Micro-transactions are by far the backbone of today's MMORPGs, and a wise marketing decision - for the companies. However, it is like a well concealed pit in the forest, you have fallen in before you realize it and you are sunk deep financially. Extreme caution is required when in the 'forest' of the virtual item and it's 'dangling carrot'.
I have a budget for entertainment that manages to be blown completely on my so called 'free' MMORPG every month. I want the better armor and better advantages in game that are provided only through the purchases of virtual items in the virtual mall. It doesn't seem to matter that I a have the 40+ hours to grind, without the equipment only achievable through micro-transactions, I can never be a competitor at the level I want to be. I think this billion-dollar industry is built to prey upon our subconscious drive to be really good at what we do, even in the virtual world, lol! Eventually either I will tire of feeling somewhat exploited, and quit the game, but they have me for now based upon "I have invested $ x, I am sticking with this ..." or, my husband will pull the plug on me!
I wonder if there is a MMORPG Annonymous or if we simply join Gambler's Annonymous to break free of our addiction ...
I think it is much easier to control your expenses with a simple monthly fee. Every trading card gamer knows how easy it is to loose sight of it and spent more than you like.
Everyone who has read Michael Ende's "Momo" knows microtransactions are the DEVIL! Its the Barbie-doll principle. You are endlessly tempted to buy this and that and this until you sold your soul in a commercial reign where only money makes you into being someone. NO! Fight against this system while it is new and small!
There future is never set in stone, it is what we make of it, especially we here as customers! its is in our power to say no and just dont buy it!
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
Well according to this poll Smedley is wrong, no that can't be right we know Smed never gets it wrong and has his finger firmly on the pulse of the gaming community ........... usually the jugular with his hands around the neck in a force choke strangling every last penny out of the player base until it withers away and dies on him ........ then he pretends it never happened ........... then he blames them for their own deaths ............ then he tries to change it back slowly saying he made a mistake ......... then he offers everyone vet trials and gives them a free 3 months of play per year ......... then he buys Vanguard and recruits all that games players to EQ2 ....... then he starts his micro transaction rant again because everyone does it in Asia ..... because few can afford a monthly fee and have a valid international credit/debit card and a computer with an internet connection at home in Asia compared to Europe and North America ....... but that's besides the point because Smedley is never wrong, right?
Well, I'm pointing out this post, but there are several in this thread that vocalize the same feeling. I just would like you to realize that even though you may not like the guy, or his games, or their "business practices", or whatever. Maybe you're just jealous because he's a millionaire executive and you're a burger flipper. That's all beside the reality here. Is he so wrong?
Yes, Smedley is so wrong. Anything he can do a burger flipper can do better.
That's why under his management SOE has gone from being the market leader to owner of an MMO graveyard. Could a drunk, blind tramp with one leg have done any worse?
Is he really a millionaire executive? I find that very hard to believe.
I suspect that Agricola is more likely a millionaire and less likely to end up working in Burger King. Smedley must truely lose sleep over the thought of an audit. "So Smedley, how come your department has made record losses again this year? And why did you spend 1,000's of our dollars on posting doughnuts to your friends?"
Bahamut1 is right, it's inevitable that the industry goes this way. The fact the we, the few, the proud, the bravadoes, won't play these games won't make a difference. The best we can hope for is to convince the producers that we'll only accept decorative things. In other words, decorative shapes to add to our existing weapons and armor, decorative colors to change things to, decorative items for our houses and castles, etc. Along with this, we should stress that we also want decorative things of the same nature, but different, to be found only within the game world, so that there's still those rare items of great value.
Well according to this poll Smedley is wrong, no that can't be right we know Smed never gets it wrong and has his finger firmly on the pulse of the gaming community ........... usually the jugular with his hands around the neck in a force choke strangling every last penny out of the player base until it withers away and dies on him ........ then he pretends it never happened ........... then he blames them for their own deaths ............ then he tries to change it back slowly saying he made a mistake ......... then he offers everyone vet trials and gives them a free 3 months of play per year ......... then he buys Vanguard and recruits all that games players to EQ2 ....... then he starts his micro transaction rant again because everyone does it in Asia ..... because few can afford a monthly fee and have a valid international credit/debit card and a computer with an internet connection at home in Asia compared to Europe and North America ....... but that's besides the point because Smedley is never wrong, right?
Well, I'm pointing out this post, but there are several in this thread that vocalize the same feeling. I just would like you to realize that even though you may not like the guy, or his games, or their "business practices", or whatever. Maybe you're just jealous because he's a millionaire executive and you're a burger flipper. That's all beside the reality here. Is he so wrong?
Yes, Smedley is so wrong. Anything he can do a burger flipper can do better.
That's why under his management SOE has gone from being the market leader to owner of an MMO graveyard. Could a drunk, blind tramp with one leg have done any worse?
Is he really a millionaire executive? I find that very hard to believe.
I suspect that Agricola is more likely a millionaire and less likely to end up working in Burger King. Smedley must truely lose sleep over the thought of an audit. "So Smedley, how come your department has made record losses again this year? And why did you spend 1,000's of our dollars on posting doughnuts to your friends?"
Dude, you need to go check your facts. SoE's MMOG division was the profit focal point for Sony! They made millions of dollars in profits. It was their only bright spot. Check out EQ2 today. They are still adding new servers and their Exchange Servers are some of their heaviest populated servers of all their games. Do you know what their exchange server is? Players can buy and sell anything legally on exchange servers for real world cash and SoE monitors the transactions for security. They are successful with it.
Sure, I hate SoE for what they did to my Jedi and the entire CU/NGE thing too... but sometimes you just have to move on.
Do I agree with everything SoE does? Hell no. More often than not, Smedley and company do come up with some great ideas. Their exchange server ideas and now the F2P model are great for moving the industry forward. I would rather have a F2P micro payment system game than an ad driven game that I am paying $15 a month to play.
My prediction is, when AoC comes out and you are doing Drunken Brawling and there are Budweiser/JackDaniels ads in the bars when you are paying $15 a month to play, don't worry... be happy! And don't think AoC isn't being targeted for advertising. Eidos is the marketing company/distributors for AoC and if they want Budweiser commercials in AoC, they'll get Budweiser commercials in AoC.
Oh, and OP, next time you want to make a poll please do so in objective manner and not in a subjective manner. You are subjecting the readers to just your point of view. Also, OP. Do a bit of research in Micro-payment F2P games. I've looked at all of them on games list only very few of them charge you for things that make a differce. Most of the items in their item malls are things that are nice to have but that you don't need to have, meaning the items don't have any real game play value except how a player looks or ports around a said game.
