http://kotaku.com/5106091/star-wars-old-republic-mmo-to-be-microtransaction+based This just sounds fucked up. Guess we should've guessed it since its the only MMO that says instead of the whole monthly fee will be around what other mmo's are. Other links: http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/56292 http://www.destructoid.com/ea-s-sta...rotransaction-based-or-maybe-not-114219.phtml
I've looked at a few micros-transaction MMOs. They all had significantly lower quality than the pay per month MMOs I've tried. Including one that, despite being run by a US based company, had lots of text that was poorly translated into English, along with plenty of important calculations being done client-side (which is just asking for them to be hacked). Bioware might be able to avoid this trend, but this really hurts my expectations.
Micro-transactions are terrible and usually destroy games. I refused to play or buy any game using them. PERIOD.
I've found a few MT games which are really quite nice, but I think there are 2 sides to the MT coin, one is the benefit for paying less for a game you don't like (which usually is free since those games usually have 1-10 day demos anyway) on the negative side of the coin shelf bought games don't provide the financial support to the gaming industry as much as MT just because people who end up not liking it still pay full price, the problem with supporting the gaming industry in this way is that they lose PR for games people don't like because it forces people into a bad spot, and causes money loss in the long run because the games get sold as used creating a market that's better for the consumer and worse for the industry. Guildwars is account based and it's tied to emails so it's pretty safe on all grounds which makes SAG purchase pretty unique in that sense, but when it comes down to it you have to understand that SAG gaming is not efficient for the gamer in the way that it is originally designed for a game built on hardcore PvP, Casual PvP and Casual PvE, hardcore PvE is much better suited to pay per month seeing as the trend is to play for 1-4 months every year, and that way you still get all the content that is payed for by the people active in the game. GW looks cheaper than pay per month buy in reality you'd have to buy 2 years worth of game cards just to play the content as was intended, regardless of how much time has gone by.
Well you have to consider, is that gear worth your $5? Or would you rather play another game and spend 30 hours to grind it.
you honestly think theyd ask for just 5$ [so, about 30~$ for a set] for the better stuff? when they could be jerking you for 15$ a month? nah, the prices will be unreasonable, because the whole system is unreasonable, and only a unreasonable people would think its a reasonable idea. i want to be rewarded for my hard work, i dont wanna grind my as off to get great gear, when some 13-year-old-screamer in his parents basement can beg mommy for a couple extra bucks 'this one time~!' and get stuff as good, or better than me. its not fair, it comes down to this, in most mmos, everyone is equal. more or less. everyone starts on the same footing, can achieve the same levels of power or fame. this kind of setting is a horrible anti-thesis to the rich and powerful people IRL, so now they are making a mmo. the idea of letting people be equal, instead of giving privelage to the rich [people-who-can-afford-it], is like pounding their face against broken glass who thought of this? i bet a fair sum it wasnt a dev, it was some rich, overpaid, detriment-to-society thats either fat and wears alot of gold rings, or is very skinning and taps his fingers together going "...excellent" alas, this isnt how mmos work, maybe they will get a small population to stick around, hard core SW-fans who are willing to bend over for it. but the common gamer? no.
When it comes to MMOs the trend is to keep people playing, either so they can buy the sequel off the shelf or pay another 6 months of gametime, what this means is that eventually the trend will be to bait players to aspirations which when achieved by more than just the elite few need to be replaced and made obsolete by the elite few, because that's what keeps those players playing, whether they make new runewords for gear or increase rank tier or increase levelcap its the same thing. What this means is that any game doing this will always lean away from content driven gameplay and more into grinding so the devs don't have to release actually entertaining gameplay and blow their entire budget for their next game before it's even out while supporting the previous installment with content. That is why MMOs tend to at some point go from a fun and enthralling gameplay into working for the game and being payed funny money, and this happens seamlessly so you don't notice it. So at the end the question is: Would you rather work for your gear, or work for your gear? Difference is at a real job you get payed $10h+ instead of 5-15c Games are about different things to different people, GM's Admins and Devs understand this and that's one of the reasons most EULA's prohibit money to game money transactions... to cater to those people, but I guess it comes down to what you find fun because that's what games should be about, but not always are unfortunately.
Why do you think the stuff you buy via micro-transactions will be permanent ? The only micro-transaction MMOs I've looked at had all the purchasable gear only last a limited time. So your still paying a monthly fee, it's just disguised. So it may be higher, or lower, than a regular subscription. The real difference is that they can alter this hidden subscription without complaints by just adding new gear.
Whaaaat, so the gear vanishes or what? I've played games where the MT cost buys 1 time use character slots you can rebirth characters into who have died of old age, and they keep their skills and some of their stats and start out as children again.
Exactly. When you buy the gear, it says that it will only last a limited time, along with how long that time will be. After that time ends, the gear is deleted so if you want it back you need to buy it again. Or it is an item that has a limited number of uses. Though it sounds like your referring to a game where characters die after a while, meaning you will have to keep buying new slots at predictable intervals. So it's the same principle as the game your talking about.
Now for the fun part about MT game quality. Lets imagine two MMOs, a subscription based on and a MT one. Lets assume that the monthly price for the gear the MT players wants is approximately the same as the subscription and that both have similar per-player expenses. For the subscription MMO, the players are divided into three groups: - Those that like it enough to pay. The profitable players. - Those who don't like it enough to pay for it. They don't provide income, but they don't provide costs either. - Those on a trial account. They will be converted to one of the other groups in a few weeks, so consider this an advertising expense. Now lets look at a MT MMO: - You still have the people who like it enough to buy everything through MT. - You then have the people who buy some stuff through MT, but not as much as the above player. Some of these players might not even buy enough for their account to be profitable. - You also have the people who don't like the game enough to pay for it. These accounts exist at a net loss to the company. They will never buy anything, but if it becomes obvious that they are being banned for not paying, paying players will leave because the GMs can't be trusted. So if both MMO's have a similar number of players and we ignore any costs not related to running the MMO (for example, creating new content), the MT game is less profitable. Meaning less money to use for improving the game. Unless the MT MMO cuts costs. But if the cost cutting doesn't hit players, the subscription MMO will likely also make it. So we are talking them having to reduce costs by cutting gameplay, or making stupid choices (like putting important calculations client-side to reduce server load). Now if we take a MT MMO with the MT items all being permanent, this gets worse.