Topic: Scars of War developer talks about piracy,DRM and Entertainment being a service.

[MysterD]

Scars of War is an upcoming Indie first-person RPG coming for the PC.
Looks like it will not ship with any DRM, whenever this one might be done.

Anyways, on Gareth Fourche's Blog, he talks about piracy, DLC, MMO's, and "Entertainment as a Service."

So I’ve talked at length about the piracy vs DRM thing, right. It’s probably pretty obvious that I don’t buy the argument that “pirates wouldn’t buy the game anyway/couldn’t afford it”, not by half. Nor do I believe DRM to be the crime against humanity that a lot of hysterical types like to claim. The huge numbers of people who happily use Steam and play MMOs, despite both suffering from exactly the same fundamental drawbacks of other DRM schemes, indicates that it isn’t DRM that is really the problem, it’s what you offer in exchange for the added hassle that is the determining factor.

But that isn’t what this post is about. My thoughts on that subject might make it seem like I believe primarily in countering piracy with DRM, and that I’ll be focusing on such with SoW. Not so.

It is possible to do DRM right, as I’ve said before. But I believe it’s a huge risk. You slip and the backlash can eat you alive. Not everyone is Valve with a hugely popular title to soften the blow and get you through the birth pains, nor does everyone have deep enough pockets to fund the development of a digital distribution platform.

Not only do I think DRM a huge risk, I think there is another way. I’m not sure which way is better, dollar for dollar, but the second way is far less risky and, frankly, more pleasant and enjoyable, both for me as a developer and for customers. So I’m going with it.

This other direction that I’m talking about is to treat game development not as selling a product but as providing an entertainment service. You don’t just develop a game and drop it in peoples laps. You continually interact with and serve your customers, growing the value of the thing they have paid for. It’s this concept which makes people willing to keep paying for MMOs, if you ask me. A continuous stream of “new stuff” keeps pulling people back in and paying those fees every month.

Not only does it draw in customers, a service is a lot harder/time consuming for pirates to emulate. They’d have to sit there and doggedly crack/distribute each and every update you put out. While some may keep it up for a while, the nature of these hacker kids works in your favor.  Most hacker groups are jostling for prestige. Their focus and attention is mainly on the big name titles, the new and shiny. The group who cracks Mass Effect 2 the week it comes out gets more kudos than the guys who crack the 45th small update to some game that came out a year ago, yes? In all likelihood I think that after a while they’d just not be paying attention anymore. Even if they were, the pirated copies on torrent sites  would get outdated. Some might have a few of the updates, others might have a few more, but people looking for the latest version of your game would have a harder time sifting through the old stuff for it. And all the while there is the temptation to just go to your site, pay the price and get all the updates easily. The balance shifts and the draw of convenience now favors the developer instead of the pirates.

Gabe Newell of Valve gave a presentation at DICE recently and it’s obvious that Valve have reached a similar conclusion. Better yet, thanks to Steam, Valve’s conclusions are supported by hard numbers instead of gut instinct.

While I don’t buy Gabe’s statement that “pirates aren’t really seeking to get things for free.” (sorry, no, in 90% of cases I’ve seen they are most defintely motivated by free stuff), he presents some really interesting stats :

- Valve treats Team Fortress 2 as a service more than a game. There have been 63 updates to TF2 since release.

- Sales spike by huge amounts everytime there’s a sale or major update. Steam sales went up 106% after a free update. Player minutes went up by 105%.

- Gifting has thrown a 71% sales increase. Surprisingly, sales from retail stores also went up by 28%. Finally, it saw 75% increase in new users.

- Recent sale for Left 4 Dead saw a 3000% jump in sales, figures greater than the launch weekend. Retail sales remained constant.

Actual numbers :

    * 10% sale = 35% increase in sales (real dollars, not units shipped)
    * 25% sale = 245% increase in sales
    * 50% sale = 320% increase in sales
    * 75% sale = 1470% increase in sales

Fairly awesome figures. I’d really like to see the results of pricing a title at 75% right off from the start of it’s lifecycle, to see if the sales jumps are due to the lower price or simply the perception of getting a “great deal”. Psychologists and salespeople already know the power of promoting something as “on sale”, I’m not sure you’d see such dramatic figures if the lower price was the baseline. The power of the percieved time-limited bargain might be solely responsible.

