I really prefer subscription games to not have a cash shop at all. That being said things like server transfers, name changes and account services i do not see as cash shop items. Potions being sold in a cash shop i would prefer that those are left to crafters with the exception of xp potions, i think tha the rested xp system takes care of the need for xp pots. Overall i do not like cash shop games and i have yet to find a F2P game that i dont find insanely boring. I think that subscription games should not have a cash shop at all.
Buying access to tiered level content may seem unappealing to some; but really when it goes account wide and you only have to purchase the content once.. It feels more like 'payASYOUgo' rather than 'being nickled and dimed'.
Some weeks I have 40 hours to devote to LotRO, most weeks I have like 6 if I'm lucky. The content will wait for me while my bank account isn't ticked away. I've put 8 bucks into the game total so far and with the sales I've caught I have a mount and content to roughly around level 45. I'm currently level 18 and that's taken me about 5 weeks to get on my Captain.
Yeah, feels worth it.
I was wary of this model some time ago, but it works and it feels good to not feel obligated to play. "Well they just pinged my account for 14.99 more, may as well log in."
EQ2x feels way more hindering in certain aspects than lotro even tho' you can get to more of the actual mission and areas for less money. I tried it first btw since I played and mostly enjoyed EQ2 some time ago.
Each company is going to have their own approch to the model and that's a good thing. Since it's relativly new still the industry should experiment.
so this s the type of colunist we have in mmorpg ? lol
one that says its right to sell XP and mounts for items, aswell as special content ?
if it was my company that dude would be fired for sure..........
its a shame....
So we should fire someone for having opinions, which he clearly and planily puts forward?
Just because you believe something, doesn't make it the only viable opinion. You don't have to agree, but maybe practice a little bit of respect for someone who thinks differently than you do?
Of course you should. Any person who can state their opinions in a calm, logical, and rational manner, has no business being on the internet. This kind of discussion is best left to those who spew hateful and rabid vitriol from their foam flecked lips, or worse, their foam flecked brains.
/SARCASM OFF
That said I do disagree with just about every point Mr. Murphy made. I personally find cash shops in a game a reason for developers to work less for the player and not more. Every item sold in the cash shop means one less boss mob, quest, dungeon, raid, what have you, that could have been created in game for the player to enjoy and gain said cash shop reward that way.
I know it can be argued that this extra income from these cash shop items will lead the company to create bigger and better content, but honestly, why should they. They have now learned they can get people to pay them twice (at least in the case of P2P games with a cash shop) for working half as hard to bring them new game content. In other words, why put in the man power to create an adventure to gain an award that would have kept you busy for hours when you are willing to pay them more money to gain said reward in seconds with the swipe of a credit card.
Is that what these games have become? Nothing more than the digital equivalent of a comic book collectors convention?
A few months back I made a post about this very topic. I think it makes my point better than anything more I could type here so I'll just post the link to it instead.
For instance take a look at cryptic, it is not even free to play yet. Take a look at what they have done. Yes they added a few episodes. However where has the meat and potatoes gone. In the cash store. Look at at it ships you can not get in game, Outfits you can not get in game, Percs you cant get in game, Bridge officers you cant get in game. about 90% of what cryptic has done has been store items, and 80% of those affect game play. Now look at the playable content added the past 6 months, its pathetic.
Now lets take a look at lotro. What have they done. Well yes tons of store items on sale every week. One zone added 2 months ago with free to play. Same here 85-90% of the content for the past year, has been the TP turbine points store. Now there are some hints that things are headed our way such as playable content, but only in small chunks going the ddo route.
All item / cash stores does in my thoughts are gives the programmers an excuse not to work on real content, but instead focus on making store items that they hope folks will buy.
Will some of these companies re-invest what they have earned in the store to make the game better. We are still at a wait and see what they will or will not do. Right now all I see from most of the cash shop / item store companies is more of the same. More added items and no added playable content or very little added playable content.
so this s the type of colunist we have in mmorpg ? lol
one that says its right to sell XP and mounts for items, aswell as special content ?
if it was my company that dude would be fired for sure..........
its a shame....
So we should fire someone for having opinions, which he clearly and planily puts forward?
Just because you believe something, doesn't make it the only viable opinion. You don't have to agree, but maybe practice a little bit of respect for someone who thinks differently than you do?
Of course you should. Any person who can state their opinions in a calm, logical, and rational manner, has no business being on the internet. This kind of discussion is best left to those who spew hateful and rabid vitriol from their foam flecked lips, or worse, their foam flecked brains.
/SARCASM OFF
That said I do disagree with just about every point Mr. Murphy made. I personally find cash shops in a game a reason for developers to work less for the player and not more. Every item sold in the cash shop means one less boss mob, quest, dungeon, raid, what have you, that could have been created in game for the player to enjoy and gain said cash shop reward that way.
I know it can be argued that this extra income from these cash shop items will lead the company to create bigger and better content, but honestly, why should they. They have now learned they can get people to pay them twice (at least in the case of P2P games with a cash shop) for working half as hard to bring them new game content. In other words, why put in the man power to create an adventure to gain an award that would have kept you busy for hours when you are willing to pay them more money to gain said reward in seconds with the swipe of a credit card.
Is that what these games have become? Nothing more than the digital equivalent of a comic book collectors convention?
A few months back I made a post about this very topic. I think it makes my point better than anything more I could type here so I'll just post the link to it instead.
For instance take a look at cryptic, it is not even free to play yet. Take a look at what they have done. Yes they added a few episodes. However where has the meat and potatoes gone. In the cash store. Look at at it ships you can not get in game, Outfits you can not get in game, Percs you cant get in game, Bridge officers you cant get in game. about 90% of what cryptic has done has been store items, and 80% of those affect game play. Now look at the playable content added the past 6 months, its pathetic.
Now lets take a look at lotro. What have they done. Well yes tons of store items on sale every week. One zone added 2 months ago with free to play. Same here 85-90% of the content for the past year, has been the TP turbine points store. Now there are some hints that things are headed our way such as playable content, but only in small chunks going the ddo route.
All item / cash stores does in my thoughts are gives the programmers an excuse not to work on real content, but instead focus on making store items that they hope folks will buy.
Will some of these companies re-invest what they have earned in the store to make the game better. We are still at a wait and see what they will or will not do. Right now all I see from most of the cash shop / item store companies is more of the same. More added items and no added playable content or very little added playable content.
What subscription based game that has a cash shop has survived?
You guys made your point that THAT is a bad idea.
EQ2x and Champion's Online's recent announcement agrees with you.
But to say these games aren't adding content is uneducated and unfounded.
