The current episode of DDOCast discussed whether there could be ways for players to gift or trade Turbine Points in the future. Could such a system be implemented? Perhaps, but it’s not quite so simple in practice.
The role of free players in a game with item shop trading
There are games out there that allow players to gift or trade items that are obtained via real currency. For example, Eve Online allows players to purchase in-game time-cards that can be sold to other players for in-game currency, allowing them to finance their subscriptions with the proceeds of their gaming efforts. In another example, Kingdom of Loathing allows players to sell or trade anything out of the game’s item shop.
These approaches have a major advantage – they allow the developers to monetize players who can’t or won’t pay directly. Players who have money to spare pay the developers for items that they can then sell off, purchases that they would not have made if the items were not tradeable. These players can then get their hands on in-game resources that they would not have wanted to farm or grind for on their own. Finally, cash shop items make their way into the hands of non-payers, who in turn are valuable to the developers because their presence in the economy drives sales by creating a secondary market for cash shop items.
Undercutters, Farmers, Botters and Fraudsters
Unfortunately, this type of plan does not work very well with free samples and sales. If Turbine points were tradeable players could potentially stock up during a sale and undercut Turbine’s own prices when things return to their normal price. In that case, money that would have gone to Turbine from players who were willing to pay instead winds up in the hands of resellers (who might also turn out to be fraudsters who pocket players’ money, as we’ve seen in WoW).
Another issue is with free samples. Each new Turbine account can pretty easily obtain almost 1000 Turbine Points ($10 at the most favorable non-sale exchange rate) just by making new characters on each server and advancing to level 4 or so. I’ve been doing just that recently, because I would have tried out those alts anyway, but the cost benefit in my view drops off very quickly once you’ve obtained those low-hanging fruit.
Even so, there are guilds right now that speed level additional characters to 100 favor for the 25 Turbine points (which can be repeated indefinitely). You’re talking about maybe $0.50/hour under ideal conditions, which is less than I value my time at, but that apparently does not go for everyone. Those numbers would only increase if the points could be resold, and, given the history of MMORPG’s, a large number of those farmers would probably be botting.
Finally, there’s a major account security issue in allowing players to trade their Turbine points in a system where credit cards are associated with your store account. If Turbine opens the door to point transfers, there’s be a major incentive for hackers to target DDO accounts and run up a balance on the account’s credit card.
This type of fraud apparently ended Runes of Magic's currency sales, which had been permitted via the in-game auction house until people started buying gold with which to buy item shop currency.
The Value Of Trading Vs Samples
Ultimately, I’d argue that the operator of a free to play game has a choice. You can go with free samples and free points, to show potential customers what they’re missing, along with sales to encourage impulse purchases, which is how DDO runs their store. Alternately, you can open up the cash store items to trading, in the hopes that this will improve the value of the potentially large majority of players who opt not to pay.
Personally, I have a slight preference for the latter model, because it feels more democratic; the risk with an optional payment system is that the non-payers become a less valuable demographic, and that creates incentives for the developers not to care about a major segment of the playerbase. Either way you go, though, mixing the two seems like a difficult task indeed.
Showing posts with label KOL. Show all posts
Showing posts with label KOL. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Friday, July 17, 2009
Voluntary Downward Vertical Progression
I've been spending a bit of time on a return trip to the Kingdom of Loathing recently. KOL is a massively single player broswer-based game, running on a free-to-play with RMT item shop business model, and I'm taking another shot at the game in part because I'm pressed for time.
My wife and I are in the process of moving to our first house and acquiring a dog (yes, in that order), and I've been hard pressed to carve out the kind of 2 hour sessions needed to find a group and run a 5-man in WoW or make serious headway on leveling other characters. KOL has fit nicely into a niche of something I can sneak 20-30 minutes at without feeling like it has taken half of my gaming session just to reach my quest destination.
Anyway, the reason why this becomes blog fodder is that I have just started my first "Bad Moon" ascension. When characters beat the final boss of the game's main plot, they can ascend and start the game over as a reincarnated level one character who retains one of the class skills from their previous life. A character who earns the ability to choose to be reborn under the unlucky "bad moon", however, loses access to everything - all their skills, all their gear, all their familiars (including the ones from the RMT item shop), everything is off-limits until they can complete the Bad Moon ascension.
