Is EA/Bioware just sitting on a gold mine?

[Izorii]

I am aways concerned by micro transactions one of the rumours is that games with them make more money because people spend more on "fluff" than they did on subscription. I am normally against them, however I kinda like DC Onlines way of doing it, with a subscription or free to play. I bearly play the game so I am a free to play player but should I decide to go back on DC online and actualy want to join a guild and do all the flash points (alerts) I could pay for a couple of months then go back to free to play.

 

I would like to see micro transactions only if they got me new species, new star ships, player houses and better outfits quicker than the route. I would buy alien species, and probably a new star ship, speeder and outfits.

[chewyball]

I can't belive these guys don't have any Microtransaction yet, not only for things like server transfers or XP Boosts, but also for cosmetics Items as well, a bunch of games are jumping to or already are making money with Pay2Pretty. This game has so much potential for cool speeders, pets, social gear, color crystals, if they put some effort they could even make an exclusive spaceship. There are still many people playing this game that would be interested in buying this stuff, I'll sure buy a thing or two, I even bought an Ahri skin the other day.

 

I dont know, looks to me like they are sitting on their hands while they are losing subs when they should be hiring an art team and start pumping out cosmetic items like crazy.

 

Microtransations could had been the way to go in the first place, truthfully Guild war's 2 isn't going monthly fee and If i was a bettin' man, i'd say there sales are about to out sale ea/bioware they better figure out a plane soon,

 

Or there ***** up a creek without a paddle like my folks use to say

[chewyball]

The fact that you think microtransactions in a pay to play game are a good idea disturbs me.

 

And why? The money out of your pocket really look's like it's helping the game doesn't it...

[Gruug]

I can't belive these guys don't have any Microtransaction yet, not only for things like server transfers or XP Boosts, but also for cosmetics Items as well, a bunch of games are jumping to or already are making money with Pay2Pretty. This game has so much potential for cool speeders, pets, social gear, color crystals, if they put some effort they could even make an exclusive spaceship. There are still many people playing this game that would be interested in buying this stuff, I'll sure buy a thing or two, I even bought an Ahri skin the other day.

 

I dont know, looks to me like they are sitting on their hands while they are losing subs when they should be hiring an art team and start pumping out cosmetic items like crazy.

 

I pay a sub which entitles me to whatever Bioware can afford to put into the game as CONTENT. I do not want Bioware to waste their time on attempting to markets "pretty trinkets" in a store for those that want to pay BEYOND their sub fee. Once an MMO does this, the value of what I am getting out of my sub fee is greatly diminished. So much so, I will stop paying said sub fee.

 

And don't give me the "f2p" line either. So-called f2p is the biggest marketing scam ever put in front of greedy gamers (think about it).

[Eszi]

I can't belive these guys don't have any Microtransaction yet, not only for things like server transfers or XP Boosts, but also for cosmetics Items as well, a bunch of games are jumping to or already are making money with Pay2Pretty. This game has so much potential for cool speeders, pets, social gear, color crystals, if they put some effort they could even make an exclusive spaceship. There are still many people playing this game that would be interested in buying this stuff, I'll sure buy a thing or two, I even bought an Ahri skin the other day.

 

I dont know, looks to me like they are sitting on their hands while they are losing subs when they should be hiring an art team and start pumping out cosmetic items like crazy.

 

Look at the items like armor, pets and mounts that we have now and ask yourself - how possibly the people who designed them, could design something cool enough to be worth real money

[ChazDoit]

Look at the items like armor, pets and mounts that we have now and ask yourself - how possibly the people who designed them, could design something cool enough to be worth real money

 

lol, they would definitely have to hire a new team

[Jenemi]

I do think server transfers will be pay things... besides that, maybe an unbind feature (which would be awesome--I've accidentally bound stuff to me more than I'd like to remember). But I don't think it should be used for much else.

 

Edit: But yes, to clarify--mostly account stuff. No new features or special new items. But things like re-naming, server transfers, unbinding, and etc. would be nice.

 

I wouldn't be against stuff that you could get in game though. IE: A pet or mount may be available, but it's also possible to get ingame (or is no longer available--like limited pets/mounts could as well after several months). Credit Packs could also kill off gold farmers.

 

Just no pay only items stuff. And if there has to be--just cosmetic. Or even an option to buy certain Legacy stuff with cash OR Credits.

