October 2004
- intellectual history T.L. Taylor
- intellectual history Mike
- Text-tospeech (Was Shift in time) Mike Rozak
- Text-tospeech (Was Shift in time) Mike Rozak
- [NEWS][BIZ] China to limit online gaming Ghilardi Filippo
- TECH: Punkbuster type technology and why we don't see any big name MMOG's using it David Wright
- ADMIN: Attitude, this list, and moderation J C Lawrence
- (no subject) Unknown
- PvP and teamspeak? Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- PvP and teamspeak? Victor Wachter
- PvP and teamspeak? Corey Crawford
- PvP and teamspeak? Brian Hook
- PvP and teamspeak? Victor Wachter
- PvP and teamspeak? Ghilardi Filippo
- PvP and teamspeak? David Johansson
- PvP and teamspeak?
- PvP and teamspeak? Douglas Goodall
- PvP and teamspeak? Matt Mihaly
- PvP and teamspeak? Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- PvP and teamspeak? Matt Mihaly
- PvP and teamspeak? Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- PvP and teamspeak?
- PvP and teamspeak? Matt Mihaly
- PvP and teamspeak? Corey Crawford
- PvP and teamspeak? Ling Lo
- PvP and teamspeak? Dana V. Baldwin
- PvP and teamspeak? Cosmik
- PvP and teamspeak? Cosmik
- PvP and teamspeak? Mike Rozak
- PvP and teamspeak? Corey Cauble
- PvP and teamspeak? Ghilardi Filippo
- Text-to-speech (Was Shift in time) Mike Rozak
- Why do smart people grind? ceo
- Why do smart people grind? Geoff Hollis
- Why do smart people grind? Matt Mihaly
- Why do smart people grind? Miroslav Silovic
- Why do smart people grind? ghovs
- Why do smart people grind? Oliver Smith
- Why do smart people grind?
- Why do smart people grind? neild-mud@misago.org
- Why do smart people grind? Kirinyaga
- DGN: Effect of voice chat on game design Brett Bibby
- DGN: Effect of voice chat on game design Cosmik
- DGN: Effect of voice chat on game design Mike Rozak
- DGN: Effect of voice chat on game design Russ Whiteman
- DGN: Effect of voice chat on game design Matt Mihaly
- DGN: Effect of voice chat on game design Ted L. Chen
- DGN: Effect of voice chat on game design Per Magne Bjørnerud
- DGN: Effect of voice chat on game design Paul Canniff
- DGN: Effect of voice chat on game design Mike Rozak
- DGN: Effect of voice chat on game design darksuit
- DGN: Effect of voice chat on game design Dana V. Baldwin
- DGN: Effect of voice chat on game design Sean Kelly
- DGN: Effect of voice chat on game design Richard A. Bartle
- DGN: Effect of voice chat on game design Mike Rozak
- DGN: Effect of voice chat on game design Richard A. Bartle
- [SPAM] DGN: Effect of voice chat on game design Dana V. Baldwin
- [SPAM] DGN: Effect of voice chat on game design Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- [SPAM] DGN: Effect of voice chat on game design Tess Snider
- [SPAM] DGN: Effect of voice chat on game design Byron Ellacott
- DGN: Effect of voice chat on game design Damion Schubert
- DGN: Effect of voice chat on game design Mike Rozak
- DGN: Effect of voice chat on game design Damion Schubert
- DGN: Effect of voice chat on game design Corey Cauble
- DGN: Effect of voice chat on game design Amanda Walker
- DGN: Effect of voice chat on game design Mike Rozak
- DGN: Effect of voice chat on game design Dana V. Baldwin
- DGN: Effect of voice chat on game design Mike Rozak
- DGN: Effect of voice chat on game design Dana V. Baldwin
- DGN: Effect of voice chat on game design Dana V. Baldwin
- DGN: Effect of voice chat on game design Corey Cauble
- DGN: Effect of voice chat on game design Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- DGN: Effect of voice chat on game design Douglas Goodall
- DGN: Effect of voice chat on game design Brett Bibby
- DGN: Effect of voice chat on game design Douglas Galbi
- DGN: Effect of voice chat on game design Ted L. Chen
- DGN: Effect of voice chat on game design Douglas Galbi
- DGN: Effect of voice chat on game design Richard A. Bartle
- DGN: Effect of voice chat on game design Tess Snider
- DGN: Effect of voice chat on game design Lost Penguin
- DGN: Effect of voice chat on game design Mike Rozak
- DGN: Effect of voice chat on game design Mike Rozak
- DGN: Effect of voice chat on game design Dana V. Baldwin
- DGN: Effect of voice chat on game design Damion Schubert
- Newsweek prints an article reguarding the selling of virtual currency Chris
- Newsweek prints an article reguarding the selling of virtual currency Chris
- Cheating in the world Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Cheating in the world Matt Mihaly
- Cheating in the world Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Cheating in the world Matt Mihaly
- Cheating in the world Matt Mihaly
- Cheating in the world Michael Hartman
- Cheating in the world Michael Hartman
- Cheating in the world Paul Schwanz
- Cheating in the world Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Cheating in the world Paul Schwanz
- Cheating in the world Damion Schubert
- Cheating in the world Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Cheating in the world Matt Mihaly
- Cheating in the world Matt Mihaly
- Cheating in the world Dana V. Baldwin
- Cheating in the world Ted L. Chen
- Cheating in the world Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Cheating in the world Matt Mihaly
- Cheating in the world Shannon Sullivan
- Cheating in the world Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Cheating in the world Shannon Sullivan
- Cheating in the world Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Cheating in the world Fred Snyder
- Cheating in the world Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Cheating in the world Zach Collins (Siege)
- Cheating in the world Miroslav Silovic
- Cheating in the world Corey Cauble
- Cheating in the world Shannon Sullivan
- Will players pay for public services? Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Will players pay for public services? ceo
- Will players pay for public services? Tom Hunter
ceo@grexengine.com wrote:
> Ola Fosheim Grøstad wrote:
>> How to make a MUD profitable?
