Well…the great experiment has started…and it MIGHT not just be EQ/EQ2. There is an unsubstantiated report that the Old Republic will also be going this route as well.
What do I think about this move by SOE? Well…so far, all micro transaction strategies employed by North American companies have been very short on substance. What I mean by that is that they mostly sell fluff items that have very little or no game play impact other than a “look at me” factor. SOE seems to be going the same route on this with most items sold in this store being of the fluff variety….with some exp potions thrown in for good measure. For me, I won’t be participating. I just don’t see any advantage or value at doing so. I get exp potions for free from veteran rewards and I can also get appearance/fluff items in game already, so where is the value with any of the items offered in the store? Answer…for me…there is none.
In order for there to be real value, in my eyes, SOE has got to offer unique items that I can’t get in game already. They have to treat the store like one big, persistent special world and/or pre-order event. World and pre-order events usually offer very nice and unique appearance gear and items for a limited time. Limited time window with unique items parts fools with their money quite often. World and pre-order events are a proven model that gets customers in the door and why SOE isn’t using that along with the store model is beyond me.
I’m sorry to say this, but in order to offer real value; they also have to offer items that effect gameplay. I’m not just talking about armor and weapons….I’m talking mounts, housing, furniture, charms, pets that effect the world and the game experience. If you’re going to go RMT…then shit or get off the pot. There is a risk associated with doing this as SOE customers tend to be like exposed nerves to any real or perceived injustice. Words “slap in the face” will be used often…but if SOE wants to be a leader with this model in future games, they might just have to slap a few faces to make it happen.
D out.
Entries (RSS)
December 10th, 2008 at 10:28 am
RMT in EQ2 = NGE in SWG?
Obviously not, but how close is this? The odd thing about EQ2 is how much time people (or at least bloggers) spend on getting a perfect outfit or house set up, both things being pure fluff. If you start charging for that fluff, is that not like charging for useful items in other games where players focus on stats over fluff?
December 10th, 2008 at 10:43 am
[...] II, Sony Online Entertainment, entertainment. Tags: Station Cash trackback Everybody else is talking about Station Cash being introduced into EverQuest and EverQuest [...]
December 10th, 2008 at 11:09 am
I think you’re right that RMT item malls are an all-or-nothing, which is why the camel’s nose shouldn’t be under the nose in the first place for a subscription-based game. Correct me if I’m wrong on this, but my understanding is that there is no other source of AA exp potions anywhere in EQ2. This announcement comes at a time when they just raised the AA cap and changed the rules for gaining AA’s from low level content – too late for existing players who had already completed the content.
The studio now has a strong financial incentive to balance their future exp curves around extra grinding that can be alleviated for $5/hour. One might argue that it isn’t in their best interest to make future expansions nigh unplayable, but imagine if you could sell hardcore players 6 potions for $10 each. If you can get one buyer for every four players who cancel their $15 subscriptions in protest, you still come out ahead because that’s less server load you have to deal with.
December 10th, 2008 at 11:18 am
What if EQ/EQ2 are not pulling in enough money to justify their continued running and this is an attempt to increase the amount they generate? If it comes down to RMT or shutting down the game, which do you take? This is likely not the case for EQ/EQ2, but eventually it will be for games.
December 10th, 2008 at 11:59 am
“The studio now has a strong financial incentive to balance their future exp curves around extra grinding that can be alleviated for $5/hour. One might argue that it isn’t in their best interest to make future expansions nigh unplayable, but imagine if you could sell hardcore players 6 potions for $10 each. If you can get one buyer for every four players who cancel their $15 subscriptions in protest, you still come out ahead because that’s less server load you have to deal with.”
=========================
This is, I think, the kind of calculus that is being made.
I’d say it’s more like, for people who play, say, 10-15 hours a week, sell them XP potions that work for, say 2 or 3 hours (the long end of the typical casual gaming session) for a buck or two, and they’ll buy these, and probably spend up to $10 a month anyway. The idea is not to make $15 on everyone, the idea is to make a smaller amount of money per player, but have a huge playerbase — thereby netting more money. You have to design the game around it, and price the items appropriately, but in theory it’s workable.
The main obstacle, I think, is the persistent idea that Western gamers have that they should all be exactly the same once they pay their admission fee — those who wish to work more at the game, advance more, those who work less, advance less. Under a MT model, everyone is equal in terms of playing for free (or for a nominal fee), but people who play less can make up for that by spending money to make them advance faster. Of course this exists in games today, with professional powerleveling services and character/item/gold sales outside of the game. But the key is that currently those transactions are considered against the rules of the games — and moving the typical western gamer’s mindset away from that ingrained notion (that RMT impacting in-game performance is wrong) will take quite a bit of adjustment, I think.
December 10th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
When the in-game poll came around in EQ2 a few years ago that asked players about this kind of scenario, the answer was ‘no’ to having RMT on the existing live servers and thus were born the Station Exchange servers and the happy medium had been struck in my opinion. In fact, one could say that SOE had their cake and got to eat it too. Those who had a desire to buy and sell gear could do so on their servers, while the rest could enjoy their game free of “The Taint”. However, all good things come to an end. It’s a smart business decision on SOE’s part as I’m sure that they’ll come out ahead after some folks /ragequit. However, I know that I’ll never take part in this kind of scheme and the day when the last of the ‘good games’ turn to this kind of pricing model is the day that I’ll be turning back to single player games to get my ‘arpee’ fix.
December 10th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
[...] 10, 2008 by Tesh Apparently, there’s been some kerfluffle about this little teaser from [...]
December 10th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
The subscription model is heavily biased in favor of those with more time than money. A system leaning towards those with more money than time may be unpalatable to the hardcore addicts, but it’s a smart business move.
December 10th, 2008 at 8:32 pm
[...] some of the fluff for sale. They certainly don’t seem to qualify as micro transactions. Darren’s response did not going into his usual fear of being “nickled and dimed to death” because prices [...]
December 29th, 2008 at 7:15 pm
[...] if they’re going to nickel an dime you for dialogue desicions. Snafzg has some nice points Darren wants SOE to really go nuts Tipa has some info on EQ/EQ2’s shiny new RMT Clockwork Gamer also has some info on what [...]
January 22nd, 2009 at 3:38 am
I guess SOE is trying to discourage their players from buying plat from the virtual currency seller. Numerous players who don’t have enough time in-game normally buy plat from 3rd party sellers so that they could buy the items they needed. With this new system, players can directly buy from the publisher. I guess it’s just another way of saying, if you can beat them, join them!
July 3rd, 2009 at 12:15 pm
[...] they were offering for $10 to be over-priced fluff being just appearance items. Darren thought they lacked substance, but wasn’t as up in arms as he has been about the ROM horse, but I suspect that is because [...]