The Key to Return Business: Don't Shut Out Your Buyers

I'm a bit obsessive with most things. I'll immerse myself in something, and ignore all else until I've had my fill. This is especially true of video games, and no other genre lends its self better to obsession than MMOs.

Recently I've felt the urge to go back to Final Fantasy XI, and was thrilled that despite their threats to delete account information after 3 months of inactivity, that they were offering what they call, the Return Home to Vana'diel campaign. This alluring concept got me excited, but eventually let me down.

The problem is that they require you either to have a still active PlayOnline account. Which still only services 2 games, FFXI and Tetramaster. Who on earth actually kept thier PlayOnline account active after quitting FFXI? Since I did not, I would need my original FFXI booklet with the registration code on the inside. Sorry, Sqeenix, but I lost that years ago.

I have to wonder how much money they are missing out on because they can't seem to see the value in what every other MMO seems to already know. If you leave your user's data alone, eventually a lot of them will spend more money with you.

I can't count the number of times I've let my World of Warcraft account expire only to play again a few months later. If there is a model for success worth trying to copy out there, it certainly is WoW.

It must be a slow month, this is my second post about a company that just doesn't seem to want my money in recent memory.

OnLive, True Linux Gaming At Last?

OnLive just announced a very interesting service today that will run the latest video games on a powerful server, and feed you the video within milliseconds.

At first I was skeptical, which was followed by an odd wave of elitism as I hoped they would fail to bring performance hungry games to mild mannered machines. (I've always loved building and pushing computers to the limit, largely to play games) But then I settled down and realized the potential if what they claim to have developed is the real deal.

I quickly realized how the device could change trips home to Mom's where there isn't a gaming console in sight. I could just bring onlive along. It would bring the full breadth of gaming enjoyment to my linux desktop, with or without fussing with getting the 3D hardware working, windows emulation and bitter disappointment.

It opens up a lot of doors that I just can't wait to peek inside. It does also bring out some worrisome hypotheticals too. For instance, if every kid on the block is using a lot more bandwidth than before, what will happen to the speed of our cable internet? Can I play with multiple friends at my house on various devices without grinding any connection to a halt. Saving me $100-$200 a year in hardware upgrades, won't do me much good if it costs me $30 per month in extra internet costs. And what will the service it's self cost when it is availalable?

Still, the concept is a strong one. I'm thinking it may be an OnLive christmas this year.

Where is my Creative Suite for Linux?

We're on the cusp of a new Adobe version and I'm excited by all the changes I've been hearing about in CS4. CS3 has been terrific software that I enjoy using at work, but I've long held off on buying a personal copy for my home. The primary reason, no Linux version. At home, where my network can be anything I want, I choose Linux. Specifically Ubuntu and OpenSuse machines.

I'd be willing to settle for a stripped down version if nessessary, but I have to believe that Adobe would make more money by offering something on Linux. I'll just keep my fingers crossed and my wallet open. Here's my money Adobe! Take it! Please?