(Re: King’s Quest Online) Ok – I took a break from the actual game design yesterday and sat down to create the “pitch” of the game. Simply put, in order for this game to ever hit the shelf, it’s going to need a publisher (asumming it gets developed of course). The purpose of a pitch is something of a sales pitch. It’s purpose is to tell the reader (in this case, potential publishers) the following information: 1) What genre the game is 2) What market the game is intended for (based on demographic data) 3) Design philosophy 4) Major features (selling points) That said, for all you marketing type people out there, I present my “pitch”. Some of it is in the form of graphs/images, so it won’t appear here. However, I have cited information sources, so if your curious to see the graphs, just follow the links. As always, your feedback and suggestions are encouraged (I must admit I’m not necessarily a marketing type, so this is something of a learn-as-I-go attempt). 😉 -David Reeselordcorenair@netscape.net ———– 1.0 What is Kings Quest Online? Kings Quest Online, herein referred to as KQO, is a third person Massively Multiplayer Adventure Game (MMOAG) that takes place in the world of Caranous. This world is comprised of numerous lands that have previously been seen in other Kings Quest games (Daventry, Kolyma, Land of the Green Isles, etc). Players create and assume the role of characters based upon the KQ games. Gameplay will consist of solving puzzles, combating evil creatures, exploring the assorted lands, and interacting with other players and NPCs. 1.1 Why make Kings Quest Online? At this point in time, the computer game market is experiencing a shift towards online games. Titles such as EverQuest, Ultima Online, and Final Fantasy XI are experiencing enormous growth and the revenue potential for these games increases as broadband internet connections become more and more prevalent in homes. The problem with each online game that is on the market now is they cater to the role-playing demographic. While this demographic is significant, there is high demand for games which not only enable players to interact with one another, but also desire a game which provides story-oriented content in new and refreshing ways. KQO satisfies this need by providing a unique gaming experience that emphasizes a balance of story and combat, much like the generation of adventure games that were prevalent throughout the early to mid 90s via an engine that displays the game in vibrant detail in three dimensions. KQO strays from the now stagnating kill monsters to get money to get better gear to kill more powerful monsters and repeat concept. Players in KQO will be challenged not only by combating monsters, but by solving a wide variety of puzzles. Teamwork is encouraged by providing a balance of both combat and puzzles that may oft-times require multiple players to successfully complete. Above all, KQO provides a game that is not only rich in gameplay, but in story as well. Everything the player is exposed to is an element of the story. Instead of pursuing random quests and killing hordes of monsters in a manner that either completely disregards the story or merely uses the story elements to provide a back story , KQO instead centers around doing Quests that further the story, not only for the player, but for the game. By taking this approach, the game will always be fresh as players directly influence the story rather than being influenced by the story. In this manner, players are able to advance the story while they play, rather than playing the game and forgetting about the story. The game also features extensive customization options, giving players the ability to choose the race, class, attributes, and appearance of their online persona in a tasteful manner. Players can choose from races and classes that are familiar staples of the Kings Quest series and as they progress, they can customize their persona even further with skills and equipment that will help them face the challenges that await them. Most important of all, there isnt any Massively Multiplayer Online Adventure Games (MMOAG) on the market at this time, nor are there any such games in development. This is a segment of the market that has limitless growth potential and KQO is the type of game that can not only open the door to this market, but can provide innovation to a market that is stagnating with games that feed off of each other in an endless cycle. 1.2 Demographic data (Provided by Day-Trum (www.daytrum.com) Demographic data compiled for the IDSA by the Services Division of Ipsos-Insight in May 2003. The study gathered data from over 1,350 nationally representative households that have been identified as owning a video game console and/or a personal computer used to run entertainment software.) URL: http://www.daytrum.com/games/pcgames/2003/051903gamesurvey.htm ” Online Games: Thirty-seven percent of game players say they play games online, up from 31 percent last year and 18 percent in 1999 ” Type of Game Played Most Often Online: puzzle, board, game show, trivia or card game (56 percent); action, sports, strategy or role-play game (20 percent); persistent multi-player universe (7 percent); or none of the above (7 percent). ” Computer game players say they are most likely to play: puzzle/board/card games (36 percent); action games (36 percent); driving/racing games (34 percent); and sports (32 percent). ” Computer Player Demographics: Fifty-eight percent of computer game players are male, while 42 percent are female. Thirty percent are under 18 years old, 29 percent are 18 to 35, and 41 percent are over 36. ” Buyer Demographics: 98 percent of computer game buyers are over 18. 57 percent of computer game buyers are women. (Provided by Nicholas Yee (http://www.nickyee.com/codeblue/) as part of the Codename Blue project. Codename Blue is an attempt to take what has been learned from the Norrathian Scrolls and collect data from games other than EverQuest to see how general or specific the findings are. This project tries to understand MMORPG players in a broader context, as well as drill deeper into areas that have been explored before. Data is based on demographics as of March 2002.) URL: http://www.nickyee.com/codeblue/demographics.html There is a significantly higher proportion of female players in EQ when compared with DAOC (p<.001). Although there is just a 5% difference, that is almost a 100% increase of female players The average age of players from the 3 games was between 25-26. DAOC players were slightly younger than players from EQ and UO (p=.003 and p=0.9 respectively). UO players play significantly fewer hours per week than EQ and DAOC players (p<.001 for both). Age does not correlate significantly with hours played per week. About 20% of players across the 3 games have children. Fe
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