DDO has grown, they've added new areas and now new races. LOTRO has grown and looks to be expanding soon with a lot of good news for players of that game.
You guys don't like the idea, well that's okay. But don't send out a wall of text filled with hyperbole. It looks foolish.
P2P games should NEVER have cash-shop services, only when account related like character transfers, change of name/sex/class, etc. And these kind of thing is not in this article.
F2P games......... I won't talk much about their Cash-shops. I played F2P for +10 years and I see that almost all of them have game breaking cash-shops. So talking about what is best for them is unnecessary, they will always follow the F2P "style" in Cash-shops.
BTW, IMHO: XP boosters, consumables, mounts that add stats, gear/weapons that give stats ---> Game-breaking things.
I will say that B2P games (ex: GW2) should have cash-shops that aren't game-breaking.
About your list:
5. Experience Boosts - Never. One of the main reasons said by EricDanie:"You can not advance as fast as your friends, so you go and spend money in that game's cash shop in order to advance faster so you can reach your friends. What if your friends also spend money in the cash shop? And why the hell are you paying a developer in the first place instead of asking for a "sidekicking" system? A flaw in the level mechanic that ends up generating extra revenue for developers." (.....) All the problem of getting XP Boosts to get higher levels can also answered with a "sidekick system". GW2 has the "sidekick system", so giving XP boosts to GW2 might not be that bad (XP boosts became so unfair for PVE players that it became a taboo).
4. Health, Resurrect, and Other Consumables - Never. Give advantages to cash-shop players that normal players can't reach. Unfair gameplay. Game with less challenge.... Enough said.
3. Purely Aesthetic Gear - Good, but only if the Gear in the game is good looking too. There are those that claim about aesthetic things beeing part of the gameplay... I have to say that a game needs to have a balance between free aesthetics and cash shop aesthetics. If a game gives enough quality and variety in free aesthetics, a cash-shop can have a LOT of aesthetic things and make non-cash-shoppers feel they can have fun without cash-shop aesthetics.
2. Special Mounts - Only if the difference is in aesthetics. More speed? Only in "friendly"/"non-weapon" areas, if they want to do it, but sometimes that might not be a good idea, depends on the game. Other stats bonus, never, for the same reason as consumables.
1. Real Extra Content - As I said in other threads before, the only bad things I see about this are: giving the credit account number, which makes any cash-shop thing dangerous; force players to buy them in order to keep playing the game; and the few content DLC. If the Devs want to implement extra content for a certain price, is better if the price is justified with a lot of content, as much content as an expansion-pack (in stores) has for the same price. And forcing players to buy extra content to continue playing is a very bad thing which might force a lot of players to leave the game. The players want to feel they are the one's who chose whether or not to buy things, not the opposite.
I actually have been turned over to the F2P side recently after purchaseing several P2P MMO's only to put them down a month later (mostly because lack of fresh content.) The longest p2p MMO i played was AION and that was for 7-8months.. After i hit lvl 50 it ran out of good content; back then i wouldve gladly forked over a few bucks to "purchase" more content.. But its p2p and NC Soft were talking about so that wasn't a option.
The next purchase for me was World Of Warcraft.. Everyone of my friends wanted me to play the game with them (many leaving AION because of lack of end game like me) so i downloaded the trial and really liked my first few days.. I have a steady job, usually i have no problem purchaseing a new game when i like it, so i went down to Game Spot forked over $40 for WoW+BC, another $40 for Lich King, and then $30 for 2 months of game time.
I eventually get about 4 weeks into WoW and hit around mid 40's and just hit "The Wall".. All my friends had already surpassed me in level because around the 2nd week i had to force myself to log in.. I hate instances, and thats all my friends did and they out lvl'd me because of it.. So i ended up questing solo, but all the quests were way to easy; felt like game was playing itself for me.
After that I purchased EvE; which is the MMO that kept me 2nd to longest next to AION.. I played it for 3 months (think i spent $15 to download + free month then $15 each month after that so totals $45) but eventually i too hit the wall with that game.. Lack of "fun" PvE was getting to me and my corp was constantly under war dec from mercs with 5+ years under their belt in SP. Within a week i went from playing EvE 4-5 hrs a day to being stationed for a week staight with little as 30mins a day micromanageing items+skills.
Then come Fallen Earth.. I got into it thru the 14day free trial and had a great time.. Finnaly a game with non-adventure lore that i can get into! Plus it was cheap.. I played thru my 14 day trial then purchased the game + 60 day free game time for $20 at Game Spot.. I finished up my 60 days but quickly realized the PvP in this game wasn't what i thought.. I imagined factions fighting for control of land/rescoursces, but instead i get instanced blood sports full of cheaters and tight awkard corridors.. Not to mention with Fallen Earths skill system i soon realized PvP was convulted mess.. But worse factions weren't laid in cement (chargeing $10-20 for a faction change would've helped this problem) so they didn't mean thing as you can switch them at any time.
So.. That's like $200+ spent on P2P MMO's ($250 if you include AION) within the last year.. I eventually got convinced myself i'd tried all the good p2p MMO's out there (i have played many trials for games not listed above) and just took a break from them in general.. Went back to playing RPG's on my PS2 even because i was so bored.. One day i get a text from my old legion leader from AION to go try out this newly launched free to play MMO with him (Heroes Of Three Kingdoms.)
I sorta ignored him at first.. After hearing all the horror storys about cash shops and stuff.. But the next day i was bored and installed the game to give it a shot.. I expected some cheesy graphics, hidden free, kid-like gameplay, and most of all expensive items needed for progression.. But what i found was the a pvp-heavy game i had been waiting for; not to mention the game could ACTUALLY be played COMPLETLEY free! No $60 just to find out if i liked it, no 2 week long trial that only shows off low lvl content, just free online time and a market place filled with mostly-cosmetic items.
I know many f2p games arnt like (especially since that time i've played countless others and beta tested lots more) Heroes of three kingdoms.. 6-7 months later i'am still playing Heroes Of Three Kingdoms and have spent $60 far on the game.. With that $60 i got a very cool looking mount & fashion, inventory expansions, lots of double xp orbs, ect.. Cool thing is everything i mentioned buying thru the cash shop could be also bought by players and put into player markets for other players to buy spending in game gold.. So everything in cash shop is accessible by in game gold, and it is VERY cheap.. You can make enough in game gold to buy a $1 of cash shop items in just about 5-6 quests.
