The Meaning of Life, the Universe, and Everything.
Join Date:
12/30/2013
Posts:
53
Member Details
So after searching the forum for quite a bit, I'm hesitant to even use the word "mod" in this posting, but considering every post concerning mods is so vague and incomplete in its suggestions, I figured i'd make those suggestions the tertiary point of this post. So to the point:
I'm sure every MC player here has friends who have downloaded the game, played for just a bit, and then abandoned the game because they "got bored" or "beat it". While this source of income from what I'll refer to as "one time players" is beneficial to 4j, they surely must know that the heart of their contingency lies in the masses who enjoy the seemingly infinite building potential of the game. While focusing on ps4/xbox1/vita releases is the obvious next step to maximize the customer base, the next logical step should be retaining the repeat users of the game. This is where the "mod" aspects of this post comes in to play...
While it is a long shot, as previously stated,( and I know this, so don't berate the post claiming too much work would be involved, or this will never happen) I believe if 4j/mojang could arrange a licensing deal with the creators of the more popular, builder-focused, mods for PC(redpower/tekkit/etc), and market them through the console stores, a lot of money could be made, as people are always looking for more build options. Allowing this to be ran through 4j wouldn't violate ToS as many other threads have suggested, and wouldn't make the more hardcore gamers feel alienated. Even just bringing the game up to par with pc in terms of items and craftables, would take some time, and I have seen hoppers have been confirmed as a future update, but some fundamental parts of the game that keep people intrigued with the possibilities of creation have been left out in favor of appealing to the "casual" gamers.
None of this is expected to happen, and I can say that I'm happy with the speed in which the updates have come out, so hats off to 4j, but anyone in business knows that you need to retain customers before expanding into too many markets. The cost of customer acquisition usually outweighs the return from those customers in the long run, and if the company has faith in the product, as many of the gamers do, and thinks its not a fad that will soon die out, then customer retention should be a priority.
So to end, how do I suggest this happens?? Possibly expand the studio's workforce a bit to decrease the port time, and some r&d funding to focus on retaining repeat customers. ( 4j and mojang may feel bad about charging for content, but I know hundreds of people who would pay their proportionately miniscule prices for new content rather than spending 60$ a pop every 6 months on the newest regurgitation from the CoD franchise)
The Meaning of Life, the Universe, and Everything.
Join Date:
12/30/2013
Posts:
53
Member Details
A Like I said, it would entail some work on 4j's end, and if they would spend the time to format and create a mod loader, and go to Sony with the plans already laid out and the programming ready to just be certified, I think it would be more apt to be put in place. If, however,its brought to sony as a half-planned idea, instead of something fully ready to be implemented, I have no doibt it would be immediatly shot down. The cost would be outweighed by the profits exponentially.
The Meaning of Life, the Universe, and Everything.
Join Date:
3/22/2014
Posts:
55
PSN:
willanddena
Member Details
I think everyone is thinking that Minecraft will exist as we know it with little additions here and there until everyone finally gets tired of it, guys, its not going to. Minecraft has been a ridiculous success and while part of that success has to do with little $1.99 add ons, the fact is that everyone on this forum has already bought the product. From a marketing perspective who cares if you ever play the game after buying it. That being said the updates do keep the game fresh, but whats the point of doing any large scale "mod deals" when people are still buying the full game as it is, and in huge numbers. Hundreds of thousands of people bought it for the PS3 who already owned it for another system and it can be anticipated that the same thing will happen again Minecraft is released for the Vita and PS4. There is no motivation to make complicated deals with Sony or anyone else when the original game is still flying off the shelves.
So what's the future? How do you keep long term fans? Not with tons of 99 cent content. You do what everyone else does, you make a mother ******* sequel. Yeah you heard me. You come out with Minecraft 2 and get $29.99 from everyone all over again. Disbelieve it if you want, but its exactly what happened with SimCity and The Sims, which are games that are comparable with Minecraft in both design and marketing. Now what this sequel would include can be up for debate but I would imagine Quests would be added, some kind of plot, goals and objectives, something more than just the Survival and Creative formats we know, but I imagine those game modes would be kept along with Adventure or Quest mode or whatever they would call such a thing.
Like it or hate it, its coming. This is the model of the video game business and while Minecraft is an original and creative game it will not reinvent the wheel when it comes to continued success in this market. Large title sequels have allowed The Sims and Simcity to continue to grow and stay relevant and it is foolish to think that Minecraft would be any different. The key is to keep the game classic enough so the people who are already fans feel comfortable with it, but at the same time add enough content to draw in new customers and keep the game fresh.
game wont keep most players interested unless thy add more bosses, ALOT more bosses, not just the wither
honestly for a sandbox you run out of stuff to do pretty quickly unless your an insane builder.
