ID:265134
 
For a month and a half, I've spent at least 4 horus a day (taking away from my time with friends, going to parties, spending time with family, etc) on the new release of TextMUD, which I want to be finished with by the end of the summer. So far, all that I have completed are the majority of running systems for the CGI part of the game -- only one of the many parts of one of 3 active servers required to run a TextMUD game. Now, being able to say at last that I have something done, the value of what I have done and will do comes to mind:

TextMUD 2.0 costs .50 cents for a month, or a dollar for life. That's very cheap, but I have made money off of it. However, what I have done already is already worth more then double that in the new release. When everything is in place, these are the prices that I am considering putting on TextMUD:

Player Subscription
Features:
  • Play TextMUD games using DreamSeeker client.
  • Web-based char sheets and other pages viewable at any time
  • Account on TextMUD message board
  • All other basic TextMUD features.

Cost: $5.00/month

Delux Player Subscription
Features:
  • All Player Subscriptoin features
  • Play TextMUD games without using DreamSeeker client
  • 5 megs of free web space for uploading images and other media to spice up char sheets

Cost: $7.00/month

Host Subscription
Features:
  • Host TextMUD games using DreamSeeker client
  • Delux Player Subscription benefits
  • 20 megs of web space for game website, complementary media, etc.
  • 24-hour response customer service.

Cost: $10.00/month, $30.00/lifetime

Delux Host Subscription
Features:
  • Host Subscription benifits
  • 50 megs of web space
  • Create and host TextMUD games without the DreamSeeker client.
  • Host special Telnet-based TextMUD games

Cost: $15.00/month, $50.00/lifetime

Does this seem reasonable for a commercial-value program?
Not bad pricing, but few will pay. Noone likes to pay money on BYOND.
In response to Garthor
One thing that I meant to address in the post is that, with TextMUD as its own website and hub, it'll be pretty much seperated from BYOND. The standard "Player Subscription" will have a note by it that says "Reccommended for current BYOND-users only", for instance. I'll be doing the vast majority of my own advertising and will be mostly non-affiliated with BYOND -- I just hope to use BYOND's wonderful e-commerce and programming language to make my dream possible. My hope is that by seperating TextMUD from BYOND, I'll have more people willing to pay larger sums of money. Also, with high charges for hosts, there will likely be fewer hosts who do not put their game up often -- who would pay fifteen dollars to host a game and then host it only once?

-Lord of Water
Does this seem reasonable for a commercial-value program?

Hmm... it's a bit on the pricey side, given that companies like Origin have a large developer base and are only charging on the order of $9.00 per month for their online games. That's for a game with a massive player base, graphics, and a 24/7 administration team.

For TextMUD, which is text-based, and quality is restricted to how well the GM writes and roleplays, $7.00 a month for players might seem a little high, even for deluxe features. I would say that the hosting prices seem about right, but the players' prices could stand to be dropped, or you'll find that you'll have hosts but no players.

Personally speaking, I prefer systems that allow players to play for free, but force people to pay money if they want to mess around with things. (BfS follows a similar model -- anyone can play for free, but it costs money to be able to host or have access to the juicier features (ones that don't directly affect gameplay, mind you -- advantageware like Tanks is good but gives a competitive edge to subscribers).)

That might not reflect on your vision, though.


One crucial thing to note: most people can only stand to charge sums upwards of $5.00 if all of the code, including the client, is their own. In other words, if you expect to get commercial income, you would need to make the product from scratch. That would mean saying No to BYOND.

Another thing to note is that you should probably advertise outside of the BYOND community, since most people herein are stagnated by an exaggerated value to the BYONDime. =P

Those notes are from the player's perspective, mind you. If someone wanted to creatively express him/herself, I'm sure that s/he'd pay the hosting costs.
In response to Lord of Water
Lord of Water wrote:
One thing that I meant to address in the post is that, with TextMUD as its own website and hub, it'll be pretty much seperated from BYOND. The standard "Player Subscription" will have a note by it that says "Reccommended for current BYOND-users only", for instance. I'll be doing the vast majority of my own advertising and will be mostly non-affiliated with BYOND -- I just hope to use BYOND's wonderful e-commerce and programming language to make my dream possible. My hope is that by seperating TextMUD from BYOND, I'll have more people willing to pay larger sums of money. Also, with high charges for hosts, there will likely be fewer hosts who do not put their game up often -- who would pay fifteen dollars to host a game and then host it only once?

-Lord of Water


Hmm...I can start the advertising for you.... look me up on AIM when your back on....

