Gaming on the MMOve

I'll tell you what I want, what I really really want – remote access to my favourite MMOs’ that’s what! And it looks like my wish is finally being granted.

Second Life has just announced the release of the thrillingly titled v1.4 which includes a feature that goes by the equally awe inspiringly acronym XML-RPC. What this means is that 2L is now connected to the outside world enabling things like vendors to mange their stores remotely.

Similarly at the recent SWG Fan Fest, the developers were asked about remote connections to servers that would allow such things as: finding out who is online, receiving SMSs when structures needed to maintained etc. While the panel would not discuss any specific features they did confirm that SOE / LucasArts are working on some form of mobile access to the game – w00t.

What’s more, during the 11hr flight to LA (for which I and the other transatlantians got a Galaxy Quest Stylee ‘Give him a big hand, he's British’), I got to thinking – now if the airline offered an in-flight remote access service to my favourite MMOs I’d pay a _lot_ for that, in fact I might even upgrade to business for that.

There has got to be a business case in this somewhere. I’d love to play via my mobile phone – just think of the hand set sales, the air time, the service charges, the expansion of the market into the time-poor / cash-rich casual gaming sector.

Comments

[Luca Girardo]

1.

What is the gain for the game provider? A unique selling point and more subscribers? I doubt about that. If you did not like the game before, you want change your mind for additional services offered.
Higher retention rate? Something to think about but it is difficult to make an economic analysis without some data like how the retention rate would change.
So the one choice left is the pay per use model. Additional services for a fee. But what type of services and for what type of devices? Laptops, PDAs, Phones? And if we move to other comm. systems like cellular phones, for what countries? What phone companies? And how many subscribers would try the new services?
Just think about billing. Billing is a core service, critical to attract new users. And most of the game providers offer a basic system offering often just a “credit card” payment system. A model that can work in some countries (USA, Canada) and hardly work in countries where credit cards are not so widespread (like most of the European countries).
Additional services can be for sure a good source of revenues but at the same time for every system outside the game system, difficult to implement and manage and has to be customized for each country (or also different regions of the same country).
One core service that many non-English-speaking players would love is a real localization of the software, services (see billing but also community website, support and related).
At the same time online game providers are moving towards external services like in Matrix Online with the support for ICQ/AOL and with the relative presence and communication features. See for example ">http://media.aoltimewarner.com/media/press_view.cfm?release_num=55253896”"> here for some additional details.

[weasel]

2.

Hat's off to Linden Labs for both supporting standards and the community.

As for Luca's comments about billing, I agree wholeheartedly. The billing model for these games is tired. Monthly fees and automatic renewals are not the only way to go.

Why not offer something like a 'token' micro-pre-payment system, like an arcade? You allow people to buy a certain number of 'tokens' up front, via CC/paypal/pre-paid gamecard, and then deduct the tokens from their account as sort of micropayments, as they play. Sure, it looks like just hourly billing on the face of it - but you simply cap token charges per day, per week and per month, so that your powergamers still only wind up paying a max of $15 real dollars/month to play your game. You still allow a player to select a monthly billing package if they want - but you don't require it.

With such a system you don't have that negative connotation associated with the monthly fee, and that pressure to play alot or cancel. Casual gamers can stick around and play here and there without feeling like they're getting the shaft because they don't play 40 hours every month.

I think one of the biggest reasons that Lineage and Legend of Mir can manage such huge user bases is precisely because they can retain more casual players -- because casual players are only paying for what they play. If I could drop $20 into SOE's token machine and use those for a session of EQ here and there to get my fix - I'm sure I'd still be contributing to their bottom line, and I think we'd both come out ahead.

Think of it like pre-paid gift cards. Casual players buy $20 worth of tokens from EA or VU or someone, but odds are they won't use them all. Naturally they institute a policy similar to what every gift card in the U.S. now has: the expiration of funds (losing a dollar from the value every 3 months, or outright expiration of funds after 12 months). So you don't have to worry about the legal and financial liabilities of tracking thousands of minute quantities of money for decades at a time. (not to mention the consideration of tokens that expire before use -- pure profit)

Back to Luca's comments -- once you've done that, it becomes fairly easy to charge for value-added services. You simply define a separate token cost (with separate caps if necessary), and deduct it from the account when the user chooses to buy. You could do this right from the in-game interface, not requiring a CC# or anything like that. Just a retyping of the account password (or entering a seperate 'billing password' as a parental control) and automatically enhancing the 'impulse buy' appeal.

Want to subscribe to event notification so you get an out-of-game message when your structure needs maintenance, the kingdom is under attack, or someone sends you mail in-game? That costs a couple tokens a month.

Want to be able to connect with a stripped down client to manage your inventory, vendor, and in-game guild preferences/calendar from a mobile device? That's a couple tokens.

If you want to allow in-game property purchasing with out of game funds -- it's all right there, without the hassle of a bunch of additional small-dollar CC transactions. 4 tokens for some in-game cash, 10 tokens for better armor for your post-apoc dune buggy, a couple tokens to transfer your avatar to another server, etc.

[Scott McMillin]

3.

