How big of a deal was RMT in Ultima Online? I never played UO so I can't speak to how ingrained RMT was for that game, but I do know from experience with Shroud of the Avatar that it is being designed around RMT. Even the developers have been known to talk about the importance of RMT regarding the game economy. Just a few minutes in the official
player market and anyone will see how big of a deal RMT is in Shroud of the Avatar. They are even pushing a really strange looking
Trusted Trader program and now with this
recent post by Richard Garriott, it kinda seems like he's using RMT as a point to rally early backers to his new equity crowdfunding campaign.
Richard Garriott says: "Portalarium is working with SeedInvest to position ourselves to best
support the game in a live environment. We need finance and marketing
people as well as cash to spend on advertising to bring new players into
the game. This will make all the early backer efforts pay off all the
more, as the more players in the game, the more fun, the better in game
economy, etc."
I would argue that a really awesome game experience would do all that too. Not a big fan of RMT myself.
Comments
~~ postlarval ~~
They should invest the money in redesigning the core of the game so people who already bought the game (like me) can enjoy it and spread the word (free marketing).
I also don't want to play with the Whales, so an extra Whale free server would be appreciated.
It's not that they're whales...it's that they are the drip-tray of the community.
~~ postlarval ~~
So there was a thriving RMT industry that exploded aound but outside of UO but the devs didn't get anything directly from it.
At first there were vigorious efforts to combat RMT but when it became too much effort to fight it developers decided to join in and direct the money their way.
With the shift from steady sub income to a cash shop payment model devs quickly learned to design their games to strongly encourage players to spend and in fact some players go all in for thousands a month.
SotA isn't the cause of this RMT phenomenon, just one severe example of a monetization strategy most devs are following today. (to a greater or lesser degree)
RG and team didn't "start the fire" but they are clearly out there fanning the flames.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
Enjoy your time in your big empty player owned towns and ghost town of a game until they go bankrupt and have to shut down.
Their series A investors, that gave them $7 Million aren't giving them any more money for marketing... hello!