There is room to grow in the world of massive multiplayer online gaming. A large online community should not have to subscribe to a monthly charge to play great MMORPG’s because there are other known models that work, including the micro-transaction based MMO.
At first, this sounds like a dirty word, micro-transaction. Often we relate it with being “nickle and dimed” through a video game by means of dirty marketing which feeds our enthusiastic gamer addiction. Put this thought aside for a minute and keep an open mind.
Imagine a game with worlds the size of World of Warcraft and stories as in-depth as Guild Wars (which is not monthly itself) but free from monthly payments (or “playments” a new term that needs to be coined). The reason behind the monthly charge covers service fees, technical support staff, bandwidth, servers and sheer volume of Activision Blizzards user base.
The micro-transaction concept could still help pay for all the overhead of running an online gaming business because gamers tend to be over-enthusiastic about their great addictive games. If you build a game with excellent content, replay value and strive for a community atmosphere a micro-transaction title can work just as well as a subscription based game.
One beautiful aspect to micro-transaction models is paying for content when you’re willing to pay. This includes cosmetic character alterations, basic needs items (health potions) and other products to enhance the playability of the game without requiring the gamer to do so. There will be some gamers that use this as a “free ride” and never buy anything while other gamers spend way too much because they have expendable income which helps balance out costs.
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Merry Christmas guys!
@ Patch for AC Unity: They really do need to stop rushing games out that aren’t finished, a positive is they at least addressed issues. I never understood the need to rush a game before it was done, the people wanting to buy it are still going to do so even if you need a few more months to fix things. It does looks pretty bad if you have to redo the whole game that’s already been shipped.
@Blizzard gold for time: It does sound like a nice idea for players to pay for their time with the in game money. The article did have in it’s quote that it would cover some of the cost, I’m sure they will limit how much gold you can give so it’s not an entire month free. I’m sure someone will find a way to abuse this though.
@Hatred: Games like this always make me uneasy. Where is the line between artistic trying to get people to experience things and just being gratuitous because you want to be. Should games like Custard’s Last stand be allowed on Steam along with those Nazi games that Jonah mentioned? I think Jonah does have a point with the consequences, if your shown that this is not acceptable behavior, maybe even go so far as to show just how these actions affect the lives of those victims.
I just feel Hatred is more about the killing than trying to get you to see how terrible a thing that is. At least in GTA V when you did the torture scene you were given a speech about how useless and terrible such acts are. You are hunted by the police when you get wanted ratings, you are shown consequences for your actions.
@ last QotW: I’d like to choose the Tarrasque from Dungeon’s and Dragons, the ultimate middle finger to players when the DM wants to tell them they are royally screwed. This mammoth is roughly the size of Mount Everest, spews acid, has massive claw/bite/tail damage. He is the Godzilla of the Mystical realms.
@ This week’s QotW: Yes I have used Humble bundle, and I’m glad it has helped to raise so much money.
Hey Guys, with regards to the questions about connectivity options for older consoles. If it has a RF connection then they will need an RF Modulator. If they have older composite or S-Video (Yellow RCA, or 4 pin connect) then they can check out these product from StarTech.com. They offer both basic converters and up scalers. Yes up scalling will not make the image look better but might enable support with some TVs that do not normally support it.
http://www.startech.com/AV/Converters/Video/