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The Game Archaeologist and the Forbidden RuneScape: Words with Paul Gower
The Game Archaeologist is a lazy adventurer-slash-professor who dons his trademark cap for a weekly expedition through some of the most famous MMOs of the past few decades. Each month he chooses a different title to examine its highlights, talk with its developers, and invite its fans to share their experiences. Some of you may be old enough to remember comedian Rodney Dangerfield's classic line, "I don't get no respect!" Double negatives aside, Dangerfield's catchphrase resonated with many people -- perhaps even the team behind RuneScape. Despite being one of the most popular MMOs in the world, it's battled a perception of being "that" MMO that's not quite a full-fledged member of the Big Boy's Club. Lord knows that browser-based titles have struggled against such negativity ever since their inception, and RuneScape is no different. But as I stated last week, perhaps it's high time we get over our exclusion of RuneScape from the discussion whenever MMOs are brought up and start giving the game its due. My inbox's spent a busy week receiving all manner of testimonies about RuneScape, and I saw a common theme of fondness for what was many players' first MMO. Next week I'll let these testimonies out of Pandora's Box (if you haven't already, send me your own RuneScape story via email!), but today I've invited Paul Gower, one of RuneScape's founders, to share his perspective on making and running a gaming phenomenon. Hit the jump to level up!
The Game Archaeologist's fear and loathing in the Kingdom: Joshing with Jick
Here at the Game Archaeologist Labs, we've been dissecting just what it takes to make a hit MMO that defies normal conventions -- a homemade startup that loves its wordplay long time even in an age when only about 12% of internet forum posters are fully literate. Kingdom of Loathing is an anomaly for all these reasons and more, and yet it's succeeded when MMOs boasting $100+ million budgets have bit the dust. Like Batman and Robin, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, Taco Bell and grease, and "That's what" and "she said," the two creators of Kingdom of Loathing are absolutely inseparable. Where there is Jick, there is Mr. Skullhead, and vice-versa. The pair comprise the public face of the game and are so adored by Kingdom of Loathing's fans that I received a ransom note the other day telling me that I'd never see my cat again if I didn't lavish enough praise on the duo. This was weird to me, as I don't own a cat, but that's neither here nor there. In our final week of plumbing the depths of Kingdom of Loathing, I had the pleasure of probing Zack "Jick" Johnson's mind, and I haven't quite recovered yet. I have looked into the abyss, and it looked into me -- and winked. Oh, you flirty abyss! So let's do this thing -- hit the jump and find out just what makes KoL tick from the inside out!
Are gaming subscriptions "going the way of the dodo?"
Duck and cover, subscription gamers, as the sky is finally falling (according to a report from Parks Associates, at any rate). The research firm has collated data that suggests one in five active U.S. gamers spends money on virtual items. What's not clear is the definition of "active," nor why the 20 percent of F2P users is highlighted while the remaining 80% is not. The report ostensibly samples "a wide swath of the online gaming market, including MMOs, console games, casual social titles, and cloud-based game offerings." It also notes a 7% decrease in online gaming subscriptions from 2008 to 2010, a period which also happens to coincide with the once-in-a-generation economic disaster that is still ongoing. Nevertheless, Parks' Pietro Macchiarella feels that the data makes it "increasingly difficult to justify subscription fees. Thanks to social games and free-to-play MMOs, both casual and hardcore players have the option of playing quality games online for free," he says. Check out the source article at Industry Gamers.
The Game Archaeologist's fear and loathing in the Kingdom: Interrogating Mr. Skullhead
I'm sure that after last week's introduction to our Kingdom of Loathing retrospective, many of you out there were going, "What? What is this tomfoolery? Where are my three-dee em em ohs?" Yet I guard a tiny flicker of hope in my heart that a reader or two out there felt their curiosity tingle, then burn, then spontaneously combust as he or she gave KoL a shot. In contrast to many of the other MMOs we play today, Kingdom of Loathing is downright old-school in terms of development and staff. There's no huge company here, no six floors of cubicles or corporate softball leagues. There's just a handful of gamers and writers who turned a pet project into a long-running success. Today I got the privilege of putting Josh "Mr. Skullhead" Nite to the question, and it was a treat to end all treats. An armageddon treat, if you will. So what's it like being one of the masterminds behind the most insane MMO in the world? And are the stories of its boozy origins true? Hit the jump and find out!