I completley agree with the cash shop model now.. I think if its done right and dosn't nickle and dime its customers or effect PvP in some huge manner then it should be praised by MMO players and not shunned like some red-headed step-child.. Face it, it is the future of MMORPG.. In fact, i wouldn't be mad at the F2P cash shop MMO's as much as the newer P2P/Cash Shop Hybrid payment methods comeing out latley.. Those type of plans are popping up more and more and i feel are sort of burning the candle at both ends.. But i still will not completley brush them off, as i'am sure the model can be done correctly by a company that actually wants and cares for its customers satisfaction..
Currently Playing: Rift + Starcraft II + Gears Of War 3 Beta
My problem with the number five list option has nothing to do with giving players more options as far as how much time they sink into a particular title, but everything to do with developers using this as a reason to substantially reduce XP gains across the board so that buying these experience boosters seem far more necessary than they probably should be. Sure, it's great to have them for the players who can only log in a couple hours a week and need to keep up with their friends, but it's terrible when designers start using these consumables as a way to hinder the experience for any and everyone who doesn't purchase them (case in point: Allods Online).
"This is life! We suffer and slave and expire. That's it!" -Bernard Black (Dylan Moran)
so this s the type of colunist we have in mmorpg ? lol
one that says its right to sell XP and mounts for items, aswell as special content ?
if it was my company that dude would be fired for sure..........
its a shame....
So we should fire someone for having opinions, which he clearly and planily puts forward?
Just because you believe something, doesn't make it the only viable opinion. You don't have to agree, but maybe practice a little bit of respect for someone who thinks differently than you do?
Of course you should. Any person who can state their opinions in a calm, logical, and rational manner, has no business being on the internet. This kind of discussion is best left to those who spew hateful and rabid vitriol from their foam flecked lips, or worse, their foam flecked brains.
/SARCASM OFF
That said I do disagree with just about every point Mr. Murphy made. I personally find cash shops in a game a reason for developers to work less for the player and not more. Every item sold in the cash shop means one less boss mob, quest, dungeon, raid, what have you, that could have been created in game for the player to enjoy and gain said cash shop reward that way.
I know it can be argued that this extra income from these cash shop items will lead the company to create bigger and better content, but honestly, why should they. They have now learned they can get people to pay them twice (at least in the case of P2P games with a cash shop) for working half as hard to bring them new game content. In other words, why put in the man power to create an adventure to gain an award that would have kept you busy for hours when you are willing to pay them more money to gain said reward in seconds with the swipe of a credit card.
Is that what these games have become? Nothing more than the digital equivalent of a comic book collectors convention?
A few months back I made a post about this very topic. I think it makes my point better than anything more I could type here so I'll just post the link to it instead.
For instance take a look at cryptic, it is not even free to play yet. Take a look at what they have done. Yes they added a few episodes. However where has the meat and potatoes gone. In the cash store. Look at at it ships you can not get in game, Outfits you can not get in game, Percs you cant get in game, Bridge officers you cant get in game. about 90% of what cryptic has done has been store items, and 80% of those affect game play. Now look at the playable content added the past 6 months, its pathetic.
Now lets take a look at lotro. What have they done. Well yes tons of store items on sale every week. One zone added 2 months ago with free to play. Same here 85-90% of the content for the past year, has been the TP turbine points store. Now there are some hints that things are headed our way such as playable content, but only in small chunks going the ddo route.
All item / cash stores does in my thoughts are gives the programmers an excuse not to work on real content, but instead focus on making store items that they hope folks will buy.
Will some of these companies re-invest what they have earned in the store to make the game better. We are still at a wait and see what they will or will not do. Right now all I see from most of the cash shop / item store companies is more of the same. More added items and no added playable content or very little added playable content.
What subscription based game that has a cash shop has survived?
You guys made your point that THAT is a bad idea.
EQ2x and Champion's Online's recent announcement agrees with you.
But to say these games aren't adding content is uneducated and unfounded.
DDO has grown, they've added new areas and now new races. LOTRO has grown and looks to be expanding soon with a lot of good news for players of that game.
You guys don't like the idea, well that's okay. But don't send out a wall of text filled with hyperbole. It looks foolish.
Since your going to insult me and call me uneducated, I will ask you straight up smart guy. Other than subs. What has lotro added in the past 9 months. They added the store and Endalwaith I will give you that came out with free to play. What else has lotro added as far as content. How has the world size grown. Come on lets hear it.
so this s the type of colunist we have in mmorpg ? lol
one that says its right to sell XP and mounts for items, aswell as special content ?
if it was my company that dude would be fired for sure..........
its a shame....
So we should fire someone for having opinions, which he clearly and planily puts forward?
Just because you believe something, doesn't make it the only viable opinion. You don't have to agree, but maybe practice a little bit of respect for someone who thinks differently than you do?
Of course you should. Any person who can state their opinions in a calm, logical, and rational manner, has no business being on the internet. This kind of discussion is best left to those who spew hateful and rabid vitriol from their foam flecked lips, or worse, their foam flecked brains.
/SARCASM OFF
That said I do disagree with just about every point Mr. Murphy made. I personally find cash shops in a game a reason for developers to work less for the player and not more. Every item sold in the cash shop means one less boss mob, quest, dungeon, raid, what have you, that could have been created in game for the player to enjoy and gain said cash shop reward that way.
I know it can be argued that this extra income from these cash shop items will lead the company to create bigger and better content, but honestly, why should they. They have now learned they can get people to pay them twice (at least in the case of P2P games with a cash shop) for working half as hard to bring them new game content. In other words, why put in the man power to create an adventure to gain an award that would have kept you busy for hours when you are willing to pay them more money to gain said reward in seconds with the swipe of a credit card.
Is that what these games have become? Nothing more than the digital equivalent of a comic book collectors convention?
A few months back I made a post about this very topic. I think it makes my point better than anything more I could type here so I'll just post the link to it instead.
For instance take a look at cryptic, it is not even free to play yet. Take a look at what they have done. Yes they added a few episodes. However where has the meat and potatoes gone. In the cash store. Look at at it ships you can not get in game, Outfits you can not get in game, Percs you cant get in game, Bridge officers you cant get in game. about 90% of what cryptic has done has been store items, and 80% of those affect game play. Now look at the playable content added the past 6 months, its pathetic.
Now lets take a look at lotro. What have they done. Well yes tons of store items on sale every week. One zone added 2 months ago with free to play. Same here 85-90% of the content for the past year, has been the TP turbine points store. Now there are some hints that things are headed our way such as playable content, but only in small chunks going the ddo route.
All item / cash stores does in my thoughts are gives the programmers an excuse not to work on real content, but instead focus on making store items that they hope folks will buy.
