If you haven’t been over to the Wow main website, I’d suggest you check this out. It’s pretty neat, scary but neat.
I wanted to see how much I had spent over the course of my ‘Steam’ life time I had spent in/on video games. This is the result.
Dec. 3rd – 2007 - The Orange box- 49.99
Jan. 9th – 2008 - Dawn of War Gold- 19.99
Feb. 1st – 2008 – Counter-Strike:Source- 19.99
Feb. 1st – 2008 - Company of Heroes- 19.995
Jun. 19th – 2009 - Killing Floor- 19.99
Jul. 7 – 2009 - Left 4 Dead – 39.99
Nov. 26 – 2009 - Fallen Earth – 24.99
Dec. 19 – 2009 - Torchlight – 9.99
Jan. 26 – 2010 - Mass Effect 2 – 59.99
Jan. 29 – 2010 - Global Agenda – 44.99
309.90$ in just under 3 years (end of 07 to now 2010) Not as bad as I thought it was, but more than I had hoped it would be??! Well that’s a lot of money for me, since I only play maybe 4-5 of those games now.
Seems like 2009 was a lonely year, I bought 4 games.. ouch.
Well hopefully we’ll see an improvement in 2010. Purchasing games I’ll play for a longer period and less ‘impulsive’ buying.
The MMO that Could!
A Global Agenda Micro-transaction and ‘One time’ purchase deal.
I was thinking about RMT and cash shops in games. Then a few weeks ago I read a blog about MMO pricing over at GameMonkey. So I’d like to take a min and discuss what Global Agendas pricing plan is and future that may or may-not have a cash shop in it.
When I go to a purchase a game or MMO, there are a few things that play out in my head.
- Can I afford this? Is there a monthly sub and will I enjoy it enough to subscribe.
- What’s the gaming community response to the game/publisher or IP
- If it’s a box in the store, I mull over the box reading and examining the pictures and how it was packaged and ‘prepared’ for ME. If it’s in a digital form IE: Steam or DDL, I will read blogs, review the website, and search for videos and general information on the game.
- I’ll pray about it and make a decision the next day or when I feel I have the information to make a choice weather to ‘buy’ or ‘not to buy.’
I am very frugal at heart, so spending money is very hard for me. Gaming has come and swept in the back door of all this frugalness. World of Warcraft has taken a crap load of money from me. With 4 years of subscription fees and SIX transfers at 25$ bucks a pop. Something had to be done.
I’ve really had to control my gaming expenses. I’m still a work in progress and ‘STEAM’ isn’t helping any, but nevertheless I’m getting better.
On to the Global Agenda of this post!
Pricing
In the current state of MMO’s and games in general; the methods used of pricing your product are:
- Box Standard.
- This would include 49.99 and 59.99 standard box from a local retail store.
- One time purchase with free ‘one’ month play time, but all expansions will cost the “Standard” retail price.
- Digital Download.
- Includes your ‘Steam’, file-planet or any source of a digital download where you don’t have to physically travel to a retail shop.
- They also include the usual one time purchase with a free month and subscription after that, but also come with a greater potential to be discounted because the actual product takes no physical form. Thus lowering your initial cost to distribute the game.
What I’d like to point out about Global Agenda is what they did in their ‘Pre-order’ phase and now that they are in full swing. What their monthly subscription plan is.
Global Agenda bought and paid for.
Pre-order
When I purchased GA, I paid a whopping price of 44.99$, just under what most would consider the retail norm. Along with the purchase you received two in-game vanity items. The “NO ELF’S” mask and the “COMMON WEALTH” helmet.
The Pricing
I made the purchase knowing that the game much like TF2 would come in small but intense bursts of fun. The subscription option for GA is one where they would seemingly allow you to play in the “Conquest” mode of the game. AVA (Alliance vs. Alliance) which is just a fancy name for ‘guilds’. In AVA you battle it out for control of said land and resources thus providing your Alliance with superior gear and upgrades. This is supposed to take place in an “Open World” type environment where your actions, alliances, strategies, and quick decisions will determine the outcome of your “Conquest” to take over or your failure to defend your territory.