More interesting to me is the jump in sales after each update. Remember, these updates we’re talking about aren’t exactly expansion packs. It’s stuff like new maps, new items, etc. Yet it brings the game back into the mass consumer awareness, it grows the value of the product, it generates good will and it ensures product longevity. It’s also a vastly more efficient to generate additional profit by extending an existing game than it is to create a new title. The expense vs return ratio is highly favorable.

And it’s far more pleasing to the gamer than a burdonsome DRM scheme, yes?

So with this in mind, I plan to do something similar with SoW. A program of regular updates and extensions, released for free for existing cusomers. Since SoW is a story-based RPG, you might be worried when I say that that I’m going to do that lame “writing as part one in a trilogy” thing that games like Assassin’s Creed and Too Human did. Nope. SoW is standalone, the plot resolves.

And I don’t really think that adding stuff like Bethesda’s Horse Armor would make much sense in a story-RPG. If the game is balanced, adding in “neat stuff” down the line just because might be unbalancing. And quite frankly I wouldn’t play through again just for a shiny item. 

No, I’m thinking more along the lines of mini-expansions. Something like Bioware’s premium modules for NWN. SoW is standalone, but I built the world as a world, a setting. I cover only a small fraction of what I have created in the plot of SoW, some things will only be hinted at or perhaps not even that. There is plenty of space for further stories in that world.

Not only that, I could use the mini-expansions to test out new gameplay ideas. Storm of Zehir recently toyed with adding an economic simulation to the game. The idea intrigues me. I hear the implementation wasn’t that great, but maybe it could be. Or the managing-a-stronghold aspects of NWN2. I’d like to play around with those ideas, a mini-expansion where people can try it out for size makes a fun change of pace and gives me valuable feedback.

I can also try other styles of storyline in the mini-expansions. Dungeon crawling, horror, a pure political/social adventure. Deeper exploration of SoW’s factions, exploration of some of the factions and nations that aren’t playable in SoW…I have a lot of ideas I can try. And if they lead to sales increases anywhere near what Valve sees…well, that would please me greatly.

[nickclone]

I didn't read all of that because its kinda long and I'm very drunk, but I think piracy is like smoking cigarettes. Yes, its right there and you can obtain it easily, but some people just don't want to do it. You can't stop piracy, I pirate games constantly, I find it kind of fun hunting down a game and using cracks and editing code to make it work. However, some people will not pirate games no matter what, just like some people refuse to smoke.

Of course, when I started pirating several years ago it wasn't so easy. You had to DC, an FTP site or God forbid Newsgroups or IRC. Now you can just look it up on Mininova, go to sleep and have a game when you wake up...I'm going off on a tangent...good night folks.

[PyroMenace]

You totally sold me there.

[Pugnate]

What I find interesting is the correlation between the sales of high end video cards and piracy...

haha I am kidding Scott.

[MysterD]

Since nobody really read it, here's what Gareth is going to do with Scars of War. Basically, he is going to follow the Valve business model, in a sense -- but, minus the DRM. He thinks that by constantly updating the game with patches, new content, and etc etc -- the DRM-crackers will get sick of updating the cracks all the time and everyday; which will cause the gamer to want to go and get a "legit" copy of the game b/c they will want all the updates and new content; especially if there's fair amounts of it. He thinks this is why MMO's and Steam do so well is b/c they are always getting updated with fixes, new content, etc etc -- and this causes gamers to basically buy the legit version of the game, even if that game does have some sort of DRM that people find annoying -- such as Steamworks. The gamers deal with the badness b/c the good they feel majorly outweighs it.

Sacred 2, here's another games that comes to mind. This game, it is equipped with annoying Securom Internet DRM activation with some limits. But, the game, when patched, seems like more than a patch. Besides getting fixes, this game's patches often include -- new areas, new quests, new items, and other new stuff. I think some gamers might put up with the bad DRM b/c the game is constantly getting additions, fixes, and changes.

For example, he sites that TF2 has been updated 63 times already (at least). Let me elaborate myself on this. What DRM-cracker is going to take the time to keep cracking the DRM with each new update thrown in? Maybe they'll crack every so many updates and what have you, but sheesh -- with all the files changes, additions, and other stuff, what a pain-in-the-ass that would be for a cracker to keep up with! LOL. Though, say games that don't get many patches such as console to PC ports, yeah -- likely the cracker will have each version cracked (especially since the patches ain't coming every so often) and so gamers might be pirates and won't buy the thing for whatever reason -- to avoid the DRM, b/c the game still would be free for the pirate, b/c they already own the same game on some other platform, the PC version is buggy, and/or maybe just insert another reason, etc etc.

I mean, when was the last time we saw Assassin's Creed PC patched? Right -- so pirates can go find the newest version of the game cracked probably right now, since it's only had TWO patches. Right, now let's look at TF2, which has been updates 63 times already; or Starcraft which seems to still get patches every how many months even though the game's been around for at least TEN years. Who would I or any other gamer be more likely to spend money on a game for? Or who am I more likely to spend the $40+ tag on their next brand new release?

What pirate's going to crack Starcraft's newest version? The game doesn't have any DRM attached to it anymore anyways, if you follow the instructions that come with the latest set of patches -- plus, it's a cheap game these days, anyways.

Also, I know as a gamer, if I'm getting patches, updates, and new content all the time, of course I want to buy your product and keep it on my hard drive. I want it as up to date as I can possibly have it, as long as its on my hard drive and as long as I'm playing. I mean, how many people probably bought The Witcher or Witcher: EE since the game has no DRM anymore attached to it? (Yes, the newest patch does have no-DRM attached to it, people). Or how many original Witcher owners bought Witcher: EE b/c they just wanted the extra goodies in the box, even though knowing damn well they could download all that stuff for FREE? Or how many original Witcher owners wound up pleased they got the free EE update (despite a length long DL times and lengthy install/update process) and didn't have to go buy the re-release Witcher: EE to get all the extras? I think likely b/c of the way CD Projekt actually treats their customers, I think I'll buy my next game from them sooner and a higher price than say I would with an EA product that often lacks support from them.

[Pugnate]

Nobody really read that either.

[MysterD]

Nobody really read that either.

Not even you, Puggy?

[Cobra951]

Walls of text are easily ignored.

[Xessive]

What the heck is Scars of War anyway?

[MysterD]

What the heck is Scars of War anyway?

Independent first-person RPG.
Planned for 2010.
It's being built off the Torque Game Engine Advanced.

Here's more info

Scars of war is a 1st person fantasy RPG for the PC built on the Torque Game Engine. It has the following features :

 
A mature story aimed at adults
Moral gray areas, hard choices, secrets, betrayal, manipulation and lies. The good stuff. No "Ancient Evil Rising" or "Farm Boy with a Heroic Destiny".


Faction-based gameplay with choice and consequence
Decide who to side with, where you stand in the unfolding storyline, and deal with the consequences of those choices. Siding with one faction could cause another to become a bitter enemy.


Multiple endings
Dependent on your choices throughout the game.


Branching dialogue
Which can be influenced by your actions, character creation choices, faction standings and social skills. Dialogue plays a large role in the game.


No Tolkien
Elves, dwarves, orcs, gnomes and especially hobbits, none of them have a place in SoW. It is a fantasy setting and there are non-human races, but for the most part culture is what determines the differences between player races.


Rich lore and backstory
Explore the history of the West, the struggles that shaped it.


A variety of interesting locations and environments to explore
From the dark, foggy streets of Korrinport to humid, brigand infested Port Hale, your journey will take you far from home.


Classless skill point based character system
Experience is gained from completing tasks (not killing enemies) and can be spent on improving skills in any of the 5 skill categories: Combat, Trickery, Magic, Social and General. You can also gain special traits to further customise your character.


Item crafting
Powerful magic items aren't sold in stores next to the bread and cheese. Few are willing to part with their magical items but you can acquire rare components which allow you to craft powerful items. Customise your equipment to match your playing style.


Powerful database driven game editors
SoW will ship with all the editors used to create the game, making modding simple. Even non-programmers can make significant changes to the game using the editors. Feel that the player gains too few skill points a level or that a specific monster has too many hitpoints? Want to add a new item, spell, creature, quest or character dialogue? Simply edit the values in the appropriate table. You even have the ability to store and call custom scripts in the database, allowing great flexibility.

[Xessive]

Seems interesting. I hope they work hard on making look decent too, coz based on the screenshots they have up there it looks like 2002 game. Actually it looks like a mod.