Why would someone like myself, a relatively achievement-oriented player who has taken the time to complete seventy two ascensions (my character history is here, if any of you play and are curious) suddenly choose to reset myself to the status of a completely new level one character?
When Scaling Becomes a Problem
The developers have made an impressive effort at the nigh-herculean job of balancing the game around a single character potentially having access to every spell, skill, and bonus in the game.
Most abilities scale with a character's current level/stats. Your muscle-bound fighter classes can use the top end offensive spells in the game - indeed, knowing them is a huge advantage when faced with physical-immune monsters - but will do only a fraction of the damage that a real caster can. Still, you will eventually cherry pick enough abilities to start papering over the weaknesses of your current class, ignoring the places where its tools are limited in favor of superior skills from elsewhere. Starting with a clean slate means an opportunity to experience each class as a stand-alone entity, something I haven't done since 2005.
The other issue is somewhat specific to the game's turn system. Players actions per day are limited by a consumable resource called "adventures". You get a certain number of turns each day regardless of your actions, and can increase that number by eating food, drinking booze, and grinding unused equipment into a chewable gum-like paste (that's the way logic works in this game ;)). However, the quality of the stuff you can consume is also limited by level, and players have a limited daily appetite.
Starting off with a totally blank slate in-game, but a solid knowledge of where to go to farm level appropriate consumables, I was able to generate maybe 60 adventures per day. With the crafted foods and bonuses I have access to when I'm not using any voluntary restrictions, that number is well above 100, and it probably breaks 200 if I'm prepared to use the really expensive, high end stuff.
In other words, the amount of time it will take to use up my available turns can swing by 2-4 fold depending on my in-game level. (You can roll over up to 200 adventures per day, but you can still end up with 100+ use-or-lose turns per day relatively easily.) This can translate into less time than you would have liked to spend on the game at low levels (before you've unlocked the best stuff) and more time than you would have preferred to spend at higher levels.
In my new Bad Moon run, on the other hand, I can only eat what I'm able to catch, and I wouldn't be able to cook the best stuff if I did stumble upon the proper ingredients. I still generate more turns per day at higher levels, as the consumables obtained from regular adventuring improve in quality, but it's much less of a steep curve than I have with all the crafting skills.
Incentives and a trustworthy item store
There are some in-game incentives to complete a bad moon ascension. I can still learn a new skill per run for use whenever I choose not to play the Bad Moon game. There is also reward gear that offers massive stat bonuses, useful for attempting to meet the bar for some optional endgame content that requires players to achieve insanely high buffed stats. There are also records and leaderboards for completing runs in fewer days/turns.
Beyond that, though, the actual experience of playing the game differs dramatically as players take on more voluntary challenges. Though there is combat, the game is fundamentally a puzzle-solving exercise. If you're trying to beat your personal best time, you will want to arrive at level 10 with as much of the groundwork for completing the level 10 quests as possible. In more permissive modes, that means preparing stuff in advance (during your previous ascension), while the more limited modes require that you find the time to farm the stuff yourself.
In particular, I've been very impressed with the relatively laid back approach to RMT in the game. The item shop offers equipment (usable in some of the game's modes), familiars and skills (usable in all of the game's modes other than Bad Moon). Most of these items are limited edition, buy it this month, hope you can find it on the game's mall, or do without. If you're bent on pushing the envelope and making the leaderboards outside of Bad Moon, you will almost certainly want at least a few of these items, and may never be able to be fully competitive with people who have the old stuff. If, on the other hand, you're just in it to set a new personal best, gaining a little bit more power with each run, you can literally play the game every day, for free, indefinitely, without ever paying the devs a cent, or ever being nagged in game about why you should be purchasing anything.
Part of this is possible because the game's graphics are black and white, 2-D line sketches. Even so, I don't think I've ever seen a game that depends on its RMT item shop to pay the bills voluntarily introduce a format that makes a level playing field by effectively banning all RMT items. They actually want you to be able to have fun - even if you're competitive - regardless of whether you want to support them. I don't really need any more item shop rewards these days - they are all permanent, and I have enough from back when I played the game daily that I can get by without any upgrades. Still, comparing my feelings about the way this game handles its RMT to more current offerings, part of me feels like I should buy up the next item I have a chance of using, just to support the game.
