Traditional subscription payments still not confirmed

In the on-going saga of how to pay for The Agency, SOE has finally put it's foot down and said that it will not be done on a microtransaction basis. The form of the payment system for this game has been up in the air for a long time, and from the way they're talking, I'd be surprised if it wound up being the traditional monthly subscription method.

Their comments follow news last month that SOE had struck a deal with Live Gamer to provide real money trading services for the game. The announcement prompted speculation that The Agency's in-game items - especially the collector card-style NPC operatives - might be sold.

"I want to make this very clear," said lead designer Hal Milton. "This is not a microtransaction system within The Agency to allow players to buy weapons, outfits, or operatives to be effective within the game world. That's something that we're absolutely not planning on doing."

He explained that the Live Gamer system would be used, as it is in EverQuest II, to create an auction system for players to trade and sell goods; an official version of the grey markets in gold and equipment that exist around other games.

However, he did not rule out "alternate mechanics" that might increase the number of operatives a player might recruit through a one-off purchase. "We have some alternate mechanics for operatives that we may support with out-of-game transactions, and we may have the opportunity for players to spin up, at least, a random booster pack that gives them the opportunity to possibly recruit other operatives."

For more information, check here.