Comments on: ZT Online

By: Dystopia Online « Broken Toys

Dystopia Online « Broken Toys — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 16:56:54 +0000

[...] 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. [...]

By: Devbump - Gold Farming + RMT + Power-Leveling + PvP + Gambling = The Most Popular Game in China: ZT Online

Fri, 11 Jan 2008 05:43:10 +0000

[...] 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 [...]

By: Darniaq

Darniaq — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 14:01:23 +0000

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

By: Eldric

Eldric — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 07:47:55 +0000

The game sounds like a headache to me? Something I would never subscribe too… the boundaries of gaming are getting thinner and thinner.

By: An in depth breakdown of the game dynamics of an MMORPG making more than $50m/quarter « Lightspeed Venture Partners Blog

Wed, 02 Jan 2008 01:00:30 +0000

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

By: Hades

Hades — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 00:56:36 +0000

Yeah I just noticed this article. Its certainly quite interesting to read about, and apparently this is a successful endeavor?

By: Slyfeind

Slyfeind — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 22:33:11 +0000

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.

By: How successful have developers been in controlling RMT companies? - Fires of Heaven Guild Message Board

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 03:38:09 +0000

[...] 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. [...]

By: Cybercat

Cybercat — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 21:20:40 +0000

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).

By: Amaranthar

Amaranthar — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 17:26:51 +0000

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”.