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Massively unboxes EVE Online's Collector's Edition
Sci-fi MMO EVE Online initially launched as a physical disc sold in stores back in 2003 and saw limited success in the fledgling MMO space. A decade of regular updates and digital distribution has seen EVE grow organically into the largest sci-fi sandbox on the planet with over half a million subscribers, but until now something has been missing: EVE has never had an actual collector's edition box. To celebrate 10 successful years of operation, last month CCP officially released the EVE Second Decade Collector's Edition box. I recently received a review copy of the Collector's Edition from CCP and have put together an unboxing video with my general impressions of the items within. The collection comes in a sturdy presentation box and contains a 192-page commemorative hardback book looking back on the first decade of EVE's history, along with an anniversary re-release edition of CCP's board game Danger Game and a physical Rifter model that doubles as a USB hub. The pack also comes with a new account key with 60 days of game time, a soundtrack CD of the EVE music played by the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra, and keys to unlock billions of ISK worth of virtual collectables in-game. It's pretty expensive at around €150 or $150 US, but the virtual items can be sold in game to claw back some of the cost in the form of PLEX. Enjoy our look at the new CE!
Dutch Supreme Court declares RuneScape theft a real-world crime
Is stealing a virtual good deserving of a real-world criminal sentence? According to a recent ruling by the Dutch Supreme Court, the answer is "yes." The court recently upheld a ruling of a criminal case in which teens attacked another youth and forced him at knifepoint to relinquish his possessions in RuneScape, including an in-game amulet and knife. The incident happened in 2007, and a lower court convicted the two thieves in 2009. One of the defendants then appealed to the country's supreme court on the grounds that the stolen goods "were neither tangible nor material and, unlike for example electricity, had no economic value." However, the judges declared that these virtual items had value because they represented "time and energy invested" to acquire. The thieves were sentenced to 144 hours of community service.
Academic talks MMO legalese and virtual property rights
Virtual item ownership has been a hot topic in MMO circles for a number of years now. Every so often, an academic will publish a paper regarding the legal and societal implications of trading real currency for fake goods, and the latest such academic is Rutgers University law professor Greg Lastowka. Lastowka examines a number of high-profile virtual goods disputes (including one that ended with the real-world stabbing death of a virtual thief who sold a rare sword after "borrowing" it from a friend). The piece also provides some interesting food for thought in the form of nightmare legal scenarios run amok (nerf patch lawsuits and legal action for server shutdowns are just two examples). You can read the full article text at Gamasutra.
Bigpoint's €1000 space drone sale clarified
Last week we told you about Bigpoint's eyebrow-raising sale of a €1,000 virtual space drone. Gamesbrief recently updated its news posting after its readers chimed in with a healthy dose of skepticism regarding the numbers involved in the supposed windfall. As it turns out, said numbers are likely still impressive, but rather less impressive than the €2 million ($2.7 million) initially surmised. Gamesbrief's correction post states that the drone cannot be bought for real cash, and instead must be purchased with DarkOrbit's Uridium currency, which is available for real money or earned in game. Bigpoint has in fact sold 2,000 of the drones, but not at a direct cost of €1,000 each. "I no longer think that you can multiply 2,000 10th Drones sold times €1,000 to work out how much revenue Bigpoint made from this single item," Gamesbrief's Nicholas Lovell writes.
The Daily Grind: What's the most you'd spend on a virtual item?
So Bigpoint is apparently rolling around in piles of money these days, in no small part because of virtual item windfalls like the one resulting from its €1000 DarkOrbit space drone. Expensive cash shop items are nothing new, of course, and whether we're talking about World of Warcraft's $25 sparkle pony or EverQuest II's propensity for making you buy items for each character on your account, companies have figured out that there's a certain segment of the MMO-playing population with a good amount of disposable income. For today's Daily Grind, we're curious about your cash shop spending limits. In a nutshell, what's the most you've ever spent -- or that you'd be willing to spend -- on a virtual item? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Bigpoint sells 2000 virtual space drones for €1000 each
Earlier this year Bigpoint made headlines for its pragmatic approach to pay-to-win business models in free-to-play MMOs. Today, Gamesbrief has published a story illustrating just how successful such strategies can be. Bigpoint recently made a rare space drone available in its DarkOrbit MMO. While this isn't newsworthy in and of itself, what caught our attention was the €1000 price tag. Our eyebrows arched a little higher as Bigpoint producer Simon Davis revealed that upwards of 2000 people bought one of the drones over a four-day period. If you're counting at home, that's over €2 million (nearly $2.7 million) in four days from a single virtual item.
