[MUD-Dev] Pay Muds & Free Muds - working together, or against each other?

[Koster]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Matthew Mihaly [mailto:diablo at best.com]
> Sent: Sunday, June 06, 1999 2:31 PM
> To: 'mud-dev at kanga.nu'
> Subject: RE: [MUD-Dev] Pay Muds & Free Muds - working together, or
> against each other?
> 
> 
> On Fri, 4 Jun 1999, Koster, Raph wrote:
> 
> > No. The Simutronics muds (Gemstone, DragonRealms) have made 
> MILLIONS of
> > dollars on text, text, text. How MUCH profit is very 
> dependent on many
> > factors, though. I would imagine that the graphical pay for 
> play games are
> > making orders of magnitude more money than the pay for play 
> text games.
> 
> I would imagine that Simutronics is in the black, and I 
> wouldn't presume
> to inquire whether UO is,

It is.

>  but simply bringing in revenue 
> doesn't mean much
> in terms of profit (except that your revenue stream 
> determines the upper
> limit of your profit).

I meant millions of dollars of profit, not of revenue. :)

>  It's also worth pointing out that 
> something like
> Achaea is run very differently from something like UO, for 
> instance. I own
> most of Achaea, so I get most of the profits (well, I will 
> once we stop
> feeling compelled to reinvest all of the profits). Achaea is 
> never going
> to be a game on the size of UO or any of Simutronics games, 
> but it has the
> potential to make me, personally, a lot of money. Compared to 
> how much UO
> makes, it's not a lot, but since it is primarily going to me, it feels
> like a lot. So really, asking whether significant profits can 
> be made in
> text depends on your frame of reference.

Yep. For example, UO has made millions of dollars, but I myself just get a
salary. Whereas EverQuest, I believe, has equity in the company for its
people, and therefore they are making more money. :) Ah, the business
world...

> > 
> > Not necessarily--remember, people tend not to migrate 
> unless they can take
> > their social context (eg, their friends) with them. So 
> people on those
> > Simutronics muds would continue to pay to play unless all 
> their friends
> > pickedup and moved to free muds too.
> 
> This is a good point, and I'd add something to it. People are also
> reluctant to leave a mud where they feel they have "ownership" whether
> through individual customization, customized housing, etc.

Already in the Laws.

> > Whereas I'd immediately list Achaea, Gemstone, UO, 
> Asheron's Call, and
> > Furcadia from the commercial realm as advancing the state 
> of the art in one
> > way or another.
> 
> I appreciate the compliment, but I'm not entirely sure it is 
> accurate. I
> have little to compare it to, as I don't play any other muds, 
> so I may not
> be aware of advancing the state of the art, but I don't FEEL 
> as if Achaea
> is really. Just out of curiosity (feel free to reply 
> privately), where do
> you think Achaea is doing this?

Well, so far you have described two systems in detail here: your combat
system and your methods of handling large-scale events of earth-shattering
importance in the game. The combat system struck me as being something very
akin to what a lot of people SAY they would like to do in a combat system,
but I've never actually seen working. And the events model struck  me as
really innovative and interesting. 

I don't think you need to play other muds to determine whether you are
advancing the state of the art. Part of the stated purpose of this list is,
after all, to advance the state of the art, and a large part of that is
simply nailing down what IS state of the art. 

-Raph


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