is just like a microcosm of the times. Dianka is gradually assimilated and on the verge of extinction under the new business order.
For some new generation players, due to being influenced by charging models such as F2P and micro-transactions for many years, "time card" in the narrow sense has become a somewhat unfamiliar term. But if you have learned about online games at the beginning of the new millennium, then there is a high possibility that you can find a pile of "memories" related to them from the dusty drawers.
buys point cards at street newsstands and then exchanges them for dozens of hours of game time. To some extent, it has become the epitome of online game players in an era - but times have changed, and today's "point card system" has become It is a form of charging that is difficult to exist independently and is even on the verge of extinction.
Even the most traditional MMORPG has begun to transform on a large scale for the sake of survival.
FF14, which retains the timer mode, also needs to be in line with international standards. Selling props and peripherals has become an important way to make money. "World of Warcraft" switched to a monthly card system two years ago. The "remaining minute redemption" that was enforced not long ago also means the end of an era. The demise of
dot cards has become a natural process. Everyone can find some signs and reasons from it, and the environment in which it was originally born may have already reflected the final outcome of its own decline.
A unique phenomenon in the Chinese market
In the traditional sense, point cards mostly convert points into game time according to a certain ratio. Players start deducting time when they go online, but no consumption occurs when they go offline. Contrary to imagination, this form is far less popular around the world. It can be said to be a unique phenomenon limited to the Chinese market.
The set of business methods originated in Europe and the United States are not suitable for us. This is inseparable from the consumption habits of early domestic players.
In the pioneering era of online games, developers almost all encountered the same problem. Large-scale networking services and the continuous update costs of works are different from traditional stand-alone ones. They need to find a way to ensure income for a long time.
"Client + Monthly Card" is the most orthodox charging method for online games.
However, the situation in the Chinese market as a whole is different.
As we all know, mainland players’ awareness of game payment had not yet awakened in the early years, and their consumption levels at that time also had objective limitations. Pirated CDs that cost five yuan a piece are everywhere. Online games are still a relatively new thing, so it's obviously not easy for people to pay for them. As for Hong Kong and Taiwan, according to a survey by IGN Japan, the physical piracy industry in the two places gradually declined until around 2010. It is obviously not feasible to purchase the client and then recharge it.
A difficult problem is faced by all domestic manufacturers, and the attempt of "localization" is imperative.
Although monthly cards are usually more cost-effective than point cards in terms of expenditure per unit time, the latter is convenient for users who do not play games for a long time and ensures that their spending is spent wisely. In an era when games had not yet become mainstream entertainment consumption in China, the advantages of the point card system were self-evident.
The change and demise of dot cards
Although the "traditional dot card format" is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, its form has not remained unchanged in the past two decades of development. This is not only about the transformation of physical form, but also the continuous change of uses and logic.
At the beginning of the new millennium, even domestic game manufacturers could not completely abandon the traditional idea of "selling boxed games". And because the network at that time was not developed, many people still used 5KB/S telephone dial-up. Downloading installation files and patches was not a good option, and the cost for players was much more than it is today. As a result, a number of rather unique products have appeared on the market: boxed games sold bundled with point cards.
Similar to the upgrading of console games, early online games often launched new physical versions when releasing expansion packs.
On the one hand, this is to attract players who visit bookstores and video stores. On the other hand, it is also due to the domestic consideration of "too small download bandwidth".In fact, people’s demand for “quickly experiencing content” at that time was even greater than the quality and reputation of the game itself. When it’s time to capture the market, agencies need to eliminate any factors that might lead to player churn.
Boxed online games became less common after 2006, and then only some scattered "paper CD versions" could be seen. The reason why
gradually disappears is inseparable from the improvement of domestic network construction and the popularity of Internet cafes. According to data from CNNIC (China Internet Network Information Center), as of June 30, 2006, the total number of computers connected to the Internet in China reached 54.5 million, which is more than five times that of the same period in 2001. The number of people surfing the Internet in Internet cafes also accounts for nearly 30% of the total.
is based on the promotion of video stores and bookstores, and gradually moved to online and Internet cafes. Downloading games is no longer an insurmountable threshold. Game manufacturers no longer need to use high-cost marketing of "binding discs" to retain users. Since then, the individual sales of point cards have been maintained for a long time.