Doubling season comes to Global Agenda
With Global Agenda's switch to a subscription-free format earlier this year, the game was put on track to begin launching content updates and small additions to replace the subscription fees. Up until now, the team at Hi-Rez Studios has been focused on the long-running Sandstorm series of updates, but the game has now begun selling boost packs as the first added service. And what do these packs do? They double your enjoyment -- assuming that you enjoy gaining experience and tokens. The packs -- available in 10-day, 30-day, and 90-day flavors -- double all experience and tokens earned for the duration for all characters on an account. Not coincidentally, the 30-day boost costs just under $15, the same price as a monthly subscription in most subscription-based games. Each boost runs for the specified length of time and is activated immediately upon purchase, which makes the benefits and drawbacks rather transparently obvious. Players of Global Agenda can purchase packs on the official site, with a small guide available for the new feature. [Thanks to Caleb Goh for the tip!]
Updated: En Masse signs agreement with e-commerce company Digital River
En Masse the company responsible for TERA, is going to be working with Digital River for the next few years as part of a global agreement. In the immortal words of Paul Vasquez, what does it mean? Well, we know that TERA will have a subscription-based business model, but Digital River's press release points to a bit more than that: "Digital River will manage in-game commerce and launch an online store to support North American sales of En Masse's soon-to-be-released flagship action MMO, TERA." It's almost standard these days for MMOs to offer microtransactions even on top of a subscription fee, so while nothing has been officially announced, the mention of in-game commerce looks like our first indication that TERA may be going in that direction. The agreement will run through 2014. [Edit: Senior Community Manager of En Masse Entertainment has responded to some of the player concerns: "A few folks have expressed concerns that TERA users are going to have to pay micro-transaction fees in order to play TERA; that's not the case. We'd like to clarify that TERA is a subscription-based game, not a micro-transaction-based game. As gamers ourselves, we believe that our fellow players shouldn't be required to pay micro-transaction fees in order to have a great gaming experience."]
Final Fantasy XIV announces launch date and pricing model
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/Final_Fantasy_XIV_s_launch_date_announced_coming_this_year'; The speculation for Final Fantasy XIV's eager fanbase can finally come to an end. Square-Enix's hotly anticipated MMORPG has an official release date, and contrary to the expectations of many it's not at the absolute end of the year. The game will officially launch on the PC on September 22nd -- and September 30th. In addition to the official release announcement, Square has disclosed the bonuses for the Collector's Edition, and one of those bonuses is a full week's early access. The Collector's Edition, which retails for $74.99 instead of the standard version's $49.99, will also include an exclusive in-game item, a security token, a travel journal with concept art, and a special cover with art by Yoshitako Amano. Both versions include 30 days of free game time, with subsequent months priced at $12.99. No word on whether the fee will increase for additional characters a la Final Fantasy XI. If you can't wait for another three months, however, you can take heart in the promise that Final Fantasy XIV's beta will start in early July. It's not quite as good as launch, but we're sure it'll ease the scant time remaining. [Editor's Note: As an additional note, extra character slots in the game will cost $3.00 per month, much like Final Fantasy XI's $1 per month character slots. However, if you wish to have another character for inventory purposes in FFXIV, then the cost is still only $1 dollar. So, to recap, a playable character slot in FFXIV is $3.00 per month, while a non-playing "inventory use only" character is $1 dollar per month. ~Sera]
All Points Bulletin interview on the approaching release
The time leading up to launch for All Points Bulletin has been a bit rocky here and there, with hot spots of controversy regarding the game's pricing model and the review embargo set for a surprisingly late date. But still, with about a week left before the game goes live, there's plenty to be excited about. (We'd link you to our own first impressions, but you'll have to travel into the future to be allowed to read it.) Our sister site Joystiq had a chance to talk with producer Jesse Knapp about the game's state just prior to launch. There are several interesting tidbits in the interview, such as discussion about how the game allows for criminals to fight amongst themselves on the premise that the designers expected an imbalance in that faction. There's also talk about the decision to avoid a microtransaction model in favor of the currently variable spread of subscription options for players. While the developers are still a bit up in the air about the game's status as an MMO, we're sure we have more than a few readers who are anticipating All Points Bulletin and who will find some interesting tidbits in the interview.
