[MUD-Dev] [DGN/BIZ] Why player dont play multi user race or is there a market for multiuser race?

[Eric Lamy]

<EdNote: Sorry for the late release on this one.  I held it back to
fix the attribution, and then, well, kinda forgot to.  My bad.>

On Wed, 9 Jun 2004 23:43:30 +0200
stéphane Garin  <youri at wanadoo.fr> wrote:

> First, if player do not play multi-user mode race it's because
> they don't find good multi-user mode race! That is cognitive isn't
> it?  > If they do not, it is because of a perverse combination of
> Game play, technical and business investment Issues.

Simplistically, this simply is not true. What you've created is a
highly niche oriented product, and as such, your market is rarely
going to cross beyond that niche boundary. Not only are you
targetting gamers who enjoy racing, of which admittedly there are
many, particularly in those parts of the country and the world where
NASCAR and related racing competitions are popular, you are also
targetting a group within that group that -also- enjoys Science
Fiction, or Futuristic, if you prefer, themed games. As such, your
product is palattable to a more narrow range of consumers than many
potential publishers feel is worth their money to pursue.

> I think that if their is a kind of game where multi user may give
> interest, just behind RPG and it's social relation,vit is in race,
> further more if results are persistent, championship regularly
> organized and so on...

The same argument can be made for almost any competitive-style
game. What separates a racing game from a football or baseball game
in terms of how much of a draw it is to fans looking for a
competitive atmosphere?

>   First Game Play:

The argument you provide for the viability of a good racing game is
itself enough to scare off potential publishers. If you require a
large centralized community to begin with for the game to be an
enjoyable experience, then what is going to draw those first players
in that are going to be the nexus for your community over time?

>   Second Technical:

See above, but again your argument is pretty solid rationale for why
it would be a risk to pick up a game of your type, though I would
say that given enough space (and imagination) the relative speeds of
the vehicles isn't going to be all that important, particularly if
your physics engine is at all consistent.

>   Third Business

Here's the kicker to the whole deal. Your market is already small,
so you either have to charge that small market a lot for your game,
or you have to look for a way to broaden the market. In your case, I
don't see charging a lot for your game as a viable option. If you
want a publisher to take note of your product, you need to show that
it will be a strong seller in the open market. It will be difficult
to do this without some justification for the style of game you are
going with even existing, and there aren't all that many existing to
show that (Aside, of course, from the Lucas Arts examples you've
already noted). So will a publisher pick your game up? If I were a
big publisher, probably not. But if it is well done and if you can
show through beta runs and good marketing that it is a viable
product, you can probably find someone who will pick it up, just
don't take my word for it.

=====
Where there is no good, and there is evil,theres always some
teenagers with awesome weapons of destruction on the side of good
coming to stop that evil, as the balance is always in motion.
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