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2 Million Pirates Shanghai'd
The Escapist's news feed reports that 2 Million characters have been made in Puzzle Pirates since the launch of the game. From the article: "Three Rings' CEO Daniel James sees 2 million users as confirmation of the micro-currency model. 'We believe that this model represents the future for online entertainment. Our inspiration continues to be the Korean market, where 'free to play, pay for item' is the ubiquitous business model for online games. As the US market matures to meet Korea, we intend to keep leading the way.' In addition, the company recently released the beta version of a new game, Bang! Howdy, a multiplayer online tactical strategy game for the PC, which uses the same payment structure and online distribution model."
I played Puzzle Pirates, and it seems to me most of those 2 million accounts are probably old ones that were abandoned after their owners, having tried the game out, got bored after realizing there were less than ten puzzles that get tired quickly. Are those active accounts, they say? I'd be more impressed if they were.
But at least it's free (sort of). Congratulations, you have Runescape and Anarchy Online quality gaming awaiting you.
Since my budget does not include "gaming expenses" in it (games are purchased on a "Yay, we've got some extra money" basis), I only play MMO's that are free to play (such as MapleStory, Fly for Fun, and Space Cowboy Online)
Maybe someday I'll prove that the model works by buying something...
It's a social game. You go out, and you go sailing. On a pirate ship. And you shoot at ships. And you take their stuff. And then you go home, and gamble your winnings away in poker or spades, or buy clothes, or furniture, or invest the winnings in your shop.
It has a multi-tiered economy -- and we're not even talking about micropayments, yet. It has the most fiendishly sophisticated chat filter I've ever seen -- it doesn't just convert profanity, it actively attacks acronyms, net slang, and inappropriate use of Caps Lock. You log on to Puzzle Pirates, and the world is instantly literate. Try "a/s/l"ing sometime and see what happens.
It has unlimited PvP... but you risk a terrible penalty if you attack a weaker vessel.
And those old, tired puzzles -- you know why they're tired? Because they're friggin' classics of the genre, that's why. Dr. Mario? Puzzle Fighter? A demented two-fisted version of Snood? And when you do them, you aren't playing a puzzle, you are chasing down a merchant frigate or frantically repairing combat damage or meticulously decanting strange and wonderful elixirs.
It's a silly idea, crafted with loving attention to detail and populated by rum-swilling fiends. It might not be for everyone, and no, of course that's not two million active accounts, but it's a milestone none the less.
Oh. Sorry, I almost forgot.
Arrrrrr!
Yahoo! Pipes are awesome. How awesome? http://pipes.yahoo.com/jesdynf/slashdot
When I saw just the headline "2 Million Pirates Shanghai'd", I was expecting it to be a story about some busted counterfeiters or something. I can understand the "2 Million Pirates" part, being about YHHPP, but what's Shanghai got to do with it? This suggests the users of that MMO are induced into doing something against their will, or something. A less confusing headline would be appreciated.
...that both Puzzle Pirates and Bang! Howdy are available for the PC, Mac and Linux. I play it on Linux and it works flawlessly.
The obscure we see eventually. The completely obvious, it seems, takes longer. - Edward R. Murrow
But also, you can create (and discard later or not) any amount of accounts, sometimes enables you to get some economic (in game) advantage, sometimes gives you more possibilities, sometimes it could be used as a way of cheating, and all of this is valid specially in the oceans that use micropayments,
2 millon characters is a big number. But is pretty far from the number of real people that actually plays the game (my estimation is below 50k, maybe less than 20k even)
One interesting bit in Puzzle Pirates is that your levels aren't directly related to how much time you put in. It's how good you are at the puzzles. So instead of experience points you get real experience.
It makes accounts eBay proof too. I've never seen a gold farmer in PP.
The obscure we see eventually. The completely obvious, it seems, takes longer. - Edward R. Murrow
And until recently, Gaia Online was also considered eBay-proof too.
I'm not sure how hard it would be to design a decompiler that could, say, play navy puzzles all day long and just harvest gold from duty puzzling, but I can't imagine it being fiendishly difficult, or would prevent a farmer from just playing the tournaments to sell off trinkets and other items in that manner.
The main abuse of the game is the use of 'able' alternative accounts to disguise the actual skill level of a player, which I doubt has ever been fully rectified.
As a pirate AND a play-for-free advocate, I should let people know that there are two styles of playing. One is subscription play, where features are unlocked to subscribers who pay a monthly fee. I'm not one of those pirates.
The other kind, which I would expect to be more popular among Slashdotters, is dubloon pay. Dubloon oceans require pirates to purchase dubloons, a second currency, in order to gain upper-tier features. The key thing is that dubloons can either be bought with cash, or with the primary currency, pieces of eight. So, you don't actually have to pay any cash to be a famous pirate, you just have to be good at the puzzles.
~ C.
"Our inspiration continues to be the Korean market, where 'free to play, pay for item' is the ubiquitous business model for online games"
... even and especially in Korea.
A few major examples :
Lineage : pay per month
Lineage II : pay per month
RF Online : pay per month/30days of play
So, describing the 'free to play' as ubiquitous is either misleading or wishful thinking.
A valid business model ? In asia, surely.
Ubiquitous ? hardly
Oh, and Korean pay twice as much per month than their US/Europe peers for the same game.
From now on, could we possibly make a new rule: when an article's full text is under ~200 words, just quote the whole damn article and write, "Full Article:" before the quote?
And the first MMO game I was happy to let my kids play as well.
Great work, Three Rings. Keep it up.
--
SO of The Cartographers
Ambassador of the flag Silver Dawn
So does 2 million virtual pirates support the theory of a virtual flying spaghetti monster?
"22 astronauts were born in Ohio. What is it about your state that makes people want to flee the Earth?" Stephen Colbert
Following the Korean model? So, what, Kart Rider is taking over the world? I can't wait ....
Put identity in the browser.
This is not new. Second Life has been using this business model for more than a year now. It costs nothing to 'play' in SL and you can even own items for free, but if you want to own any property, you must pay a monthly stipend to Uncle Linden.
Garrrr, even me parrot knows this.