This is a question that keeps coming up, repeatedly. The obvious answer is all of them, the real question is how. Free players (F2P) use bandwidth, and that costs money. Pay as you go (PAG) only pay when they want something but still use bandwidth when not paying. Pay to Play (P2P) pay for the bandwidth they use and the services they get.

The perfect plan. The perfect plan is to make a game so great everyone wants to pay to play ... but that is not real.

The next best thing. F2P players should provide content for P2P and PAG players. What this means is their existence and involvement in the game should prove an asset to those paying for the game. Therefore, a F2P player must be able to access most of the content of the paid player, though the path should be less gainful, meaning they must play more to gain the same equivalency. There must be enough items of value to a PAG player to keep them covering their cost while still providing them with more than the F2P but not less than a P2P. P2P should be the most desirable of the choices.

One might ask why and the answer is simple from a business point of view but not always from the user. There is X cost to maintain any online product. If it cost $10,000 to run a company per month and they have 10,000 users then the following cases should give you a rough idea of what it takes to make it all work.

Case 1: One size fits all, Pay to Play or quit, (the World of Warcraft way)
If each user pays $1.00 per month the company breaks even, anything else helps the company grow.

Case 2: Free to Play limited, Pay to Play everything (This is the standard for most online games)
The 80 / 20 rule applies here. 80% of the users are free and 20% pay. This means to break even each user must pay $5 per month for the company to break even.

Case 3: Free, Pay to Play, or Pay as you Go. (The way we plan to do it; the Dungeons and Dragon Online way)
75/10/15 Free/PAG/P2P split here. This gets complicated, as you could place the entire weight of the cost on your 15% Pay to play charging $6.67 per month and making profit off the PAG users this won't work. Why? Because that 15% will play something cheaper.

So lets assume we have to base our cost on Case 2. This means we fall short $2,500 per month that our Pay as you Go users must cover. This gets unreliable, however. The obvious thing is if each PAG  put in $2.50 per month, the company breaks even. The problem is, Pay as you go won't spend much money during tax season or major traveling holidays because money is tight. It's amazing how someone won't spend $2.50 on a game they play 20 hours a week because they have to buy gas and bottle water for a car trip for three days. The water ends up costing them more in three days then they would have spent on something that would have provided more value to them pound for pound.

So the real hope for a company using this method is the 80/20 from Case 2 applying to the 10% of PAG users, so 2% spending $12.50 per month, two and a half times as much as the Pay to Play. It will cycle through them, so each one ends up spending less each over the course of a year, but they cover shortfalls of each other in some of the slow months.

If you're thinking, "Whoa, these companies are making a killing charging $15 a month", please keep in mind these were simple round numbers for an easy example. Every company has its own cost to run and maintain. Each has a different number of users. There are many factors I'm glossing over to get as the heart of the issue companies face when picking a pricing.

So the next time you buy a drink for a $0.99 plus sales tax and state bottling tax, think about how much your preferred entertainment costs you and how many hours you spend on it. Then do like every other gamer, sit down and start playing, drinking the contents, and quickly forget as you get argo from something that wants to kill your character.

Minutes after my last post, my primary laptop went down to have it backed up, then have a restore image created, then have a new OS put on it. Going from Jaunty Jackalope KDE backend and Gnome frontend to Karmic Koala XFCE front / backend. I lost my pretty pink desktop theme, and several of the GUI quick links take more effort to reset the way I like them, but those are cosmetics that will be tweaked over the next six months ... or longer if I don't upgrade.

What I do like about Linux -- and the thing that made this process painless -- is replacing my program by program settings. Remember those backups I made? I restored my /etc and some of my home folder. Reinstalled AMSN in Synaptic. Went into my new home folder and renamed .amsn to .amsn.fresh and then copy/pasted .amsn from my old home folder to the new one. I fired back up AMSN and it was like I never changed my OS or reinstalled it. CAKE! I did this with GNUCash, Firefox, Thunderbird and more ... what I didn't do it on was Open Office ... because I went from version 2.4 to 3. something I wasn't paying full attention at that point.