-ST

Number of people brought to BYOND that I know of: 170
Number of those that are DBZers >= 40
I'd very much be inclined to want to know what makes your program any better than something I can build featurewise? You didn't give a whole lot of information on the features for which I'd WANT to dish out that kind of money. Webspace is nice, but it really isn't something that I'd pay for monthly when I could just get a free server somewhere. I'm not even sure what the webspace is for. And personally, I prefer programs that don't limit me to using someone else's space/server/whatever.

So, what is it that makes it so good?

(As a side note, I'll be darned if I'm going to pay $5 a month only to find out that the host is a moron.)
In response to Spuzzum
One crucial thing to note: most people can only stand to charge sums upwards of $5.00 if all of the code, including the client, is their own. In other words, if you expect to get commercial income, you would need to make the product from scratch. That would mean saying No to BYOND.

Another thing to note is that you should probably advertise outside of the BYOND community, since most people herein are stagnated by an exaggerated value to the BYONDime. =P

That's why I say that Dan and Tom push to make BYOND appear less like it's run through Dreamseeker, and more like it a professionally designed game :oP If you can make a BYOND game that looks like a regular C++/Visual Basic game (within reasonable limits), but takes 1/10th the time, then they know they've going to have a hit.
In response to Foomer
Foomer wrote:
That's why I say that Dan and Tom push to make BYOND appear less like it's run through Dreamseeker, and more like it a professionally designed game :oP If you can make a BYOND game that looks like a regular C++/Visual Basic game (within reasonable limits), but takes 1/10th the time, then they know they've going to have a hit.

Stay tuned!
In response to Lord of Water
Lord of Water wrote:
be doing the vast majority of my own advertising and will be mostly non-affiliated with BYOND

Unfourtanlly unless there is another way posssible or Dan or Tom Codes it, you cant have a byond game online without byond, which most people hate having to go through just to play a game. Thats what i think. Also if it is non-affiliated doesnt that mean u wouldnt use byond? Another question? Are u using byond to make your text mud?
In response to Mrhat99au
Mrhat99au wrote:
Unfourtanlly unless there is another way posssible or Dan or Tom Codes it, you cant have a byond game online without byond

You can make web based apps easily through BYOND CGI. The server must run BYOND, but the players will never know the difference.
In response to Foomer
To see a little of what you get, there is always the Watcher feature -- you can always watch a game totally for free, and even participate in the OOC conversation if the GM allows. If you decide that you really like that particular game and want to play, I think I might even have a feature where you can subscribe for a dollar a month to one particular game. Watching also gives you a feel as to what TextMUD has to offer -- if a player says something that the GM can't hear, the watcher does hear it! Same thing with Private Messages from the GM to one of the players. Of course, this requires putting trust in your watchers not to spew confidential game information to players who should not have that information, so the option can be turned off.

-Lord of Water
In response to Lord of Water
Lord of Water wrote:
To see a little of what you get, there is always the Watcher feature -- you can always watch a game totally for free, and even participate in the OOC conversation if the GM allows. If you decide that you really like that particular game and want to play, I think I might even have a feature where you can subscribe for a dollar a month to one particular game. Watching also gives you a feel as to what TextMUD has to offer -- if a player says something that the GM can't hear, the watcher does hear it! Same thing with Private Messages from the GM to one of the players. Of course, this requires putting trust in your watchers not to spew confidential game information to players who should not have that information, so the option can be turned off.

Now all of *that* makes the whole game commercially viable. =)

Many people would love to see things for free, and I very well doubt that people wouldn't be antsy to play if they could see people having fun but be unable to play.

It's part of the reason why subscription-based online games that give you a taste of the action for free are so commercially successful.
It is a bit expensive, but some people might pay.. Although, you have to have money before you can turn them into dimes.. *cough* ☺

-Rcet
In response to Tom
Tom wrote:
Foomer wrote:
That's why I say that Dan and Tom push to make BYOND appear less like it's run through Dreamseeker, and more like it a professionally designed game :oP If you can make a BYOND game that looks like a regular C++/Visual Basic game (within reasonable limits), but takes 1/10th the time, then they know they've going to have a hit.

Stay tuned!

Now I'm excited, damn you. ;)

I'm loving this.

=V
In response to Tom
Tom wrote:
Stay tuned!

Woohoo!

I would LOVE to see something along the lines of a Byond ActiveX control. Embed that sucker in a webpage, and let 'er rip.

Regards,
Corporate Dog