Fear not fanbois, we are not trolls, let's take off your tin foil hat and learn what VAPORWARE is:
"Vaporware is a term used to describe a software or hardware product that is announced by a developer well in advance of release, but which then fails to emerge after having well exceeded the period of development time that was initially claimed or would normally be expected for the development cycle of a similar product."
Well I'm sure that the journalist for the New York Times and John Smedley are very well informed however I live in Asia so I consider myself to have a pretty big headstart on Smed. All Asians would rather play a P2P MMO with people from Europe and NA, why? Because those games don't suck, they're not full of children aged 7 bunking off school to sit in an internet cafe and play "Dance Audition Online" or some other F2P turd. However very few Asians have the free cash to buy a computer that can run a decent MMO and pay for the monthly internet fee and have a credit/debit card that is internationally valid. Also until recently paypal was not an option for any banks in the Kingdom of Thailand as they'd all refused to support it due to poor people getting ripped off by Indian scammers. Added to that most Asian don't even know what paypal is, and even if they did they couldn't afford the monthly fee. Countries like Japan and Korea are the exception to the rule in Asia, 99% of Asian can't afford to game like People in NA and Europe and of the 1% that can how many actually have internet access at home? How many play games online with that access? And how many of them play MMOs in their free time? And how many of them have any free time to commit to it? And how many could wrap their heads around playing a game in English because they have no servers for their country language? You see how it goes for Asia? Most gaming is done in internet cafes by children on F2P with cash shop, the game cash is bought at the local seven eleven store for say a dollar a time. Lineage 2 gamecards are sold at these stores in Thailand also but sell extremely slowly due to the $15 price tag.
I play BF: 2142 on SE Asian servers and the only people that play in Thailand and pretty much all of SE Asia are those that have very wealthy families. When I say wealthy I mean alot better off than 99% of Europeans and North Americans, perhaps privileged would be a better description. Why? Because they're the only ones that,
A: Have a comp and internet connection at home.
B: Can afford to buy the game.
C: Can buy the game when they're on holiday in the U.S.A
Have a credit/debit card that is valid outside of the country so they can download it and /or the expansion.
All these people prefer to play these games as opposed to free MMOs or FPS because they're of higher quality. For those that aren't amongst the privileged in Asia you have no choice it's F2P and cash shop if/when you can afford it. This is why Cash shop is so "popular" in Asia and why popular western made MMORPGs and FPS won't become cash shop. In Asia the phiolosophy is "If you want quality you must pay for it, if you don't or can't afford it you have no choice but F2P and cash shop". Asians don't think that micro transactions are a better system the majority just can't afford to game the same way people do in NA and Europe (yet).
Well maybe I'm totally wrong and my 12+ years of living and working in SE Asia have left me with the wrong impression and Smedley knows better than me. SOE will make money from micro transactions but they won't make it from NA and Europe that's for sure, they'll make it from Asia because they have no choice. It's a bit like offering a guy who isn't hungry some cold soggy french fries, he'll turn you down. But if you offer those same french fries to a guy who hasn't eaten for three days he'll snap them up, so Asians will snap it up until they can afford to eat a better meal. However there's the problem of making the ingame cash available to the Asian market, for many countries they'll need to sell gamecards in stores.
This all leads mew to my final question and conclusion, "Why do SOE want to do this micro transaction deal in the first place?". My conclusion? Because they can't make an MMORPG for the western market that doesn't blow chunks!
Just my humble opinion nothing else.
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience"
I want a certain "fairness" in my games. The idea of being below the top tier of players, and possibly far below, simply because they spend unreasonable amounts of money to be leet is just not acceptable to me.
Yes because spending unreasonable amounts of time playing is so much better.
/sarcasm off
Currently playing: LOTRO & WoW (not much WoW though because Mines of Moria rocks!!!!)
Looking Foward too: Bioware games (Dragon Age & Star Wars The Old Republic)
I want a certain "fairness" in my games. The idea of being below the top tier of players, and possibly far below, simply because they spend unreasonable amounts of money to be leet is just not acceptable to me.
Yes because spending unreasonable amounts of time playing is so much better.
/sarcasm off
Well Cabe2323, it's like this. They don't sell points for soccer matches, they leave victory up to the teams with skill and practice to produce the points themselves.
Well according to this poll Smedley is wrong, no that can't be right we know Smed never gets it wrong and has his finger firmly on the pulse of the gaming community ........... usually the jugular with his hands around the neck in a force choke strangling every last penny out of the player base until it withers away and dies on him ........ then he pretends it never happened ........... then he blames them for their own deaths ............ then he tries to change it back slowly saying he made a mistake ......... then he offers everyone vet trials and gives them a free 3 months of play per year ......... then he buys Vanguard and recruits all that games players to EQ2 ....... then he starts his micro transaction rant again because everyone does it in Asia ..... because few can afford a monthly fee and have a valid international credit/debit card and a computer with an internet connection at home in Asia compared to Europe and North America ....... but that's besides the point because Smedley is never wrong, right?
Well, I'm pointing out this post, but there are several in this thread that vocalize the same feeling. I just would like you to realize that even though you may not like the guy, or his games, or their "business practices", or whatever. Maybe you're just jealous because he's a millionaire executive and you're a burger flipper. That's all beside the reality here. Is he so wrong?
Yes, Smedley is so wrong. Anything he can do a burger flipper can do better.
That's why under his management SOE has gone from being the market leader to owner of an MMO graveyard. Could a drunk, blind tramp with one leg have done any worse?
Is he really a millionaire executive? I find that very hard to believe.
I suspect that Agricola is more likely a millionaire and less likely to end up working in Burger King. Smedley must truely lose sleep over the thought of an audit. "So Smedley, how come your department has made record losses again this year? And why did you spend 1,000's of our dollars on posting doughnuts to your friends?"
Dude, you need to go check your facts. SoE's MMOG division was the profit focal point for Sony! They made millions of dollars in profits. It was their only bright spot. Check out EQ2 today. They are still adding new servers and their Exchange Servers are some of their heaviest populated servers of all their games. Do you know what their exchange server is? Players can buy and sell anything legally on exchange servers for real world cash and SoE monitors the transactions for security. They are successful with it.
Sure, I hate SoE for what they did to my Jedi and the entire CU/NGE thing too... but sometimes you just have to move on.
Do I agree with everything SoE does? Hell no. More often than not, Smedley and company do come up with some great ideas. Their exchange server ideas and now the F2P model are great for moving the industry forward. I would rather have a F2P micro payment system game than an ad driven game that I am paying $15 a month to play.
What a load of Baloney.
This year SOE funded, a total flop. They spent tens of millions on it. How many extra EQ2 servers opened in the last 3 years? 40 ? 50? That's how many it would take to pay for Vanguard.
