Niche Game Fallacy Topic

Benis
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From time to time I see some folks rationalize the low population numbers by saying that HD is a "niche game". I think this is the biggest BS excuse ever. It's also just flat out lazy.

MikeT was kind enough to provide us with the definition of Niche.
"specialized segment of the market for a particular kind of product or service."

Yes, by definition, HD is a niche game. And so is Fantasy Football. Why does niche have to mean super duper tiny and borderline financially successful? Fantasy Football is HUGE now but it wasn't always that way. Fantasy sports started out with a bunch of nerds writing stats down on paper and now it's worth billions.

There aren't that many people out there who would enjoy a game like HD? Really? There are over 100 million men between the ages of 15-64 in the US. HD currently has probably about 1,000 users (tops). So 0.001% of these people currently play HD... think maybe there's room for a little more here?? Maybe 0.005%?!

Here's the thing that I think people can't seem to understand. It's not the concept that's the issue. It's the execution.

If EA Sports put out a sh!tty football game and not many people bought it, people around here would say "oh gee wiz, I guess most people don't like football games. It must be really niche". No, people don't like sh!tty football games. Put out a good product with the correct value equation for the consumer and they will purchase it.

And I'm also not even talking about the in-game aspects that we all complain about (dead time, not recruiting season 1, rebuilding sucks, blah blah). The business model itself could be improved. Why is the price of this game $12.95 a season? Who came up with that number? Why is the introduction price so high but then after playing for awhile you then end up paying nothing? This is so azz backwards it's not even funny.

Have BOGO offers. have buying a 5 pack instead of a single season save you $5 instead of like 50 cents or whatever it is now. Lower the initial price to $5 and reduce the amount of credits that are given to users. etc etc

There are plenty of issues (and there are plenty of solutions to those issues) that prevent HD from being more successful than it is and it has nothing to do with with it being a 'niche game'.
7/15/2017 9:50 AM
mbriese
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The crazy thing is that the people that obsess the ?most about WIS are the ones saying that others wouldn't be interested in it. We really aren't that special - there are thousands of other sports fans that would probably be willing to give this a try if they knew it existed.
7/15/2017 10:19 AM
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mamxet
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This discussion leads me to wonder why Fox acquired WIS. Why do folks think they ever did that?
7/15/2017 10:42 AM
MikeT23
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FOX Fantasy Sports. Essentially purchased a userbase that has interest in "managing" a team. IIRC, in one of these other discussions, the actual userbase was exaggerated. FOX thought they we getting half a million. Not so much.
7/15/2017 10:45 AM
npb7768
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A tough hurdle to jump when promoting HD to friends is that we're playing with computer-generated players. Fantasy Football, etc, is appealing because of real-life players being used. So a huge percentage of people immediately dismiss HD. For that reason alone i've always thought of HD as a niche game.
7/15/2017 10:50 AM
mamxet
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I doubt that I would have tried HD without first playing the MLB game
7/15/2017 10:52 AM
Thecardman17
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Niche game. If it wasn't people would be here. It's 2017, people have more money and free time than ever but they don't spend it here.
7/15/2017 11:21 AM
Benis
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Posted by MikeT23 on 7/15/2017 10:21:00 AM (view original):
LOL. "Why is the introduction price so high"

It's less than .25 per day. You think too many people ghost out before their first season ends? Make it ten cents a day and people will quit before the season even starts.
I know you like your per day costs Mike. You sound like a UNICEF commercial.

You know that it's just a ploy to get you to think you're paying less money than you really are right? I hope you're not that gullible in all your financial decisions.
7/15/2017 11:36 AM
Benis
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Posted by mbriese on 7/15/2017 10:19:00 AM (view original):
The crazy thing is that the people that obsess the ?most about WIS are the ones saying that others wouldn't be interested in it. We really aren't that special - there are thousands of other sports fans that would probably be willing to give this a try if they knew it existed.
This cracks me up too.

Maybe they grew up with parents who told them how special and unique they were?

Once again... I bet those nerds sitting around playing the first version of fantasy baseball thought they were really unique and special too.
7/15/2017 11:40 AM
kcsundevil
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Posted by kcsundevil on 7/15/2017 11:40:00 AM (view original):
Posted by mamxet on 7/15/2017 10:42:00 AM (view original):
This discussion leads me to wonder why Fox acquired WIS. Why do folks think they ever did that?
https://www.whatifsports.com/news/fim.asp
https://www.whatifsports.com/devchat/devchat.asp?chatid=16
7/15/2017 11:40 AM
Benis
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Posted by kcsundevil on 7/15/2017 11:40:00 AM (view original):
Posted by mamxet on 7/15/2017 10:42:00 AM (view original):
This discussion leads me to wonder why Fox acquired WIS. Why do folks think they ever did that?
https://www.whatifsports.com/news/fim.asp

Q: Why sell?

A: It was not an easy decision, but at the end of the day, we knew that our primary limitation to growth was marketing/distribution. FIM brings us all the resources of a global media company: TV (Fox, Fox Sports, DirecTV) , Radio (Fox Sports Radio), Print (100s of newspapers and magazines throughout the world), Online (FoxSports.com, Scout.com).



we knew that our primary limitation to growth was marketing/distribution

7/15/2017 11:41 AM
Benis
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Posted by kcsundevil on 7/15/2017 11:40:00 AM (view original):
Posted by kcsundevil on 7/15/2017 11:40:00 AM (view original):
Posted by mamxet on 7/15/2017 10:42:00 AM (view original):
This discussion leads me to wonder why Fox acquired WIS. Why do folks think they ever did that?
https://www.whatifsports.com/news/fim.asp
https://www.whatifsports.com/devchat/devchat.asp?chatid=16
My favorite question-

Do you think this will serve to legitimatize WIS in the face of many potential customers? Will it make my girlfriend think of me as less of a nerd? (az4lifenotr - Hall of Famer - 10:02 PM)

That's a great question. I think yes, it will - there are only a couple of major players in sports and Fox is one of them. As for your girlfriend, I'm going to guess no - I mean you're having a chat with me right now so that's not helping your cause.

7/15/2017 11:43 AM
MikeT23
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Posted by Benis on 7/15/2017 11:36:00 AM (view original):
Posted by MikeT23 on 7/15/2017 10:21:00 AM (view original):
LOL. "Why is the introduction price so high"

It's less than .25 per day. You think too many people ghost out before their first season ends? Make it ten cents a day and people will quit before the season even starts.
I know you like your per day costs Mike. You sound like a UNICEF commercial.

You know that it's just a ploy to get you to think you're paying less money than you really are right? I hope you're not that gullible in all your financial decisions.
No, it's a fact. This is about the cheapest diversion, other than free porn, from the real world on the internet.

If cost is an actual factor in why there aren't hundreds of thousands flocking to HD, those folks need to find a better job rather than screw around on the internet.

Ya' feel me?
7/15/2017 11:48 AM
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