“You must think your game in terms of it’s economic model”
13.08.2012 at 19:21 | By Uther
After several years of development,
Guild Wars 2 will be officially available by the end of the month. But beyond the game itself, the
MMORPG from
ArenaNet reshuffles the cards including the MMO stage with its hybrid business model (the studio hopes to sell the game boxes and integrates a store of virtual objects, but not s relies not on a monthly subscription).
But an economic model necessarily influences the choice of gameplay and game content (eg we know that a single player game is relatively short because relying on recurring sales of game boxes when MMO Free-to-play will offer a lot of content because we know that only players permanently loyal frequent online stores). And in the columns of
Forbes , Chris Whiteside, lead producer of
Guild Wars 2, is essentially the same speech: ArenaNet has had to adapt the content of its atypical MMORPG business model of the game
“You develop the game in terms of the economic model that you use to sell it. One of the major challenges of the economic model is to attract more players, particularly by focusing on accessibility. Thus we must make a game accessible, able to retain very different player profiles. Some say it’s a bad approach, which complicates the development of a game for us is a positive approach based on a better understanding of how to make a game that precisely meets the needs of all types of players that pass our doors. “
And to emphasize that long, the massively multiplayer genre has remained “a kind of niche, because of its intrinsic mechanical.” Today, MMO aimed at a wider audience and ArenaNet clearly aims to open further the genre to a wider audience and take into consideration in the design of the game According to Chris Whiteside, the developer has “worked in keeping in mind that the economic model used would open the doors [Guild Wars 2] in many more players, with more varied profiles. ” He should not forget the traditional MMO gamers “who enjoy the game mechanics complex” (the producer is among them), but we must win as much as working to make these complex mechanical make accessible to newcomers . According to the producer, it is therefore important to keep listening to this “more diverse community to understand how to make a great game accessible to all.”
And to emphasize that the current emergence models free-to-play is far easier for developers. If the MMO subscription is competitive (we know that very few of the players to pay multiple subscriptions simultaneously, forcing them to make a choice), the MMO free-to-play are even more competitive in that they offer all players to increasingly fickle and unrestricted. “It’s positive for the consumer, but it means you have more players to listen to and meet, and I do not think it is simpler for developers, it just creates new problems to solve.” We can test piece on the answers given by ArenaNet these new challenges, from 28 August, with the release of Guild Wars 2.
