Ramin-Shokrizade
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Why MMOs stopped getting bigger
If after looking over the state of MMOs lately you've been left singing, "Where have all the big games gone?" to yourself, Ramin Shokrizade has an answer just for you. A virtual world economist, Shokrizade states that up until EVE Online and World of Warcraft, games grew in size and scope and then stopped. Why? Because it was never about getting big; it was about protecting and ensuring the equity of the gamers. Shokrizade delves into why equity -- the sum of gamers' in-game efforts, such as levels and possessions -- is so important in a game and why those games that ignore protecting this equity don't measure up when it comes to success. He discusses how microtransactions that deal in in-game content destroy equity as well as how expansions that make previous content (such as crafting tiers) obsolete do the same thing. He then goes on to discuss the games that get it right, like League of Legends and World of Tanks.
Forking over your cash to play for free
Free-to-play means you can play for free, right? Not if you've got your sights set on the top founders packs for upcoming games like Marvel Heroes. In a blog on Gamasutra, virtual world economist Ramin Shokrizade explores the trend of these F2P collector-edition equivalents and whether the value justifies the price or if it's all a con to push players into making uninformed purchases before they have enough info. Shokrizade compares the value of both Marvel Heroes and MechWarrior Tactics founders packs. At $199.99 and $120 respectively, both come with a hefty price tag, but both also claim significantly higher values. Do you really get your money's worth? Because of the replayability inherent in trying each superhero, Shokrizade rated Marvel Heroes as "pricey but reasonable." MechWarrior Tactics, however, received a "poor value" rating due to the tremendous in-game advantage that the founders pack gives. How will these titles ultimately fare? Shokrizade stated that it all depends on enjoyable player interactions. "[Players] should not have to spend a lot in order to be able to have a positive social experience," he said. "Taking this one step further, if [players] can spend to lower the experience of other players, this will cause a rapid collapse of revenues."
Virtual world economist says Guild Wars 2's pre-endgame economy 'broken'
Ever since Guild Wars 2 went live back in August of last year, the state of the game's economy has... fluctuated wildly, let's say. But now, about eight months down the line, how is the economy holding up? Virtual world economist Ramin Shokrizade (the same fellow who wrote about using EVE Online to predict the real-world recession) has published a new piece on Gamasutra that takes an in-depth look at the economy of Guild Wars 2 as it stands today. The article is too detailed to summarize here, but one thing worth taking away is Shokrizade's observation that, "with the exception of craft materials, [Guild Wars 2's] pre-endgame item economy is broken." He elaborates that, for example, a level 39 green-quality chestpiece regularly sells on the auction house for around 112 copper -- a scant 1 copper more than vendors pay for the same item. He concludes that GW2's pre-endgame economy is "one of the worst [he has] studied in the last 14 years." Eesh. He also takes an in-depth look at the role crafting plays in the economy and the effects of the in-game economy on cash-shop purchases. The full piece is a bit long but certainly worth the time for anyone interested in the intricacies of virtual economies or Guild Wars 2 players in general.
