An Open Wishlist
by Kassadee Marie, HSM team writer
Dear Home Developer:
You may be wondering what will people who use Home want; what is it they will buy. I can answer that question for you.
We, very simply, want choices.
Like all humans, we Home users crave a unique identity for ourselves. We want to stand out from the crowd and be noticed, usually in a positive way. You can help us with that, and in doing so, you can become a favorite with us, which means we will be giving our money to you by the fistfuls, even though by way of micro transactions. We know you’re in business and need our money to stay in business. And we’re ready to give it to you, if you sell the right things at the right price — in the right way.
Offer color choices. I have a friend named Violet who only buys clothes and furniture in shades and tones of purples or neutrals, such as black, white, gray, etc. that don’t clash with her purple hair. She jumps to buy almost anything in purple, lavender, plum or fuchsia. The Kotobuki kimono packs from Granzella come bundled in a pack of two. She would have loved to buy the bluish purple set, if it wasn’t bundled with the scarlet set that she would never wear. I would have loved to buy the pink kimono, if it didn’t come bundled with the sky blue kimono that I don’t care for. So, that’s two sales lost right there, just as a small example.
We want estates with options to change the wallpaper or paint, flooring, and drapes. And we want our personal spaces with diurnal, seasonal, or weather control. Games, expansions, and rewards in these places would be great, too. How about doors and windows that open and close for all to see? If we’ll pay $4.99 for a pretty box space and $6.99 to $9.99 for a larger space with some extras, like furniture or a game, imagine how much we’d pay for a single space that does it all.
We want, love, and adore active items. They add so much to our spaces and our lives in Home. Yes, keep making them, but remember to be progressive and to keep the furniture slot counts as low as you can. And this reminds me, please go back and lower the furniture slot counts on any 22-slot items. We would love this and you would be a hit with us. What would this gain you? Additional sales and positive publicity by word-of-mouth. The sales may not cover the cost of the re-coding, but you can’t really put a price on the good will of the community. People will buy more from a developer they love. Brand loyalty works in Home, too.
We want a variety of furniture styles, but please size furniture to scale. It’s depressing to buy something and then find out it’s not the size we expected. Furniture that looks like doll furniture in our estates is not a good idea, nor are furniture packs with items that aren’t even scaled to each other. Word of sizing mistakes gets around. I know I’ve bought items such as these and I make sure my friends know not to buy.
We also want variety in our personal spaces. Please, please be innovative and not copycats. There is more to virtual fantasy than outer space, the old west and yachts and beaches, however beautiful they may be. There have been thousands of suggestions on the Home forum and elsewhere.
Make games that are fun to play and offer rewards that we want. Sometimes, you get this right and you know it, when the game space continues to be filled and people are buying your boosters and other game items. And, if you want additional sales, then change the game up once in a while. Heck, paint the walls another color and watch a thread start up on the forum and user count increase there in your game space. Try special events and code giveaways to really boost sales and keep your game in everyone’s mind.
Don’t try to force us into buying more than we want or we’ll probably buy less instead. As an example, if you offer a bundle of three hairstyles for $1.99, that could be sold individually for $.99 each, people who like all three styles will buy the pack and so will people who like only two of the styles. However, if some people like only one of the styles, they likely won’t buy the pack. If you had offered the hairstyles individually also, those people would have bought the one hairdo that they do like. Obviously, you’ve lost the sale of this item to those people, if you didn’t sell the items individually.
Another way to lose a sale is with outfits that do not come as separate items. Remember that we like to mix and match and make our own outfits from different clothing items. We might be picking up another developers items to go with some of your pieces, but we also might pick up some of your pieces to go with theirs. This would be additional sales for you, obviously. Full body outfits are not a good choice, in most cases, especially those with faces. We want our own designed face that we worked hard to make unique.
Don’t make glitchy or poorly-fitted clothes. Guys have been complaining for years about those too-short t-shirts. Yes, they want to buy t-shirts, even though they are common reward items, but they just want them to fit right. You may not be able to make your clothing items so they are unable to clip with another developer’s clothing, but they shouldn’t clip with your own clothes, unless the style is radically different. And, please match the colors to each other. Change can be good, but it’s hard when you buy something that you think will match and it’s only close – but not close enough – to another clothing item that you intended to wear with it. Also, we really don’t want clothes that make our rears look huge or our legs look too skinny. You do look at these items on avatars before you put them on sale, right?
What else do we want? More realism in our fantasy world. That may sound like a contradiction, but it’s still true. It’s why we buy items for our personal spaces that make them look like our real homes. Any item you see and/or use daily in any room of your real world house, we’ll very likely buy. We’re seeing more and more of these items on Home and it’s great. Keep it up.
Some or even all of the above may seem obvious, but I see developers making one or more of these errors all the time and I have to wonder what the thought process was. There may be constraints that I’m not aware of that prevent you from practicing all of these ideas, and yet some of you take the time to get it right almost every time. You know who you are; you’re the ones with great products, loyal customers, and you’re making a very nice profit.
September 7th, 2013 by Kassadee Marie | 4 comments
Home is endlessly entertaining to this California girl. Kassadee has been in Home for about four years, and loves almost everything about it (with a few notable exceptions). She spends way too much money there, and perhaps too much time... Someday she will travel the world and write about the people she meets and the places she sees.
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They could solve a LOT of Home-buyer’s grief by putting your avatar next to the furniture item you’re looking at in the preview window. I bought a “Circular Fireplace” from MyDeco Yeats ago and I was actually angry after I saw its true size; it was tiny! I mean, fireplace for who, a leprechaun in a wheelchair!? Seriously, a Smurf wouldn’t even want this thing. So, £2 right into storage. Great.
Every time I stumble across that item though, I growl at MyDeco and wonder how long it’s been since I’ve been near their shop.
Granzella and their bundles annoy the hell outta me too with their constant bundle packs. They have boots I’d buy, gloves, tops (a particular white shirt too) and all sorts that I’d buy; if I didn’t end up with twice as much stuff clogging up my swelling storage bin.
I understand how bundle packs can be good for squeezing just a little more out of the consumer, but you’ll never find me buying two buckets with holes in em just for a bar of soap -- sorry weird metaphor, I did just wake up…
Anyway, well said Kassadee.
I’ve no problem with bundle packs. My problem lies with options. Give us the bundles and price the pieces separately so the customer has the right to purchase whichever they choose. Lockwood does an excellent job on their pricing and are the clear examples to this.
I agree totally with Kassadee here on the Furisode Kimonos. They are, without a doubt, THE wardrobe destroying bundle in history of Home. It’s not the Kimonos, really, but the hair clips bundled.
And finally to go with Krazyface here, I’ve purchased a Waterfall Terrace round Rug which I thought was big. Come to find out, they are small as Pancakes!
Pancakes…..
Never
Again
Did I ever buy anything from that section of the Furniture store. xO
Very well said!
Nice article. I have problem with bundle too. My wardrobe and furnitures are already a mess I try to avoid unwanted items as much as I can. Beside a good deal on something you don’t want is not a deal.
What I would really want thou.
-Mercia fixed and updated so they can make money out of it.
-My Loot appartement with fised EOD
-- Cuthroat and RC Rally fixed.
… Well basically… I want things I paid for that once worked to worked again.