No doubt, if you've been watching the news about MMOs recently, you've heard about Dungeons and Dragons Online's new business model. From that article, it certainly sounds like game's fortunes have taken a turn for the better as a result. I've heard a lot of people embracing this free model, and recently at FanFest CCP made it clear that Dust 514 is going to be free to play, with a microtransaction model. Is this the way to go with everything?
I'm not sure. The idea of getting a better deal if you pay more causes a reflexive hiss from me, because I'm not a huge fan of the idea that if you are better off in real life you should be better off in a game. I don't like RMT at all for a similar reason, but I realize that it's impossible to completely eliminate.
On the other hand, I have no problem buying a game, and then buying an expansion for it that gives me more content with a normal game, like Sins of a Solar Empire or Dawn of War. How is that any different? Well, I think in the case of an MMO it strikes me as a way to increase peer pressure to pay more. If I want to go to one of the extra dungeons in DDO now, I have to buy it to stay with my friends. That's the same problem I have with World of Warcraft and similar MMOs, where you have to buy an expansion in order to get 10 extra levels or go into the new area -- only now, you have to do it more often in order to keep up.
Of course, the counterpoint to this is that you may pay less for all those little microtransactions every month than you would with a subscription. That's a fair point, but the problem still remains. When I play an MMO, I want to be on an even keel with the other players, and I don't want to have my play with my friends segregated because I don't want to sink a bunch of extra cash into the game. The free expansion model is something that attracted me to Eve (aside from the actual gameplay elements). I've been thinking about how you'd translate that model into Eve, and I admit I'm having a hard time thinking of anything that I'd be satisfied with that would also be a valid funding model.
Pay extra for access to nullsec regions? Pay extra for the skills to use tech 2 items? Then suddenly it becomes something you have to pay for to compete (and Eve is nothing if not a competitive game) or to go where your friends are, and neither option really appeals to me. Paying real money for tech 1 BPOs? That sounds like the model they are using for Dust, and it actually doesn't sound too bad -- but I think those BPOs are going to be wildly expensive, because I don't know that there are really that many in the game (well, and there's a bunch already out there that people got for free), which sounds like it's not going to be a good funding model from CCP's point of view. Ultimately, I think Eve's current model suits it best -- a subscription model to keep everyone "fair," despite the fact that multiple accounts or PLEXs can give you an advantage, with additional fees for things that don't give you any real game advantage, such as getting a new character portrait or transferring characters between accounts. Anything they added to sell on a microtransaction basis would have to be similar -- new clothing patterns or building designs for Incarna, for instance -- or I suspect a large portion of the player base would be upset.
I'm not sure. The idea of getting a better deal if you pay more causes a reflexive hiss from me, because I'm not a huge fan of the idea that if you are better off in real life you should be better off in a game. I don't like RMT at all for a similar reason, but I realize that it's impossible to completely eliminate.
On the other hand, I have no problem buying a game, and then buying an expansion for it that gives me more content with a normal game, like Sins of a Solar Empire or Dawn of War. How is that any different? Well, I think in the case of an MMO it strikes me as a way to increase peer pressure to pay more. If I want to go to one of the extra dungeons in DDO now, I have to buy it to stay with my friends. That's the same problem I have with World of Warcraft and similar MMOs, where you have to buy an expansion in order to get 10 extra levels or go into the new area -- only now, you have to do it more often in order to keep up.
Of course, the counterpoint to this is that you may pay less for all those little microtransactions every month than you would with a subscription. That's a fair point, but the problem still remains. When I play an MMO, I want to be on an even keel with the other players, and I don't want to have my play with my friends segregated because I don't want to sink a bunch of extra cash into the game. The free expansion model is something that attracted me to Eve (aside from the actual gameplay elements). I've been thinking about how you'd translate that model into Eve, and I admit I'm having a hard time thinking of anything that I'd be satisfied with that would also be a valid funding model.
Pay extra for access to nullsec regions? Pay extra for the skills to use tech 2 items? Then suddenly it becomes something you have to pay for to compete (and Eve is nothing if not a competitive game) or to go where your friends are, and neither option really appeals to me. Paying real money for tech 1 BPOs? That sounds like the model they are using for Dust, and it actually doesn't sound too bad -- but I think those BPOs are going to be wildly expensive, because I don't know that there are really that many in the game (well, and there's a bunch already out there that people got for free), which sounds like it's not going to be a good funding model from CCP's point of view. Ultimately, I think Eve's current model suits it best -- a subscription model to keep everyone "fair," despite the fact that multiple accounts or PLEXs can give you an advantage, with additional fees for things that don't give you any real game advantage, such as getting a new character portrait or transferring characters between accounts. Anything they added to sell on a microtransaction basis would have to be similar -- new clothing patterns or building designs for Incarna, for instance -- or I suspect a large portion of the player base would be upset.
I feel pretty much the same way: I'm fine with paying small amounts for aesthetic options with little or no game impact. City of Heroes, for example, offers "Super Boosters" for $10, which include lots of new costume options, and often a thematically appropriate in-game power or emote. The powers are never really significant in terms of gameplay, and CoH is a ridiculously non-competitive MMO anyway, so people who plunk down the extra sawbuck don't really enjoy any sort of game mechanical edge. I'm not interested in a "pay more to win more" model, though, and I'm likely to rage quit any game that embraces that kind of fan-screwing. (My stufz, u can haz it.)
That said... it looks like that ship has sailed already, and it's merely a matter of time before "free" games start offering thinly-disguised buffs for paying players. (Buy a StarCraft 2 Elite Account!™ It comes with a 5% reduction on all build times! For a limited time, pay only twice as much and upgrade to a Mega-Elite Account™ with a 10% reduction!) I have no confidence in the ability of the player base to unite against it, either, because historically speaking, we fold on just about everything. We just can't keep our hands off of Shiny New Stuff, even if it means getting shafted by the purveyors of said Stuff.
I just hope CCP stays in the "good guy" crowd on this one.