Originally posted by reijan Then we have different views on that. WoW was making a lot of profit even without that new shop. We, as customers, are not responsible for their paychecks, they will have to calculate and plan carefully themselves. If you are okay with that, that is your opinion, but they are one step away from adding things that WILL affect your gameplay. I will stay with all those games that give me FULL content for only a subscription fee .
As customers WE are there paychecks. They have planned and calculated carefully. And thus they implement the business model that they do to cover their costs, maintain operations, grow and turn a nice profit. That's business.
And yes, wow was making a lot of money. I'm sure their microtransactions are pure profit for them. Nothing wrong with that. If you don't like it don't buy them. We consumers can vote with our wallets. That's the power we have.
I don't see how me buying a in game pet affects any one elses gameplay. I haven't. But I also don't have a problem with it.
The problem with sub plus micro to look cool is... isn't looking cool part of the sub. Should I have to pay to look cool when looking heroic and awesome i spart of the star wars experience? If I am paying by the month I deserve access to all content that is not expansion. Particularly if I also buy a box. When they make looking cool part of micro transactions then they are inclined to make anything not payed for look lackluster.
i dont care what business model they have. im going to subscribe no matter what they choose and im going to buy everything in the MT store. im going to play this game so damn hard, my computer is going to melt.
Don't mistake it. They don't need both to keep the game running, they are doing it for profit only. And what is wrong with wanting to make profit? Nothing, but if they are beginning to become too greedy and want to go a step back for us players, who were able to enjoy the same thing - a MMO- for less before, I call it unethical. I, myself, don't have the money to stuff it in their throats just because they think it is okay to do so.
How does a pet break your gameplay? Well, let me ask then...if they can include things like pets, what hinders them to include XP packs? What if soon, you will have to spend 200 dollars in the item shop to be able to enjoy the game? Why is that damn cash shop even neccassary? If that game was expensive to make, then let the subscription fee be 19.99 or whatever. If a cash shop is added, automatically, the balance of the game will be destroyed sooner or later.
Looking cool, good, it's not neccassary, but why do I have to pay extra for something I already bought (box prize) and then pay a fee for every month? It just doesn't get into my brain why a plain subscription is not acceptable anymore . If that is the way things are going, I can as well play a F2P and at least then, I wouldn't have to pay extra for the box, the expansions and the subscription fee.
Originally posted by Menias The problem with sub plus micro to look cool is... isn't looking cool part of the sub. Should I have to pay to look cool when looking heroic and awesome i spart of the star wars experience? If I am paying by the month I deserve access to all content that is not expansion. Particularly if I also buy a box. When they make looking cool part of micro transactions then they are inclined to make anything not payed for look lackluster.
Depends on how it's done and what items are involved. Sometimes it's just for things like additional character slots and an armory page. Other times it's for non combat pets. All depends. If it came down to these items becoming necessary then we have a problem.
If at any point along the way you are unhappy with the game for whatever reason you have a very simple solution. Don't pay. Vote with your wallet. That is the one and only thing that tells a business what the majority of their consumers want.
as long it isn't something like 'buy this gun and ur the UBERPWNER'-thing I'm fine with it. And if it happens, I quit playing mmo's or I return to a game were this isn't the case
I prefer box sail + sub (or only box sale , but that wouldn't happen)
------------------------------------------------------------------- waiting for ... nothing..
I am definitely not for micro-transactions. I am so looking forward to this game but that will just cheapen the experience and allow more credit farmers and spammers in than there already will be.
Looking cool, good, it's not neccassary, but why do I have to pay extra for something I already bought (box prize) and then pay a fee for every month? It just doesn't get into my brain why a plain subscription is not acceptable anymore . If that is the way things are going, I can as well play a F2P and at least then, I wouldn't have to pay extra for the box, the expansions and the subscription fee.
You aren't paying extra for something you already bought. When you buy the box you got everything you are going to get for that money. When you pay the monthly fee you have to pay for the servers and the bandwidth and the employees to maintain that. You are paying for bug fixes as well. This genre also throws in free content along the way as well. They don't have to. They could charge for it all.
