[MUD-Dev] Horizons

[Luca Girardo]

At 19:00 20.06.2003, Tess Snider wrote:

> Actually, I would have to disagree.  "There" (There.com) allows
> this, and the system appears to be working fine in beta, to the
> casual observer, at least.  They have staff members review
> designs, and it costs resources (in-game money) to have a design
> reviewed, so that people don't frivolously spam the reviewers with
> tons of half-assed designs.

Well it is questionable if you can do such type of review also when
the game goes live with a large ingame population as that will take
immense resources. On the other side I suppose the trick is the: "it
costs resources (in-game money) to have a design reviewed". As the
Therebucks(TM) are a form of online currency that you have to buy
with real money or in form of services you offer to the There.com

>From there.com product release:

  http://www.there.com/there_product_release.doc

--<cut>--
    Therebucks can be earned by:

      - Creating and selling clothes, furniture or other objects in
      There;

      - Charging admission to parties, games or other events;

      - Getting a job, such as a There Ambassador who greets
      visitors and welcomes new members; or

      - Participating in online focus groups or surveys.

    Members also receive Therebucks as part of a monthly membership
    program, with pricing to be determined during the public beta
    period.  Therebucks can also be purchased a la cartewith a
    credit card.
--<cut>--

So defacto you are paying a fee for having your product
reviewed. That would mean a double gain: content gain and direct
financial gain. Still I wonder how many resources and stuff you will
need to have the system working within a normal time frame (so a
review coming within 1 or 2 weeks). In any case something to observe
when it will go live.

As side note (more related to the "MOO Launch issues ruining
potential segments of the market" thread), while looking for
There.com details, I found interesting so far There's biggest
customer has been the government:

  http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/04/20/BU83768.DTL&type=business

The U.S. Army has signed There to a $3.5 million contract to adapt
its technology for an advanced computer simulation program. That is
a good way to find alternative markets I suppose.

Luca Girardo
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