Posts Tagged ‘mmo world’

Parabellum closed beta now open for registration

Monday, May 4th, 2009

You might remember back in September we talked about Acony’s upcoming free-to-play first person shooter, Parabellum.  Powered by the Unreal Engine 3, this highly anticipated title stole the hearts and minds of gamers at the Austin Game Developers Convention.

parabellum_betaAccording to the official description from Acony, Parabellum will be a hybrid of the best elements of a First Person Shooter and a Massive Multiplayer Online game.  Parabellum will also introduce the first interactive non-linear multiplayer campaigns in addition to an advanced character and weapon development system.

Set in the future, 2018 to be exact, players take part in privatized global military force actions (not unlike what’s been unfolding on Fox’s 24 this season), where ex-soldiers, mercenaries, and adventurers can make untold fortunes.  Players will choose an alliance, either the CTN; those committed to keeping anarchy at bay, or the Syndicate, rebels hell bent on destruction and chaos.  Overseeing, or perhaps rather encouraging both organizations, the C.I.N. provides contracts to both groups depending on the pending job.  An interesting feature of Parabellum will include consequence decisions, meaning that outcomes from one mission will affect the outcome and procedure from the next mission.  Players will not fight level after level of unrelated content, but rather fight their way through entire cities.  Given the nature of the game and these missions, players are free to choose their own routes through these cities, as well as construct routes that will lead the opposing force into traps.

Taking cues from the MMO world, Parabellum characters gain experience and evolve throughout the experience.  As more and more missions are complete, player’s characters will unlock new weapons, weapon mods and attachments, body armor, accessories and appearance.  Acony is touting over 10,000 different possible combinations, a feat yet unheard of in any MMO-FPS.

Distributed in the US by K2, a quick reminder of some additional game customizations:

  • Player uploaded battle music
  • Turning off in game advertising
  • Clan logos
  • And a whole lot more ‘undisclosed’ content

On a final note, while Parabellum will be free to play, there’s a host of available items made possible via microtransactions.  However, the good folks at Acony take what they’re building here very seriously, and realize that pwnage should not depend on the size of a player’s wallet.  That’s why they’ve specifically designed the game to measure victory based on skill and wit.  None of the weapons or equipment in the game require players to pay for with real money.

So get the gettin’s while the gettins hot.  Acony is now accepting applications for their closed beta at http://parabellum.xg1.net/.  Note: you will have to create an account before applying for the beta.  Fair’s fair.

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Fraud and how MMO’s are dealing with it

Saturday, August 16th, 2008

As the MMO industry continues to develop and grow, sadly some of the ‘darker’ aspects of economies rear their ugly head.  Credit Card fraud has become an increasingly hot topic of debate, with a number of specialist firms engaged in spotting, reacting to, and deterring future fraud in the MMO world.

Chargebacks from fraudulent credit cards are a growing problem for MMO publishers.  Chargebacks are the process by which credit card sales are refuted by the holder of the credit card.  Gamesutra recently sat down with Gene Hoffman, Chairman and CEO of Vindicia, a billing an fraud management company for a Q&A about the state of fraud in the MMO industry.  Hoffman’s views prove to be very interesting:

…. micro-transactions do seem to work fine in, say, Korea!

Gene Hoffman: Americans love “all you can eat”. Even the mobile phone companies have really evolved to all you can eat. We always challenge people to name the bill they get every month or year that isn’t in actuality all you can eat.

Outside of government granted monopolies, most people know what they are going to pay. That said, using a base plus metering can make a lot of sense. It allows you to then offer more subscription tiers that allow your best customers to pay you a higher base and less variable – again much like the plans and pricing that the mobile industry has evolved.

…do you have any response to the MMOG Business Models: Cancel That Subscription! article we recently ran?

Gene Hoffman: Business model flexibility is the key issue for all the various games, and the dynamics of the game itself should drive pricing strategies. When game developers are approaching a more casual market it certainly makes sense to give more access and time to get buy-in and adoption.

It follows something we tell lots of our clients, which is “don’t be afraid of giving away what is free to you to acquire more customers and keep them longer.”

That said, we think that it is better to give people larger doses of time to create a base subscription service using tools like “payment method required free trials” and then stack additional micro-payments on a base of something more like a $5 per time period price. We see a lot of game developers and other merchants being too shy about the value of their game which leads them to under-price.

As virtual economies and the games they serve continue to evolve, so will the criminals trying to fraud the publishers.  Luckily though, through articles and interviews with industry experts like Hoffmann, we all benefit by increasing the visibility of security features on the backend that must be closely monitored and continually improved.  At fatfoogoo we’ve tested, developed, and are continually improving and updating our fraud detection methods, thereby giving the publisher one less thing to worry about.

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There’s room for both Micro-transactions and subscriptions

Sunday, August 10th, 2008

Micro transactions vs. subscriptions continues to be a hot topic of debate in not only the MMO world, but RTS and FPS fans love to weigh in as well.  While certain types and profiles of gamers my prefer one method above the other, it has become quite clear over the past few years that micro transaction based titles aren’t going anywhere soon.  As the ‘standard’ style of play in most Asian markets, the free to play concept originated in Korea with Nexon’s titles first offering players (all players) a chance to play, with available upgrades at a small cost.

