I guess that you, dear readers, mostly know that Lila Dreams will use the “free to play” business model, along with micro-transactions and some ads. This is a rather controversial thing in this day and age, so I want to describe our philosophy about how we will approach the thorns of this particular issue.
(If you don’t know what “micro-transactions” are, it simply means [in the context of our game] that you pay a small fee for in-game items and services, like buying a shirt or hat for your character or paying for an extra convenience in the game. If you’ve ever bought a ringtone for your phone or a song from iTunes, you’ve already used micro-transactions in other contexts.)
The controversy
It all began when lots of people played games like Everquest and World of Warcraft, and they merrily paid $15 per month for access to the game. (Nothing wrong with that! Subscriptions are nice.)
Meanwhile, over in Korea, where there’s an astronomical piracy rate because of obscenely fast Internet connections which I’m very envious of (don’t even talk to me about Japan’s broadband), they decided to use a different payment model in order to deter copying of their games. Why pirate something that’s already free to copy and share? They made their games free. But then they needed to eat, so they decided to charge money for items in the games.
It worked. The Korean people did grin, and there was much rejoicing. The pirates were outmaneuvered, and the game makers could continue their craft.
Back here in America (with our much, much, much, much, much, much, much slower Internet connections and lower but still annoying piracy rate), having seen that the Koreans were doing well and that offering a game for free with optional, small purchases gave players a lot of benefits, some companies gave it a try.
It kind of worked. But there was much gnashing of teeth and even some confusion from gamers who liked to pay their money each month instead of paying in small amounts whenever they felt like it or not at all. Meanwhile, many other folks bought songs, ringtones, and even some games for their iPods and cellphones using very small fees to pay for very small bits of content.
Some time has now passed, and the micro-transaction business model is getting better (it may even start to feel fine, eventually). But times are still dark for micro-transactions in games, and there is much work to be done.
Our philosophy
It’s not so much a philosophy as an experiment, but there are some guiding principles we intend to follow when determining how to structure the use of micro-transactions in Lila Dreams.
1. Thou shalt offer a full, compelling experience to he or she who wisheth not to pay at all, ever.
2. Thou shalt not charge for that which maketh the gameplay unbalanced.
5 3. Those things for which players chooseth to pay shalt be worthy and enhance the game experience.
To summarize, that means we want to give you a complete game experience even if you don’t buy anything. But (you knew it was coming, calm down) we want to offer very compelling reasons for you to pay which will enhance your experience in the game.
This turns out to be a really good business model for us, because Creatrix Games is a really small company. For one thing, it deters piracy. If our games get pirated, it really hits us hard because we don’t have the marketing reach to make up for it in volume of sales. For another thing, we can remove almost all the barriers to entry, things like the need to install a program to play the game (gone, we use Flash for the user interface); things like paying a monthly fee to play the game (gone, you can play all you want for free). Without those issues in the way, we can get more players to try the game.
It also turns out to have some benefits for players. There’s nothing to download, no CD keys to juggle and lose, no copy protection to annoy you. You can play on Windows, Mac or Linux, from anywhere that has a web browser and Flash 9. You don’t have to pay if you don’t feel compelled. You choose what you want to pay for based on the merit of the content. If our game sucks, you don’t lose any money finding out.
I will be revisiting this topic later, once we can unleash more details about the game itself and after we have figured out with more precision exactly the way we want to implement this. Hopefully the five three principles outlined above will set your mind at ease. We do not want to rip you off or force you to pay, but we have to balance that with earning enough to eat dinner so we can continue to make this game awesomer and awesomer!
And now for something completely different
Here’s some new concept art for you. (Click on it for full effect.) What is it? It’s the base of Lila’s Tower, with the city wrapping around it. Aren’t those little cliff homes cool? Good job, Greg!!
20 comments ↓
Sounds good, but, question:
Are money items going to have some gameplay advantage over normal items? (Generally a bad thing)
Also, badass concept art this post :D.
A purchased item will have no functional advantage over the same item obtained through gameplay. That’s part of Commandment #2, up there.
THis was a big monty python and the holy grail reference, wasn’t it?
Piracy? In MMOs? Outside of account sharing, I don’t really see how that would work; an account is disabled if it isn’t paid, and client-side duplication doesn’t do much since everything interesting is done server-side after login.
Aushou, no! Yes! A bit, a bit.
Joe, what I meant was that for games we’ve made in the past (which do not utilize Internet connectivity), piracy is a problem. So, with this game we don’t have that problem, and it’s good for the health of the company in that regard.
Ogham! How dare you expect me to read :(…
Anyway, good luck guys, really looking forward to the game.
