Red Kutai
Kalon Ordona II
Turning back to the money problem, though, I'm currently unmotivated to buy zOMG! cash items, because there's no certainty that my efforts to support zOMG! will actually support zOMG!, because the staff already said that the money goes to a general pool first. If we could be assured that the purchases do correlate somehow, I'm sure that would help.
The problem that we tend to fall into here is the implicit notion that zOMG! deserves 'its share' of Gaia's profit; that if it contributes 1%, then it deserves 1% back. The issue, there, is that if other features are generating much more profit, that 1% is better spent elsewhere; the question isn't whether zOMG! simply makes money, but whether it's worth investing money into.
It doesn't really matter how much money zOMG! makes; what matters is whether by putting money in, will Gaia get an amount of return comparable to Gaia's alternatives? If they can reliably make money 10:1 on MoGa (just for example), it doesn't even matter if they can make a 2:1 profit on zOMG! - they have a limited amount of resources, and they will always aim to invest those resources in the ways that achieve the most return. If Gaia had unlimited resources, I'm confident they'd invest in zOMG! in a heartbeat; they don't, though, so we have to accept that the problem is greater than simply breaking even.
Do we see why the 'let the bad content pay for the good content' system doesn't work, then? If only the bad content (DMS-like content, as discussed previously) makes profits, then only the bad content is worth investing in. If only the bad content is worth investing in, then only the bad content will be produced. If only the bad content is produced, zOMG! becomes a bad game. The fact is, whatever solution we find to this issue is going to define zOMG!'s development - because only the content that adheres to that solution is going to be worth producing. Again, the question is deeper than just, 'how can zOMG! make some money' - it is, more accurately, 'what does zOMG! need to be in order to make it a sound investment'. I love the game, and I want to retain as much of its core design as possible; but I'm quite certain that solving the game's issues is going to necessitate some very fundamental revisions.
Additionally, the 'profit by peripherals' system doesn't really work, either; because it doesn't actually necessitate any investment. The argument that zOMG! makes money through avatar items is all-well-and-good, but it doesn't encourage them to invest in zOMG! - it encourages them to invest in more avatar items. This is the same fundamental issue with the notion of 'donating' to zOMG! - if it doesn't require an investment (and return on that investment in an impressive manner), it's not actually addressing the issue. In the end, I couldn't care less whether zOMG! 'makes money'; what I want, is to see the game invested in. Monetisation is simply a means to that end; it's important for us not to forget what the goal really is.
Mind you, I'm not - even if it sounds like it - simply trying to shoot down every idea. The issue, though, is that there is no easy fix. I've spent a good deal more time considering this problem than I'd be comfortable admitting; I simply don't think we'll be stumbling over the answer any time soon. I agree with you that a unified discussion is probably the best way to produce viable possibilities - I tried it once, even - but I want to be sure we're really addressing the core of the issue. If I seem overly negative, it's only because I so believe in what you're trying to do, and I'd like to see it achieve the best results possible... 3nodding
What should zOMG! be?
I'll tell you.
Free.
That's what zOMG! should be. =)
zOMG! should be for the love, not the money.
The irony is that 'Free' is the best selling point anything can have.
That should work to Gaia's advantage. And it CAN work to Gaia's advantage, like no other game could.
If Value = Quality + Savings, zOMG! is already quite good even as-is.
The main thing to start with is to make sure there are no bugs, and it does look like we're heading in that direction.
I'm fine with zOMG! being worked on slowly. I just don't want Gaia to give up on it.
In a way, monetizing zOMG! is the wrong approach, because like you said, whatever they monetize is what they'll focus on. But that's not what we want. We want what comes when there are no chains of profit. When the devs are free to create what they want, not what they think will sell. Putting Money behind everything is the quickest way to suck the soul out of zOMG!, like all those other games out there that are juuust free enough to net you in.
Frankly, if Gaia had the resources to develop zOMG in the first place, I tend to think they're pretty well off. It doesn't have to be a profit machine to be something worth investing in.
It's the difference between building a condominium and a dream house.
You don't build a dream house for the profit. You build it for the love.
Profit shouldn't be a motivation at all.
And that's what's so great about opening it up to Gaians to help.
Because they ARE doing it for the love. Or would be, if they could.
So yeah, instead of trying to prove to Gaia that zOMG! is marketable, we should be telling them that it's worth keeping up just because it's a 100% Gaia creation, and so much of Gaia loves it. Isn't that reason enough to at least keep it from falling into disrepair?
The most marketable things in life are born when there is no thought given to profit.
People hunger for something genuine, something that its creators believe in.
People know when they're being roped into a market scheme.
And they don't like it.
zOMG! should avoid that.
And what zOMG! has to its advantage that no other game does is: it can.
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