Edited July 8, 2012 by Jenemi

[Ashanor]

I ran into a guy yesterday that swears up and down this game is sitting at 1.3 million subscribers and has stabilized. I seriously doubt that number. I think it is something more like 500,000, at most. A ton of people quit this game in late February to early March. My entire guild of 100 active members basically just stopped logging in. Most of them are still in my guild on Prophecy of the Five (because I gave up after the mass exodus - and quit myself for 4 months), just let their accounts go and never came back.

 

In any case, I see nothing wrong with a WoW style cash shop.

 

http://us.blizzard.com/store/

 

Mounts pets and things like transfers, character recustomization, race change etc. Though I think Blizzard is overpriced on these things.

[ChazDoit]

In any case, I see nothing wrong with a WoW style cash shop.

 

http://us.blizzard.com/store/

 

Mounts pets and things like transfers, character recustomization, race change etc. Though I think Blizzard is overpriced on these things.

 

Don't see anything wrong with that either, It's just that I only got the conservative bunch to post on this thread so far.

[supremeaaron]

MTs ? big no thank you from me.

I played LOTRO from the very early days when it was a purely subs game and it was great. Then turbine decided it wasnt making enough money and brought in a shop selling as they put it " convenience not advantage". And "nothing would be sold in the shop that wasnt available in game." I think those statements rang true till the next update. Then, suddenly, items we had been earning in game became ultra rare or in the case of relic removal scrolls. only available in the store.

Now with each expac, more and more items are store exclusive. More time and effort is devoted to store items than gameplay.

Turbine runs a hybrid F2P model now, some people still pay subs and are forced to pay again for certain required items.

Its an awful system based on greed and lost turbine a huge number of longterm, dedicated players.Now, aside from a hardcore group of diehards, the population is made up of transient F2Pers who move from F2P game to F2P game at the drop of a hat.usually at the point where it actually starts to cost them money.

Since it went F2P the amount and quality of new content has decreased, except for shop items.

In my opinion, MTs and F2P formats are game killers.The company sets out with the best of intentions but it is a slippery slope and from purely anecdotal info,loses more of the players likely to spend money than it gains.

Edit, forgot about the advertising. Each and every splashscreen and the UI has overpowering "buy this" symbols.

 

Didn't Turbine change their model because they were loosing subscribers and weren't making enough money for the game.

 

Also I don't think Turbine lost that many people. Last January Turbine announced that they got over a million new players, 20% of those were former players coming back, a 300% rise in concurrent users and a 400% rise in active. Source = http://www.strategyinformer.com/news/10380/free-to-play-triples-lotro-profit

 

With those stats Turbine proved that a free to play option for struggling pay to play mmo is a good option.

 

Also on the topic of the introduction of a Real money trading (RMT) to SWTOR. Personally I think it would be a bad decision because it would create a bit of a rift in the game, as you can see here in this thread with people supporting the idea and others not. To my knowledge WoW is only pay to play mmo that is really getting away with a RMT with the majority of their player base fine with forking over $25 for a sparkly mount or the even crazier/laughable fee of $25 for a character transfer.

[DorkTrooper]

I dont know, looks to me like they are sitting on their hands while they are losing subs when they should be hiring an art team and start pumping out cosmetic items like crazy.

 

I don't think a lot of people are going to come back to SWTOR, or try it out for the first time, because of suddenly being able to purchase virtual appearances and doo-dads while dev resources are pulled from other parts of the game.

 

I still don't understand why anyone would *not* prefer to be able to access everything that's available in the game through the game itself for one fee, even if you have to grind, platform, or group up to do it. If you don't actually want to play the game, why play it?

Edited July 8, 2012 by DorkTrooper

[Diktat]

I've read some comments, you may or may not like MTs, but they are the way of the future and it's beign adopted by more and more games, to the point that a free little moba called League of Legends dethroned Starcraft 2 on the esport scene.

 

Now, many games that are coming out want to have MTs from launch, GW2 will have them, Planetside 2, Neverwinter, End of Nations, Mechwarrior online. They want their main source of revenue to be Commodities and Cosmetic Items. I hope that EA/Bioware release MTs soon in this game and are not just derping around, besides, developing cosmetic items will not hold back new features and content, because they mostly use art assets, and it doesnt take much programing to implement

As far as I know all those new games are F2P (not sure about Mechwarrior) so MTs is their main profit souce, not subs.

