see this, roaming the servers. (Lots of thralls flying up there. :joy: Can the devs add decay to thralls? Please!)

2 Likes
19

Decay timer on thralls would be amazing, expected it to be fixed today but well can wait till next patch.

What worries me is after this summer, with 144h decay, my official server will be very empty, cause lots of people on holidays will lose bases and quit.

Wont happen to me but we are already a few xD

20

I couldn’t agree more with the OP’s proposal. 144h decay is too short and, now that we have passed the post-release stage, it should be extended to 2-3 weeks.

If not, I’m afraid some people will leave the game once they return from vacation and find their bases gone.

Hope they tweak this ASAP.

1 Like