[arg_discuss] is ARG just a marketing technique to the press?

[Brooke Thompson]

> The route that interests my company most is taken from the games industry,

> as demonstrated by the superb "KartRider" game from Asia, which is worth

> looking into if you haven't heard about it. It's a superb game that was

> given away for free, but makes lots of money from micro-transactions;

> selling small objects, better clothing, modifications for your kart and so

> on. The key to this was getting lots of people to play the game over and

> over again - once you have a large community playing repeatedly, then it

> seems possible to start charging them small amounts to make their

> experience

> even better. In this model, the biggest challenges seems to be creating an

> ARG that doesn't end after a month or two (not an insurmountable

> obstacle),

> and getting the funding to create the game in the first place. Anyone

> agree/disagree? Has anyone tried the micro-transaction model?

> 

> Patrick, nDreams



I don't want to say that it hasn't been done, but I can't think of any
examples of micro-transactions in ARGs and I've been looking for them as I
have several games in my head that use such a model. The challenge that I've
found is not one of getting funding (I haven't gotten to that point, but
don't imagine that it would be difficult) or in a game that can continue
month to month, but in maintaining a balance of power.

Any micro-transaction will change the power structure in the community
where, up to now, the currency of power has been activity based. Whether
that activity is interacting with the characters, sorting through game
websites for clues, participating in a live event, doing research, or
creating & maintaining player resources, people who are more active have
more power either within the social/community structure or the game
structure (in some cases, both). This dynamic works well for collaborative
information based games, such as ARGs. I think it is possible to add
micro-transactions and believe that I might have one idea that will work and
others that, with a bit of playing around with, may work, but maintaining
that balance while keeping the micro-transactions optional (a necessity, in
my mind), is the biggest challenge to the design.

Brooke