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To try to help minimize the impact of attrition, I've reduced the minimum league capacity to 20% to help keep some long-running leagues alive until they can attract new owners.

I appreciate everyone's comments, on both sides of the issue. Thank you for your support to those who have made comments on that side. I know $5/month is a lot to some folks, and the cost of subscriptions does add up in our world. If it were viable I'd want to keep it free always. But it is that catch-22 where as long as it's free there won't be any resources to make it better. It's been free for 11 years (I can't believe it's been 11 years) and has never done more than barely support the server costs; back in the fall I had to upgrade the servers to handle the capacity, and that tipped the scales to where it's no longer supporting itself.

Like I said, I wish I could keep it free for everyone, but I'm hoping that for the ones who really enjoy it that it's worth the cost of a cheap hamburger or cup of coffee once a month. I recognize that's not going to be everyone, and I'm sorry to see those of you leave who feel like it's not worth the cost. For those who are leaving, thanks for your support and I hope you enjoyed your time here. For those who are staying, thank you so much for your support and I hope your trust in me will be rewarded.

I'm guessing when all is said and done there will probably 5-10 leagues left. Even though there are many willing to stay how many will stay when their chosen league fails. Many won't take over a team that isn't theirs. I'm still on the fence myself if I'll stay or not once I have 4 of my 5 leagues taken away. If that 5th one failed there's next to no chance I stay in mfn or return later. Worse there is practically no draw for new players so it's a one way slow death of the game in my opinion. I hope I'm wrong because I love this game, but I just don't see it thriving any time in the near future with the current plan in place. It's been one day and the game is already badly suffering for it.

you have created a great thing here. i know of several players who are dedicated and enjoy what you have shared with us. the community is largely a group of fine people

upkeep of MFN seems like a lot for one person to handle. it is often tough to "let go" but i wonder if you have attempted to get some help with it. the reason the game is moving along slower than you and the players would like might be linked to your resistance of including others in the process. or maybe you have tried and cant find anyone willing to do it.....not sure, but either way finding a team to handle tasks seems like the way

it is easy to imagine the headaches that come with funneling everyones input, but we are here to help you. maybe contact those who have purchased the most credits and gather their input. we are a group of intellegent people and i am sure several of us have skill sets and knowledge that could be beneficial for your decision making and progress

pardon me for minding your business, but fealt this is a big moment for MFN.....just contributing to the forum here

creating a subscription system makes all the sense....you must be reciprocated for your efforts....i have no problems purchasing credits and wish everyone would be willing to put forth what they could. however, to do so, it is imperative to find a way to keep those who have been a part of this community up to this point involved. they are your advertising

if someone is not willing to pay anything....then the $0 one league with ads makes sense for them

(had to switch to PC to finish writing this.....this game on my phone with ads is unusable. have ad block on pc. but i recently purchased 30 credits so i shouldnt see ads at all)

perhaps there can be a flat rate to get rid of ads, a flat rate for each team more than the free one and a flat rate for customization for each team....all able to be purchassed separate from the other......ex. what if i have three teams but only wish to customize one?

again, you have created something many people enjoy. but to move forward without our input would be a mistake. we are the ones that make this game happen. it is not easy to replace a dedicated group like the one that you have now. do what is possible to keep that group and find ways to expand

im sure it wasnt difficult to foresee that many would be leaving once new price structure was rolled out. if they werent willing to pay anything then perhaps it doesnt matter.....not sure why anyone expects anything for free in the system we live in......but it would be wise to figure out how to get those who are on the fence to stay by altering the tiers or grandfathering them in

regarding the tiers......the thing that makes the least amount of sense to me is paying $9.99 a month for Pro Pack but still getting ads....that aint right at all. its $2.99 dollars to not have ads with Rookie Rush, but then it is a $5 increase to not have ads after paying $9.99 for Pro Pack

overall your decision is a step in the correct direction. now its a matter of preventing a mass exodus. i believe most of your loyal players will stay. you are right it cost about a cheeseburger a month....not much to ask to reciprocate your efforts

ps i have 30 legacy credits that i would like transfered to Starter Plus tier

Totally understand why there is now a charge and to be honest , you could and maybe should have been charging a long time ago, and for that I think I speak for most of us , thank you for 11 years of mostly fun lol.
I fully endorse what you’re trying to do and hope MFN thrives once again . I know it’s taking a dip right now , but hopefully new players come in soon .

All the best JDB

Double post

Just be open about it and tell us how much the server costs are, it would put everything more into perspective.

I think transparency is key here. We know the UI update which has been a year or so in the works.

Can you, JDB, provide three samples of what other true user based issues will be addressed in year one assuming this model generates 200% of the normal monthly intake? Is there any future scope other than money now to pay for servers.

Or easier, if you care to share, what are three of the biggest user facing issues in your scope as of today that you’d like to address?

My high-level list of goals, in order of priority, are:

1. Completing the UI - this is huge and will greatly improve the user experience
2. Game engine updates
3. Native mobile app (Probably not by the end of the first year)

I intend to come up with some sort of panel of users to work with me on #2. Revenue will drive the velocity, of course, but having some revenue to push toward development will remove it from its current stagnant state.

Thanks for entertaining the question. These all seem reasonable at surface. I look forward to the UI update in general because I’ve only ever used this game on my phone - I imagine to that extent I would also see the greatest level of enhancements. I will say when announced this seemed to come across to users as being out of touch - most murmuring is related to the engine.

Which is point two here and of highest concern in my opinion to any existing user. The prior changes have been huge swings in various directions. I think for me, this point drives the value proposition. Where does this lead to, and are true engine changes made for the user experience - this is clearly a broad subject and many owners have many opinions. Certain truths are there, like long passes being dead in 4.6. Do you have a plan to prevent these huge swings prior to release? Or provide admin an option to control their league version?

I think this outlines my financial concerns. You can put lipstick on a pig. I’d rather see your platform be consistent, with reasonable changes in a timely manner that are better vetted through more extensive testing before being released. And if all else fails, allow my admin to assume more control.

I appreciate the game you’ve developed. I probably owe you money for the good times. Your consistent presence and impact to the game would likely drive any obligation I felt to pay for this. I look forward to seeing it play out. Hopefully you make me be a consumer. For now, I will need to reduce teams and monitor.

Personally, my issue is not with the subscription model but with the lack of communication, the manner in which this has been implemented effective without notice, the pricing points being implemented and the lack of incentive/value for money that it presents in its current form. I’ve said from my first post that. If there was incentive to purchase, then I would have done so from the moment I was made aware

Without serious understanding of these customisation features beyond what people already get if they paid to unlock them with credits or have the ability to make customisation to their team within a season (and not just in the offseason), then there just is no incentive to purchase any of the subscriptions for someone like myself (and many others) who play in just one league and/or have little to no interest in customisation, or who can just get their league owner to do (they should have, IMO, full customisation features for the league in which they admin regardless).

There just is no incentive to subscribe unless there is something (excluding game advantages) that you get for subscribing. As no new features have been announced, nothing additional added in behind the scenes that people get for subscribing, there is no incentive to want to subscribe. If that changes in the future, then I’d reconsider but right now, without any incentives, it’s not value for money and I’d rather subscribe to other things that provide incentives and value for the money I’m spending.

I only play in one league and of course, I won’t be changing that anytime soon, as I’ve developed on my own quite a backstory and franchise history with my team and I don’t want to give that up anytime soon, plus I enjoy the league I play in with the owners that we have. so I will be sticking around. That and I do support MFN, I think there are some things that could be changed and implemented to make it better, and I for one would be more than happy to provide my thoughts and insights into that, and I do hope that if some sort of consulting group is formed that there is a wide range of views and people brought into that, not just those who have been around the longest or who make deals to get access, that the game can move forward and in time, these subscription tiers become more of an incentive to get into, and if that happens, I’ll be subscribing