However, the undercurrent of the market is still surging, and the role of point cards is slowly expanding. In order for agents to better coordinate revenue data and to facilitate retailers to purchase goods, a more convenient "platform card" has quietly spread from the market: simply put, this kind of product can be used in multiple games. Medium general and conversion.
Internet cafe owners have become potential beneficiaries. Based on the universal characteristics of platform cards, they have launched user-oriented recharge services. You know, for new Internet users, purchasing point cards, finding the recharge page, and entering card information are far more complicated than imagined. In contrast, it is much easier to hand over the money and account number to the Internet cafe owner and let him take full responsibility. Over time, direct communication between players and retailers has become less and less, which has contributed to the decline of physical point cards in disguise.
Of course, this is not the only trigger.
In 2010, the Ministry of Culture’s executive meeting reviewed and approved the “Interim Measures for the Management of Online Games” and came into effect. The sale of physical point cards was immediately tightened across the country, especially retail and warehouse purchases near primary and secondary schools, which received large-scale complaints from parents of students. Cultural law enforcement officers investigated and dealt with many merchants at that time. After repeated visits, fewer players purchased physical point cards.
In 2011, Taiwan’s Chunghwa Telecom also began to stop selling HiNet physical point cards, and this trend soon swept the entire Chinese market.
However, the process from physical cards to real digital point cards is not easy. In the transitional stage, the most popular ones on the market are actually hybrids of the two. At that time, players could not purchase points directly online, but could only get a series of recharge codes. Game manufacturers still use the traditional idea of physical point cards, but they use a different presentation carrier.
On the other hand, although retailers have begun to reduce the purchase volume of physical cards in order to avoid risks, it does not mean that they are willing to give up the business that is delivered to them. As long as players make demands, the owners of newsstands and small bookstores will usually take out their computers and provide digital card recharging services. During the transition period of
, there is a special point card form, which is similar to the settlement form of "convenience store". For example, print the card secret information on a small piece of paper to replace the PVC card. It is not difficult to find that the digital point card at this time has not fully demonstrated its portable characteristics.
What really takes the "recharge experience" to a higher level is actually a "secondary dealer" style trading platform. Users only need to provide their own game account and transfer the online banking money to the platform, and within a few minutes, the game time will be "automatically credited". This is not much different from the current way of purchasing virtual points. It was quickly adopted by the first party and then occupied an absolutely dominant position in the market.
With the transformation of physical point cards, major agents have been planning for a long time and tacitly come up with clever ideas. They have taken advantage of the versatility and flexibility of virtual points to give them functions other than timekeeping. "Points" have gradually become the unit of measurement for purchasing props and services, and their nature is closer to "coupons" in F2P.
You must know that the statement "it has been planned for a long time" is not an exaggeration.As early as 2002, "Stone Age" launched a series of card sets "Lajika". This thing is simply "physical krypton gold". Each bag of cards sells for 3 yuan, which contains more than 30 card faces, divided into 4 levels: S-level, A-level, B-level, and C-level, corresponding to different virtual props and WGS Points can also be redeemed for game time. In order to break the shackles of revenue,
quantified the relationship between gameplay and charging. At that time, the concept of equal value between points and props had already emerged.
As if it had been planned, the entire market eventually followed the established route. The point-and-click system was gradually integrated into the new business order, and then assimilated and was on the verge of extinction.
But even so, people's admiration and memory for it will not dissipate. Similar to the way of buying out stand-alone content, Dianka reflects some of the purest business ideas, which is to focus on creating the content itself so that players are willing to pay for entertainment.
It is a pity that today's game industry does not leave them enough room for development. Even putting aside subjective factors, the objective cost of making games has become higher and higher. When development efficiency encounters a bottleneck, players' demand for content capacity continues to increase, which breaks the overall revenue balance. In the face of fierce market competition, the rewards that can be raised through the point card system and the buyout system are no longer enough to support the developers' beautiful vision as they were in the past.
But no matter how difficult the environment is, times have changed. The pursuit of pure content should not be replaced by quantitative thinking about money - this important core should always be an indispensable condition for creating high-quality works.