As to the question I asked up top about why I would voluntarily take a huge number of steps down the vertical progression curve, even if only temporarily? Sometimes the journey really is more the reward, and the incentives are only the sign posts that point you in the direction of the next adventure.
My wife and I are in the process of moving to our first house and acquiring a dog (yes, in that order), and I've been hard pressed to carve out the kind of 2 hour sessions needed to find a group and run a 5-man in WoW or make serious headway on leveling other characters. KOL has fit nicely into a niche of something I can sneak 20-30 minutes at without feeling like it has taken half of my gaming session just to reach my quest destination.
Anyway, the reason why this becomes blog fodder is that I have just started my first "Bad Moon" ascension. When characters beat the final boss of the game's main plot, they can ascend and start the game over as a reincarnated level one character who retains one of the class skills from their previous life. A character who earns the ability to choose to be reborn under the unlucky "bad moon", however, loses access to everything - all their skills, all their gear, all their familiars (including the ones from the RMT item shop), everything is off-limits until they can complete the Bad Moon ascension.
Why would someone like myself, a relatively achievement-oriented player who has taken the time to complete seventy two ascensions (my character history is here, if any of you play and are curious) suddenly choose to reset myself to the status of a completely new level one character?
When Scaling Becomes a Problem
The developers have made an impressive effort at the nigh-herculean job of balancing the game around a single character potentially having access to every spell, skill, and bonus in the game.
Most abilities scale with a character's current level/stats. Your muscle-bound fighter classes can use the top end offensive spells in the game - indeed, knowing them is a huge advantage when faced with physical-immune monsters - but will do only a fraction of the damage that a real caster can. Still, you will eventually cherry pick enough abilities to start papering over the weaknesses of your current class, ignoring the places where its tools are limited in favor of superior skills from elsewhere. Starting with a clean slate means an opportunity to experience each class as a stand-alone entity, something I haven't done since 2005.
The other issue is somewhat specific to the game's turn system. Players actions per day are limited by a consumable resource called "adventures". You get a certain number of turns each day regardless of your actions, and can increase that number by eating food, drinking booze, and grinding unused equipment into a chewable gum-like paste (that's the way logic works in this game ;)). However, the quality of the stuff you can consume is also limited by level, and players have a limited daily appetite.
Starting off with a totally blank slate in-game, but a solid knowledge of where to go to farm level appropriate consumables, I was able to generate maybe 60 adventures per day. With the crafted foods and bonuses I have access to when I'm not using any voluntary restrictions, that number is well above 100, and it probably breaks 200 if I'm prepared to use the really expensive, high end stuff.
In other words, the amount of time it will take to use up my available turns can swing by 2-4 fold depending on my in-game level. (You can roll over up to 200 adventures per day, but you can still end up with 100+ use-or-lose turns per day relatively easily.) This can translate into less time than you would have liked to spend on the game at low levels (before you've unlocked the best stuff) and more time than you would have preferred to spend at higher levels.
In my new Bad Moon run, on the other hand, I can only eat what I'm able to catch, and I wouldn't be able to cook the best stuff if I did stumble upon the proper ingredients. I still generate more turns per day at higher levels, as the consumables obtained from regular adventuring improve in quality, but it's much less of a steep curve than I have with all the crafting skills.
Incentives and a trustworthy item store
There are some in-game incentives to complete a bad moon ascension. I can still learn a new skill per run for use whenever I choose not to play the Bad Moon game. There is also reward gear that offers massive stat bonuses, useful for attempting to meet the bar for some optional endgame content that requires players to achieve insanely high buffed stats. There are also records and leaderboards for completing runs in fewer days/turns.
Beyond that, though, the actual experience of playing the game differs dramatically as players take on more voluntary challenges. Though there is combat, the game is fundamentally a puzzle-solving exercise. If you're trying to beat your personal best time, you will want to arrive at level 10 with as much of the groundwork for completing the level 10 quests as possible. In more permissive modes, that means preparing stuff in advance (during your previous ascension), while the more limited modes require that you find the time to farm the stuff yourself.
