Alexander G. M. Smith replied to me, replying to David
Short:
> > > Particularly for software, a better model
> > > would be for developers to provide enough
> > > support and content that it is worth the time
> > > and effort of customers to purchase the product.
> >
> > I've never actually seen this work well,
> > though I'm not familiar with the example
> > you cite.
>
> How about Everquest and other games? They
> have large teams adding new artwork (treasure
> items, plot lines, etc) to the game. It's
> a subscriber model, not a single item sale,
> and it seems to work.
I think the difference is that Everquest is run on a
hosted model, where the company in question also has
to bear the (cost of buying computing capacity (even
if it is through an outsourcer, they require either
up-front fees or creditworthiness and a commitment to
miunimum purchases). That is a difficult model to
break into. Also it only seems to work well where
players can interact with each other. I admit that,
when the stars are right, it can be very successful.
Note, though that Everquest markets through retail
shops. (What is in the box, by the way?)
Chris Lemens
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