Above and beyond that is not covered by your initial box purchase and sub. Thus they charge for the cost of developing an expansion pack. Sometimes they make fun things that a few people may want and charge them for the time to make it. Rather then devoting full resources to deveoping cosmetic things only some people may want. Could they give those things away for free or maybe as part of your sub? Sure. All depends on the business model.
These games are very expensive to make. And this one more than the rest. For example, I believe it was at last years GDC that they said they had one third of the voice dialog completed and it was equivalent to the entire series of the sopranos. That's how much spoken dialog they have in the game. All those voice actors are expensive.
And all tools to make this game. To support this game. The customer service back in, the GM tools, the development tools, etc. they leased all of it. They didn't spend time developing this stuff. They hit the ground running with all the tools they needed and spent the time on making the game. It's going to be huge. They are saying each planet has as much playable area as a continent on WoW. And they will have something like 16 planets at launch. That's huge.
I'd rather pay a lower sub and have microtransactions then no microtransactoins and a higher sub. At least with microtransactions I have control over the content I choose to support and I can save money by not taking part. I have a choice. With a higher sub it's take it all or leave it. Different consumers want different things. Businesses will go with whatever the majority want.
I'm not faulting you or anyone else who does or does not want to support that. We are all different types of consumers. By all means vote with your wallet. I'm just saying I understand business. I understand why they would want to do this. I'm not saying I will take part.
Let me pay my $15/mo and leave it at that. ANY tinkering beyond that is just blatant corporate greed, and I refuse to be manipulated like that. They're making plenty of gd money.
That's stickin' it to the man!
Not really.
That is the only way a company and determine whether or not what their selling is wanted. You have to vote with your wallet. I myself always vote no if there is an item shop tacted on to a sub based game. No thanks.
2. Portions of the game will be purchaseable via $20.00 fee similar to DDO style of business model. My guess each planet will be purchaseable at the EA store.
Thats what I can just think of off the top of my 2 cent brain! I would have no issues with either one if that was to happen.
Let me pay my $15/mo and leave it at that. ANY tinkering beyond that is just blatant corporate greed, and I refuse to be manipulated like that. They're making plenty of gd money.
Is it the principle of the thing? Because I would be okay with cosmetic/fickle MT items. They're a nice option for the company to make a little extra cash (if they even need it, I highly doubt BioWare does) while the players benefit by looking cooler. But that's it... just looking cooler. You can't say, "BioWare manipulated me into buying the awesome purple Jedi robes (with no stat bonuses, of course) because they look so awesome, I just had to have them!"
I hate this arguement so much. Cosmetic cash shops are okay because they do not affect gameplay? The items developed for cosmetic cash shops come from the same monthly fee everyone is paying. They are not employing a new dev team to make cosmetic items. Anything in a cash shop for a game that requires a monthly fee has been developed by the same team supported by that monthly fee. Cosmetic or not, cash shops do not belong in a pay to play game. Everyone is entitled to everything as they are paying for it already.
QFT.
Just because you don't care about collecting equipment that does not give you any stats it doesn't mean no one cares, there's people that care about that kind of gear out there, and saying you don't care as long as they don't keep things YOU care about in the item mall is almost being as greedy as the company itself.
Keep it clean:
1 - Monthly fees, expansion packs, period.
2 - No monthly fees, adventure packs (smaller content chunks than an expansion, relatively more expensive), period (DDO didn't just keep their model at selling adventure packs but unfortunately goes beyond that).
3 - No monthly fees, no purchaseable content. Full item mall - hidden monthly fees, improved leveling, improved equipment, potential for indirectly purchasing in-game currency, vanity items, exclusive item mall advantages.
For me, anything containing stuff from #3 will potentially make the game a lot less appealing to me, and much less serious as a long term MMO. I can't say I won't be there at release, but I am sure I will not be playing for as long as I would on models #1 and #2.
