Bringing back items for money into MMORPGs?

Are you describing, essentially, a pay-to-win payment model? Generally, I am not a big fan of that format. I am the kind of person who doesn't like to spend much on video games, so I try to avoid microtransactions in games. I feel like it's a little unfair to reward those who have more money. I prefer an even playing field in my MMORPGs.

 

It depends on what exactly. I believe in MMO games, people should make the effort to earn their gear instead of outright being geared up to the best. Certain things though, I wouldn't mind, so long as it doesn't focus on anti-effort game play. Such things would be like certain types of mounts, costumes and new skins are totally fine as well.

I also don't mind that people can create in-game stuff that can be sold with real money, so long as it's not going to affect the potential PvP/PvE factor. It has to be cosmetic or secondary like pets and mounts.

 

The more I consider pay-to-win, the less issues I have with it in terms of strictly gaming (setting aside personal politics). My view is that as a monetization model it can and is successful for developers, so plus there. All games that seem to implement some form of paid advancement have a balance between time spent grinding and the expediting of said grind through paid advancement. I view well constructed P2W systems as a "catch up" mechanic more than an unfair advantage. In reasonable cases, all the things that can be bought should be unlockable with effort. Creating a system of nothing more than opportunity cost.

I do however have an issue with systems that allow purchasing of vastly overpowered content that confers a major advantage and upsets game balance.

I also take no issue with paid content that has no effect on game balance like skins. These are great ways for developer art teams to monetize their work, especially at the end of a dev cycle when they aren't being otherwise utilized.

 

If the items that are offered on the item shop can be also obtained in-game then for me it's fine to let the pople purchase them on the item shop.

 

I personally think that it's a terrible way to handle things. Maybe if the game was FP2 and the devs used that as a way to make money, but something like Diablo with Blizzard behind it, making you pay full price and now you realize that skill doesn't matter because anyone can buy the equipment. It's terrible.

 

I don't think it's such a good way, it would ruin absolutely everything.

 

Pay-to-win? Not my cup of tea, since it discourages genuinely-involved people who actually care about their money to invest little amounts of money, which would eventually stack up to be smth of a great value and meaningful to the respective company. It's proven to bring bankruptcy.

 

I spend a lot of money on games (well, maybe not "a lot" but enough to make me consider it ) but I just don't have the time to grind out everyday. I have a cash surplus and I would much rather spend money than time on an item.

 

My friend used to make a ton of money farming items on Diablo 3 before they decided to take out the auction house. Such a shame. It allowed some people to make a living out of playing video games. However, if we take a look at the other side, there will be more bots farming and ruining the economy of the items. No one likes bots so I think not having a real money system is justified.

 

I think the RMAH in Diable3 was not the real problem with D3 at launch. The problem was that they had to drastically alter the drop system in D3 compared to D2 BECAUSE of the RMAH. if they had found a way to keep the RMAH, but at the same time keep the loot system similar to D2, there wouldn´t have been such a negative reaction.

 

I feel like pay2win players should be on a separate server. Any time when you have someone able to influence the game outside the gameplay mechanics, it disturbs the balance and just isn't fun anymore. Putting them all on one server levels the play field a little bit, but then they just get caught up in paying even more to outdo their opponents. Endless cycle in my opinion for players, but good for companies.

 

Yeah, that isn't going to happen. They aren't going to alienate paying customers.

 

In theory the D3 AH was a neat idea but in reality hard to keep up since people found ways to bot farm it. The problem with any game is that there will always be exploits found and workarounds. The question is how to create a system that's robust and flexible enough to keep up with that kind of mentality of exploiting. It's actually pretty difficult since that takes resources and manpower essentially. GW2 circumvented some of that with their gems and gold exchange program. It's not perfect but it works because the gold to gem conversion can only work in the 'cash shop' and vice versa for rare drops in game sold on the gold only auctions house. Is it cheaper to buy stuff from a gold farmer? Usually yes, but with that comes a risk of being banned.

The only way actual cash for money would work in an MMO setting is through skin designs and the like. A fashion heavy MMO would massively profit off of a design like that since it reduces manpower for armor design freeing up resources to other parts of the game, the game earns a way to make profit off the skin through their cash shop and the player gets a % cut. If a design doesn't sell well then it's no skin off the game's back so to speak and drives home the point that popular design sells. You have games like Second Life that allow content creators to make money off their creations.

 

Same, though it depends on how rare the item is and whatnot. If the item is a limited edition, then you can put a price on it since you would have to wait a certain length of time before getting it again if it isn't a one time offer.

 

Depends on how it's modeled. If it's something you need to further along to another part of the game, it bothers me. I don't like something that hinders my gameplay, I'd rather have things that are bought be something extra, and I would support the game by buying it- but not if I'm forced to buy.

 

Gotta be careful with this one, though. The problem with that, is that the in game price then becomes ridiculous and it can cause a spiral on the in-game economy. Have to be really careful with that, or it could wreck gameplay.