Will some of these companies re-invest what they have earned in the store to make the game better. We are still at a wait and see what they will or will not do. Right now all I see from most of the cash shop / item store companies is more of the same. More added items and no added playable content or very little added playable content.
What subscription based game that has a cash shop has survived?
You guys made your point that THAT is a bad idea.
EQ2x and Champion's Online's recent announcement agrees with you.
But to say these games aren't adding content is uneducated and unfounded.
DDO has grown, they've added new areas and now new races. LOTRO has grown and looks to be expanding soon with a lot of good news for players of that game.
You guys don't like the idea, well that's okay. But don't send out a wall of text filled with hyperbole. It looks foolish.
Since your going to insult me and call me uneducated, I will ask you straight up smart guy. Other than subs. What has lotro added in the past 9 months. They added the store and Endalwaith I will give you that came out with free to play. What else has lotro added as far as content. How has the world size grown. Come on lets hear it.
Blah blah aside from the obvious thing that completely moots my point, what is there?
I was going to write up a bunch of things that are down the pipeline, but I'll just state 2 that gets the job done. 1. The Fall Event was made larger than previous (It's a little thing, but it shoves your foot in your mouth well enough) 2. European F2P release, which may not seem like much to an armchair dev- but it's a pretty big undertaking.
Also check out their beta server if you ever get a chance, and there's a bit of news about content coming.
If it was completely stalled you'd be right. But taking a half-truth and trying to spin it to make your invalid point seem 'sorta' right is called HY-PER-BO-LEE hyperbole, not hyper-bole.
The best use for cashshops should be for meta-game services, such as character renames, character transfers, etc.
Selling ingame items or anything that gives advantages, "aesthetic only" or not, destroys immersion by cheapening the concept that said MMO is a virtual world in of itself.
I understand this point of view wholeheartedly, but I personally believe that in an ever-crowded market developers are trying to find some way to make sure their games can compete and right now... F2P with optional subscriptions and cash shops seems to be the growing trend. And while there's PLENTY of room for improvement, I do think a few stand-out companies are doing an exemplary job in adopting a flexible revenue model.
I think, and I fear, that the days of true "world immersion" are going the way of the dodo.
Granted, but the problem with adding purchasable items or 'bonuses' always boils down to the fact that games tend to always be designed around maximizing player purcahses of said items.
Want players to buy XP boosts? Nerf XP gains, or increase require XP to level.
Want players to buy aesthetic gear? Limit their choices, and/or make their existing choices crappy.
Want players to buy more inventory space? Then limit bag space either directly by keeping it low, or indirectly by inflating the amount of junk items players need to carry around.
The end result is always seems to be that developers gravitate towards opting to artificially stunt the game, purely so they can offer 'solutions' to problems they created themselves within the game.
The truth of the matter is that there currently is no true 'optional subscription/cash shop' options out there yet. Yes LOTRO and DDO may be close, but even these games are plauged by the fact that even if you subscribe, you're skill locked out and limited by the fact that there is a plethora of 'items' still locked up in the itemmall despite the fact that you're paying your subscription fee.
A truly pallatable hybrid model would be one where players had the option to play for free with limitations, yet have the option to pay to get 'boosts' or 'extra' stuff. Subscribers on the otherhand, would be given everything simply for paying their subscription, and wouldn't have to worry about paying anything beyond their subscription fee. Basically, if you pay your sub you would be on the level playing field with everything else with regards to 'content', whereas if you were F2P you could choose to spend some money to boost yourself up to be on par to subscription, but no further.
The moment content or advantages are locked up exclusively in item malls, is the moment the MMOs cross the threshold of no longer being a true MMO. But it seems that greed is far more important.
Such thing happens really before CS-s came into games. Remember old good EQ1 times - there were items sellable and items not. And amounts of GP or PP ya needed to obtain some. And then there arose internet companies which bought game currency and items for real $$$ and then sell them back into game for real $$$. SOE tryed to ban this system but failed as all attempts to cut off some illegal but giving nice income things.
So after they seeing how ppl sold and bought Blade of Carnage or tons of PP they found - why those guys can't be we ourselves?
Honestly - what is the difference when ya buy that famous BoC from webpage (or for byed PP in game) or ya buy it from dev's CS`? Cheating is cheating anyway - ya don't earn that thing, ya flush only bucks. And this is what - say dumb ol'timer purists - we try to fight against, as long as we can. If this fight fails - so for me it's bye-bye for that given game.
We can talk that different CS things have different effect, YES, that's true, but different things are different value for different ppl. For me, I agree some fluffy cosmetic isn't nothing but I know many friends who are thinking their char's cosmetics IS essencial for them. They even left some stat boosts and using lower items when in game is no coasmetic use, and wanna be some kind of special, designed etc. Again ya cut off their purpose of wandering, questing etc to obtain that stupid on that lvl thing.
Let healing/power/mana/regen/resurrect potions into game and soon ya see clever devs designing new hard instances, bosses and events so that one can beat them only instaclicking those "from-CS-only" potions. How big difference form IDDQD/IDKFA?
Who still remember meaning of those letters
EXP potions... If devs throw those into CS = they think all their game is stupid grind and only end-game is what counts. Then I have better idea - potion of insta 10 LVL, insta 20 LVL, etc til insta MAX LVL. No need to spend time - just pay some big $$$ and voilaa! ya are on max lvl (plus buy max gear) - and then show HOW tremendously stupid ya are. How ya don't know ever half of % how to play ya class etc.
Only things I accept for CS are like many wrote before - name change, server transfer... and content. Yes - there is no big difference how we buy them. Be it next big upgrade patch for 30 USD with some six remarkable zones in it. Or we can buy those six zones one by one say for 6.5 USD each. Ya spend ya money as ya move on and as ya wanna.
5.) Your thought is solid, but the reasoning is incorrect. Experience boosts are almost the worse possible item to include in a cash shop. Character progression (levels) is power and is just as bad as making item enchancement possible only through cash shops. I like the idea of it giving a temporary boost, but there is not a single developer that places a limit on the amount of usage for such an item.
4.) I am going to disagree. These are items that should not be allowed in the cash shop. It could be a different story if most of the items were available in-game, and the cash shop is an alternative (easier) source.
3.) I could agree with this, but it never stops here.
2.) As long as there is a decent alternative available in the game it is basically the same as 3.
1.) If it is a simple alternative way to purchase an expansion, then it would be acceptable, but anything else should be included with the subscription.
The problem is xbox live , Wii zones and Playstation store .
Sorry they offer stuff that normally should be free the DLC for real life money , and its being sold .
So what does it say , that currently gamers have enough money .