They are losing money. They need another hit like EQ1 or Star wars. EQ2 is profitable, but it's not a market leader like the other two were.
All the subscriptions they have put together won't fund the next development, they are in hock to the bank, and it will get wiorse before it gets better. If it gets better.
I haven't used an exchange server, but as far as I know it is not a substitute system for subscription fee's, although clearly they intend to make money out of it. to the best of my knowledge it is a way of chargiung extra, an additional payment system not an alternative payment one. (I'm open to correction).
I think it's a good system and will make Real Money Trading a lot more reliable a transaction. However Smedley is running it, so it will pretty soon start overcharging. It is of note that RMT is widely unpopular in MMO's. I like it, but many people don't. So while all the other MMO companies are all taking steps to reduce this, Smedley has set up a system to encourage it and cash in. Smedley doesn't understand the nature of being in a service industry. He is notorious for pissing off his subscribers and losing them.
SOE is not the profit focus of Sony. LMAO!. Sony has sold 8.7 trillion yen's worth of Television sets so far this year. Laughable that you should think mere millions could be a bright spot for Sony's finance.
For the record, I never played Star Wars, Smedley didn't nerf my Jedi, only yours. Actually, not only yours, everybody elses too. I think he is the only person in history to destroy a Star Wars franchise.
I hold with Agricola's appraisal, if Smedley is doing it, there is more chance of it being unsuccessful than working well.
no doubt im going to try the game... But yeah, i would get worried about getting "addicted" to a game, and would spend endlessly.
Just started to play this browser based game with some co-workers called Gladiatus, and i've gotten lured by the offer to buy this ingame currency, that allows me get items 20-50% better than what i can attain by myself.
But I have no doubt that if SOE were losing money, we'd have someone else to kick around.
The fact that he is still in charge indicates strongly that SOE is in the black, or the head office would be asking questions. Smedley's rep in the MMO community, such as it is, is utterly irrelevant to the beancounting Harvard MBA suits who Smedley answers to. If SOE is in the black, chances are he's safe.
We know that Smedley's interference screws up games. But there are still people who have been bent over and violated who pay their monthly fees to log into those games. Enough so that Smedley appears to be in absolutely no danger of being asked to spend more time with his family.
Recall, if you will, that while it may say "Sony Online Entertainment", SOE is not a Japanese company per se, any more that Columbia/Tristar is. It may be owned by Sony, but these are relatively independent based in the US operations. Note that SWG Japan died a terrible embarassing death, yet that did not prompt the Zaibatsu to call for the head of Smedley.
Frankly, the F2P model with microtransactions reminds me of the Telecomm industry's obsession with metering phone calls. Sure, it's going to generate more revenue on paper, but flat fees do not have a very elaborate billing system in the back office to pay for and maintain to bill the customers for the microtransactions. Do you suppose that SOE will sent you itemized bill every month outlining precisely what microtransactions took place? A penny here for a helm, a penny there for some greaves...it will add up, and someone will be paying the bill. Most likely mom and dad. How closely do mom and dad scruitinize such bills? Suddenly junior's The Agency statement arrives, and it's for $75 this month, all in microtransactions that seem to accumulate like gambling losses.
And there you have it...why this will fail in the long term. It's based on impulse buying, on a form of addiction, and some people will figure out that they can't afford "free" gaming.
CH, Jedi, Commando, Smuggler, BH, Scout, Doctor, Chef, BE...yeah, lots of SWG time invested.
Another thing...I can see a F2P with microtransactions model very quickly becoming a political hot potato, as angry parents demand goverment intervention to stop outfits like SOE from enticing their kids into making microtransactions that quickly add up to serious money.
CH, Jedi, Commando, Smuggler, BH, Scout, Doctor, Chef, BE...yeah, lots of SWG time invested.
I want a certain "fairness" in my games. The idea of being below the top tier of players, and possibly far below, simply because they spend unreasonable amounts of money to be leet is just not acceptable to me.
Yes because spending unreasonable amounts of time playing is so much better.
/sarcasm off
Well Cabe2323, it's like this. They don't sell points for soccer matches, they leave victory up to the teams with skill and practice to produce the points themselves.
Ahh but a team who buys all the biggest stars can buy themselves a championship.
The fact remains that a system based only on time played is just as biased an unfair as a system based on RL dollars. They should implement both to actually make the game even.
Currently playing: LOTRO & WoW (not much WoW though because Mines of Moria rocks!!!!)
Looking Foward too: Bioware games (Dragon Age & Star Wars The Old Republic)
Another thing...I can see a F2P with microtransactions model very quickly becoming a political hot potato, as angry parents demand goverment intervention to stop outfits like SOE from enticing their kids into making microtransactions that quickly add up to serious money.
Yes because it is so much better to entice them to play 8-12 hours per day to get the stuff they want in the games.
/sarcasm off
Honestly the current system of MMO games that focuses so heavily on time played is a horrible system. It is unhealthy and creating a generation of unhealthy kids.
I am sorry that you feel that your Uber sword of +1 leetness will mean less if Little Johnny can purchase one using his Dad's credit card. But guess what. That makes you completely pathetic. The fact that you have to get value in your life based on the video games you are playing and comparing to other players is extremely sad. Why can't you feel accomplishment just from knowing that you gained your item.
The only people who hate a RL transaction system are the people that currently are using their enormous play time to be more powerful in games. They don't want anything that can take away from their advantage. It is pretty sad.
Currently playing: LOTRO & WoW (not much WoW though because Mines of Moria rocks!!!!)
Looking Foward too: Bioware games (Dragon Age & Star Wars The Old Republic)
1. This seems alot like the concept of those fantasy card games like Magic: The Gathering, which I never played because I could see it was a ripoff from the start.
2. Has the law been settled yet on how much you own and how much they own when they actually sell you the virtual sword? Seems to me that it could get tricky when people start to claim "Server crashed and took my stuff, give it back". I mean, they could try to protect themselves by making you sign away all your rights before you can play, but those type of contracts have been found invalid before.
3. See 1. Though fantasy card games were successful there never was any danger of them taking over the gaming industry to the point of excluding any other choices. The sky is not falling.
Another thing...I can see a F2P with microtransactions model very quickly becoming a political hot potato, as angry parents demand goverment intervention to stop outfits like SOE from enticing their kids into making microtransactions that quickly add up to serious money.
Yes because it is so much better to entice them to play 8-12 hours per day to get the stuff they want in the games.
/sarcasm off
Honestly the current system of MMO games that focuses so heavily on time played is a horrible system. It is unhealthy and creating a generation of unhealthy kids.
I am sorry that you feel that your Uber sword of +1 leetness will mean less if Little Johnny can purchase one using his Dad's credit card. But guess what. That makes you completely pathetic. The fact that you have to get value in your life based on the video games you are playing and comparing to other players is extremely sad. Why can't you feel accomplishment just from knowing that you gained your item.
