Yantis & Paypal etc...

[Tegdain]

http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/pulpit20040506.html

[Laferty]

!0.000 transfers was the only fucking thing i found unbelieveable. You figure each is a bare min of 10 bucks and the ebay marketplace gets 5% of that.

So 10,000 x (10.00 x 0.95)= 95 thousand US dollars. That is at a base of 10 per trade. Now lets think that only hafl of them were incomming payments and half were him pulling the money out of paypal. (Totally assuming this since i am fairly sure paypal wouldnt count withdraws as transactions but just for fun!)

5000 incomming payments 10 bucks a trade min. ebay still retaining 5%.
5000 x (10.00 x 0.95)= 47.5 thousand US Dollars.

With this being said , that is very impressive. If you figure the "avid" player plays 4 hours a day 300 days a year You have someone that has 1200 hours a year. and figure the marketplace has only been good for 2 years. so 2400 hours. 47.5k divided by 2400 hours = pay per hours. 19.79 Us dollars per hour to play EQ as a hobby. Not to shabby i must say!

That's correct. roughly 19.75 per hour just to play a game you hate or love. Of course i am sure he prolly doesnt play much anymore. And ya 19.75 isnt huge. but its definetly not bad.

EQ 30, Kunark 30, Velious 30, Luclin 30, POP 30, LoY 25(?), LDoN 20, GoD 25.
30 x 30 x 30 x 30 x 30 x 25 x 20 x 25 = 220+ (10x 12 x 3) +(13 x 12 x 2)=
892 dollars.

So not including all other aspects of this game, Just the Game and monthly bills its cost ya 900 bucks. Gives ya something to think about when Ebaying.

If the 300+ days played isnt worth 900 bucks, you have some serious issues. Take the loss and go out like a champ.

btw just so ya know. If you have hit or recently hit the magical 300 days played, you have offically wasted 1.25c per hour on decent entertainment that saved you from wasting money in a lame bar with lame friends, Hell might have even kept a few of you from knocking some lady up or being knocked up yourselves, and after playing with ya. Somethimes i think that might just be a damn good thing.

[Silverblaze]

also your assuming at the base level. Take into account that paypal alone says they have DOZENS of accounts registered to Jonathan Yantis, and the 10000 was from just one of those accounts. Last time i checked transferring from paypal into your own bank account is not a transaction to them so thats 10000 people paying for something. Realistically considering he has bought so many EQ related websites for such huge amounts of cash to advertise his own site you can safely assume that jonathan yantis has made at least 1.5 million or more in his eq related functions.

[Kaldayan]

Transfers would be buying and selling, not withdrawals

[Xiff]

http://www.themis-group.com/view_news.phtml?id=24

The Themis Report on Online Gaming 2004 - 1/6/2004
The Themis Report on Online Gaming 2004
Themis Report Predicts $1.3 Billion in Worldwide Game Revenues for 2004

Stamford, CT – January 6th, 2004 – The Themis Group today released its latest Report on Online Gaming, estimating that worldwide online gaming revenues for 2004 will be $1.4 billion. (Fast Facts from the 2004 Report can be found here (http://www.themis-group.com/uploads/Themis%20Report%20Fast%20Facts%202004.doc).)

“That represents impressive growth from 2002’s total revenue of an estimated $766 million in subscriptions, advertising and sponsored content,” remarked Themis Group CEO and co-founder Alex Macris. “It’s clear that the online gaming portion of the industry continues to experience surging growth, especially in the area of subscription-based games. In calendar 2004 alone, we expect to see over $1.1 billion in total subscription revenues for persistent worlds, such as EverQuest, Star Wars Galaxies and Final Fantasy Online.”

Growth beyond 2004 will likely be driven by a combination of an increasing base of subscribers, entry into emerging markets such as China, and new business models such as virtual property sales and online rentals, noted lead author Nova Barlow. “Virtual property sales are already going to generate over $20m in revenue in 2004, on around $400m in trade volume,” she added, “and could grow to as much as one-quarter of subscription revenues by 2008.”

The 121 page report, The Themis Report on Online Gaming 2004, focuses on the business models, key players, and emerging issues of the online game industry. With a foreword by noted economist Edward Castronova, the report provides detailed predictions and trend analysis for online gaming through 2008, including subscriber projections for the top ten new releases of 2004. Also included are white papers on hot topics, including a discussion of the Asia-Pacific marketplace, a guide to monetizing massively multiplayer games, an overview of the coming battle for the online sports gaming segment, an analysis of where mass market subscription gaming is going wrong, and a blue-sky projection of online gaming out to 2014. A complete timeline and glossary of online gaming are also provided.

More information about the report, including the Table of Contents and an excerpt, may be found on the Themis Group website at http://www.themis-group.com/reports.phtml. The report may also be purchased on the Website in paper or electronic form for a price of $995.00 USD. The Themis Group also offers the report as a game research package with DFC Intelligence’s The Online Game Market, this years’ version of DFC’s annual market analysis (see http://www.dfcint.com/game_report/Online_Game_toc.html). The price of the combined reports is $3,595.00 USD.

About Themis Group
Themis Group, Inc. is an international provider of marketing, management, client generation and customer support services to developers and publishers of online PC and console games, websites, and other community driven services within the interactive entertainment industry. Founded in 2001, the company has executive offices in Stamford, CT, and Research Triangle Park, NC. Today, the Themis Group boasts a team of industry veterans whose cumulative experience with online games exceeds 50 years. Themis clients include developers, publishers, media outlets and technology firms from around the world. Services offered by Themis include pre- and post- launch consultancy, in-game support, community management, industry research, and marketing and media relations. For more information, visit the company’s website at http://www.themis-group.com.





**********************************************

Note bolded, underlined portion....

[Dephton]

Themis Group is a few ex mmorpg players that formed a consulting firm to basically try to steer potential online game companies into larger profit margins and longer lasting games. they were actually hired by anarchy online and their contract was not renewed, as most people have come to accept that they are really just a scam.

they capitalized on the suits not being informed enough about gaming and mmorpg games in particular, and had a pretty good sell when they first started up, since the market was so virgin. Now it looks like they have turned to peddling this packet that probably offers them a bit of profit after paying for the expert witness type of validation they advertise in the qualifications.

Basically, the "themis Group" has no credentials outside of playing MMORPGs for probably half the amount of time the rest of us have, and very little actual market presence.

If you want to get info about the theory behind MMORPG and loosely laid out business plans, the Game Developer's Conference presentations are a better place to start imo, not some self proclaimed group of mmorpg 'experts'

Here is a link to one about handling the communities of an mmorpg from start through release. kinda depressing, but it does seem to be the status quo so far:

http://www.legendmud.org/raph/gaming/gdc_2002_community_files/frame.htm

[Tegdain]

more (http://www.walrusmagazine.com/article.pl?sid=04/05/06/1929205&tid=1)


When he averaged the results, he was stunned to discover that the EverQuest platinum piece was worth about one cent U.S. — higher than the Japanese yen or the Italian lira

[Tegdain]

Long article, but interesting read. Wouldn't mind finding some of those articles he published online... Damn humans have infected our virtual worlds with real world societies!