APB: Finally, I Can Be A PUNK!

[Shatter]

Player housing where people can bust in on you and steal your bling...that might work

Have you ever heard of a game called Ultima Online?

I never said the idea was original :P

[Rendakor]

No, but just because a feature sucked in a game 10 years ago does not mean it cannot work now.

[Chinchilla]

God forbid an MMO borrow an idea from a previous title.

Did you play Ultima Online when stealing from houses was a wide open feature (before lockdowns, rekeying, etc)?

I did and it was freaking awesome!  I was there when the "dropping the rune (using circle of transperency) and marking it and then recalling off of it and then log out and log in to being inside the house" was happening.  Trick to stop it... put a treasure chest and shit at the door entrance.  It blocked that trick.  I never got broken into, but damn did I loot a TON of houses!

[Sky]

I did and it was freaking awesome!  I was there when the "dropping the rune (using circle of transperency) and marking it and then recalling off of it and then log out and log in to being inside the house" was happening.  Trick to stop it... put a treasure chest and shit at the door entrance.  It blocked that trick.  I never got broken into, but damn did I loot a TON of houses!

Dickheads like this will ensure it's not going to ever happen.

[Hoax]

As mentioned, more FPS are shipping with class or gear unlocks and/or achievements. Appearance customization is also a growing feature in FPS (see: Battlefield Heroes, Brink). APB is already a generation ahead there.

And you can't tell me FPS players don't like waving their dicks in the air. APB's statues and and kill music are pure dick-waving (they're cool features, but let's call a spade a spade here).

There is plenty here on offer but RTW wants way too much money for what they are selling. Simple as that. Also their best market would be the f2p kids who a) love feeling adult by playing mature titles b) love popular gritty urban culture c) have plenty of free time to customize the shit out of things and most importantly d) can't buy a $50 game but can and do scrape together $5-20 per week that they can spend on game cards.

Instead they are aiming for fps players who can get a better shooter for $50 and not pay a cent afterwards.

Or are they aiming for mmo players who are bitch pussies who are used to winning 100% of the time in their games and as a majority hate pvp esp pvp that encourages gleeful mockery by the winner.

Either way they are doing it wrong and this game will be less than half as successful as it could have been as a result.

[Mrbloodworth]

There is the other parts though that I think you are skipping, as far as funding for the game. The RTW points are a big micro transaction system, you can put any gun, clothing music, theme even league rewards on the marketplace for RTW points, the points can be used in turn for game time. I can walk in on day one and buy a 3 slot gun if i want (use is a different story, due to unlocks and such). Those transactions are skimmed by RTW. The other, is there are already ads in game for suicidegirls.com, one would think more would come over time.


Game time IS a micro transaction system, so are items.

There is a theater inside the social area, one would presume that they will be running trailers or other view based advertisements, in the same way PS3 Home works. There is also the artist program for musicians to be added to the game.

There is a great potential here for some players to never pay a cent (Selling Awesome customizations, or even selling high end gear and upgrades), while those who use the point system to feed money into the system and basically subsidize others. Casuals can buy stuff they want to catch up, hardcores can fund the habit.

It may not work out in practice, but its not like they cant change the system later. People have paid more for less. Time will be the only test.

My personal plan is to play my 60 hours, sub for a moth maybe, and if i'm not bored by then, ill sell stuff I don't need or that I make for RTW points to save up for blocks of 20 hours (That I can use for whenever).

You did however nail the two groups in the extremes however. Quite sure I already talked about them however in the posts everyone skipped.

[TripleDES]

Oh fuck. In-game ads!

[Chinchilla]

As dickheaded it may seem (UO thing)... it was all part of the game and if it had happened to me I wouldn't have complained as its part of the game (being it was a bug).  Even though it was annoying.  It did get fixed rather quickly though.

Now about APB...

I do see the point everyone is talking about here w/ FPS's basically having the same stuff, but I guess the thing I like is how its all sorts of people in a the same world all doing this stuff.  Not some server that is set at a max of XYZ people.  I'm not going to go defending the game.  I just know I enjoy it and there's nothing else that can be said about that.

The game isn't perfect, but I do enjoy what it has right now and I think I will enjoy it even more once I get on Vent or ingame chat (which I think its cool you can hear other ppl's conversations when nearby) with Blood and the others and we go arrest/kill some thugs!  I'm looking forward to it.

