I hope this topic or question isn't explicit or financially ignorant on my part.
The other day, which was yesterday, I came back to the game to try and see if I can post random subjects or topics about the game. This is probably my 2nd day using forums (which I am liking since I'm a professional typist anyways) and seeing that typing on here is easier than I thought puts relief to my head. I think asking explicit (mature and explicable reasoning), financial, and player-base questions will help me understand what and why the game is the way it is.
Does it matter if SK needs a big influencer to review this game? What does that add to the game and what is the game missing that the influencer has unlocked?
Doesn't money matter more to revive and guarantee new content? What am I missing?
If $500,000 was spent by a player in this game, would that revive the game? The mechanics, content, graphics, ideologies, and other regulations in terms of progression of the game itself?
- This post might be impertinent (which is not intended to be) and confusing, but I just want to know what makes the game dry and dead besides the generic statement of "no content" + "no communication" = "dead" game.
I do indeed believe this game is alive because there is a community on forums where people won't hesitate to make unexpected statements.
I'm no expert by an means but there simply is a correlation between number of players and money spent.
That one player who spends thousands is there no matter what. It's that 0.1% that just has that kind of money and enjoys the game enough or rather enjoys their status in a game enough to justify paying more.
Now, apart from that the average player will spend way less and a stable influx of new players almost guarantees a stable income in the future. Let's think about what happens when a game grows:
1. That 0.1% of players we talked about is encouraged to keep playing because the game is looking healthy and their built up status isn't in danger to be taken from them through a shut down of the servers.
2. New players will spend some bucks here and there to have an easier progression. Being the players who are the furthest from completion, their money-spending potential is very high. If you keep giving them reasons to play and spend money, they will.
3. The Company can safely invest some of their money into making content because they can be sure that their income will keep coming for a while. New content will satisfy the playerbase, encourage people to keep playing and make old players return, which will in turn improve their income. It's an upwards spiral.
4. The bigger the playerbase is, the bigger the 0.1%
With each new player you have a potential "whale". Someone who falls in love with the game and can afford spending thousands.
The bigger the playerbase, the bigger the core.
Right now, almost all that is left is that core and with each passing month, more players of that core, who love this game, lose hope and quit. They don't see a point in spending money and time in a game where they see the same 5 faces every day and where the shutdown of the server could be announced any day.
Edit: I re-read your question and might have slightly missed the point. In short, one player spending 500.000 would be awesome for Grey havens. But what really matters when investing into creating new content is that medium- and long-term income, that promise that the money they put in will come back via the mechanics I explained above. Hope that answers your question.