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Wii Warm Up: Microtransactions
Don't get us wrong -- we're not against downloadable content by any means. Yet, the way in which microtransactions were presented during the WiiWare launch for games like Lonpos and My Life as a King seems really ... cheap. And by cheap, we mean the DLC is a total cheap shot, because it's actually expensive. Take Square Enix's title, for example, which released $13 worth of downloadable content on its first week. Yes, we're familiar with the "If you don't want it, then don't buy it" argument (and we won't), but all of that just sours us on the game in general.What do you think, though? Are we being to hard on Lonpos and My Life as a King? Or, is there a wrong and right way to present DLC? Then again, it could also be possible that you don't support any microtransactions. Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Cheyenne Mountain working on second MMO
Gamasutra spoke with Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment's Joe Ybarra about the Phoenix-based company's ambitious plans for the future. And boy are they ambitious -- especially for a company that has not yet released a single title, as Gamasutra noted.Ybarra revealed that the Cheyenne has four active studios, and that Stargate Worlds isn't the only MMO in development. He didn't offer many details about the other title, except to say that it's "considerably less in scope" and that it uses a free-to-play/microtransactions model. Seems like everyone is going that direction these days.He also touched on the company's desire to develop original intellectual properties, and noted that it's considering changing its name to something representative of its now-broad scope, as "Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment" is a reference to Stargate franchise lore. Cheyenne Mountain is the compound in which the Stargate secretly program operates.
The Daily Grind: Should free/trial accounts get less support?
Some games offer two tiers of membership, free and premium. Some are free-to-play with microtransactions. Some are subscription-based, but have free-trial periods. Customer service and technical support costs the same whether someone's paying or not, though. Should the free-trials and free users get the same amount of customer care and technical support as the paying players? Should it not matter? If free/free-trial users get less or no support does that encourage them or discourage them from upgrading to paying for the game? Shower us with your collective wisdom!
EA explains Battlefield:BC's pay-to-play weapons
After initially seeing EA's explanation about its pay-to-play DLC weaponry in Battlefield: Bad Company on MTV's Multiplayer, it was time for a nice walk around the block to inhale some crisp spring air and exhale some vexation before sitting down to write about it. The publisher states that five of the DLC weapons in its upcoming FPS will be "free," and the other five will be bundled with the game's "Gold Edition." For gamers who don't want to buy the "Gold Edition," the weapons will be available to purchase through PSN and XBM -- no prices are currently attached to the weapons.EA states that the pay-to-play weaponry in B:BC will not unbalance the game and that "more weapons offer players more choices but do not create an advantage/disadvantage for players who do not opt to buy new item." Wait, what? Paying extra money for weapons other players don't have doesn't change the game experience? We had hoped EA had given up on its dubious microtransactions, but we're sure consumers will vote using their wallets if they agree with EA's tactic.
The Daily Grind: monthly fee or microtransactions?
We have covered this peripherally before, but while that post focused on buying items through microtransactions, we'd like to ask you: what's your preference? A few MMOs have monthly fees that are also set up for discounted bulk purchases -- you pay less per month if you buy, say, 6 months at once -- but then there's the oh-so-enticing free-as-a-bird model, with microtransactions for better gear thrown in.But it's not just about items or time, is it? Do you feel that paying a monthly fee to your favorite MMO is an investment in your gaming future? Is it enough of a reward for the development team? If you're playing a free-to-play microtransactions game, can you still vote with your dollars if your favorite class gets nerfed? All things being equal, which is better?
LONPOS joins the microtransactions conga line
Hold on tight to your wallets, purses, and Mario Coin Block Banks, everybody. With the Japanese launch of WiiWare less than a fortnight away, more news of microtransactions has begun to trickle in, with Genki confirming that LONPOS will feature extra DLC. The contents of this add-on pack are still a mystery, though we do know it will cost 500 Wii points. You probably don't need us to remind you that 500 Wii points will buy you River City Ransom. Or Phantasy Star II. Or Super Mario Bros. 3.News of pay DLC on the Wii is nothing new -- Bandai Namco confirmed that extra content would be available for Kotoba no Puzzle Mojipittan Wii months ago, in the form of extra stages. And, while neither title is likely to receive a western release, the likes of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King suddenly seem like prime candidates to receive DLC of their own.
Microtransactions coming soon to Nintendo Wii
And the infernal circle is complete. Microtransactions will finally be making their way to the Nintendo Wii, largely by way of the upcoming WiiWare service. The Wii was the last of the three major consoles to not support microtransactions, and now no consumer is safe from the incessant nickel-and-diming for minor content.IGN reports that WiiWare developer Genki will be selling an add-on pack for its puzzle game LONPOS. The expansion will cost 500 Wii points, half of the launch title's entire cost. Meanwhile, Siliconera is reporting that another puzzle game, Kotoba no Puzzle Mojipittan Wii, will be selling additional puzzle stages for an as-yet unknown price.As if that weren't enough to grind your gears, Madden creator Scott Orr spoke with Develop Magazine about his WiiWare title, Spogs Racing. According to Orr, the title will feature purchasable "racer packs," including cars parts and new tracks. Orr doesn't come right out and define these as microtransactions, however, instead masquerading the upgrades as "episodic downloadable content" (which it ain't). Looks like we're off to a great start already.Read - WiiWare microtransactions priced [IGN]Read - Go online with WiiWare and Mojipittan Wii [Siliconera]Read - Madden creator on WiiWare episodic and user-driven content plans [Develop]
Comparing subscriptions and microtransactions made easy
While asking for subscription payments is still a popular business model for MMOs, increasingly it's just one option among many. Free-to-play, ad supported, microtransactions, and even straight Real Money Transfers are all being used as viable methods to get people in and playing. Aside from the vigorous debate this issue raises, it's also incredibly challenging to compare games that use subscription-style pricing with free-to-play/microtransaction games. Who counts as a 'player' if theoretically everyone on earth with a PC *could* be playing your game?Over at Gamasutra CDC Games' Ron Williams attempts to answer just that question. Williams offers that there are actually a large number of data points to track when determining the health of an online title, including the total number of unique visitors (UV) to the game's website each month, the number of new players gained each month, the number of new players that convert to paying players, of the game, and (of course) the total number of paying users for the game. He goes on to offer a few theoretical examples of game data to prove out how, given sufficient data, comparisons between apples and oranges are not that hard to make.
The Daily Grind: What would you pay for?
At this year's Game Developer's Conference, a lot of hay was made over the concept of microtransactions and the free-to-play model. Attendees seemed split right down the middle, some for, some against. It wouldn't be a stretch to characterize the Massively readership as similarly split. But for those of you who love your free-to-play MMOs, is there anything that would get you to pay a monthly fee?Many titles have the option to both play free and pay a monthly; Dofus, for example, and Second Life too, to polarize the offerings. Are there any such models that have shot themselves in the foot by making the paid content not appealing enough to energize users to pay? If not, what will it take?
Microtransactions, an Asian perspective
One question that has showed up more than a few times at the recently concluded GDC08 is the viability of microtransactions in MMOs. What are microtransactions, anyway? For those not too familiar with the term, it refers to an interesting game revenue model whereby users pay for individual game components, whether it be items, unlocking new levels, access to dungeons, etc. When the question about microtransactions was brought up at the Future of MMOs panel, there were many strong reactions from the panelists. Most of them scoffed at the idea, Blizzard -- supposedly popular for creating some sort of fantasy MMO -- in fact, has already officially rejected the model. Cryptic Studios' Jack Emmert called microtransactions "the biggest bunch of nonsense," (some transcripts show that he had harsher words for it) and that they "make (him) want to die". Although I can't attribute this quote directly to anyone, microtransactions have been defined as "any transaction whose value is currently too small to be worth bothering with" -- pegged at somewhere below US $1. The only one at the panel who defended the revenue model was Nexon's Min Kim, notably the only Asian among the panelists. Why is this notable? Well, Blizzard's Rob Pardo defined it as an "East vs West question", which Emmert dismisses. But Pardo is actually on to something, and I'll try to explain why.Free-to-play MMOs supported by microtransactions is the dominant revenue model in Asia. This isn't an accident of design. It's an evolution of revenue philosophy shaped by social and economic conditions. Let's put that in perspective. Most people in the world do not have computers let alone an Internet connection. This is why Internet Cafés are so prominent in Asia. In South Korea, these Internet Cafés, or PC baangs, are ubiquitous, with more than 20,000 serving up games and other Internet content all over the country. Although of course, South Korea is exceptional. 90% of the population is wired and PC baangs became popular because of LAN games. But elsewhere in Asia, Internet Cafés or LAN rooms are a popular, if not dominant, way to access LAN game and MMOs particularly China, Taiwan, and the Philippines.
Saga open beta begins today
Saga, which bills itself as the "world's first collectible online real-time strategy game," is throwing wide its doors for Open Beta 2 starting today. You can head over to their site to sign up; they mention that account creation is not quite ready yet, but it might not be a bad idea to get your foot in the door. (And for what it's worth the sign-up form did allow me to create an account with no fuss. You can just ignore the "promo code" field.)But what, you ask, is a collectible online RTS? We've only covered it once before on Massively, so I looked around the developer's site to see what they have. Here are some key points: it's an RTS (of course), but it's persistent, so you won't have to rebuild structures every match, and your units stay dead until made otherwise. The setting is standard fantasy. The game has no subscription fee, using a microtransaction model: players buy their troops in booster packs, which cost $2.95; the game itself is currently on pre-sale for $20. You can also trade troops with others, which highlights the "collectible" nature of this game. The site claims that they are aiming for a Q1 2008 release. I'm not so much an RTS player, but it is an interesting business model. Will you try it out?
Blue Mars focusing solely on third-party content
Whenever we see Blue Mars in the news, our computers usually start making this very worrying metal-on-metal grinding noise. Maybe it's because our computers have seen too many cheesy horror movies set on Mars, or maybe it's because Blue Mars is going to be using the CryEngine2 for its graphics rendering. We just hope that it doesn't kill the game early on, since we're pretty interested in seeing how it develops.
The Daily Grind: How do you feel about microtransactions?
One of the things we couldn't help but notice yesterday in Michael Zenke's excellent coverage of the GDC Future of MMOs panel is how the different developers reacted to the idea of microtransactions being the "future" of MMO gaming as opposed to the subscription model. Jack "Statesman" Emmert seemed pretty vehemently against the concept versus a few of the others. Some people feel that the idea of microtransactions just gives casual players the ability to enjoy the game in new ways. Others feel that it takes the whole point of playing a game out of the game; if you can buy the best gear, where's the incentive to run endgame content more than once? Does being able to buy all the best items make for a "game over" situation -- or game over until the next round of uber items become available for sale?Today we thought we'd ask what your take is on the model. Do you prefer the option of going to an online "item store" and buying that upgrade with your hard-earned real-life cash, or do you prefer the idea of being required to put in the time to get the best gear? Is there a happy medium? Should a nearly equal but not as nice set of items be available in the item store for those who want to buy their way up versus those who put in the time and effort to grind for items? Should microtransaction gear and farmed/raided gear be equal? Where would the line be for you?
GDC08: Sulka Haro tells us how to Habbo
Sulka Haro, lead designer on the wildly popular Habbo Hotel virtual world, yesterday gave the Worlds in Motion summit audience an in-depth half-hour rundown on the Habbo phenomenon. At its core, the Sulake company project is a meeting space for teens - a place to hang out and be someone else for a few hours. The fact that the company can boast millions and millions of unique users worldwide, though, speaks to something many have grasped for and few have succeeded at: a virtual world where people feel truly comfortable. Haro offered up a peak behind the curtain, at the origins of Habbo as the four room 'Hotel Goldfish'. He discusses the successes they've had in markets abroad, their surprise at the game's adoption by teens, and the numerous ways they allow players to acquire in-game currency. He also notes that Habbo is a world-record setting title in at least one way: they've probably sold the most virtual reindeer poop ever in the history of man. Read on for a dissertation on a poop-selling, smashing success story.%Gallery-16369%
Twofish to make microtransaction economies easier with middleware
Gamasutra notes that a new middleware company is offering online game developers tools to manage their in-game economies. Twofish is the name of the startup, and their offering (Twofish Elements) is intended to plug directly into the backend of any in-development Massively Multiplayer Online Game. Their product seems to be geared at allowing indie developers to offer a microtransaction economy similar to the one Nexon uses in Maple Story.The company was founded two years ago, in part by Lee Crawford - a veteran of Yahoo! Games, Shockwave.com and Segasoft Networks. In order to prove out their technology they're also developing an online game to utilize it. Entitled Edgeracers, the offering will feature "the culture of car customization and casual racing", and should release within the next few months. Crawford has a few comments featured in the announcement writeup, and (along with many players) views the move to microtransactions as a rough road for games and developers. "We see Twofish Elements being a way to help independent publishers and developers compete on a level footing ... In our view, the world is moving towards the mass-market consumer and, ultimately, the hardcore player going to free-to-play with microtransactions," Crawford said.
The epic fight: Retail vs. Microtransactions
This past week's DICE event had several head-to-head events pitting warring concepts in the gaming industry against each other. The ongoing struggle between subscription fees and RMT/microtransactional business models was represented at the event by an excellent debate. And topical, considering that it appears questions over the business model may have in some way scuttled the Marvel comics MMO.On the side of retail/subscriptions was Kelly Flock, a veteran of THQ and Sony. Min Kim, the director of operations for Nexon America, carried the banner for microtransactions. Most of their sparring centered over the economic benefits both sides offer. Kim focused on the cheap production costs of free-to-play games, as well as the appeal to casual gamers. "Once people start playing games for free, I don't know why they're going to start paying for one.", he said. Flock, meanwhile, offered evidence of a strong retail market and possible customer mindset problems in the US. Both of them had some compelling things to say on the subject, but it seems from the writeup that Kim and RMT won the day. A sign of the times?
K2 Network launches free MMO portal powered by microtransactions
K2 Network, the folks behind the localization of titles like Sword of the New World, Red Stone, MU Online and others, has announced a new MMO portal called GamersFirst (or G1) that will give players access to all of their free to play titles using one centralized account. Sounding remarkably like the plans we've been hearing from NCsoft all of last year, you'll be able to purchase G1 Credits that are usable in all the titles in their portfolio. This is welcome news for those brave enough to dive into the world of the free MMO with any regularity, as managing a myriad of accounts across multiple games (and let's be honest, you can burn out on free MMOs pretty quickly) can be hazardous to one's mental health and the safety of one's credit information. The site is also considerably less obnoxious looking than we expected, which is an added bonus.As a cherry on the proverbial sundae, they're running a myriad of giveaways over the next twelve weeks to bribe you into virtual submission. At stake are Creative Headphones, an Alienware PC, an 8gb iPod touch, a 19" Samsung monitor, and more. They never really elaborate on the more, but we're sure it's fancy. From poking around on the contest page a bit, it seems that you can enhance your odds of winning these goodies by buying G1 credits, inviting friends to join the network, and playing a flash version of that boardwalk game where you throw darts at balloons. The registration process is a bit of a pain, but hey, free stuff, right?
CES 2008: What the heck is Free Realms?
The popularity of titles like Club Penguin and Webkinz is undeniable. This past Christmas saw the Webkinz servers just crushed under the new load of happy plush owners. It shouldn't come as a surprise that traditional game-makers are looking to this niche as a new area for profit. Earlier this month we brought you the news from CES that Sony Online Entertainment would be rolling out a new 'pay-it-forward' style community outreach program with the title Free Realms. But ... what exactly is Free Realms? Today we've got some impressions of that title for you, gleaned from watching pre-recorded video of gameplay at the Consumer Electronics Show. We also spoke with Laura Naviaux, Director of Global Marketing for SOE and SOE CEO John Smedley about the project, to get a feel for their enthusiasm about the game. While generally here at Massively you're far more likely to see us discussing a game like Lord of the Rings Online or World of Warcraft, this is a title well worth looking into. Free Realms is essentially an attempting to combine the look and feel of a traditional MMO title with the conversation and mini-game focus of a kiddie game. With very little exposure to the public in a 'hands-on' format as of yet, it's hard to gauge how successfully the title actually achieves that goal.%Gallery-12980% The ideas they're introducing with the game are intriguing just the same. The developers have obviously looked to other casual titles for inspiration, and have taken notes from the successes and failures of these other online projects. What results is a mélange of the familiar and the original that almost begs for further clarification. Read on for descriptions of their loose 'class' system (which will be familiar to fans of The Agency), the idea behind their instant play system, and what exactly you're going to be able to buy with microtransactions.
China's online gaming addiction to swell in the year of the Rat
It probably shouldn't be surprising to learn that the burgeoning community of online gamers in China is growing quickly, spurred by the staggering array of free-to-play titles available in that market. The China View site is reporting on a study conducted over the course of 2007 into the country's gaming habits. Last year's 48 million strong community is expected to pass 59 million players by the end of this year. The marketplace in 2006 racked up an impressive 9.36 billion yuan (1.2 billion US dollars) ... which grew by 57 percent over the course of last year.That prediction is in keeping with the general outlook for 2008 according to the Chinese Zodiac. Gamasutra Commentator Frank Yu looks back at last year's blockbuster success for the Chinese gaming market, particularly the online portion, while forecasting successes all around for partnerships this year. Yu specifically forsees good financial times for Zhengtu Online, a title we recently discussed because of the sordid gambling component to the game. I find all of this fascinating, from a cultural as well as business perspective. Here you have a culture whose youth is eating up the concept of RMT and microtransactions, making companies that use these business models extremely wealthy. The government itself is building a business complex meant to spur on investment into the online gaming/virtual worlds sector of the economy. This is a country literally building the future of online gaming for the rest of the world. At the same time, though, that same government is decrying online gaming as 'spiritual opium'. I've been reading about the country recently, and these contradictions seem somewhat petty compared to more serious social issues. It's important to keep in mind just the same: online gaming in the West has nothing on future of Eastern online gaming
Legend: Legacy of the Dragons becomes first Russian MMO to get English translation
European publishing company Waygate Publishing Limited has issued a press release to announce a new, free-to-play browser MMO called Legacy: Legend of the Dragons, which has now gone live. They say that theirs is the first Russian MMO to receive an English translation, and the decision to bring it over was due to its popularity in its home market.Part of this popularity is apparently because of the game's combat system, which is fully animated in its 2D engine, whilst keeping system requirements low. Players join one of two factions, and can participate in PvE, PvP, professions and questing. The game's free-to-play system is supported by microtransactions, with players able to "invest as much, or as little as they like." The press release provides a link to the game's new website for those who want to learn more, or give it a try.[Via PlayNoEvil]