In particular, I've been very impressed with the relatively laid back approach to RMT in the game. The item shop offers equipment (usable in some of the game's modes), familiars and skills (usable in all of the game's modes other than Bad Moon). Most of these items are limited edition, buy it this month, hope you can find it on the game's mall, or do without. If you're bent on pushing the envelope and making the leaderboards outside of Bad Moon, you will almost certainly want at least a few of these items, and may never be able to be fully competitive with people who have the old stuff. If, on the other hand, you're just in it to set a new personal best, gaining a little bit more power with each run, you can literally play the game every day, for free, indefinitely, without ever paying the devs a cent, or ever being nagged in game about why you should be purchasing anything.
Part of this is possible because the game's graphics are black and white, 2-D line sketches. Even so, I don't think I've ever seen a game that depends on its RMT item shop to pay the bills voluntarily introduce a format that makes a level playing field by effectively banning all RMT items. They actually want you to be able to have fun - even if you're competitive - regardless of whether you want to support them. I don't really need any more item shop rewards these days - they are all permanent, and I have enough from back when I played the game daily that I can get by without any upgrades. Still, comparing my feelings about the way this game handles its RMT to more current offerings, part of me feels like I should buy up the next item I have a chance of using, just to support the game.
As to the question I asked up top about why I would voluntarily take a huge number of steps down the vertical progression curve, even if only temporarily? Sometimes the journey really is more the reward, and the incentives are only the sign posts that point you in the direction of the next adventure.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Why MMORPG's Are Like Dogs
Via Tipa's daily blogroll post is a post from We Fly Spitfires comparing MMORPG's to dating stereotypes of women. Pete of Dragonchasers fame found an even better response comparing MMORPG's to menfolks. I don't have any new and amusing dating stereotypes to add, but my wife and I are in the process of hunting for a dog.
Here are some dog comparisons that are sure to offend fans of the games and the dog breeds in question, as well as anyone who doesn't like the badly mixed metaphors that are about to ensue.
World of Warcraft, The Labrador Retriever
The world's most popular dog for a reason, WoW is exceptionally friendly to all sorts of players and seems to be able to do a little bit of everything (solo, raid, PVP, etc). Detractors point out rightly that there may not be a ton of variety or depth - your Black Lab (Gnome Mage) is going to look a lot like hundreds of others in your neighborhood.
As it gets older, WoW isn't doing as well at keeping up with the kids in the yard, which is a disappointment to the teens who used to run along with it when it was a young dog. However, the slower pace suits some of the younger kids, who couldn't keep up with the dog in its prime. Still, even the folks who swear that they've outgrown their parents old lab seem to have a bit of nostalgia, occasionally stopping to give a lab a scratch behind the ears from time to time.
Lord of the Rings Online, The English Springer Spaniel
You can't look at this dog without recognizing its impressive heritage. Other breeds may aspire to this faithful companion of Kings and Presidents, but only this one has the history from The Shire, Rivendell, and the other locations of Middle Earth. The springer may not be the best at hunting (PVE, Raiding), but it's worth watching that distinctive springing through the underbrush, looking to flush out birds, just because of the history behind it.
Warhammer Online, The Border Collie
This is a very intelligent breed, which turned out to cause some problems for Mythic. The trainer thought they could train Warhammer to be a game that prized open field RVR over all else. The problem was that the Collie was too smart, a natural bred herder, not a herd-ee. She quickly learned that scenarios offered a better ratio of treats to time than the other tricks Mythic was trying to teach her. The problem is that sheep dogs only have something to do when there are sheep and dogs around and in reasonable numbers (proper ratio of sheep dogs to sheep, etc). Mythic is apparently still working on that.
Everquest 2, The Husky
EQ2 has retained some of the look and behavior of its wolf ancestors (EQ1), and is arguably bred for running in packs (PVE groups/raids) as sled dogs. Everyone knows of the breed - it's a common University mascot - but many of those don't actually know that much about the breed, even though it's been around for a pretty long time. Under that thick coat of cold-weather fur is an intelligent, friendly dog that can carry its owner further than they might have thought possible.
