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ZT Online

December 30th, 2007 (Visited 2603 times) Tags:

PlayNoEvil’s description of ZT Online is worth reading.

As wonderfully described in Joel Martinsen’s translation at Danwei of an article that originally appeared in the Chinese Language Southern Weekly (courtesy of Frank Yu), the ZT Online’s history, game design, mechanics, and experience are revealed.And it is amazing.

Take everything you “think” is good MMO design and turn it on its head.

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15 Responses to “ZT Online”

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Top Mud Sites Forum wrote on December 31st, 2007 at 4:00 am:

Raph Koster

How successful have developers been in controlling RMT companies? - Fires of Heaven Guild Message Board wrote on December 31st, 2007 at 7:38 pm:

[...] that makes what we call microtransactions look benign. I surrounded allows in quotations because Amaranthir sums up the underlying principle of what the game allows pretty well. [...]

An in depth breakdown of the game dynamics of an MMORPG making more than $50m/quarter « Lightspeed Venture Partners Blog wrote on January 1st, 2008 at 5:00 pm:

[...] Raph, I saw Play No Evil’s breakdown of the ZT Online game dynamic summarized as Gold Farming + [...]

Devbump - Gold Farming + RMT + Power-Leveling + PvP + Gambling = The Most Popular Game in China: ZT Online wrote on January 10th, 2008 at 9:43 pm:

[...] profile Category: Industry | Tags: mmo china raph koster zt online Spotted this over at Raph’s place. “While wimpy Americans can whine about “cheating” in online games, quibble about Real Money [...]

Pelisoppa wrote on January 11th, 2008 at 5:10 pm:

eräs blogikommentoija

Dystopia Online « Broken Toys wrote on July 8th, 2008 at 9:56 am:

[...] Dystopia Online Missed this the first time it went around, so those of you who religiously read Raph Koster’s site (you should!) already saw this. [...]

Reader Comments

vajuras said on December 30th, 2007 at 8:34 pm:
I wish I could speak Mandurin/Asian (can’t spell) because the Asian market was directly influenced by Ultima Online. So unlike here, they are not full of a bunch of spoiled players that bitch and moan about RMT all day long even though those noobs are playing a PVE-only game or playing on a PVE-only server.

Hope they bring it here but not sure how long I’d last. Asian MMOs can get a bit grindy and my time is just way too limited. Alas, I’m waiting for an MMO that sort of removes the tedium (no levels or open skill system, good PVP, sandboxy, etc)
JuJutsu said on December 31st, 2007 at 7:46 am:
The game uses the “free to play” game model… except if you play-for-free you can do nothing.

Well using that definition, LOTRO uses a “free to play” game model; if I don’t pay my monthly fee, I too can do nothing as much as I want. How about some alternative terminology here. What’s wrong with just saying it uses a micro-transaction business model?
Cybercat said on December 31st, 2007 at 8:38 am:
I can’t find almost any info on this game on english speaking sites. Oh well, I suppose I’ll hear more if it’s ever coming here :p
Amaranthar said on December 31st, 2007 at 9:26 am:
This is more than just a game.

It’s a job…
It’s gambling…
It’s an investment…
It’s a contest…
It’s a serious social environment…
It’s a pyramid scheme……….

It’s pretty damn interesting.
I’ve thought of this idea before. Open everything up. I’m sure most of you have too. But it’s not “just a game”, to be sure. It all depends on what you want as a player or developer. One thing I think we can safely say about this idea is that the professional “player” groups with financial backing will win out, whether they get that backing from outside the game or within, or a combination.
This is like a professional sport. Like George Steinbrenner trying to buy the World Series.

It’ll be interesting to see if one mighty “nation” wins out entirely at some point. Then if their “empire” comes crashing down. And all that happen on the way and in between.

But it’s not “just a game”.
Cybercat said on December 31st, 2007 at 1:20 pm:
I tried out a game a while back called “Entropia” which had this same model. Unfortunately, it appeared hideous, the game mechanics were poorly designed, the lag was horrendous and everything was super inflated. You started with nothing but could “sweat” animals for…something. This thing was a raw material for crafters to make items which they could sell to other people. Last I knew, the game still afloat, but how I’m not entirely sure. They offer a Second Life type establishment where you can buy land and create your own area with real cash so I suppose they have some pretty heavy investors. Unlike SL however, you are limited as to what you can make, what you can put in the world and how things work since the game is bound by a server side engine that you aren’t given almost total control over (like SL).
Slyfeind said on January 1st, 2008 at 2:33 pm:
Interesting how this topic hardly gets much attention, while the other RMT posts have such heated opinions. While I have my own opinions, I’m interested in what others feel is the difference between this, and buying WoW gold from a third party.
Hades said on January 1st, 2008 at 4:56 pm:
Yeah I just noticed this article. Its certainly quite interesting to read about, and apparently this is a successful endeavor?
Eldric said on January 1st, 2008 at 11:47 pm:
The game sounds like a headache to me? Something I would never subscribe too… the boundaries of gaming are getting thinner and thinner.
Darniaq said on January 3rd, 2008 at 6:01 am:
Slyfeind wrote: Interesting how this topic hardly gets much attention, while the other RMT posts have such heated opinions. While I have my own opinions, I’m interested in what others feel is the difference between this, and buying WoW gold from a third party.

1) It’s a game few on this side of the world would actually play for very long (”few” as defined by the percentage of WoW); and, 2) Their system is part of their revenue model, whereas RMTing is usually third-party.

Just my opinion