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How Would You Run WGT?

• neildiamond11790 1,115 Posts

  Tue, Dec 21 2010 11:06 AM

  This is a free for all for all the people who love to hate WGT for trying to make money.  So instead of continuing posts about SkyCaddie ads, and the new in loading screen ads, and the cost of equipment discussions, I want to start a new one that discusses how you the consumer would run this game different.  Remember there are costs to run the game, costs to promote the game, and costs improve the game.

  Lets have it..... Feel free.  Be the CEO people.  How to do you raise money for improvements like new courses, and continue to earn money every quarter to bay the bills.  You got ideas share them.  Lets make this something WGT can use to OUR benefit and not something to piss off the advertisers like every other poo poo thread.

  Lets hear them....

   

• VanHalenLover 1,422 Posts

  Tue, Dec 21 2010 11:13 AM

  Good thread topic neil, kudos.

  For starters, I'd much prefer a more typical ad revenue system, where only free users are presented with ads. Paying customers should be rewarded for their loyalty with an ad-free game. 

  Put ads in the forums, and the pro shop, and where ever else you want, no issues. Just make the game ad-free when I am a paying customer,,,, ,errrrrr, CEO.

  Oh yeah, I'd also wait to deploy ads until this was a final non-Beta release, that offered a free ad-supported version, and a fee based ad-free game.

• MonumentValley 58 Posts

  Tue, Dec 21 2010 11:39 AM

  If I was running WGT -

  First thing, I'd move the business from California to Utah. Save a lot on taxes and rents.

  Second, I'd drop the this game is free malarkey and begin charging memberships. $5 per year for each stroke play course and $1 per year for each CTTH course. New players could play free for a month.

• Joeyola 1,210 Posts

  Tue, Dec 21 2010 12:22 PM

  IMPROVE CUSTOMER SERVICE:  Most customers just want is to know that someone cares about their problem and is doing something about it.   

  BE STRAIGHT WITH CUSTOMERS:  I think much of the frustration we see everyday in the forums is because people spend money here before they know what they've gotten themselves into. During the registration process, in addition to referring people to the T&C, that I suspect few read, let new customers know exactly what they are in for.  They should know, up front, that if you want to compete, this site is really not FREE. 

  LOYAL CUSTOMER REWARDS:  Give out credits, balls, tournaments and even equipment...not for winning anything, but for just being here.        

  DONATE TO CHARITY.  Its good to be part of an organization that cares about others.  Also, convert credits to real money so customers can donate to a charity of their choice.               

• piztaker 5,743 Posts

  Tue, Dec 21 2010 12:30 PM

  Joeyola:

  IMPROVE CUSTOMER SERVICE:  Most customers just want is to know that someone cares about their problem and is doing something about it.   

  BE STRAIGHT WITH CUSTOMERS:  I think much of the frustration we see everyday in the forums is because people spend money here before they know what they've gotten themselves into. During the registration process, in addition to referring people to the T&C, that I suspect few read, let new customers know exactly what they are in for.  The should know, up front, that if you want to compete, this site is really not FREE. 

  LOYAL CUSTOMER REWARDS:  Give out credits, balls, tournaments and even equipment...not for winning anything, but for just being here.        

  DONATE TO CHARITY.  Its good to be part of an organization that cares about others.  Also, convert credits to real money so customers can donate to a charity of their choice.               

   

  Great post Joey. You get my vote.

   

• neildiamond11790 1,115 Posts

  Tue, Dec 21 2010 12:53 PM

  Cant really support the be straight with customers thing in regards to letting them know what they are getting into.  You can be competitive with the freebies, against other people playing freebies, or if you are really that good.  To prepare them for the entire game, who would sit through to sign up?  Its kind of like scaring them off before they even have a chance to try it.

  Like the others though.  Any thoughts on revenue?

• lvietri 3,326 Posts

  Tue, Dec 21 2010 12:55 PM

  All good ideas Joey - no arguments at all.  But I'm curious on how people would fund the company.   Companies, even those who do well and grow fast,  go out of business first and foremost because they can't handle the financial end of the business.  I'm not an expert in this area but I know a little since for several years I worked with a group funding dot.com businesses. 

  WGT has taken several rounds of Venture Capital Funding ... last one was announced in May .. to the tune of $10M.   (google .. you can find it).   VC's lend to people who companies who are High Risk / High Reward.   So some funding sources see a future here .. but they also recognize the risk of failure.

