allods f2p monetization
DESCRIPTION
Monetisation in F2P games as exemplified by Allods OnlineTRANSCRIPT
Ilya Maryasov, game designer, Allods Team
Allods Monetization: designer’s experience
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What is Allods
• Allods Online is a F2P MMORPG in an original universe. Commercial launch: October 2009
Economy Flowchart
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Economic System
• Multiple currencies• Several models of item ownership (BoP, BoE, BNone)• Open market of in-game goods with a lot of participants• Internal convertible currencies
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Currency Exchange in action
5.5
10.5
15.5
20.5
25.5
30.5
20-30k transactions per day
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Social and Economic Value of Runes
Any system needs economic regulations. In Allods runes regulate the economy. Their mechanics allow to remove the excess any kind of currency: game currency, premium or promo
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Promo Currency
Main feature of the promo currency (“premium crystals”): it is account-bound. • Obtained during special events or by converting
normal real-money currency.• Prevents from economy exploits when bonuses
and gifts are given away.• Ensures that the currency will be used only by
player for whom it was intended.• Has lower liquidity.• Requires additional support in the IM
assortment
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Audience Interaction
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Customer Behavior
Purchase
Choosing item
Item search
Subcategory search
Category search
Choosing a toolIM purchase
Search for solutionExpand bag Expand bank deposit Discard items Create twink character
Demand generatedNeed more bag space
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Customer Behavior and Conversion
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
13.3
14.8
16.4
18.2
20.3
22.5
25.0
100.0Demand generated
Purchase decision
Choosing a tool
Category search
Subcategory search
Item search
Choosing item
Purchase
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Item Shop Progress
• Customer thinks of item categories instead of specific positions.
• Customer does not know the assortment.• Customer has demands they are unaware of.• Customer does not think in “bank notes”.
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Assortment Management Basics
• Convenience – fast access to required category or goods
• Transparency – logical assortment structure
• Clarity – descriptions of goods and categories
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Assortment management
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6 customer groups
• Utility-oriented
• Fashion-oriented
• Reliability-oriented
• Variety-oriented
• Pastime-oriented
• Emotion-driven
(С) McDonald
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Item Sales
• Every month several positions are sold at a discount
• Usually not revenue drivers• Revenue driver sale is followed by
overwhelming demand • Brings little to none revenue but generates
hype and news topic• Allows to reveal overpriced goods
Audience:
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Currency Sale
• Real money currency (“Crystal”) is on sale• Sets expectations among consumers• Increases revenues significantly: +10-15% to
monthly revenue
Audience:
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“Magic Lamp”
• Event encouraging non-paying users to pay• Gambling elements• Individual offer• Without a character-bound currency, results in
incorrect behavior pattern (“army of low-level twinks to receive bonus”)
• +5-10% to monthly revenue
Audience:
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Box of Crystals
• Temporary “money sink” event for premium currency
• Gambling mechanics• Binding status must be transferred to
generated bonus• +2-5% to monthly revenue
Audience:
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Individual Offers
• Special kind of crystal sale• Targeted only at active audience• Gives benefits to certain player categories• Accepted negatively
Audience:
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“Happy Million”
• Special kind of crystal sale• Limited offer• Sells a given amount of currency in short
period
Audience:
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Sales Points
• Any sale affects future purchases.• Sales on a regular basis form behavior
patterns.• Bonus must be bound to character.• Any giveaways stimulate incorrect behavior
patterns.• Available payment methods greatly affect
sales.
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Lottery Events
• Run every month• Why players are excited: – Limited-time sale– Exclusive content
• Any gambling event decreases lifetime of a customer
Gambling audience:
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Lottery Models Tested
• Zero lottery – on large numbers average cost of all dropped items equals to the price of all lottery boxes
• Zero sale – average cost of dropped items is equal or higher than the lottery box price at each attempt
• Exclusive sale – there is only exclusive content in the lottery box, it cannot be acquired from other sources, but price of this content cannot be determined
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Lowering Attrition Generated by Gambling
• Collector’s coins– each opened box gives one coin used to purchase base-level exclusive prizes. This is positively accepted.
• Rewards are still useful after single use – non binded rewards, players can stack few lesser reward to get more valuable prize
• Each attempt of lottery activity is getting user closer to top-prize. No “common” fillers-goods in the box
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Increasing Attraction of Gambling
• Grand Prix – players who opened a certain number of boxes automatically participate in daily lottery
• Jackpot - each opened box adds some gold to Jackpot pool. There is a chance to win the whole pool every time a player opens a box.
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Feedback
For each event, the following feedback must be collected and analyzed:– Audience impressions– Statistics– Experience of playing developers– Sales before, during and after the event
It allows to make a conclusion about customer behavior and results of the event.
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Conclusion
Main monetization steps:• Generate a demand• Provide the tools to satisfy it• Cover all participants by these tools• Provide reasons to re-evaluate demands• Collect and analyze feedback and statistics
