Julian Dibbell writes in Wired on the decline and fall of IGE.
At the same time, the so-called free-to-play model—no subscription fees, revenue derived entirely from direct sales of in-game items—has made inroads in the Asian MMO market and is being embraced by no less a gaming giant than Electronic Arts in the upcoming Battlefield Heroes. But both these models, in their blunt rejection of IGE’s third-party retail model, only underline what Pierce himself implicitly conceded when he sold out to Yantis: There is no future for his once-bright dream except in the dimness of what is plainly now a permanent gray market.
#1 by D-0ne on December 3rd, 2008
AS long as their are grind advancement MMRPG there will be RMT. RMT will remain profitable.
#2 by Montague on December 3rd, 2008
You changed your website again?? You’re worse than my wife.
#3 by Apache on December 3rd, 2008
I think the old brain tumor is acting up again
#4 by Bjorn Stromberg on December 3rd, 2008
As long as there is randomness to item distribution there will be RMT.
#5 by Paks on December 3rd, 2008
As long as there are greedy people and gamers who want gratification now instead of accepting they may need to do more for what they want (or if they can’t do more, then accept that they can’t), then there will be RMT.
As for current game companies embracing F2P with the sale of goods. Good. Legitimizing the RMT industry is what is needed which applies to those games built for that model. Keep it away from games not wanting RMT and the MMO community will be tons better off.
The blatant disregard for agreements and the willful harassment (spam etc) of players is what is keeping the “known” companies who participate in RMT from becoming legit. Imagine the fallout from players if Blizzard or Sony announced a deal with a company like IGE that has pissed off as many players as it caters to?
Anyway, why no mention of the poor doggy massacre by the evil Spanish SWAT? That was more interesting then poor little Brockie. You reap what you sew, as my Granny says.
I just hope Hernandez is spending his money wisely!!
#6 by Julian Dibbell on December 3rd, 2008
Just so we’re clear. My point in the excerpt was not that RMT is dead or unprofitable. Or even that high-volume, third-party RMT retail businesses like IGE are dead or unprofitable. (Clearly, Jon Yantis continues to prove otherwise.) It was simply that high-volume, third-party RMT retail as a legitimate business, embraced and sanctioned by MMO publishers (what IGE aspired to for much of its existence), is at this point pretty clearly never going to happen.
I’m sure many of you would argue this should have always been obvious. Or on the other hand that I’m wrong to declare that particular business model DOA. I’d be curious to hear from either.
And also a reminder: It is customary on Broken Toys threads about my work to point out at least once that I need to die. Where’s the love, guys?
#7 by Julian Dibbell on December 3rd, 2008
Paks: Was it actually not clear from the article that Hernandez got $zero from his suit, or is your reference to “his money” tongue in cheek?
As for the missing doggie death, my apologies: You have no idea how worked over by the Wired lawyers and factcheckers that section was. If it’s not in there, it probably didn’t happen.
#8 by Merkwurdigliebe on December 3rd, 2008
Well, it’s not that I want INSTANT gratification, but the pigeon will hit the level only so many times without a treat before they cancel their subscription.
#9 by TPRJones on December 3rd, 2008
“…gamers who want gratification now instead of accepting they may need to do more for what they want (or if they can’t do more, then accept that they can’t)…”
Jesus, Paks, you make it sound like a job. It’s a game, man. It’s supposed to be fun. If you are working your ass off for something in a game then there may be something wrong with either you or the game.
Of course, I’m not an Achiever type at all, so I’ll never begin to understand that sort of mindset about games.
#10 by Paks on December 3rd, 2008
Julian: No actually, from following the suit at Virtually Blind (http://virtuallyblind.com/2008/08/27/hernandez-ige-settles/) I thought the monetary figure was never announced publically, but I thought there was a settlement that included the agreement to stay out of WoW with RMT for a few years.
Also, the dog thing was a bit of a sick joke from the Debonneville v Pierce suit from a while ago. The complete story might still be out there on the net, but in short it was mentioned that a dog was shot by the Spanish SWAT or whatever they’re called.
I don’t want to bring THE MAN down on Scott, but you might find the original article with some interesting links in *posts if you search back through the archive here or Google something like Broken Toys and lawyer.
TPRJones: I agree games are supposed to be fun and I’m not saying the game design for grind type MMOs can’t be done better.
The people I’m referring to are the ones who look at MMOs as a source of real world money or who take the game more seriously then, IMO, they should by thinking they need everything now and wanting to just buy it.
Try to take a farmers farming spot and see how serious they get.
Or try to tell someone who likes to buy gold or items that maybe they should try just having fun and not worrying about keeping up with joblow or getting all the neato shinies. You might as well be telling them (not all mind you) they’re class is getting nerfed.
I’m most assuredly not considered an A type as defined in todays market. I had 1 level 60 in WoW when I stopped playing and never reached max in EQ. I think I reached max in SB only because you could level so fast with AoE’ers, and I didn’t hit max in AOC even though it was easy, before I gave up on that game. Currently, I’m sitting at 15 with my highest level character in WAR, and I really dislike raiding WoW style. So nope, no A type here.
Really, no one forces any player to grind levels or shinies, or run instances, or level alts, or to play any particular MMO for that matter. It’s all a choice.
If you don’t like grinds, don’t play that game, and it really is that black and white.
No offense meant to anyone, but someone deciding to play an MMO then complaining about the grind and using that as a justification to engage in an act they agreed not to when they started playing the MMO just doesn’t make (good) sense to me.
#11 by pharniel on December 4th, 2008
to oblige our most illustrious writer-of-articles, Julian Dibbell needs to die for not writing a more awesumer-er article.
does that scratch the itch then?
half harted I know, it’s what you get for writing something worth reading that contains nothing but verification about how the middle of the road thought things would turn out.
#12 by Mercury on December 4th, 2008
The fall of IGE has nothing to do with the nature of RMT. IGE imploded because the founders and key players are a bunch of sleazy backstabbing money-grubbing bastards that couldn’t share a friggin donut without a gun.
That’s just my cut.
#13 by Julian Dibbell on December 4th, 2008
Thanks, pharniel, that’ll work.
Paks: Yeah, I got the dead-dog reference (the legal document it originated in was one of several dozen I read through till my eyes bled). Just wanted to express my regrets to all you Broken Toys diehards that it did not ultimately pass the factcheckers’ smell test.
Mercury: You’ve nailed the question, for sure: Did IGE fail to go legit (in the ways Pierce wanted it to) because of the nature of RMT or because of the nature of Pierce & co.? There’s no doubt that IGE had, um, character issues that hobbled their shot at the mainstream, but the point I was trying to make ultimately was that even if IGE had been a bunch of whistle-clean boy scouts, it’s clear now that their particular business model is not and won’t very soon be welcome among MMORPG publishers. Discuss.