After learning about this option I was really surprised, especially when hearing it was 2 dollars lower than the average MMO subscription. At a reasonable 12.99 monthly sub – you can participate in AVA and gain yourself some nice upgrades. Weather the upgrades will be worth it, I don’t know. We’ll have to wait and see until more info and hardcore Alliances come out.
Will Global Agenda have a “cash” shop?
I have been looking around the forums, and HI-REZ‘s website and haven’t found anything that would confirm or deny that we may see a form of cash shop in GA.
Let me say this though, any player roaming around “The Dome” in game would have seen a few stores not opened yet, but having signs outside them. One a vanity store called “CYBER CUTS” allowing you to change your hair style and color. The other called the “GENOLAB” allowing facial and DNA
re-sequencing and lastly the “CYBRUS” shop, a cybernetic implants and augmentation kiosk.
So will we see ‘Micro-transactions in Global Agenda?? Time will tell, but all the signs point to, YES.
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- Cyber Cuts- ” I want to be Silky Smooth!”
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- Cybrus
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- Genolab
Just a quick post here showing some screen shots. Nothing super great, all of them pretty random and most are PVE missions as PVP is too action packed to f9 it in combat, will have to bind screen shots to another key.
ENJOY!
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- Random PVE Missions
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- JET PACKS!! WOOT! Now you can’t tell me that you don’t want to play this??
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- Central Hub or Mission Control center (LOL)
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- Kaldeem @ level 10 with vanity gear and some upgrades.
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- Kaldeem @ level 6 after finishing the tutorial
After just a few days in the Global Agenda ‘Head Start’ event, I can tell this game will be one I’ll be playing for a bit. Some things I noticed instantly were: A) How easy it was to get set up on Hi-Rez’s website and download the game via steam. (Not sure if I’ll have to re-download anything upon launch Monday, Feb 1st but I’m not worried about it either.) The second thing that stuck out after I was all loaded up and registered was the polish of the game. Once entering in the Character creation screen, the layout was very nice, ‘easy to read’ sort of feel. Not too much character customization, but enough that I felt like this was ‘Kaldeem’ in GA style art.
First Impressions: The tutorial was easy enough and though I did die at least two times on each of the characters I made, it was still fun and cool to watch/play out. Once past the tutorial I had a decision to make. See I normally play the stealth ‘assassin’ class in a game, which would be the recon class in GA, but since I had been down that road, and done that. I opted out of playing the Assassin, to try the Assault class. Neither suited my taste in this MMOGFPS??RPG (lol w/e).
I’ve seen the ‘engineer’ class in TF2 and though they look fun, I’m not one to set down and build something in combat or even remember to do so when engaged. Which left me to go with “THE MEDIC” and I must say, so far I’m absolutely happy with my decision to play one.
In my first PVP mission I noticed a big difference in game play from what I’m used to. With the reckon and assault class I felt as if I didn’t have enough tools at the level (level 5 when you exit the tutorial, and reach ‘The Dome’ the games major hub) to find playing and leveling them much fun further down the road. In contrast with the medic I felt like they started out with a nice arsenal of heals and DPS to mix it up. Each character starts out with a melee weapon, then soon you get a generic rifle, your ‘main’ ranged weapon, two off-hand weapons/abilities a group buff (at level 8 I think) and of course your jet pack.
Unlike TF2’s ‘cartoonish’ feel to it and somewhat convoluted maps, Global Agenda so far in terms of the PVE missions and PVP maps have been great. The PVE missions are a bit streamlined in that they lead you right to the boss and there’s not much leeway on that. It’s nice for now since everyone is still kind of new and group mechanics are still being worked out by everyone. The streamline instances make for a quick and fun group PVE experience.
In PVP the maps are a bit bigger, with 5 different types of scenarios to queue from (all random as of now) you never really get bored with it. The buildings and structure of the maps/zones themselves are done really well. Key features like ladders and creates stacking alongside a wall or among other creates allow for strategic cover and sniping spots for recons and even medics to take cover and heal from.
