"Free" Dungeons & Dragons Online Revenues Up 500 Percent

[ItsAPaul]

Well the original was completely unplayable, so hopefully they made improvements. I'm still not playing an mmo besides wow if it involves leveling though.

 

[In Limbo]

Don't let me disturb your argument, but on another note...

Why do people have such an issue with subscriptions? I admit they're not ideal, and I think DDO is a much more consumer-friendly model - where you have the option to subscribe, but otherwise can access your characters and basic content any time.

But take WoW for instance: you pay 15 bucks for a month's subscription, compared to say, $40-60 for a new game. As long as you get 8+ hours of enjoyment out of WoW that month, the cost-to-enjoyment ratio is firmly in your favour. Time limits are inconvenient, sure, but they hardly seem as unfair as the anti-subscription rhetoric sometimes makes out.

 

[John Funk]

Good for them, hopefully more MMO's will go like this and have both options available to players.

This is actually some pretty bad news in my opinion. D&D Online, a mediocre MMORPG at best, is actually making money. I was always aware that quest-grinding was extremely addictive, but at the cost of actual money? If this kind of exploitative trend catches on with other game companies, we might as well kiss high-quality MMOs goodbye.

...but then again, I'm only theorizing...

you mean like the grinding that make up every single mmog that exist from Warcraft to Runescape. I know of no MMO's that are not basicly just grind and grind some more

In the sense that you are doing similar tasks over and over, then yes. But then again, you do similar tasks over and over in EVERY game. Grind doesn't mean what you think it does.

In TF2, I grind shooting people!

pplease tell me your definition of grinding and one mmo that doesnt have grinding. And no its not WoW, unless killing a million boars to level up isnt grinding

You have to kill a million boars to level up in WoW? Jeez, I've been doing this wrong all five years!

Have you ever actually played WoW or any other MMOG?

I think he's referring to the one South Park episode about WoW.

Yes, I'm aware. But referring to a joke made about a game doesn't actually reflect the reality of the game.

 

[BobisOnlyBob]

Dungeons & Dragons Online: Egberron Unlimited

My tabletop gaming nerd sense and a quick Google confirmation tells me this should be Eberron Unlimited.

 

[Echolocating]

Good for them, hopefully more MMO's will go like this and have both options available to players.

This is actually some pretty bad news in my opinion. D&D Online, a mediocre MMORPG at best, is actually making money. I was always aware that quest-grinding was extremely addictive, but at the cost of actual money? If this kind of exploitative trend catches on with other game companies, we might as well kiss high-quality MMOs goodbye.

...but then again, I'm only theorizing...

you mean like the grinding that make up every single mmog that exist from Warcraft to Runescape. I know of no MMO's that are not basicly just grind and grind some more

In the sense that you are doing similar tasks over and over, then yes. But then again, you do similar tasks over and over in EVERY game. Grind doesn't mean what you think it does.

In TF2, I grind shooting people!

pplease tell me your definition of grinding and one mmo that doesnt have grinding. And no its not WoW, unless killing a million boars to level up isnt grinding

You have to kill a million boars to level up in WoW? Jeez, I've been doing this wrong all five years!

Have you ever actually played WoW or any other MMOG?

I think he's referring to the one South Park episode about WoW.

Yes, I'm aware. But referring to a joke made about a game doesn't actually reflect the reality of the game.

There are two levers in life, John. Lever A and Lever B... and sometimes you just gotta leave 'er be. ;-)

 

[Skratt]

I am very happy for them. I would love to play the game, but I don't have the time. Now that it is free, I'll probably kick it around once or twice a year at no cost to me.

I wish other MMOs would adopt the same model because I just cannot justify $180 a year for a game I barely play. But for something like WoW, if I could just play the PVP, I would be happy to pay them like $30 for that "module" and never have to buy it again.

The problem with free-to-play is that many companies over value their micro-transactions, and then when they don't do as well as they hoped they say "well, look, we told you it wouldn't work".

 

[Wynne Pir]

It's quite interesting that D&D are making 500% profit by making their online game free, whereas Hulu, NYT, and WSJ are all going towards paid services. I guess it comes down to testing which model brings in more money for them. I have written more on this subject here http://drivingonlinesales.com/?p=329 and linked back to this article.

 

[DeathWyrmNexus]

See, this is the sort of news I like to hear, because success breeds imitation. Granted, I don't think D&D Online is a paragon of good game design, but the model they've adopted is. There are quite a few MMOs out that that I would probably enjoy playing, but I'm never going to, because I absolutely refuse to countenance a monthly fee.

Letting us play the game for free, with additional features and whatnot available as micro-transactions (which use points you can earn in game as currency, so even cheapwads can unlock some of it) is a wonderful switch from "pay for the game, then keep paying for it forever or until we shut down, and if you ever stop paying, no game for you!".

If the 40K MMO that's in the works used a model like this I would actually play it (and probably end up spending a bunch of money via micro-transactions). Heck, I'd be lauding them for simply eliminating the subscription fee but keeping the initial purchase cost - so long as it has no monthly fee, that's a substantial improvement. As I've often said in the past, the day all games require a subscription fee to play is the day I stop playing games, so it's very heartening to hear that Turbine's risky move to the free-to-play model is actually making them more money.

What is funny is that it is hardly risky... People are odd in that they resent being forced but will adore you if you let them buy options. It is only risky if you just look at numbers and not how people work. The only reason I haven't played it is for the same reason I don't play any other huge and involved MMO, computer power and I know I would be sucked in forever. XD

 

[Eri]

This is actually some pretty bad news in my opinion. D&D Online, a mediocre MMORPG at best, is actually making money. I was always aware that quest-grinding was extremely addictive, but at the cost of actual money? If this kind of exploitative trend catches on with other game companies, we might as well kiss high-quality MMOs goodbye.

