Suggestion for free weekend trial offers

[geas]

I have Tues/Wed off. I am rarely, able to take advantage of free weekend play that is designed to give potential customers some trial play for a game they might purchase.

My suggestion is to allow potential gamer to pick when, say in a 7 or 14 day period, when such a 48 or 72 hours trial period actually starts.

So, for example _game-title-that-interests-me_ is trying to garner purchases for their game by offering a free 72 weekend of game play. If the potential consumer (me) is allowed to pick the start time of the offer as Tuesday 8 AM, I could get maximum benefit testing/learning the game to decide if I want to buy.

Where currently, IF I notice the game trial and IF I d/l and install in the middle of MY workweek (sat is my wed) then I might get a 3-4 hours after work Monday and 1-2 hours Tuesday before 10 AM (which is when most of these offers expire)

This would also benefit both the consumer and the seller for those times when there are multiple games one would like to trial on the same weekend. If I need 8+ hours to learn the UI and get a fair sample of game play, there may not be ample time to test a second/third game that looks promising.

Thanks for listening

[76561199540158642]

i miss lots of free weekend games as well often times only getting 24 hours to enjoy most games and sometimes installs take a few hours.

it would be nice to see a solution where players could get free play game time for the games to use at there own convenience, like a 72 hour game play pass that lets your break down the time played to when you can use it, while 72 hours might be excessive even a 24 hour game time accumulation pass would be nice. one where you could play a few hours a day and you would get a total of 24 hours of game time in game. broken up over several days or weeks or what ever works best for the user.

[Mad Scientist]

Generally I would give that sort of feedback directly to Developers/Publishers, as they're the ones that set basically the trial periods/free play time and days. It's likely picked by default since a lot of people work Mon-Fri.

[Start_Running]

Not gonna happen. dev/[ubns generally give free weekends as part of a broader marketing strategy leading up to something.
These things are timed and timely.

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

Devs can choose to have free weekends OR free weekdays.

[geas]

Opprinnelig skrevet av Mad Scientist:

Generally I would give that sort of feedback directly to Developers/Publishers, as they're the ones that set basically the trial periods/free play time and days. It's likely picked by default since a lot of people work Mon-Fri.

Picked by default, I agree.
That is the reason I make the suggestion to steam that could boost the number of trial offers actually used/tried.

So far as giving the feedback directly to dev/pub teams, that implies that I already know of a specific game I may want to check out. The purpose of the trials is to get as many people as possible to gain interest in a game. If steam sets up my proposal as something they offer, they will let dev/pub know if it can boost the numbers for them.

I absolutely could be wrong, maybe it wouldn't boost their numbers. Perhaps I am just selfishly thinking of my own situation. I may be grossly underestimating the amount of work it might take to put such a system into effect...but I highly doubt that.

Merely a suggestion in the suggestion forum for something I would like to see as an option, as I search for a new main game to feed my gaming addiction.

[Mad Scientist]

Opprinnelig skrevet av geas:

So far as giving the feedback directly to dev/pub teams, that implies that I already know of a specific game I may want to check out. The purpose of the trials is to get as many people as possible to gain interest in a game. If steam sets up my proposal as something they offer, they will let dev/pub know if it can boost the numbers for them..

The people that own the properties have the decision power for this. Steam is merely the store and should be treated as a host. Once you figure out something you're interested in, contact the appropriate Developer/Publisher for such requests.

[geas]

Opprinnelig skrevet av Start_Running:

Not gonna happen. dev/[ubns generally give free weekends as part of a broader marketing strategy leading up to something.
These things are timed and timely.

They CAN be timed and timely, 100% agree...
I would argue that the STARTING time of the offer is the prime factor in the decision, the DURATION being the secondary factor

While I would love for my suggestion to be the blanket norm, I am only asking them to code it as an option for game titles that decide to offer a short duration of free game play. I believe for most games it would be a win/win for everyone concerned.

[geas]

Opprinnelig skrevet av cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

Devs can choose to have free weekends OR free weekdays.

:nkCool:

Fair point
I also could have just suggested they give more days period, but, that wasn't my suggestion.

[Ettanin]

Unfortunately, the usual time most people have a disposable amount at is the weekend.

Your best bet is watching let's plays or check for free demos or Prologue Editions of certain games to see whether you would like them if you cannot play on free weekends.