EQ2 = Everquest Two
HL2 = Half Life Two
T2 = Terminator Two

2L = Two Life

SL = Second Life

[Nathan Combs]

4.

Similarly at the recent SWG Fan Fest, the developers were asked about remote connections to servers that would allow such things as: finding out who is online, receiving SMSs when structures needed to maintained etc.

I can't help but wonder if this is a fringe benefit for a game design such as SW:G. Put it another way, until you can actually "play" the game via hand-held (or some meaningful subgame, e.g. perhaps trading) vs. just metagaming, it feels interesting but only as a modest proposal appealing to some.

I predict that as more MMOGs adopt "real-time" background skills/learning - more value might come via usefully monitoring and setting these using mobile... but still, feels fringe.

I suppose the first real choice game designers will be confronted with along these lines will be whether:

a.) try to squeeze a dumbed-down client onto a PSP thingie;
b.) try to carve out fringe pieces
or c.) design a game bottom up to accomodate /integrate these new platforms.

(a.) feels hard and perhaps unworkable.
(b.) feels, well, fringe
(c.) feels the right thing to do... but who's doing it.

Feels like to me these are pretty fundamental choices. And once made, they may be hard to undo.

[elif]

5.

In regards to being able to play during a flight, some airlines are beginning to offer wireless Internet access during flights. Just like Gameboys became popular for kids on flights, I wouldn't be surprised if a similar thinig happened for laptops and Internet-based games.

[MM]

6.

I don't think you'll ever be able to play Second Life over a cell phone. The phone just doesn't have the interface. And you can ditto that observation for just about every other game that is worth playing.

And in general, I don't see much of a point to it. If you want to play your favorite MMO on an airplane, I don't expect that to be problem. But you'll be playing on a laptop (over the airline's internet feed), not on a cell phone. But aside from that example, when would you play? At the bank? In the bank, you are supposed to be paying attention to the line anyway. If MMO's really require so little attention, then they probably aren't good enough. I see this as something that someone is going to go broke trying to develope. But I don't see much of a market for it.

I typically agree with Ren, but I have to say that remote access to MM0's is unlikely to pay much of a return.

[Flatfingers]

7.

I'd guess that the wireless tsunami heading for us will push the development of access to content (including MMOGs/VWs) on handheld devices.

The wireless-enabled handhelds just starting to appear are only the leading edge of this wave. In the past week I've read separate reports from appliance makers, homebuilders, and corporate IT managers -- all of them are already building products and processes that assume that wireless connectivity will be near-ubiquitous in five years. (Some of these are people who missed the Internet wave and want to catch -- or create -- the next one, so the hype will be extreme, too.)

As more portable computing assets (laptops, PDAs, handheld consoles) ship with wireless hardware as standard equipment, they'll want networked games to play. Seems like whoever's got those games ready should do well.

(Although they don't make MMOGs, I note that Ion Storm/Eidos may be leading the way for developers here. Their last two products, Deus Ex: Invisible War and Thief: Deadly Shadows, were both designed from the ground up to run on both the PC and Xbox with minimal recoding. There were some playability tradeoffs IMO, but from a business standpoint it's highly effective to create code that runs on PCs and consoles.)

[magicback]

8.

XML-RPC sounds like a great feature. Linking game-system chat channels with external chat channels like the Matrix Online/ICQ is also cool. They just validate that many players prefer to integrate VW with RW rather than go for total immersion.

And because of this preferrence, we will ubiquitous access to online gaming as much as we want ubiquitous access to stay connected via email, mobile phone, whatever.

I think the coming change will come from the billing area first. Maybe with Blackberries and the new mobile phone/PDA hybrids as the next big market for online gaming.

Also, micropayment, cellphone bill bundling, pand repaid phonecard distribution are well-established, so the options weasel suggested are easy to implement.

Frank

[Brian Yeung]

9.

weasel: Casual gamers can stick around and play here and there without feeling like they're getting the shaft because they don't play 40 hours every month.

There's a similar story with online dating services. Match.com has a monthly fee, which allows you to write or reply to anyone that writes to you. Springstreet -- which is the backbone behind a lot of sites like The Onion -- has a token system, which you deduct from to send anyone a message. But it allows you to reply to messages for free.

So Match users that don't use the service often are penalized because if they unsubscribe but later get one random message, they don't have much impetus to resubscribe. But with Springstreet, they can reply for free and it may spur them to look around again and buy more credits.

I'm not sure what the attach rate is for either service, though I hear Match has a pretty good revenue stream. I'm more curious how this billing system affects people after the first couple of months, though.

crankyuser

[Tobold]

10.

I think the "MMO on the move" will be laptops with Wi-Fi internet connection. Sure, you wouldn't want to go on a EQ raid while waiting for your airplane in a lounge, but it would still be useful enough to keep in touch with your friends, and do stuff like paying the virtual rent for your virtual house.

I'm very much in favor of alternative payment systems as well. The monthly fee system causes people to completely rupture their connection with a game when their interest wanes. How many accounts of other games will be cancelled the day World of Warcraft is released? Nobody will tell us, but I'm sure it will be a lot. The usual argument is that "I can't afford to pay for two games", and as you can't put the second game "on hold", you have to completely cancel your account to avoid paying for nothing. A token payment system would have a much higher chance to lure people back to their old games, once they found that the new game wasn't actually that much better.

