[MUD-Dev] Casual Crowd vs.Time Rich Crowd [was: Time Debt]

[Michael Hartman]

Steven King wrote:

> I've noticed that most MMOs keep old accounts around for a good
> period of time after you suspend or cancel them.  This is a good
> system.  It allows players to come back and play the game where
> they left off rather than having to start anew.  I played SWG for
> about 8 months or so, tapering off to playing once every couple of
> weeks because my buddies quit playing, then cancelling.  I started
> back up a few months later to play with a few who had started
> playing again.  I cancelled again after a month or two because my
> buddies weren't playing anymore.  Keeping my account and
> characters around allows me to pick up when I want to play again.
> That's a great system.  Even my old UO account is still around,
> although I bet my characters have been wiped.  A great marketing
> tactic is to offer incentives for coming back.  UO does it once in
> a while.  Bribes are good.

This is an absolutely vital concept from a business point of
view. Any game that does not do this is really making a terrible
business decision.

Amazingly, there is a major MMORPG who doesn't understand
this. Final Fantasy XI deletes accounts after 3 months of being
inactive (not paying). Not only do they delete the characters, they
make the KEY inactive. This means if you wanted to start playing
again you not only have to make new characters but you have to BUY
THE ENTIRE GAME AGAIN.

Ridiculous? Absolutely.

Stupid from a business point of view? Incredibly.

On Threshold, we have had players return after being gone for 3-4
years or more. It always amazes me. When these players return, they
spend money just like any other player. You can bet that the
majority of them would have never even considered returning if their
old character(s) were gone.

--
Michael Hartman
President and CEO, Threshold Virtual Environments, Inc.
http://www.thresholdrpg.com
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