As a medic I’ve really enjoyed doing both aspects of the game. I normally have found that my experiences with PVE in World of Warcraft, Warhammer Online, and then Age of Conan at first were enjoyable, but soon tiring and ultimately repetitive after a few alts. I do not get this feeling from GA as of right now. Being able to PVP as soon as you’re done with the tutorial is a major bonus.
Final thoughts: I didn’t really follow this game in the year preceding its release, and didn’t do much homework before purchasing it. What really popped out at me, and pushed me over to the purchasing point was the: A) price of the game at 44.99$ it’s just a bit below what you’d normally pay for an MMO these days. B) It has a one-time purchase deal where you can play the game’s main features (PVE and PVP missions), but not the special goods it will offer upon launch; mainly the “Conquest” PVP scenarios. Lastly in why I decided to purchase Global Agenda is because it fills the void of an MMO and FPS in one shot.
But now I really don’t know what I’m going to do if/when I get bored, because I’ll be tired of the FPS and MMO scenes at the same time!
Edit- My only gripe is during the ‘Head Start’ there was no Xfire or Raptr support so I couldn’t take video or log my time in game other then on the official website.
Game On!
Kaldeem
That’s right; with all that ‘state of the union’ talk on TV, and the horrid disaster in Hattie. The Global Mass Agenda of the news media has had an Effect 2 on me. And with the current MMO/gaming market in a slight depression, we can find hope and encouragement for our self’s in this terrible time with a ray of light shining brightly. Yes ladies and gents, Mass Effect 2 and Global Agenda both come out this month. Mass Effect a bit later today as a matter of fact, and then Global Agenda in 6 days.
In fact, ME2 is pre-downloading as we speak, Yes I forked out the 59.99 for ME2 in hopes that I would be able to come in the game w/o having played Mass Effect. It’s been quite a while since I bought any game that was over…say 39.99 or 49.99. (I think the last one was WOTLK)
My biggest reasons for the ME2, is that of, I don’t have a non-MMO to play and sometimes really, really wish I had one.
As for Global Agenda, I will probably buy it on Friday or Saturday when I get paid. My MMO needs have been getting neglected something seriously. That and from what I hear, GA has no monthly sub-fee, so that is added incentive, to me, for the purchase.
I only have one more purchase that I know of, for a while at least. I plan on buying FRAPS to join this mass of video reviews and for the sheer enjoyment of recording cool things in game.
I’ll be sure to post my reviews and thoughts of both games in the coming weeks.
Game On!
Kaldeem
Why World of Warcraft is successful.
Raptr a new ‘social’ media networking tool for gamers has clocked 4,070,029 play hours on their data base at an average of 35,000 players daily. These numbers are staggering when viewed in the realization that 35 thousand players (just in Raptr alone) have clocked 4 million hours of game time.
Now if we could see Blizzard’s data base numbers for all 5 years the game has been out, times that by all the average 14.99 monthly subscription numbers and then the ‘additional’ services they offer at a highly over priced 25$ for realm, character, fraction, re-characterization options, I’m sure the numbers would make Bill Gates scratch his head in awe, and wonderment.
How many companies do you know of, or heard about? that have been as successful as Blizzard has been. Let’s take a look at what Blizzard has had to offer to the gaming community.
Time Line of Blizzard Entertainment
Feb 1991- Silicon & Synapse was created by 3 UCLA students to concentrate on creating game ports
Nov 1991- S&S release ‘RPM Racing’ for SNES
1992- Interplay Entertainment develop and release ‘The Lost Vikings’ and then S&S develop ‘The Lost Vikings 2’ a puzzle/platform video game which released in 1994
June 1993- S&S created ‘Rock n’ Roll Racing’ for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis and Super Nintendo
*this title was also released for the GBA in 2003.
1994 Silicon & Synapse change their name to Blizzard Entertainment and there shortly afterwords was acquired by distributor Davidson and Associates.
