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The Agency opts for in-game advertising instead of monthly fees
In a recent interview with Kikizo, Sony Online Entertainment's Kevin O'Hara revealed that the upcoming spy MMO The Agency will not incorporate the traditional monthly subscription model, but will instead turn to in-game ads and micro-transactions."We're acutely aware that shooter players are not used to paying monthly fees, so I doubt we'll go for an outright $15 a month, which works on some of our other projects. So we're checking out Free Realms to see how they're going to do with their micro-transactions, and we might incorporate some of that. We'll definitely have some ad revenue models. The Agency's the perfect place for some in-game product placement," O'Hara stated in the interview.
Interview with The Agency's Kevin O'Hara, part two
The second part of Ten Ton Hammer's interview with Kevin O'Hara, Senior World Designer for The Agency, focuses on the game's mission design and eventual end-game. We find out that there will be a main story to the game that will be continued through a major line of missions, but you can expect plenty of side missions similar to pretty much any other MMO as well. Following what was said in the first interview, these missions will take place in a variety of settings, both large open areas and smaller enclosed spaces.As for the end-game, O'Hara expects that there will be a few choices for players of The Agency. The PvP in the game will have rankings and leaderboards for people to ascend, and a lot of re playability is being built into the missions via the scoring system -- people will want to replay old missions and try to do better, to receive more rewards. But how about raiding? Obviously you won't be suiting up with 40 friends to take out a dragon, but O'Hara says that the raiding will likely be in the form of a large-scale mission that requires a lot of people and co-ordination.
Interview with The Agency's Kevin O'Hara
Every bit of news from The Agency gets us increasingly more excited about the possibilities that this spy MMO will bring to the table. In part one of a recent interview with Kevin O'Hara, Senior World Designer for The Agency, we learn even more about the environments, levels and combat mechanics of SOE's upcoming game.One point of this interview that stuck out in our minds the most is the mention of an open vs. linear environment. This seems to be a big draw for many MMOs these days, where players are requesting more and more vast areas to explore, trying to escape the funneled experiences we get with more linear storylines. Thankfully, The Agency seems to tackle this concern by allowing more options in your questing experience, while still allowing a "cool-down" area to prep for the next encounter. The overall faster-paced feel of the game promises to set it apart from the traditional MMOs we know today.
