Abstract :
Countless ads, seminars, and publications describe the Web as a vast, untapped market for software vendors, both as a means to reach customers directly and as a venue for applications that require both an initial purchase and a monthly fee. The challenge thus far has been to provide content that people will pay for. Origin Systems, based in Austin, Texas, (USA) may have found a solution with its massively multiplayer role playing game, Ultima Online. Although UO´s initial sales have outstripped any previous Origin title, the game has fallen prey to design, technical, and social problems that provide profound lessons for other online content providers
Keywords :
Internet; computer games; marketing; social aspects of automation; software development management; Origin Systems; Ultima Online; Web; initial purchase; massively multiplayer role playing game; monthly fee; online content providers; social problems; software vendors; Application software; Biological system modeling; Marketing and sales; Pervasive computing; Seminars; Silicon; Software testing; Spinning; Technological innovation; Weapons;
