marco formento | blinkenmedia

Cosa può imparare Murdoch da orchi e nani? Se lo chiede Patrick Smith su paidContent, dove la base del ragionamento è che World of Warcraft, con i suoi 12 milioni di abbonati paganti, è decisamente un caso di successo di ‘servizio’ online.

People will pay for interaction: There are some good massively multiplayer and single-player online games out there available to play for free, plus the average gamer has alreadypaid for a bunch of PC and console games. So what makes them cough up for WoW as well? Interaction: Acti-Blizz is selling content, yes, but more importantly it’s offering access to a community of gamers who meet, talk and play together in WoW’s virtual setting of Azeroth (yes, I am a recovered former player).

—News as gaming: Could newspapers similarly harness the human need for interaction and stimulation and sell not just boring text news but access to a shared experience? Sure, there’s MySun, MyTelegraph and “tell us what you think in the comments below”, but that’s a marketing ploy to drive page impressions and encourage more content consumption. The lesson from gaming is that people won’t pay for content they can’t help shape themselves—or project their own personal narrative onto.

—Reader rewards: The addictive quality of WoW comes from “leveling”, the process whereby players earn points and progress a series of ranks to gain new skills. News sites should consider whether they can drive usage, loyalty and payments by similarly encouraging readers to unlock different “levels” of membership, each with its own unique rewards.