Free tank survey

[LachenKrieg]

 

Looks like the final number of respondents = 44. Thanks to everyone that contributed.

 

I presented the results below to show use as a percentage of the overall total, and as a percentage of each group (the group that has TC, and the group that doesn't). The first graph is organized to match the survey questions, the second graph organizes the data into its respective group. There was one more person indicating that he/she does not have TC in question one, but didn't select "4. Don't have TC" for question two, so I had to make another final adjustment to the results.

 

I think the results of the survey are quite interesting in that it shows there is still a large number of people among current IL2 users that don't have Tank Crew yet. And even more interesting, of the people that don't have Tank Crew, more than 75% have either never tried the free tanks, or rarely use them.

 

Considering the IL2 community is a captive audience known to have a keen interest in computer based simulation products, this represents a large potential area of growth for Tank Crew that should encourage the marketing team/Developers to think of ways to better reach this segment. If the plan is to develop maps that support a combined arms game play on multi-player servers, then Tank Crew should be an important piece of that puzzle. 

 

Findings that show 70% of users who own TC don't use, or rarely use the free tanks can be easily explained by the lack of features, but findings that demonstrate 76% of the people that don't have TC have shown little to no interest should raise questions that go beyond the obvious fact that IL2 GBS is mostly a flight simulator.    

 

 

 

 

 

[BlitzPig_EL]

To be fair, most of my friends are not interested in the tank game at all.  A pity, but that's how it is.  They play IL2 to "fly", and see tanks merely as targets.

 

I enjoy both aspects of the sim, and have good fun in tanks, however, if forced to choose only one, it would be the aircraft side.  Fortunately for me I can afford everything on offer here, but not all of my merry band can, some also have no interest what so ever in flying the WW1 kites.  I enjoy them.

 

The world is made up of individuals, we are all different, and like different things.  No way to change that.  I hope the tank side continues, only time will tell.

[LachenKrieg]

1 hour ago, BlitzPig_EL said:

To be fair, most of my friends are not interested in the tank game at all.  A pity, but that's how it is.  They play IL2 to "fly", and see tanks merely as targets.

 

I enjoy both aspects of the sim, and have good fun in tanks, however, if forced to choose only one, it would be the aircraft side.  Fortunately for me I can afford everything on offer here, but not all of my merry band can, some also have no interest what so ever in flying the WW1 kites.  I enjoy them.

 

The world is made up of individuals, we are all different, and like different things.  No way to change that.  I hope the tank side continues, only time will tell.

You are absolutely right, we all have our individual tastes, but the fact that the vast majority here came because of the flight SIM side of things is not the point IMO.

 

What is unique about this crowd is that nearly all of us enjoy WWII computer based flight simulation otherwise we wouldn't be here, and approximately 60% of us seem to also enjoy AFV simulation as well. You might even say other then new players that find their way here because of a specific interest in Tank Crew, anyone that has been here for a while with any sort of interest in Tank Crew has probably already bought it.

 

So in terms of trying to reach the 40% of people that have shown little to no interest thus far, the initial free tank strategy to entice players in has probably played its role, and they will have to look to other ways if they want to reach this segment of their market.

 

I am saying this as an explanation, because I believe they are making significant efforts to reach this segment. Any effort that helps make combined arms game play a reality is a step towards reaching that goal. So all the map improvements that are coming, the updated ground effects, the AAA vehicles, and all the improvements in TC itself will all help to reach the other 40% IMO.

 

If the IL2 servers were filled with 15K combined arms players tomorrow, I am certain at least some of your friends would buy into it. And the 40% of people that don't already own TC likely includes more then just your friends. For example, one of the contributors to another thread here stated that he didn't buy TC because he was not impressed with the free tanks. So as you said, I agree there will be a whole spectrum of interests/likes/tastes, and I think the question coming out of the survey is how to best appeal to them?

[ShampooX]

I’m here for the tanks, so I’m mainly on TC. I will probably start flying as I’ve bought the flight sims in order to get additional maps.  But I have to say I didn’t know there were “free tanks” in TC.   Which ones are they?  

Edited February 25, 2021 by 11thPanzer_Pete

[DD_Friar]

Panzer III-L and T34-42. Fully playable like the paid for versions except you can not skin them without mods and there are no crew models.

 

I generally include them in the missions I build for my squad so the guys that have not bought it yet can try it with us, as I personally think playing with team mates is a fantastic experience.

[LachenKrieg]

4 hours ago, DD_Friar said:

Panzer III-L and T34-42. Fully playable like the paid for versions except you can not skin them without mods and there are no crew models.

 

I generally include them in the missions I build for my squad so the guys that have not bought it yet can try it with us, as I personally think playing with team mates is a fantastic experience.

Thank you, thank you, and thank you. Oh yeah, did I forget to say thank you?

 

The bold text has been enlarged because its meaning is so important to this conversation. The idea behind the survey was in fact to get to this point. If the Developers were going to reward anyone for promoting the Tank Crew module outside of its own marketing strategy, it should be for efforts like this. Just by looking at the data from the survey, it would be reasonable to suggest that efforts like yours have likely had an influencing effect on the survey results.

