So much depends on perception, and more people than you would guess are looking to you for a sense of tone, an impression of feeling. It is far easier to deny, negate, or destroy something than it is to accept, encourage, or build (the latter all take much more effort). I am going to try to be intentionally positive. To reject the obvious negative interpretation and work relentlessly to build rather than tear down. This is my one and only New Year’s resolution.
It is easy to think about this, but much harder to do it. Maybe I can try and track this to see how I am doing? Eric suggested Joe’s Goals. I guess the question is: “What do I track?” How many points do I get for encouraging someone to do something good? Or helping someone decide to build something new rather than tear down something old?
Suggestions welcome.
Lunch Time 2, originally uploaded by jasonrr.
Black Moves Next, originally uploaded by jasonrr.
Purple and Green, originally uploaded by jasonrr.
Tulips, originally uploaded by jasonrr.
Arden Point Bridge, originally uploaded by jasonrr.
Over the past decade, the popularity of Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs) has led to an incredible amount of development by major game producers. With revenues in the billions of dollars each year, over $1.7B for Blizzard/Vivendi’s World of Warcraft alone (Boyer), this industry has grown to include hundreds of titles. These numbers have game producers hurrying to figure out the best way to capitalize on this fast growing source of revenue. As with other high growth markets, secondary markets have developed to satisfy the needs of customers in the primary market that either can’t or won’t be met by primary market makers. Not surprisingly, a market this large, approximately $1B (Brightman), has attracted the attention of entrepreneurs looking for opportunities to support or supplement the primary activities in these markets with products and services that enhance the gamers’ experience.
There are many different forms of secondary markets in the gaming world, some legitimate and legal, and others which have been deemed by game developers to be illegitimate, or even illegal. An example of legitimate secondary market is the host of gaming magazines and websites that offer strategies, content guides, and communities where gamers exchange ideas. An illegitimate market is generally defined as one where people exchange real world currency for characters (avatars), items, or in game currency in ways that violate the Terms of Service defined by the game developers. I will examine how the nature, and implicit goals of a game, affects its interactions with secondary markets. Further, I will argue that the “illegitimate” markets have had a direct impact on primary innovation, shaping current and future game design very quickly to account for these markets’ impact on the value of in-game assets.
I will focus primarily on Vivendi’s The World of Warcraft (WoW) and use Linden Research’s Second Life (SL) as an example of a vastly different approach. In order to effectively explain the impact, and resulting strategies of the game developers, I will detail how value is created and measured in MMOGs , a brief history of secondary markets in MMOGs, their current revenue models and legal concerns, the vastly different responses from Vivendi and Linden Research, the role and impact of secondary markets on design innovations WoW and SL and , finally, my prediction of the impact these markets will have on future game development.
Continue reading ‘The Effects of Secondary Markets on Primary Innovation in MMOGs’