Putting in retail fee + expansion fees + monthly fee + item mall will make it look even less serious and just a money-making profiteering attempt with the Star Wars brand. Pretty much like STO seemed to me with the effort they put in that game and engine before releasing it, a game that barely qualifies as a MMORPG yet tries to monetize in so many ways, seeming to rely mostly on Lifetime subscriptions.
Watch these dudes drop a bomb and make it like a guild wars model where you could buy the box and play free but you would have to buy the DLC packs.
If they do this i could see a easy transition to consoles. Imagine the money EA/Bioware can make if they went to the console platform (with their own servers of course.
Wanna see them break blizzard numbers? Have them release on 360/PS3 along with PC.
What did Mass Effect 2 sell in box sales on consoles? 4 million? imagine the installed playerbase willing to play TOR like kotor 3 on consoles!
The only way microtransactions would bother me is if you could buy the best gear in game. I wouldn't even mind being able to buy the basic gear, just not the hard fought for stuff.
And I hope they do have some market system for appearance and such.
I think that MMO titles wait far too long to reveal their pricing structure, prior to release.
It is becoming just far too common for MMOs to give customers about a two week window to decide whether to pre-order a title or not, if they base it upon the game's pricing structure. I just think this is unacceptable and surely has to cost titles some sales for revealing pricing information "too late" or too close to release time.
As far as pricing structure that is similar to DDO: Sure, I'd certainly not be turned off by it. However, it really is a fine-line to walk simply because purchasing from an item mall should not and cannot be the distinguishing difference between success or failure in a game; especially when it comes to player-vs-player combat.
Still, I just don't understand MMOs' reluctance, even secrecy, about pricing, and why companies answer pricing questions so absolutely vaguely (i.e. not at all) prior to their big pricing announcements shortly before release.
I'm perfectly fine with $15 per month, but if somebody wants me to pay more for something that's necessary to enjoy the game, they've lost my business.
If it's "fluff" stuff the microtransactions are selling, I don't have a lot of problems with them, but if the transactions actually affect gameplay, then publishers need to keep them out of subscription model games entirely if they're charging the standard rate.
"You are obviously confusing a mature rating with actual maturity." -Asherman
Maybe MMO is not your genre, go play Modern Warfare...or something you can be all twitchy...and rank up all night. This is seriously getting tired. -Ranyr
well i probably wouldnt play if it is full item mall for everything like allods is, generally those things are way more than 15 dollars a month for you to compete and have fun for more than 5 or 6 hours a month. Now if they do it like blizzard and give us a monthly fee then charge extra for server changes, name changes, sex changes, vanity pets, those are fine by me, i wont really use em but some people might and i would like to have those options in game. if they start putting raid equivalent gear up for sale, ill quit, if they put cosmetic items up for sale, i probably wont, all depends on how cosmetic they are. personally if they offer a per month fee and then a free game with limitations where people can purchase extra levels or whatever like ddo, im fine, but seriously they just ought to do monthly fee and leave it alone. the only reason those other things get brought into a game is the devs know they have a crap game so they are trying to get idiots to spend more money before they realize it is a crap game. bioware says they got a awesome game then a monthly fee should be enough, hell id pay more than 15 a month for this game if things are truly like they say and what i see now.
Yes I am not even interested if that is the case. One thing having to pay a sub, another thing having to have part of the content gated to some financial stuff.
To much speculation, all this is doing is making bad feeling before we see, what we are really getting, like micro-transactions or not, they are coming in to the American mmo world, I don;t really care as long as they don't sell items that impact game play, they can sell all the fluff they want. I don't have to buy or use the store..:)
I honestly don't care how expensive making that game was. Other games managed with either an item shop (and made big profits) or with subscription. Saying both is reasonable because creation was so expensive means in the future, every game will have both.
In most cases companies don't spend as much as has been spent here. They have to make a return on their investment. We can speculate all we want, in the end we won't know how they plan to capitalize off of TOR. Until they tell us exactly what they plan on instituting.
Of course in the future anyone else who spends as much is going to want a return on that. After WOW released did every company jump in and start spending half as much on a games development? Nope, not even close.
