[MUD-Dev2] Fallen Earth

[John A. Bertoglio]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: mud-dev2-bounces at lists.mud-dev.com [mailto:mud-dev2-
> bounces at lists.mud-dev.com] On Behalf Of Aurel
> Sent: Sunday, September 20, 2009 5:05 PM
> To: mud-dev2 at lists.mud-dev.com
> Subject: Re: [MUD-Dev2] Fallen Earth
> 
> Sean Howard wrote:
> 
> 
> > So the question becomes, do you want to improve or do you want to get a
> > good grade?
> >
> 
> Getting a good grade, in this case, means putting food on the table. If
> you
> want innovation you'll have to look to developers who don't do this for a
> living, but then you'll have to live with the fact that they don't have
> nearly as much time to devote to development.
> _______________________________________________

The difference in the case of Fallen Earth is that just as the game is a
hybird, so is the economic model. The company behind it does VOIP systems
and is apparently successful. They created this apparently "wizard" network
code and started developing a MMO engine with an eye on the corporate
training market. While the team working on the game is quite dedicated to
it, the overarching goal is to refine the engine and content building tools
for resale. 

This has (apparently) given the developers and designers more "running room"
as they have been building this for over 6 years. It appears that their
commercial model is based on slow steady growth and trying to attract
players from outside the traditional MMO community. The key to a MMO as a
business is that once the client is in the hands of the customer. An annual
subscription is 144USD per month. How many boxed single games would you have
to sell at retail to end up with 144USD in your bank account?

John Bertoglio
503.330.6713
Consultant
jb at co-laboratory.com
www.co-laboratory.com
im: jbertoglio at gmail.com

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