Aww yes, I love checking this blog every week
Im glad to see you going with this free to play model since that will allow many people to try the game. Something that will be as original as this game deserves to be tried by all… for free
Again, everyone please spread the word about this great game… digg it, delicious it, boing boing it
Hey, I just started following this game, and I have a few comments for this post. First, it is possible to pirate an MMO. For example, there are lots of private servers for Ragnarok Online, where you don’t pay to play. I don’t know how it’s done, and I’m not condoning it, but it happens.
Also, my brother lives in Japan, and I don’t know the details, but he told me that that broadband number is jacked up. He doesn’t get speeds significantly higher than I do in the US.
Before reading this, I have to admit that I thought microtransactions were works of greedy, evil men who wanted to steal more money. You have showed me the error of my ways.
I do have to say that from my recent time in the Netherlands I have to refute your graph with infallible anecdotal evidence. My internet connection there was insufferably slow.
I think it’s weird you’re sounding so apologetic about the whole thing. Maybe I’m crazy, but I only play games that rely on optional, small payments (Kingdom of Loathing and Puzzle Pirates, mostly, and I recommend checking out both of their models for micropayments done well), and their creators seem to be doing just fine. For gamers with, y’know, lives outside of the computer, it makes a lot more sense than a subscription model. Stand up & be proud, micropayments rock!
Paragon, I’m sure that it’s possible, but hopefully not on the same scale as with a downloadable client. But, really, the big problem for micro-transaction-based games is payment fraud. So we get out of one problem (mostly) but get into another one in exchange.
About the broadband graph: I have to confess I ripped it from Google images, but that was only after I heard a talk by Whon Namkoong from NHN about how fast Korean connections are. So, maybe the Japan one is wrong?
Chris, maybe you have a strange electromagnetic interference (yes, with optical cables!) while in a foreign country causing the slowness?
Cat, thanks for the vote of confidence. I do think the model is great for players (it’s one I prefer as a player), but there are lots of people who aren’t aware of the realities versus their own assumptions. I want to respect everyone’s opinions while still trying to communicate our viewpoint. We’re kind of nervous that it will push some players away before they even try it.
Sounds really good. I am going to be getting this one and I am sure I will do a lot of the micro transactions if for nothing else than to give you guys some money for your awesome artwork and what sounds like some great gameplay. The concept art this week is awesome. Looks like some wicked cool tower of Babel.
damn, i like my subscription to wow
out of sight is out of mind for me. If i get to pay once off every 6 months, even if it costs me more, I only see it on the bank statement twice a year…
Also, the automatic billing is nice and easy because I WANT to support the people making my game. Mostly because I want new patches to keep rolling out. But my rent isn’t automatic, my internet isn’t, my water bills, electricity… etc. etc. Turns out that in all of that I forget all about paying for my games if it isn’t done for me. And adds shit me, and deter me from enjoying things *cough* myspace *cough*.
I’m probably in the minority, but I’d love some kind of optional-micro-subscription that disables the adds and allows access to these in-game features, if they are as compelling as you say?
beef, the thought of a subscription option has crossed my mind. I think more choices is good for everyone, and certainly a dependable income is good for the health of the game.
We’ll be exploring all kinds of ideas, so thanks for speaking your mind on the matter.
Because we are a small, accessible company, we hear you loud and clear. And, just maybe, that means you can get better service from us because–surprise!–we actually listen to our customers.
Stick around. This party’s just gettin’ started!
I like the model- I much prefer this to WoW. I can buy the really cool things I see and leave the rest for others.
Also, the amount of concept art you release correlates positively with my desire to see this game come to fruition. Keep up the excellent work!
I’m a person who has played dozens upon dozens of MMOs, often free trials or korean micropayment games.
A mistake a lot of people make is rushing into the concept of MMOs with a given concept & expecting people to rush in & play. This leads to a lot of the western MMOs which just flounder.
Lila Dreams seems like it stands out. It doesn’t cop to that really lazy, really bad design that is grind, has an innovative concept & looks like (if nothing else) it’ll be amusing to dabble in from time to time. Kudos - I’ll be following the design with bated breath.
Micropayments are one of the two seriously viable ideas for MMOs. Subscription is the other, more common one. Both of these have the potential to drive away players.
Subscription offers a stable influx of income, but creates a different kind of mindset. When someone is paying $5, $10 or $15 a month, they’re going to expect things. They’re going to expect that the company will provide a steady stream of content/support in exchange for a steady stream of cash. On the other side of the coin, subscription also changes how you play the game. If you’re paying $10 a month to play a game, but you aren’t actually playing, it feels like wasted money. For the game design team & the player alike, subscription tends to set the game on a pace & timeline that leads one or both dissatisfied.
Micropayment, which we’re talking about here, is somewhat different. It allows people to experience most or all of the game, and allows younger players to participate. In terms of community, you’ll see a lot more people in low-end/starter areas, just testing things out. You’ll find more kids who don’t have the money for regular play, and you’ll discover more of an international community, as some places with a community that can thrive on MMOs also lack the system to participate (ie. Some areas of South America & Europe really enjoy MMOs, but don’t have/use credit cards).
