Business Models

It's a running joke on Massively that some readers believe our lives are glamorous and that we sleep in beds made out of free video game swag. The truth is that video game bloggers are working in this field because they love the job. At least that's how it is around here. Or maybe writing in our pajamas is too posh to pass up. But people still believe we are loaded with perks just because we get to wear fancy hats that say "PRESS." Just kidding. There are no hats.

Here's a recent example from a reader named Will6:

Lucky you, getting to test drive the game. Everyone knows the press get instant invites because they are a free way [for studios] to advertise their game and get the word out.

It's time for "everyone" to be disabused of that notion.

Continue Reading

The last time I explored ThresholdRPG, I had a blast. It was one of a batch of MUDs that I used to re-introduce myself to the ancient gaming genre, and I enjoyed its simplicity and friendly community. MUDs can seem to be very similar to each other, so in order to enjoy them, you must be able to pick out the finer details that separate them. In ThresholdRPG, I particularly enjoyed fishing, roleplay, customization, and a free-to-play model that was years ahead of its time when first released 17 years ago.

The game can be a bit odd, like any MUD. During MUD May I've discovered just how confusing many of these titles can be, but I have also grown to enjoy solving the "mystery" of each game's particular set of code-words that unlock actions. ThresholdRPG is like other MUDs and introduces players to basic commands, but once out in the world a player is on her own. The good news is that an out-of-character help chat is always available and sits right on top of the standard roleplay-enforced chat. That juxtaposition of both channels actually helps immerse me in the game, allowing me to see literally where and when I can use out-of-character speech.

I asked Michael Hartman, president and CEO of Frogdice, to talk about MUD development and branching out into other styles of gaming.

Continue Reading

A few days ago we reported on RIFT's impending free-to-play conversion, followed by the news that Trion was undergoing a second set of apparently unrelated layoffs. Former Trion studio GM and CCO Scott Hartsman responded to the layoffs on Twitter, intimating that aspects of the gaming industry are "fundamentally broken."

After we invited your thoughts on that same subject in a Daily Grind earlier this week, we contacted Hartsman in the hopes of getting him to elaborate. Join us after the cut for the resulting interview.

Continue Reading

Those of us who have played through the middle planets of Star Wars: The Old Republic know that chapter two is rather blasé. And as far as the free-to-play experiment is concerned, I really don't have anything new to report this week, or at least, not enough to fill a whole column. I will certainly have an update for you next week.

This week, I'd like to talk about SWTOR's free-to-play model in general. Although the design team has received a lot of heat from fans and haters alike, the system does have merit along with legitimate flaws. I do like SWTOR, but I'm not ignorant enough to believe that everything the game designers have done is perfect. I am also not one to hate because the game wronged me a year and a half ago. No matter the game, I understand, given my three years reporting in the industry and many other years playing video games, that there will always be people who hate a game no matter what developers do to appease them. At the same time, there will always be those who love a game no matter what stupid thing the developers do and will see no wrong no matter what you say to try to convince them. I try to put myself somewhere in the middle.

Continue Reading

ArenaNet has made the call to permanently lower the price point for Guild Wars 2. The game previously sold for $59.99 for the Digital Edition and $79.99 for the Deluxe Edition. Both of those prices are being lowered by $10. This is not a sale, but the new regular price of the game. ArenaNet expects that this change will bring in new players and make the game more accessible.

Content releases in Guild Wars 2 continue apace. Since launch, we've seen a handful of special events alongside one-time content, persistent content, and added features. On the other hand, NCsoft recently reported lower sales for this quarter than the previous one, citing "the reduction in Guild Wars 2 package sales" as part of the cause.

We're scheduled for a chat with ArenaNet's Colin Johanson later today; we'll be sure to update you with more information as soon as we can.

Buried in the brouhaha that is the latest round of Trion layoffs was the opinion of former RIFT producer Scott Hartsman. The MMO industry veteran offered his sympathies on Twitter and also offered to help affected former employees with job intros and the like.

Hartsman also hinted at his views on current industry trends, saying that "this model of gamemaking is so fundamentally broken." Given the limitations of Twitter and fact that Hartsman didn't elaborate, it's hard to know exactly what he meant, though we can extrapolate based on his prior positions on F2P and the context surrounding the Trion situation.

What about you, Massively readers? Do you agree with Hartsman? Is this model of MMO gamemaking fundamentally broken?

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!

In a series of tweets earlier this evening, SOE's John Smedley hinted that classic PlanetSide 1 will at some future date be converted into a free-to-play MMO. He wrote,

We did a mass grant of anyone who has ever played ps1 or ps2 with free time in ps1. We weren't ready to announce it yet because the database grant is still ongoing and won't be done till tmw morning. So please if you didn't get flagged chill. We are trying to do something cool for everyone and we were going to tell people when it's done. But people saw it and others broadcast the info. Please don't complain :) we aren't raising your taxes we are making a game free. This also gives us more time to make it f2p. So enjoy starting tmw late morning.

This news comes just as PlanetSide 1 is celebrating its 10th birthday. Smedley's tweet refers to a new SOE promotion that will grant PlanetSide 2 players six free months of PS1 play.

