Comments on: Why do people buy virtual goods? (on motivations and compulsions) http://giffconstable.com/2009/09/why-do-people-buy-virtual-goods-on-motivations-and-compulsions/ Giff Constable's blog on technology, media, startups, and whatever else interests me Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:32:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3 By: Virtual goods aren't so weird after all — giffconstable.com http://giffconstable.com/2009/09/why-do-people-buy-virtual-goods-on-motivations-and-compulsions/comment-page-1/#comment-1105 Virtual goods aren't so weird after all — giffconstable.com Thu, 23 Sep 2010 19:13:44 +0000 http://giffconstable.com/?p=141#comment-1105 [...] P.P.S. an older post of mine on virtual good motivations [...] [...] P.P.S. an older post of mine on virtual good motivations [...]

]]> By: Are Gaming Dynamics Jumping the Shark? — giffconstable.com http://giffconstable.com/2009/09/why-do-people-buy-virtual-goods-on-motivations-and-compulsions/comment-page-1/#comment-395 Are Gaming Dynamics Jumping the Shark? — giffconstable.com Tue, 01 Jun 2010 17:06:49 +0000 http://giffconstable.com/?p=141#comment-395 [...] overview post on virtual goods (on motivations and compulsions) (Sept [...] [...] overview post on virtual goods (on motivations and compulsions) (Sept [...]

]]> By: Thoughts on Product-Market Fit — giffconstable.com http://giffconstable.com/2009/09/why-do-people-buy-virtual-goods-on-motivations-and-compulsions/comment-page-1/#comment-169 Thoughts on Product-Market Fit — giffconstable.com Sat, 30 Jan 2010 12:20:04 +0000 http://giffconstable.com/?p=141#comment-169 [...] — the game must be fun. Without that, you have nothing.  So you can first test fun, then virtual goods compulsion loops and most likely viral behavior, and then finally whether people will indeed pay for those virtual [...] [...] — the game must be fun. Without that, you have nothing.  So you can first test fun, then virtual goods compulsion loops and most likely viral behavior, and then finally whether people will indeed pay for those virtual [...]

]]> By: jjainschigg http://giffconstable.com/2009/09/why-do-people-buy-virtual-goods-on-motivations-and-compulsions/comment-page-1/#comment-55 jjainschigg Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:25:27 +0000 http://giffconstable.com/?p=141#comment-55 I agree with all this, but note it's mostly aimed at (for example) providers of engineered social networks, gaming and similar environments ... folks who are in a position to contemplate "adding virtual goods to the platform" -- ideally after tweaking the experience (which they substantially control) to provide incentives to purchase. Seen in this way, it seems grandiose to call these things 'virtual goods economies' (I exempt truly-huge phenomena, such as the international, not-controlled-by-Blizzard trade in Warcraft gold, toons and goods, which has clearly gone "off the reservation" and taken on a life of its own) -- in most cases, aren't they more like a variant of up-sell programs, or the complement of air-miles programs (which discount in exchange for brand loyalty)?<br><br>Despite the popularity and evident (short-term) success of some of these top-down, closed-system virtual-goods plays, I can't help but believe that the model proposed by Second Life is more durable and more generalizable to real economic drivers: that is - you create a canvas, some building tools, a medium and framework for exchange, and then you sit back and make your money by charging some kind of tax at various points in the exchange cycle -- while the emergent economy appears _all by itself_, diversifies, and creates its _own_ incentives. I agree with all this, but note it's mostly aimed at (for example) providers of engineered social networks, gaming and similar environments … folks who are in a position to contemplate “adding virtual goods to the platform” — ideally after tweaking the experience (which they substantially control) to provide incentives to purchase. Seen in this way, it seems grandiose to call these things 'virtual goods economies' (I exempt truly-huge phenomena, such as the international, not-controlled-by-Blizzard trade in Warcraft gold, toons and goods, which has clearly gone “off the reservation” and taken on a life of its own) — in most cases, aren't they more like a variant of up-sell programs, or the complement of air-miles programs (which discount in exchange for brand loyalty)?

Despite the popularity and evident (short-term) success of some of these top-down, closed-system virtual-goods plays, I can't help but believe that the model proposed by Second Life is more durable and more generalizable to real economic drivers: that is – you create a canvas, some building tools, a medium and framework for exchange, and then you sit back and make your money by charging some kind of tax at various points in the exchange cycle — while the emergent economy appears _all by itself_, diversifies, and creates its _own_ incentives.

