While the 2000's were certainly the decade of the MMOG, an argument
could be made that 2009 was the year of the free-to-play and
microtransaction games. The emergence of several top notch free-to-play
titles coupled with the reinvention of a AAA title from a failing
subscription model to a thriving microtransaction has elevated the
genre to new heights.
It is with this in mind that we here at Ten Ton Hammer are proud to
bring to you a new weekly feature that will spotlight and chronicle
these games. Join Medawky as he explores new titles, revisits older
ones, and puts the microtransactions under the microscope each week in
Microcosms.
many gamers and industry personnel alike heralded DDO as a no-brainer
release given it's genre-creating roots as the tabletop game that
influenced the rule sets of nearly every other fantasy game, the
implementation of the D&D universe in virtual space simply
didn't
live up to gamers expectations. When finally faced with a decision to
cut bait and run or try something radically different, Turbine chose
the latter and changed to a microtransaction format to attempt to
resuscitate this dying world. In emergency medical parlance (which is
my other profession, when Im not writing about games Im out saving
lives), microtransactions proved to be the ultimate defibrillator and
brought DDO back from its terminal flatline. Not only did the switch
revive the game but it put it in a track suit and ran it up the charts
faster than Usain Bolt assaulting the 100m.
You can check out the full article href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/79464" target="_blank">here.
