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With SOE's Station Cash, are MMO microtransactions becoming the new standard?
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What's in your wallet?
In the early days of MMO's, there was much squabbling between the MMO developers and those who would try to make a bit of cash on the side by selling in-game money, items and characters. Heck, legend has it that these actions could even get someone banned.
But it was a losing battle, and as with many losing battles, some have chosen the "if you can't beat them then join them" route.
Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) doesn't do too much pioneering in the MMO field these days, but one area where it reigns supreme is in the area of joining up with the gold farmers. In Everquest 2, they implemented a marketplace to help people buy and sell gold and items. And now, they've implemented microtransactions in Everquest and Everquest 2 to sell items directly to players.
Station Cash is SOE's new marketplace for selling items to players and milking a little bit more cash out of their wallets. Right now, the system can only be used to buy 'fluff' items, house accessories and potions, such as the Flask of Adventuring that gives a bonus to experience earned. (You can read more about Station Cash at Clockwork Gamer.)
But SOE's not alone. It was recently revealed that Star Wars: The Old Republic will also have the microtransaction model.
Luckily, not everyone agrees. In fact, Mark Jacobs of Mythic Entertainment downright hates gold sellers and spammers. You can read all about it in his blog. With Brad McQuaid probably down for the count after the Vanguard fiasco, it's great that someone's out there fighting the good fight.
Personally, I don't mind microtransaction virtual worlds that are designed from the ground up to be microtransaction virtual worlds and use these microtransactions to offset the need for a subscription. Second Life, for example, is a great model that allows people to play for free or to pay a little money to have their own small area in the game.
But when it comes to game worlds, I think adding the ability for players to buy even benign items like house pets is step one down that slippery slope leading to full blown in-game currency and virtual item sales.
What do you think? Are you in favor of the microtransaction model?
Suggested Reading:
- The Top Five Best and Worst MMO Ideas
- Top 10 Best Computer Role-Playing Games of All Time
- Warhammer Online review - WAR is a World of Warcraft for PvPers
- Blizzard's next MMO: A Starcraft MMO or a Diablo MMO?
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