The Meaning of Life, the Universe, and Everything.
Join Date:
12/30/2013
Posts:
53
Member Details
Finally someone responds! Haha, I believe that may in fact be what will happen, but I don't see it for a while, and everyone I see talking about the mods create a big fuss, but its not that complicated to format a modloader. If sony was to do it for their entire console, that would be a different story... but a game specific loader could be easily coded. It wouldn't take much more work than implementing the skin packs do. (I.e. if you've downloaded skins that another player has not, that player does not technically have access to the skin, but tney can see you wearing it, unlike texture packs where only those with the pack can use/see it while those without it see only the default.) To move aaway from the mod aspect and to reply to the main point, I think a sequel would be a great idea, only if, as you stated, there were enough largely different aspects of the game to make it a sequel and not just a revamping for money-grabbing's sake. Look at Agrarian skies, quests and all included, limited lives, it makes it even more of an morpg, and that was done without a huge budget, and by one person. I think smaller companies sometimes fear, out of financial necessity, coming out with a sequel and chancing the death of their franchise. It may be a while, years even, but I feel you are right that a sequel would do it justice if done properly.
The Meaning of Life, the Universe, and Everything.
Join Date:
3/22/2014
Posts:
55
PSN:
willanddena
Member Details
My only fear is that it will take a long time for a sequel or anything like that to come out. They still have to roll out Minecraft on the Vita and PS4, work on a bunch of updates to keep the console crowd happy, and maintain their larger customer base on the PC. If Minecraft 2 or something like it is in their game plan, I can't help but think that it will be years down the road. Given that kind of time frame I really can't see how the majority of people using the console version won't get bored, even with little updates here and there. But, then again, for all I know they've had a team working on their next project and the trailer will be at the next E3. I guess only time will tell.
The Meaning of Life, the Universe, and Everything.
Join Date:
12/30/2013
Posts:
53
Member Details
True... just frustrating to think that they could simply expand their workforce and pump it out quicker. Some simple math shows how many millions upon millions the company has made, and with no royalties to be paid out, and since its a small privately owned business( I think) unless every employee is making upwards of 7 million a year, I don't understand how more of the money isn't invested in expansion of the company to idecrease the timeframes
So after searching the forum for quite a bit, I'm hesitant to even use the word "mod" in this posting, but considering every post concerning mods is so vague and incomplete in its suggestions, I figured i'd make those suggestions the tertiary point of this post. So to the point:
I'm sure every MC player here has friends who have downloaded the game, played for just a bit, and then abandoned the game because they "got bored" or "beat it". While this source of income from what I'll refer to as "one time players" is beneficial to 4j, they surely must know that the heart of their contingency lies in the masses who enjoy the seemingly infinite building potential of the game. While focusing on ps4/xbox1/vita releases is the obvious next step to maximize the customer base, the next logical step should be retaining the repeat users of the game. This is where the "mod" aspects of this post comes in to play...
While it is a long shot, as previously stated,( and I know this, so don't berate the post claiming too much work would be involved, or this will never happen) I believe if 4j/mojang could arrange a licensing deal with the creators of the more popular, builder-focused, mods for PC(redpower/tekkit/etc), and market them through the console stores, a lot of money could be made, as people are always looking for more build options. Allowing this to be ran through 4j wouldn't violate ToS as many other threads have suggested, and wouldn't make the more hardcore gamers feel alienated. Even just bringing the game up to par with pc in terms of items and craftables, would take some time, and I have seen hoppers have been confirmed as a future update, but some fundamental parts of the game that keep people intrigued with the possibilities of creation have been left out in favor of appealing to the "casual" gamers.
None of this is expected to happen, and I can say that I'm happy with the speed in which the updates have come out, so hats off to 4j, but anyone in business knows that you need to retain customers before expanding into too many markets. The cost of customer acquisition usually outweighs the return from those customers in the long run, and if the company has faith in the product, as many of the gamers do, and thinks its not a fad that will soon die out, then customer retention should be a priority.
So to end, how do I suggest this happens?? Possibly expand the studio's workforce a bit to decrease the port time, and some r&d funding to focus on retaining repeat customers. ( 4j and mojang may feel bad about charging for content, but I know hundreds of people who would pay their proportionately miniscule prices for new content rather than spending 60$ a pop every 6 months on the newest regurgitation from the CoD franchise)
The PS3 version was lucky to have been released with what it had.
