Guild Wars 2

Valve ( steam) and ccp (EvE) have a hold on the Linux gaming market atm .

I think a linux would benefit the Linux community and Arena net .

it seems only indie dev’s and 2 major companies have decided to make games for linux which is odd . i mean the industry is about making money and all

Steam is terrible, and is not an MMORPG. It’s also serviced by what I think are the worst servers in the world. Torrents are faster, more stable, and offer me all the same product. Go figure.

EvE is an MMORPG, with under half a million players in 10 years. It’s not worth bringing up, because on the business end, they just don’t know what they’re doing. The only difference between CCP and Valve is that CCP isn’t lucky enough to have idiots throw money at them for no apparent reason.

Linux is, by it’s very nature, for people who don’t have, or don’t want to spend money. Not exactly the people you want to try to sell things to.

So, no. A-net’s stock is worthless enough as it is….

Nels the Cornwhisperer.8025:

Steam is terrible, and is not an MMORPG. It’s also serviced by what I think are the worst servers in the world. Torrents are faster, more stable, and offer me all the same product. Go figure.

EvE is an MMORPG, with under half a million players in 10 years. It’s not worth bringing up, because on the business end, they just don’t know what they’re doing. The only difference between CCP and Valve is that CCP isn’t lucky enough to have idiots throw money at them for no apparent reason.

Linux is, by it’s very nature, for people who don’t have, or don’t want to spend money. Not exactly the people you want to try to sell things to.

So, no. A-net’s stock is worthless enough as it is….

humble bundles sales beg to differ. The average linux user paid twice as much as any windows user. This is because linux users are willing to pay for stuff. Just because they use a “free” operative system, does not mean they don’t want to buy stuff. Linux systems is free, not in the regard that they’re not worth a penny, but in the fact that everyone can take the code, upgrade it, change it, add stuff to it, and then share it with the world. Linux OS developers are everyone who wants to change stuff to them. that is why most linux users use those OS, not because they’re “free”. So no, don’t go saying linux users only want free stuff, you have no idea what you’re talking about there.

Have you ever actually done the math on the most successful bundle ever? $8.60 USD per person. And that’s the best, with the help of amazing indie titles like Bastion…

If the first million players to have bought GW2 at release payed half price, they’d still have made more money than the best game bundle Linux has ever had.

MMOs don’t work like indie game bundles you can get for free. There isn’t room to screw up, just ask Funcom… They lost more money in the launch of Secret World than humble bundles has made to date.

Unlike indie games, where people can just make 300 and hope one sticks, with very little risk and very high reward, MMOs do business in tens of millions of dollars for each single game.

The time and energy that would go in to a linux port would be very unlikely to show any kind of return at all, because no matter how you look at it, nothing has ever made good money running on linux.

Nels the Cornwhisperer.8025:

Linux is, by it’s very nature, for people who don’t have, or don’t want to spend money. Not exactly the people you want to try to sell things to.

I beg to differ. Linux is an OS, like Windows or Mac. Most users buy their PC’s with a copy of Windows or Mac (both of which are already paid for and provided for the user). That being said, almost all linux users must remove (or partition) their primary OS in order to use it. There must, then, be some reason to switch other than the fact that it is free, because for most individuals their first OS came free to begin with. Here are the reasons I have found that people use linux:

1. It is the most efficient OS of the three primary OS’s in most cases.

2. It is the easiest OS to slip in and out of a coding environment with.

3. It can look and act in any way you choose. Heck, you can even code your own WM if you want.

4. 99% of servers run linux.

5. It is simple, and there is beauty in that simplicity.

6. It is fun to use.

7. It’s awesome.

Please note: I do not have a problem with Windows users or Mac users. That was not what this post was about. Rather, it was meant to inform you that linux users are not free hackers. They are real people who have real money but choose not to use it on an OS that is (to them) inefficient.

Nels the Cornwhisperer.8025:

Have you ever actually done the math on the most successful bundle ever? $8.60 USD per person. And that’s the best, with the help of amazing indie titles like Bastion…

…

The time and energy that would go in to a linux port would be very unlikely to show any kind of return at all, because no matter how you look at it, nothing has ever made good money running on linux.

I believe the point of the humble bundle post was to show that linux users will pay for games. In fact, the linux section on their pi graph of sales is often roughly the size of the Mac section. In that particular bundle, linux users donated $10.48 per bundle, whereas Mac users donated $7.95, and Windows users donated $6.23. I’m just sayin’. It happened.

To your final points: A linux port will make a return, but it will not likely be great. I know this, and most other linux users asking for a linux port know this. That being said, it is still an interesting talking point. I also know that I am a bit of a game-hog. If a game I don’t particularly like supports linux, I still usually support the game. I know there are quite a few other linux users who do the same. If they drum up the fact that GW2 is porting to linux, I am sure there will be a good number who support it.

Also, as I said before, 99% of servers run linux. They make good money. Linux users re actually sought after in the business environment for this reason (or so I’ve been told).

Sorry for the length. I tried to make it as easy of a read as possible.

It’s not happening,its like 1% of the gaming community that uses it,its not worth it to invsest so much development costs for a 1% playerbase.

I agree with the author – client of GW2 for linux would be a good thing – a gaming developers are just starting to wake up that linux users can be a way more proficient group than windows or mac users – If you check – more developers are starting to making games for linux – not only in the Asia…