If you're a fan of Sony Online Entertainment and curious as to how free-to-play and RMT will affect its stable of MMOs in the future, ZAM's got a new interview that's worth a read.
The piece features Laura Naviaux, senior VP of global sales and marketing for SOE, and she shares an interesting nugget relating to digital currency and real-money player markets. "I think everybody gets excited about potentially being able to create user-generated content to sell it to their peers, etc. There are a lot of different ways to slice and dice that, and it's something that we're watching," Naviaux says.
She also speaks to the success of EverQuest II thanks to its free-to-play switch, as well as some of the more popular cash shop items (mounts currently account for approximately 25% of the game's revenue). Finally, Naviaux acknowledges the challenges inherent in the business model going forward, and how they stem in large part from knowing how much is too much. "I don't think that anybody wants a game where you can outright buy power that makes the game unfair and un-fun, and that is a line we don't want to cross. But there are a lot of shades of grey in there, and that's something we want the players to determine," she explains.
Reader Comments (13)
Posted: Jan 24th 2012 12:08PM Adeptus Enginus said
At first I was gonna' make some witty comment like "Sony Online Entertainment has FANS?! *BA BUM TSH*", but after I read the article, I decided to refrain from it... mostly.
Ms. Naviaux clearly knows how to talk the talk when it comes to F2P here, and I agree with most of what she has to say. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to look at an SOE game straight since they botched The Matrix Online all those years ago, but I know some folk playin' DCU and they claim it's a grand ole time.
Props to them, and if their players are really happy then I hope they keep up whatever they're doin'.
Ms. Naviaux clearly knows how to talk the talk when it comes to F2P here, and I agree with most of what she has to say. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to look at an SOE game straight since they botched The Matrix Online all those years ago, but I know some folk playin' DCU and they claim it's a grand ole time.
Props to them, and if their players are really happy then I hope they keep up whatever they're doin'.
Posted: Jan 24th 2012 1:28PM eLdritchZ said
@Adeptus Enginus tbh I think SoE gets way too much flak... They may be top of the line when it comes to botching up titles with updates but one thing you just cannot say about them is that they aren't dedicated to their titles and fans... I mean no SoE game ever had even close to a million subs at once but it is truly a very rare occasion when they actually shut down a game...Furthermore even games that have been on the low end of subs for years (EverQuest) get patch attention and regular content expansions... I mean they put out more quality content and expansion packs for EverQuest than Blizzard does for WoW... I'm not saying the company is perfect - far from it actually... but in terms of long term loyalty and trust they rank a lot higher for me than any other MMO publisher out there.
Reading this does make me hopeful... now it just remains to be seen if they can walk the walk, too... history sugests this kind of talk from an MMO publisher is a load of bull, but hey... you never know ;)
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Reading this does make me hopeful... now it just remains to be seen if they can walk the walk, too... history sugests this kind of talk from an MMO publisher is a load of bull, but hey... you never know ;)
Posted: Jan 24th 2012 12:12PM MMOaddict said
I don't get excited thinking about selling user created content to my peers. It doesn't even enter into my head because I'm a GAMER not a corporate schill.
Secondly, I've played less EQ2 since it went F2P then I did prior because for me, it's getting worse. Same issue with LOTRO now that I think about it.
Secondly, I've played less EQ2 since it went F2P then I did prior because for me, it's getting worse. Same issue with LOTRO now that I think about it.
Posted: Jan 24th 2012 1:42PM Samael said
@Maseno
I am sorry but they are not the same game anymore. I do not know about EQII but I stopped playing LoTRO right after it went F2P. Had nothing to do with new players and what not. I only interacted with my guild in LoTRO. It was the constant steering towards the Turbine Store that made me quit. So no they do not remain the same game after a conversion like that. And its a good thing I quit too, apparently the best gear in the store now is better than the crafted ones. So seriously do not say that the game remains the same. It does not remain the same, it cannot remain the same. Their money now comes from the cash shop. They will constantly try and get you buy from the store. That is what a F2P does. But why let facts stand in the way of F2P revolution.