And marketing as marketing is , sorry its a proven concept , those people still holding onto no cash shops , sadly it wont work anymore , the market is open for cash shops , just how far can they push the cash shop .
While maintaining a legit face of fairness , imagine if Blizzard puts 1 legendary item per server for 1000 dollar/euro .
How fast would it be sold out , its not even a question of would it sell , its a question how fast would it sell .
And then the moans of people its unfair , and i will quit cause i cannot afford it .
Lets raise the bar and put it at 10000 dollar/euro , how fast would it be sold , and people would say nevermind i am not paying for a digital crap . then you have envious people moaning and quitting still .
But for marketing it would rack up a serious 6 digit number suddenly of income .
But its sadly harmfull for longterm since the amount of envious people QQ quiting is not worth the cost of 6 digit short term profit .
Now enough explaining how digital cash shops works .
My personal opnion , i dont want digital shops , i can afford it , thats not the issue , i believe in fair play and quality .
As long the digital shop can give me products of a product i support , its made in good quality , i will not complain .
But as long they stay optional and not content that should have been included in original release .
If its a free to play envoirement (Something i really quick dump ) then with all respect yes i understand why they have to do it .
But if its subscription base , then forget it , not going to pay money for stuff that should have been included in the content .
Sorry dont offer 6 months payment offers then , if you suddenly find yourself short of cash .
Same story of lifetime subscription , if people offer that , it aint going to work .
Its quick money in the bank , but sadly it aint going to work for long time subscriptions .
Anyway any veteran MMO player should know pay per month , and if something happens that you dont like .
Cancel right away . sure you pay extra a month , but that extra is cause you believe in the product , once you stop believing cancel right away .
They are all at it sazabi, MMO's launched too soon, solo games as well. Dragon Ages was launched with content immediatly ready for download. In DA's case though it was not launched too soon but had content held back so they could sell it online. The first Mass Effect is a good example of a game launched too soon and then not patched for ages.
so this s the type of colunist we have in mmorpg ? lol
one that says its right to sell XP and mounts for items, aswell as special content ?
if it was my company that dude would be fired for sure..........
its a shame....
You might not realize it but a columnist usually creates pieces, editorials, that are based on opinion. There could be columnists that encompass two diverse view points in an organization or someone who just has a particular take on a subject, states that opinion and then invites discussion.
well i dont think this s turned to invite for discussion based that such discusion were made already many times and cash shop aint new in mmo world..and i ll tell u why i think this with an exemple nothing to do with MMO lol.. :
in the CONTRY A has WEATHER A and with this weather they can grow a lot of APPLE and then the population from this country loves to eat APPLE...but at some year the weather changed to WEATHER B and the apple production was very low coz of this new weather BUT the orange production was VERY HIGH ...... but in this country people doesnt like much of orange and all the orange started to ROT in the shelves of the supermarket..... and the developers started to loose a little of their big cash....and that s no good so in the next day they announced in TV a new research that proofed that the WEATHER B s no good for ur breathing system and so on the population has to eat MORE ORANGE coz orange helps to prevent such problems... in the following week the stock of orange got to dust and all the big owners of farmers could feel reliefed that their budge wont go down a little....
you got it you got it ?
and everytime the CASH SHOP is linked with the WORD MMORPG more they are fooling us to acept such attitude... and what we ll see s a future that ALL MMORPG will have a darn CASH SHOP...the MMORPG scene s not so bright nowadays but it s still fun.... RPGs progression s based on TIME not on MONEY........doenst matter if its PVP or not...the day CASH SHOP become common and acepted by 100 % of the players in MMORPGS it means R-ole P-laying G-ames doesnt exist anymore...
Well at least that OPINION of yours was a bit more in depth and made a bit more sense. Not just the "Off with his head!!!" rant before.
That being said... it's still just your OPINION. Just because you think Cash Shops = Death of RPG... doesn't automatically make it an absolute truth. Thanks though for the OPINION.
I agree with most of the OP, but sadly the F2P games i've played always sell game breaking items in the cash shop and playing for free is basicly an extended trial or a masochist trip.
If they sell potions, they'll be unavailable for free or prohibetively expensive in ingame currency. They'll also be requierd to win in PvP.
If they sell mounts, then there will be no free mounts to get at all, or they'll require months to get.
If they sell zones, the zones available for free will take you through the first levels but you'll run out of quest content to do before the level cap without paying up.
Reminds me of when Battlefield Heroes (alright not an MMO, but a F2P cash shop game) went from balanced and selling mostly cosmetic upgrades to pay to win because of EA's greed.
the problem with adding "real extra content" even to free games is that you are reminded in game about money.
going to an NPC to find a horse that you can chose to buy for 5 dollars is one thing, finding an NPC that will give you quests that you need to pay for as you are adventuring, makes me shut down the game.
I'm all right with #5, but I'd rather just wait for some special event for an EXP boost rather than buy one. I find #4 very irritating. I think that the more potent a potion or consumable is, or the less-common potions for reviving its specific stat are, the more gold it should cost. You shouldn't have to pay money just to revive yourself. I can back #3 completely. Back when I played MapleStory, the one thing I'd usually spend my money on in the CS was clothing. As for #2... I really could care less about special mounts or mount covers. And when it comes to #1, I really have no opinion. I don't have any experience in that area; more in semi-F2P games, where you pay a subscription fee to unlock more content.
5.) Your thought is solid, but the reasoning is incorrect. Experience boosts are almost the worse possible item to include in a cash shop. Character progression (levels) is power and is just as bad as making item enchancement possible only through cash shops. I like the idea of it giving a temporary boost, but there is not a single developer that places a limit on the amount of usage for such an item.
Really? My MMO experience is limited, but I've never seen an unlimited EXP boost for sale in a CS. Usually one that's only good for a few hours, or one day, or between certain hours of certain days.
Comments
Cosmetic items that dont affect game balance is in my opinion ok.
I will never play any mmo again where a player can purchase his/her way to the top by using the itemshop.
I really prefer subscription games to not have a cash shop at all. That being said things like server transfers, name changes and account services i do not see as cash shop items. Potions being sold in a cash shop i would prefer that those are left to crafters with the exception of xp potions, i think tha the rested xp system takes care of the need for xp pots. Overall i do not like cash shop games and i have yet to find a F2P game that i dont find insanely boring. I think that subscription games should not have a cash shop at all.
I agree with this.
Buying access to tiered level content may seem unappealing to some; but really when it goes account wide and you only have to purchase the content once.. It feels more like 'payASYOUgo' rather than 'being nickled and dimed'.