Diablo 3 to feature player-to-player real money auction house for virtual items
Diablo 3 will sport a couple of in-game auction houses to sell items from player to player. One will be run entirely with in-game gold (very similar to the current WoW Auction House), and one will let players sell and buy items with actual money. During a press event at its headquarters in Irvine, CA last week, Blizzard Entertainment showed off both the Diablo 3 beta and its associated Battle.net service. While most of the Battle.net features were pretty standard (there will be persistent friends lists, cross-game communication, and full matchmaking services for all of the game modes), the auction system stood out. Yes, Diablo 3 players will be able to spend real money on in-game items, but rather than a traditional item store, Blizzard plans to create a system wherein players sell items to each other -- the eBay of Sanctuary, if you will. Players will be able to put items up for sale in each of the game's various regions around the world (with a different real-world currency for each), and other players will be able to spend real money to buy them, with the real-world money going back to the original item owners. Blizzard will take fixed fees (as yet unrevealed, though they'll be "nominal") out of the sale price both when an auction goes up for sale and when it is actually sold. And when an item is sold, players will either be able to keep earned money in a Battle.net account for spending on Blizzard products and services, or cash out entirely, with another, percentage-based fee through a not-yet-announced third-party payment provider. As you might imagine, Blizzard's been thinking about this one for quite a while. Vice President of Game Design Rob Pardo shared a lot of thoughts with us, including why they're going with a system like this, how it will all work, and what this means for the future of Diablo 3, Blizzard Entertainment, and the gaming market at large.%Gallery-129629%
MyTown adds product check-ins
Booyah's very popular MyTown app has updated again, this time bringing some more innovation to the "check-in" idea. Instead of just checking in to locations, the app will now "check-in" to various products with the iPhone's camera. So when you use a certain product, you can use the camera to scan a barcode, and presumably, MyTown will recognize it, add it to your check-in history, and then reward points and progress as usual. Of course, this also means that Booyah will get a list of your favorite products and merchandise, which CEO Keith Lee says is "a holy grail for marketers and brands" in the press release. It seems a little unfair to take such valuable information from consumers while simply rewarding them with a few achievement points and virtual stickers, but MyTown definitely has a following, and the app's fans can't seem to get enough of their virtual collecting. The app will eventually include other types of gaming in the service, like scavenger hunt for certain items On the plus side for Booyah, this just means that marketers and brands will be even more interested in supporting the app. We can expect to see even more agreements with real-world businesses from them in the future.
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?
GDC 2010: Ngmoco justifies the freemium model
We have a lot of questions for the company, and we'll be asking even more of them coming later this week. But first things first: we cornered Ngmoco producer Allen Ma here in their suite at GDC 2010 and asked him to try and tell us why Ngmoco is so insistent on "freemium," and how they feel about some of the adverse customer reactions to their model. Read on to hear why free-to-play, pay-to-play-more is the model that they're betting their business on.
GDC 2010: Ngmoco previews We Rule and GodFinger
We stopped by Ngmoco's suite at GDC 2010 on the afternoon of the first day of the show, and got a chance to preview two upcoming titles they're working on testing and releasing soon. Both of the games follow Ngmoco's popular (and yet much-maligned) "freemium" model, in which you download the game for free with the option to buy in-game items or currency that can change up or speed your gameplay. Still, while the model might turn some players off, the games we saw were the kinds of games Ngmoco is slowly becoming known for: polished casual experiences that bring an established genre squarely into their business model. The first game we saw was called We Rule -- it's currently "beta testing" in the Canadian App Store and will be available to users in other App Stores soon. It was described to us as "Farmville meets Age of Empires," but what we saw was much more like Farmville rather than the more combat-based RTS title. The game opens on a screen full of "realms," each one developed and grown by one of your Ngmoco Plus+ friends, and you can zoom into your own to start building it up.