Anti-Aliased: LotRO will only go down in flames if you let it
Damn my column being on Thursdays. It makes me a week late to the "Lord of the Rings Online going free-to-play" discussion, and that makes me sad. Still, a short passage of time isn't going to stop me from sinking my teeth into this subject, so be prepared for an onslaught of opinion! So, I read a lot of opinions last week. I read the opinions here, I read the opinions on the blogosphere, and I listened to the chat room, Facebook, and Twitter. I was all over the place. While there was a lot of criticism and praise being flung around for Lord of the Rings Online making this absolutely crazy move, it's the criticism that I want to tackle in today's column. Specifically, there's one piece of criticism that I feel needs to have bull called on it -- the concept that the Lord of the Rings Online community will fall apart the second the free-to-play crowd is mixed in.
APB's lead designer discusses pricing model
Kotaku has an interesting article regarding the recently announced pricing options for Realtime Worlds' All Points Bulletin. The urban crime MMORPG made waves late last month with their unique access model that allows gamers the ability to purchase time blocks in certain sections of the game world in addition to the traditional all-encompassing monthly access fee. E.J. Moreland, APB's lead designer, draws a distinction between players that are likely to prefer the game's gunplay versus those that will be more interested in the socialization options in the game, which are considerable. "With the social district there is a compelling investigation to be made into making the social district entirely free to play, building that out to be a stand alone. There is going to be two kinds of audiences in APB: People who want to play the action game and think it's cool and then people for whom customization is the driver," he says. Moreland goes on to state that the Realtime Worlds team is planning on adding to the social game in short order, beginning with player housing. Check out the full article over at Kotaku.
Get your current weather from Outside
Outside [iTunes link] is a new, personal weather app for the iPhone/iPod touch that provides a visual forecast with some paid options for push notifications. I like the idea of the app; it has some nice graphics and a fresh approach to weather information. The GUI is based on a metaphor of looking out a window: you can get the current conditions or a five-day forecast, if you want to glance into the future. For the relevant stats, like humidity, cloud cover and winds, you just flick up the screen, and it'll tell you everything you need to know. The app also features an interesting pay model: when you buy the U.S $2.99 app, you get 30 days of push notifications for free. Then it's $0.99 for the notifications every three months. Notifications include letting you know if rain is in the forecast, the UV index when it goes above a set level, a warning if the temperature goes below your preference, and a notification that the weather is OK to wear a T-shirt. There are a few things that would make this app better. First, it'd be nice to reduce the need to flick the screen so often. The five-day forecast could be placed on one page, not five. And the notifications are unique, but a bit strange. I'd much rather be notified of upcoming storm warnings rather than T-shirt weather, but there is no such option -- especially since the notifications are so pricey (getting them for a year costs more than the app itself), it'd be nice to have some more options. And if you want weather from a different location, you have to enter that location manually. There is no list of favorites. I think weather junkies would be better off with the Weather Channel app [iTunes link], which is free, Weather Channel Max for $3.99 [iTunes link], or MyWeather [iTunes link] mobile which provides very detailed info for a one-time $4.99, and includes (free) push notifications for severe weather. There is some clever thinking behind Outside, and it's a fresh approach to a function that's seen its share of rainy days. But I wish it had more information on the individual screens, and it wasn't so expensive to get notifications.
A WoW player's guide to microtransactions
Well Blizzard has finally done it. After charging only for out-of-game services like faction changes and character customization, with the release of in-game pets on the Blizzard store, they've finally moved on to selling virtual items for real money. And there's a word, dirty in the mouths of some, that's floating around that some of you may not have heard or understood before: microtransactions. We wouldn't blame you -- some of our own staff didn't even know what they were just a little while ago. But with the decision to sell in-game items for straight cash, Blizzard has entered the fascinating and treacherous world of microtransactions. And if you're going to follow them off into this world, you might as well at least know what they're all about. And so, we're here to help. Whether you've never heard of microtransactions before, you're convinced that they're the devil and that Blizzard has grown too greedy for their own good, or you can't wait to open up your wallet and get a Pandaren Monk to follow you around, let's take a second and look at the history of the microtransaction model, what it means that Blizzard made this decision, and what might happen to the game in the future.
