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The Secret World: A Cash Shop Makes Sense
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
In today's column devoted to The Secret World, MMORPG.com Managing Editor Bill Murphy dissects the recent announcement by Funcom and EA that the game would ship with a cash shop. Bill has several reasons for thinking that this makes a lot of sense. Check it out and then be sure to leave your thoughts in the comments.
Was anyone really surprised that EA and Funcom have decided to run The Secret World with both a subscription and micro-transactions? I don’t mean that in a snarky way either. I mean that in a, “this could work really well in the alternate Earth setting” kind of way.
Read more of Bill Murphy's The Secret World: A Cash Shop Makes Sense.
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Comments
P2P + Cash shop = waste of money. I will have to turn this one down but I am sure there are people out there who are more then willing to shovel cash into EA's pocket and ruin MMOs for the rest of us.
I find the article quite preposterous. The only thing mentioned to justify the title of it was the statement that we pay for cosmetic items in the real world, how exactly does that mean it makes sense we pay for them in a subscription based video game?
Under the same thinking we should be paying money for :
Health Potions - We pay for medical treatment in the ral world
Food - We pay for our groceries in the real world
Transport - We pay for public and private transport in the real world
Leveling/skilling up - We pay for education in the real world
etc etc
That list makes about as much sense as the article, none.
It's articles like these and mindless consumer sheeple that encourage the industry to adopt this IDIOTIC trend! Why on earth should I pay for items when I already BOUGHT the game and actively PAYING a monthly subscription?
This trend needs to be STOPPED and the only way of effectively doing that is that we ( the paying customers and game enthusiasts ) make a stand and refuse to be ripped off.
So please stop promoting corporate interests on a mainstream MMO site. It just tarnishes your credibility!
Tying the justification of real world cash shops to the modern era that will be the setting for TSW is a thin tether, at best. As a previous poster noted, it is simply a matter of semantics...chainmail = designer suits, sword = AK47...and ergo the argument is applicable to every type of genre that exists. Clearly that isn't something that has taken hold of the American MMO gamer's consciousness (nor should it, imo).
It is dodgy. Really dodgy. Almost Diablo 3 RMAH level dodgy. I'm still on the fence about this game, though conceptually I thoroughly love what they've done. However, the sobering details of this business model is tempering that fascination.
Clothes should be purchased in the game with in-game money. I don't see why it makes any sense, in any game, to charge me for content that should be included in the game.
But props for a Dio reference.
Ya I was really looking forward to this until they pulled this crap.
"There are caveats to my acceptance though"
That sentence invalidates your premise. Either accept the cash shop + sub on FC's terms (because that's all you can do) or don't.
Totally agree! Whatever happened to in-game currency? If my character lives in a made-up virtual world , he will pay for his clothes with made-up virtual money, damn it !
P2p+ cash shop=slow death of the game
cash shops are no big deal, they make the company alot of money because some people got more money than intelligence or got parents that dont know how to say no.
For me I could care less about a cash shop as long as two things are kept in mind.
1. vanity items only-- nothing that gives any ingame benefits no matter how small or large the benefit is, no exp potions, that gives a benefit, health potions are fine to me to keep you alive, that is the maximum benefit im willing for someone to get through the cash shop. vanity items only and the next one is...
2. everything that can be bought in the cash shop needs to be purchasable in the game with ingame credits or money or whatever the game uses.
If those two conditions are not met then I wont play that game. Im sick of p2w games like they all become once the greedy business suits see how much money is brought into the game through cash shops. im sure some non gaming idiot runs all these companies because he was a go getter and made lots of money and he founded the companies and im sure they dont understand what rmt and cash shops do to the games once they put items in the cash shop that give people an advantage. I am totally against those types of items.
otherwise I dont care, sub fee, cash shop, doesnt matter to me as long as they dont sell power.
I hate how they try to justify buying vanity items with real money by comparing it to buying clothes from the mall, its like me saying " i should be able to talk into any shop and spend my wow gold and silver, as real currency...
If you sell your WoW gold, you can do that.
**
I think it should be possible to sell the items you purchase in the in-game store in the game. If I buy a bonus XP potion, I should be able to sell it to another player for 100 game bucks. I don't have any elaborate economic proofs or anything of why I think this should be possible, I just do.
I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.
How long are we gamers going to continue to support crap like this? It's like we're begging to be bilked because we're so hard up for something to play. The suits must be wringing their hands with glee at such a seller's market.
touch'e sir, although you probably wouldnt have earned that much
.
My biggest gripe with cash shops is that it goes against player driven economy and crafting. I would rather they implement those fluff and vanity items into the crafting system. Cash shops arent player driven and dont encourage player interaction. Its unfortunate that this seems the direction of mmorpgs. It detracts from two major game mechanics that make this genre unique.
NO,a cash shop in a p2p game DOESN'T make sense at all no matter what it has for sale.Even cosmetics are bad in a p2p game.I Don't want someone's character to look cooler than mine just because he paid more,on the other hand,i don't mind if someone else's character looks cooler than mine because he played more or better than me.
TL:DR : cash shops in a p2p game is unfair and sucks.
mmorpg.com is very pro cash shop/ F2P in it's outlook (comment/ articles/ columns) I find, but thats just the way it is. You just have to accept it or it will carry on bugging you as long as you post here.
I do consider myself a "fan" of this game, but I wont buy the game unfortunate, just for the reason that they make dress to impress a payment option rather then a game mechanic.
its the same reason i will never go back to EvE online, and any other game thats p2p + cash shop.
there was a time that players started to discuss why the hell they were paying extra for a character transfer as thats just a simple pres of a button thing.. these days they got away whit a lot more and will continue to do so as long there is a majority that does not see the danger in this type of business ethics.
Was looking forward to this game but, it's a pass now. Too bad.
Exactly my thoughts but np there are the rich kiddies that will support the game and dress their Misses in Prada and Gucci.
P2P + Item Shop (even vanity only) = me not playing game anymore , just no and I am not going to even consider it or compromise with it.
I will NEVER accept double dipping , even if that means me not playing mmorpg's never again.
I like how they announce this after they get beta apps from "the Secret War" scheme..
As long as its completely optional and the game doesnt remind me of the CS every second i play (like Lotro) i wont mind it.
Playing: Nothing
Looking forward to: Nothing
Unless an MMO is "Free" to play, aka has no subscription, a cash shop makes absolutely no sense at all.
If I'm paying a sub, I better be getting the whole game.