This is my splinter topic from my reply to a comment on the following thread: http://www.entropiaplanets.com/threads/introducing-joakim-antonsson-game-designer.10809/ This blog entry is aimed at the more sensitive areas of Mind Arks development & profit potential. So I wanted to keep it more in house, than public discussion. Gives the developer(s) more time to reflect and capitalize on these suggestions. Continued from above link: MA's future profits (and it will get to impressive numbers eventually*) can increase wildly by drawing in the paying players from those subscription based competitors. [*as well as draw in more investors down the road.] Even if those were to player were to inject half the amount of what they did from the other games monthly fees, MA profits. And at an added multiplier per increased player pop. MA has created an engine with much greater structure and diversity, that their competitors can't match up to in potential. By being able to bring in different game design teams for each planet, they are able to position themselves well to keep content fresh. I see them all working together to provide a more seamless format for play (and content choice) as a great thing. What they should do from here is draw in quality modders from other games that add value to the product. It's why I usually wait 3 to 4 years after a game has been out to buy it to play the mods. Which are most often than not 10 to 100 times better than the original game. And adds lasting value/replay ability. (It's also why consoles suck when compared to PC gaming). This will free up their own devs to focus on the advancing the core engine and bug fixes, rather then variables of the content already created (as in visual aesthetics). So basically see what that community comes up with and only accept into game what they feel comfortably & ascetically fits the universe. This will save them great sums of money in development costs. Give the managers & artists who held those positions quality control to sign off on. Instead of spending the time needed to make variants of those models or textures & sounds etc, from having to do it themselves. This would of helped to solve part of what had happened to Next Island. Bring costs down considerably. This can go even further with custom player content requests. in the form of personal vanity items, equipment or even animations. Where players individually pay (MA or whomever) to have their own unique (aesthetics) gear and textures generated by other player hobbyists. (outside of the game, with real content artists. Not referring to ingame content generation/professions) And then check marked or reshaped by MA (or their contracted subsidiaries/planet partners) for ingame use if all qualifications set by MA are met or surpassed. This would add a whole other method of content generation and revenue streams. Hobbyist themselves work for free, so why not tap into their talents for them to use on your engine as a future resume and/or pick them up as additional personal when they consistently exceed both quality & deadline efficiency? They are still kept in the dark and separated from code and programming so they can't slip in exploits. These are much more worth while means to draw in new (& depositing) players than advertising All Time Highs to news organizations around the world. Which in turn can potentially swamp your server bandwidth in nonpaying players looking to cash in (and out) on the virtual gold rush. That raises your operating costs and server speed to make room for lumps of new players with inadequate computer requirements from countries with weak internet access/speeds. That also potentially adds more costs combating their high ping times and added technical support issues. There are ways to bring players in from all over the globe without adding to those risks. Targeting ones from other subscription based games online games should be a priority. You can do that without HOFs and ATHs. By creating conent that adds to the immersion that those players are looking for. And are interested in those aspects far above withdrawing cash from the game. I will be seriously dumbfounded if they don't hire me as a inexpensive consultant to bounce endless ideas off of and problem solve their worries away. My tips above would grant them both consistent & incrementally sustainable profits, well above any meager wage they could throw at me. Which I'd happily accept the opportunity. That would more importantly vindicate any of my so called "delusions of grandeur".