Some weeks I have 40 hours to devote to LotRO, most weeks I have like 6 if I'm lucky. The content will wait for me while my bank account isn't ticked away. I've put 8 bucks into the game total so far and with the sales I've caught I have a mount and content to roughly around level 45. I'm currently level 18 and that's taken me about 5 weeks to get on my Captain.
Yeah, feels worth it.
I was wary of this model some time ago, but it works and it feels good to not feel obligated to play. "Well they just pinged my account for 14.99 more, may as well log in."
EQ2x feels way more hindering in certain aspects than lotro even tho' you can get to more of the actual mission and areas for less money. I tried it first btw since I played and mostly enjoyed EQ2 some time ago.
Each company is going to have their own approch to the model and that's a good thing. Since it's relativly new still the industry should experiment.
YOu hit this dead on point.
For instance take a look at cryptic, it is not even free to play yet. Take a look at what they have done. Yes they added a few episodes. However where has the meat and potatoes gone. In the cash store. Look at at it ships you can not get in game, Outfits you can not get in game, Percs you cant get in game, Bridge officers you cant get in game. about 90% of what cryptic has done has been store items, and 80% of those affect game play. Now look at the playable content added the past 6 months, its pathetic.
Now lets take a look at lotro. What have they done. Well yes tons of store items on sale every week. One zone added 2 months ago with free to play. Same here 85-90% of the content for the past year, has been the TP turbine points store. Now there are some hints that things are headed our way such as playable content, but only in small chunks going the ddo route.
All item / cash stores does in my thoughts are gives the programmers an excuse not to work on real content, but instead focus on making store items that they hope folks will buy.
Will some of these companies re-invest what they have earned in the store to make the game better. We are still at a wait and see what they will or will not do. Right now all I see from most of the cash shop / item store companies is more of the same. More added items and no added playable content or very little added playable content.
What subscription based game that has a cash shop has survived?
You guys made your point that THAT is a bad idea.
EQ2x and Champion's Online's recent announcement agrees with you.
But to say these games aren't adding content is uneducated and unfounded.
DDO has grown, they've added new areas and now new races. LOTRO has grown and looks to be expanding soon with a lot of good news for players of that game.
You guys don't like the idea, well that's okay. But don't send out a wall of text filled with hyperbole. It looks foolish.
P2P games should NEVER have cash-shop services, only when account related like character transfers, change of name/sex/class, etc. And these kind of thing is not in this article.
F2P games......... I won't talk much about their Cash-shops. I played F2P for +10 years and I see that almost all of them have game breaking cash-shops. So talking about what is best for them is unnecessary, they will always follow the F2P "style" in Cash-shops.
BTW, IMHO: XP boosters, consumables, mounts that add stats, gear/weapons that give stats ---> Game-breaking things.
I will say that B2P games (ex: GW2) should have cash-shops that aren't game-breaking.
About your list:
5. Experience Boosts - Never. One of the main reasons said by EricDanie: "You can not advance as fast as your friends, so you go and spend money in that game's cash shop in order to advance faster so you can reach your friends. What if your friends also spend money in the cash shop? And why the hell are you paying a developer in the first place instead of asking for a "sidekicking" system? A flaw in the level mechanic that ends up generating extra revenue for developers." (.....) All the problem of getting XP Boosts to get higher levels can also answered with a "sidekick system". GW2 has the "sidekick system", so giving XP boosts to GW2 might not be that bad (XP boosts became so unfair for PVE players that it became a taboo).
4. Health, Resurrect, and Other Consumables - Never. Give advantages to cash-shop players that normal players can't reach. Unfair gameplay. Game with less challenge.... Enough said.
3. Purely Aesthetic Gear - Good, but only if the Gear in the game is good looking too. There are those that claim about aesthetic things beeing part of the gameplay... I have to say that a game needs to have a balance between free aesthetics and cash shop aesthetics. If a game gives enough quality and variety in free aesthetics, a cash-shop can have a LOT of aesthetic things and make non-cash-shoppers feel they can have fun without cash-shop aesthetics.
2. Special Mounts - Only if the difference is in aesthetics. More speed? Only in "friendly"/"non-weapon" areas, if they want to do it, but sometimes that might not be a good idea, depends on the game. Other stats bonus, never, for the same reason as consumables.
1. Real Extra Content - As I said in other threads before, the only bad things I see about this are: giving the credit account number, which makes any cash-shop thing dangerous; force players to buy them in order to keep playing the game; and the few content DLC. If the Devs want to implement extra content for a certain price, is better if the price is justified with a lot of content, as much content as an expansion-pack (in stores) has for the same price. And forcing players to buy extra content to continue playing is a very bad thing which might force a lot of players to leave the game. The players want to feel they are the one's who chose whether or not to buy things, not the opposite.
I actually have been turned over to the F2P side recently after purchaseing several P2P MMO's only to put them down a month later (mostly because lack of fresh content.) The longest p2p MMO i played was AION and that was for 7-8months.. After i hit lvl 50 it ran out of good content; back then i wouldve gladly forked over a few bucks to "purchase" more content.. But its p2p and NC Soft were talking about so that wasn't a option.
The next purchase for me was World Of Warcraft.. Everyone of my friends wanted me to play the game with them (many leaving AION because of lack of end game like me) so i downloaded the trial and really liked my first few days.. I have a steady job, usually i have no problem purchaseing a new game when i like it, so i went down to Game Spot forked over $40 for WoW+BC, another $40 for Lich King, and then $30 for 2 months of game time.
I eventually get about 4 weeks into WoW and hit around mid 40's and just hit "The Wall".. All my friends had already surpassed me in level because around the 2nd week i had to force myself to log in.. I hate instances, and thats all my friends did and they out lvl'd me because of it.. So i ended up questing solo, but all the quests were way to easy; felt like game was playing itself for me.
After that I purchased EvE; which is the MMO that kept me 2nd to longest next to AION.. I played it for 3 months (think i spent $15 to download + free month then $15 each month after that so totals $45) but eventually i too hit the wall with that game.. Lack of "fun" PvE was getting to me and my corp was constantly under war dec from mercs with 5+ years under their belt in SP. Within a week i went from playing EvE 4-5 hrs a day to being stationed for a week staight with little as 30mins a day micromanageing items+skills.
Then come Fallen Earth.. I got into it thru the 14day free trial and had a great time.. Finnaly a game with non-adventure lore that i can get into! Plus it was cheap.. I played thru my 14 day trial then purchased the game + 60 day free game time for $20 at Game Spot.. I finished up my 60 days but quickly realized the PvP in this game wasn't what i thought.. I imagined factions fighting for control of land/rescoursces, but instead i get instanced blood sports full of cheaters and tight awkard corridors.. Not to mention with Fallen Earths skill system i soon realized PvP was convulted mess.. But worse factions weren't laid in cement (chargeing $10-20 for a faction change would've helped this problem) so they didn't mean thing as you can switch them at any time.