...but then again, I'm only theorizing...

you mean like the grinding that make up every single mmog that exist from Warcraft to Runescape. I know of no MMO's that are not basicly just grind and grind some more

In the sense that you are doing similar tasks over and over, then yes. But then again, you do similar tasks over and over in EVERY game. Grind doesn't mean what you think it does.

In TF2, I grind shooting people!

pplease tell me your definition of grinding and one mmo that doesnt have grinding. And no its not WoW, unless killing a million boars to level up isnt grinding

You have to kill a million boars to level up in WoW? Jeez, I've been doing this wrong all five years!

Have you ever actually played WoW or any other MMOG?

Yes i have played wow, guildwars, runescape and city of heros, and you avoided the question, what do you define as grinding if its not killing something endlessly for level up and loot, or fishing for hours to max out your fishing?

WoW has NOTHING you kill endlessly to level up, Fishing level doesn't matter any more either. As far as generalities are concerned, Are you claiming that anything you do that is repetitive is grinding? Are all shooters automatically in this category?

 

[Booze Zombie]

Good for them, it's nice to see a company doing well.
I don't remember them doing anything excessivly bad, so they've probably earned some success, too.

 

[Eri]

This is actually some pretty bad news in my opinion. D&D Online, a mediocre MMORPG at best, is actually making money. I was always aware that quest-grinding was extremely addictive, but at the cost of actual money? If this kind of exploitative trend catches on with other game companies, we might as well kiss high-quality MMOs goodbye.

...but then again, I'm only theorizing...

you mean like the grinding that make up every single mmog that exist from Warcraft to Runescape. I know of no MMO's that are not basicly just grind and grind some more

In the sense that you are doing similar tasks over and over, then yes. But then again, you do similar tasks over and over in EVERY game. Grind doesn't mean what you think it does.

In TF2, I grind shooting people!

pplease tell me your definition of grinding and one mmo that doesnt have grinding. And no its not WoW, unless killing a million boars to level up isnt grinding

You have to kill a million boars to level up in WoW? Jeez, I've been doing this wrong all five years!

Have you ever actually played WoW or any other MMOG?

Yes i have played wow, guildwars, runescape and city of heros, and you avoided the question, what do you define as grinding if its not killing something endlessly for level up and loot, or fishing for hours to max out your fishing?

WoW has NOTHING you kill endlessly to level up, Fishing level doesn't matter any more either. As far as generalities are concerned, Are you claiming that anything you do that is repetitive is grinding? Are all shooters automatically in this category?

you have still not answered any questions, So im done. Clearly you have no evidence or point, your just complaining for the sole point of complaining. If you were not you would have answered a question or two instead of just repeating pointlessness

You have still not answered any questions, So im done. Clearly you have no evidence or point, your just complaining for the sole point of complaining. If you were not you would have answered a question or two instead of just repeating pointlessness.

 

[Orcus The Ultimate]

This is actually some pretty bad news in my opinion. D&D Online, a mediocre MMORPG at best, is actually making money. I was always aware that quest-grinding was extremely addictive, but at the cost of actual money? If this kind of exploitative trend catches on with other game companies, we might as well kiss high-quality MMOs goodbye.

...but then again, I'm only theorizing...

i agree completely, and it's sad to see they are making money out of it... let's hope they don't release another MMO for more addicted grindinggamers...

 

[theultimateend]

This is actually some pretty bad news in my opinion. D&D Online, a mediocre MMORPG at best, is actually making money. I was always aware that quest-grinding was extremely addictive, but at the cost of actual money? If this kind of exploitative trend catches on with other game companies, we might as well kiss high-quality MMOs goodbye.

...but then again, I'm only theorizing...

I can only really think of one (maybe two counting one that still exists from my high school days) modern MMO that comes to mind as high quality. So I'm not exactly sure that this is a bad thing, since perhaps they'll start using this model for charging folks.

I'm not highly competitive so games with cash shops don't upset me in the least. However I do hulk rage whenever the game has subscription required AND a cash shop.

Note: Cash Shop == These items make you better. Cash Shop != Buying cosmetic stuff that just gives your guy more flare. At least to me that's the difference.

This is actually some pretty bad news in my opinion. D&D Online, a mediocre MMORPG at best, is actually making money. I was always aware that quest-grinding was extremely addictive, but at the cost of actual money? If this kind of exploitative trend catches on with other game companies, we might as well kiss high-quality MMOs goodbye.

...but then again, I'm only theorizing...

you mean like the grinding that make up every single mmog that exist from Warcraft to Runescape. I know of no MMO's that are not basicly just grind and grind some more

In the sense that you are doing similar tasks over and over, then yes. But then again, you do similar tasks over and over in EVERY game. Grind doesn't mean what you think it does.

In TF2, I grind shooting people!

pplease tell me your definition of grinding and one mmo that doesnt have grinding. And no its not WoW, unless killing a million boars to level up isnt grinding

You have to kill a million boars to level up in WoW? Jeez, I've been doing this wrong all five years!

Have you ever actually played WoW or any other MMOG?

Yes i have played wow, guildwars, runescape and city of heros, and you avoided the question, what do you define as grinding if its not killing something endlessly for level up and loot, or fishing for hours to max out your fishing?

Just want to note that I never did anything for longer than a half hour (other than instances) from level 1 to level 80. The only exceptions being professions and that's not even necessary.

I tend to look at grinding as spending hours on end killing the very same thing to level. Just my thoughts at least.