Player Retention

In many ways Myst-Uru are like a photo album. People like to see the new pictures and then they are done. This makes Myst-Uru content intense. People play the games once, solve the puzzles, and are ready for new content; game areas and puzzles.

I love the Firefly series. I often watch the reruns. Core Myst-Uru fans are the same way with Uru Live. But, we are a minority and most people want to see a new episode. The mass audience needed to finance a game or series is not going to hang around watching reruns.

Second Life: Leonardos Machines by Honour McMillian

Until there is a continuous flow of new game content for Uru Live we are not going to see many people stay in the Cavern. This demand for new content is what made Uru Live too costly to sustain. The economics simply were not working out.

Myst-Uru has always had a player retention problem. Now I believe the game has more problems. In 2012 more people play or have played Massive Multi-player Online Games (MMOG). Their expectations are much higher than they were in 2003. People are social networking smart. They have MMOG experience. I am one that believes Uru Live as it exists will not support the expectations of today’s game players nor will it support the massive influx of people a movie will bring to the game.

Many of us see and understand the problems that seem to have kept Uru Live from being a major success. We have debated, flamed, and fought over the ideas for years. The Myst Forum has lots of threads from that drama. There is no single reason for Uru Live’s lack of success. So, there is seldom consensus on the reasons.

I doubt the reasons matter as much as the fact that the game’s lack of success will be highly obvious to any studio executive or merchandising person associated with the movie. So, too is the amazing dedication of fans to the story and the Myst affect on other games. Reviewers often refer to Myst Style or describe things as Myst Like. That success of style and story is obvious too. There is something there for the entertainment industry to pick up on. I have no doubt those experienced in entertainment think they know how to make the franchise work.

What This May Mean

So… if you were a movie executive getting ready to bet $100 million on a movie and its merchandising, would you use the Uru Live game as it exists today? I don’t think so.

We have learned some things in the last couple of years that may change the landscape of MMOG’s. For one thing we know they need to have active players in them because it is mostly person-to-person interaction that keeps people coming back. There are some studies of Second Life that strongly indicate that.

Intel developed some software that works with OpenSim that will easily carry a 1,000 players in what OpenSim and SL people call a region. That is comparable to an ‘age’ Uru Live.

Social networking and the ability for people to easily say, ‘Look what I found!’ and get a text and image to a friend, is important. The ability to find people, talk to them, and ask game related questions is important.

Being able to easily get into the game and start having fun is import. So, a Cloud Party like browser interface and access via mobile devices is important.

These are all key player retention items, even if the list is incomplete.

So, if you were putting up a $100 million of your money, would you use the game as it is today? As it was when it cloed/failed in 2004 and 2008? Probably not.

I would likely update/refurbish and move the content to a platform like Unreal that can quickly push it out to Mac, PC, and mobile apps. I would look at Cloud Party and consider making Uru Live a web based game suitable for desktops and mobile platforms. I would consider a Facebook connection or Facebook like tie that can be used while in game to reach friends. And I would hire a game studio to implement a new version of the game.

What’s Up Doc?

If you have been watching the Licensing thread on OpenUru.org you know that Cyan is taking their time deciding how to handle the content licensing to fans. I have no doubt that the movie and merchandising agreements are very much in the minds of Cyan management. $100 million being spent on a movie? Big time promotion and merchandise money. Cyan Worlds could get well.

So, promotion is far less an issue for me than figuring out whether we will have an old well worn Uru Live, which I think unlikely, a coming GameTap like shut down of fan servers, a complete refusal to license Cyan content to fans, replacement of Uru Live as we know it today with a shiny-new-studio-made Uru Live, or a new Uru Live game some type of fan module creation package.

Just what will happen when the movie arrives is any bodies guess. But, I’ll bet on a big change.