Simultaneous digital, retail PSP releases could be standard in five years
SCEA's John Koller acknowledges that simultaneous retail and digital release is the way Japan and Europe are going; however, it's not the direction North American is heading towards. Well, not now anyhow. Koller says that day-and-date UMD/digital launching is something that's a "mid-term" goal, not something SCEA is aiming for in the short-term and it could take up to five years before it becomes standard business"In North America we haven't made a firm decision if and when we're going to launch day and date, retail and digital ... we're looking at the opportunity," said Koller in a GDC conference (via GamesIndustry.biz). The real question now is: Will the PSP be around that long for us to see this business model take flight? Perhaps, we'll have to wait for Sony's next portable gaming device.
Blizzard has no plans to change World of Warcraft's subscription rate
In another chat with MTV's Tracey John, this time held in an NYC Best Buy during the Wrath of the Lich King launch, Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime had some interesting things to say about the economics behind World of Warcraft. Despite the game's towering success, 11 million players and a thriving community, the Blizzard folk have no plans to change the way they charge US customers. John ties this in with the recent announcement of plans for a subscription-based Guitar Hero series, something Morhaime says Blizzard had nothing to do with.He goes on to note something MMO players have long used as a talking point for their hobby: the extremely low rate of cost for content. "If you look at other choices that you can make - like going to a movie with a date - you've already over 15 dollars for two hours. I think that players really see that in terms of value for their entertainment, that this the best value that they can find right now." The CEO states that so far the company hasn't been affected by the country's economic downturn, and they have hopes they won't see any problems moving into the winter months. Click through to read the full interview, which touches on the company's enthusiasm for their new expansion and their plans for future content expansions to WoW.
Blizzard may have considered free-to-play for WoW, but won't change the model now
Gamasutra recently spoke with Paul Sams, chief operating officer at Blizzard Entertainment, just after the WorldWide Invitational came to a close. Alongside questions about the framework around Diablo 3 and the potential of user-generated content, the site referenced the recent revelation that World of Warcraft could potentially have been a free-to-play title. Sams offered, in response to the question, that he doesn't see the company changing the game's business model any time soon.Echoing the points made by individuals such as Min Kim and Ray Muzyka, Sams noted that changing the business model would likely neccessitate a substantial revamp in game design - something they're not prepared to do. "The game has been designed in such a way to where we determined the business model to wrap that around what the game experience was." Sims also puts forth that the company has no plans to create a 'kiddie' version of the popular MMO, nor to port it to handheld systems.Check out the interview for a number of other interesting topics, including Sams' followup to Mr. Pardo's rebuke against Microsoft over its Xbox 360 focus.
Player vs. Everything: What if WoW sold its code base?
I could bore you all today by starting my article with a lengthy story about the pre-history of your beloved MMORPGs, but I'll cut to the important part: Once upon a time there was a little game called DikuMUD. Similar in nature to the popular Dungeons and Dragons tabletop roleplaying game, it quickly took off with the geek crowd and became something of a phenomenon. In 1991, the source code for the game was made public and it grew into the most popular code base out there for the creation of multi-user dungeons, largely attributed to the ease with which the code could be set up and run. This led to an explosion of rather similar games that eventually gave rise to the more modern virtual fantasy worlds like Ultima Online, EverQuest, and World of Warcraft (each of these have been compared to DikuMUDs at various times). What's the point of rehashing all of this? Simply this: While many people would probably disagree with me, the proliferation of a popular, established code base that was proven to attract players and was easy to set up "out of the box" allowed enormous innovation and creativity to flourish. At one point, there were so many MUDs available on the web that you could go to a website designed specifically to sort out what features you wanted in yours (and play it free of charge, most of the time). Given the wild popularity of World of Warcraft today, I can't help but wonder what would happen to the online gaming industry if Blizzard decided to start selling their source code to people interested in starting up their own game.