Companies will continue to charge what they think necessary in order to capitalize off of their investments. The way in which they charge may be directly dependent on initial returns, in pre-orders and launch time numbers. We may not know exactly how their cash shop will be handled, if they have one. Until after the game has launched.
If they launch with two million accounts, which is their goal. We may not see much in terms of cash shop items (if any). If it launches with significantly less, it's safe to assume we may see higher prices and a larger selection of items in a shop.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
It all depends on what the microtransactions are for, of course.
When one must pay for character transfers, character renaming, character respeccing, extra character slots and so on, few seem to mind. I know I don't. It's a great way to provide such services, I think.
When there are microtransaction 'shops', however, I get nervous, and it's clear that many others do, at this point, too.
I think that I'd be comfy if it were limited to purchases that give one more without making one better. Additional content rather than enhancements like stat/experience bonuses or superior items.
Three things come immediately to mind:
Uncommon Playable Species (Umbaran, Pau'an, Omwati, Miraluka, Khommite, etc.)
Cosmetically Unique Equipment (including color crystals and the like)
Companion Characters (not most, of course, but perhaps some)
Favorites: EQ, EVE | Playing: None. Mostly VR and strategy | Anticipating: CU, Pantheon
I predict twists means adventure packs for additional content while paying a full standard subscription (14.99). Oh and "pure cosmetic" things like playable races and fluff items =P
I agree with most of the sentiment out there. I dont mind MT's as long as its not game breaking. If i have to pay a sub, then on top of that to remain competitive in pvp for example, i have to go buy stuff from there store, then that is a deal breaker. If its just cosmetic stuff, thats fine. Also if its not an expansion pack i shouldnt have to pay for new races etc. Thats what the sub covers.
For me personally i will not play a game that requires a sub fee, then sell must have items in their store. to me thats just greed.
I'll do the sub....Lifetime if available. MT's are a deal breaker especially if they are for content (planets and such). MT's unlevel the play field in favor of the company offering them. You never now if you are getting your money's worth or if they are stringing you along to get more money down the road. I would show as an example the Sims franchise of late. You get a pretty good game up front but EA with held a lot from the game in order to offer things in the "store". This was where the value of what I purchased was diminished becaue I did not feel I got a complete game. Same COULD happen in SWTOR and probably will given the amount of marketing deals that EA could come up with. While making games is a money making endeavor, it does not have to go to the point where it leaves the customer feeling that THEY got the shaft.
Comments
As customers WE are there paychecks. They have planned and calculated carefully. And thus they implement the business model that they do to cover their costs, maintain operations, grow and turn a nice profit. That's business.
And yes, wow was making a lot of money. I'm sure their microtransactions are pure profit for them. Nothing wrong with that. If you don't like it don't buy them. We consumers can vote with our wallets. That's the power we have.
I don't see how me buying a in game pet affects any one elses gameplay. I haven't. But I also don't have a problem with it.
Tribes 2 is back!!!! http://www.tribesnext.com/
And from the makers of tribes: Fallen Empire: Legions http://www.instantaction.com/
The problem with sub plus micro to look cool is... isn't looking cool part of the sub. Should I have to pay to look cool when looking heroic and awesome i spart of the star wars experience? If I am paying by the month I deserve access to all content that is not expansion. Particularly if I also buy a box. When they make looking cool part of micro transactions then they are inclined to make anything not payed for look lackluster.
BundyTheRipper
i dont care what business model they have. im going to subscribe no matter what they choose and im going to buy everything in the MT store. im going to play this game so damn hard, my computer is going to melt.
Don't mistake it. They don't need both to keep the game running, they are doing it for profit only. And what is wrong with wanting to make profit? Nothing, but if they are beginning to become too greedy and want to go a step back for us players, who were able to enjoy the same thing - a MMO- for less before, I call it unethical. I, myself, don't have the money to stuff it in their throats just because they think it is okay to do so.
