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Are western made mmorpgs heading towards the Asian model?
Xenduli
Member Posts: 654
Don't know if you are aware, but most games in Asia are free, but you pay for upgrades, spells, content etc etc.
It seems that few western made mmorpgs adopt that model, but I'm slowly seeing a trend towards that [golf mmog is one particular example] and when SoE's *free* comic-book based game is released that may well start a trend. It certainly makes handling trials easier, the only time to give your CC details is when you pay for virtual items and your game wouldn't really have an "excuse" for a low population.
There is one other reason why alot of games are online only in Asia and that is because of the rampant piracy. Majority of PC games are pirated.
This can also mean that you can get players "hooked" at a younger age. There could be a system to pay for virtual items through a mobile phone, most people have them but especially keen amongst teenagers. Think of the possibilites of using a mobile phone to track your characters progress or an auction that is running for example. [There are already mobile-exclusive mmorpgs out there, but that's for another topic 
]
Does anyone think that this could be the way ALL mmorpgs are sold in the future or is it just a way to tackle piracy?
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From a gameplay point of view I don't like it either. It's richer = better. That is not how a game should be, it should be based on skills. I know that it doesn't have to be richer = better, but often it is. Specially if the game is item based like World of Warcraft etc, and people get to buy the items for money.
From a business standpoint this is a great idea. If you get all the people addicted and they have to pay for each gold piece, item and spell in the game, you will be rich, muhahahah.......
well some of huge company would be ok with monthly subscription but small game company can;t survival i guess.(still some of player spend money to get items out of the game, with real money somethimes)
so when they have to make money, this kind of business model is good for them
but it is true that when player who addicted the game will be spend more money....lol
/agree
A revenue model which is based on selling in-game advantages is a devious way of getting more money than a fixed monthly subscription rate. Such a system is designed to hook players and slowly reel their dollars in more and more.
It becomes human nature to justify buying more in-game advantages to justify the previous purchases and any investment in time up until that point, because many people are unwilling to face up to the fact that they have wasted both time and money in a crappy game and just cut their losses and quit. They try to convince themselves that they just need that one more purchase to make it all good.
I hate the concept of paying for in-game advantages as it defeats playing MMOGs for anyone who is a competitor. The fact that secondary sales of items earned in-game thru expended effort exists, does not justify developers selling items directly, nor is it remotely the same, since advantages that developers sell directly have no connection to the game world or economy because they are created in a vacuum outside the game world.
Just say no to and pass on MMOGs that sell in-game advantages.
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The free game item shop has always been an iffy subject. Alot of times it leads to rampent CC Fraud (Kal) and if not then item shop items generally get fed into the economy of the game and does some strange things there. Regardless any game that has an item shop gives a very unfair advantage to those who can use it, thus dragging more people into using it for in game items in order to keep up with everyone else.
Bottom line, either go P2P or stay as a free game, the item shops just generate trouble in one form or another.
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?? With Mobile games now you can play a mobile game then transfer the money you make on the mobile game into an existing mmorpg.
The thing about the "asian model" is that its self-defeating in the end. There only revenue is from items, so naturally the items you can buy are either the best items in-game or close to it. So everyone will probably end up buying them; and then when that happens where will you get your revenue from if the player no longer needs to buy items since they already got them. You could always make new items that are better then the old items being sold, but now your just going to piss off the customer making them think that the only way to play the game is to keep updated with weapons and armor.
I think the better method developed that many games are starting to follow is the premium and regular account models. A regular account for $5 a month; or a premium account for $12 a month that comes with alot of benefits; and maybe sell-ingame items that can be used at intermediate levels but arent good end-game.
edit- BTW it isn't the Asian Model. It was developed by the people who made Project Entropia.
Jorev wrote:
It becomes human nature to justify buying more in-game advantages to justify the previous purchases and any investment in time up until that point, because many people are unwilling to face up to the fact that they have wasted both time and money in a crappy game and just cut their losses and quit. They try to convince themselves that they just need that one more purchase to make it all good.
you get the exact same thing with monthly subscriptions. After you've spent X amount of months plus the price of the box and any expansions, you're left with the same need to justify yourself. With the "asain model" you can play a game for awhile before putting any money into it, or you can spend $5 to $10 in order to rank up and see if you'll like the content a little further down the road.
Cleffy wrote:
The thing about the "asian model" is that its self-defeating in the end. There only revenue is from items, so naturally the items you can buy are either the best items in-game or close to it. So everyone will probably end up buying them; and then when that happens where will you get your revenue from if the player no longer needs to buy items since they already got them.
This is exactly why some of the newer Korean MMOs, noteably Turf Battles and Ran Online, have switched to either selling consumable or time limit items only. In TB you can buy potions that will let you gain +50% XP (very handy when power leveling) as well as some insane buff potions. With Ran Online, you get 7 day bus passes, to get into different areas of the game, and you rent certain items for about a week at a time. If you make items that get worn and eventually break (even well taken care of stuff eventually breaks), then you have one way to keep people coming back for more. Flyff sells a lot of items that do nothing but personalize your characters appearance. And those are just a few ways that you can keep players buying content.