Dota 2 celebrated the incredible sales of its world championship interactive compendium with free gifts for all players; the compendium has now sold over 266,000 units, raising the prize fund in The International to over $2,000,000 US. Third-person MOBA SMITE has recently entered the competitive tournament scene with two new weekly $1,000 tournaments. Rise of Immortals also announced its first competitive tournament since the Battle For Graxia update and revealed details of its hilariously-named ranged centaur character Murderhoof.

League of Legends revealed the new custom item set feature coming in Patch 3.7 and published a new champion spotlight video on classic ranged carry Ashe. Guardians of Middle-Earth also released its latest paid DLC character, The Mouth of Sauron, based on a character who was originally cut from the cinematic release of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

Diablo III celebrated the first anniversary of its release on May 15th with anniversary livestreams and a magic-find bonus for all players. The latest patch also raised the increments in which money can be sold on the Real Money Auction House to ten million in response to massive oversupply. Path of Exile revealed details of its upcoming Patch 0.1.1.0 that will add new party loot options and other features, and Star Citizen showed off its new website with a special e-commerce section in which players can buy ships for cash.

Continue Reading

In the last few weeks, two big games we cover on Massively have been slammed with exploits that have injured their respective economies: Diablo III and Neverwinter. In Diablo III's case, a gold duping bug apparently pumped insane amounts of cash into the economy. Neverwinter's exploits run the gamut from Foundry abuses to negative auction hall bids that don't consume gold to classes that can one-shot bosses making farming trivial. According to these claims, NW exploiters are making off with thousands of real-life dollars when cashing out their ill-gotten funds.

In both cases, players called for characters wipes and rollbacks, believing each exploit severe enough to merit a clean slate. But in Diablo III's case, while the studio dealt harshly with the exploiters, the developers disagreed with the need for wipes and do-overs, presumably having concluded that such drastic measures would impact the legit playerbase far more than would a dented economy. Neverwinter, on the other hand, chose to roll back the servers, causing widespread uproar.

That brings us to today's question: Which studio was right? How bad does an exploit have to be before character wipes and server rollbacks are absolutely necessary?

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!

Were you waiting for Trion to drop Defiance's $59.99 launch price point before taking a look? That day has arrived, as the B2P shooter MMO is now available for $29.99 for some users. The promotion runs through Sunday, May 19th, and it applies to the PC version of the sci-fi title.

Defiance is also available on the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3, but as of press time the console versions still feature launch-day pricing. You can learn more about the PC version via our launch week diary series and our livestream channel.

[Thanks fueldbygin!]

[Updated: We have clarified that the promotion is available only for those whose accounts have been flagged for it by Trion. A second sale on Steam should help those who aren't eligible for this sale.]

I was this close to saving myself a lot of time by finishing this article with only a few simple words: Why do I play PlanetSide 2? Because it's fun. I'm pretty sure my boss would want me to expand on it just a bit, however, but let me drive those three words home: Because it's fun. I think we are all familiar with the word "fun," but it's something that we really don't hear enough about in MMOs. I don't think we play MMOs mainly because they're fun; I think we play them because they pull out other emotions in us, emotions like wonder or awe. They might help fill in social needs that are sometimes hard to fill out in real life. These are all positive and worthy reactions, but they're different from sheer fun.

I have oodles of fun in PlanetSide 2. Gobs of it. Barrels of fun. The fun is powerful in this one. You get the point. PlanetSide 2 actually makes me laugh to myself, makes me yell at the screen -- you know, those noises you hear from someone who is having a blast. Of course, there are a few other reasons I play PlanetSide 2 as well, so I'll fill you in on those.

Continue Reading

Last week, drama swirled around Chris Roberts' Star Citizen pseudo-MMO when he announced and then clarified that certain early crowdfunders will receive lifetime insurance on their ships once the game launches. Potential players rightfully worried that such a move could taint the economy and create a special class of characters with pay-to-win perks that place everyone else at a serious disadvantage.

MMO players are becoming inured to the idea that Kickstarting a game might land them a poster or tattoo or title or even beta access, but non-cosmetic advantages seem to rile everyone up. It's one thing when Camelot Unchained offers special chat and another altogether when it promises big-time donors their own in-game islands. Then again, without such generous Kickstarter pledges, the games might never be made for the rest of us to play at all, so maybe the trade-off is worth it.

What do you think? Does it bother you that gamers with money can buy their way into godhood before a game is even made? Are there Kickstarter perks that put you off from future MMOs?

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!

MUD May has been a blast so far, but I won't lie to you and say that I hope to even make a dent in the decades-old history of many of these titles. I decided instead to use some examples from my favorite MUDs that I have come across over the last couple of years. It's admittedly been a challenge to think about what to cover. Do I cover the communities? The in-game mechanics? The publishers?

This week I decided to attempt to kill several birds with a handful of stones (and questions) and snagged Simutronics Producer Eric Latham for an video interview. Simutronics has been in the business for 26 years, and the publisher makes my favorite MUD, Gemstone IV. Latham has been with the company for 15 of those years! Technically I am using the interview and video as part of my Rise and Shiny series, but the questions and answers are more relevant to the general topic of MUDs. You might see it now as well as later, but it will hopefully provide some insight into the world of making MUDs.

Continue Reading