Where Micropayments can drive people away is when the bar is set too high. When, in order to be competitive, people have to spend money (which is frustrating to everyone but the spoiled rich kids). You’ve talked about preventing this.
That leaves us with:
* Aesthetics (exclusive hat for your character, $1. No real mechanical benefit.),
* Opportunity ($10 for a skeleton key - gain access to labyrinths a week before everyone else does)
* Convenience (Pay actual money for quick/instant access to something that would otherwise take a long time/lot of luck to achieve)
You kind of leave things vague: ‘We’ll offer a full experience to those who don’t pay’ and ‘Things for which people pay will enhance their experience’. Can you clarify, maybe?
Konig, thanks for that very articulate and thorough description of possibilities.
I have been a little bit vague simply because we do not yet know exactly how we will structure the micro-transactions. I’m not against some kind of mix, where you can pay whichever way you want. But at this point, we haven’t determined that stuff in detail.
I can kind of answer your question, though.
By a “full experience” I mean that even if you don’t pay, the game will not be limited to a degree that you feel like you’re playing crippleware.
Without paying anything, you’re going to have access to a ton of locations and content and there will be no hindrance placed upon you in terms of main-line gameplay.
By “enhancing your experience” I mean that the things you pay for will mostly be customizations and conveniences. That’s really where I’m hoping to focus the micro-transactions. If you want your character to look really unique or you want to get certain items quicker, you’ll have to pay for that. But it won’t give you any gameplay advantage over someone who doesn’t pay.
But also, Lila Dreams isn’t focused entirely on combat and the arms race. Later, I want to focus more and more on non-combat activities, but at the beginning we are focusing on what we think most people will be able to enjoy right away, so there will be a heavy combat emphasis at first. After launch (assuming we make a few dollars), we will continue building and adding more stuff. The game will evolve a whole lot.
I have meandered right into Off-topic Land, oops.
That actually sounds pretty darn solid overall, and more or less how I’d go about it if I were to give the MMO design a shot.
Sorry about the extended reply, I went to eat a meal midway through writing & got a little carried away.
I’m very interested in seeing where Lila Dreams goes, and will be directing the attention of my friends towards the game. (and hopefully get one or two of my clans/guilds involved once it starts up). Keep up the good work.
This game looks absolutely brilliant — I only wish I’d discovered it later. I’m going to hate waiting for a playable version; how does one get on the alpha list?
I especially love the emphasis on the game environment and activities outside of combat. I’ve played a great number of MMO(RPG)?s over the years and it’s always the same . . . to start, combat is great. Exploring and fighting, becoming aquainted with the game — but once that excitement wears off, it very much becomes a grind. After that point, one begins to look for other things to do–in another game, if there’s nothing else to do in the present game. (The years-long grind to level 200 in Dofus is a worst-case example). That said, “Later, I want to focus more and more on non-combat activities, but at the beginning we are focusing on what we think most people will be able to enjoy right away, so there will be a heavy combat emphasis at first.” is probably the most promising, refreshing, exciting thing I’ve ever read regarding an MMO.
As for microtransactions, I believe Kingdomofloathing.com has provided an exceptional example of balancing it. For your 10 dollar donation, you can get unique items that are not otherwise available within the game. While they’re often great items, better than most items you find in game for free, they are by no means game breaking or misbalancing. And they can be sold within the game for the game currency, allowing people to get them “for free” if they happen to have insane amounts of “meat”. Which has interesting, but still not gamebreaking, economic ramifications. They’ve done a great job of making a game you can play through and through for free without ever feeling crippled; but at the same time, making you feel your money was well spent — if supporting development isn’t enough to please you.
I’m really looking forward to seeing Lila Dreams unfold — having now read all the blog archives, I can say this: Take your time, make a great game, but hurry up and let me play, will you?
My experiances with microtransactions has been bad so far; games claiming to be free are essentially impossible to play without paying, but I’m willing to give tyhis a shot.
Personally, I think it would be nice if the micro transactions worked like this:
You guys develop something new to add to the game, say a new item. You release the item for pay only for a week or so and then move it on to being for free. Other things (areas, accesories, etc.) could function simialaly (although I really wish that all of the areas were accesable without paying because I’ve always felt that having somewhere you can’t go without paying is really annoying, but still) with different tyime lengths depending on the time it takes to develop said gaming elements.
I definately agree with Konig that limiting microtransactions to only essentially nonfunctional items would be the best plan, and I don’t know much about whether or not my bit is feasible in terms of you guys not starving to death on the streets, so…..
just a suggestion ^^;
Oh, and another suggestion is to have a hints box somewhere like in Lila’s tower or something easy to access. Hints on what to do in the game are obviously not nesasary to play, but allowing players to purchase a bit of cryptic advice from the design team would be a good way to get support for you guys i think.
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