Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMO Gamers to the Next Level!

There's been some fairly interesting articles written about the various 'types' of MMO gamers. It's hard for me personally to fit my play style into any one specific group as I tend to enjoy different aspects of different games, but one of those things that drives me forward in any game be it single player or multi is the concept of reward based achievements. It's the reason people raid, bother to group to take down harder than average mobs etc. Killing the big bad boss for bragging rights simply isn't enough to drive most players to spend the hours of playtime required to do so.

What happens to all of those players who truly enjoy that aspect of MMOs once the best items are no longer dropped, but put on your Visa ? What happens to my 11 year old nephew who is only able to play a game like WoW because prepaid cards are available ? SoE recently said they want to get more people in their early 20s playing, but most often that's an age bracket least likely to have disposable income to pay for a new Staff of the Mighty Doodle Burger. Should we be expecting an announcement that "Sure you can have your operatives in the Agency text you on your cell phone that your new sports car is done ... just email them your credit card number to purchase the car and you can use it the next time you log in !"

Like I'd said in a previous comment, what works in an Asian market doesn't necessarily work elsewhere. Three words: Click To Move. I'll keep my flat monthly fee / wsad / and items that I spent time playing the game to earn thanks.

Slurping is definitely much more humorous. /nods

Micro-transactions are one of those things that I think *can* work but only on a VERY limited basis. A good example of how they've been used (what I'd call) properly would be in a game like Guild Wars where you can purchase extra character slots. Another version that had potential was the Adventure Packs in EQ2, where you were buying a decent chunk of new content complete with quest lines / raid zones / access to unique spells etc all for a one time low fee.

Then you look at a game like Oblivion that was selling a single piece of horse armor for the same price as one of EQ2's APs and that's the part of micro-transactions that just makes me shake my head and wonder how game developers could be so out of touch with their players.

A lot of times (like the Oblivion example) the extras really are just fluff, but then I think about other forms of entertainment and how this concept would work there. Imagine going to a concert, having bought your ticket in advance but then once at the door you're told you have to pay extra to see the opening band, and that there's another fee if you want to see the headliner's encore. Sure you can still technically see the band you paid to see, but you lose out on the overall experience you thought you were paying for when you purchased your ticket.

Like a lot of other concepts that have been embraced in Asian markets that simply don't work here in the US, I don't see micro-transaction games doing any better than the multitude of click-to-move games that make their way here. Even look at the massive uproar it caused when Flagship announced that Hellgate would have a monthly fee if you wanted access to high end items and content updates.