In Edward Castronova’s “Virtual Worlds: A First-Hand Account of Market and Society on the Cyberian Frontier”, he claims that “The growth in the number of VWs has been spurred by a growth in user base and revenues; VWs stand out as one area of internet commerce that actually seems to be profitable.” Similarly to most software games, virtual world games require a one-time fee for purchasing the product. In addition, however, players must pay additional monthly fees to access the virtual world on an ongoing basis. The monthly price typically falls between $10 - $20. Although the developers’ revenue from the game may seem weak when the product first launches, these monthly fees gradually bring in a lot on income. Castronova demonstrates this idea by stating that Everquest received $208 million in 2000 from online gaming revenues and this number was expected to grow to $1.7 billion in 2004. As we can see, this marketing strategy is extremely beneficial to companies. Because the player pays for a timed subscription, they can play it anywhere from every day of the month to a couple hours a month. The value of the price they pay for the subscription really depends on how much time they devote playing it. As it turns out, this method of entertainment is so attractive to people that they indeed sacrifice major portions of their time to it. Castronova continues to state how some individuals actually become addicted to these virtual worlds. To some it serves as an alternate reality, to others it becomes a new primary reality.
It is for this very reason that I am not attracted to MMOs that much. When I pay for a monthly subscription, I feel obligated to make the most of that time. However, real-world responsibilities always distract me and I simply cannot afford that kind of commitment. I’m positive that I am not the only one who feels this way.
Do you think that online game subscriptions should be based on the amount of time you spend actually playing the game (virtual-world time) or by real-world time?
I think It should be based on the amount of time people spend by real-world time. This is because I believe that company need a more money as there are more people playing game.The more players get involved in games, the more problems occur in the server. A company seriously need a new server manager, developer, and other staffs. To reduce the risk that occurs by crowded players, a company probably need a more profit that comes from the game subscription.
ReplyDeleteQ: Do you think that online game subscriptions should be based on the amount of time you spend actually playing the game (virtual-world time) or by real-world time?
ReplyDeleteA: Actually there was a game where you have to buy the game time in order to play the game. The example is a Korean MMORPG game called "Ba Ram Eui Na Ra", which translates to The City of Wind. Back in 1995-2000, when I was in the middle school, this game required players to buy game time in order to play. It cost 10 US dollars for 100 hours. People hated the fact that they had to buy game time because it forces them to spend time extremely efficiently, without any breaks between quests.