I used to freelance as a computer tech before I ever learned of Linux. I would service Macs or Windows machines that were no longer covered by standard warranty, as I never bothered with certification in my younger days. The headache of redoing Windows from scratch for someone that owns 2 or 3 typing programs, 4 accounting programs, 20+ games, AND wants you to not lose any of their work files or saved games if it's at all posible to save. I've done it, I managed to keep 90-95% of everything for them even from a damaged hard drive. It was a three day project. Day one was recovering the Info and doing a fresh install and waiting for them to find that blasted CD key for the install disk. Day two was 100% mind numbing instalation of programs and CD keys and making sure each worked and getting the right drivers. Day three was transferring data to the right locations with no help or documentation. While I can't sit here and say I don't have a Windows machine, I can say that I dread having to reinstall my Windows machine and all I use it for is a couple of games at a time and web browsing to make sure my CSS works on the latest IE.

Pros and Cons

Issue - Linux - Windows

Good Backup - Yes - Maybe

Cheap Backup - Yes - No

Fast Reinstall - Yes - Yes

Fast Update - Yes - No

Fast Reconfigure - Yes - No

User Friendly for New people - Maybe - Yes

Secure - Yes - Maybe

Quality Programs - Few - Many

Quantity of Progrms - Few - Many

Cost of Quality Programs - Free or Cheap - Left Arm and 1st Child

Documentation - Maybe - Maybe

Reliable Networking - Yes - No

There are reasons to use both. My husband uses Mac and Linux for himself but is required to use Windows at work because his company is a Microsoft Partner Company. He primarily works from home because he's a computer programmer and is constantly telling me about how he has to try to connect 2-4 times before Windows networking can "see" the IP he wants to connect to even though it never went anywhere. I personally don't use either of our two Macs much but I'm going to start using one of them at this coming convention.

I'm picky. Very. I hold myself to a high standard, and thus I gain certain expectations of quality from others. It is to this end that I have been shopping around Ames for someone who I will let touch my hair. In the end I always go back to Melinda at Great Clips near the Super HyVee in Ames, Iowa. They had a guy who worked there who did wonders, but he stopped one day, and I got her by chance. Then one day I went in and another lady went to work on my hair. Having had two good stylist in a row, I had no clue the physical pain and disappointment I was about to receive. After that, I started shopping around watching other stylists and, in the end, I always returned to Melinda. She always does it right: knows just what I want, takes that extra time to not pull my hair, won't put stuff in it I don't like. When it looks done, if there is even a question as to it being perfect, she'll touch it up instead of saying "good enough". Her reliability causes me to work into my schedule a time to get my hair cut by her and only her and, if she's not available, I'll wait a week or two just for her.

The weather was cloudy. This has a predictable effect on people: they get sleepy. Many have a drink they turn to that they rely on to keep them awake. Some go to coffee, others to Mountian Dew, a few who really don't need it turn to stuff like Volt or some other thing that should have a radioactive label and a legal age requirement of 45. For them, it is "the only thing that works for me". If they need to stay awake they have their poison and have no interest in trying something else out. Why? Because it works. Will they settle for the off brand? Often no ... even if they are broke.

In the business class, I learned a lot about taxes, including some interesting local law about paying Iowa taxes on items purchased out of state; it the state in which the item was purchased does not charge at least as much sales tax as Iowa does, then we are required to pay the difference to Iowa. Very expensive for some types of business, after hearing about many of the cases where it must and must not be paid, as well hearing about those who would never have been caught. I have decided I don't like to roll dice and will make sure any purchases I make that I have reason to believe I wasn't charged taxes on from here on out I will pay.

Fortunately for me, most if not all of my online purchases are via companies that charge my states taxes not their states taxes. Those who live in Iowa should try to make sure that their online vendors are charging them the proper tax %. Why do that if you won't get caught? Three reasons. 1st is because it's the right thing to do even if it does cost a lot of money. 2nd is because it gets you into the habit of being reliable and honest. 3rd and unfortunately the reason most would even do it is, if you get caught it's EXPENSIVE! The penalties are insane. Keep reliable records, pay reliably, and you will keep yourself and your company in the mindset that makes someone want to come back and buy your product or service.

I have been doing much research into DDO's business model. I've been comparing it to WoW's. I have come to realize that each one is viable but they target and thus create a different subset of players. D&D has a long history of being mostly or entirely free. Not to mention in this person's view Turbine released a shoddy product when it 1st came out. So you have gamers who for the most part expect to have to have a party for the content, yet they expect to not have to pay much unless they want to. They don't need that dungeon to have fun, they don't need 8 character slots to play the one class they enjoy 6 hours a week. They work, go to college, are in the armed forces, they just don't have a lot of time or money to invest in a hobby. Yet they are a vital part of the D&D community, they have knowledge, some have been playing sense 1st Ed, they are there to provide free allies to those who do pay. They cater to those that have money and want those extra special things. For anyone wanting it all RIGHT NOW, they provide, and they do so without making the game to cheap or to easy. They can add things in smaller chunks a dungeon here some armor there it's upgradable and versatile.

