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If the future of mmo's is F2P with a cash shop then I.....
Calintz333
Member UncommonPosts: 1,193
Will look for a new hobby.
It seems to me like more and more not only mmo's but even full retail games are finding new ways to try to nickle and dime coustomers while selling some form of advantage for real cash.
This is a business model that I am adamantly against.
In this year alone I lost my most anticipated mmos to microtransaction shop implementation.
Both Guild wars 2 and Phantasy Star Online 2, the two games I most looked forward to this year that I now will not play.
Additionally, Aion, one of my favorite secondary mmo's recently went Pay to win...errr.. I mean free to play.
Right now, I am playing one of the few 100% subscription based mmos left (FFXI). Hoping that because it is on Ps2 and Xbox 360 they will not go the way of microtransactions in the future.
Is this the future of all gaming?
Are microtransactions going to invade every game, of every genre?
If this is the case, then I just won't bother buying new consoles or upgrading my PC. I want absolutely no part of that movement.
What is your view on microtransactions?
Comments
Yeah, i refuse to buy and play a game that makes me buy a megaphone in the cash shop only to be able to talk in general chat.
It's hilarious because P2P MMOs with monthly subs will end up being more cheap to play than games where they basically gimp you and make you grind for hours or spend more than 15$ a month for convenience items to play "like it was meant to be played".
Cash shop is a lie, they know it, you know it. (look im so edgy and hypocrite, now i will have hords of fanboys defending my game and bashing everyone else, im a friking genious).
"Esport with tournaments is for hardcore pvp'rs that want to be competitive. Openworld PVP with ganking and griefing is for casuals that just wants their pvp mixed with pve from time to time."
otacu
Real Money Auction Houses are the future, trust me on that
I put "I like micro-transactions," but that's because I like micro-transactions more than subs when they are done RIGHT. Unfortunately, many cash shops are created to maximize revenue at the expense of game quality (things like TRUE p2w, or energy bars). That is not what cash shops/F2P has to be. LoL is the perfect example of a F2P game that does everything right. No reason this fair, competitive cash shop model can't exist in MMOs as well as MOBAs.
I would also like to point out that many subscription games intentionally attempt to maximize profit at the expense of game quality as well, but doing things like making things take longer than they should, increasing downtime, superficially extending content so that people have to play for a long time to succeed. Unfortunately, this is often overlooked, because the core gaming audience actually values a longer game to a higher quality game. Because, well, our values are borked.
Seeing as how we don't know whats in GW2 Cash Shop I wouldn't write them off just yet. I see no problem with microtransactions if its not a Pay2Win shop. It's working really well for league of legends and nothing on their shop is Pay2Win.
If people want to pay extra money for fluff then why not... It's better then paying 30-40$ for an expansion for every content update *cough everquest* with 10+ expansions.
Depends.
At the moment Is see no game that interests me worthy of a sub fee of $15.
I love UO but when the fee costs me the same as to have my own free shard I wonder ...
im sorry but where is the
'I don't mind them'
i didn't vote
I am willing to bet the market is attempting to see how much people are willing to pay for items or "Concepts"
Then tweak it a bit on what you should get for free and what you pay for and how much
We are going to see more and more games that are half done, and you have to pay to get the other half of the game labled as an "Expansion" Until enough people stop buying then they will just sell you the game that is 3/4 done, and you have the get the other 1/2 as and "Expansion" ect ect
Just a matter of time till they get their little formula right and it will never go away
Right now it seems to be ok for me in some games, Tribes Acesnd for instance I paid about 60 bucks on gold and it was more than enough combined with XP to get pretty much everything, and I still have a ton of gold left over. Hi Rez in this case it really giving you a pratical choice, if you dont want to "Buy" the game. But I dont think gaming companies are able to resist greed and its going to get worse till it gets better.
I chose "I try to avoid them but have exceptions", primarily because I'm a sucker for cosmetic items.
Other than for cosmetic reasons, cash shops should not exist if they cheapen the experience for people that are dedicated to the game, at least not for games that can honestly call themselves MMORPGs.
Not much role playing involved in a game where you log in, open your mailbox, and BAM! Instant rewards earned with real life money that surpass another player's time-consuming efforts within the game.
That's just feeble, lame, and lazy.
I no longer play World of Warcraft, and I have absolutely no interest in taking advantage of a Scroll of Resurrection to boost an "alt" to Level 80, but I'll give Blizzard credit for not implementing anything besides that to their Account Management program. At least that program was primarily designed to encourage returning players.