While there are a number of offerings that micro transaction titles can offer; casual gamers can play whenever they want, and not be bound to a ‘time based’ subscription, players may choose to upgrade their equipment at a small cost if they so choose, games are not pirated.

Derrick Schommer of Gaming Podcast recently published an article with similar thoughts.  Highlights of Derrick’s thoughts include:

The micro-transaction concept could still help pay for all the overhead of running an online gaming business because gamers tend to be over-enthusiastic about their great addictive games. If you build a game with excellent content, replay value and strive for a community atmosphere a micro-transaction title can work just as well as a subscription based game.

One beautiful aspect to micro-transaction models is paying for content when you’re willing to pay. This includes cosmetic character alterations, basic needs items (health potions) and other products to enhance the playability of the game without requiring the gamer to do so. There will be some gamers that use this as a “free ride” and never buy anything while other gamers spend way too much because they have expendable income which helps balance out costs.

The trick to a micro-transaction game balance is allowing players to enhance their experience without taking away or crippling their game to force a micro-transaction. You do not need a “fire enchantment” which causes a bit more damage and looks really cool, but it can make your character look more sinister and provide slight benefits to battle.

Wouldn’t this make the rich more powerful than those without a lot of cash? It might might them moderately more powerful and definitely more pretty to look at, but it also allows players who would never be able to experience any of the game a chance to play. In some ways, the level ground is already broken in MMO’s like World of Warcraft based purely on game experience… a player who’s been playing for three years and has a level 70 character will dominate a person with casual gaming habits. Nothing in the world is fair, at least this gives lower level characters a chance to spend some cash to get their character on par when they’ve not got time to work through the game with hours of time investments.

Couldn’t have said it any better myself.  Read the rest of Derrick’s article at gamingpodcast.net.

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What will gamers pay for?

Monday, July 21st, 2008

In the rapidly developing economy of Free to play, micro transaction based games being turned out every day, it’s sometimes hard to see the good from the bad.  Mon Macutay, Marketing Manager for Level Up Phillippines recently published a great article on what gamers will and will not pay for.

Macutay outlines how and why Free to Play games are micro transaction based, and what exactly gamers will pay for, and what will drive them away.  Below is an excerpt from Macutay’s article:

Why They Won’t Pay

Repeat after me – Your players will not pay if…

  • There’s something wrong with the game – cheats, exploits and bugs are your top bane. Work with the developers to fix the game FAST… or else, you’ll start losing players. Technical problems are a fact of life in the industry. Suffice it to say that I’ve seen some through my watch. But trust me, we hate it just as much as you do when there’s something wrong with the game.
  • You can get away without paying – if the game design is poor… i.e. you can just farm your way and get strong even without paying, then there’s something wrong with the game (see above). The average joe must spend a little more time doing this than someone buying items from the item mall or paying for premium. If they don’t… Houston, we got a problem.
  • It’s a damn boring MMO world – that’s where the creative genius of the community team comes in. This is why publishers do events… all to make the players happy, have something to do, and yes, to eliminate boredom. Besides, you don’t want to kill monsters 24/7 eh?
  • Service Sucks – Customer service is an integral part. Not just in the gaming industry but in any business. And any company would welcome changes to improve upon this. A satisfied customer is more likely to play more and THEN pay.

Why They WILL Pay

  • Right Pricing – The key to a good F2P game is how the Item Mall is designed and how the prices are managed. A lot of conflict boils from developer vs. publisher debates on pricing. Don’t model your price on the country where the game was designed, damnit! Price the items too high and you’ll get a very small conversion rate. Price it too low and you run the risk of damaging game balance and integrity. In this war, it’s the consumable items that will win you the battles.
  • There’s nothing wrong with the game – This is the direct opposite (obviously) of the above. There might be MINOR bugs, but not enough for the community to be pissed off. This means that the game is great and you’ll just have to work your butt off for it to stay that way.
  • The items give VALUE – perhaps one of the most important reason why players will pay. Case in point, if all the items you sell are just better versions of the normal loot. Example, a potion that just slightly heals better – then that’s just a lazy excuse for game design. Chances are, you could play without it. During testing, you should’ve spotted this like a wolf inside a sheep’s pen. Look at the how specific items give real value to the players – not just as individuals but also as groups (when going on instances, at arenas or during territorial battles). Buyers of games seldom check this fact.
  • It’s a fun game – If the game isn’t like 80% of other MMO’s out in the market (which are basically clones of each other), then you’ve got your work cut out for you. At the end of the day, when you yourself play the game, if you don’t have fun, don’t expect your future players to enjoy it either. That’s a no-brainer.There’s nothing new – A good game will soon fall to pieces if there are no new updates. I’ve often observed games going through the hype of pre-launch, launch and then they go spiraling down for a crash landing a few months into it because there’s no new content. Make sure you have something new at least every quarter. You don’t want a community of gamers (all into the level cap) without anything to do, right?

To read the rest of this article, visit gmtristan.

To this, we say…right on!  Not only is this right on the money, but could and should serve as a roadmap to any and all free to play game publishers out there today.  Notice that most of his points focus on the actual game design and play, and mention very little regarding the micro transaction.  This falls exactly inline with the fatfoogoo philosophy:  (Publishers) focus on what you do best: game development, and leave the complexities of cross national transaction and taxation, security, customer support, and processing to the experts: fatfoogoo.

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