Game Development: Salem & Haven

[banok]

(honestly I have no idea why they even bothered with the whole pyramid scheme thing as it doesn't even make sense since they've said it's going to be a relatively open beta).

They are merely exploiting peoples eagerness by making them tell 3 friends about the game and therefore advertise the game. That's my theory anyway, although I think its flawed scheme really.

[hazzor]

(honestly I have no idea why they even bothered with the whole pyramid scheme thing as it doesn't even make sense since they've said it's going to be a relatively open beta).

They are merely exploiting peoples eagerness by making them tell 3 friends about the game and therefore advertise the game. That's my theory anyway, although I think its flawed scheme really.

i wouldn't call it exploitative, it's viral advertising, if every person that signed up successfully got three friends to sign up and so did they etc. the game would have millions of sign ups over night, i don't think it'll go quite like that because not everyone's that desperate to play.

gotta advertise somehow, this way is just free

[Tonkyhonk]

too obvious viral marketing often deteriorates people's further interests and calls for the wrong people.

[MagicManICT]

too obvious viral marketing often deteriorates people's further interests and calls for the wrong people.

Given the nature of the game, I'm not sure what "wrong people" you're going to get.

[Tonkyhonk]

as in, those who refuse to understand what permadeath means, and ask for no-crime/no-death server maybe?

[MagicManICT]

as in, those who refuse to understand what permadeath means, and ask for no-crime/no-death server maybe?

I say give it to them... all the jackasses will migrate over there because they can cause problems without consequences. When the rest of us on the "real servers" say "We don't know what you're talking about. We just kill those kinds of douchebags over here." People will then decide to move.

[Sevenless]

as in, those who refuse to understand what permadeath means, and ask for no-crime/no-death server maybe?

I say give it to them... all the jackasses will migrate over there because they can cause problems without consequences. When the rest of us on the "real servers" say "We don't know what you're talking about. We just kill those kinds of douchebags over here." People will then decide to move.

To deny service to those people (who seem to be about half the people who begin playing give or take) is ignoring what appears to be quite a large market segment. Generally speaking it fits the bill with the non-casual gaming industry ignoring potential casual players entirely.

That being said, the system would need a significant overhaul to make it workable for those types of players, but to ignore them because they "don't understand the nature of human interaction" is an oversimplification. It's not stupidity (or just stupidity in some cases), it's an unmet desire for an enjoyable game that is relatively "safe" and "stable".

I suppose I'm a poster child for this due to medical reasons, but it's something to chew on.

[Tonkyhonk]

natural words of mouth can be quite dangerous to a business-proposed viral marketing, if you know what i mean.
but what would i know about game-marketing? not much, so its just my bubbling.

[MagicManICT]

Oh, I quite agree with you, Sevenless. It's impossible create something to meet the needs of all players, though. It's the players who need to wake up and learn that some game designs just aren't for them. Of course, it may just be that players need to learn to shift perspectives for some, games, too. Walking into a game like HnH or Salem thinking it's going to be FarmVille is completely the wrong attitude, just like thinking it's going to be something akin to WoW. None of these are bad games, but they are designed with a prospective player base in mind and fit certain philosophies of the developers.

What's the line from the "old" movie? "Build it, and they will come."

[Sevenless]

Oh, I quite agree with you, Sevenless. It's impossible create something to meet the needs of all players, though. It's the players who need to wake up and learn that some game designs just aren't for them. Of course, it may just be that players need to learn to shift perspectives for some, games, too. Walking into a game like HnH or Salem thinking it's going to be FarmVille is completely the wrong attitude, just like thinking it's going to be something akin to WoW. None of these are bad games, but they are designed with a prospective player base in mind and fit certain philosophies of the developers.

What's the line from the "old" movie? "Build it, and they will come."

It's the sense of moral superiority I often see around it that bugs me I suppose. The entire concept of merit/achievement/individuality is by and large an illusion we created along with society. So much of one's abilities, beliefs, and success depend what genes you were born with and into what family.

No human, the lowest of "scum" or the purest of the "good", is better or worse than anyone else. We're just different variations of a very similar pattern.

As for the quote, eh. I'd like to. We'll see.