Spending Real Money In A Virtual World
by Deuce_for2, HSM special guest contributor
I was not there at the beginning. When I showed up, PlayStation Home had already been live for nine months. My first look at Home came from the developer side, but I quickly became a user. Home reminded me of a backdrop from the “Napoleon Dynamite” film — very static.
Early on in Home, I had a bunch of t-shirts and almost nothing else. All of my furniture was the starter furniture. I wondered why people would spend real money on virtual items, and yet my career for the near term was dependent upon it.
My job was to write code to enhance items and spaces for people in a virtual world. I hung a sign in my cube that said “believe” — because hope was really my only support structure. I did not know a good reason why Home could succeed. What had I just committed to?
How I first saw PS Home
To give you some background: I pitched my first computer game in 1983. In 1992 I made a trek to Reston, VA, the location of the decision maker’s office for AOL, and pitched them a graphic-based chatroom to replace the current totally text chatrooms. My idea was that people would dress up in clothes and literally walk between chatrooms instead of clicking on text lists to change rooms.
It got shot down because at the time modems were slow and AOL was trying to reduce bandwidth. This sounded to them like a way to increase bandwidth.
In 1998 I was working for Westwood Studios, the maker of the Command & Conquer series (C&C), when I pitched them an online space for their games where people dressed up in C&C based clothes and chatted about C&C things. Then players could group and launch into C&C adventures together.
I was told that people were not asking for this, so they did not want it. This was six years before the launch of World of Warcraft.
I understood the value of people wandering around in a virtual world being able to chat with each other, but having people spend real money on virtual items was a foreign concept. One of the early spaces in Home I wandered into I swear had a t-shirt on sale for $15. Maybe I read it wrong, but it became the symbol for my lack of understanding what people’s motivations were. Why would anyone buy a virtual t-shirt for $15 when you could get a real one for less?
I personally believe in rhythms being the basis for whether we like things or not. Whether or not I like something is based on whether I find its rhythm. It is why we tend to like music of a particular genre. Or sitcoms versus cop shows. I never found the rhythm for “Babylon 5” although the beat did seem familiar. I did not get it, but I could see how others might.
I found myself with no understanding or sense of rhythm in this new world of virtual item commerce, and yet I was one of the drummers. My first assignment was to create a lightning effect in a scary apartment. Well, that I knew. Nobody was going to buy the lightning, but I could see how having a scary apartment might be fun. Then we got to make the MAG apartments. Planes flying overhead, motion-captured soldiers guarding the base, making helicopters fly by and land…I was in heaven. But I was still unclear on the money part of the transaction.
Next came the HORSE Basketball game in the Playground space. I did not have to worry about a money aspect since the game was going to be free. This bought me more time to look around and figure things out.
As I wandered around the Playground space before it was released, there was this music that seemed really great. I saw this as my chance. If I really got this whole money-for-virtual-items thing, taking that music, putting it in a boombox and selling it seemed like a natural.
So I pitched it to the creators of the space.
Their response was “No.”
I knew rejection did not mean it was a bad idea, but it always feels that way. I kept digging. Two months later I got a call asking me how much work that boombox might be. I told them it was small compared to most of what they were doing, since the music was already done. They approved it on the spot, but only for North America. Other regions still did not get it.
I vividly remember the day it released during E3. At 3:30pm I got a call asking how long it would take to make a version for Europe. The sales had either taken off, or when the right person saw it, they knew it was going to be a hit. That boombox became one of the bestselling items for that year.
Two things came from that:
1) My belief that I had found the rhythm of Home, and
2) I now understood what people were buying: experiences. People bought the boombox to pull out and play while dancing with their friends. In hindsight, it was a no-brainer. The top two activities I observed at the time were glitching and dancing. Creating a soundtrack to dance to was in fact a great idea. And yet, ahead of doing it, there was no obvious mandate. It was turned down when first proposed. Which leads to one of my new mantras about the world: Everything looks like a failure until it is a success.
From there to here, it has been an ongoing challenge to create more experiences for the people of Home. A scary doll, a robotic dog…and now I am on the verge of releasing my first original game. Is the new game what the people of Home want? I think so. Even so I can tell you how it could fail, but it hopefully won’t. Nothing is guaranteed.
If this is how you feel, recognize that is you holding the sword.
How have I come to terms with spending real money on virtual items? Easy. I have spent thousands of dollars on games and music outside of Home. What do I really own? I own the same thing I own with virtual items – the right to use them to create an experience.
Let’s say I buy a CD. If the CD gets destroyed, I have to buy it again if I want to own it. Whereas virtual items are indestructible since they are on a server somewhere and will still be there if my house burns down. So while it seems like it is less real than something I can hold in my hand, it is in a sense more durable.