 

Its no surprise, and in fact it should be completely expected that a sizeable portion of the people that own TC don't use the low feature free tanks. I mean why would someone who bought into a SIM franchise that prides itself on realism, use the IIIL when he/she has the IIIM? What is more interesting, or maybe less expected is that almost one third of the "bought TC" group use the free tanks frequently, and I am guessing it has something to do with efforts like yours. Inclusion is a powerful force in the gaming world.

 

But anyone who has anything to do with promoting the TC module will be much more interested in the data relating to the people that don't own TC yet, especially the people that haven't even tried the free tanks. One of the earlier posters to this thread brought up the issue of personal interest/likes.

 

Looking at the group that don't own TC, we see that nearly one quarter use the free tanks frequently. I think it is fair to say that there must be a reason why anyone that hasn't even bought the TC module would use the free tanks frequently, and again, I am guessing that it has something to do with efforts like yours and the power of inclusion. The same can be said for what appears to be nearly half of the people who don't own TC, only to a lesser degree. So I think it is safe to say that a lack of personal interest by itself is not the overriding factor here.

 

But the bigger question is what nearly one third of that group thinks about TC? This nearly one third translates into 11% of all respondents. If you are into marketing, and you don't know what 11% of your most loyal customers think about the new product line the company just launched, I can imagine you would want to ask some questions.

 

But in the end, there is probably no single answer on how to best grow market share because most of the gaming world, like much of the non-gaming world, thrives best in an ecosystem. So yes, the maps and all the improvements blah, blah, multi-player, blah, blah are important along side efforts like yours. In order for the free tanks to add value, you would have to first get people to use them. Obstacles to that would be things that exclude players like not being able to repair your vehicle like everyone else in the multi-player match that isn't in a free tank. The most encouraging news I heard after the last round of updates, which included improvements to the free tanks, was that the Finnish server was going to add the free tanks as a result of the recent improvements.

Edited February 25, 2021 by LachenKrieg

[BlitzPig_EL]

I always include the FTP tanks as well.  So far, only one of our group will take advantage of them.  Why?

I get several reasons, mostly lack of interest in tanks, followed by not wanting to muck about with even more key binds, and the overall complexity of successfully fighting a tank, then getting one shotted by an AI hiding in the tree line that can shoot through the trees with impunity.  They have heard the stories you know.

 

I keep trying, but no matter how much fun we say we are having, they just are not going to change.

Hard core flyboys are just that, and only that.

[DD_Crash]

We have a couple in the DangerDogz who arent interested in the tank side, but those who have tried it a suprised by how much fun you can have.

[ShampooX]

Tanks are a blast (see what I did there?).  I think alot more are coming over from War Thunder.

[SCG_Junkman]

Well I was or  still are a fly boy, but I must say I really enjoy this Tank Crew. Lots to do and work out. So far lots of mods and extras to add immersion. Haven't flown in IL2 for years but may go back. I to find it hard to interest my daily flyers as noted above.

[LachenKrieg]

19 hours ago, BlitzPig_EL said:

I always include the FTP tanks as well.  So far, only one of our group will take advantage of them.  Why?

I get several reasons, mostly lack of interest in tanks, followed by not wanting to muck about with even more key binds, and the overall complexity of successfully fighting a tank, then getting one shotted by an AI hiding in the tree line that can shoot through the trees with impunity.  They have heard the stories you know.

 

I keep trying, but no matter how much fun we say we are having, they just are not going to change.

Hard core flyboys are just that, and only that.

But nobody is saying that doesn't, or can't occur. Obviously some people here will not be interested in anything but flying. Just like there could be others that might change their mind and decide to give it a try later on. The people that don't have Tank Crew yet include people that use the free tanks frequently, rarely, and not at all. As to the reasons why the people in your group are less interested, it could be for a number of reasons including all those you mentioned. Maybe like the poster in the other thread I mentioned, your friends have taken the wrong impression based on the quality of the free tanks.  

[Missionbug]

I am primarily a fly boy, always been that way although health issues mean I now rarely fly sadly and when I do it is for very short periods of time, however, I bought Tank Crew because I feel it adds a little something to the overall franchise, same for Flying Circus, strictly speaking whatever is added to any module should also improve the others, at least that is the hope.

 

My feelings are that many have done the same as me, it might not be possible to add something specifically to the air side of things for cost reasons but if it gets into the tank side, vehicles, detailed buildings and maps then it should spread the development load overall and improve all modules, each of us might only use their particular favourite part but at the same time we do have separate games available if we choose to take a break from what we usually play, I guess if it had not been for the free tanks there is a possibility I would not have even considered Tank Crew, however, myself and many others had the opportunity to see what it would be like and it is fair to say we could see the possibilities going forward.

 

Downside is there are issues with all areas of the series and if push comes to shove unless they are dealt with then I doubt many will continue to purchase elements that are outside their interest, or even within their interest come to that, I bought the AA units because they had been mentioned right at the start and it seemed a interesting idea it just took a long time for them to materialise, they for me are more a special one off, other elements of TC depends on whether first I have the money and then more importantly the team sort out the shooting through things issue, even though I am a aviation enthusiast I was not going to get FC II due to the damage issues but it was bought for me as a present so even though I ordered it the money did not come out my pocket.

 

Things for the development team to consider, we might only play one part of the series, however, many of us have supported all elements so far and we read all the bad press, without rectification this will surely affect our purchasing decisions going forward.

 

Take care and be safe.

 

Wishing you all the very best, Pete.