Another thing to keep in mind is that buying in game items, currency, and area access is often times cheaper than a monthly fee. You also don't have to worry so much about falling way behind your friends and never seeing them again. And you don't have to pay to keep your account active while you aren't playing the game. Expect that to change though, most traditional MUDs wipe unregistered and/or inactive accounts periodically to save server space and I wouldn't be suprised if the F2P MMOs didn't start doing that soon.
edit- BTW it isn't the Asian Model. It was developed by the people who made Project Entropia.
Actually, I think that it was first used by Iron Realms and then was used on the korean version of Ragnarok Online and Eternal Lands before being used on PE. Since most Koreans pay by the hour for time in PC bongs, it didn't make any sense to charge a monthly fee.
RIght now the rich either can either buy currency and get ahead in subscriptions game...or can afford to play a lot more than the working class (on a better computer usually and a better connection) to advance more and get more value out of their monthly fee.
Not much of a difference in my eyes. I won't waste real life income on currency and such, but if I had a nice collection of F2P cash shop games that I could play whenever and have different genres and styles without a monthly fee...I could consider using a cash shop, prolly wouldn't, but if I am saving $240+ a year and get more games with variety I wouldn't care about spending $5 now and then to get some little in game toy.
this is kind of like the principle behind ticket scalping...the scalpers end up making all the money...so why don't the promoters just raise the prices?...imo i rather the money go to the developers of the game so they can add better content...than to parasitic farming companies that do no one any good
yes its unfair to poorer players...but the good players learn how to make money anyway...and remember if they did sell the goods...at least there is a chance it would be given back to the player in the form of a better game
In western we have set amount of mmo that can pretty much be count using both hands...while in asia there're tons of them. Most game companies over there wont be able to survive competing against each other using the subscription model therefor they need a diffrent approach which are mainly cash shop and game time cards.
Another reason is that most western players play their games from home while most people in asia access their game from an internet cafe.
Yes, but the US MMO market is becoming flooded now. They won't be able to compete if the list of in dev MMOs are released. Doesn't even matter how good they are people aren't often willing to fork over cash just to try a game for a month, or atleast not $50. If people won't try it word won't spread.
The asian game market is bigger than the US's in every are. Console, computer, arcade, and gambling (countign pachinko [sp?] and such games) they even make most of the software running the "US" made casino machines and a huge percent of the disposable card decks at casinos. The US market is starting to catch up to the size the asian market was at a while ago, it is about time the companies adapt to that fact and not use the old model. Roma Victor seems to be the first US developed game doing that, but Maplestory and such are slowing building a UD market here too so things are already starting.
However, it will be interesting to see what the results are from Oblivion. In addition SoE is currently working on a new MMO that is theoretically going to be using this model, and if that succeeds in the NA market, expect that to open a floodgate.
If you are talking about the addon modules for $2 each Bethesda is about 4 years behind many other games like Neverwinter Nights and EQ2.
You have to buy the Oblivion Box, which isn't the asian model. It is not online, which is the topic.
Let's also not forget that Oblivion is a single player game and they are only selling new content. It's not like they're selling equipment and items that you need in order to complete the game. Neverwinter Nights have been selling "official" modules for years, but you could always get amateur modules for free. I'm not sure if Oblivion let's you download user made stuff for free. The way I understand it, Bethseda is charging you just to download mods. I'm not sure if they charge you to post your mod though.
I don't really think it's honest to charge people for content that you didn't make. In the case of item shops, the company already made all the stuff that they're selling so I don't see any problem there. In the case of Oblivion, I think it's unethical, but the mod developers probably agreed to this in the EULA.
If you are talking about the addon modules for $2 each Bethesda is about 4 years behind many other games like Neverwinter Nights and EQ2.
You have to buy the Oblivion Box, which isn't the asian model. It is not online, which is the topic.
Well, I can't argue with those points. Oblivion isn't exactly the same as a MMO. However, that doesn't mean we should disregard it when discussing purchasable content. If you want to discuss how this sort of model would fare in the NA market, Oblivion is a fine example of the sort of responses that will be garnered. It is a high profile game, and therefore a good amount of discussion has been going on with regards to them selling content.
Now, I agree, the fact that people paid for it predisposes people to suggest that they shouldn't have to pay more. However, it is my personal theory that gamers don't like 'real world' assets tainting their ability to perform or access all of the content in a game and that once we get a mainstream release of a free to play but pay to be a part of MMO, you're going to see a lot of the same response.
What this means is that any company looking to translate this business model to the NA market should keep an eye on the Oblivion feedback, and see if they manage to find some way to make this palatable to the gamer population at large. If they do manage to be successful, then that success should be something that is taken in to consideration when trying it with a MMO based model.