World of Warcraft's business model is good too but targeted elsewhere. They provide a quality game which you must pay for. Then you must keep paying them to play this quality game. It is their world, their rules, it's got goals and objectives one after another. Instant gratification abounds, but it's a dog eat dog world. The players form cliques and some resort to stealing from others within the game's design. I applaud Blizzard's new Need before Greed system that has been useless from the game's release. It's a lovely world, creative with puns to boot. It's got that draw to it that makes you want to kill just one more orc for this quest or gather one more titanium mine before bed. They charge you a static fee, they know how much money they will have each month because it doesn't change with the whims or wants of the user. They also know that unless you get bored with the content after beating the game or get mad because your guild leader took the entire guild vault and sold everything and moved to another server and left you with no recourse, you're going to keep paying for your World of Warcrack.

Enough time has passed and both games have great graphics, both have build in voice though DDO's is better, both have a ton of content though I'd argue WoW has more. One targets groups and those who act on need and want the other targets those who thrive off instant gratification. DDO has come a long way from what it used to be and WoW has always been the same level of quality. The question I have had and the reason for this research. Which one is truely sustainable? For as I design Moonshards, if my goal is for the game to still be popular and played in 200 years, what must I do that's already being done, what must I change? Will my goal be achieved? I won't live long enough to find out but I can still try.

So PuGing H OCC and have a small break as our hunter went offline, we dismounted on a platform and THEN a dragon in the sky saw us. Needless to say healer died 1st and fast. Helpless as we were against a dragon when we could not remount and defend ourselves. The rogue used vanish so they didn't die a 3rd time, O yeah the 2nd rogue death was due to the healer dismounting BUT still having the mounted action bars and not being able to even use healing key bindings. The 1st death was from Pally chain pulling and letting healer go OOM without even doing a pally buff at the start of the instance and then bitching about "to many casters". So after 13 minutes of no Hunter and my guild leader saying hell no on helping with the dungeon everyone lothes we finnally get a DPS Lostrys a DraSham, unfortunatly no heroism on last boss because we are all mounted on dragons. After we get the PuG Shammy the Gl caves in to help but it's not polite to boot a PuGGer just for a guildie, until they do something stupid that is. I'm hoping they know what they are doing.

Well not the best Pally, no surprize, he didn't bother dispelling Amp magic and so people died really fast, and even faster when, you guessed it, ANOTHER dragon from the sky came down even after we cleared all the close one. It just happened to potrol close enough. Having never played a Shaman and with few Shaan friends I am unsure if they can get rid of Amp Magic debuff. Either way all Dragon's are cleared and Boss died. We killed next boss without issue, AFTER he died people standing in his frost died as my heals were midcast. The DK got a rez and walked right back into the ice to die again. I love my guildies but even they sometimes don't pay attention. NOW the Boss, Epic fail herself. 1st time as only healer we wiped bad. 2rd time I forced group to get another Emerald Drake for the fight and we owned her. After she dropped, we got loot and THEN a Dragon saw me and 1 shooted me as I stood by the chest doing my 7th /reloadui . My yellow gear now red as I load into being rezzed by the Pally. 40 Gold Repair for a 26g quest reward. The only H Daily where you lose money with a good group. Now I hearth to turn in and am done with W.o.W. until the raids tonight. 4 hours to do a few daily quests and a single, long, painful, buggy, dungeon.

One has to ask, why do I go? Because I'm a gamer and I do what the game says needs to be done, even if it's totally stupid and retarded, at least until I find a game that is more fun and less stupid. As for that H Dungeon, I will not go again even if it is the H Daily unless a guildie asks me to and it's not a PuG. The group was good, even if the pally was a bit healer unfriendly and to lazy to buff / dispell, I'd go with him again to something that didn't require people to be at the top of their game. The Shaman was really good and the rogue ended up making a great healer on the 2nd Emerald Drake and the DK as I expect from my guildies proformed very well aside from not watching the ice under his feat after that rez. As always I'm not the best healer in the world, but I am a healer 1st and anything else after. It's a game, people die, people make mistaes, as long as everyone trys and works well as a team it's all good.

