There is a great thread that’s been going for several days now over at The Common Sense Gamer instigated by some comments SOE’s John Smedley recently made regarding microtransactions. I urge you to check it out if you haven’t read it yet.
There is no question that microtransactions are a viable business model–especially since they provide access to games for very young players still tied to their parents’ purse strings who might not be able to scratch up the nominal $15 dollars a month in subscription fees.
For social MMOs that aren’t “games” in the traditional sense–Second Life for example, microtransact away if that floats your boat. It’s not so much the nickel-and-diming that comes with microtransactions that turns me off to them. It’s the uneven playing field they create. Money and fairness don’t mix. Look at politics. Look at class structure. Look at professional athletics. Anyone ever see Eight Men Out about the White Sox throwing the World Series?
Face it. In most MMORPGs, competition for resources–be it currency, materials, or gear–is a major element in the game, whether the game is PvE, PvP, or a hybrid. If these resources can be purchased with real money, this not only devalues the time and effort put in by folks that didn’t buy their way to their goals, but also has as much of an adverse effect on game economy as gold farmers do. The only difference? The money is going into the pockets of the designers instead of some cyber-sweatshop overseer in Singapore.
My main problem with SOE in particular is perhaps Smed should not look at payment methods as the “barrier to entry” for getting people to play MMOs. SOE spread themselves too thin. They have what–around ten plus games and 90% of them are lemons?
I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt, though, since he is as much a businessman as he is “Joe Average gamer who happens to be at the helm of the MMO division of a huge multinational corporation.” 200,000 subs is a healthy monthly subscription number, but thanks to Blizzard, suits look at those numbers (which are by no means representative of any other pay-to-play western MMO before or after WoW) and $ay, “Hey, how can we do that?” Not every athlete can be Rocky Marciano or Jackie Robinson. That doesn’t make them bad at what they do.
Make a game that’s fun and people will play (and pay), regardless of the payment method. That’s one thing Blizzard has proven that is attainable, whereas CEOs lu$ting after nine million $ub$criber$ might be setting the bar a bit high at this point. Continue to churn out mediocre title after mediocre title and pissing in the wind, and no one’s gonna care whether it’s free-to-play or you’re paying us to play it.
Build it, and they will come.
This week, Electronic Arts’ 620 million dollar acquisition of Bioware and Pandemic Studios was finalized. With this, Electronic Arts is now the parent company of what are arguably two of the finest computer RPG studios in the industry (Mythic and Bioware). What does this mean for MMORPGers?
With Bioware and Mythic having EA’s resources, this puts both companies in a position to go toe-to-toe with the big boys (namely Blizzard and SOE). This means both Blizzard and SOE will have to step up their game significantly.
I don’t think Warhammer will make as huge an impact on the gaming world as people are predicting, but you need only look at the trailer for Wrath of the Lich King to see that EA/Mythic has already prompted Blizzard to get off their self-assured keisters and get back to work–many elements of the next WoW expansion are clearly a response to WAR’s RvR. And if Bioware’s undisclosed MMO is indeed a Star Wars-licensed RPG, it could very well deliver a killing blow to SWG.
With the caliber of product we’ve seen from Bioware and Mythic in the past, I could easily see them usurping Sony’s position in the subscription MMO market in the next five years and SOE moving even further towards mass produced, free-to-play, microtransaction, Asian-style MMOs if The Agency proves successful.
And the wild card in the next five years? Hands down 38 Studios. Even though they’re only in preproduction on their own undisclosed MMORPG, add up all the factors of that equation and I’d bet a substantial amount of money that they will be the studio that turns the industry on its ear a few years down the line.
Filed under: World of Warcraft
Over the past week, I ran both my level 65 rogue and 62 priest through Ramparts and Blood Furnace, two of the introductory five-man instances in Burning Crusade. Each can be completed in under an hour. This casual instancing was a refreshing change after memories of whole nights spent in MC and BWL with nothing to show for it but a hefty repair bill. WoW is the only MMO where I made it to–or participated in–endgame. And it was ultimately the monotony and scripted class roles of endgame raiding that burnt me out just prior to Burning Crusade’s release last year.
BC has given me the chance to return to what made WoW so appealing to me when I first discovered it three years ago–exploring the quirky, stylized world; adventuring with, and making new, in-game friends; and feeling like I’ve progressed in at least some very little way virtually every time I log off at the end of the night. My guild is a very big factor in making the game for me as well, so I have all of them to thank. I’m sure my year away from the game did a world of good too, but I have to give credit where credit is due.
Another thing WoW does right that many new games are always missing the boat on is Blizzard do a LOT with a little. Though the graphics are not the most advanced, I’d argue it looks better than any game out there outside of LoTRO and EVE. I know a lot of people have qualms with the Disney-esque, cartoonish world, but I’ll go to my grave preferring that look and feel to the rigid Barbie doll avatars of most other titles.
My relationship with WoW is definitely love/hate and right now I’m in the midst of my second honeymoon. If nothing else, my return has reminded me that just because I tend to root for the underdog, that doesn’t mean that the prom king can’t have redeeming qualities too.
