Comments on: The Problem of Cutthroats Pricing

By: Crossing the T: A Return to Cutthroats | HomeStation Magazine

Crossing the T: A Return to Cutthroats | HomeStation Magazine — Sat, 22 Feb 2014 09:41:48 +0000

[…] particularly fond of. You know the story by now: that I was one of the original game’s harshest critics, and subsequently had a small hand in helping Sony VASG create the updated version of it. Along […]

By: Cutthroats 2.0 — Details Revealed | HomeStation Magazine

Cutthroats 2.0 — Details Revealed | HomeStation Magazine — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 07:02:46 +0000

[…] benefit Home. And this is a somehwat odd Wishlist Saturday article, because we’re covering a wishlist that actually came true.Before we begin: this is a big deal. An avalanche of money was poured into […]

By: Cutthroats Update Revealed! | HomeStation Magazine

Cutthroats Update Revealed! | HomeStation Magazine — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 09:22:26 +0000

[…] San Diego. And the game in question?Cutthroats.That’s just crazy, right? If you recall, the last time I discussed Cutthroats, I savaged its freemium economy model. I felt it was a great game — […]

By: A New Cutthroats Approaches! | HomeStation Magazine

A New Cutthroats Approaches! | HomeStation Magazine — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 22:27:06 +0000

[…] issues in lag or collision detection. Thing is, though, Cutthroats did have some flaws, which were examined at length in HSM shortly after the game was first released.To be fair, building a game for a social MMO world is a […]

By: NorseGamer

NorseGamer — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 21:29:24 +0000

Escalating bonuses for sinking ships in one round is a brilliant idea, and I hope it’s implemented at some point. It creates yet another strategic reason to want to stay alive for as long as possible.

The worst value-to-cost proposition in the game, as far as I can see, are the large-scale ship repair items. A three-pack costs me virtually the same as a fireball bundle, but they can only be used once per round and still get used up *very* quickly. This wouldn’t be so bad if the treasure chests awarded more substantial repairs on their own, but the percentage of health restoration is a joke.

Insofar as I can ascertain, the biggest weakness with this game is the lack of permanent power-ups. *Every* microtransaction only gives you temporary boosts. This is a major flaw. Every other major game in Home — SodiumOne, Sodium2, Novus Prime and OrbRunner — allow you to purchase *permanent* power-ups. Even if coins were added to the treasure chests, there’s still no permanent upgrades for those who want to use money to bypass the grinding.

I really do love this game with a passion, but it’s bugging me that some of the basic fundamentals for a successful freemium commerce model are missing from Cutthroats.

As an aside, it was quite fun blasting enemies with ya, Ro. We had a pretty good kill streak going before we all got booted offline.

By: Ro Schro

Ro Schro — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 07:13:05 +0000

Yes, yes and did I say yes already. I, like you Norse enjoy the game, and agree with most of your ideas. The fact that you can but cannon upgrades made sense to me, but that it was limited amounts…ok so that is one way to do it. That the gold chests for sinking a ship does not give you money towards purchasing the like is an obvioius fail. I liked the idea that purchasing a costume gave a reward in the game, that just makes sense. I have not, nor do i plan to spend a dime on this, because I think for the most part you don’t need to, and like you said, the reward vs cost is way off. I think there should be other rewards for level, for instance at a certain level, it opens up better ships to capitan, or better guns, say that shoot further. Or how about, a different arena for those over 15 or 20. How about a port on the other side of the aren where you can trade the gold made from sunk ships to repair, and have bonus’ for each consecutive ship sunk in the same life. So that if you sink 2, the reward is bigger than the first, and the thrid is greater than the second, so there is an incentive to stay alive; like a combo xp bonus of sorts.

BTW, it was good playing with you the other day Norse, even though it was short lived. Dam system booted me, but you were one of the best players I had the pleasure of teaming with since I started playing.

By: Kassadee Marie

Kassadee Marie — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 22:51:12 +0000

You have some really great ideas, Norse. I love this game and I think the best part is playing with/shooting at friends. If they quit playing, I will too. I don’t necessarily need rewards to enjoy a game, but these ones are pretty cool. (I bought the Pirate Ship to have a place to put them, which made me buy the pirate furniture package to have more to decorate with, lol.) I haven’t bought upgrades though, because I only like permanent upgrades. Having been shot at with the fire cannons, though, I can say they are awesomemost!