]]> By: Anonymous http://giffconstable.com/2009/09/why-do-people-buy-virtual-goods-on-motivations-and-compulsions/comment-page-1/#comment-600 Anonymous Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:25:00 +0000 http://giffconstable.com/?p=141#comment-600 I agree with all this, but note it's mostly aimed at (for example) providers of engineered social networks, gaming and similar environments ... folks who are in a position to contemplate "adding virtual goods to the platform" -- ideally after tweaking the experience (which they substantially control) to provide incentives to purchase. Seen in this way, it seems grandiose to call these things 'virtual goods economies' (I exempt truly-huge phenomena, such as the international, not-controlled-by-Blizzard trade in Warcraft gold, toons and goods, which has clearly gone "off the reservation" and taken on a life of its own) -- in most cases, aren't they more like a variant of up-sell programs, or the complement of air-miles programs (which discount in exchange for brand loyalty)?rnrnDespite the popularity and evident (short-term) success of some of these top-down, closed-system virtual-goods plays, I can't help but believe that the model proposed by Second Life is more durable and more generalizable to real economic drivers: that is - you create a canvas, some building tools, a medium and framework for exchange, and then you sit back and make your money by charging some kind of tax at various points in the exchange cycle -- while the emergent economy appears _all by itself_, diversifies, and creates its _own_ incentives.rnrn I agree with all this, but note it’s mostly aimed at (for example) providers of engineered social networks, gaming and similar environments … folks who are in a position to contemplate “adding virtual goods to the platform” — ideally after tweaking the experience (which they substantially control) to provide incentives to purchase. Seen in this way, it seems grandiose to call these things ‘virtual goods economies’ (I exempt truly-huge phenomena, such as the international, not-controlled-by-Blizzard trade in Warcraft gold, toons and goods, which has clearly gone “off the reservation” and taken on a life of its own) — in most cases, aren’t they more like a variant of up-sell programs, or the complement of air-miles programs (which discount in exchange for brand loyalty)?rnrnDespite the popularity and evident (short-term) success of some of these top-down, closed-system virtual-goods plays, I can’t help but believe that the model proposed by Second Life is more durable and more generalizable to real economic drivers: that is – you create a canvas, some building tools, a medium and framework for exchange, and then you sit back and make your money by charging some kind of tax at various points in the exchange cycle — while the emergent economy appears _all by itself_, diversifies, and creates its _own_ incentives.rnrn

]]> By: NYTimes on virtual goods: exercise in idiocy? — giffconstable.com http://giffconstable.com/2009/09/why-do-people-buy-virtual-goods-on-motivations-and-compulsions/comment-page-1/#comment-35 NYTimes on virtual goods: exercise in idiocy? — giffconstable.com Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:27:26 +0000 http://giffconstable.com/?p=141#comment-35 [...] to design, create, market and support a game or online community that has millions of users and effective virtual good compulsion loops.  I’m not saying that the margins cannot be very good for the winners, but that in itself is [...] [...] to design, create, market and support a game or online community that has millions of users and effective virtual good compulsion loops.  I’m not saying that the margins cannot be very good for the winners, but that in itself is [...]

]]> By: raul antonio (mojica) 's status on Saturday, 10-Oct-09 04:54:37 UTC - Identi.ca http://giffconstable.com/2009/09/why-do-people-buy-virtual-goods-on-motivations-and-compulsions/comment-page-1/#comment-25 raul antonio (mojica) 's status on Saturday, 10-Oct-09 04:54:37 UTC - Identi.ca Sat, 10 Oct 2009 04:54:42 +0000 http://giffconstable.com/?p=141#comment-25 [...] ¿Por qué la gente compra bienes virtuales? http://giffconstable.com/2009/09/why-do-people-buy-virtual-goods-on-motivations-and-compulsions/ [...] [...] ¿Por qué la gente compra bienes virtuales? http://giffconstable.com/2009/09/why-do-people-buy-virtual-goods-on-motivations-and-compulsions/ [...]

]]> By: links for 2009-10-07 | Metaverse3d.com http://giffconstable.com/2009/09/why-do-people-buy-virtual-goods-on-motivations-and-compulsions/comment-page-1/#comment-23 links for 2009-10-07 | Metaverse3d.com Thu, 08 Oct 2009 01:08:13 +0000 http://giffconstable.com/?p=141#comment-23 [...] Why do people buy virtual goods? — giffconstable.com (tags: virtualworlds virtualgoods) [...] [...] Why do people buy virtual goods? — giffconstable.com (tags: virtualworlds virtualgoods) [...]

]]> By: Nicholas Lovell http://giffconstable.com/2009/09/why-do-people-buy-virtual-goods-on-motivations-and-compulsions/comment-page-1/#comment-22 Nicholas Lovell Wed, 07 Oct 2009 20:58:40 +0000 http://giffconstable.com/?p=141#comment-22 Really interesting post about compulsion loops. I've focused on gifting and self-expression in my blog posts on the subject, but less so on impatience and competition.<br><br>And I particularly agree that if virtual goods are slapped on the top rather than designed in from the beginning they won't work. Really interesting post about compulsion loops. I've focused on gifting and self-expression in my blog posts on the subject, but less so on impatience and competition.

And I particularly agree that if virtual goods are slapped on the top rather than designed in from the beginning they won't work.

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