The "lessons" behind Blizzard's innovation
Have you ever wondered what it is about Blizzard that has set them so far apart from their competition? It's a question that other bigwigs in the game industry, even those uninvolved with MMOs, have struggled to answer. Activision couldn't wrap their heads around the concept, so they just went and bought Blizzard instead. CEO Bobby Kotick has said something to the effect of, "Well, whatever it is, it'd cost about a billion dollars to emulate," as if it's some top-secret mystery. As it turns out, if you want to know their secrets, all you have to do is ask. A local Orange County newspaper has tracked down some experts and asked Blizzard Producer J. Allen Brack to come up with reasons why they're so successful.They've only go three of the eleven "lessons" published so far, but they've so far been frustratingly obvious. "Rely on critics." Yes, OK, that's important. "Use your own product." I can see the utility in that. "Make continual improvements." We call those patches! If these are the sort of things that other MMO companies are missing, then the entire Massively staff may have to up and quit to become high-paid MMO consultants. Here's another lesson for you, free of charge, "Don't release a game until it's finished!" Innovative, we know. Oh, or how about this one? "Treat your IPs like they're actually worth something." We hope somebody brought a pen, we could do this all day!
Rumor: Apple to offer iTunes subscription model
According to the Financial Times, Apple is (still) considering an "all-you-can-eat" subscription model, which is strange, because why would anyone want to eat digital music? They must mean "listen." Yes, as speculated before (in order to figure out what Jobs will be doing in a year, just listen to what he says he won't do now, apparently), Apple might come up with a plan where you would pay either a monthly fee or a lifetime subscription to download music from iTunes presumably straight into your iPod or iPhone. Supposedly what's holding the deal up isn't the price negotiation between consumers and Apple, it's between Apple and the record companies. Nokia, which is planning a similar deal, is reportedly happy to pay $80 per device to the music companies for the rights, but Apple is only offering $20.Which makes sense -- Apple is the 800 lb. gorilla in the media device market, and so they have the ability in most cases to pay what they want or not bother. If the two sides do come to a deal, however, even the terms of property are still up in the air. A few ideas being bounced around would let consumers keep a certain number of songs even if they changed devices, while some deals would only allow access while the subscription was active.What this may mean for us as consumers, at least, would be that Apple is planning to bring the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store to even more devices in the iPod line (or at least expand the capacity of the iPod touch to hold a subscription collection like this). If Apple really is planning to open up their library to a subscription, they should make it as easy as possible to obtain the music on demand.
Areae explains MetaPlace's MetaBucks
The MetaPlace developer blog was updated with a description of Areae's plans for "MetaBucks." Unsurprisingly, MetaBucks will be the currency of MetaPlace. They will be exchangeable both ways for real-world currency, and will be used to buy tools and assets with which to build worlds. Also, MetaBucks will provide a system for creators of virtual worlds made in MetaPlace to charge subscription fees.If you're thinking, "gee, that sounds very Second Life-esque," you're not the only one! MetaPlace seeks to bridge the gap between gamers and virtual world residents by providing tools (like MetaBucks) that will be useful to both. For a browser-based title, MetaPlace is unusually ambitious in terms of scope.If you're curious how all this fits into Areae's business plan as a whole, check out the business plan FAQ. Basically, MetaPlace is free until the world you create crosses a certain traffic threshold. After that, it costs money to continue hosting your world there, but you can use MetaBucks to charge players or take donations, and use that income to cover the costs.
Games sales figures show online is key
The NPD Group has released sales figures for 2005, estimating that the US spent $1.4 billion on games last year. An interesting and growing proportion of that income was from online games -- $344 million, about one quarter of the total spending, came from recurring subscription fees.Breaking that down, NPD estimates about 85% of that recurring income is from specific games like World of Warcraft, whereas the rest -- a non-trivial $52 million -- comes from casual games portals. It's clear from the tremendous amount of money being generated by both games and gaming portals, as well as the popularity of MMOs and casual games, that online is a key area to watch in future. While digital downloads are only a small part of the picture -- 3% of total market sales -- the area should grow, partly driven by the convenience of buying and delivering online. Of course, paying for a game through monthly subscriptions rather than a one-off box fee is appealing, though players of games like World of Warcraft don't seem to mind doing both.
