Category Archives: Microtransactions

Greed Monger screenshots and video show off tropical climate area

Posted on April 29, 2013 by MJ Guthrie| Leave a comment
Greed Monger screenshots and video show off tropical climate area Moving right along after tripling its Kickstarter funding goal back in November, the developers behind Greed Monger have been busy slowly bringing the crafting-centric game to life. A working day/night cycle is already implemented, and over the weekend a chunk of the tropical climate area was imported to the test server, allowing devs to finally meet up in the same space together. The character creation UI and finished models (with armor sets) will be heading in this week. The team is also currently working on avatar animation and making sure controls work.

Want to get a peek at how Greed Monger is coming along? Then check out the brief fly-through video of the tropics climate region after the break. Then head on over to the official site to see the snazzy new in-game screenshots.

Continue reading Greed Monger screenshots and video show off tropical climate area

MassivelyGreed Monger screenshots and video show off tropical climate area originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 29 Apr 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | 

EVE Evolved: Does PLEX make EVE pay-to-win?

Posted on March 10, 2013 by Brendan Drain| Comments Off
Several years ago, the subscription model was king and the mere mention of an MMO selling in-game items for cash was almost enough to cause a virtual riot. RMT was the devil, and players who bought swords or spaceships for cash deserved nothing short of a permanent ban. The past decade of development has changed the MMO landscape and brought in a new generation of gamers with different attitudes. Today's players have grown up with and embraced ideas like the free-to-play business model, microtransaction shops, and perhaps even the idea of buying in-game advantages for cash.

In his latest Free for All column, Massively's Beau Hindman tackled the controversial issue of MMOs selling power for real cash, and his points about EVE Online sparked some pretty interesting discussion in the comments. The crux of the argument was that an EVE player can currently take out his wallet and buy his way into a bigger ship or even pick up a pre-trained veteran character. That's certainly true, but is that the same as buying an unfair advantage and does it necessarily make EVE pay-to-win?

In this week's EVE Evolved, I look at why players find PLEX so much more palatable than direct item sales and ask whether the system fits the definition of pay-to-win.

Continue reading EVE Evolved: Do PLEX make EVE pay-to-win?

MassivelyEVE Evolved: Do PLEX make EVE pay-to-win? originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 10 Mar 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | 

The War Z allows cash shop items to be lost forever

Posted on September 10, 2012 by Justin Olivetti| Comments Off

Filed under: , , , ,

The War Z allows RMT purchases to be lost
Imagine that you're playing the hot new zombie MMO, and you decide to splurge a few bucks on that shiny weapon you've been eying. You get your grubby mitts on it and go to town on a few living undead, only to find yourself over your head and quickly killed. When you wake up, your gun -- and the rest of your stuff -- is gone. Forever.

And the devs are totally OK with that.

This is about to become reality for players of the upcoming The War Z, as even cash shop-purchased items are not safe from being lost due to death. In a recent interview with Gaming Blend, Hammerpoint Marketing Director Alex Josef was unapologetic about that point: "You'll lose what you have in your backpack when you die in both in normal and hardcore modes. And yes, if you bought something using real money, you'll lose that item as well. This is a price you'll have to pay."

According to Josef, this level of item loss was a deliberate decision by the team to cause player to treat the game more seriously. "We've discussed that a lot," he said, "and at the end decided that this will provide a pretty good incentive for players to either be extra cautious while playing or just not spend too much money in the game and instead try to procure all items by finding them in the game world."

MassivelyThe War Z allows cash shop items to be lost forever originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 10 Sep 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

CCP reiterates anti-pay-to-win stance for EVE microtransactions

Posted on April 3, 2012 by Jef Reahard| Comments Off

Filed under: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

CCP's Tori Frans Olafsson
CCP has been pretty quiet on the subject of microtransactions since last summer's monoclegate and the ensuing Jita protests. EVE Online creative director Torfi Frans Olafsson recently spoke up about the trendy new business model, and while he acknowledged that it is popular, he also said that CCP is "very reluctant to do that in EVE because it's so established. It's like changing the DNA of a living organism after it's born. That didn't work in Blade Runner," he tells PC Gamer.

Olafsson also repeats the anti-pay-to-win mantra that comes standard in just about every developer interview these days. He says that CCP will sell cosmetic items in EVE, including makeovers for your avatar, ship, and starbase. Given the fact that players will be purchasing weapons and gear in DUST 514 (which will interface directly with EVE's pre-existing economy), we've no doubt it will be interesting to see how CCP maintains that delicate balance.

"I think we have to be very careful in introducing such mechanics into EVE. And I personally think that we shouldn't be doing it in the near future," Olafsson says, "because it's such a vulnerable little flower in a vulnerable little ecosystem. You make minor changes to an ecosystem and you can introduce hostile things and the whole system breaks down."

Check out the video interview after the cut.

Continue reading CCP reiterates anti-pay-to-win stance for EVE microtransactions

MassivelyCCP reiterates anti-pay-to-win stance for EVE microtransactions originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 03 Apr 2012 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Cash rules everything around Pathfinder Online

Posted on March 29, 2012 by Eliot Lefebvre| Comments Off

Filed under: , , , , ,

Hey, pretend money is pretend money.
The latest in the series of Pathfinder Online developer diaries has just recently gone live, and this time it's covering something near and dear to the heart of many gamers: money. Even if you don't play an MMO specifically for the size of your bankroll, everyone likes having cash to spend and money in the bank. The diary explains that the heart of the game's economic system will be a currency known simply as coin, which is meant to be the driving force behind the virtual economy in-place.

Beyond the basics of the game's economic theory, however, the entry also reveals something of the game's business model, explaining that players will also be able to spend real money to purchase Skymetal Bits. These Bits work as microtransaction currency, running the gamut of the usual microtransaction services (skill training, cosmetic items, special content, and so forth). If you've been following the game along thus far, you'll probably want to see what information the latest entry is providing.

MassivelyCash rules everything around Pathfinder Online originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 28 Mar 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Free for All: Comparing the payment models of Glitch and Ryzom

Posted on February 8, 2012 by Beau Hindman| Comments Off

Filed under: , , , , , , , , ,

Ryzom screenshot
I thought it might be a cool idea to do a comparison of free-to-play models for my next few articles. As free-to-play has become more and more popular, cash shops and tiers of service have become much more important to how a player might enjoy or interact with a game. While the standard free-to-play model, the most popular one by far, is one that allows players to download a free client, has no subscription at all, and tacks on a cash-shop, the freemium variant is quickly becoming widespread. Freemium seems to be the model of choice for many Western games that were previously subscription-only.

The problem is that I do not really like the freemium model. I'm old-school, I guess. I enjoy the model that was imported to the States maybe eight years ago. A free client with a cash shop on top is all I need to steer my fun by. I'd rather skip any sort of tiered service as well.

There are exceptions to the rule, of course.

Continue reading Free for All: Comparing the payment models of Glitch and Ryzom

MassivelyFree for All: Comparing the payment models of Glitch and Ryzom originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments