virtual-item-sales
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Free for All: Accept envelopes full of cash
Well, at least that was the advice that Min Kim, vice president of Nexon America gave would-be game developers and other audience members at GDC Austin last year. To be clear, he was not telling them, while rolling his evil mustache and laughing, to get their hands on kids money no matter what. He was simply suggesting to game makers that they accept as many forms of payment as possible, including envelopes full of cash. And if you look at the Nexon website, Pay-By-Cash does allow you to send money through the mail. There are, quite literally, scores of ways to get your money into the hands of free-to-play developers. It's a little ironic, if you think about it, that the "free" market so easily fuels the addiction to pink dresses or limited-time mounts. So, are they enablers or just very smart?
Home's virtual items rake in more than movies
While Sony's virtual-environment multiplayer matchmaker and social space Home (presently in open beta) is getting something of a padding by the media, it's mostly a case of the dog being paddled for not being a cat. Most of the criticisms seem to revolve around Home not being something it wasn't designed or intended to be. Despite all of this, the reported exploits, assorted bad user behavior, concomitant censorship and complaints about the advertising, virtual item sales -- clothing and accessories for avatars -- are reportedly going quite strongly, particularly when compared to the sales of movies within the service. That really begs the question, though, if you can't make movies compelling in the living-room, then you're probably doing something wrong. However, allowing people complex interactions via their avatars and allowing customization, seems to make clothes horses even of the boys.
MMOG pirates jailed for running illegal Priston Tale servers [updated]
Jail sucks, jailed in China probably sucks a lot more. Going to jail over running illegal Priston Tale servers -- the irony and endless puns are hilarious. Five Chinese men were arrested earlier this month when they were busted for running illegal MMOG servers and were also found with defrauding Prison Tale with their own bootleg RMT services. RMT stands for real money trade, which is the activity of selling in-game commodities in exchange for real-world currency. The five men are facing a stiff three million yuan (almost $400,000) civil lawsuit from Priston Tale's license holder, Shanghai Yetime Network Technology Co Ltd. The supposed mastermind behind the operation, 33 year-old Yan Shaodong, bought a Japanese version of the game back in 2006 raising the question if Yan actually believed, or was sold a legit license. Yan recruited the others, ages between 17 and 32, to help with logistics, translation, server maintenance, and promotion. They were all paid for their pirate services, maybe in duped potions -- that would do the trick. Yan claims that Shanghai Yetime never sent a cease and desist letter, and that if they had, he would have complied with their demands and shut operations down. Uh-huh, right! Apparently, Yan's pirating endeavor earned 70,000 yuan total, but during court proceedings he proclaimed no profit was earned and that they were operating at a net loss. What I want to know is if those players who thought the servers were legit and who bought any items ever saw a refund after the illegal servers went dark? Yea, I didn't think so either. Take heed, if you ever take a trip to China, setting up your own illegal MMOG server and selling in-game items isn't the best plan. There's always farming gold...[updated: Remind me not to make posts wee-early in the morning without having my coffee first!] :)
Selling AO up the virtual river
It's a sad day for those living in Rubi-Ka. Funcom has decided that Anarchy Online isn't nearly messed up enough, and so have announced that players can now spend money for points that can used in-game to buy items. That's right friends, the economy was just flushed down the tubes by guys who make the game. How exactly is this a good thing? Sure, Entropia Universe uses actual currency in a virtual environment, but we're talking about a game that has been running for years under the system that you actually have to work to earn your money, and now they are just letting you buy it outside the came with cold hard cash. I guess the currency sales within the game by farmers was so massive that they figured "hey, if you can beat them, join them." This very morning I was mulling over the idea of starting up my account again and seeing how the game works with my updated graphics card, but I think I will pass. Can they please change the name of the company to something other than "Funcom?" It's misleading the players to believe that they are a publisher interested in the fun of the players, when this is so obviously not the case.
