The Daily Grind: How do you feel about microtransactions?
One of the things we couldn't help but notice yesterday in Michael Zenke's excellent coverage of the GDC Future of MMOs panel is how the different developers reacted to the idea of microtransactions being the "future" of MMO gaming as opposed to the subscription model. Jack "Statesman" Emmert seemed pretty vehemently against the concept versus a few of the others. Some people feel that the idea of microtransactions just gives casual players the ability to enjoy the game in new ways. Others feel that it takes the whole point of playing a game out of the game; if you can buy the best gear, where's the incentive to run endgame content more than once? Does being able to buy all the best items make for a "game over" situation -- or game over until the next round of uber items become available for sale?
Today we thought we'd ask what your take is on the model. Do you prefer the option of going to an online "item store" and buying that upgrade with your hard-earned real-life cash, or do you prefer the idea of being required to put in the time to get the best gear? Is there a happy medium? Should a nearly equal but not as nice set of items be available in the item store for those who want to buy their way up versus those who put in the time and effort to grind for items? Should microtransaction gear and farmed/raided gear be equal? Where would the line be for you?