Oh and yes I saw the posts about how people can run down greys and shit.  Honestly... I do not expect nor WANT carebear shit.  You need to treat this (in a way) like real life.  when you are walking the streets... watch your back at all times.  When you hear a car approaching... look and see where they are going.  Don't go assuming you are safe because... you aren't!

[Mrbloodworth]

Oh fuck. In-game ads!

It was part of the plan when they were under webzen too.

[Threash]

Oh fuck. In-game ads!

It was part of the plan when they were under webzen too.

If you hadn't told me it was an add for suicide girls it would never have occurred to me, that doesn't have a website or even the full name.

[HaemishM]

It's a very poor ad.

[Mrbloodworth]

Its the standard SG logo. Anyway, point being, they are already set up for this, quite sure most surfaces could display one. Those systems are based on impressions and what not, not pass threw.

[EvilJohn]

Hi all,

Actually while we may put some partner ads in such as the SG ad, we're not planning on doing the impression-based ad route. We'd rather reserve these types of spaces for the community and business partners.

[Mrbloodworth]

I stand corrected, when was the shift? Games in the modern setting tend to play well with those systems. By business partners I assume you mean you will just be selling add space and not using something like massive?

[EvilJohn]

I really can't comment past the above - I just wanted to clarify that we are not doing impression-based ad systems for first release.
(I added the emphasis because as we all know things are subject to change after release in these types of titles)

[LC]

Oh and yes I saw the posts about how people can run down greys and shit.  Honestly... I do not expect nor WANT carebear shit.  You need to treat this (in a way) like real life.  when you are walking the streets... watch your back at all times.  When you hear a car approaching... look and see where they are going.  Don't go assuming you are safe because... you aren't!

You can't run down greys. They just get pushed out of the way by your car.

[Kageru]

But having "greys" in a PvP world has never ended well either. They're only obstructions (greatly aided by vehicles and mission timers), invulnerable spies and apparently in this game perfectly able to block fire as well as line of sight. Not only that they don't add anything to the action.

[LK]

Hi all,

Actually while we may put some partner ads in such as the SG ad, we're not planning on doing the impression-based ad route. We'd rather reserve these types of spaces for the community and business partners.

Someone is a board member or a lifetime subscriber to Suicide Girls. Just saying. I don't think I've seen anyone advertise a softcore porno, glamour model, or whatever the term is for paying for online visual entertainment featuring naked women (alternative they may be) on an online game.

I imagine there will now be a section of that website dedicated to the... interesting modifications you can make with APB. Will you guys get webmaster referrals for signing up people to Suicide Girls? I would love to read that line about leveraging additional revenue streams in Real Time World's business plan.

[caladein]

This is a good enough excuse to link to a Vanguard episode.

More on topic, considering the look of almost every female contact I think APB may be the most sensible, yet seemingly random, place for an SG advertisement since uh... Hack/Slash.

[UnSub]

Actually while we may put some partner ads in such as the SG ad, we're not planning on doing the impression-based ad route. We'd rather reserve these types of spaces for the community and business partners.

So the in-game advertising will be more focused on the trademarked images players can buy to logo their clothes / cars? Or last.fm music? I'm interested in who 'community and business partners' are.

I wouldn't go the impressions-based ad route since I think their effectiveness is questionable (and I didn't recognise the SG logo out of hand, which means the ad failed) but I am interested in how APB is going to handle in-game ads.

[Sky]

You guys are bitching about SG ads? You fail at Internet.

Mmm...Rigel....

[Mrbloodworth]

All Points Bulletin (APB) Video Interview - EJ Morland

Has talk of things to come, and some talk of intent of the pricing model.

[Segoris]

Any summary for those of us at work who can't watch it? Mainly on the pricing but additional info summarized is appreciated.

[LK]

I want to be able to destroy the ads with my gun.

I want to be able to ram my car into a billboard and topple it.

I want to be able to plant C4 on a statue promoting someone.

Even if that shit respawns... it'll be sweet.

[Mrbloodworth]

I want to be able to destroy the ads with my gun.

I want to be able to ram my car into a billboard and topple it.

I want to be able to plant C4 on a statue promoting someone.

Even if that shit respawns... it'll be sweet.

Um... Some you can. And not sure if this was a bug or not, but the stuff in the action district, the statues were destructible, however going by the hole it left, I don't think it was intended. The ads I had seen (pictured), were the destroyable type. Billboards, not that I had seen.