The only people who hate a RL transaction system are the people that currently are using their enormous play time to be more powerful in games. They don't want anything that can take away from their advantage. It is pretty sad.
You misunderstand me a great deal. It's not a question of maintaining a competitive advantage based on time...it's a question of exploitation of consumers in a new way.
Kids playing for countless hours AND making lots of microtransactions is a superior model? Blizz at least makes an effort, in their loading screens, of reminding their players that they should not live their lives out in Azeroth.
You're conflating two issues here...and I strongly suspect that parents who allow WoW to babysit their kids will grow alarmed when their VISA bill is filled with microtransactions.
The issue of kids spending too much time online is one thing...I happen to agree with you that it's not a good thing...but spending too much money online creates a whole new dynamic that might bite the perpetrators in the posterior.
CH, Jedi, Commando, Smuggler, BH, Scout, Doctor, Chef, BE...yeah, lots of SWG time invested.
I want a certain "fairness" in my games. The idea of being below the top tier of players, and possibly far below, simply because they spend unreasonable amounts of money to be leet is just not acceptable to me.
What's the difference between unreasonable amount of money, compared to an unreasonable amount of time?
What a load of Baloney. This year SOE funded, a total flop. They spent tens of millions on it. How many extra EQ2 servers opened in the last 3 years? 40 ? 50? That's how many it would take to pay for Vanguard. They are losing money. They need another hit like EQ1 or Star wars. EQ2 is profitable, but it's not a market leader like the other two were. Proof? Articles? You got anything but hot air? All the subscriptions they have put together won't fund the next development, they are in hock to the bank, and it will get wiorse before it gets better. If it gets better. I really love all this proof you're posting. Where's the numbers, you got anything worth backing up your crap? I haven't used an exchange server, but as far as I know it is not a substitute system for subscription fee's, although clearly they intend to make money out of it. to the best of my knowledge it is a way of chargiung extra, an additional payment system not an alternative payment one. (I'm open to correction). You don't even know? Why are you posting? Station Exchange is the same $15 a month and buys and sells characters, items, and currency. It is exactly the same as the people that are ALREADY paying subscription fees AND buying in game products from sweat shops and gold sellers doing it illegally. Sony OWNS the product, they have MORE RIGHT to make money from "secondary market" of THEIR OWN PRODUCT than anyone. Period. If people are spending the money, and buying it, then well... DUH. I think it's a good system and will make Real Money Trading a lot more reliable a transaction. However Smedley is running it, so it will pretty soon start overcharging. It is of note that RMT is widely unpopular in MMO's. I like it, but many people don't. So while all the other MMO companies are all taking steps to reduce this, Smedley has set up a system to encourage it and cash in. Smedley doesn't understand the nature of being in a service industry. He is notorious for pissing off his subscribers and losing them. So you're FOR RMT, but don't want the producer, owner, and designer of the product to make the money THEY deserve? RMT is widely unpopular? Hmmmm http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/42464.html From $2 billion to $5.2 billion... yeah, that's pretty unpopular... And what other MMO companies are fighting it? Who, I DARE you to show me your proof, because you sure got a LOAD of it in this post. Other companies are fighting ILLEGAL "secondary market", not the market itself. Here's something before you even try... http://www.mmoz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27694 Dan Bojanowski: So far, we have three MMO cosmetic items on our UDE Points Store. Tabard of the Frost (unique blue tabard), Fireworks Trinket (shoots of a unique fireworks display), and an Ogre Disguise Trinket (turn into an Ogre). In November, we will be adding additional items, so stay tuned! These are all in addition to the upgrades you can get through the Loot cards in each booster set. We introduce three new Loot cards with every booster product. So yeah, Blizzard is doing it too. Welcome to the present. SOE is not the profit focus of Sony. LMAO!. Sony has sold 8.7 trillion yen's worth of Television sets so far this year. Laughable that you should think mere millions could be a bright spot for Sony's finance. For the record, I never played Star Wars, Smedley didn't nerf my Jedi, only yours. Actually, not only yours, everybody elses too. I think he is the only person in history to destroy a Star Wars franchise. I hold with Agricola's appraisal, if Smedley is doing it, there is more chance of it being unsuccessful than working well.
Like I said before, it is ALREADY happening. Many companies are illegally making profit from people willing to pay to play AND buy in-game products. Smedley (SOE), Blizzard, Turbine, and any/all of these companies would be idiots not to recognize this. I don't have to like it, you don't have to like it (although you said you do), but enough people like it to be profitable, and I've posted the proof of that.
As far as the Chinese spending $2 billion, read the article again. The chinese are selling the stuff TO US. We're buying it, we're spending money on in-game commodities. They're playing these games 24/7 and then building websites and spamming us in game to buy their "product" they don't even own, and we're dumb enough to buy it. True, F2P games are popular because they can't spend time getting stuff in game so they buy it instead, but it's EU and US buyers that are making up the bulk of the "secondary market".
"Granted thinking for yourself could be considered a timesink of shorter or longer duration depending on how smart..or how dumb you are."
Pesonally I won't play a game that requires you to buy things. Just gives a huge advantage to those that have plenty of money to spend. The last thing I want in a game is a imbalance because I don't choose to spend a lot of money on it.
Typical of SOE to think this way, they have done so well lately in the MMO market ...../sarcasm off
Unless Sony wakes up and removes the idiot suits running SOE, I don't see a very good future for them in that genre.
Pesonally I won't play a game that requires you to buy things. Just gives a huge advantage to those that have plenty of money to spend. The last thing I want in a game is a imbalance because I don't choose to spend a lot of money on it. Typical of SOE to think this way, they have done so well lately in the MMO market ...../sarcasm off Unless Sony wakes up and removes the idiot suits running SOE, I don't see a very good future for them in that genre.
Why should people with a lot of time be the only ones who should excel in the game?
It is very hypocritical of people to say it is ok for a game to use a lot of one resource (time) but that it isn't ok for it to use another resource equally (money).
If the game makes items purchased equal to items gained by time then there is no problem. Well no problem for anyone who actually plays the game as a GAME. The only people that will be upset are the people who's epeen will get smaller because they won't be able to show off their uber sword to anyone in the game.
*** For example. If I was a Clinical Psychologist and worked 8-10 hours per day. Now I could either play for 1-3 hours per night working my way up, but I will never be able to participate in the best raids which means I will never get the best items. So I can either work less hours and play the game for longer. Or I can buy the items and work the same amount of hours. Clinical Psychologists in my home town make between 100-300 per hour. So I can give up anywhere from 200 to 900 dollars per day and play more, or I can pay 100-200 more dollars to buy the stuff. Obviously for someone like that it would be worth it to spend the money.
