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Re:Ask HN: Why does it feel like MMO server tech hasn't chan... by Daegalus on Thursday September 30, 2021 @02:47PM (#28709705)
Thats fair, I mean I don't mind paying a subscription. I can understand the money aspect. I just feel Amazon has the resources to throw money at the problem/development to begin with compared to most developers.
Re:Ask HN: Why does it feel like MMO server tech hasn't chan... by cratermoon on Thursday September 30, 2021 @04:13PM (#28710778)
> Amazon has the resources to throw money at the problem

Amazon is a company motivated by profit. No one at the company is going to throw money at a problem unless solving it will be profitable. New World standard edition is $39.99, with no subscription fee. Blizzard used to charge a small fee to buy the game, but the monthly sub cost was what sustained it. They recently dropped the up-front cost. Users pay per month and play, and there are plenty of additional premium things to buy, fortunately they are all aesthetic, compared to many free-to-play that end up being pay-to-win.

It's unclear how Amazon will make money on New World, although I strongly suspect it will involve collecting and selling data about the users, along with some kind of microtransactions. I'd guess freemiums will come along later, too.

In short, just having a lot of money is not sufficient. For a business to want to solve the MMO scaling problems, it has to find a way to get some return on the investment. MMOs just aren't All That.

Re:Ask HN: Why does it feel like MMO server tech hasn't chan... by Daegalus on Thursday September 30, 2021 @04:53PM (#28711170)
Very fair assessment. New World had a cosmetics shop already with equipment skins. so they will probably monetize that way too.

Thank you for taking the time to write that out.