So.. That's like $200+ spent on P2P MMO's ($250 if you include AION) within the last year.. I eventually got convinced myself i'd tried all the good p2p MMO's out there (i have played many trials for games not listed above) and just took a break from them in general.. Went back to playing RPG's on my PS2 even because i was so bored.. One day i get a text from my old legion leader from AION to go try out this newly launched free to play MMO with him (Heroes Of Three Kingdoms.)
I sorta ignored him at first.. After hearing all the horror storys about cash shops and stuff.. But the next day i was bored and installed the game to give it a shot.. I expected some cheesy graphics, hidden free, kid-like gameplay, and most of all expensive items needed for progression.. But what i found was the a pvp-heavy game i had been waiting for; not to mention the game could ACTUALLY be played COMPLETLEY free! No $60 just to find out if i liked it, no 2 week long trial that only shows off low lvl content, just free online time and a market place filled with mostly-cosmetic items.
I know many f2p games arnt like (especially since that time i've played countless others and beta tested lots more) Heroes of three kingdoms.. 6-7 months later i'am still playing Heroes Of Three Kingdoms and have spent $60 far on the game.. With that $60 i got a very cool looking mount & fashion, inventory expansions, lots of double xp orbs, ect.. Cool thing is everything i mentioned buying thru the cash shop could be also bought by players and put into player markets for other players to buy spending in game gold.. So everything in cash shop is accessible by in game gold, and it is VERY cheap.. You can make enough in game gold to buy a $1 of cash shop items in just about 5-6 quests.
I completley agree with the cash shop model now.. I think if its done right and dosn't nickle and dime its customers or effect PvP in some huge manner then it should be praised by MMO players and not shunned like some red-headed step-child.. Face it, it is the future of MMORPG.. In fact, i wouldn't be mad at the F2P cash shop MMO's as much as the newer P2P/Cash Shop Hybrid payment methods comeing out latley.. Those type of plans are popping up more and more and i feel are sort of burning the candle at both ends.. But i still will not completley brush them off, as i'am sure the model can be done correctly by a company that actually wants and cares for its customers satisfaction..
Currently Playing:
Rift + Starcraft II + Gears Of War 3 Beta
My problem with the number five list option has nothing to do with giving players more options as far as how much time they sink into a particular title, but everything to do with developers using this as a reason to substantially reduce XP gains across the board so that buying these experience boosters seem far more necessary than they probably should be. Sure, it's great to have them for the players who can only log in a couple hours a week and need to keep up with their friends, but it's terrible when designers start using these consumables as a way to hinder the experience for any and everyone who doesn't purchase them (case in point: Allods Online).
"This is life! We suffer and slave and expire. That's it!" -Bernard Black (Dylan Moran)
There is only ONE thing that should ever be in a mmo cash shop. PLAYER TO PLAYER transactions.
Since your going to insult me and call me uneducated, I will ask you straight up smart guy. Other than subs. What has lotro added in the past 9 months. They added the store and Endalwaith I will give you that came out with free to play. What else has lotro added as far as content. How has the world size grown. Come on lets hear it.
Blah blah aside from the obvious thing that completely moots my point, what is there?
I was going to write up a bunch of things that are down the pipeline, but I'll just state 2 that gets the job done. 1. The Fall Event was made larger than previous (It's a little thing, but it shoves your foot in your mouth well enough) 2. European F2P release, which may not seem like much to an armchair dev- but it's a pretty big undertaking.
Also check out their beta server if you ever get a chance, and there's a bit of news about content coming.
If it was completely stalled you'd be right. But taking a half-truth and trying to spin it to make your invalid point seem 'sorta' right is called HY-PER-BO-LEE hyperbole, not hyper-bole.
Granted, but the problem with adding purchasable items or 'bonuses' always boils down to the fact that games tend to always be designed around maximizing player purcahses of said items.
Want players to buy XP boosts? Nerf XP gains, or increase require XP to level.
Want players to buy aesthetic gear? Limit their choices, and/or make their existing choices crappy.
Want players to buy more inventory space? Then limit bag space either directly by keeping it low, or indirectly by inflating the amount of junk items players need to carry around.
The end result is always seems to be that developers gravitate towards opting to artificially stunt the game, purely so they can offer 'solutions' to problems they created themselves within the game.
The truth of the matter is that there currently is no true 'optional subscription/cash shop' options out there yet. Yes LOTRO and DDO may be close, but even these games are plauged by the fact that even if you subscribe, you're skill locked out and limited by the fact that there is a plethora of 'items' still locked up in the itemmall despite the fact that you're paying your subscription fee.
A truly pallatable hybrid model would be one where players had the option to play for free with limitations, yet have the option to pay to get 'boosts' or 'extra' stuff. Subscribers on the otherhand, would be given everything simply for paying their subscription, and wouldn't have to worry about paying anything beyond their subscription fee. Basically, if you pay your sub you would be on the level playing field with everything else with regards to 'content', whereas if you were F2P you could choose to spend some money to boost yourself up to be on par to subscription, but no further.
The moment content or advantages are locked up exclusively in item malls, is the moment the MMOs cross the threshold of no longer being a true MMO. But it seems that greed is far more important.
Such thing happens really before CS-s came into games. Remember old good EQ1 times - there were items sellable and items not. And amounts of GP or PP ya needed to obtain some. And then there arose internet companies which bought game currency and items for real $$$ and then sell them back into game for real $$$. SOE tryed to ban this system but failed as all attempts to cut off some illegal but giving nice income things.
So after they seeing how ppl sold and bought Blade of Carnage or tons of PP they found - why those guys can't be we ourselves?
Honestly - what is the difference when ya buy that famous BoC from webpage (or for byed PP in game) or ya buy it from dev's CS`? Cheating is cheating anyway - ya don't earn that thing, ya flush only bucks. And this is what - say dumb ol'timer purists - we try to fight against, as long as we can. If this fight fails - so for me it's bye-bye for that given game.
We can talk that different CS things have different effect, YES, that's true, but different things are different value for different ppl. For me, I agree some fluffy cosmetic isn't nothing but I know many friends who are thinking their char's cosmetics IS essencial for them. They even left some stat boosts and using lower items when in game is no coasmetic use, and wanna be some kind of special, designed etc. Again ya cut off their purpose of wandering, questing etc to obtain that stupid on that lvl thing.
Let healing/power/mana/regen/resurrect potions into game and soon ya see clever devs designing new hard instances, bosses and events so that one can beat them only instaclicking those "from-CS-only" potions. How big difference form IDDQD/IDKFA?
Who still remember meaning of those letters
EXP potions... If devs throw those into CS = they think all their game is stupid grind and only end-game is what counts. Then I have better idea - potion of insta 10 LVL, insta 20 LVL, etc til insta MAX LVL. No need to spend time - just pay some big $$$ and voilaa! ya are on max lvl (plus buy max gear) - and then show HOW tremendously stupid ya are. How ya don't know ever half of % how to play ya class etc.
Only things I accept for CS are like many wrote before - name change, server transfer... and content. Yes - there is no big difference how we buy them. Be it next big upgrade patch for 30 USD with some six remarkable zones in it. Or we can buy those six zones one by one say for 6.5 USD each. Ya spend ya money as ya move on and as ya wanna.
5.) Your thought is solid, but the reasoning is incorrect. Experience boosts are almost the worse possible item to include in a cash shop. Character progression (levels) is power and is just as bad as making item enchancement possible only through cash shops. I like the idea of it giving a temporary boost, but there is not a single developer that places a limit on the amount of usage for such an item.
4.) I am going to disagree. These are items that should not be allowed in the cash shop. It could be a different story if most of the items were available in-game, and the cash shop is an alternative (easier) source.
3.) I could agree with this, but it never stops here.
2.) As long as there is a decent alternative available in the game it is basically the same as 3.
1.) If it is a simple alternative way to purchase an expansion, then it would be acceptable, but anything else should be included with the subscription.
The problem is xbox live , Wii zones and Playstation store .
Sorry they offer stuff that normally should be free the DLC for real life money , and its being sold .
So what does it say , that currently gamers have enough money .
And marketing as marketing is , sorry its a proven concept , those people still holding onto no cash shops , sadly it wont work anymore , the market is open for cash shops , just how far can they push the cash shop .
While maintaining a legit face of fairness , imagine if Blizzard puts 1 legendary item per server for 1000 dollar/euro .
How fast would it be sold out , its not even a question of would it sell , its a question how fast would it sell .
And then the moans of people its unfair , and i will quit cause i cannot afford it .
Lets raise the bar and put it at 10000 dollar/euro , how fast would it be sold , and people would say nevermind i am not paying for a digital crap . then you have envious people moaning and quitting still .
But for marketing it would rack up a serious 6 digit number suddenly of income .
But its sadly harmfull for longterm since the amount of envious people QQ quiting is not worth the cost of 6 digit short term profit .
Now enough explaining how digital cash shops works .
My personal opnion , i dont want digital shops , i can afford it , thats not the issue , i believe in fair play and quality .
As long the digital shop can give me products of a product i support , its made in good quality , i will not complain .
But as long they stay optional and not content that should have been included in original release .
If its a free to play envoirement (Something i really quick dump ) then with all respect yes i understand why they have to do it .
But if its subscription base , then forget it , not going to pay money for stuff that should have been included in the content .
Sorry dont offer 6 months payment offers then , if you suddenly find yourself short of cash .
Same story of lifetime subscription , if people offer that , it aint going to work .
Its quick money in the bank , but sadly it aint going to work for long time subscriptions .
Anyway any veteran MMO player should know pay per month , and if something happens that you dont like .
Cancel right away . sure you pay extra a month , but that extra is cause you believe in the product , once you stop believing cancel right away .
i surely hope GW2 will do the same paying model like GW1.
im a bit tired of the new trend in video games.
the so called DLC... also known as 'good for milking cows' or 'here you go: something that you should have got when the game was released!'.
so i hope that the only buyable content will be expansions.
anyway i find it weird that this article didnt mention league of legends. one of the most succesful cash shop models ever made.
They are all at it sazabi, MMO's launched too soon, solo games as well. Dragon Ages was launched with content immediatly ready for download. In DA's case though it was not launched too soon but had content held back so they could sell it online. The first Mass Effect is a good example of a game launched too soon and then not patched for ages.
Well at least that OPINION of yours was a bit more in depth and made a bit more sense. Not just the "Off with his head!!!" rant before.
That being said... it's still just your OPINION. Just because you think Cash Shops = Death of RPG... doesn't automatically make it an absolute truth. Thanks though for the OPINION.
I agree with most of the OP, but sadly the F2P games i've played always sell game breaking items in the cash shop and playing for free is basicly an extended trial or a masochist trip.
If they sell potions, they'll be unavailable for free or prohibetively expensive in ingame currency. They'll also be requierd to win in PvP.
If they sell mounts, then there will be no free mounts to get at all, or they'll require months to get.
If they sell zones, the zones available for free will take you through the first levels but you'll run out of quest content to do before the level cap without paying up.
Reminds me of when Battlefield Heroes (alright not an MMO, but a F2P cash shop game) went from balanced and selling mostly cosmetic upgrades to pay to win because of EA's greed.
The real tragedy is that new gamers will not be able to compare old with new, they will think Pay to Win is the only way MMO’s can be.
#1 best use for a cash shop.
Rake in massive ammounts of dogh on a half finished game while promising to finish it later if only you can get enough money out of your cash shop.
Get paid boatloads more than the game is actually worth due to pay for power kiddies spending thier entire 200.00 per month allowance on your game.
Shut down game when profit margine reduces without ever providing promised completion.
Lather rinse repeat.
Sanity is a delusion. The only truth is madness.
The sad thing is now how many actually accept this and keep on playing games this way and defending the game companies who are doing this.
the problem with adding "real extra content" even to free games is that you are reminded in game about money.
going to an NPC to find a horse that you can chose to buy for 5 dollars is one thing, finding an NPC that will give you quests that you need to pay for as you are adventuring, makes me shut down the game.
I'm all right with #5, but I'd rather just wait for some special event for an EXP boost rather than buy one. I find #4 very irritating. I think that the more potent a potion or consumable is, or the less-common potions for reviving its specific stat are, the more gold it should cost. You shouldn't have to pay money just to revive yourself. I can back #3 completely. Back when I played MapleStory, the one thing I'd usually spend my money on in the CS was clothing. As for #2... I really could care less about special mounts or mount covers. And when it comes to #1, I really have no opinion. I don't have any experience in that area; more in semi-F2P games, where you pay a subscription fee to unlock more content.
Really? My MMO experience is limited, but I've never seen an unlimited EXP boost for sale in a CS. Usually one that's only good for a few hours, or one day, or between certain hours of certain days.