Also note that free weekend playtime will count against the two hours refund window after you bought the game.

[geas]

Opprinnelig skrevet av Golden Unicorn:

i miss lots of free weekend games as well often times only getting 24 hours to enjoy most games and sometimes installs take a few hours.

it would be nice to see a solution where players could get free play game time for the games to use at there own convenience, like a 72 hour game play pass that lets your break down the time played to when you can use it, while 72 hours might be excessive even a 24 hour game time accumulation pass would be nice. one where you could play a few hours a day and you would get a total of 24 hours of game time in game. broken up over several days or weeks or what ever works best for the user.

There does have to be a balance between the length of demo/free game play... some games simply do not have THAT much game. That could be addressed in a few ways... but my argument is the current norm of the demo/free on weekends precludes me from even attempting to participate on majority of games.
So... I agree 100% on it being over several days, but not weeks. I think a single week would give us(non-standard workweek gamer types) an equal time opportunity as 9-5 or student gamers that these offers are aimed at.

[Tito Shivan]

Opprinnelig skrevet av cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

Devs can choose to have free weekends OR free weekdays.

:nkCool:

Even free full weeks or playtime periods (Play for free X hours). All of those have happened in the past.

But participating is something you have to settle with Steam, not something you can set up from your developer board.

https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/marketing/discounts/freeweekends

Of course almost everyone chooses the period with most available customers they can find, which is (unfortunately for OP) the weekend.

[Crazy Tiger]

Opprinnelig skrevet av geas:

but my argument is the current norm of the demo/free on weekends precludes me from even attempting to participate on majority of games.

And the thing is, that might be much more a concern to you than to the game developers/publishers.

As explained, weekends are the times when most people have the time to spend on such games *and* are thusly more likely to purchase something. Work days ultimately mean less gaming time and thusly less chances on a sale, it might even be not worth it for the publishers. So it's only logical that most try to utilise that all via weekends.

[geas]

Opprinnelig skrevet av Ettanin:

Unfortunately, the usual time most people have a disposable amount at is the weekend.

Your best bet is watching let's plays or check for free demos or Prologue Editions of certain games to see whether you would like them if you cannot play on free weekends.

Also note that free weekend playtime will count against the two hours refund window after you bought the game.

Yep, most people time on the weekends, I am not most people
This is why I am tossing the suggestion into the suggestion box

I normally play a game to death and then never play it again (UO/SB/EQ/EQ2/Aion/ect) and I have backup games with awesome replayabillity (civ3-4-5-6/rimworld) when I between the play-to-death games... Then...
I check the store often to see what game looks interesting, my normal course of action is to check type of game - screenshots - video of game play - company website- twitch(and/or)youtube for live/recorded game play - follow on steam - try to join BETA (UO/EQ/EQ2-beta tester wooties!) if an option - I then try to catch a demo or free play offer

The hitch is, if there is a demo or free play offer I can sometimes not take advantage or am severely hampered by time to actually try it...and I end up not trying

[geas]

Opprinnelig skrevet av Crazy Tiger:

Opprinnelig skrevet av geas:

but my argument is the current norm of the demo/free on weekends precludes me from even attempting to participate on majority of games.

And the thing is, that might be much more a concern to you than to the game developers/publishers.

As explained, weekends are the times when most people have the time to spend on such games *and* are thusly more likely to purchase something. Work days ultimately mean less gaming time and thusly less chances on a sale, it might even be not worth it for the publishers. So it's only logical that most try to utilise that all via weekends.

I'm looking for a win/win, I think my suggestion would be benefit to both.
Suggestion forum

[Crazy Tiger]

Opprinnelig skrevet av geas:

Opprinnelig skrevet av Crazy Tiger:

And the thing is, that might be much more a concern to you than to the game developers/publishers.

As explained, weekends are the times when most people have the time to spend on such games *and* are thusly more likely to purchase something. Work days ultimately mean less gaming time and thusly less chances on a sale, it might even be not worth it for the publishers. So it's only logical that most try to utilise that all via weekends.

I'm looking for a win/win, I think my suggestion would be benefit to both.
Suggestion forum

"Benefits" are very different for customers and companies, these perspectives often enough don't actually align.

Discussion forum.