Games make even more sense. I ended up spending more on FarmVille than on Twisted Metal 3. I had fun with both, but Twisted Metal came with a DVD. FarmVille did not. Is it wrong or unfair that for FarmVille I got nothing material for my money? Absolutely not. I was buying the experience, not the take-home. We do it all the time when we go to a movie, a concert, college, or on a vacation. That is why those experiences, many times, will also sell you a t-shirt to take with you. It is to remind you that you got something: the experience.
The bottom line: as the world changes, you have to catch the new rhythms. You have to change with it. You have to evolve. I did.
March 13th, 2012 by John C. Ardussi | 10 comments
John C. Ardussi (deuce_for2) is a developer for PS Home and other platforms. He recently started a new company, Game Mechanics who is now making items and games. Be sure and tell him what you think of what he is doing. He truly listens and adjusts based on input from the community.
LinkedIn
…..and you can’t give up just because someone says No! either. Home is an experience to me. Thank you for your efforts Deuce! It has been a real good ride for me. I will be looking forward to your game for sure.
Keep on working in that digital dojo.
I’m feelin it!
Great article Deuce. I have a hard time when people outside of Home ask me about why I buy these things when they aren’t real, but I agree they are as real as any movie or other virtual, intangible thing you might decide to spend money on. It is fun to decorate and dress my avatar.
I had a friend come by while I was on Home. She had never seen it and was kind of interested. But she didn’t catch the rhythm you aptly mention. She became frustrated with me that I rather finish my shopping and then attend a meeting on Home over going to a movie with her. She even said I was wasting my money. She went to her movie and spent three times as much as I did for a 2 hour experience she didn’t really enjoy. I on the other had got three new outfits, a new pet, a house near a waterfall and spent the evening with people I love and enjoy. She may never see it from that perspective, but all of us know the value of enjoying Home and the work that people like you put into it! Very nice article! And thank you for what you do!
This is what I keep telling people who say, “I would never spend money in Home. It’s not real.”
“You spend money on movies,” I say. “You buy downloadable games from the PSN store. You pay a cable TV subscription. You buy e-books for your Kindle. You buy food that will cease to exist soon after you eat it. My Loot Space Station apartment has given me much more pleasure than an ten-dollar restaurant lunch.”
I’m not sure why this is such a difficult concept for many people. What is real is the experience, not some piece of matter you have to store.
Wow! You helped make the helicopter? Having done that in the Army in the 60s, I can tell you it’s realistic.
The boom box needs some 60s tunes though
Good luck with the rhythms of your new game.
I am so proud of the helicopters (MAG and Tycoon Penthouse). I based the simulation totally on looking at videos and trying to reproduce what I saw. I liked the result. Thanks for noticing and mentioning it.
As for music, I am not done yet with this battle. We will see how far I get. Now that I am on my own I can go after things that did not make business sense for Sony. I am excited to see how it goes.
And the game, well let’s just say I have been like a kid waiting for Christmas ever since I had the original idea. That was about a year and a half ago. I am ready to burst. Hopefully it will be just a few more weeks.
Each of us catch and join new trends based on our own experiences. I was behind some people on this one, but ahead of others. If we don’t understand it (aka it does not match our usual rhythms) we tend to assume it will go away. But this is a new way of doing business and will not go away. It has too much support. It is important to remember that just because everyone does not buy into it (my Mom still does not use email) does not mean it will fail or is a bad idea. Many of these new ways of doing things fail because they arrive before people are ready for them. Buying virtual items has now gone mainstream and we are already seeing it succeed. PS Home shows few signs of getting smaller and many that it is getting bigger. A year ago this time people were asking if Home’s best days were behind it. I don’t hear that talk anymore.
Great article and Welcome to the HSM community! It’s really cool to hear thoughts from the other side of the curtain. Not only do I think people will pay for an experience but I think it makes them feel good. Just look at a IMAX or 3D movies, people want to be drawn into the experience!
Looking forward to your game!
What a really great read! I commend you for all that you have done, and will continue to do, to help a home user have a better experience in life, while it be virtual or otherwise. I look forward to your next article with great anticipation!
About 2 years ago I was housebound for reasons I won’t bore you with. My daughter, a Home user, helped me set up an account. When it came to funding the wallet, I announced it wasn’t necessary as I wouldn’t spend real money on pixels. Go ahead, laugh. I don’t mind. Very quickly I came to realize that home’s fascination for me was in the varied experiences. Definitely the money I spend in Home is a great bargain.(Shhhh! Don’t tell Sony and the devs!) I have widened my horizons, stretched the boundaries of my mind, and moved out of my ruts. Not the most recent purchase, but still one of the most satisfying is the LOOT Space space. And they gave us all that great furniture which I tried to use there. Then I realized that what I wanted was simply my Moet chair from Ligne Roset, my LOOT Photo Telescope, and the view of earth. Access to that view is worth every penny. The EOD, etc., is great but I don’t use it. Greeting me by screen-ID-computer stuff, opening the roof-I told it to, but when I began spawning at the point nearest to my viewing area … I really felt welcome at home…