Call to all Entrepreneurs

[Sockmonkey]

Go to any gaming forum and you will find someone asking for an updated client of a number of MMO's, I was just wondering if anyone could seize the opportunity and create a online store that sells updated clients of all the best MMO's, in SA.

Now I'm not sure about all the legal issues etc, I'm just saying that it could be well worth it to set something like this up, even if its just an "add-on" to your gaming site.

Any takers?

[XeroS1x]

Yeah there would be quite a few legal complications that you would not want to mess with. But otherwise not a bad idea.

[sycogrim]

Sockmonkey the only problem with selling updates and patches etc... is that most people will not pay for them as the majority of them are free to download and with the Subscription fees going into the game companies like Blizzard will release free patches to their consumers.

[Sockmonkey]

Yeah there would be quite a few legal complications that you would not want to mess with. But otherwise not a bad idea.

Unless the company only sends the patch files and not the full client, but then I realize that many MMO's only allow updating through their built in browser.

Sockmonkey the only problem with selling updates and patches etc... is that most people will not pay for them as the majority of them are free to download and with the Subscription fees going into the game companies like Blizzard will release free patches to their consumers.

I understand that they are free to download,the thing is that so often these updates are huge - 3,5 and even 9 gigs sometimes and with our overly priced bandwidth chances are that you will pay more to update the game than the purchase/subscription price.

[sycogrim]

Unless the company only sends the patch files and not the full client, but then I realize that many MMO's only allow updating through their built in browser.



I understand that they are free to download,the thing is that so often these updates are huge - 3,5 and even 9 gigs sometimes and with our overly priced bandwidth chances are that you will pay more to update the game than the purchase/subscription price.

I would say a subscription price is the best thing to do as people wouldn't want to pay for Individual Patches etc...

[Curtix]

Simple need locally hosted torrents and nbz I think thats the way forward.

[sycogrim]

Simple need locally hosted torrents and nbz I think thats the way forward.

Yeh but then companies see this as a form of Piracy going on within the site.

[Lydon]

I think one would unfortunately face a myriad of legal issues by attempting to sell something that one does not own, and especially due to the fact that most clients are freely available for download.

I think our best bet by far is to get into contact with an ISP with the resources, such as Web Africa, who can commit to mirroring clients and patches for at least the most important MMO's. 'Maintenance' in the form of regular patch uploads are vital, as that's usually what kills one's cap. I mean I'd be happy to help alert them to the fact that a new patch has been released, and perhaps provide a link to the international download if needed, providing they host it locally and conveniently.

[nanonyous]

Unless the company only sends the patch files and not the full client, but then I realize that many MMO's only allow updating through their built in browser.



I understand that they are free to download,the thing is that so often these updates are huge - 3,5 and even 9 gigs sometimes and with our overly priced bandwidth chances are that you will pay more to update the game than the purchase/subscription price.

The first, most important step towards being any kind of 'entrepreneur' is understanding the market(s) you are trying to get into as well as the existing infrastructures and services available that you have to compete with.

In addition, you are confusing 'expansions' and 'patches'.

Expansions add new content.

Patches fix bugs and made modifications to existing content.


Retailers sell, when applicable, boxed versions of expansions such as those for World of Warcraft already. Selling them independently of the publishers' already established online stores where you download the same content is illegal, as you are essentially having people pay for copyrighted material which you don't own a license to redistribute. As such, you would have to obtain a license to be allowed to charge for the software in question, and pay a royalty fee per copy sold to the original publisher, namely Blizzard in WoW's case.

For other games, such as EVE-Online, for which the expansions are free, you cannot charge for anything beyond what essentially boils down to a filehosting service. In other words, you aren't charging for the actual files, you're charging for the bandwidth used in the process of distributing those files. This is something that is pointless to begin doing within South Africa, and newshosts and FTP servers being hosted by our ISPs already exist for the very purpose of de-congestion of their networks be providing local-download alternatives for the very same things you want to charge for.

http://gaming.do.co.za/downloads <- patches for a variety of popular games can be downloaded here for free
ftp.games.saix.net <- they also provide patches for a variety of popular games, including some game related mod packs, videos etc that players would otherwise download internationally
ftp.isgaming.co.za <- they provide, among other things, occasionally-updated EVE client downloads, patches and, when relevant, expansion install files, as examples

Then there are lans. For games such as WoW, you are actually paying for the 'license to use' an expansion pack when you purchase a retail copy in a store or buy it on the site. The files themselves are 'free', and you can copy them openly from someone else; you just won't be able to use them on the official servers unless the expansion pack in question has been purchased for your account.


What you're suggesting isn't a new service, or even anything that could be called a service, because there are too many places to get exactly what you're trying to offer without having to pay for them. The only thing that your 'service' would provide is a simpler method of getting to what people want by having an easy to remember domain name and the ability to perform HTTP downloads instead of FTP or newshost downloads (which are trivial in difficulty anyway).

*edit* As an example, here is the 500mb Dominion Expansion/patch on the do gaming site:
http://gaming.do.co.za/downloads/444...6-117956_m.exe

[Sockmonkey]

I might have worded my post wrong , the idea that I had was to have a system where a retailer could send ( on a disc through the post) patches to anyone who's bought the original game but didn't have the required bandwidth to download the patches. I realise that even then there will be more legal complications than whats its worth. My bad for not posting my idea correctly.

To be honest, with many ISP's offering uncapped internet at affordable rates, such a service wont be needed within 12 months or so.