  I don't want to guess on WGT's financial strength but .. I would expect they are still running in the red --- or else why rely on expensive VC money instead of going to a bank for cheaper funding.    

  If it was me (as Neil asked) I would charge a monthly or annual fee for members in order to reate a fairly consistent revenue stream.   Apply it towards the purchase of virtual equipment at a discount.  i.e. Pay $5 or $10 monthly and get a 10% discount. Pay annually at $55 or $100 bucks and get 1 or 2 months free and a 20% discount.   Always give people the ability to always buy more if they would like to.   And I would sell as much advertising space as I could.  This is the business model most internet sites work from.  (And you can't compare WGT to TWO and the EA backing it has from it's video game market --- other than both being a golf game --- the companies are apples and oranges)

  Just some perspective on how much it takes to run a site - look at Wikipedia ... they are running their annual fund raising event and they say they need $10M to run the site this year.   This is a no profit site where the users publish/update the content.  I'm guessing minimal staff.   I can't imaging the costs to run WGT (the last article I saw said they have around 36 employees)  but it's not insignificant.

  Again just my 2 cents ... tks for listening.

   

• Browning3 102 Posts

  Tue, Dec 21 2010 1:05 PM

  This is a BUSINESS adventure and a GREAT GAME! No one is forcing anyone to buy anything..And its not even a real expensive site...How do you think you get a game this awsome? MONEY! Advertising makes MONEY! To improve the game and to make the creator a profit! I dont see how anyone would be angry about a 15 second advertisment!

• TarheelsRule 5,566 Posts

  Tue, Dec 21 2010 1:15 PM

  Still not exactly sure what moving to Utah would do for a gaming company.  Not like they are making any money to have to pay taxes and Utah is subject to federal taxes anyway.

  My view is that WGT appears to have no strategic plan in place, they just seem to drift along.  A 5 and 10 year plan is in order........

  The plan should include the products they will offer, in terms of the game itself, additional equipment, courses, etc.  How they will develop and pay for these is the key.  It seems that they have no idea so they throw out things, lets sell new clubs, new balls, lets accept add revenue.  All this while we are still in Beta.

  I have a lot of concepts and ideas on how to run a business.  WGT isn't a business at this point it is only and idea that if floundering around.

• BriRock 148 Posts

  Tue, Dec 21 2010 1:17 PM

  just a few changes i would make...not listed in order of importance...mainly because i would let the customers decide what order things happened...

  free equipment day - seven days a week

  every shot get dinged (and every time you take a shot instead of the "ding"  you  hear a sexy voice that says "wow your awesome!"

  new course releases daily (full courses too, none of this one shot BS)

  1,000,000 xp's per 9 hole round (1,000,100 for an 18 hole round)

  free drinks (real, actual drinks, not sports drinks...internet golf is hardly a sport, and most of us are adults here)

  the ability to slap another player in the face via the internet when you read something you don't like in the forums  (and as long as you say out loud "NO SLAP BACKS" your safe from any retaliation).

  all advancement statistics and level numbers will be published, and negotiable

  the ability to move up and down in the tiers based on your mood that day

  shiny golf balls, like platinum and diamond ones, and those are just the free balls that you get

  a variable VEM setting that you can change depending on the difficulty of round you would like to play (also i would make it so that you could crank up your opponent's VEM meter in the middle of their back swing so all their shots are F'ed)

  way cooler avatars...like maybe a "half-in-the-bag-YancyCan"...or for the Sox fans, one of YankeeJim dressed in pin stripes getting beat with a bat the whole time, perhaps one that changes clothes every shot for the multi-accounters (yes deccy180 that means you and your 5 friends).

  lastly a meter so smooth it would be like wiping your ass with silk...you wouldn't actually want to click at the end of the shot because it's smoothness would be so overwhelming you would have swing over and over...

  ...these are just a few of the things that I would do, were i in that position...feel free to copy and update my list...if i were the new WGT czar i would always want to know the public's opinions... remember me during the upcoming wgt elections please.

   

   

  **EDIT** oh yeah, and a free pony to that guy/girl who always asks for a pony anytime a wishlist idea gets tossed around...he/she's been asking for a long time, and i could make that happen, were i the WGT president that it...VOTE EARLY,VOTE OFTEN.