Azaroth

In recent days, Shadowbane got cheap.

We understand that Shadowbane is an old game, and subscriptions were likely falling accordingly (especially since it was almost shut down a few months ago). But is this the right move?

Is it the only move?

I’m assuming that subscriptions were falling so low that they decided they needed to increase their numbers by such a drastic measure. Even if it meant going to an ad revenue-based model, which is a largely untested business plan in this industry.

Obviously they’ve explored this course of action and have decided that it could increase the amount of players in Shadowbane to the point where annoying ads blasted across the screens of their players will provide more profit than the old subscription model. But even if there is a short term spike in activity, and a possible increase in revenue, is the strategy ultimately self defeating?

Let’s look at who is going to play your game for free. Or, to be more specific, who WOULDN’T be playing if it weren’t.

I pay for the MMORPGs I play, and I don’t mind doing so. It’s not really expensive for most people over the age of fourteen. In fact, most of the single purchases I make throughout the day cost more than what I spend on monthly access to a MMORPG, so I don’t consider it much of a nuisance at all. I understand the costs involved in creating and maintaining them, and that the risk involved is pretty over the top, too. So if some of these games that succeed make good bucks, good for them. But really, most fail.

And unfortunately, Shadowbane may currently be failing. So it seems they’re falling back on a plan B - at the same time, inviting an entirely new type of player to their game. Or maybe not ENTIRELY new, since ne could argue that the “Play To Crush!” design and philosophy already attracts an undesirable population to their game, and has for years. I’m sure they’ve got plenty of experience with that particular problem. But one could also argue that their design and general philosophy will be a vehicle for undesirables to cause more havoc than they’d be able to in most free games.

And ultimately, are an undesirable player’s actions more about nature or nurture? Is it simply their nature to be like they are - through a combination of things like age, maturity, and possibly some kind of upbringing that included the constant whipping of their legs by older brothers with plastic powerwheels tracks - or is the ruleset and design of the game, not to mention whether it’s free to play or not, creating these monsters?

If you take the same player and plop him down into a free to play Shadowbane environment, is he more or less likely to be the same player, ultimately, especially in his run-ins with other players and social situations, as if he were sucked into EQ by a guild of achievement-based gameplay friends? Is he a malleable product of his environment?

Possibly to a large extent. He’s also a product of those around him. Call it MMO peer pressure. And the fact that everyone else in Shadowbane is playing Shadowbane, and playing for free, increases the negative effect of that peer pressure. The result is that players are not only often a product of their environments, but of those around them - who are also products of their environment.

I hope the SB CSRs are paid well. They might also want an in-house counselor. IPY freaked me out for a good, long time - and what they’re doing is basically what we did back then. Except the ads. I should have thought about that.

I’ve also always been a huge proponent, both in proposal and practice, of a genuine and immersive experience, however. I don’t like items being sold, I don’t like GM interference, and I certainly wouldn’t like being forced to search for alternative sources of profit that included being free to play and introducing in-game ads. But in these days of advertisement inundation, is this simply the next step? What happens when all of the big name subscription-based MMOs figure out they can put ads in the game TOO, and most people won’t say boo if it becomes common practice?

Why not? Once all of these games cost $15 AND have ads all over the place, I’d certainly be willing to play one that costs $25 and has no ads. Consider it a prediction of doom. Or, ultimately, just more expensive gaming. Or more annoying, depending on your pocketbook.

In the end, I think Shadowbane’s new strategy will be self defeating. PvP players in a PvP environment + Free PvP players exploiting a Free PvP environment will equal a gradual decline in playerbase as people become disenfranchised and disgusted with both other players, and also, the company that has allowed them in “for money” (through ads and “increased” playerbase). Yeah, and the annoying ads won’t help the disposition of the playerbase either, I’m guessing.

So yeah, I’m sure they’ll experience something akin to an initial boom in numbers, but I don’t think it’s going to be a good long term strategy by any means.

Or maybe it’s just ahead of its time. Just almost definitely in the wrong environment.