Member's Only

That's some cooooool water.

We added our first public Member's Only area to ourWorld yesterday. The players have been asking for a swimming pool since pretty much always, and we finally released a swimming area called the Beach.

Only Resident Subscribers can go there*.

As expected, there is a vocal chorus of "not fair!" from the free-play community. While I understand their reaction, it's hard to muster a great deal of sympathy from my personal perspective. Most of ourWorld is free, but new features more and more are for paying players. You know, the people who keep the site running with their dollars.

It's unfortunate how weak the free-player's position is, really. When they threaten to leave the site and never come back, the net loss to the site is usually close to zero. I wish it was a bigger deal. I wish the free-players could contribute more to the site so they could be given more in exchange.

If wishes were subscriptions, we'd all swim.

-Adam!!!

* Free players can go to the Beach if Grouped with a Resident subscriber, so it's not totally off-limits.

Now they've got it...

Penny Arcade has hit the virtual nail upon the virtual head, again.

It's Really Quite Simple

OurWorld's payment options.

Credit Card
5.99 for 1 month subscription, automatic billing (150 Gems/month)
49.99 for 1 year subscriptions (150 Gems/month)
5.99 for 100 Gems
20.00 for 600 Gems

Mobile Phone
7.99 for 110 Gems (mobile phone)

Pay by Mail
10.00 for 1 month subscription (300 Gems)
49.99 for 1 year subscriptions (150 Gems/month)
5.99 for 100 Gems
20.00 for 600 Gems

PayPal
49.99 for 1 year subscriptions (150 Gems/month)
5.99 for 100 Gems
20.00 for 600 Gems

What could be simpler?

-Adam!!!

Virtual Pan-handling

One of the main reasons I play ourWorld is to experience the game as typical players experience it. When I play ourWorld, I do so as a regular player, with a regular membership. Nothing more or less than any other member with a paid subscription would have.


One of my policies has been to accept all friend invitations. I don't want to miss out knowing somebody who I really want to know. Unfortunately, that's not how it really works. Too many friends essentially eliminates friends as a useful tool. They're just random names on a 1000-strong list, and I still only know a couple dozen as 'real' online friends.

While my account is no different than any other, I do use it for a few official functions. When players win ourWorld Contests, I use my account to award the prize codes. An unfortunate side effect of issuing these codes with my main account is now people think it's okay to ask me for free coupons and Gems (ourWorld currency, normally only available for real money.)

I could handle one or two people a day asking for free stuff, and then taking no for an answer. Unfortunately, since awarding the contest prizes, I now get lots of people asking repeatedly. So many requests that it's sapping the enjoyment out of playing ourWorld, and that is intolerable.

My solution is semi-harsh, but I plan to stick to it. Players get one free pass. Ask me for free stuff (or give me a sob story about how you can't afford anything, which is worse) and you get one warning. Ask me again, and you're off my friends list.

From a purely pragmatic standpoint, players panhandling for free stuff are not the players who are ponying up their credit cards and purchasing memberships and virtual currency. That means my friendship is based on how actually friendly they are. Most of the ourWorld friends I talk to regularly are very nice and I don't care if they are members or not. Even huge sites like Club Penquin only have about 5% paying members. That said, if you're a high maintenance user, bugging me daily, you might consider making a purchase. I will happily contribute to a relationship based on social niceties. I will happily contribute to a relationship based on an customer/provider relationship. While its hard to mix the two, I think I do a good job with friends who are also customers as well. Bring nothing to the table, and I don't think it hurts me or ourWorld much to remove you from my friends list. That's all I'm saying.


-Adam!!!

Virtual World vs MMO = Casual vs Hard Core?

It may be that the real difference between what we consider a Virtual World and what we consider a Massively Multiplayer Game is the sort of players that play the games, and how those players are catered to by the publishers.

I recently read an article (sorry, I no longer have the link) that made the assertion that so-called hardcore gamers are far more apt to purchase subscriptions than so-called casual gamers. Casual gamers, it said, preferred to pay using the micro-transaction type models.

While there are certainly examples of hard-core games offering micro-transaction content as well as casual games offering subscriptions, from a demographic standpoint, the division is obvious. Most Virtual Worlds are moving, at least in part, to the micro-transaction model. In just the last year, it's becoming generally accepted, despite the drawbacks, that the micro-transaction model is the strongest choice for a successful Virtual Worlds. World of Warcraft, and most hard-core MMO-type games, have settled on the subscription system as the way to go.

Hard-Core -> MMO -> Subscription Payments
Casual -> Virtual World -> Micro-transactions

No so much a rule, but a guideline.

-Adam!!!

I'd Buy That for a Dollar!

Based on what I've read, micropayments are beating out time-based subscriptions when it comes to effectively separating virtual world patrons from their money.

Is this because people prefer to pay via micropayments, even though a site that features them typically costs the user more, overall?

I believe the biggest hurdle in getting a person to pay real money for any sort of online service is that first payment. The smaller the request, the more likely somebody will bite, and once that credit card is on file (and the first transaction proved worthwhile) subsequent transactions come much more easily, with less concern on the part of the customer.

Is the subscription model less effective than micropayments...probably. Why? Because the initial cost for even a month (ourWorld's premium membership costs $6.99/month) is more than the minimum cost for many micropayment sites. What if there was a trial that players could purchase for $1? What if a promise of no additional charges was made, and kept?

Would it be worth the transaction costs of the 'trial' to get that customer's credit card on file? How much more likely would a customer be to subscribe after a successful and valuable $1 transaction? (Hint: A lot.)

Edit: In order for the $1 option to work, upgrading to a full subscription must be hyper-easy. Single click easy. Otherwise, much of the hurdle for subscription remains.

-Adam!!!