Now the people that can't afford to spend the money would still be able to earn their items by the resource they have a lot of. Which is time.
Now people might say what about Joe Schmoe who plays maybe 10 hours per week and can't afford the better items. Well Joe Schmoe couldn't get the better items under the current system either. At least a RMT transaction game will allow him to maybe save up for something or get it as a gift.
Currently playing: LOTRO & WoW (not much WoW though because Mines of Moria rocks!!!!)
Looking Foward too: Bioware games (Dragon Age & Star Wars The Old Republic)
I would not take Mr. Smedley's assertions too seriously. Sure, he will try this even as he acknowleges users have "issues" with it.
Then the market will soundly reject this nickel and diming baloney and we'll return to what was before.
What is driving this greed based pursuit to dig further into gamer's wallets is that they see the gold farmers making all kinds of money and as Mr. Smedley has himself indicated, they want in on this "aftermarket" action. In fact they no doubt want control of the whole pie here I'm sure. He stated that this is of course being done for user benefit but in all honesty this is of course driven by a desire to further enhance the bottom line.
These suits must think we were born yesterday. Unfortunately for them, we were not. I do not think this will fly but the real test is going to come as they start implementing it. I believe that over time it will fail miserably. There is a limit and that crosses it for many of us. How many? Well, I guess we are about to find out.
I just noticed above someone said they had posted enough proof that people will like it.
That is kind of funny really as you cannot possibly post enough proof of anything to predict the future with any kind of accuracy. I am pretty sure only weathermen get away with this stuff and they aren't always right either as we all know.
In fairness, that means I cannot either but as someone else pointed out also, Mr. Smedley in particular does not exactly have a stellar track record of success and history is known to sometimes predict the future if anything can.
As for people liking this stuff in sufficient numbers to offset the losses related to those who do not I doubt it. I don't know it since it has not yet happened but I really, really doubt it.
I noticed mention of WoW boosters which offer a few relatively useless toys don't they? I cannot imagine there is any pvp unbalancing stuff in a deck of cards is there? And of 9 million WoW players it would be interesting to see what number, what percent of those nine million own even one package of WoW cards.
In any case, selling trading cards with purely optional toys that do not unbalance a game is pretty benign. The outright restriction of content and useful gear unless one pays real cash for it is quite another story. There's no meaningful comparison there.
They are digging all over the place for new sources of revnue to be sure from ingame ads to trading cards to ingame card games to so-called micro transactions, etc., etc. ad nauseum. Each time they do this there is outcry on forums such as these while the sheep amble on either not minding, not caring or even not noticing. But notice they will when it costs more money to keep the playing field even if it should go that far.
Personally, I find people who need to link thier uber this or that in computer games pathetic. This is why I almost always have general chat off wherever I am although the linkers in MMOs will still find you in groups, raids, public zones, etc. Generally speaking, the more "leet" the item is, the more I know they have no real life. Not exactly the stuff of making great impressions, at least not on me. Of course they should not care what I think but I guess they do if they have some compulsion to link thier latest pants of uber wetness absorption.
When someone in my group tells me about how they gave blood today or visited someone in a nursing home or helped someone less fortunate than themselves, etc. then I will be impressed. There is nothing impressive about accomplishments in computer games at all. They are just games. Nobody in the world cares about my uber leet paladin in raid gear or whatever and that's good. I'd be worried if they did.
Comments
Micro-transactions are by far the backbone of today's MMORPGs, and a wise marketing decision - for the companies. However, it is like a well concealed pit in the forest, you have fallen in before you realize it and you are sunk deep financially. Extreme caution is required when in the 'forest' of the virtual item and it's 'dangling carrot'.
I have a budget for entertainment that manages to be blown completely on my so called 'free' MMORPG every month. I want the better armor and better advantages in game that are provided only through the purchases of virtual items in the virtual mall. It doesn't seem to matter that I a have the 40+ hours to grind, without the equipment only achievable through micro-transactions, I can never be a competitor at the level I want to be. I think this billion-dollar industry is built to prey upon our subconscious drive to be really good at what we do, even in the virtual world, lol! Eventually either I will tire of feeling somewhat exploited, and quit the game, but they have me for now based upon "I have invested $ x, I am sticking with this ..." or, my husband will pull the plug on me!
I wonder if there is a MMORPG Annonymous or if we simply join Gambler's Annonymous to break free of our addiction ...
I think it is much easier to control your expenses with a simple monthly fee. Every trading card gamer knows how easy it is to loose sight of it and spent more than you like.
Everyone who has read Michael Ende's "Momo" knows microtransactions are the DEVIL! Its the Barbie-doll principle. You are endlessly tempted to buy this and that and this until you sold your soul in a commercial reign where only money makes you into being someone. NO! Fight against this system while it is new and small!
There future is never set in stone, it is what we make of it, especially we here as customers! its is in our power to say no and just dont buy it!
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
Yes, Smedley is so wrong. Anything he can do a burger flipper can do better.That's why under his management SOE has gone from being the market leader to owner of an MMO graveyard. Could a drunk, blind tramp with one leg have done any worse?
Is he really a millionaire executive? I find that very hard to believe.
I suspect that Agricola is more likely a millionaire and less likely to end up working in Burger King. Smedley must truely lose sleep over the thought of an audit. "So Smedley, how come your department has made record losses again this year? And why did you spend 1,000's of our dollars on posting doughnuts to your friends?"
Bahamut1 is right, it's inevitable that the industry goes this way. The fact the we, the few, the proud, the bravadoes, won't play these games won't make a difference. The best we can hope for is to convince the producers that we'll only accept decorative things. In other words, decorative shapes to add to our existing weapons and armor, decorative colors to change things to, decorative items for our houses and castles, etc. Along with this, we should stress that we also want decorative things of the same nature, but different, to be found only within the game world, so that there's still those rare items of great value.
Once upon a time....
Well, I'm pointing out this post, but there are several in this thread that vocalize the same feeling. I just would like you to realize that even though you may not like the guy, or his games, or their "business practices", or whatever. Maybe you're just jealous because he's a millionaire executive and you're a burger flipper. That's all beside the reality here. Is he so wrong?
Yes, Smedley is so wrong. Anything he can do a burger flipper can do better.That's why under his management SOE has gone from being the market leader to owner of an MMO graveyard. Could a drunk, blind tramp with one leg have done any worse?
Is he really a millionaire executive? I find that very hard to believe.
I suspect that Agricola is more likely a millionaire and less likely to end up working in Burger King. Smedley must truely lose sleep over the thought of an audit. "So Smedley, how come your department has made record losses again this year? And why did you spend 1,000's of our dollars on posting doughnuts to your friends?"
