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Survey says: Nearly half of MMO gamers bought virtual stuff

Tateru Nino — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Economy, Academic, Virtual worlds

One of the interesting things we at Massively find about statistics and surveys is how people react to surveys and research results about games, virtual environments and MMOGs. Unexpected results automatically attract criticism of every aspect of the report and data no matter how the results were obtained, from the political leanings of the researchers, to the way the charts are drawn. On the other hand, when the results of surveys or research agree with our expectations, people rarely question the results, again, no matter how they were obtained.

Therefore, we wonder what you all might make of this report, that 12% of Americans have purchased at least one virtual item in the last item within the last 12 months, and almost half (46%) of MMO gamers/virtual world users have done so within the same period. Obviously, that would include assorted free-to-play games, so-called 'freemium' games and environments, Facebook and all-sorts.

The survey was commissioned by global payment solutions provider, PlaySpan. The results are only available in summary, but we're interested in your reaction. Are the results what you expect, or not? And either way, do you dispute or accept the data?

[via GigaOm]

Survey says: Nearly half of MMO gamers bought virtual stuff originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WoW and SL not all there is to MMOs

Lesley Smith — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Business models, Economy, Game mechanics, MMO industry, News items, Second Life, Free-to-play, Casual

GigaOM has posted up a fascinating feature by Wagner James Au which claims that World of Warcraft and Second Life, the two best known of the MMO major players, are not the be all and end all of virtual worlds. Far from it. The post was Inspired by the release of a report by Engage Digital which claims investors 'poured $237 million into virtual world-related start ups and payment systems last quarter'. That's quite a large number and not actually that surprising given the number of new MMOs and virtual worlds which have been popping up on the internet.

The post goes on to explain that an MMO's success does not depend entirely on vast subscriber numbers or players. Rather, it's more to do with the platforms. Au cites examples of MMO and virtual worlds only available on specific platforms or social networks including Facebook and MySpace which are just as popular as either WoW or SL, they just might not be as well known. Regardless, the post is quite a surprising read and definitely worth a peek if you need reminding that Azeroth and Second Life are not the only virtual worlds out there in cyberspace.

WoW and SL not all there is to MMOs originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 14 Jul 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Obama's FCC transition team includes MMO gamer, virtual world resident

James Egan — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Culture, Events, real-world, Guilds, MMO industry, News items, Second Life, Virtual worlds

Among the people President-elect Barack Obama has appointed to his FCC agency review transition team are Net Neutrality advocates Kevin Werbach, assistant professor of legal studies and business ethics at Wharton, and Susan Crawford from the University of Michigan, who teaches communications and internet law. Werbach, as it turns out, is a World of Warcraft player, according to Wagner James Au at GigaOM.

Werbach has written about MMOs on his blog (back in 2006), that games "provide an incentive for people to develop new software and ideas for collaborative production. Many of those ideas will translate to other group activities, including those within the business world. I think MMOGs will be, at minimum, a significant testbed for these new technologies, because users see a direct benefit and are willing to experiment with new things." Werbach plays in two WoW guilds, one started by a friend, and the other is comprised of academics whose interests or work focus on virtual worlds.

While Werbach is more of a traditional MMO gamer, Crawford is a fan of Second Life, judging by what she's written on the virtual world in the past on her blog. At the very least, it's a positive sign that individuals connected with the FCC and its policies really understand how people are using technology to socialize, collaborate, and play.

Obama's FCC transition team includes MMO gamer, virtual world resident originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 19 Nov 2008 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The revolution in the news

Tateru Nino — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Economy, News items, Opinion, Second Life, Virtual worlds

Unlike Second Life's 2003 Tax Revolt, which (at the time) went unnoticed by the mainstream media, the current revolt over void/openspace simulator server pricing is drawing attention in places where a lot of potential customers are being exposed to it -- and it's early yet. More words are doubtless being drafted over the weekend to run on mainstream Web-sites and newspapers.

By mainstream (a word that has an awfully slippery definition), we mean widespread. There are at least three other effective and correct definitions of the word at least one of which conflicts with that, but let's just go with what we have and leave those other definitions for another time. You know what we mean.

Continue reading The revolution in the news

The revolution in the news originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 02 Nov 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Linden Lab CEO on openspace/void price increases

Tateru Nino — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Business models, Economy, Opinion, Second Life, Virtual worlds

Mark Kingdon, Linden Lab's shiny new CEO, made a statement to Wagner James Au at GigaOm about the announced openspace/void simulator price rises that have so many Second Life users up in arms, 'this price adjustment affects only a portion of land in Second Life; it does not apply to private islands or regular mainland property. We made this change to ensure an optimal Second Life experience for all Residents.'

We're not sure if this gets points for being intentionally misleading, or unintentionally misleading. Either way, it scores a lot of points.

Lets break it down a piece at a time.

Continue reading Linden Lab CEO on openspace/void price increases

Linden Lab CEO on openspace/void price increases originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WAR's anti-gold-selling policy challenged

Shawn Schuster — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Business models, Culture, MMO industry, Warhammer Online, Opinion

We're well aware of Mark Jacobs' and Mythic's views on gold sellers in Warhammer Online, but what about the opposite side of the fence? Could gold sellers in a young, potentially top-selling MMO actually help the game develop and attract the adult working class? That's what Gigaom's Wagner James Au argues in a recent article.

"When launching a big-budget online game, it doesn't strike me as a very good idea to risk alienating nearly a quarter of your user base right out the gate. That, however, is likely to be the consequence of an extreme anti-gold selling policy at Mythic Entertainment," writes Au. He also cites research by Nick Yee, who is fast-becoming the most popular gaming-related research scientist, stating that gold-buying is done mostly by those ages 35 and older, who don't have the time to play as those younger gamers.

WAR's anti-gold-selling policy challenged originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 03 Oct 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cinemassively: GigaOm interviews Philip Rosedale

Moo Money — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 12:30:00 EST

Filed under: Video, Events, real-world, Interviews, Second Life, Cinemassively, Machinima

(Disclosure: Some of the raw footage in the background was commissioned by Linden Lab for news agencies. I was the machinimatographer on the project.)

Before Philip Rosedale announced his intention to resign as CEO of Linden Lab, he sat down with Chris Albrecht, of the GigaOM Show. Chris starts off with other news, so to tune in to Hamlet Au and Philip Linden, skip ahead to about 2:45. The duo discuss what SL was like back in the day, how large it has grown, and whether there's a backlash.

Proving that you can't believe everything you read on the internet, the show reports that, according to Wikipedia, Second Life has over 20 million accounts. However, if you check out the economic statistics page on the official site, SL is at just under 13 million. Again, they mention transparency. That word is starting to sound like fingernails on a chalkboard.

[Thanks, Melissa!]

Cinemassively: GigaOm interviews Philip Rosedale originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 17 Mar 2008 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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