I am sorry you feel that people who do not like F2P are on a high horse.
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I am sorry but they are not the same game anymore. I do not know about EQII but I stopped playing LoTRO right after it went F2P. Had nothing to do with new players and what not. I only interacted with my guild in LoTRO. It was the constant steering towards the Turbine Store that made me quit. So no they do not remain the same game after a conversion like that. And its a good thing I quit too, apparently the best gear in the store now is better than the crafted ones. So seriously do not say that the game remains the same. It does not remain the same, it cannot remain the same. Their money now comes from the cash shop. They will constantly try and get you buy from the store. That is what a F2P does. But why let facts stand in the way of F2P revolution.
I am sorry you feel that people who do not like F2P are on a high horse.
Posted: Jan 24th 2012 2:50PM aurickle said
@Samael
With LotRO I think a significant part of the problem is that we don't have all the facts. The key piece of info we don't have (and probably never will) is what percentage of players are Freemium vs. Subscribers?
If there are significantly more Freemium players than subs, Turbine is fully justified in how they've been focusing increasingly on ways to get those people to part with their cash. From a business standpoint, fully Free players are really just warm bodies for the paying players to be able to do group with. They don't have much other benefit to the business. So it does behoove Turbine to find ways to monetize these players.
However, if the majority of players are subscribers then the focus on the cash shop represents nothing more than a way to get even more money out of people who are already paying. That would deserve some ire.
I do understand where you're coming from, though. The game may have stayed the same for quite a while but it certainly lost the original atmosphere pretty quickly. And it is disappointing to see how much recent updates have focused on cash shop content rather than the world.
Reply
With LotRO I think a significant part of the problem is that we don't have all the facts. The key piece of info we don't have (and probably never will) is what percentage of players are Freemium vs. Subscribers?
If there are significantly more Freemium players than subs, Turbine is fully justified in how they've been focusing increasingly on ways to get those people to part with their cash. From a business standpoint, fully Free players are really just warm bodies for the paying players to be able to do group with. They don't have much other benefit to the business. So it does behoove Turbine to find ways to monetize these players.
However, if the majority of players are subscribers then the focus on the cash shop represents nothing more than a way to get even more money out of people who are already paying. That would deserve some ire.
I do understand where you're coming from, though. The game may have stayed the same for quite a while but it certainly lost the original atmosphere pretty quickly. And it is disappointing to see how much recent updates have focused on cash shop content rather than the world.
Posted: Jan 24th 2012 12:57PM Lenn said
"I don't think that anybody wants a game where you can outright buy power that makes the game unfair and un-fun, and that is a line we don't want to cross. But there are a lot of shades of grey in there, and that's something we want the players to determine"
Are you paying attention, Turbine?
Are you paying attention, Turbine?
Posted: Jan 25th 2012 7:00AM Zyco said
How did SOE botch Matrix Online?? they bought it and let it die, it was a horrible game day 1.
Posted: Jan 25th 2012 10:02AM Elikal said
Good riddance, people STILL agitate over year old crap?
Despite the issues SOE created, I never played ANY other MMO even remotely that long than their EQ2 and SWG, each about 4-5 years. No other company has captured me that long in one of their MMos even by far!
I really hope SOE can make a wonderful new EQ3 someday.
Despite the issues SOE created, I never played ANY other MMO even remotely that long than their EQ2 and SWG, each about 4-5 years. No other company has captured me that long in one of their MMos even by far!
I really hope SOE can make a wonderful new EQ3 someday.
Posted: Jan 25th 2012 11:12AM (Unverified) said
So how much of a discount do subscribers get over the F2P people in these shops?
Posted: Jan 26th 2012 10:13AM kalipou134 said
@(Unverified)
Was wondering that as well, the suscribers already pay around 12$ a month, I hope they're getting some 40-50% discount or something or else its kind of bull****
Reply
Was wondering that as well, the suscribers already pay around 12$ a month, I hope they're getting some 40-50% discount or something or else its kind of bull****
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