How does a pet break your gameplay? Well, let me ask then...if they can include things like pets, what hinders them to include XP packs? What if soon, you will have to spend 200 dollars in the item shop to be able to enjoy the game? Why is that damn cash shop even neccassary? If that game was expensive to make, then let the subscription fee be 19.99 or whatever. If a cash shop is added, automatically, the balance of the game will be destroyed sooner or later.
Looking cool, good, it's not neccassary, but why do I have to pay extra for something I already bought (box prize) and then pay a fee for every month? It just doesn't get into my brain why a plain subscription is not acceptable anymore
. If that is the way things are going, I can as well play a F2P and at least then, I wouldn't have to pay extra for the box, the expansions and the subscription fee.
Depends on how it's done and what items are involved. Sometimes it's just for things like additional character slots and an armory page. Other times it's for non combat pets. All depends. If it came down to these items becoming necessary then we have a problem.
If at any point along the way you are unhappy with the game for whatever reason you have a very simple solution. Don't pay. Vote with your wallet. That is the one and only thing that tells a business what the majority of their consumers want.
Tribes 2 is back!!!! http://www.tribesnext.com/
And from the makers of tribes: Fallen Empire: Legions http://www.instantaction.com/
as long it isn't something like 'buy this gun and ur the UBERPWNER'-thing I'm fine with it. And if it happens, I quit playing mmo's or I return to a game were this isn't the case
I prefer box sail + sub (or only box sale , but that wouldn't happen)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
waiting for ... nothing..
I am definitely not for micro-transactions. I am so looking forward to this game but that will just cheapen the experience and allow more credit farmers and spammers in than there already will be.
You aren't paying extra for something you already bought. When you buy the box you got everything you are going to get for that money. When you pay the monthly fee you have to pay for the servers and the bandwidth and the employees to maintain that. You are paying for bug fixes as well.
This genre also throws in free content along the way as well. They don't have to. They could charge for it all.
Above and beyond that is not covered by your initial box purchase and sub. Thus they charge for the cost of developing an expansion pack. Sometimes they make fun things that a few people may want and charge them for the time to make it. Rather then devoting full resources to deveoping cosmetic things only some people may want. Could they give those things away for free or maybe as part of your sub? Sure. All depends on the business model.
These games are very expensive to make. And this one more than the rest. For example, I believe it was at last years GDC that they said they had one third of the voice dialog completed and it was equivalent to the entire series of the sopranos. That's how much spoken dialog they have in the game. All those voice actors are expensive.
And all tools to make this game. To support this game. The customer service back in, the GM tools, the development tools, etc. they leased all of it. They didn't spend time developing this stuff. They hit the ground running with all the tools they needed and spent the time on making the game. It's going to be huge. They are saying each planet has as much playable area as a continent on WoW. And they will have something like 16 planets at launch. That's huge.
I'd rather pay a lower sub and have microtransactions then no microtransactoins and a higher sub. At least with microtransactions I have control over the content I choose to support and I can save money by not taking part. I have a choice. With a higher sub it's take it all or leave it.
Different consumers want different things. Businesses will go with whatever the majority want.
I'm not faulting you or anyone else who does or does not want to support that. We are all different types of consumers. By all means vote with your wallet.
I'm just saying I understand business. I understand why they would want to do this. I'm not saying I will take part.
Tribes 2 is back!!!! http://www.tribesnext.com/
And from the makers of tribes: Fallen Empire: Legions http://www.instantaction.com/
That's stickin' it to the man!
Not really.
That is the only way a company and determine whether or not what their selling is wanted. You have to vote with your wallet. I myself always vote no if there is an item shop tacted on to a sub based game. No thanks.
1. Monthly fee option with no microtransactions.
2. Portions of the game will be purchaseable via $20.00 fee similar to DDO style of business model. My guess each planet will be purchaseable at the EA store.
Thats what I can just think of off the top of my 2 cent brain! I would have no issues with either one if that was to happen.
