04-03-2011, 09:01 AM
Hah, this even came up in one game that did NOT reward players with extras if they paid more to the moderators! It was one of those massive-multiplayer online games, not PBM, but still an instructive example. Ultima Online (which I believe has been mentioned in another thread somewhere around here...) charged a basic $10/month. I believe they opened up new areas of gameplay if you bought the expansion disks for a one-time charge. But overall, they were quite reasonable and very popular.
I had played for a short while and noticed all these players had build houses and buildings everywhere the game allowed. Some of them had vendor characters installed on the grounds, selling useful equipment to passers-by. I decided to make that a goal -- build a small house somewhere and set up shop. Best would have been to build something near one of the dungeons, where hopefully I'd get a steady stream of poisoned adventurers, seeking "cure" potions and willing to pay inflated prices. But first, I would need to gather up the $80k of in-game gold currency to buy a deed to a house.
So for a couple of weeks I grinded away. I had a moderate level of power, and could fight off the everpresent liches in one particular forest well enough, but really hit paydirt (as it were) when I discovered a local dungeon with a steady supply of earth elementals. Not only did fighting them continue to hone my combat skills, but their bodies presented me with a precious gemstone or two for sale back in town.
At last, $80 in hand for a deed, I set about identifying a location I might use, when I found that ALL AVAILABLE REAL ESTATE had long since been snatched up in this popular game! Long gone were the days when hardy pioneers could simply plop down a building in the grass, wherever they felt like it. No, my options now were limited and my prospects were dim. Either I could hunt around for openings (buildings with no activity for 3 or more days were empty/dissolved) which were fairly rare, or I could pay a broker to sell me a space held by someone else.
The going rate for a small basic plot of land? $800k minimum, and that was for out-of-the-way spots far off the beaten trail! To earn all that would mean many many weeks of more grinding! Or, I could visit one of the many game currency brokerage houses that popped up outside the interface. I could go to various sites and bid for properties or simply buy game gold -- the going rate for $1m in gold was about $60.
So for a mere investment of $60, I could achieve my dream! No grinding necessary! And this was NOT required by the game publishers - they merely charged the standard monthly subscription. I am sure there were people who played and earned enough to became in-game millionaires through their own hard work, but after I saw how long it took just to get that first $80k, I was just shocked at the process of having to multiply that effort by 10 just to get my foot in the door. A mere $60 could have jumped me to the front of the line, and there were probably MANY MANY people who did exactly that.
So the whales are out there, my friends. They will come and pay, if you offer them a compelling experience, a shared environment, and a persistently rewarding community...
I had played for a short while and noticed all these players had build houses and buildings everywhere the game allowed. Some of them had vendor characters installed on the grounds, selling useful equipment to passers-by. I decided to make that a goal -- build a small house somewhere and set up shop. Best would have been to build something near one of the dungeons, where hopefully I'd get a steady stream of poisoned adventurers, seeking "cure" potions and willing to pay inflated prices. But first, I would need to gather up the $80k of in-game gold currency to buy a deed to a house.
So for a couple of weeks I grinded away. I had a moderate level of power, and could fight off the everpresent liches in one particular forest well enough, but really hit paydirt (as it were) when I discovered a local dungeon with a steady supply of earth elementals. Not only did fighting them continue to hone my combat skills, but their bodies presented me with a precious gemstone or two for sale back in town.
At last, $80 in hand for a deed, I set about identifying a location I might use, when I found that ALL AVAILABLE REAL ESTATE had long since been snatched up in this popular game! Long gone were the days when hardy pioneers could simply plop down a building in the grass, wherever they felt like it. No, my options now were limited and my prospects were dim. Either I could hunt around for openings (buildings with no activity for 3 or more days were empty/dissolved) which were fairly rare, or I could pay a broker to sell me a space held by someone else.
The going rate for a small basic plot of land? $800k minimum, and that was for out-of-the-way spots far off the beaten trail! To earn all that would mean many many weeks of more grinding! Or, I could visit one of the many game currency brokerage houses that popped up outside the interface. I could go to various sites and bid for properties or simply buy game gold -- the going rate for $1m in gold was about $60.
So for a mere investment of $60, I could achieve my dream! No grinding necessary! And this was NOT required by the game publishers - they merely charged the standard monthly subscription. I am sure there were people who played and earned enough to became in-game millionaires through their own hard work, but after I saw how long it took just to get that first $80k, I was just shocked at the process of having to multiply that effort by 10 just to get my foot in the door. A mere $60 could have jumped me to the front of the line, and there were probably MANY MANY people who did exactly that.
So the whales are out there, my friends. They will come and pay, if you offer them a compelling experience, a shared environment, and a persistently rewarding community...