I figured I've got an opinion, a strong one at that, I play games, I design games, why not talk about games. So I created this blog with games in mind. Within seconds of making the blog I got this email.

ROYAL DUTCH SHELL FOUNDATION (NGO). 

                                   AMSTERDAM NETHERLANDS

BENEFICIARY “A”
 
Dear Funds Beneficiary

This is to notify you that you have been officially chosen by the Board of 
Trustees of the Royal dutch Shell Foundation International (N.G.O. NETHERLANDS) 
as one of the final recipients of a cash Grant/Donation for Economic Growth and 
a Poverty  Alleviation Scheme through your email.

It will interest you to know that your email address was selected from your 
country's chambers of commerce,due to an internet random selection and you have 
been confirmed as one of the lucky recipients of this year's donation programme. 
You are also entitled to the sum of $1,500,000.00 Dollars (One Million, Five 
Hundred Thousand Dollars) as charity donations/aid from the Royal dutch Shell 
Foundation (NETHERLANDS) International donation scheme.

Further information on the processing and disbursement of your grant 
entitlements, along side the provision of your qualification documentations, 
will be dislosed to you by the National Secretary of the foundation, Dr. Richard 
George

Please contact him with your Qualification Number [MSI /108/739/KDK] (Send your 
Full Names:
Address:
Age:
Occupation:
Telephone Number:
Fax Number:
as soon as possible.

Dr. Richard George
Tel:+31 645 185 437
fax :+31 847 260 559
Email:  contact8583@aim.com 

Royal dutch Shell Foundation International,  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Dutch_Shell
NETHERLANDS


Signed:
Mr. Werner kurt Mijller 
Programme Manager.
Royal dutch Shell Foundation International
ADDRESS- Geldershoofd No21, post code 1103 AMSTERDAM NETHERLANDS  

 How many things are wrong with this?

Lets see, 1st my name is not A second if my small company can afford @furrymoon.com for an email

then I would have to assume "Royal dutch Shell Foundation International" could atleast do better than Email: contact8583@aim.comI mean seriously is @royaldsfi.com already taken? $3 and you might actually fool more people.

Lets get away from the "tech" stuff because not everyone reads full headers for email and even less use linux. Is this a Grant or a Donation? Is it a combination? O for poverty, while it's true I'm not rich and funding would be helpful to kick start FMC I'm not exactly going to the homeless shelter to check my email.

1.5 million dollars! for me? Why, when $50,000 would be more then enough to cover the avg American for 1-2 years and you could help 30 people just like me! O yeah, your not targeting the poor your targeting the greedy and the desperate shame on you.

I love how you now call is Donations and aid money ... What! No Grant! What a rip off. Hey wait why are you spelling out the amounts in bold? Why are you screaming at me your from the "NETHERLANDS" Huh? You want my names? Like my real name plus my online names? Fax, I'm rich enough to have a fax # but poor enough to have to get 1.5 million in Grant/Donation/Aid from Netherlands? Wha you wanna know my job? Wait I have a job? Then why are you giving me aid if I have a Job and a Fax?

Lets rate this scam.

Consistency - 1 of 10

Personalization 1 of 10

Beleivability 2 of 10

Tech Smart 1 of 10

Entertainment 6 of 10

20% of what is take to be perfect. Long ways to go there.

In game related news I've been playing World of Warcraft while typing this up. I'm doing the Argent Tourney Dailies. Threatidel, jousting, thawning a dryad, killing dwarves for a brooch, fishing in blood, and making sewer stew. Hoving in Swift Flight Form like an idiot toggling AFK as I switch to typing this. My guild wants me to heal HH and the H Daily at the same time. I go with the H Daily and lazily await a summon to Heroic OCC. Sklon NEHunter, Castric DraDK Kheva HPally Lunamariaa HRog and me Pinkkitsune NEDru. We'll win, it's only a Heroic, now that Blizz fixed the Finnal boss encount to not be niegh imposible to all but the most skilled gamers on a vent server.

I'm hoping that I don't have to explain the boss fight to anyone myself because I'm no good at typing out boss tactics. Verbally I could tell shout out orders in real time and keep a group on the ball, but typing before a complex combat is just not fun and not something I'm good at, well I just got my summon time to go.

 EDIT: This post was modified in Formating to fit the margins of the page.