Level 6 subscription bug?

None of those levels are premium levels you should be able to access them normally try using chrome

Same thing.

“the raised sword” is not working, as it asks for you to have a subscription. Currently using javascript.

I have the same problem at the same level and I’m using Python and Chrome. I don’t play anymore because of this. I came back to see if there was a solution, but it’s still the same.

I am not sure about this. I`ve done this level before and I was able to play. It sounds like a bug.

Well it seems like we need @nick here

Are you guys playing from our Brazil servers? In order to support the extra Brazil-focused servers that we set up over there, we are trying a different pricing model where we don’t give away as many free levels in order to see if we can support CodeCombat Brazil to make a better experience for Brazilian players.

Yes, I’m playing from Brazil, and I think 6 levels are not enough to make someone pay for the other ones. Instead, it’s too early to ask for a subscription. But this is just my opinion about it.

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I think it depends on if the Subscription levels are available.

Forgive my ignorance, but what is the real purpose of those servers? As far as I’m aware, the assets are served from CDNs and cached in users’ browsers, and the game simulations are processed in the users’ browsers as well. It seems like CodeCombat’s servers are used mostly for data persistence (storing user, rankings and clan data) and processing billing operations, which are both easily scalable and cheap activities.

This is way beyond me, but I fail to see how it would be a good idea to try out a new pricing model on a country that is undergoing one of the worst economical and political crisis in its history ([1], [2]). For comparison’s sake, while 9.99 USD may barely pay a coffee drink where you live, here it is currently worth 37.66 BRL which can afford several meals (and look, food prices are quite inflated already).

I love CodeCombat, but if your plan is to turn a full free-to-play game into a five minutes trial of a paid game that is inaccessible to many, I have no choice but to start indicating other free resources.

I know I have no say here, but I took my very limited time writing this because I really care for CodeCombat. Again, this is just my two cents. Do as you please with my feedback.

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eh, I’ll just grab a free vpn then.

Is it possible that the pricing model is more favorable? Maybe a pay 5 BRL to unlock 10 levels of your choice?
Anyways, I live in Brazil(I’m american though), and I’ve been with codecombat for a looonnng time. So maybe it’s possible that’s why I don’t have to subscribe. Or I may have logged in using VPN at one point.

But, this response is justified. If you look at a lot of online services, they are frequently full of Brazilians. A new server might be justified, along with better translations if CodeCombat is looking at making a Brazil-only service.

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Yes, we need to lower the price for Brazilian players. What do you think would be an accessible price point for a monthly subscription?

The servers help with user-specific database reads, which can’t be served from CDN and end up causing significant slowdowns, as well as cases where the CDN isn’t fully populated (a frequent occurrence since we can’t afford the best CDNs will all those free players and so much networking going on). But more importantly is the Brazil team that we are setting up to improve translations, customize the game for Brazil, and work with Brazilian schools to set things up for classrooms and to run after-school CodeCombat classes. This is what we want to do in China now, too, as soon as we can get the team together, and perhaps in other countries if it ends up working well. $10/mo USD is not accessible for most countries.

It looks like accounts created prior to the pricing model change still follow the old pricing model. Perhaps @nick can provide more details on this.

I believe my opinion may not be a good metric as I’m not part of the target audience, but I’d shoot somewhere between 19.99 and 24.99 BRL for the monthly subscription price.

Sounds nice. :smile_cat:

I’m just worried with the transition from a full free-to-play campaign to just a small free trial, though. That is a huge fundamental change, in my humble opinion. With this, CodeCombat is no longer a “pay for extra content” game, but an actual “pay to play” game instead. As far as I can see, this goes against CodeCombat’s mission of teaching the world to code.

But anyway, it is up to you guys to decide what is the best for your game and your business.

I think that CodeCombat should focus on spreading itself, profit will follow. So, here is what I suggest:
Do something similar to the release in the US, starting small and when you have enough users so that the Brazil Team will sustain itself, then add in subscription, asking for advice on how to price it.

Actually just had another idea. For people not familiar with Humble Bundle, it is a service for gamers that offers bundles w/ varying amounts of content. You can pay any amount, even 1 cent, to get some basic stuff. Or, you can pay more than the average amount and unlock more content. Finally, you may pay a set price(usually around $9) to unlock the full content. Maybe we could do this, and every month release the new content, some of it free, and the rest of it with staggered price levels. So, you wouldn’t subscribe, you would just buy the extra content as you went along.

Is 19.99 - 24.99 BRL really that much cheaper than 9.99 USD for a Brazilian player? Well, I’ll also talk to my Brazil team to see about a sensible price.

We are trying out having the free content be available in the Courses version, where a teacher gets the core dungeon levels to use in her classroom for free, and the students can play that without being bothered to subscribe or buy gems or anything like that. Since so many of our players are in schools, it seems like this might align better. Courses is in rough beta now, but you can try it at /courses to get a sense of what we are doing there.

Yep, it is. 9.99 USD is currently worth 37.92 BRL. So, calculating a simple conversion at the current conversion rates, 19.99 BRL is 47% cheaper than 9.99 USD. Note that most billing services also charge a conversion fee or do conversions at a higher rate than the standard, letting alone other international transfer taxes. So, in reality, the price I suggested is currently less than half of the cost a Brazilian would pay for a subscription at the moment.

You probably noticed that I emphasized the word “currently”, and that is because our economy is really on the brink. The BRL to USD conversion rates are at their highest in history, here is the Google Finance chart:

The USD conversion rate almost doubled just in the last year. If not by that, the 9.99 USD monthly subscription price would seem reasonable to me.

Hopefully the economy will stabilize again soon (in a few years, maybe?) and get back to the usual conversion rates.

But until then, it would be great if your team could find a billing service that accepts payment in BRL, as to not expose players to exorbitant and fluctuating conversion rates. :wink:

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Right, I’m saying if the economy is currently in chaos, I would expect the accessible price to be less than half the US price. But I don’t have a good sense of what people in Brazil normally like to spend on subscription services like this.

I tried to strike the balance between “accessible” and “fair”. Even when the economy was normal, goods such as electronics, software and gaming services are usually overpriced compared to other countries (relative to each country’s average cost of living). This is usually due to taxes.

I’ve shoot a price that I would be comfortable paying for my children (if I had any) to play and learn to code. Of course, if your team can offer subscriptions at a cheaper price, that would be great too. :grin:

China having the same issue now. Price seems a little steep considering few people here seem to pay for software. I am not sure if you have considered ads with subscription to remove…

Also, site should be updated so it no longer says 110+ free levels if there aren’t actually that many free levels. We spent days trying to work out why some of my students were running into a paywall.