Monday, September 19, 2005
POTBS beta; RDKF date and price
Pirates of the Burning Sea is, barring any huge secrets, Steam’s first MMORPG. It is also curiously popular with EVE Online players, another factor which make their new beta signups so interesting. The beta is the general public’s first chance to see exactly how Steam handles (or doesn’t!) private betas: unlike the semi-public Counter-Strike: Source Beta, the private system uses secure content servers with SteamID and IP validation to keep things under control. At least one person had long-term problems with the stricter authentication during the private Rag Doll Kung Fu beta, which had ten or twenty participants compared to up to 25 000 for POTBS.
It will also be interesting to see how far ‘beating World of Warcraft’ goes when catalysed by an MMO to work and experiment with.
Lastly, in a familiar pattern Rag Doll Kung Fu it has today been dated for October 12th and priced at $12.95. Are these the predicted vestigial price points? I believe they are, unless Valve are forcing the prices and intend to continue doing so indefinitely.
It will also be interesting to see how far ‘beating World of Warcraft’ goes when catalysed by an MMO to work and experiment with.
Lastly, in a familiar pattern Rag Doll Kung Fu it has today been dated for October 12th and priced at $12.95. Are these the predicted vestigial price points? I believe they are, unless Valve are forcing the prices and intend to continue doing so indefinitely.
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And that is why you don't make a post at nearly midnight.
Something I thankfully pulled myself together enough to decide not to mention last night was the idea of 'micro price points', which are a compromise between $12.95/£19.95/etc. points and none at all. One every two or three dollars, for instance. They don't make much difference to developers but introduce standardisation for consumers. Any thoughts? Or perhaps I should just give up on this whole economics buisiness. ;-)
Something I thankfully pulled myself together enough to decide not to mention last night was the idea of 'micro price points', which are a compromise between $12.95/£19.95/etc. points and none at all. One every two or three dollars, for instance. They don't make much difference to developers but introduce standardisation for consumers. Any thoughts? Or perhaps I should just give up on this whole economics buisiness. ;-)
But we still don't know what their full, major game price will be, right? If it's $20, $25, things are going to get really interesting. The "I like having a box and a manual" camp is going to shrink rapidly.
I'm not surprised Eve players are interested in a fresh MMOG with a presumably similar structure - floating around in your own ship, trading and plundering - but out of curiosity, how do you know they are?
I'm not surprised Eve players are interested in a fresh MMOG with a presumably similar structure - floating around in your own ship, trading and plundering - but out of curiosity, how do you know they are?
I guess we also don't know what the retail price will be for Aftermath. Presumably the Valve EA deal allows them to undercut the shop price however much they like. I get scared when EA agree to something like that.
Given that DOD:S is $20, we're probably looking at something around $30 to $35 for a major self-funded title, at least if Valve have anything to do with it. But there are so many new factors that it's hard to give any one figure. DOD already existed, HL2:A uses existing tech and art, RDKF is made by one guy with very little overheard, you get the picture. That's why I think we'll see micro or nonexistent price points.
Got the EVE detail from the POTBS (what an acronym) forums.
Got the EVE detail from the POTBS (what an acronym) forums.
I don't know, I think one of the obstacles to persuading people to pay for a download is getting them to evaluate the deal and realise it's good. Continually changing the price would keep resetting their progress on this. If I were them, I'd want two prices - one for a little thing (indie game, expansion pack, episode) and one for a big (major game). I think every time you change price, people think again "How do I feel about paying money for something that doesn't physically exist?" It's one small step for tech-heads, one giant leap for the public.
I think POTBS is what you talk when you're stoned.
I think POTBS is what you talk when you're stoned.
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