[ren]

11.

Just to clarify, I’m talking about differential levels of access here – an interface / client that is suited to the physical client that you are using.

So on a plane, I would like a full client with decent graphics, so either my own lap top or something that I would get as an option as part of the flight cost.

On my mobile phone / hand held device, right now I’m not looking to go on full raids, rather I want limited access to VWs, I guess this can be split into three types of functions: awareness, housekeeping & thin access

Awareness
- who is online
- alerts for things like stock / maintenance levels of things

House keeping
- re-stocking things

Thin access
- moving my avatar round a limited representation of the VW – simple 2D and ability to jump to way points would do for me
- running pre-existing in-game macros
- possibly simple messaging

With thin access the game would have to cope with this with some kind of metaphor that was consistent with the world. That is, people would have to know that I don’t have full access so communication and action would be limited, may be I would appear to be sleep walking or something.

Where is the case for this for the world, well I would pay extra for these functions, moreover I might stick with a world longer / be a better part of the community if I had the ability to drop in at those moments of micro-boredom during the day, and sure I would stand in a queue at shop and hop my avatar between Way Points or pay some upkeep on an item or structure.

Ren

[weasel]

12.

Ren>Just to clarify, I’m talking about differential levels of access here – an interface / client that is suited to the physical client that you are using.

Exactly, this is pretty much a requirement for cross-platform access to a VW. Peripheral clients should stick to peripheral access. Messaging, bookkeeping, vendor management, etc.

Tobold>How many accounts of other games will be cancelled the day World of Warcraft is released? Nobody will tell us, but I'm sure it will be a lot.

Perhaps drifting off-topic here, but no game-like VW launch has taken a statistically significant portion of active subscriptions from another game. EQ was a massive success without stealing piles of active players from UO. AC launched and thrived without taking any large numbers of players from either UO or EQ, DAoC found its own crowd, as did AO, etc.

People come and go from these games, and anecdotal evidence of direct switching is certain to exist, but there has not yet been such a transition. Good as it looks, I see no reason to believe that WoW will be able to execute such a coup. I have no doubts that it will do extremely well. I do however doubt it will do so at the expense of the established worlds.

(How about that CoH release, by-the-by? Two months and counting as the #1 selling PC game. That has to be some sort of VW launch record.)

[Betsy Book]

13.

A few of the social virtual worlds have implemented supplementary mobile communications features. Habbo Hotel has a feature called a Habbo Console which relays emails, IMs and SMS messages to/from community members. Playdo, a vw recently added to the VWR lineup, takes the mobile-vw connection a step further by actually making some of the world's activities available via a WAP interface.

Now, these worlds have a few interesting things in common. They both target teens and they are both developed by folks in Scandinavia (Playdo by Andreas Rehnburg in Sweden and Habbo Hotel by Sulake Labs based in Finland.) I think we can safely assume that European teens comprise one powerful group of early adopters of mobile-vw interfaces. But will North American teens follow suit? We'll see. The Canadian version of Habbo just launched and a U.S. version is in development.

I think teens and mobile vw access go together like bread and butter. But it probably doesn't make sense for all virtual worlds.

[Luca Girardo]

14.

Weasel> (How about that CoH release, by-the-by? Two months and counting as the #1 selling PC game. That has to be some sort of VW launch record.)

A question, what is your source about selling ranks for PC games? I ask because I was looking today about selling charts for PC games and I did not find any recent weekly chard from NPD about PC games.
At the same time I was wondering if Amazon selling rank for video games could be taken as general reference for how successful a MMOG is (at least for the US). Even if Amazon represents just one seller and an online seller, I suppose we can assume that the MMOGs selling figures could be similar to the selling figures of normal shops (as for MMOGs a credit card is a requirement).
On the other side the Amazon selling rank won't be of much help for games using directing distribution (like Eve Online using Fileplanet at this stage.
For products like Everquest or Ultima Online the situation is also more complex due to the several different products on the market.

[ren]

15.

Betsy> They both target teens and they are both developed by folks in Scandinavia (Playdo by Andreas Rehnburg in Sweden and Habbo Hotel by Sulake Labs based in Finland.)

Maybe one reason we have not seen such a push for mobile in the MMOs that we tend to focus on here is because the main player base is in the US – The Land that Mobile Culture Left Behind. In Europe and Asia, things like txt messaging have been such a way of life for so long maybe the main push for the integration of mobile tech will come from the non-US market.

[weasel]

16.

Luca>A question, what is your source about selling ranks for PC games? I ask because I was looking today about selling charts for PC games and I did not find any recent weekly chard from NPD about PC games.

April 2004, (courtesy gamespy), City of Heroes #1 in its first month on the chart.

May 2004, (courtesy ign), City of Heroes, #1 again.

These are all NPD numbers, of course, found just by googling around a bit.

[Luca Girardo]

17.

Need to train my googling a bit more :)
Thanks

[lieeeebe]

18.

i wett 20 Taler