By: BONZO

BONZO — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 22:05:52 +0000

It is a fun game but i must admit i haven’t purchased much myself as far as upgrades. Just a costume and the parrot companion. As far in game upgrades though I’ve purchased 0. I collected all the rewards and just shooting other players is pretty fun you generally just expect to sink at some point I haven’t played captain much I generally prefer to be a gunner. The level cap was a bit odd, wish there was a higher cap to shoot for same goes for Sodium 2. Before the Home issues propped up I hadn’t been there since the coachella weekend and there were people in the Dock just hanging out but not a single ship in use. I hope it was just the time i was logged on that contributed to that, and interest hasnt completely died out. I would like to see this game succeed but i agree there are some major flaws to the micro-transaction design. They really should have followed some of Lockwood’s methods.

By: Godzprototype

Godzprototype — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 19:44:57 +0000

A co-op option for naval battles would be an interesting addition to all of the suggestions above and fill the ships up with 2 sides to play. No small groups. Fill them up and work together.
Maybe offer strategic ideas for naval battles.
Create a learning curve for the user. The space seems large enough.
Maybe throw in some enemy AI boats. The game has a huge potential! I just hope they don’t just drop the ball, it really is a cool game.
The door is still open for marketing changes, I hope.

By: Burbie52

Burbie52 — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 13:16:26 +0000

All of the suggestions you made for this game make perfect sense Norse. I wish they could do the ones you said in your first example too. If they can add more leveling up it will bring people back to play too if there are good rewards to strive for. I think it should go as high as level 100 like orb runners does with an apartment at the end of it dangling like that carrot in front of the donkeys nose. You would have people there everyday just to get that alone. The coins thing with the chest HAS to happen! Maybe it could convert to that after you have reached a certain level, that would give people incentive to chase those chests down.
The spawning thing is a great idea too. Perhaps they could somehow make it so you have to go through the warp portal to get your invincibility to start for the first part. That would encourage people to use the game to its fullest advantage and try strategy a bit more as they warped out to the larger area that seems to be little used at this point. That is a real shame as it is a beautifully rendered game and it seems that more than half of this area is going to waste.
Great article with great ideas. I love the game and hope they take this constructive criticism to heart.

By: ElSkutto

ElSkutto — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 12:03:49 +0000

Excellent article, Norse, and I agree wholeheartedly with your recommendations to improve the game. I’m one of the people who played it religiously over the course of a single weekend and quickly maxed out my level. I’ve seen no reason to return to the space since.

I’d argue an even worse decision was made with the Hunters vs. Yetis game. Again, you could spend real-world money for an in-game advantage with a very limited lifespan, but why bother? I maxed out my kills for both sides with less than 4 hours of playtime.

Compare that with something like Aurora, where buying the experience-boosting items represents a savings of months of playtime, if not years. Or even Sodium One, where, after having finished all 50 levels, there’s still the incentive of earning credits to acquire reward items. And since new items are added every now and again, there’s reason to play regularly.

I think Granzella has the right idea with the fossil-hunt and Edo of Nippon games. You can play for free and acquire all of the rewards with enough patience and/or luck, or you can purchase permanent upgrades at a relatively low cost with real-world money. The added bonus being that each of those upgrades includes a decorative item or piece of clothing, or even a personal space.

By: Kid Fleetfoot

Kid Fleetfoot — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 00:26:37 +0000

Solitaire card game and board games like Monopoly remind me of your description of the Pirate Cove game. Play play play sometimes win mostly lose and go at it again. I don’t think that’s a bad thing.

As a shooter boom boom boom Pirates Cove is a fun game. If one has the right crew, strategy can be used looking for wounded ships and sailing from one end to the other. If one is lucky that there aren’t pirates smarter and more skilled than your crew.

Anyway I look at it the game is fun. Even when the scurvy ones who mutiny all the time it’s fun to see how they play. Personally, I think they’re not eating enough oranges or else had too much liquor. Some won’t even pick up chests of gold floating in the water.

I bought 2 or 3 things, a pistol and some other stuff partly cus it was nice and partly to help support the game.
But where’s the money coming from? I don’t see all that many fireball cannonballs. They are exciting but I’ll not likely buy them.

You have some what appear to be good ideas on how to improve the game that would make the game more fun and more interesting to play.

Having said all that, I love the game. It’s one of the few shooters that I can hit something. Not that I’m that great. Maybe average unlike the game.

I’ve noticed a downturn in players but I often play early in the morning hours. And I wonder how much SONY’s online access problems have to do with the number of players.