I'll call it a day there, since those are the games I've got the most /played experience with. Your additions, flames, and MMORPG's Are Like [x] followup posts are welcome.
Update for Bonus Dog:
Kingdom of Loathing is The Dalmatian
Off the top of my head, the characteristically black and white Dalmatians have appeared in a Disney cartoon and a series of Budweiser commercials. Kingdom of Loathing, a browser-based somewhat massively single player online game, is illustrated entirely in black and white stick figures. The game offers a relatively unique "ascension" mechanic, in which characters that beat the game's final boss are reincarnated as a new level one character of a class of the player's choice, allowing them to replay the game with a growing array of perks from past lives. I'm not quite up to a hundred and one yet, but sometimes it feels that way (which can be reassuringly familiar or annoyingly tedious depending on the mood). Finally, booze is a major daily consumable, with a character needing to consume five or more margaritas per day for maximum benefit. I'll call that three for three.
Here are some dog comparisons that are sure to offend fans of the games and the dog breeds in question, as well as anyone who doesn't like the badly mixed metaphors that are about to ensue.
World of Warcraft, The Labrador Retriever
The world's most popular dog for a reason, WoW is exceptionally friendly to all sorts of players and seems to be able to do a little bit of everything (solo, raid, PVP, etc). Detractors point out rightly that there may not be a ton of variety or depth - your Black Lab (Gnome Mage) is going to look a lot like hundreds of others in your neighborhood.
As it gets older, WoW isn't doing as well at keeping up with the kids in the yard, which is a disappointment to the teens who used to run along with it when it was a young dog. However, the slower pace suits some of the younger kids, who couldn't keep up with the dog in its prime. Still, even the folks who swear that they've outgrown their parents old lab seem to have a bit of nostalgia, occasionally stopping to give a lab a scratch behind the ears from time to time.
Lord of the Rings Online, The English Springer Spaniel
You can't look at this dog without recognizing its impressive heritage. Other breeds may aspire to this faithful companion of Kings and Presidents, but only this one has the history from The Shire, Rivendell, and the other locations of Middle Earth. The springer may not be the best at hunting (PVE, Raiding), but it's worth watching that distinctive springing through the underbrush, looking to flush out birds, just because of the history behind it.
Warhammer Online, The Border Collie
This is a very intelligent breed, which turned out to cause some problems for Mythic. The trainer thought they could train Warhammer to be a game that prized open field RVR over all else. The problem was that the Collie was too smart, a natural bred herder, not a herd-ee. She quickly learned that scenarios offered a better ratio of treats to time than the other tricks Mythic was trying to teach her. The problem is that sheep dogs only have something to do when there are sheep and dogs around and in reasonable numbers (proper ratio of sheep dogs to sheep, etc). Mythic is apparently still working on that.
Everquest 2, The Husky
EQ2 has retained some of the look and behavior of its wolf ancestors (EQ1), and is arguably bred for running in packs (PVE groups/raids) as sled dogs. Everyone knows of the breed - it's a common University mascot - but many of those don't actually know that much about the breed, even though it's been around for a pretty long time. Under that thick coat of cold-weather fur is an intelligent, friendly dog that can carry its owner further than they might have thought possible.
I'll call it a day there, since those are the games I've got the most /played experience with. Your additions, flames, and MMORPG's Are Like [x] followup posts are welcome.
Update for Bonus Dog:
Kingdom of Loathing is The Dalmatian
Off the top of my head, the characteristically black and white Dalmatians have appeared in a Disney cartoon and a series of Budweiser commercials. Kingdom of Loathing, a browser-based somewhat massively single player online game, is illustrated entirely in black and white stick figures. The game offers a relatively unique "ascension" mechanic, in which characters that beat the game's final boss are reincarnated as a new level one character of a class of the player's choice, allowing them to replay the game with a growing array of perks from past lives. I'm not quite up to a hundred and one yet, but sometimes it feels that way (which can be reassuringly familiar or annoyingly tedious depending on the mood). Finally, booze is a major daily consumable, with a character needing to consume five or more margaritas per day for maximum benefit. I'll call that three for three.
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