Buy special Station items and SOE will donate to Haitian relief
If you've been considering donating to Haitian relief efforts and happen to play EverQuest, EverQuest II, or Free Realms, then we've got some news that you'll undoubtedly want to take a look at. Between now and midnight PST on January 18th, for every purchase of either a Zando T-Rex pet in Free Realms, a Protectors of the Faydark armor crate in EverQuest II, or a Plush Bear item in EverQuest, SOE will donate $10 to the relief efforts up to a maximum of $25,000. Considering each of the items only costs 500 Station Cash to purchase, that equates to players donating $5, then SOE matching the donation with $5 of their own and then sending it along. That's pretty cool in our book. So if you want to help a great cause and land a little something fun for your EQ, EQII, or Free Realms character, then these items are something you'll want to pick up before the midnight on the 18th. Also, a big thumbs up to SOE for offering items to raise money for Haiti. [Update: SOE has raised $25,000 for this relief effort in just three days!]
Sweden extending taxation into the virtual
Sweden is taking aim at online tax evasion and the estimated five billion Swedish krona (SEK) in annual undeclared income by the country's citizens. (This equates to roughly USD 645 million.) While much of this is revenue from "online marketplaces, porn, and astrology sites", undeclared income from games and virtual worlds are included in that figure. In fact, the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) looked at the sales of avatars and characters in 'computer games' over a 14 month period, with a collective advertised sum of 662 million SEK (USD 85 million). No income was declared on any of these transactions so it's a safe bet they'll be scrutinizing these sales moving forward. Although the specific virtual worlds and games aren't named, GameCulture adds that the virtual property Skatteverket is looking at exchanged hands between 7000 gamers and residents. Also interesting is what GamePolitics turned up on the situation -- "even U.S. citizens could be subject to Swedish taxation on such virtual transactions, according to the Economics of Virtual Worlds blog."
MapleStory announces over 92 million users worldwide, 4 year anniversary
We often marvel at the sheer numbers of subscribers and users some MMOs and virtual worlds are able to reach. You can look at a title like World of Warcraft, with over 11 million subscribers and just picture a massive green tidal wave made of dollar bills sweeping over Blizzard HQ. Every month. But WoW's millions of customers, while impressive, pales in comparison with what Nexon announced this week with MapleStory: 92 million users worldwide, with 6 million users in North America alone. Sure, comparing success stories of a subscription title with a free-to-play game is a bit like comparing apples and oranges. Each of those 92 million "Maplers" probably isn't dropping $15 each month to play, but the fact remains that many of those users are paying real money for their virtual goods. The numbers we ran for MapleStory's virtual items sales in the US, roughly one year ago, had 5.9 million US users spending USD 29.3 million on these goods.
The big business of selling virtual goods
It doesn't seem like it was that long ago that the entire concept of people spending real money on virtual items and currency was just bizarre. The first mentions of such a thing this writer ever came across were back in 2003, when Julian Dibbell told the story of Black Snow Interactive, rumored to have been operating virtual sweatshops operating in Mexico. Fast forward to 2009 and the notion of shelling out real world cash for the ephemeral has become commonplace. Moreover, these formerly arcane business models centering around virtual trading have ballooned into a huge business, much to the chagrin of many game companies and their players. However, not all companies attempt to fight this ever-increasing gravity of real money trading (RMT) that now permeates the MMO and virtual worlds industry, and some seek to make it an aspect of their business that they control rather than something they need to curb. Indeed, the profits of many (legitimate) businesses are largely derived from sales of virtual goods, as Rory Maher explains at paidContent.org in his article titled "From Pet Penguins to Flame Throwers: The Biggest Sellers In The Virtual World".Maher looks at three companies doing well for themselves in the virtual goods game, and what they're selling that's proven so popular. He points out Tencent, a Chinese IM provider that incorporates microtransactions into the service, allowing users to spend their "QQ" currency to enhance and customize their IM interactions, even buying virtual pets that exist on their desktop and run around inside their instant messages.