I put "I don't pay attention to that sort of thing..." I mean, my in-game experience isn't usually determined by what's in the cash shop. Half the time I'm so dis-interested in the cash shop that I don't even know where it is, or how it works... If a game I'm playing happens to have one, I don't know what's in it!
EDIT: if anyone has the time, I'de be happy to hear how AION's cash shop has been implemented/is going. Used to play it and now I'm curious...
Taru-Gallante-Blood elf-Elysean-Kelari-Crime Fighting-Imperial Agent
I like them. I am a PvE player for the most part so if someone else wants to pay money while I just enjoy the game then thats just perfect. Maybe there will be a couple things that I want to buy too but I won't bother with playing a game if it's not fun without paying for anything.
I absolutely will not ever again pay a subscription for a game. If the games all start towards the f2p/b2p with cash shop it's just fine by me. If that means people like the OP won't play anymore then bye goodluck with whatever they plan to do.
This sums it up for me.
I still have trouble wrapping my head around the idea. Would anyone have believed you 25 years ago if you told them that one day players will spend money to change the color of Donkey Kong's fur or Zelda's hat?
There are certain queer times and occasions in this strange mixed affair we call life when a man takes this whole universe for a vast practical joke, though the wit thereof he but dimly discerns, and more than suspects that the joke is at nobody's expense but his own.
-- Herman Melville
I'm realy not a fan of microtransaction at all. I like the old ways. Pay a subscription fee and you know on the end of the month how much you spent on the game. I hardly ever touch a f2p game. GW2 could be a exeption, even though I'm not conviced over the succsess of the game. But what I realy can't tolaret are how lots of MMOs are bringing up a b2p where you have to p2p game with microtransaction shops in the game and standard support actions (like char transfer etc.) you have to pay for aswell and each addon you have to pay for... this is just sick! Like WoW and some other games.
Games like this I won't touch ever again.
To the topic starter.
I dunno what na Aion has in the cash shop but the Europe version published by Gameforge is not pay2win at all. yes there are some boosts and other then that costumes/pets/dyes (wich you dont really need since the amount of free cosmetics is incredible) and all such cosmetic things.
The only thing people make some ingame currency with is selling 30day gold time (vip wich also gives some boosts no stats and no epic sword of pwness) and these 30day game boosts are easily gain able by a little grinding.
http://store.aiononline.com/store/index?category=supply
This is the major problem with the Aion cash shop. Crit + items, and such.
Paper and pen cash shop simulator v2.0
Players fighting against evil Headchief of the Master
-playerA does 5 damage
-playerB misses
-playerB : sec
-playerB : hey GM sell me a good weapon for 50 dollars
-GM : here you go
-playerC : curses
-playerB : back
-playerB does 250 damage
-other players : bye
or
-other players : cool
Let's internet
Lol 3.0 should be a PvP battle.
You should see the crap they're pulling in STO lol.
"Censorship is never over for those who have experienced it. It is a brand on the imagination that affects the individual who has suffered it, forever." - Noam Chomsky
A game to me (pve or pvp doesnt matter) has a very important competetive part to it, not that is the reason to play games but we look at ourselves through others; comparing with others and therefore justice/equality is important in game life aswell as life.
As we speak, shops are in most cases a way to gain advantage over others, cosmetic or otherwise.
I guess there is no secrets in that, but those of us who dislike shop solutions, are not prepared to compete on wallet size and besides wouldnt get satisfaction from winning even if we bought it. On top of that, when you buy something from a shop, you dont actually know the value of your item, it can be worthless with one design desision or addition to the shop the next day. With that comes the addiction factor that comes with most games, partly because you invested alot of time in it.. combine this with any companys purpose which is to makes money with how easy it is to control shop items you get ... easy manipulation of players.
Basically what you do is tell a company, keep making me offers I cant refuse untill my intelligence beats my addiction.
Traditional game purchases you know (more or less) what you get for which price, and that will always be the most honest solution for a customer.
I guess its a matter of how much you trust various companies to not take advantage of your gaming addiction.
afterthought. I tried the Drakensang online free to pay game, it is actually a nice little game but from your first step it is very clear that its sole purpose is to make you spend money in the item shop.. and a rough calculation shows that even some mediocre additions will cost much more than any standard box game. So yet again, the insult of manipulation turned me away as will almost any game no matter how good due to that single fact. I am sure there are and will be fair shop solutions, but the doubt will always be there and for me that matters.
"I am my connectome" https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HA7GwKXfJB0
Personally I like the F2P model if done right. I hate cryptics cash shops. They really nickel and dime you.
I will not just outright stop playing all F2P games. I am capable on judging any game on it's own merits.
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