Nov 1994- ‘Warcraft: Orcs & Humans’ a Real-time strategy game (RTS) is released. Developed by Blizzard and published by Blizzard and Interplay Ent.
Dec 1995- ‘Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness’
April 1996- ‘Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal’ (Expansion Pack)
1996- Blizzard releases ‘Warcraft’ series for the Macintosh OS
Nov 1996- ‘Diablo’ is released
Nov 1997- ‘Diablo: Hellfire’ (Expansion Pack)
March 1998- ‘StarCraft’ is released
Nov 1998- ‘StarCraft: Brood War’ is released (Expansion Pack)
1999- ‘Warcraft II: Battle.net Edition’ is released
June 2000- ‘Diablo II’ hits the market
June 2001- ‘Diablo II: Lord of Destruction’ releases
July 2002- ‘Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos’
July 2003- ‘Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne’ releases to US
Nov 2004- ‘World of Warcraft’ a MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Roll Playing Game) is thrust upon us
Jan 2007- ‘World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade’ (Expansion Pack)
Nov 2008-‘World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King’ (Expansion Pack)
2010-‘World of Warcraft: Cataclysm (Expansion Pack)
Man that’s a lot of time line, but the one repeating factor in this is, dedication and persistence, along with a solid title. Warcraft like every other game was ‘created’; fabricated from the minds of individuals for the enjoyment of one’s time. The key to its success was and is a solid foundation to the core of ideas it was derived from. Lore and creativity begot more Lore, a good story began to unfold, and you know what? Blizzard didn’t jump on high horse and grind it till it was dead. They fostered it, nurtured it, and marketed the crap out of it in a way that many other companies have not been successful in doing.
See from the release of Warcraft, Blizzard has done one thing and one thing only, and that is develop the idea WoW; luring you in with Expansion after Expansion, deepening the plot and creating memorable characters to pull you in.
It really is like a good book series, but in a video game. That is the reason why Wow is what it is today. It’s that great book you’ve read a hundred times over, and though sometimes you don’t finish it, you constantly go back to and start over or pick up from where you left off.
$$ And as a developer you couldn’t have asked for anything better. $$
Creativity + Original/ Sound Ideas = Success
*All dates are accurate as cited on Wikipedia* to the best of my knowledge.*
Game On!
~Kaldeem
*Originally an ITG post
Originally posted on ITG
Since my time in Age of Conan (AoC), I have noticed a lot of players in my guild are one of three types. They are (1)new players that have been scooped up by the most zealous guild recruiter ever, (2)they are returning players looking for changes and improvements in the game. Lastly (3)they are alts that are leveling to the 25, 39, and 59 PvP brackets.
Then
When AoC was first released in 2008, it had promise of being one of the top PvP games to date, some of the best graphics in the MMO scene, and a combat system that peaked the masses interest.
Although very promising and good game in it’s own right, AoC’s release wasn’t flawless. Many average to even enthusiasts gamers couldn’t handle the high demand graphics that Funcom had so diligently worked on. The forums started to get littered with computer hardware questions and “what specs” are you running on your comp.
A lot of AoC’s down fall was, I think, due to the amount of Instanced zones. Every thing is instanced, and you can even go from one instanced zone to another instance of the same zone. The problem with this style of game play is there is no freedom, or feeling of freedom to the player. Game play is bogged down by loading screens and wait times. From a PVP perspective, this causes a real lack of any type of “world” style PVP. All of these can be a real hassle to anyone just wanting to log in and play.
Another reason why the game didn’t “take off” as well as it was hoped, can be found in small key decisions to appease a good amount of PVE players by increasing and making the raid/PVE gear on par and even better in some cases then the PVP gear after the patch 1.5 was released. This is commonly referred to as the game changing patch for most players. A game that was heavily marketed for a PVP crowd just scooped out the PVPers advantage by boosting gear that could only be attained via PVE.