Is it the principle of the thing? Because I would be okay with cosmetic/fickle MT items. They're a nice option for the company to make a little extra cash (if they even need it, I highly doubt BioWare does) while the players benefit by looking cooler. But that's it... just looking cooler. You can't say, "BioWare manipulated me into buying the awesome purple Jedi robes (with no stat bonuses, of course) because they look so awesome, I just had to have them!"
I hate this arguement so much. Cosmetic cash shops are okay because they do not affect gameplay? The items developed for cosmetic cash shops come from the same monthly fee everyone is paying. They are not employing a new dev team to make cosmetic items. Anything in a cash shop for a game that requires a monthly fee has been developed by the same team supported by that monthly fee. Cosmetic or not, cash shops do not belong in a pay to play game. Everyone is entitled to everything as they are paying for it already.
QFT.
Just because you don't care about collecting equipment that does not give you any stats it doesn't mean no one cares, there's people that care about that kind of gear out there, and saying you don't care as long as they don't keep things YOU care about in the item mall is almost being as greedy as the company itself.
Keep it clean:
1 - Monthly fees, expansion packs, period.
2 - No monthly fees, adventure packs (smaller content chunks than an expansion, relatively more expensive), period (DDO didn't just keep their model at selling adventure packs but unfortunately goes beyond that).
3 - No monthly fees, no purchaseable content. Full item mall - hidden monthly fees, improved leveling, improved equipment, potential for indirectly purchasing in-game currency, vanity items, exclusive item mall advantages.
For me, anything containing stuff from #3 will potentially make the game a lot less appealing to me, and much less serious as a long term MMO. I can't say I won't be there at release, but I am sure I will not be playing for as long as I would on models #1 and #2.
Putting in retail fee + expansion fees + monthly fee + item mall will make it look even less serious and just a money-making profiteering attempt with the Star Wars brand. Pretty much like STO seemed to me with the effort they put in that game and engine before releasing it, a game that barely qualifies as a MMORPG yet tries to monetize in so many ways, seeming to rely mostly on Lifetime subscriptions.
Watch these dudes drop a bomb and make it like a guild wars model where you could buy the box and play free but you would have to buy the DLC packs.
If they do this i could see a easy transition to consoles. Imagine the money EA/Bioware can make if they went to the console platform (with their own servers of course.
Wanna see them break blizzard numbers? Have them release on 360/PS3 along with PC.
What did Mass Effect 2 sell in box sales on consoles? 4 million? imagine the installed playerbase willing to play TOR like kotor 3 on consoles!
Holy shit!
Playing: Rift, LotRO
Waiting on: GW2, BP
The only way microtransactions would bother me is if you could buy the best gear in game. I wouldn't even mind being able to buy the basic gear, just not the hard fought for stuff.
And I hope they do have some market system for appearance and such.
I think that MMO titles wait far too long to reveal their pricing structure, prior to release.
It is becoming just far too common for MMOs to give customers about a two week window to decide whether to pre-order a title or not, if they base it upon the game's pricing structure. I just think this is unacceptable and surely has to cost titles some sales for revealing pricing information "too late" or too close to release time.
As far as pricing structure that is similar to DDO: Sure, I'd certainly not be turned off by it. However, it really is a fine-line to walk simply because purchasing from an item mall should not and cannot be the distinguishing difference between success or failure in a game; especially when it comes to player-vs-player combat.
Still, I just don't understand MMOs' reluctance, even secrecy, about pricing, and why companies answer pricing questions so absolutely vaguely (i.e. not at all) prior to their big pricing announcements shortly before release.
I'm perfectly fine with $15 per month, but if somebody wants me to pay more for something that's necessary to enjoy the game, they've lost my business.
If it's "fluff" stuff the microtransactions are selling, I don't have a lot of problems with them, but if the transactions actually affect gameplay, then publishers need to keep them out of subscription model games entirely if they're charging the standard rate.
