I didn’t forget the holiday, just had a bit more active one than I expected. I promised a bit more on the story, so here goes:
Jenn and I had just returned from visiting my family on the 23rd when we got the message that her grandfather had been hospitalized. He’s home now. Still not 100%, but he’ll get there: he’s a stubborn one. (more…)
I just finished reading the Escapist’s interview with Curt Schilling (thanks for the heads-up, Ryan). If the company and game philosophy plays out as well as he pitches it here, count me as an early fan. Here’s hoping they deliver.
One of the lines there serves as a lead-in to something I’d been mulling over:
The three most branded franchises in the history of the MMOG space were Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and, to me, Blizzard. Lord of the Rings had a century to brand their IP, Star Wars had three decades and Blizzard has had a decade of branding and franchise in the world of Warcraft. And they’ve done it so impeccably well, but at the end of the day, the thing that sticks out amongst those three is Blizzard stayed truer to their visions than anyone else, and fans got what they wanted.
I’m left wondering if maybe WoW had it a bit easier. They not only were the original source of the franchise, but it was built from the start to accommodate gaming.
The observation’s been made before, but Moorgard explains it well: The ideal MMO customer isn’t one that practically lives in your game, it’s one that’s happy to keep paying the subscription fees while playing less.
Moorgard lists a few alternate strategies to the somewhat flawed suggestion made on the Fires of Heaven board, but I’d like to add one of my own. (more…)
Probably Not’s brought up a note about the use of illusion in games. I started a comment there, but by now, I’ve broken too many comment boxes on other blogs.