Domain of Heroes: Caught Between Progress Quest and a MUD

Domain of Heroes, a free web-browser MMOG, has caught my attention as of late. Part text-based MUD, part graphical adventure game, DoH is:

Unlike any other browser RPG

Other games feel like...well...like using a website. Not us. Domain of Heroes uses the most modern technology - you never leave the game page!

Play anywhere, anytime, for FREE.

Domain of Heroes is a FREE browser-based massively-multiplayer web RPG/PBBG. What a mouthful!

You can play at home, at school, at work (yes, we condone it), or at the coffee shop — as long as you've got a browser and an internet connection, you are ready to be a Hero!

You can play on PC or Mac, PS3, Wii, even iPod Touch!

Unlike Free Realms or Quake Live, Domain of Heroes is operating system agnostic and requires nothing outside of what a normal web browser provides. This makes it a TRUE web-browser based game in my book.

The true beauty of the game is that it almost plays itself ala Progress Quest. Players simply "set it and forget it". Journey to a location, search for monsters, and a player's character will do all of the work as battles cycle infinitely until the character dies or the player leaves the area. This makes it great for the casual gamers out there or the "no worries boss, I am really working, not playing web games" gamers.

With that said, combat can be involved as well. Characters have multiple skills and options during combat. In the early levels these are not needed as much, but the higher up a player levels (max being 75), the more involved in the combat a player will want to be.

Outside of combat, the game offers a surprising level of depth. There is a PvP conquest system where warring factions can take over areas of the game world. There is an open trade channel and a market to play for items. Guilds and guild tools are offered as well.

Lastly, there is an amazing amount of possible class and race combos. To exemplify this, I am playing as Heartless the Squirrel Illusionist! Yes, I am playing as a small, furry rodent most often found in one's backyard.

MMOs On Steam 20% - 75% Off, WAR Not Included

Steam is hosting a sale on MMOGs.

Most of Steam's Massively Multiplayer games are on sale through the 19th, starting today.

Curiously enough Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, one MMOG that could use a little boost in sales before its next big patch, isn't included in the list. Between this and Mark Jacobs semi-absence as of late, it has to make WAR fans wonder what is up in Mythic-town.

However, SOE isn't missing the boat, with almost all of their MMO games on Steam for sale. From Everquest II to Pirates of the Burning Seas, they've got it covered.

I would be very interested to see how this sale helps out each of these games. Unreal Tournament III saw a fairly healthy revival when its price tag was slashed on Steam:

According to Valve, that strong spike was a 2,000% increase in simultaneous players in the game (UT3). Additionally, the game held the top spot on Steam's bestseller list.

Of course, UT3 didn't carry the baggage of a monthly subscription, so it may be a little apples to oranges, but it does show that older games can have new life breathed into them via the greatest PC gaming platform on earth.

Free-To-Make-Money

Gamasutra is running a great article on Free-To-Play, but not really because there are micro-transactions, and the revenue they generate.

Yes, good money can actually be made in the rapidly-growing world of free-to-play massive multiplayer online games (MMOs), but just how much can micro-transactions actually generate? Unfortunately, average revenue per user information is often concealed behind the fog of competition by privately held game makers reluctant to report either very high or very low results.

The article contains some great quotes from Daniel James, CEO of San Francisco-based Three Rings Design.

"There seems to be a perception," he explains, "that there is a business advantage to not being transparent. But I disagree."

As James blogged recently: "People often ask me, with a wary look such as you'd give a lunatic, 'Why do you dish out your numbers like this?' It's a good question. There are possible downsides, but they are limited; if a competitor looks at my numbers and then goes on to execute better than us, I don't think that has much to do with our numbers. They executed better, that's the hard bit. Well done to them.

"The upside," he continued, "is that the more information that circulates the startup and games community, the more people will share their data. This rising tide will raise all boats. If I can shame my fellows into parting with their data, we'll all benefit."

Indeed, James reveals that Three Rings' MMO Puzzle Pirates takes in approximately $50 each month from each paying user (ARPPU) for a total of $230,000 a month, all resulting from microtransactions.

I've often railed against the micro-transaction model as inferior to the traditional subscription model in regards to revenue. However, after reading this article, I'm a bit surprised how well some Free-To-Play games fair.

Also, I want to share my desire for companies to be more transparent with their data, as I strongly believe it leads to negative stereotyping of the business model. Before this article, and seeing Puzzle Pirates and Domain of Heroes (in the comments) revenue numbers, I just assumed that the average revenue for a paying player was well below the standard $15 of a subscription-based player.

I'll break the figures down into Lifetime (8 months) and 7 day (last week). Daniel didn't mention this, but I would add that the numbers seem to get better each month as long-time players continue to make purchases and new features are added that retain/convert newer players.

Lifetime:
ARPU: $2.03
ARPPU: $59.27

7-Day:
ARPU: $3.51
ARPPU: $46.66

If the numbers hold true in the article, it is far greater! In some cases, close to $50. The benefits of which Raph Koster, of Metaplace, sums up nicely:

The biggest reason to go with a micro-transaction model, says Koster in a recent blog post, is because "it opens up both ends of the curve. People who would not be willing to pony up the full $15 a month [subscription fee] are enticed to pay at least something, thereby hugely broadening your market."

So, color me conflicted on micro-transaction business models. I still don't believe it beats a subscription model, but no longer is it the EVIL that I thought it was.

Aion: The ! of Diku?

Tipa, of West Karana, has a great non-NDA breaking post regarding Aion's NA beta:

But there’s no NDA that tells me I can’t talk about the players.

Take one step into the world of Aion, and from that moment on, you’re an expert player. All your years playing MMOs has prepared you for this moment, and nothing you encounter will give you a moment’s hesitation. By the end of the preview Sunday, many characters were fairly high level, guilds had been set up and there was a rough hierarchy of achiever guilds vs casual, friend-based guilds.

Tipa is addressing the general crowd that reads West Karana, which is probably the same sort of crowd that shows up around here. Mostly, veteran MMO players that have played everything from Ultima Online to World of Warcraft. More importantly, we all understand the Diku-inspired MMO structure. We have long been experts. We grind levels and loot bosses in our mother-f'n sleep.

While the Aion beta is still under NDA, there's tons of freely available information from other countries that have the Live version of the game already. A quick search for Aion on YouTube or Bing, brings up all manner of info for the game.

The general consensus is that Aion is pretty good, but derivative of all games that have come before it. Aion delivers on the basics and adds a little flair (like flying, the Abyss PvP, etc.). It's all wrapped up in a great looking package and delivered by a company with a somewhat reliable track record. Everything for Aion is in place for it to be a serious contender in the MMO space.

Where World of Warcraft was the definition of Diku-based MMOGs, it appears Aion will be the exclamation point.

The Path Demo, Not As It Appears

Tale of Tales has released a demo for their game The Path, which actually turns out to be a prequel, making it well worth the download for those of us who were thoroughly enthralled by the full blown game.

Instead of making a trial version that allows you to play part of the game, we created a new chapter that takes place in the same forest but with a few things different. So even if you have played The Path, you might like to have a look at this.

The primary purpose of The Path - Prologue is of course to give people an opportunity to get a taste of the atmosphere of the full game and test our technology on their computer. Hopefully many like what they see and buy the full version.

Brilliant move for a brilliant game.

Download link.