DDO: Eberron Unlimited Interviews
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First we have Massively:
Are there any plans to implement this business model for LotRO or Asheron's Call?
Adam: Not really. In bringing LotRO and DDO over to Asia over the past few years, the games we were competing against over there were free-to-play games. So we saw the power of this model, knowing that we needed to lead in this space, and we wondered how we could do that. Do we port an existing game? Do we make a new game? Then we looked at DDO and thought this game is pretty perfect for this model. The style of gameplay, with small group instanced experiences, makes it easy for us to lock off and allow players to purchase access as they need it. Where as LotRO is a much different, open world with a traditional experience that doesn't lend itself to this type of model.
And if you really go back to it, the way D&D was marketed in the 70s and 80s and even today, it was very much a microtransaction business, if you can do that in an offline business. But you had adventures that you played with your buddies and when you were ready for more, you headed down to the hobby store and bought more books, or you enhanced your experience with something like new dice or minis or stuff like that. Little did we know when we started down this path awhile ago that right under our nose we had this game that was perfect to start migrating. We've been working on this for well over a year, and we had to really go back and re-engineer the game to work under this model, but to answer your question, we have no plans to do this to LotRO because it's a different kind of game. Quite frankly, LotRO's doing really well in its current situation.
Then we move to Gamasutra:
What was formerly thought of as the hardcore audience has reached adulthood, says Mersky, and those players are looking for more scaleable ways to access game experiences as their quantity of free time decreases thanks to work and family.
For one example, Mersky says it's a benefit to these limited-time users to be able to individually purchase update modules that have traditionally launched regularly to DDO subscribers. "There's no reason to keep paying $16 a month for us to keep adding content that you can't catch up to because you don't have the time," he notes.
"All we're doing is expanding the market," he says. "What we're not doing is what a lot of other games have done -- just taking off the [subscription] price and throwing ads or some kind of microtransactions model in the game. We've been working on this for over a year, and we're completely reinvesting in the franchise. We think it's a great fit."
And, finally, Ten Ton Hammer:
Ten Ton Hammer: We've talked a lot about what the VIP folks are getting, but what does a free player have access to?
Kate: Free players are going to be able to access the bulk of the content in Stormreach and nearby environments. The far flung environments are going to be available in our content packs, which are going to be in the store, but many of the (common) zones players experience in the early levels of the game will just be there available for them to access.
We have a new leveling mechanic where you need to find the leveling sigil, which you can quest for, but if you're impatient and don't want to quest for it, you can buy them in the store. We want to make sure that free players have the option to either spend a little more time leveling up, or can just use the convenience that the store offers.
But there's just a tremendous amount of content already there, for free, that players can come in, enjoy, and have a good time with.
Additionally, anyone that owns one of the adventure packs can purchase a guest pass, and they can invite players it that may not have purchased the content. Those players that use the guest pass should be able to have fun in that area for an entire night, and I think that's going to be a great way for subscribers or ala carte purchasers to pull in people that are a little more casual.