GDC09: Applied RMT Design with GoPets and Live Gamer
Massively sat in on a GDC 2009 session this week titled Applied RMT Design which was part of the Worlds in Motion Summit. Andrew Schneider, Founder and President of Live Gamer and Erik Bethke, CEO of GoPets, Ltd. presented a case study on balancing a game's primary and secondary markets, using GoPets as an example of how it can be done. The market for virtual goods in massively multiplayer online games and virtual worlds is worth billions. Not all of this is grey market, and more games are now being designed with microtransactions in mind. Live Gamer aims to bring greater legitimacy to microtransactions through a regulated secondary market providing benefits to companies as well as the players themselves. Thus far they've worked with EverQuest II, Vanguard, and GoPets, with Acclaim's 9 Dragons on the way. Bethke and Schneider kick off their talk by explaining the fact that RMT in MMOs is inevitable, explaining how developers can be proactive about incorporating RMT into their titles rather than having it exist outside of the game. Live Gamer works with developers to create a legitimate system for trading virtual items for real money, one that's safe and secure. Of course, legitimizing RMT can also stir up controversy. %Gallery-48454%
Anarchy Online announces new expansion: Legacy of the Xan
These days, most discussion of sci-fi themed massively multiplayer online games tends to focus on Jumpgate Evolution, EVE Online, or the hotly anticipated post-apocalyptic titles that are on the way. But Anarchy Online is still going strong, and Funcom has just announced a new expansion for the title: Legacy of the Xan. The Anarchy Online (booster) expansion will feature two new adventure areas and bring players to the hidden city of the Xan civilization. There are also new team instanced encounters including a 12-player raid encounter, and two new storylines -- "Dust Brigade" and "Alien Invasion." Anarchy Online will also give you new ways to boost your characters, through symbiants, spirits, and deck items.
Xfire contest rewards you for playing Lord of the Rings Online
Xfire and Turbine are teaming up to offer a Lord of the Rings "Play 2 Win" event. Gamers playing either the full game or its demo, and who've joined the Official Xfire Lord of the Rings Online Clan, are eligible to win prizes in the contest. The time you spend logged in determines your prize eligibility, if you're selected: Gold Level Prizes (50 hours +): Ten winners each get a 6-month subscription, in-game Bree horse mount, and a LotRO t-shirt. Silver Level Prizes (15-49 hours): Ten winners each get a 3-month subscription, and a LotRO t-shirt. Bronze Level Prizes (under 15 hours): Ten winners each get a 30-day subscription. The contest runs from January 28th to February 11th. You can check out the rest of the details of The Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria Play 2 Win Event on the official Xfire site.
Why do people buy virtual goods in MMOs?
Massively multiplayer online gamers spend hours -- so many hours -- working towards obtaining virtual gear. Epic armor sets, mounts, player housing, faction ships... the list goes on, and will continue to go on. Our collective fascination with these intangibles ensures our desire for them -- and for those things beyond a player's reach solely within the virtual realm, real world cash makes all things possible. This is the research focus of Ph.D. student Vili Lehdonvirta of the Helsinki Institute for Information Technology, who breaks down our buyer's impulse according to three criteria: Functional attributes, such as speed, hitpoints, teleportation. Hedonic attributes, or how the virtual gear looks or sounds, its provenance or its connection to the background fiction of the setting, and of course customizability. Social attributes, particularly the prestige accorded with ownership of a rare item. Have a look at his "Virtual item sales as a revenue model: identifying attributes that drive purchase decisions" for a thorough analysis of why many of us are so inclined to obtain something that's ultimately ephemeral, which goes beyond the simpler "useful vs. decorative" angle.
Age of Conan's 31 days of Christmas
'Two-handed axes' and 'Christmas' used in the same context generally conjures up images of Silent Night, Deadly Night, but there's an Age of Conan contest running throughout December that's equally festive. Funcom is giving away in-game items for Age of Conan every day this month, in the spirit of Christmas gore.All you need to do to enter is fire off an email to: contest AT ageofconan DOT com, with "Season Give-away" as your subject. You'll need to provide them with your name, address, phone number and Age of Conan account name. Once that's done, you're in the running for this set of in-game items:
