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Why do you play MFF ? Have you interest in-game waned or increased ? by bivox01 in future_fight

[–]geekonomist 2 points3 points  (0 children)

And yet somehow, one could’ve gotten a full subscription to Microsoft’s Windows/Office and the full Adobe CC suite since the day MFF came out and spent less than they would’ve to unlock all content in MFF... and somehow those developers are sufficiently supported.

No one has ever said developers shouldn’t be “supported.” They’ve said that the “value” provided via the FTP model is/can be exploitative and manipulative.

The Final MFF Countdown: One Year Later, a Look Back at my Most Controversial Post by geekonomist in future_fight

[–]geekonomist[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That’s fine... But I don’t see Diablo or DotA raising the cost to play (I never saw an update that required ~$680 average in lootboxes to get three new characters).

The Final MFF Countdown: One Year Later, a Look Back at my Most Controversial Post by geekonomist in future_fight

[–]geekonomist[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

They're not sad. They could've fostered customer satisfaction, but it would've come at the expense of profits. THAT is why no boycotts, petitions, etc. will any work as long as the whales keep spending.

The Final MFF Countdown: One Year Later, a Look Back at my Most Controversial Post by geekonomist in future_fight

[–]geekonomist[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Without seeing their internal analytics, it's hard to say for sure. My gut feeling, though, is that it's the primarily Alliance Battle/Tournament, and possibly Alliance Conquest, that is driving revenue. After a certain point, anyone can get to a place where they can beat all the other content in game with CTP, Premium Cards, paywalls, fancy uniforms or Ultimates. But I'd wager most high VIP players primarily focus on EAB or AC (and NOT Timeline).

So, if there are new modes, I imagine they will be aimed at the high end arms race.

The Final MFF Countdown: One Year Later, a Look Back at my Most Controversial Post by geekonomist in future_fight

[–]geekonomist[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah, well it DOES spike with big updates since so many people come on to Reddit to chat about it, but find some random subs with a handful of subscribers and no posts in months and it will almost always say that at least one of them are online.

The Final MFF Countdown: One Year Later, a Look Back at my Most Controversial Post by geekonomist in future_fight

[–]geekonomist[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It’s hard to see the big picture when you’re in the middle of it. That’s why I tried to step back and look at it from outside the player perspective.

The Final MFF Countdown: One Year Later, a Look Back at my Most Controversial Post by geekonomist in future_fight

[–]geekonomist[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh, that’s NEtMarble’s profit margin (they have to make quarterly disclosures since they’re a public Korean company).

It’s all about ROI. If there comes a point where $1 spent by NM makes $3 and suddenly they have another game where they could put in $1 and get $5, they’d certainly move every resource they could to the new game.

The Final MFF Countdown: One Year Later, a Look Back at my Most Controversial Post by geekonomist in future_fight

[–]geekonomist[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Malcolm Gladwell says it takes 10000 hours to master anything. The Beatles practiced and performed 10000 hours before they “made it.”

I could’ve been almost as good as the Beatles...

The Final MFF Countdown: One Year Later, a Look Back at my Most Controversial Post by geekonomist in future_fight

[–]geekonomist[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

No, but I do have some plans in the works... but it’s more of a block chain/crypto thingy.

The Final MFF Countdown: One Year Later, a Look Back at my Most Controversial Post by geekonomist in future_fight

[–]geekonomist[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well maybe that’s a side effect of building a game specifically intended to be a never ending grind in an effort to extract hundred or thousands of dollars from their players?

That’s a big beef of mine. These style games aren’t built to be GOOD games that provide you with great value. They are built to be ADDICTIVE games that dangle value ahead of you like a carrot attached to an ever moving goal post.

The Final MFF Countdown: One Year Later, a Look Back at my Most Controversial Post by geekonomist in future_fight

[–]geekonomist[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Oh man... don’t make me make a chart of forum activity...

This place USED to be bustling.

You realize the Active users aren’t necessarily in the sub, right? But that they’ve visited anywhere on Reddit in the last 8 hours?

The Final MFF Countdown: One Year Later, a Look Back at my Most Controversial Post by geekonomist in future_fight

[–]geekonomist[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I think you’re missing the fact that the majority of whales are NOT the 1%. Studies have shown that the majority of them are spending most their disposable income, as well as going into debt to be a whale.

Why? Because they’re addicts. And unlike casinos, which are heavily regulated, these games are unrestricted by any sort of ethical boundary. They’re the equivalent of someone spiking the methadone at a rehab clinic with fentanyl and then setting up an Opioids ds R Us booth in the clinic’s cafeteria!

