Recent content by Zantox_sl

I think he just meant that there ARE games that are F2P that are worth playing (Dota2 and League, among others), and that all F2P games are not just garbage that people won't pay for. The HUGE benefit to F2P is that you get enough players to play and keep the matchmaking/pvp/sieges/whatever...

I know it isn't on our radar, but Wizard 101 and Pirate 101 (both games designed by the Crowfall guys) were both good games that did what they were supposed to (though targeted at a MUCH younger audience). They also did a reasonable job of balancing both F2P and subs. Earth shattering games? No...

One of the tricky things about balancing PVP rewards and PVE farming type rewards is dealing with kill and/or turn-in trading. A designer has to set the balance so that opposing sides aren't encouraged to trade kills, but at the same time, are not encouraged to just avoid each other, either. I...

While I don't know how ZSO does it, typically you keep your account and lose access to a game. Rarely do they delete the whole account altogether.

Rough math is $50 box = $25 profit to publisher. Digital is 70% gross margin, so $35/copy (unless you get everyone to buy from your website ... which is not common without lots of marketing dollars or a last name of Roberts. So most of your digital sales are coming through Steam or other...

Great post! Only ... what did I say? Also, a bit melodramatic much? CALL OF DUTY HAS A LEVELING SYSTEM! MUST NOT BE A SHOOTER! STARCRAFT REQUIRES TWITCH, MUCH NOT BE A STRATEGY GAME! All successful games have a mix of elements. Successful MMOs have both multiplayer content and solo content...

If you attracted 430,000 players (assuming they all paid $50 a box) - which is the EQ number -, you could only afford a $10 million dev + marketing (combined) budget to pay itself off in box sales (assuming a mostly digital distribution mix). That is just to break even. In order to made a...

They is not to make soloing worthless, it is to offer a mix of content. What WoW and Rift both did was to offer a leveling experience that allowed you to solo all the way to max, but at the same time offered you a big reward (fun, items, diversity in experience) in playing through instanced...

Zenimax's leadership ZeniMax Media Inc Leadership on Elder Scrolls games: Todd Howard Video Game Credits and Biography - MobyGames(Todd Howard - EP of ES 3-5, plus Fallout 3) Vlatko Andonov Video Game Credits and Biography - MobyGames(Vlatko - President of Bethesda) Note that there is...

Hockey!

Bounty has fallen off significantly in the meta because of the changes to dust (e.g. if you are dusted, you run 10% slower while invis) and the ease of getting XP. He still has his place for sure (in fact, put to good use today in the Na'Vi / Alliance Bo5), but wouldn't put him in the top 3. I...

Add Windrunner (err, windranger) for flexibility in being damage (phase/force/Deso or MKB) or support (arcanes/MEK/Force), Nyx Assassin for ganking (build into arcanes then a fast blink, or Mek if your other supports are struggling) and Lifestealer for off-lane semi-carry (phase/drums). Those...

They did some ships that WERE exclusive and are sold out (like the $1,000 limited edition ships). Still, people were throwing down massive cash behind the prayer that was Pantheon for likely the same reason: a game in this genre hasn't happened in a really really long time, and it hasn't ever...

The greatest bot in history known to gamers: EZ Macros was right behind. 8x8 on a boat in UO ... oh man, those were the days. Well, until you got tagged by a water elemental spawn or stuck on another boat that was 8x8 macroing as well.

That's how they describe it and compare themselves to other MMOs. Also, from theWikipedia Article: