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| [Mar 21, 2012, 10:00 am ET] - Share - Viewing Comments |
The ArenaNet Blog has a post by Mike O’Brien discussing microtransactions in Guild Wars 2, their upcoming MMORPG. He explains: "We have a new player-driven market that allows players to trade gold for gems and gems for gold. If you want something, whether it’s an in-game item or a microtransaction, you ultimately have two ways to get it: you can play to earn gold or you can use money to buy gems. We think that’s important, because it lets more players participate on a level playing field, whether they use their free time or their disposable income to do it." In spite of how the original Guild Wars also used microtransactions, this is not going down well, as demonstrated by the 100+ pages of comments on the Guild Wars 2 Guru Forums on the topic. Thanks Titus_Nefarius.
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Re: On Guild Wars 2 Microtransactions |
Mar 21, 2012, 17:04 |
Endo |
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Calwen wrote on Mar 21, 2012, 16:08:
P2W? What exactly are people "winning" in Guild Wars 2 by purchasing cosmetic items? A beauty contest?
As far as we know, gear is statistically equivalent at any given level, with certain stats favoring certain builds. But on average they should be comparable. So in neither PvE nor PvP should purchasing gear offer any sort of statistical advantage in combat.
Please correct me if I'm wrong (as I'm not in the D3 beta), but doesn't gear in Diablo 3 increase the relative power of your character at a given level? That's where I'm guessing some of the vitriol for the D3 auction house comes from. You can buy your way into a combat advantage, which could become problematic for PvP -- for whenever they decide to release that patch. It could then become a Keeping up with the Jonses type phenomenon, not unlike the inane gear grind of WoW and its imitators.
I think the most interesting part about the gems will be how it affects the economy. Some crazies on the forums seem to think that buying gems will yield gem-buyers an unlimited supply of in-game gold -- as if saturating the market with gems will somehow saturate the market with demand as well. To have extra gems implies that 1) the buyer has no self control but does have daddy's credit card, or 2) they purchase gems with the intent to trade them for in-game gold. Seems like the latter could backfire very easily, should enough gem-buyers partake in that plan.
All in all, I think it's a clever system in which everyone can participate on their on terms. Except RMT botters, of course.
There will be a lot more available from the GW2 cash shop than just cosmetic items. They've already said as much. Here's a quote from the blog post:
"[Players] should also be able to spend money on account services and on time-saving convenience items."
The "time saving convenience items" is a big giveaway here, and the fact that they're actually telling us that much is a big indicator that it's going to be more than that too.
But then there's also this: "..it’s never OK for players who spend money to have an unfair advantage over players who spend time."
What's interesting is how vague that statement is. He didn't say it's not ok for players who spend money to have any advantage over players who spend time. He also didn't say that it's not ok for players who spend money to have all the same advantages as players who spend time. And he said nothing about how much time he's talking about here. For example, he didn't say that it's not ok for players who spend $10 a month to have some advantages (as long as they're not "unfair" advantages) over players who spend 200 hours a month grinding for the same stuff.
I think the most interesting part about the gems will be how it affects the economy. Some crazies on the forums seem to think that buying gems will yield gem-buyers an unlimited supply of in-game gold -- as if saturating the market with gems will somehow saturate the market with demand as well. To have extra gems implies that 1) the buyer has no self control but does have daddy's credit card, or 2) they purchase gems with the intent to trade them for in-game gold. Seems like the latter could backfire very easily, should enough gem-buyers partake in that plan. Unless the gems are useless (in which case, why put them in at all?), then yes there will almost certainly be an effectively unlimited supply of in-game gold available for purchase with gems. Take Eve, for example, where they have the PLEX system. You can buy PLEX with real money, and sell them for in-game credits. There are ALWAYS people who have fairly competitive buy orders active for PLEX. Sure, you can possibly get a bit more for your money if you're patient, but you can ALWAYS get a nice amount. A grand in US dollars will let you buy PLEX which you can immediately sell at any hour day or night for in-game credits, (I never checked specifically, but I'd be willing to bet the market would support selling even 10 or 100 times that much PLEX at any given moment) and then buy pretty much whatever you like. The same was true in every other MMO I've played that had similar systems. Expecting it to play out differently in GW2 is absurd.
But let me reiterate what I've said before, just so there's no misunderstanding: I don't think any of this is bad. I think it's just a different way to collect the revenue they need to keep the game running and keep ongoing development funded. And I like it, because it gives each individual player the choice of exactly how much time and/or money he wants to invest. |
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