[Spectus]

Microtransactions are to a MMO developer what crack is to a 12-year-old.

[Bethmora]

Do you have ANY idea on the number of people that would flee this game faster than being chased by a tornado? Microtransactions are the invention of a madman hell-bent on making money hand over fist, consequences be damned.

 

Say NO to Microtransactions. It's the only way to remain sane.

 

None will leave over a micro store. If you dont like it then dont look or buy from it. its all about MONEY and ever company wants it and if anyone thinks they wont come out with a store then your crazy.

[kevlarto]

They will come to TOR also. Just a matter of time. All MMO's have some sort of Microtransactions.

 

That is true love them or hate them, it is the future of all computer and console games, we already have bioware points for games like Dragon age and Mass Effect.. Warner Bros. has stated all there gamess will have MT's at some point, I think even some suit from EA said the same thing for thier games. You can threaten to cancel all you want if you plan on playing any video games in the future they all will have them, so at that point what do you do ? give up video games and go back to cards and Risk..LOL these are for profit companies, thats why they make games, not because they love us, as nice as that would be..

 

I have a life time account in lotro, I have 12,000 lotro points, I have never spent one dime to get those points, I have bought two things from the store, a horse, and an expansion pack.. Thats the beauty of a micro store, I don't NEED anything out of it to play my game, it gives me no play to win, but if I am lazy and want something now, I could buy it from the store, but I would rather play the game than have things given to me, but thats just me../shrug

[theskurGe]

This is EA we're talking about. If they do micro-transactions, they will gouge the crap out of everyone and not a dime of development money will be spent on free content.

 

Don't buy into the whole Micro-transaction scam just because the mega-wealthy investors have conditioned you to think it's a good thing. They want to take you for every single penny they can get.

 

Stop being such mindless consumer drones.

[swtonewbie]

There was a good system used by Cryptic (as strange as it might seem to say that) for microtransactions whereby you could buy cosmetic changes or account services (like name changes etc.), but where subscribing members also got given a stipend of so many points each month. As such, you never had to buy any points if you stayed subbed for long enough.

 

I'd really like to hope that we'll be able to get more character slots and other services soon, even if we have to pay for them.

 

Yah i played STO as well, in fact the microtransaction system was so good that the last time they released new STFs was....wait, they havent. When did they release the first and last STFs? it's been over 2 years now hasnt it? and its still the same 3 ground and 3 space STFs?

 

The first time i leveled an STO toon, it took me 4 days to get to max level...that is no exaggeration. I had no xp boosts or anything, just a lot of free time and some caffiene. The fastest it took me to get a full set of XI borg gear was 2 days.

 

STO keeps releasing lottery ships, MT ships, and a bunch of other MT store stuff. I think they have neglected the STFs completely, it shouldnt be taking this long to release new PVE content. New quests are cool any everything, but people want new STFs too.

[ConanArthurLager]

I can't belive these guys don't have any Microtransaction yet, not only for things like server transfers or XP Boosts, but also for cosmetics Items as well, a bunch of games are jumping to or already are making money with Pay2Pretty. This game has so much potential for cool speeders, pets, social gear, color crystals, if they put some effort they could even make an exclusive spaceship. There are still many people playing this game that would be interested in buying this stuff, I'll sure buy a thing or two, I even bought an Ahri skin the other day.

 

I dont know, looks to me like they are sitting on their hands while they are losing subs when they should be hiring an art team and start pumping out cosmetic items like crazy.

 

I've played some other MMO with Micro transactions. Personally I spent 0.00 $ on cosmetic items in game. Why was that? The game had a crafting system where you could take almost any armor/equipment you found in game and place custom enchantments on it. Yes, the company offered armor appearance kits. But that development time was totally wasted in combination with the implemented crafting system.

 

With the customizable gear hat SWTOR already offers where is the need for armor appearance kits? And you can only change your hairstyle / haircolour so often. And buying pets ... Yeah great.

 

I dunno. People want online games and forget what comes with it (maintaining infrastructure / continuous improvement / etc.). Even with a subscription these games are by far very cheap. But then a part of MMOers tend to be cheapskates.

[Vemtaz]

Microstransactions and/or RMT are a GOOD thing, as long as they aren't game breaking (i.e "Pay to Win").

 

Someone commented about them being invented by someone hell bent on making money..