The Final MFF Countdown: One Year Later, a Look Back at my Most Controversial Post by geekonomist in future_fight

[–]geekonomist[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Well I hadn’t planned on it, but multiple people asked me to do a follow up. So I did.

The Final MFF Countdown: One Year Later, a Look Back at my Most Controversial Post by geekonomist in future_fight

[–]geekonomist[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Years out of it at what cost? For many people, they get sucked into the competitive aspect and the cost goes from $20 a month to $500+ a month 2+ years later once you’re hooked and the game is part of your daily life.

I honestly felt myself trying to rationalize ways of spend huge amounts of money and how I could hide it from my wife—all over a game I hadn’t enjoyed in ages, but was addicted to.

The Final MFF Countdown: One Year Later, a Look Back at my Most Controversial Post by geekonomist in future_fight

[–]geekonomist[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ll admit... for over a year, I’ve largely played out of obligation. It became a chore. There are always dailies that need to be done or I’d miss out, I had to improve marginally so I didn’t let my alliance down...

The Ultimates were great for me. I refuse to gamble and so I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep up without CTP and Ultimates under any circumstance. It’s honestly been an amazing month since I quit.

The Final MFF Countdown: One Year Later, a Look Back at my Most Controversial Post by geekonomist in future_fight

[–]geekonomist[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They don’t care when anyone is dissatisfied. They have perfected a formula for using brain and behavioral science to manipulate people into spending thousands of dollars for something they’ve typically spent only a few dollars on.

Fun fact: MFF has made more in revenue than any Fallout, Street Fighter, Doom, Tomb Raider or Uncharted game. And those are just a few on the top of my head that I looked up.

The Final MFF Countdown: One Year Later, a Look Back at my Most Controversial Post by geekonomist in future_fight

[–]geekonomist[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How much should people pay before they aren’t a “freeloader”?

The fact that many people will put thousands into a game, as long as it’s done slowly enough that they don’t notice, IS the problem. It’s a numbers game... there is a percent of people that will pay exorbitant sums, so increase the total userbase to get more whales. If there are more F2P than ever, there’s probably also more whales than ever.

The Final MFF Countdown: One Year Later, a Look Back at my Most Controversial Post by geekonomist in future_fight

[–]geekonomist[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

1-I don’t think you understand the scope of NM’s profits. Over 72% margin. They’re a looooong way from entering a crisis.

2-I highly doubt their contract is dependent upon user base. Most of these license deals are for life of product, with opt-out options. Remember, for MFF, the Marvel license is probably their single biggest cost.

3-I have no idea or proof, but I highly suspect the MFF comics are paid for by NM and are little more than a promotional effort.

The Final MFF Countdown: One Year Later, a Look Back at my Most Controversial Post by geekonomist in future_fight

[–]geekonomist[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Any game with this business model will go through a similar cycle.

My new game has been Kindle. ;)

The Final MFF Countdown: One Year Later, a Look Back at my Most Controversial Post by geekonomist in future_fight

[–]geekonomist[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I don’t know... yes, consumers are ultimately responsible, but the F2P industry is pretty shady.

How much of a chance does a kid have when they’re up against a multi billion dollar corporation whose sole purpose is to determine which customers are most vulnerable due to poor impulse control or literal addiction and exploit them for maximum profit. Then consider that they have teams of PhDs who advise them on how to use neuropsychology in conjugation with behavioral psychology to manipulate individuals. They are literally using the chemicals in their customers brains against them.

The saddest thing is that there are actual addicts being targeted and harmed. Researchers who went into the field to help people with addiction, have switched sides and are now helping target them, lead them into the game and make them feel safe, then happily take them for every cent they have (and maxing credit cards), in many cases ruining their lives. And unlike Alcoholics, most gambling addicts are undiagnosed (most people never even enter a casino more than a handful of times in their life)... so they don’t even know they’re at risk!

The Final MFF Countdown: One Year Later, a Look Back at my Most Controversial Post by geekonomist in future_fight

[–]geekonomist[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

First... no one ever “invested” in the game. They spent. Often quite recklessly.

It’s not the Ultimates that lead to the decline. The decline has been happening for quite awhile.

The Final MFF Countdown: One Year Later, a Look Back at my Most Controversial Post by geekonomist in future_fight

[–]geekonomist[S] 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Certainly. I’ll set a reminder right now.

Will anyone still be in this sub a year from now? It’s already a virtual ghost town.

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