Would be cool to see "So and so just vandalized such and such statue, that player is now KOS (red name) the the statue owner". Type stuff.

[Hoax]

Any summary for those of us at work who can't watch it? Mainly on the pricing but additional info summarized is appreciated.

For pricing Mooreland says something about no commitments without the fuckwad interviewer mentioning that charging for the box and no free/limited trial is the exact opposite of no commitments. Also how $1/hour is hardly on the cheap side of gaming. Considering that $15/month is unlimited game time and by that pricing its 2/hrs a day avg for a month. Blah blah. If you could see the interviewer you would know that this is going to just be softball bullshit. Guy is a total toolbox.

For new content he talks about "chaos" which is an open pvp district. New cars. Racing and possibly events where you kill npc's -zombies for mentioned. Pro district where headshots are headshots or something essentially total pipedream shit that wont happen for 1yr+.

[EvilJohn]

Actually, there are some great jumps in Financial where you smash through billboards.

Suicide Girls seemed like the appropriate style to help us at tradeshows, and the billboards in-game were just a friendly nod for the assistance. (As an aside, why does everything involve some form of conspiracy?  )

Most if not all "ad-space" currently existing is either using fictional brands in the world, like my favorite FU Clothing, or will be set aside for special occasions or events - or player-use such as the giant display points in the social and action districts.

[Threash]

Any summary for those of us at work who can't watch it? Mainly on the pricing but additional info summarized is appreciated.

For pricing Mooreland says something about no commitments without the fuckwad interviewer mentioning that charging for the box and no free/limited trial is the exact opposite of no commitments. Also how $1/hour is hardly on the cheap side of gaming. Considering that $15/month is unlimited game time and by that pricing its 2/hrs a day avg for a month. Blah blah. If you could see the interviewer you would know that this is going to just be softball bullshit. Guy is a total toolbox.

For new content he talks about "chaos" which is an open pvp district. New cars. Racing and possibly events where you kill npc's -zombies for mentioned. Pro district where headshots are headshots or something essentially total pipedream shit that wont happen for 1yr+.

Isn't it 5 dollars for 20 hours or 10 for unlimited? where are you getting the dollar an hour stuff?

[Hoax]

The box is $50 and you get 50 hours. Considering the box is nothing but the right to beta test the game and for many will not even be a box just a digital download and a key thats the price I'm using in the context of "our pricing is awesome because its zero commitment".

[Stormwaltz]

(As an aside, why does everything involve some form of conspiracy?  )

BECAUSE EVERYTHING IS A CONSPIRACY!






(This post brought to you by the Gnomes of Zurich.)

[Segoris]

Thanks for the summary. Based on that summary given, I definitely agree that the "no commitment" thing isn't really accurate. Currently, WoW and any other MMO with a trial has less commitment than APB while the month to month billing is about equal in terms of commitment. Though I'm going off of the summary and maybe some context was lost (just to give benefit of the doubt) and I'll watch the video later.

(As an aside, why does everything involve some form of conspiracy?  )

It's the internet and I'm at work, meaning no porn. So what else do you expect of anyone in the same situation? 

[LK]

Suicide Girls seemed like the appropriate style to help us at tradeshows, and the billboards in-game were just a friendly nod for the assistance. (As an aside, why does everything involve some form of conspiracy?  )

Because human beings are involved. 

[Lantyssa]

I think someone was hoping for a SG booth babe at trade shows... not that I blame that very clever person in the least.

[Hoax]

I think someone was hoping for a SG booth babe at trade shows... not that I blame that very clever person in the least.

Did anyone post the Suicide Girl on the APB car photo in this thread? Sadly from my internet searching it appears this is not part of a set.


I'm remote linking but only because I'm lazy and I hope to get away with it, if it becomes something else you have my apologies.

[EvilJohn]

Actually we had I believe 8 SGirls at E3 at our various areas: Car in South Lobby, RTW booth in office areas of South Hall, and the Alienware booth in the South Hall. In addition, the SG folks co-sponsored our E3 party at the Bordello Club in LA, I believe there was about 20 SGirls in attendance.

Not to mention, we've had SGirls participation at almost every tradeshow or community show we've attended. Their look fits our art style quite well, and they're great folks.

I am sure there are plenty innuendos and jokes that can be made, but all their staff that I've worked with have been quite the opposite of that type of perception - and genuinely excited to be involved.