Sony Online Entertainment's director of development, Dave Georgeson, has explained the five-phase plan that the company is currently following for its forthcoming MMO EverQuest Next: Landmark.
Speaking on the Sony forums, Georgeson has divided the planned monetisation model into five stages. The MMO is currently in alpha - the first phase and what Georgeson is referring to as the "Founder's Pack" era.
The second phase will see the introduction of buyable outfits and resources in the later stages of the alpha build. "Selling those resources may seem like we’re allowing you to pay for power," he says, "But our current game progression is not the intended real progression. Very soon, you’ll only need handfuls of resources to make picks and other tools. Tool and item progression will be limited by activities completed and achievements gained… not by resources. So, letting people buy resources is really just a time shortcut to let people build more easily." He adds that resources, of course, can also be gathered by hand or traded for with other players - paying will just be an optional shortcut.
Further features - and shortcuts - will be added in phase three. These will include shortcuts that may allow players to skip the times needed to craft certain recipes, but Georgeson says, "These shortcuts will not be allowed to affect game balance and can be avoided completely through in-game effort, if desired."
In phase four, during the closed beta, the Player Studio opens up, allowing players to begin selling to and buying from other players.
Finally, phase five will see the introduction of "bigger-ticket" items like cosmetic purchases and name/gender changes for your charfacter.
Even if data is wiped during the testing phases, Georgeson promises that players' inventories will always retain item purchases made.
Georgeson stresses that the company wants to do free-to-play right, and is seeking advice from its players to implement the best strategy. "We have to entertain you before you decide whether to pay us or not," he says. "We like that burden of responsibility. We think it’s cool and the right thing to do."
The plan is subject to change, depending on player feedback. What do you think of this business model? Do you think SOE are doing free-to-play fairly?
The next step in the long-running EverQuest series, EverQuest Next: Landmark was revealed last year. It was originally announced for PC, but SOE president John Smedley recently hinted that the series may come to PS4 as well.
Katie Williams is a freelance writer and games journalist. You can follow her on IGN. She also tweets at @desensitisation and hopes that one day, a bird will tweet back.
Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com
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