That’s the only part of your conclusion the analysis influences a good bit… It’s not like Blizzard is looking at a market of people with only $23 a month to spend. What it means is that those in Blizzard’s market have (metaphorically speaking) $58+$35 a month to spend on hobbies, as in MMORPG players are making up for one or more of those whose hobbies are in the $23 range. Now a $15 subscription ain’t much at all. Lots of room for growth, and lots more pounds of flesh to marketize.

See the Plants vs. Zombies experiment, trying to see how popular an in-game game might be? And how long before battleground realms are pay to play? Marketize the edges to pull more from those who can pay and are paying to play LOTRO, etc. at the same time as WoW.

I wonder how long before WoW, at least, goes to a subscription *plus* Team Fortress 2 virtual shop model, where your purchases may not intentionally increase your success in game, but they do directly affect gameplay.

But for now, excuse me, I’m going to the polo pitch. Ur, I mean running in my 6 month old shoes. About time to buy another pair, I think.

But yeah, certainly people at the top end have extremely expensive hobbies.

For each month someone else spends $23, we’ve got $35 worth of spending to make up for.

Here’s someone who doesn’t play GTA or Civ or… ;^) And even when I pay to play WoW, I’m not playing 20 hours a week.

(… or angband!)

“What that means is that most hobbies are not actually as expensive as $58 per month..”

Way off Spinks. The numbers tell you that most hobbies require large outlays instead of monthly bills. Your average spender is spending $120 on running shoes twice a year, or $80 on fancy needles for knitting, or $300 for a rifle, or $80 for bread bans, spoon, and wooden mixing bowl… Then they pay a few bucks in between to sustain the practice for road races, thread, ammo & range fees, wheat & yeast, whatever.

Most months, the hobbies cost much less ($23), but for the year, factoring in big expenditures, it’s still $58/mth. Each month it’s $23, they’ve got $35 saved up to splurge later.

“At the extremes, the 10th percentile (low spenders) spent $5 on Hobbies in the U.S. and the 90th percentile (high spenders) spent $130 on Hobbies in the U.S.”

Remember how much more disposable income gamers have. If people with 1.) A relatively fast box 2.) broadband and 3.) enough cash to consider a monthly subscription aren’t on the high side of the average, I’d be surprised. Their average is well above the median any way you slice it.

So while there already are some Warcraft novels and I think one or two EVE books floating around, the time seems right for a lot more novels set in game worlds.

You mention Huizingas Magic Circle, but I also came to think of the Just World Fallacy, an ideal I see us chasing in game worlds, where money would ruin the fact that sub MMO’s right now only refer to themselves, they are closed systems, not a display of actual buying power.

And what Stabs said!