The demise of the Gold Farmer: Microtransactions in SWTOR

Source.

Much has been argued and reported on regarding the notion of micro-transactions in Star Wars: The Old Republic after EA CEO John Riccitiello said:

“”We are continuing to stick to the plan relative to building out our direct-to-consumer models which include microtransactions and subscriptions. The recent launch of Warhammer is a great example of that.”

The statement was later refuted by EA who wrote off Riccitiello’s comment as a misunderstanding.

But the fledgling SWTOR community is not one to let something as huge as a proposed MT payment model go. The numerous debates and petitions which sprang up in the wake of this report show that the community in general is dead against the use of micro-transactions as a business model.

Personally, I’m not so sure.

There are many good things that can come out of micro-transactions if they are done properly. Here are just a few of them:

Casual players.

Not everyone is an 8 hour a day Jedi. Some people like to play for a few hours a week. To them a monthly fee is a gross misallocation of funds. Some people have commented that MMO’s are not for casual players. But why can’t they be? A pay-as-you-play system would open the game up to more players and a larger fanbase which is better all round for everyone.

Look and feel.

If you want to stand out from the crowd, a feasible use of microtransactions is to use them for character customisation. Want a custom lightsabre colour? Pay for it. Want a variation on the standardised armours available? Pay. Want to change sex? Pay for it.

There are so many aesthetic variations that can be considered that people will willingly pay for and that have no impact on the playability of the game.

Content.

Every expansion pack that is released is, in effect, a microtransaction. You’re paying for additional content. I laughed at all the nay-sayers who complained about MT before they were even explained in relation to SWTOR who have probably paid for Wrath of the Lich King. This is a microtransaction. If Bioware were to release new content for SWTOR at timely intervals people would pay. For example, create a new planet with new characters and quests and charge people to be able to access it. You are not impacting the player who does not wish to pay, but those with the available income can partake in new stuff.

That’s the beauty of a microtransaction. Choice. The player can decide if they wish to be involved in it or not. They can decide if they wish to part with their money. Sounds fair to me.

Gold Farmers.

Finally, the real reason why I support a microtransactional approach to SWTOR. I recently returned to Age of Conan after a few months away. My in game mail box had an offer of “cheap AoC gold” waiting for me.

How many people have come into contact with gold farmers? If Bioware made in-game currency available to purchase for real money, it would stop the gold farmers. Why would people choose to go to an unofficial gold farmer and risk being caught if they could get gold (or credits) from an official source?

If Bioware implement this approach I can see SWTOR being the first MMO that doesn’t feature gold farmers as an integral part of the game economy. The demise of the gold farmer will be brought forward by microtransactions. That in itself is a good enough reason to use them.

Vader calls Palpatine

Thanks for this, Kory.

Grow your own venus fly trap

I am going to grow my own venus fly trap.

Forum signatures being a fucker

I’ve been trying for the last hour to get the signatures on the forums to show at the bottom of the post bit rather than halfway up tucked under the text as they are on the current template. It’s being a total ball ache. I got it working on Left 4 Dead Forums, but on TORF it’s proving to be a total fuck.

I even tried just transferring the code across from one site to the other but that just screws things up even further. I wish I understood this stuff. I tend to just ‘blag’ my way through amendments most of the time, especially when tackling the actual php/css coding.

I guess I just wish I didn’t suck.

New style for SWTOR forum

I just added a new style to SWTOR – The Old Republic Forum. I like it, think it’s pretty swish and adds a no-bullshit “this is a SWTOR forum” feel to the place. Good colours too, I like blue.

Took some work to get fixed up. Problems with the navbar template screwing with the showthread template but I got passed it with a few nifty edits. Feel like I’ve had quite a successful afternoon.

Star Wars 3.5

10 k in 10 weeks?

This has been moved over from something I started yesterday. Best to keep all my blog in one place.

Is it possible?

This is a very quick post before I leave and go finish enjoying Christmas. My name is Alan, I am 31 and fat and unfit. Today (Christmas Day) my brother (18 fat & unfit) was given a plan to get him to 10 k in 10 weeks. I am conscious of my need to get fit so agreed to do it with him. I believe that if we’re both going to follow the plan we’ll both have the additional dedication to stick to it.

We’ve agreed to kick off on the 5th January which give me the option to eat drink and be merry for another week (inc. New Year) and start the regime at the start of 2009.

I’ve asked Eton to scan me a copy of the guide and I’ll post it when I get it.

This blog is going to remind me that I agreed to do this.

Dates to remember:

5th Jan 2009 – start
22nd March 2009 – finish
10th August – Darlington 10k

Can we run it?

Yes.

Facebook

I don’t have a facebook account anymore and it is strangely liberating. This is a short list of the reasons why in totally no order whatsoever:

• Status updates. Nobody gives a fuck if you just got out of bed or if your new baby has a poorly cough. You get out of bed everyday you tit and baby’s are always ill. No more mundane updates for me to have to contend with
• Photos. I don’t want to see the view from the window at work – even if there is half a sodding inch of snow on the ground. I don’t want to see pictures of you drunk or pictures of you thinking you’re sexy.
• Tags. Related to the above. Tagging ‘bottle of beer’ in a random picture of your no mark mates with a bottle of beer on the table is not, contrary to popular opinion, comedy gold.
• Notifuckations. X has commented on your status. Y has updated their status. Z has posted on your funwall. I. Don’t. Care.
• Invites. No, I don’t want to attend that event or your 3 person party or any other pointless shit. Just fuck off.
• Non-friends. I DON’T KNOW WHO YOU ARE. STOP TRYING TO ADD ME AS A FRIEND.
• School friends. I WAS AT SCHOOL 16 FUCKING YEARS AGO. I DON’T KNOW WHO YOU ARE. STOP TRYING TO ADD ME AS A FRIEND.
• colleagues. I WORK WITH YOU AND CAN’T FUCKING STAND YOU. STOP TRYING TO ADD ME AS A FRIEND.

Join the new movement. Delete your Facebook account.

hi

This is my blog. There are many like it but this one is omgzwtfbbq.