Nov
07
2006
0

From Business 2.0's List of the Next Startups

The Next Massively Entertaining Idea

The Investor: Bill Gurley, general partner, Benchmark Capital

What he's backed: Linden Lab, Shopping.com, Zillow.com

What he wants now: The next massively multiplayer online hit, whether it's
built around a core game like World of Warcraft or a virtual community like
Neopets. "Anything," Gurley says, "where people are entertained massively
together." Benchmark has placed some big bets in the MMO sector, including
Linden Lab, maker of Second Life, and Sulake, which runs Habbo Hotel, a game
site geared for teens. "I think we're far from finished in this space,"
Gurley says. "There is a lot of room for new ideas going after different
areas of interest."

Gurley will not hazard a guess on what demographic could be ripe for the
next MMO hit. "These things are like catching lightning in a bottle," he
says. "There's an element of game design and social curiosity that you have
to get just right."

What he'll invest: $5 million for a working game or site that shows MMO
growth potential. "It's so hard to predict what will take off," Gurley says,
"that it's easier to pay more for something that's further along."

Anybody want to hire me? I came up with two ideas in the time it took me to blog this. Oh well.

Written by Widge in: General BS | Tags: , , , , , ,
Oct
17
2006
4

BOHICA: The Government Eyes MMORPGs as New Source of Taxes

Here's the word. Get ready for taxes, the ultimate virus, to attack stuff like Second Life.

Wonderful.

I would feel much better about this if the government actually knew what the hell it was doing with the money it already collects instead of trying to find more.

And for those of you who think this is reasonable, then you're obviously not being taxed enough. Feel free to donate the amount that will make you feel better about yourselves. I'm sure a call to any government agency, local or federal, will get you all the info you need about how to make a donation that will soothe your aching conscience.

Just leave the rest of us the fuck out of it.

P.S. Although this commenter on Digg where I found the article, may actually have the right of it.

Written by Widge in: General BS | Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Dec
03
2005
2

Five Things That Could Be Done to Revitalize Urban Dead

Urban Dead is a browser-based MMORPG that I've talked about before at Needcoffee. Simplistic as hell it is also fun as hell. Kevan, the creator, has Google AdSense on the site and takes donations and I hope he's been able to make a bit of coin at that.

However, with anything, after months and months of playing this thing and getting all my characters to have as many levels and skills as they could muster…now what?

Well, I've been thinking about what I would do if I had Kevan's God-like abilities in the game, and here's the five things I throw on the table for others to muse over. Note: these may have already been proposed on some UD forum somewhere, but I don't read them. The only time I've ever checked out a UD forum was to try and drum up some kind of organized zombie attacks…so they were always the IC threads and always about as useful as a crowbar as a flossing tool.

Scorched Earth. A city is devastated by a zombie plague and sealed off. What would the government do? Nuke it, most likely. But what if they've actually seen Return of the Living Dead and know better? Introduce a new class of character that's basically military in a haz mat suit. They come in with skills already set up to basically blow anyone and everything to hell. Leave nothing standing. And give them flamethrowers. The result? Humans are suddenly fighting for their lives against a bunch of military types who believe them to be infected whether they are or not.

Ammo Dump. Certainly all those PDs and gun stores should be running out of ammo by now, right? Slowly tweak the success rate down and starve the humans for ammo. Then…the word gets out…for one week, at Fort Perryn, let's say, the military's going to do a huge ammo dump. The success rate in that area will be almost a sure thing. The result? Humans and zombies alike make for the site of the dump to have some mass carnage.

The Virus Mutates. Instead of just adding skills willy nilly…have skills become available depending on how long you've been in game. For example, the zombies gain intelligence and can gain the use of blunt instruments. They can speak normally again. They start to get smart, in other words. Oh hell. Yeah, for those who have been in the longest, give them a reason to stick around.

Destroy the Bodies. We've got fuel cans. Give the humans the ability to dispose of bodies. It wouldn't be easy. You'd dump the body outside. Then use the fuel can on them. Then light them up. A fuel can would be good like a spray can would, eventually it runs out and you need more. As for the zombie that's been smoked, they re-gen somewhere else in the game. A cemetery most likely. This would force zombies to actually do something worthwhile instead of just standing back up again right outside the building under siege. Caiger (yawn), anyone?

Vampires.

Written by Widge in: General BS | Tags: , ,
Widge in his natural habitat

This is me.

No, really.

I am a writer, poet, spoken word performer, actor, singer, improviser, content creation and idea machine, freelance iconoclast, and the internet's janitor that dispenses pop culture wisdom to the protagonist of your choice. I have seen too many movies, read too many comic books, and when the zombies finally come, I'm the one you want to call. I sure as hell won't answer the phone, but it's the thought that counts. I advise people on the net, websites and technology, because I know these things instead of having a life or sleeping.

If you like something I've done, donate to the Widge Wants to Kill His Day Job Fund. Or if you'd like to hire me for a job, my rates are terribly reasonable. We thank you.

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