>> Options:
>> 2. Subscription. Players increasingly play more than one game,
>> subscription is a barrier to revists. This can be overcome, but
>> I also believe subscription leads to designs choices which are
>> optimal for retaining customers, but detrimental to gameplay.
> I think this area is a lot less black and white than many think it
> is, mainly because of naivety or inexperience with pricing models.
I think that point number 2 is often true but but (as the second
post hints at) it does not have to be true. Flat subscription is
bad because it discourages innovation and makes customer service
problematic. Innovation is discouraged because your innovation has
to be popular with many of your subscribers since you have not used
pricing to segment them. Customer service is problematic because
your high service customers are paying the same amount of money as
the ones who never bother you.
You could offer different game experiences for different
subscription prices. I know that many people in the game industry
object to this but I think that is naivety and inexperience talking.
Most entertainment and luxury good pricing is variable. Cable TV
does not have one price for all the content, theater and music do
not have one price for all the tickets.
> $10/month seems to be a de facto automatic baseline for MMOGs -
> even amongst those who just picked the number "because everyone
> else does it" (even though that's no longer the case, the number
> has stuck). $X/month also seems to be a common target amongst
> people I run into who are hoping to start a small commercial MUD.
Its worth noting that the $10 a month figure has moved up because
some one (I don't remember who was first) priced their game higher
and the rest of the industry discovered that the same people who
were paying $10 a month were willing to pay $13 to $15.
> But I've seen online games (non RPG, non MMO) with a $5/year
> pricing model - with several hundred thousand
> subscribers. Obviously, this is a gross simplification, and
> glosses over the cost of each customer, but a lot of people don't
> seem to stop and think about the possibility that reducing
> per-customer revenue by a factor of 20 could increase customer
> numbers by a much greater ratio.
This is a valid point but I think it deserves exploration because
its just one piece of something more complex. The question is one
of value and how you offer it.
The example above is an aguement that people will find it attractive
if you offer them: The Same For Less. Therefore more people will
buy your product. This does two things for you. If your product is
actually the same as a competitor it allows you to take market share
from the more expensive competitor. If two companies are selling
the same apple but one is selling it for $1 and the other for $2
most people will buy the $1 apple. If your product is unique (most
games fit here) then it enlarges your market by letting people with
very little money buy your game. In a country like the USA where
the average income is over $30,000 a year your not adding that many
people to your potential market at $5 because just about everyone
can pay much more than that. If you were selling the game in China
where the average income is in the hundreds of dollars this strategy
might make lots of sense.
The Same For Less is just one of the potentail offers you can make.
There is also More For More. Pay me $25 a month and you get access
to unique content. Or pay me $49.99 once and you get the latest
expansion to EverQuest/DAOC/Insert Name Here. Anyone who is selling
in game items on ebay is following this strategy and it puzzles me
that so few of the game providers in the MMORPG space leave this
option to third parties rather than offering it themselves.
> Maybe not. But...the variation in pricing models for subs-based
> games still seems to me surprisingly low?
I agree completely and I think its a very bad thing for the
industry. Pricing strategy controls many aspects of game design and
customer service. Less sophisiticated pricing strategy creates an
economic imperative for less sophisticated design. If your pricing
strategy will not allow you to charge your players for your work
will you do the work?
Tom Hunter
- Will players pay for public services? Tom Hunter
- Will players pay for public services? ceo
- Will players pay for public services? Matt Mihaly
- Will players pay for public services? Hans-Henrik Staerfeldt
- Will players pay for public services? Hans-Henrik Staerfeldt
- Indies unite? Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Indies unite? Mike Rozak
- Indies unite? Mike Rozak
- Indies unite? Boris Triebel
- Indies unite? Dana V. Baldwin
- NEWS: Oblivion RPG's (next version of Morrowind) NPC AI Mike Rozak
- NEWS: Oblivion RPG's (next version of Morrowind) NPC AI Mike Rozak
- BIZ: Europe & Distrubution Johan
- BIZ: Europe & Distrubution Matt Mihaly
- BIZ: Europe & Distrubution Daniel James
- R: BIZ: Europe & Distrubution Valerio Santinelli
- BIZ: Europe & Distrubution Dana V. Baldwin
- BIZ: Europe & Distrubution HRose
- BIZ: Europe & Distrubution Vincent Archer
- BIZ: Europe & Distrubution Johan
- BIZ: Europe & Distrubution Matt Mihaly
- BIZ: Europe & Distrubution Tamzen Cannoy
- BIZ: Europe & Distrubution Ghilardi Filippo
- [OT] Europe & Distribution Ben Carter
- BIZ: Europe & Distrubution Ghilardi Filippo
- BIZ: Europe & Distrubution ceo
- BIZ: Europe & Distrubution Michael Hartman
- BIZ: Europe & Distrubution HRose
- BIZ: Europe & Distrubution Dana V. Baldwin
- BIZ: Europe & Distrubution Erik Bethke
- BIZ: Europe & Distrubution Bloo
- BIZ: Europe & Distrubution Per Vognsen
- [OT] Hi all an first time MMORPG designer tries to get in the loop Sam Byard
- [SPAM] DGN: Effect of voice chat on game design Tess Snider
- MEDIA: Chris Crawford on Interactive Storytelling Mike Rozak
- Sweatshops? Tess Snider