 

 

uh.. well yea.. that's what these games are to EA and Bioware. it's their business. Making money is what they are supposed to do, and the better they do it, the better the game gets.

 

It's simple. If they take in more RL cash money, they will have more money to put into the game.

 

It has to be done well,and in a way that doesn't offend the majority of the player base, but being able to spend RL money on trinkets and cosmetic items, or even housing and the associated furnishings, in no way gives anyone an advantage on the battlefield, but it gives the company an income source that can help drive future development.

 

Please stop being so closed minded about this. MT/RMT is not necessarily a bad thing...

[Blondesolid]

We all know deep down that the "legacy" system is a front to the micro transaction store

 

Low on credits and want to browse the trade market on your ship?

Fear not! This weekend for only $8.99 your characters can do just that!

[Daethorz]

If they add buyable xp/gear/objects that interfere with everyone elses gameplay, i quit, i will NEVER play a mmo that requires a subscription and is also Pay 2 Win.

Acceptable Forms of Micro Transactions:

Mounts that arent just stupid large/shiney/anoying.

Pets that arent just stupid large/shiney/anoying, deal damage.

 

Acceptable Forms added if game goes F2P

Color Crystals /w same stats as ingame obtainable crystals.

Fully modifull outfits, like leya's dress or something.

 

The 1.3 added legacy is trash, it needs to be server wide, idc if they increase the prices 10x, i want them to be server wide, legacy is a LEGACY which is your descendants, not just yourself, whoever overlooked this design should be slapped in the face.

$15 /mo for New Content, or $60/mo because you gotta keep up with micro transactions to be able to fight anyone who buys them.

Edited July 8, 2012 by Daethorz

[jtjohnson]

Yah i played STO as well, in fact the microtransaction system was so good that the last time they released new STFs was....wait, they havent. When did they release the first and last STFs? it's been over 2 years now hasnt it? and its still the same 3 ground and 3 space STFs?

 

The first time i leveled an STO toon, it took me 4 days to get to max level...that is no exaggeration. I had no xp boosts or anything, just a lot of free time and some caffiene. The fastest it took me to get a full set of XI borg gear was 2 days.

 

STO keeps releasing lottery ships, MT ships, and a bunch of other MT store stuff. I think they have neglected the STFs completely, it shouldnt be taking this long to release new PVE content. New quests are cool any everything, but people want new STFs too.

 

You can thank Cryptics new Chinese overlords for that. Ever since Perfect World bought them from Atari almost all new content has been on the microtrasaction store. Before that however most of the C-Store items were ether purely cosmetic items or things like character name changes and more character slots.

 

 

Sorry for the rant. Whenever someone mentions STO now I get a little angry. I used to love that game but when they started charging real money to open loot drops I quit in anger.

Edited July 8, 2012 by jtjohnson

[NasherUK]

Microtransactions do not belong in a subscription game.

 

The game would most likely die over-night if they went that route. People are already reluctant to start playing due to the bad press (which really wasn't deserved).

Edited July 8, 2012 by NasherUK

[Deewe]

I ran into a guy yesterday that swears up and down this game is sitting at 1.3 million subscribers and has stabilized. I seriously doubt that number. I think it is something more like 500,000, at most. A ton of people quit this game in late February to early March. My entire guild of 100 active members basically just stopped logging in. Most of them are still in my guild on Prophecy of the Five (because I gave up after the mass exodus - and quit myself for 4 months), just let their accounts go and never came back.

 

In any case, I see nothing wrong with a WoW style cash shop.

 

http://us.blizzard.com/store/

 

Mounts pets and things like transfers, character recustomization, race change etc. Though I think Blizzard is overpriced on these things.

The only wrong thing is the price.

 

$25 for a mount or $10 for a pet is a rip off.

 

Lower them and we have a deal.

[ShallowBay]

Microtransactions do not belong in a subscription game.

 

The game would most likely die over-night if they went that route. People are already reluctant to start playing due to the bad press (which really wasn't deserved).

 

Indeed. I love SWTOR, but I would leave in a heartbeat if microtransactions were added. It's a surefire way to make the fanbase feel cheated, and a slippery slope.

 

Plus, couldn't the time spent developing such items be spent on things that actually improve the game? Why ask for paid content when it should really be included at $15 a month?

Edited July 8, 2012 by ShallowBay
Grammar