Some times when we can’t balance and properly manage two teams we end up losing on both accounts. Thus we find AoC’s numbers in subscriptions steadily falling for the last year or so.
Now
From my play time, it would seem that the recent influx of “new” players could be attributed to the down tide of any new MMO in the current market, and the recent FAIL of games like Aion and Champions Online.
Low level players being grieved by more heavily geared and lower level toons, suggesting that they are either alts from a cap level 80, or twinks running the Whitesands bracket.
This presents a few problems from anyone “trying” to come in fresh to the game. Even with a big clan/guild, you can’t nag them to watch your back all the time, or call for help periodically.
Although not game breaking the “grievers” can be overcome, if your willing to invest the time and effort that it takes to compete and level to end game, in which “what lays in wait??” I have no clue, as I’m only a lowly level 29. As far as I know the end game could be more broken, have more of a treadmill then World of Warcraft or others (WAR), or just plain not be enjoyable, which could be the reason we see so much “mini-game” activity.
From the technical perspective as gaming and hardware in general have become more readily available to the mass, AoC system demands aren’t quite as game breaking as they used to be. My new machine runs the game in “PVP/RAID” video setting mode with a constant 28.0-30.0 FPS. I am currently running this off an Asus G60 laptop, so its by no means “great” but will do the trick for times to come.
I haven’t noticed any real game breaking technical issues while playing. A few odd combat bugs and some LOS issues but over all it has been a seamless experience.
My ONE gripe is when I’d like to switch characters, the log out option always brings me to the user name/password screen, and not the character selection screen. Other then that I’d have to give AoC an over all positive score. With hopes that Funcom will take more direction from its community and less from other games that are failing, when they go to release “Rise of the God Slayer”.
P.s Bad move Funcom, just bad.CLICK HERE to see what I’m talking about.
~Game on
Kaldeem
I’d like to take a min and talk about this recent post from Br3ntbrO over @ ITG. Just some of the my thoughts and concerns that popped up when I read this article.
The Meatballs!
First I’d like to say, I love the “idea” of this, in which we gamers and even non-gamers that are wanting to get into gaming, can provide. To not have to wait any where from 6-12 hours for a digital download or patch update, and countless GB’s of storage taken up on your computer, is amazing! I absolutely LOVE THIS IDEA/CONCEPT!
The Cloudiness
My inital concerns are these:
1) Web browsers are notorious for security leaks and their general lack of protection of personal data.
2) They claim that “Steaming Video” sites like Youtube, is the inspiration for this, but we (users) know that these “live steam” sites can and have been Crashed by an overload of people flocking to them at once, numerous accounts of sluggish behavior when that “One” popular video is being watched by hundreds of people at the same time.
3) Phishing is another concern, that is directly related to the web browsers and in the last year or so has become an ever persistent problem for online sites and web browser companies.
4) Pricing and content ownership is another matter that comes up. I go into the store, and purchase a copy of “Wow Cataclysm” per-say. I own something tangible. It’s visible and present. Given the recent “boom” of apps and things like “Gamefly” and “STEAM” this is changing.
In present market (in store) pricing, retailers have to keep their prices within the dollar of other game/retail stores selling the same product. Places like STEAM don’t have to. They can afford to offer outrageous discounts and sales (why? I’m not sure about that, but probably has something to do with hosting and advertising games and publishers).
But with all all this working to make games more accessible and less of a hassle to the “casual” gamer. Can we see a general decay in the quality and hosting of games? I’m not sure, but the over all acceptance of “gaming” as a casual hobby and even maybe something to add as a “skill set” doesn’t seem all that far off. As we will continue to see more and more companies jump into the gaming realm and try to pick up our dollars, we will inevitability see a period of ups and downs when new ideas and failed concepts have crossed our paths.
As far the nature of this, change is good. Innovation is better, and the gaming industry will only benefit from all of the successes and failures of things to come.
Streaming live Video Games!! I never thought we'd see the day!
“if you meet someone Role-playing a Paladin, just don’t talk to him.”
~Fallen Earth’s tip of the day
