Yeah, I probably should have linked some of the other videos (especially the one where he explicitly says he is an RMT partner of Port). I saw that discussion on Steam, but I've been banned there forever and can't post in the discussion threads (despite what Berek says about how they are open to feedback), so I was glad when someone pointed out the relevant details.
Markee isn't all bad. After all, he did bring Sir Frank into the game (who I think has been a net gain for the game), but as
titsup pointed out in one of the Steam threads, he has ties to promoting botting in WoW (in violation of EULA) and has a storied past getting banned in games for RMT. So yeah, he's pretty scummy, but at least he's pretty open about the type of guy he is (and how gaming is more a business for him than a relaxing hobby). That's more than can be said about *some* of the pillars of SotA's "great" community.
I agree they probably have reason for concern when it comes to a lack of players and the world feeling dead, but I think they are pleasing enough whales to keep things afloat. Can't see any success for another kickstarter if things don't dramatically improve for SotA and it's lack of balance and lackluster gameplay. Doesn't surprise me that they cater to the big guilds and well-connected backers. At this point, it's all they really have and the game's broader appeal is pretty low with respect to average gamers.
I honestly can admit (with a bit of shame/regret), that I was never able to enjoy the Ultima games growing up except for UO (I grew up a poor kid, parents were totally computer-illiterate, and I didn't have a PC or steady internet access until I could afford to buy one and pay for AOL on my own), but I can tell that so much of what made those games true classics has been turned on its head and now the old draw of facing ethical dilemmas, the rich lore and characters, and the complex crafting and interactive world has all been tainted by freemium mechanics that "encourage" players to pay for convenience or buy a fast pass to skip the grind.
I really feel for Lord Darkmoon on the official forums, especially considering how the peanut gallery treats him, considering I think he is making rational points and just wants a game like what the single player ultima games (and newer SP titles) are/were like....
It's too bad really. If you design a truly good game that's truly balanced and draws lots of customers, the money comes. But when you base it on nickel and diming, plus milking for thousands of dollars, that's a recipe for disaster to most everyone except that tiny crowd. In the long run, they shoot themselves in the foot financially. No other customers buy the game, there isn't enough population and it all falls flat. I'll bet they're still saying, oh but you wait and see, when it's officially released.
Come on. 603 was the peak login, the first week of persistently unfinished. It's slid down almost where it was prior to that. They thought more people would stay and hang around with persistence. Wrong. Get a clue.
I still can't bring myself to log in since they released the game. It makes my stomach turn.
All Garriott wound up doing is making a spectacle of himself, and no one will ever invest in anymore Kickstarters that have any of their names associated with it. Ultima Online was successful because Garriott left, if you asked me.
I really agree with your first paragraph. I have discussed the topic a few times in private with some of you here, and I know Port has heard the view from multiple sources that if they just built it (i.e., a cool game that appeals to everybody, not just whales), then gamers will come (and spend big $$$). But as Nemo and many others have pointed out, Shroud's devs won't change course in midstream and they are totally beholden to the funding model. Furre, with guys like Markee/envy/etc in the mix, they actually offend their income stream when they do things that even make the game *slightly* more new player/casual player friendly.
I don't expect any to actually watch this, but there is a section of the following video where Markee complains about how the R34 raffle upsets him (mostly because he, as a partner and person who put in a lot of real money into his lots, doesn't like that those who didn't poney up all that dough might get a lot for free and make him feel like a second class citizen/sucker). Also hilarious that he wondered if ppl without property even felt like second class citizens (as if he can't imagine how that would feel shitty to somebody who didn't have a house in a game where housing is a major feature).
He stops himself short of saying what he fully thinks, but I can see how it would rile people who invested because they wanted property ownership to really be limited. It's not an invalid point, either. What he doesn't get though is that these raffle lots are taxable (a major feature that will compel their owners to buy COTAs), and based on the previous raffle results (from what I could glean in the forum posts), the odds for winning a lot required that people buy at least 10+ tickets to win a single lot. That is a really bad guess, just shot in the dark prediction. Those of you who are better at numbers, and Port's own internal numbers, probably show something much different. But my gut tells me that if the R34 raffle has as many (or more) tickets, most of these "casual" players who log in once for their ticket won't win lots. Some will, but they have to be careful not to piss off the people who paid real money for lots/etc
Ultimately, Markee (and those like him) fail to realize that Port is just trying to encourage "dormant" and/or new players to log in, to populate the world. The people in game who are all about cornering the market and turning it into a virtual business are missing the fact that they NEED more people in the game to help it feel alive. To buy their stuff. To be present and make the game feel like less than a single player MMO (truly a horrible gaming experience... MMO's can feel lonely sometimes, even in servers with many people, but SotA's scenes and towns aren't vibrant enough at the moment).