Dude, you need to go check your facts. SoE's MMOG division was the profit focal point for Sony! They made millions of dollars in profits. It was their only bright spot. Check out EQ2 today. They are still adding new servers and their Exchange Servers are some of their heaviest populated servers of all their games. Do you know what their exchange server is? Players can buy and sell anything legally on exchange servers for real world cash and SoE monitors the transactions for security. They are successful with it.
Sure, I hate SoE for what they did to my Jedi and the entire CU/NGE thing too... but sometimes you just have to move on.
Do I agree with everything SoE does? Hell no. More often than not, Smedley and company do come up with some great ideas. Their exchange server ideas and now the F2P model are great for moving the industry forward. I would rather have a F2P micro payment system game than an ad driven game that I am paying $15 a month to play.
My prediction is, when AoC comes out and you are doing Drunken Brawling and there are Budweiser/JackDaniels ads in the bars when you are paying $15 a month to play, don't worry... be happy! And don't think AoC isn't being targeted for advertising. Eidos is the marketing company/distributors for AoC and if they want Budweiser commercials in AoC, they'll get Budweiser commercials in AoC.
Oh, and OP, next time you want to make a poll please do so in objective manner and not in a subjective manner. You are subjecting the readers to just your point of view. Also, OP. Do a bit of research in Micro-payment F2P games. I've looked at all of them on games list only very few of them charge you for things that make a differce. Most of the items in their item malls are things that are nice to have but that you don't need to have, meaning the items don't have any real game play value except how a player looks or ports around a said game.
Fear not fanbois, we are not trolls, let's take off your tin foil hat and learn what VAPORWARE is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaporware
"Vaporware is a term used to describe a software or hardware product that is announced by a developer well in advance of release, but which then fails to emerge after having well exceeded the period of development time that was initially claimed or would normally be expected for the development cycle of a similar product."
Well I'm sure that the journalist for the New York Times and John Smedley are very well informed however I live in Asia so I consider myself to have a pretty big headstart on Smed. All Asians would rather play a P2P MMO with people from Europe and NA, why? Because those games don't suck, they're not full of children aged 7 bunking off school to sit in an internet cafe and play "Dance Audition Online" or some other F2P turd. However very few Asians have the free cash to buy a computer that can run a decent MMO and pay for the monthly internet fee and have a credit/debit card that is internationally valid. Also until recently paypal was not an option for any banks in the Kingdom of Thailand as they'd all refused to support it due to poor people getting ripped off by Indian scammers. Added to that most Asian don't even know what paypal is, and even if they did they couldn't afford the monthly fee. Countries like Japan and Korea are the exception to the rule in Asia, 99% of Asian can't afford to game like People in NA and Europe and of the 1% that can how many actually have internet access at home? How many play games online with that access? And how many of them play MMOs in their free time? And how many of them have any free time to commit to it? And how many could wrap their heads around playing a game in English because they have no servers for their country language? You see how it goes for Asia? Most gaming is done in internet cafes by children on F2P with cash shop, the game cash is bought at the local seven eleven store for say a dollar a time. Lineage 2 gamecards are sold at these stores in Thailand also but sell extremely slowly due to the $15 price tag.
I play BF: 2142 on SE Asian servers and the only people that play in Thailand and pretty much all of SE Asia are those that have very wealthy families. When I say wealthy I mean alot better off than 99% of Europeans and North Americans, perhaps privileged would be a better description. Why? Because they're the only ones that,
A: Have a comp and internet connection at home.
B: Can afford to buy the game.
C: Can buy the game when they're on holiday in the U.S.A
All these people prefer to play these games as opposed to free MMOs or FPS because they're of higher quality. For those that aren't amongst the privileged in Asia you have no choice it's F2P and cash shop if/when you can afford it. This is why Cash shop is so "popular" in Asia and why popular western made MMORPGs and FPS won't become cash shop. In Asia the phiolosophy is "If you want quality you must pay for it, if you don't or can't afford it you have no choice but F2P and cash shop". Asians don't think that micro transactions are a better system the majority just can't afford to game the same way people do in NA and Europe (yet).
Well maybe I'm totally wrong and my 12+ years of living and working in SE Asia have left me with the wrong impression and Smedley knows better than me. SOE will make money from micro transactions but they won't make it from NA and Europe that's for sure, they'll make it from Asia because they have no choice. It's a bit like offering a guy who isn't hungry some cold soggy french fries, he'll turn you down. But if you offer those same french fries to a guy who hasn't eaten for three days he'll snap them up, so Asians will snap it up until they can afford to eat a better meal. However there's the problem of making the ingame cash available to the Asian market, for many countries they'll need to sell gamecards in stores.
This all leads mew to my final question and conclusion, "Why do SOE want to do this micro transaction deal in the first place?". My conclusion? Because they can't make an MMORPG for the western market that doesn't blow chunks!
Just my humble opinion nothing else.
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience"
CS Lewis
/sarcasm off
Currently playing:
LOTRO & WoW (not much WoW though because Mines of Moria rocks!!!!)
Looking Foward too:
Bioware games (Dragon Age & Star Wars The Old Republic)
/sarcasm off
Well Cabe2323, it's like this. They don't sell points for soccer matches, they leave victory up to the teams with skill and practice to produce the points themselves.
Once upon a time....
Well, I'm pointing out this post, but there are several in this thread that vocalize the same feeling. I just would like you to realize that even though you may not like the guy, or his games, or their "business practices", or whatever. Maybe you're just jealous because he's a millionaire executive and you're a burger flipper. That's all beside the reality here. Is he so wrong?
Yes, Smedley is so wrong. Anything he can do a burger flipper can do better.That's why under his management SOE has gone from being the market leader to owner of an MMO graveyard. Could a drunk, blind tramp with one leg have done any worse?
Is he really a millionaire executive? I find that very hard to believe.
I suspect that Agricola is more likely a millionaire and less likely to end up working in Burger King. Smedley must truely lose sleep over the thought of an audit. "So Smedley, how come your department has made record losses again this year? And why did you spend 1,000's of our dollars on posting doughnuts to your friends?"
Dude, you need to go check your facts. SoE's MMOG division was the profit focal point for Sony! They made millions of dollars in profits. It was their only bright spot. Check out EQ2 today. They are still adding new servers and their Exchange Servers are some of their heaviest populated servers of all their games. Do you know what their exchange server is? Players can buy and sell anything legally on exchange servers for real world cash and SoE monitors the transactions for security. They are successful with it.
Sure, I hate SoE for what they did to my Jedi and the entire CU/NGE thing too... but sometimes you just have to move on.