Firebrand Art
"You are obviously confusing a mature rating with actual maturity." -Asherman
Maybe MMO is not your genre, go play Modern Warfare...or something you can be all twitchy...and rank up all night. This is seriously getting tired. -Ranyr
well i probably wouldnt play if it is full item mall for everything like allods is, generally those things are way more than 15 dollars a month for you to compete and have fun for more than 5 or 6 hours a month. Now if they do it like blizzard and give us a monthly fee then charge extra for server changes, name changes, sex changes, vanity pets, those are fine by me, i wont really use em but some people might and i would like to have those options in game. if they start putting raid equivalent gear up for sale, ill quit, if they put cosmetic items up for sale, i probably wont, all depends on how cosmetic they are. personally if they offer a per month fee and then a free game with limitations where people can purchase extra levels or whatever like ddo, im fine, but seriously they just ought to do monthly fee and leave it alone. the only reason those other things get brought into a game is the devs know they have a crap game so they are trying to get idiots to spend more money before they realize it is a crap game. bioware says they got a awesome game then a monthly fee should be enough, hell id pay more than 15 a month for this game if things are truly like they say and what i see now.
Yes I am not even interested if that is the case. One thing having to pay a sub, another thing having to have part of the content gated to some financial stuff.
I don't have the means to do both nor will I.
To much speculation, all this is doing is making bad feeling before we see, what we are really getting, like micro-transactions or not, they are coming in to the American mmo world, I don;t really care as long as they don't sell items that impact game play, they can sell all the fluff they want. I don't have to buy or use the store..:)
It all depends on how things are implemented. A hybrid pricing policy wouldn't necessarily turn me off.
In most cases companies don't spend as much as has been spent here. They have to make a return on their investment. We can speculate all we want, in the end we won't know how they plan to capitalize off of TOR. Until they tell us exactly what they plan on instituting.
Of course in the future anyone else who spends as much is going to want a return on that. After WOW released did every company jump in and start spending half as much on a games development? Nope, not even close.
Companies will continue to charge what they think necessary in order to capitalize off of their investments. The way in which they charge may be directly dependent on initial returns, in pre-orders and launch time numbers. We may not know exactly how their cash shop will be handled, if they have one. Until after the game has launched.
If they launch with two million accounts, which is their goal. We may not see much in terms of cash shop items (if any). If it launches with significantly less, it's safe to assume we may see higher prices and a larger selection of items in a shop.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
It all depends on what the microtransactions are for, of course.
When one must pay for character transfers, character renaming, character respeccing, extra character slots and so on, few seem to mind. I know I don't. It's a great way to provide such services, I think.
When there are microtransaction 'shops', however, I get nervous, and it's clear that many others do, at this point, too.
I think that I'd be comfy if it were limited to purchases that give one more without making one better. Additional content rather than enhancements like stat/experience bonuses or superior items.
Three things come immediately to mind:
Subs Plus here we come!
I predict twists means adventure packs for additional content while paying a full standard subscription (14.99). Oh and "pure cosmetic" things like playable races and fluff items =P
I agree with most of the sentiment out there. I dont mind MT's as long as its not game breaking. If i have to pay a sub, then on top of that to remain competitive in pvp for example, i have to go buy stuff from there store, then that is a deal breaker. If its just cosmetic stuff, thats fine. Also if its not an expansion pack i shouldnt have to pay for new races etc. Thats what the sub covers.
For me personally i will not play a game that requires a sub fee, then sell must have items in their store. to me thats just greed.
I wont play if its normal sub+item mall. Item malls always sell content ( 'fluff' is also content).
I'll do the sub....Lifetime if available. MT's are a deal breaker especially if they are for content (planets and such). MT's unlevel the play field in favor of the company offering them. You never now if you are getting your money's worth or if they are stringing you along to get more money down the road. I would show as an example the Sims franchise of late. You get a pretty good game up front but EA with held a lot from the game in order to offer things in the "store". This was where the value of what I purchased was diminished becaue I did not feel I got a complete game. Same COULD happen in SWTOR and probably will given the amount of marketing deals that EA could come up with. While making games is a money making endeavor, it does not have to go to the point where it leaves the customer feeling that THEY got the shaft.
Let's party like it is 1863!