Lol I've been playing the xbox version since it came out almost and... man.. that thing is sickeningly obsolete when it came out.
When it came out... there was half the blocks to build with, no food/hunger, no exp, no nether fortresses, I don't think there was very many mobs nether related, no end, no creative mode, no enchantments, no anvil, barely any host options, no spawners...
Yeah it's hard to believe how pathetic the game was at the time. But.. at the same time.... it didn't bother me at the time. It only bothered me until I heard how much the PC had.. and still has compared to the console. And it's pathetic.
Even if 4J released... literally 1-2 things per week I'd be grateful. Instead of 9 things every 4 months...
I'm sure every MC player here has friends who have downloaded the game, played for just a bit, and then abandoned the game because they "got bored" or "beat it". While this source of income from what I'll refer to as "one time players" is beneficial to 4j, they surely must know that the heart of their contingency lies in the masses who enjoy the seemingly infinite building potential of the game. While focusing on ps4/xbox1/vita releases is the obvious next step to maximize the customer base, the next logical step should be retaining the repeat users of the game. This is where the "mod" aspects of this post comes in to play...
While it is a long shot, as previously stated,( and I know this, so don't berate the post claiming too much work would be involved, or this will never happen) I believe if 4j/mojang could arrange a licensing deal with the creators of the more popular, builder-focused, mods for PC(redpower/tekkit/etc), and market them through the console stores, a lot of money could be made, as people are always looking for more build options. Allowing this to be ran through 4j wouldn't violate ToS as many other threads have suggested, and wouldn't make the more hardcore gamers feel alienated. Even just bringing the game up to par with pc in terms of items and craftables, would take some time, and I have seen hoppers have been confirmed as a future update, but some fundamental parts of the game that keep people intrigued with the possibilities of creation have been left out in favor of appealing to the "casual" gamers.
None of this is expected to happen, and I can say that I'm happy with the speed in which the updates have come out, so hats off to 4j, but anyone in business knows that you need to retain customers before expanding into too many markets. The cost of customer acquisition usually outweighs the return from those customers in the long run, and if the company has faith in the product, as many of the gamers do, and thinks its not a fad that will soon die out, then customer retention should be a priority.
So to end, how do I suggest this happens?? Possibly expand the studio's workforce a bit to decrease the port time, and some r&d funding to focus on retaining repeat customers. ( 4j and mojang may feel bad about charging for content, but I know hundreds of people who would pay their proportionately miniscule prices for new content rather than spending 60$ a pop every 6 months on the newest regurgitation from the CoD franchise)
So what's the future? How do you keep long term fans? Not with tons of 99 cent content. You do what everyone else does, you make a mother ******* sequel. Yeah you heard me. You come out with Minecraft 2 and get $29.99 from everyone all over again. Disbelieve it if you want, but its exactly what happened with SimCity and The Sims, which are games that are comparable with Minecraft in both design and marketing. Now what this sequel would include can be up for debate but I would imagine Quests would be added, some kind of plot, goals and objectives, something more than just the Survival and Creative formats we know, but I imagine those game modes would be kept along with Adventure or Quest mode or whatever they would call such a thing.
Like it or hate it, its coming. This is the model of the video game business and while Minecraft is an original and creative game it will not reinvent the wheel when it comes to continued success in this market. Large title sequels have allowed The Sims and Simcity to continue to grow and stay relevant and it is foolish to think that Minecraft would be any different. The key is to keep the game classic enough so the people who are already fans feel comfortable with it, but at the same time add enough content to draw in new customers and keep the game fresh.
honestly for a sandbox you run out of stuff to do pretty quickly unless your an insane builder.
The PS3 version was lucky to have been released with what it had.
Lol I've been playing the xbox version since it came out almost and... man.. that thing is sickeningly obsolete when it came out.
When it came out... there was half the blocks to build with, no food/hunger, no exp, no nether fortresses, I don't think there was very many mobs nether related, no end, no creative mode, no enchantments, no anvil, barely any host options, no spawners...
Yeah it's hard to believe how pathetic the game was at the time. But.. at the same time.... it didn't bother me at the time. It only bothered me until I heard how much the PC had.. and still has compared to the console. And it's pathetic.
Even if 4J released... literally 1-2 things per week I'd be grateful. Instead of 9 things every 4 months...