|
I just wanted to mention here,
That's what this discussion is all about. If you haven't yet, make sure you read all the posts. The topic of keeping it fair for players has been discussed by me at length in a few posts.
Basically, I understand your position 100% -- I've been there on several games. However, I never considered it from the opposite perspective, as Matt has given. I can honestly say that if I was in the other person's shoes, I would probably feel just as left behind by people who had tons of free time.
The idea is to try and come up with something that will give everyone a chance, however that's not entirely possible. We can't control a player's playing time or income, so in reality, if someone has neither the time to play, nor the money to pay, they are going to be left behind. At that time though, I honestly think that there's probably more important things going on than a getting on a game. The opposite of that person, the ones who have both time and money, those are the ones who pose the biggest threat to a system like this. They're the ones who can play both sides of the fence, and that's where I feel exceptions need to be made to limit things.
There have been many other revenue schemes that I've seen in the past for MUDs. I've seen advertisements, both in and out of game. I've seen "moral donation" systems, where the idea is just that if you like the game, you'll donate. I've also seen MUDs that tie in with other things that can make revenue, keeping the MUD free. All of these systems rely on either an honor system, or the success of one thing or another. The MUD is never independant, and thus it's far too easy to lose enough revenue to force the place to close down, or cease updates and fire staff.
Advertisments are not reliable. The income from ads isn't much usually, and most agencies that buy ad space require click-through's for the real profit, not just impressioins. The ones who offer profit for impressions usually offer it at such a low rate that it's almost not worth it. Further, depending on where you put your ads, users may use blocking software that may or may not screw up your impressions, and would most definately prevent a potential click-through.
Honor-bound donation systems were a great thing when a MUD was small, and the playerbase faithful. Let's face it though, the majority of the people playing free MUDs either can't afford pay to play ones, or rarely think twice about clicking "donate". Added to the fact that the donations often don't add up to the overall cost of operation, this system is again unreliable. It's nice to offer, just so you can get some assistance and still keep your MUD free, but if you plan on trying to do anything - like hire professionals or expand your operations later - it falls way too short.
MUDs that use alternate means of revenue, such as selling T-Shirts, or even comic books and such that go on about the story line usually only last as long as the fad surrounding its products lasts. It costs money to put out those items, and unless you keep new products rolling out every so often, your sales may stagnate to the point where you're making no money. Perhaps you're actually putting out products in real life stores? That works well until, as I said, the fad dies down. If you can't keep new products rolling, or if people lose interest, the MUD will fall with the rest of the company (or choose a different means of revenue).
This brings us to what we're discussing here. By charging the people who play your game, for either access or perks, means the MUD is supporting itself. As long as the playerbase stays interested (and the perks stay interesting), you'll have revenue. If your playerbase leaves you, well then I think it's time to pack it up, or come out with something new and correct your previous errors.
That's all from me for now. Please remember that this discussion is about when "free" just isn't possible. It's not really an option unless you have the funds to throw away, when you want to professionally develop a MUD.
|