I am totally against in-game shops where you can spend real money for in-game items. In order for me to stay on in a game that featured this, I feel like a short list of things has to be lined up.
1. It has to be a damned good MMO. If I don't love it, *poof* I'm gone!
2. The items available on such a shop could NEVER effect my interactions with them on any level. It would have to be a 100% cosmetic thing. Stat or XP boosts would be totally unacceptable. Stat boosts, for obvious reasons. Giving an advantage to those willing/capable of coughing up more money is a nasty idea. It would undermine any kind of decent community in a game, not to mention what it says about what the Developers think of their customers. XP boosts would be unacceptable because the game would end up being constructed to encourage people to get the boost. What does this mean? More of a mind-numbing grind that has ever been conceived.
3. The community would have to remain "un-tainted" by the insurgence of folks who would come to a game because they could pay to have better things. This is not the kind of community I want to play in.
The ONLY, and I repeat ONLY way I would find it acceptable for this to happen if those 3 things aren't met, is if the MMO was free. If you're not playing a monthly fee, you have no right to complain about any alternative profit-making solutions a company could employ for running the game.
I really hope that *insert game name here* will be the first game to ever live up to all of its pre-release promises, maintain a manageable hype level and have a clean release. Just don't expect me to hold my breath.
If all mmorpgs become item mall games tomorrow I would quit mmorpgs 100% sure no doubt about it. Every single item mall game out there provides unfair advantages in the item mall. people will say "No it does not" bottom line a 2-3 yaer old item mall game HAS big benefits in the item mall, no mmorpg can survive off cosmetics alone, (correction no good mmorpg).
A good way to see if ur mmorpg is not balance is this if you were in a PvP tournament for an epic LOOKING mount you could win, only one mount that looks like this was ever going to be available you were in the finals against some one else, The other person was allowed to use the item mall items as much as he wished, but you were not allowed to use any item mall items. Would you say he was in any kind of an advantage? If your answer is no, then your F2P mmorpg is balanced. I rather pay a subscription fee to have a even playing field with EVERYONE else in a game than have to worry about always missing out on game features, on the ability to be the best I can be, just because I dont line the companies pockets with 100 dollar bills monthly.
Some item shop games are done really well. I mean how the shop is set up. The game itself could be horrible, and htat's beside the point. But if the shop is well done and thoughtout, then I can only see cash shop as an advantage to the players because it provides a greater amount of options/choices.
That said, most item mall games I've seen are horribly setup/unbalanced.
Comments
I am totally against in-game shops where you can spend real money for in-game items. In order for me to stay on in a game that featured this, I feel like a short list of things has to be lined up.
1. It has to be a damned good MMO. If I don't love it, *poof* I'm gone!
2. The items available on such a shop could NEVER effect my interactions with them on any level. It would have to be a 100% cosmetic thing. Stat or XP boosts would be totally unacceptable. Stat boosts, for obvious reasons. Giving an advantage to those willing/capable of coughing up more money is a nasty idea. It would undermine any kind of decent community in a game, not to mention what it says about what the Developers think of their customers. XP boosts would be unacceptable because the game would end up being constructed to encourage people to get the boost. What does this mean? More of a mind-numbing grind that has ever been conceived.
3. The community would have to remain "un-tainted" by the insurgence of folks who would come to a game because they could pay to have better things. This is not the kind of community I want to play in.
The ONLY, and I repeat ONLY way I would find it acceptable for this to happen if those 3 things aren't met, is if the MMO was free. If you're not playing a monthly fee, you have no right to complain about any alternative profit-making solutions a company could employ for running the game.
I really hope that *insert game name here* will be the first game to ever live up to all of its pre-release promises, maintain a manageable hype level and have a clean release. Just don't expect me to hold my breath.
If all mmorpgs become item mall games tomorrow I would quit mmorpgs 100% sure no doubt about it. Every single item mall game out there provides unfair advantages in the item mall. people will say "No it does not" bottom line a 2-3 yaer old item mall game HAS big benefits in the item mall, no mmorpg can survive off cosmetics alone, (correction no good mmorpg).
A good way to see if ur mmorpg is not balance is this if you were in a PvP tournament for an epic LOOKING mount you could win, only one mount that looks like this was ever going to be available you were in the finals against some one else, The other person was allowed to use the item mall items as much as he wished, but you were not allowed to use any item mall items. Would you say he was in any kind of an advantage? If your answer is no, then your F2P mmorpg is balanced. I rather pay a subscription fee to have a even playing field with EVERYONE else in a game than have to worry about always missing out on game features, on the ability to be the best I can be, just because I dont line the companies pockets with 100 dollar bills monthly.
Some item shop games are done really well. I mean how the shop is set up. The game itself could be horrible, and htat's beside the point. But if the shop is well done and thoughtout, then I can only see cash shop as an advantage to the players because it provides a greater amount of options/choices.
That said, most item mall games I've seen are horribly setup/unbalanced.