If no customers show up to your goddamn shopping mall, it doesn't matter how cool you think your store is (and how awesome you think the interior/exterior design of that shared public commercial space is). You'll be out of business if you don't have people in your establishment, eyes on products, butts in seats, etc.
Also, the more cynical side of me (and many of you) realize that Port also needs players to own houses so that people will want to decorate those houses (buying off of the add-on store). Ultimate Collector 2.0 (dressed up in fantasy elements and a quest and rather complicated crafting system tacked on). They are finally realizing (or phasing in systems) to address that those who play their game should have a house, if only because it provides an impetus in that gamer to maybe buy some crap off of the add-on store (or buy some COTAs to avoid the grind required to pay their tax).
Guys like Markee should should want more people in the game and owning property, any way possible. More people owning houses and bringing the game world alive would benefit him in so many ways. I marvel how guys like him (and backers like him) cut off their nose to spite their own face and don't see it like this. If the game remains truly niche, if that's how they aim, then the real $$$'s they might have made will elude them. With more customers, you would sell more. Period. Both Markee and Port. Your greed and focus on short-term gains is your undoing.
Games like DOTA2/LoL, though now dated and featuring very toxic communities, have enormous player numbers and are extremely financially successful because the players enjoy the game and show their love for it by buying truly "cosmetic-only" type items like skins (the boost and other items for sale for real money are pretty pointless in the grand scheme of things in those games). This has probably been the most disappointing aspect of SotA's development for me: The choice to feature MACROtransactions at every turn and Port's conscious decision to massage players into paying for "convenience" items in the same way shitty F2P titles exploit the psychological needs and wants of players to keep up with Joneses and/or pay for a shortcut past the grind.
DEVS: Your gameplay and features should not be so boring and player unfriendly that people feel compelled to pay to skip them. Then what the fuck is the point of your game if actually playing it sucks that badly!? <-- this is the core fundamental problem with how SotA has been designed from the bottom up. You are tailoring everything to compel players to pay for convenience. The only way to do this is to make a grindy, annoying game that players would rather pay $'s to avoid than actually play. SELF-DEFEATING DESIGN.
Who wants to play a game like that? Masochists, that's who. The game must be fun, the world welcoming and compelling. All the add-on stuff comes secondary and people would clamor for more. Buy stuff hand over fist. But instead, they followed a pretty traditional freemium/f2p/p2w model, but charged macro prices for everything. Most cynical, insulting, disappointing game design I've ever seen. The game is entirely soulless because of this choice to funnel everything toward Macro/microtransactions: COTAs, buying lots, buying this, buying that (to skip the grind).
They could have done things much differently, but they needed a fun core game first. Selling stuff should always come second. It is a totally valid complaint when people talk about how geared this game is to selling people virtual luxury items. Many steam reviews point to newsletter updates filled with no mention of core game features, but ad after ad for add-on store items. That kind of thing turns people off, rightly so.
I know what you mean about not logging in. I haven't logged in since they banned me on the official and steam forums for being a "disgruntled player" (long ago). Call me crazy, but I have no desire to go to a party with a cover charge where I'm unwelcome, or to support people who have so far been so clueless, two-faced, and unwilling to listen.
I still think many of them are not all bad. Some very talented and cool. I think there are promising aspects of SotA, but... the way the game mainlines greed is too problematic to ignore. While that aspect of gaming is unavoidable, it shouldn't be the end all and be all for any game's "elder game" (what comes after players exhaust the content/features).
Bleh, all of this has been said before, but just found the obsidian potion stuff interesting. Mostly because it killed a little part of me inside, but was totally unsurprising. I get that they need to fund their game, I just don't think pay for convenience items (and making the game about grinding the gear treadmill) was the way to go.
I actually liked Markee's interview with Raph. They talked about fish tanks for the last third, Raph comparing how measuring pH and other vitamins/minerals ( and CO2 vs O2 levels) could easily be made into a game. Markee rightly points out that Raph is a design legend too (and a big part of what magic, insane and slipshod as it was, that UO had). Designer dragon. My favorite speaker on games (and other stuff) to listen to/watch, but a lot of what he says is way over my head/pay-grade.
I generally don't like Markee, but I have to admit he was a big part of UO's history, and he knows a lot about its development and events in the game's early history.
His videos and uber-mercantile mentality epitomize something about SotA that I don't actualy completely hate, but I think it has too greatly distorted what the game should be about. It can be done a much different way, with a much less cynical and hard-nosed tone about it. Hard to explain and I already ramble excessively, but we've all said our piece many times about these things. I think you all know what I mean and how things could improve, should improve, but probably won't.