Do I agree with everything SoE does? Hell no. More often than not, Smedley and company do come up with some great ideas. Their exchange server ideas and now the F2P model are great for moving the industry forward. I would rather have a F2P micro payment system game than an ad driven game that I am paying $15 a month to play.
What a load of Baloney.
This year SOE funded, a total flop. They spent tens of millions on it. How many extra EQ2 servers opened in the last 3 years? 40 ? 50? That's how many it would take to pay for Vanguard.
They are losing money. They need another hit like EQ1 or Star wars. EQ2 is profitable, but it's not a market leader like the other two were.
All the subscriptions they have put together won't fund the next development, they are in hock to the bank, and it will get wiorse before it gets better. If it gets better.
I haven't used an exchange server, but as far as I know it is not a substitute system for subscription fee's, although clearly they intend to make money out of it. to the best of my knowledge it is a way of chargiung extra, an additional payment system not an alternative payment one. (I'm open to correction).
I think it's a good system and will make Real Money Trading a lot more reliable a transaction. However Smedley is running it, so it will pretty soon start overcharging. It is of note that RMT is widely unpopular in MMO's. I like it, but many people don't. So while all the other MMO companies are all taking steps to reduce this, Smedley has set up a system to encourage it and cash in. Smedley doesn't understand the nature of being in a service industry. He is notorious for pissing off his subscribers and losing them.
SOE is not the profit focus of Sony. LMAO!. Sony has sold 8.7 trillion yen's worth of Television sets so far this year. Laughable that you should think mere millions could be a bright spot for Sony's finance.
For the record, I never played Star Wars, Smedley didn't nerf my Jedi, only yours. Actually, not only yours, everybody elses too. I think he is the only person in history to destroy a Star Wars franchise.
I hold with Agricola's appraisal, if Smedley is doing it, there is more chance of it being unsuccessful than working well.
no doubt im going to try the game... But yeah, i would get worried about getting "addicted" to a game, and would spend endlessly.
Just started to play this browser based game with some co-workers called Gladiatus, and i've gotten lured by the offer to buy this ingame currency, that allows me get items 20-50% better than what i can attain by myself.
So yeah, i can see the trouble by it.
Futilez - Mature MMORPG Community
Correcting people since birth.
OK, we all know Smedley reeks of bantha poodoo.
But I have no doubt that if SOE were losing money, we'd have someone else to kick around.
The fact that he is still in charge indicates strongly that SOE is in the black, or the head office would be asking questions. Smedley's rep in the MMO community, such as it is, is utterly irrelevant to the beancounting Harvard MBA suits who Smedley answers to. If SOE is in the black, chances are he's safe.
We know that Smedley's interference screws up games. But there are still people who have been bent over and violated who pay their monthly fees to log into those games. Enough so that Smedley appears to be in absolutely no danger of being asked to spend more time with his family.
Recall, if you will, that while it may say "Sony Online Entertainment", SOE is not a Japanese company per se, any more that Columbia/Tristar is. It may be owned by Sony, but these are relatively independent based in the US operations. Note that SWG Japan died a terrible embarassing death, yet that did not prompt the Zaibatsu to call for the head of Smedley.
Frankly, the F2P model with microtransactions reminds me of the Telecomm industry's obsession with metering phone calls. Sure, it's going to generate more revenue on paper, but flat fees do not have a very elaborate billing system in the back office to pay for and maintain to bill the customers for the microtransactions. Do you suppose that SOE will sent you itemized bill every month outlining precisely what microtransactions took place? A penny here for a helm, a penny there for some greaves...it will add up, and someone will be paying the bill. Most likely mom and dad. How closely do mom and dad scruitinize such bills? Suddenly junior's The Agency statement arrives, and it's for $75 this month, all in microtransactions that seem to accumulate like gambling losses.
And there you have it...why this will fail in the long term. It's based on impulse buying, on a form of addiction, and some people will figure out that they can't afford "free" gaming.
CH, Jedi, Commando, Smuggler, BH, Scout, Doctor, Chef, BE...yeah, lots of SWG time invested.
Once a denizen of Ahazi
Another thing...I can see a F2P with microtransactions model very quickly becoming a political hot potato, as angry parents demand goverment intervention to stop outfits like SOE from enticing their kids into making microtransactions that quickly add up to serious money.
CH, Jedi, Commando, Smuggler, BH, Scout, Doctor, Chef, BE...yeah, lots of SWG time invested.
Once a denizen of Ahazi
how do you make a poll?
/sarcasm off
Well Cabe2323, it's like this. They don't sell points for soccer matches, they leave victory up to the teams with skill and practice to produce the points themselves.
Ahh but a team who buys all the biggest stars can buy themselves a championship.The fact remains that a system based only on time played is just as biased an unfair as a system based on RL dollars. They should implement both to actually make the game even.
Currently playing:
LOTRO & WoW (not much WoW though because Mines of Moria rocks!!!!)
Looking Foward too:
Bioware games (Dragon Age & Star Wars The Old Republic)
/sarcasm off
Honestly the current system of MMO games that focuses so heavily on time played is a horrible system. It is unhealthy and creating a generation of unhealthy kids.
I am sorry that you feel that your Uber sword of +1 leetness will mean less if Little Johnny can purchase one using his Dad's credit card. But guess what. That makes you completely pathetic. The fact that you have to get value in your life based on the video games you are playing and comparing to other players is extremely sad. Why can't you feel accomplishment just from knowing that you gained your item.
The only people who hate a RL transaction system are the people that currently are using their enormous play time to be more powerful in games. They don't want anything that can take away from their advantage. It is pretty sad.
Currently playing:
LOTRO & WoW (not much WoW though because Mines of Moria rocks!!!!)
Looking Foward too:
Bioware games (Dragon Age & Star Wars The Old Republic)
SoE already does the mircro transaction model. expansion every X months and 15 dollars a month
I find it amazing that by 2020 first world countries will be competing to get immigrants.
1. This seems alot like the concept of those fantasy card games like Magic: The Gathering, which I never played because I could see it was a ripoff from the start.
2. Has the law been settled yet on how much you own and how much they own when they actually sell you the virtual sword? Seems to me that it could get tricky when people start to claim "Server crashed and took my stuff, give it back". I mean, they could try to protect themselves by making you sign away all your rights before you can play, but those type of contracts have been found invalid before.
3. See 1. Though fantasy card games were successful there never was any danger of them taking over the gaming industry to the point of excluding any other choices. The sky is not falling.
/sarcasm off
Honestly the current system of MMO games that focuses so heavily on time played is a horrible system. It is unhealthy and creating a generation of unhealthy kids.
I am sorry that you feel that your Uber sword of +1 leetness will mean less if Little Johnny can purchase one using his Dad's credit card. But guess what. That makes you completely pathetic. The fact that you have to get value in your life based on the video games you are playing and comparing to other players is extremely sad. Why can't you feel accomplishment just from knowing that you gained your item.
The only people who hate a RL transaction system are the people that currently are using their enormous play time to be more powerful in games. They don't want anything that can take away from their advantage. It is pretty sad.
You misunderstand me a great deal. It's not a question of maintaining a competitive advantage based on time...it's a question of exploitation of consumers in a new way.
Kids playing for countless hours AND making lots of microtransactions is a superior model? Blizz at least makes an effort, in their loading screens, of reminding their players that they should not live their lives out in Azeroth.
You're conflating two issues here...and I strongly suspect that parents who allow WoW to babysit their kids will grow alarmed when their VISA bill is filled with microtransactions.
The issue of kids spending too much time online is one thing...I happen to agree with you that it's not a good thing...but spending too much money online creates a whole new dynamic that might bite the perpetrators in the posterior.
CH, Jedi, Commando, Smuggler, BH, Scout, Doctor, Chef, BE...yeah, lots of SWG time invested.
Once a denizen of Ahazi
What's the difference between unreasonable amount of money, compared to an unreasonable amount of time?
Like I said before, it is ALREADY happening. Many companies are illegally making profit from people willing to pay to play AND buy in-game products. Smedley (SOE), Blizzard, Turbine, and any/all of these companies would be idiots not to recognize this. I don't have to like it, you don't have to like it (although you said you do), but enough people like it to be profitable, and I've posted the proof of that.
As far as the Chinese spending $2 billion, read the article again. The chinese are selling the stuff TO US. We're buying it, we're spending money on in-game commodities. They're playing these games 24/7 and then building websites and spamming us in game to buy their "product" they don't even own, and we're dumb enough to buy it. True, F2P games are popular because they can't spend time getting stuff in game so they buy it instead, but it's EU and US buyers that are making up the bulk of the "secondary market".
"Granted thinking for yourself could be considered a timesink of shorter or longer duration depending on how smart..or how dumb you are."
Pesonally I won't play a game that requires you to buy things. Just gives a huge advantage to those that have plenty of money to spend. The last thing I want in a game is a imbalance because I don't choose to spend a lot of money on it.
Typical of SOE to think this way, they have done so well lately in the MMO market ...../sarcasm off
Unless Sony wakes up and removes the idiot suits running SOE, I don't see a very good future for them in that genre.
Why should people with a lot of time be the only ones who should excel in the game?
It is very hypocritical of people to say it is ok for a game to use a lot of one resource (time) but that it isn't ok for it to use another resource equally (money).
If the game makes items purchased equal to items gained by time then there is no problem. Well no problem for anyone who actually plays the game as a GAME. The only people that will be upset are the people who's epeen will get smaller because they won't be able to show off their uber sword to anyone in the game.
*** For example. If I was a Clinical Psychologist and worked 8-10 hours per day. Now I could either play for 1-3 hours per night working my way up, but I will never be able to participate in the best raids which means I will never get the best items. So I can either work less hours and play the game for longer. Or I can buy the items and work the same amount of hours. Clinical Psychologists in my home town make between 100-300 per hour. So I can give up anywhere from 200 to 900 dollars per day and play more, or I can pay 100-200 more dollars to buy the stuff. Obviously for someone like that it would be worth it to spend the money.
Now the people that can't afford to spend the money would still be able to earn their items by the resource they have a lot of. Which is time.
Now people might say what about Joe Schmoe who plays maybe 10 hours per week and can't afford the better items. Well Joe Schmoe couldn't get the better items under the current system either. At least a RMT transaction game will allow him to maybe save up for something or get it as a gift.
Currently playing:
LOTRO & WoW (not much WoW though because Mines of Moria rocks!!!!)
Looking Foward too:
Bioware games (Dragon Age & Star Wars The Old Republic)
I would not take Mr. Smedley's assertions too seriously. Sure, he will try this even as he acknowleges users have "issues" with it.
Then the market will soundly reject this nickel and diming baloney and we'll return to what was before.
What is driving this greed based pursuit to dig further into gamer's wallets is that they see the gold farmers making all kinds of money and as Mr. Smedley has himself indicated, they want in on this "aftermarket" action. In fact they no doubt want control of the whole pie here I'm sure. He stated that this is of course being done for user benefit but in all honesty this is of course driven by a desire to further enhance the bottom line.
These suits must think we were born yesterday. Unfortunately for them, we were not. I do not think this will fly but the real test is going to come as they start implementing it. I believe that over time it will fail miserably. There is a limit and that crosses it for many of us. How many? Well, I guess we are about to find out.
He who hesitates is lost.
I just noticed above someone said they had posted enough proof that people will like it.
That is kind of funny really as you cannot possibly post enough proof of anything to predict the future with any kind of accuracy. I am pretty sure only weathermen get away with this stuff and they aren't always right either as we all know.
In fairness, that means I cannot either but as someone else pointed out also, Mr. Smedley in particular does not exactly have a stellar track record of success and history is known to sometimes predict the future if anything can.
As for people liking this stuff in sufficient numbers to offset the losses related to those who do not I doubt it. I don't know it since it has not yet happened but I really, really doubt it.
I noticed mention of WoW boosters which offer a few relatively useless toys don't they? I cannot imagine there is any pvp unbalancing stuff in a deck of cards is there? And of 9 million WoW players it would be interesting to see what number, what percent of those nine million own even one package of WoW cards.
In any case, selling trading cards with purely optional toys that do not unbalance a game is pretty benign. The outright restriction of content and useful gear unless one pays real cash for it is quite another story. There's no meaningful comparison there.
They are digging all over the place for new sources of revnue to be sure from ingame ads to trading cards to ingame card games to so-called micro transactions, etc., etc. ad nauseum. Each time they do this there is outcry on forums such as these while the sheep amble on either not minding, not caring or even not noticing. But notice they will when it costs more money to keep the playing field even if it should go that far.
Personally, I find people who need to link thier uber this or that in computer games pathetic. This is why I almost always have general chat off wherever I am although the linkers in MMOs will still find you in groups, raids, public zones, etc. Generally speaking, the more "leet" the item is, the more I know they have no real life. Not exactly the stuff of making great impressions, at least not on me. Of course they should not care what I think but I guess they do if they have some compulsion to link thier latest pants of uber wetness absorption.
When someone in my group tells me about how they gave blood today or visited someone in a nursing home or helped someone less fortunate than themselves, etc. then I will be impressed. There is nothing impressive about accomplishments in computer games at all. They are just games. Nobody in the world cares about my uber leet paladin in raid gear or whatever and that's good. I'd be worried if they did.
He who hesitates is lost.