BioWare's Star Wars MMO to be 'Microtransaction-based,'

[Istik]

http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/56292

Publisher Electronic Arts today classified BioWare's upcoming Star Wars MMO The Old Republic as a "microtransaction-based" title, indicating that the game will include alternative financial models other than a subscription fee.

"We are continuing to stick to the plan relative to building out our direct-to-consumer models which include microtransactions and subscriptions," said EA CEO John Riccitiello in a conference call today. "The recent launch of Warhammer [Online] is a great example of that."

"Other initiatives we've announced, for example [the] Star Wars online MMO, are mid-session games which are microtransaction-based," he continued. "You'll be hearing more about those in the February [conference] call."

[gelfling]

Massively reported it too: http://www.massively.com/2008/12/09/sta ... ion-based/

Well, that's quashed my interest in the game

[Istik]

Indeed. I just want to play a game and achieve items through gameplay, not have to compete against my foes with credit cards.

[asharin]

Why not wait and see exactly what they mean before judging eh?

[Toucan]

this is what worries me with EA now owning bioware
bunch of money grabbing bastards

[swalmy]

That's fucked up

[Lores]

Internet petitions have worked in the past.

[Istik]

Read somewhere that the microtransaction will be only one of the options and a traditional subsciption will also be available.

[Sparhawke]

Ok, I admit it, I am confused...what is a micro transaction?

And before ou tell me to go read the article, I tried and the link wouldn't open for me...

[gelfling]

Excerpt from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro_transaction

In MMORPGs

Micropayments are used in some massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs).[3] These are typically free to play games with no monthly fee, which offer players the possibility of purchasing in-game currency redeemable for items. These items are often more powerful than those that can be obtained by "free" players, or offer an advantage or feature otherwise unavailable. An example would be a set of armor more effective than that obtained from generic in-game vendors or enemies, or a potion that allows a character to earn more experience points per quest completed or enemy slain, thereby progressing faster than usual.

Numerous MMORPGs use this system to some extent, though the details of what can be obtained and at what price will vary depending on the game. Some of these games are: Second Life, Starport: Galactic Empires, Cabal Online, Rappelz, Sword of the New World, Flyff, Silkroad Online, Atlantica Online, Exteel, Maplestory, Daimonin, and Mytheon.

[Lordek]

This differs from the trading card items.. how exactly?

It sounds like it's a more direct approach to the same ends. Real money -> Compelling items. It just sounds like the random factor has been removed.

Selling a "rare" code/card you get out of a trading card pack is essentially the same thing as selling one of these items.

When people sold UO houses for $1200 back in the day I was blown away that people would spend real world money on this crap, but it's obvious that the market for it isn't going away. It's a reality that we have to accept no matter how distasteful it is.

The MMO for rich people is coming, but I don't think it will be Star Wars based.. because Sci Fi fans don't have real money on the whole. They'll spend what they can, sure, but as a whole the sci-fi community are a bunch of broke bastards. No the MMO that will be a credit card race is going to be far more broad -- fantasy based, rich people who played WoW.

[asharin]

Having actually now played a microtransaction based MMO ( Runes of magic incidentally) I don't think it's as bad as people make out, providing it's done right.
The way RoM works is, you pay money to get things like mounts, extra bag space, bugger house etc. However you can get all those things through ingame methods too, it's just easier and faster to pay cash. It wasn't expensive either..I payed £5 in the space of the 3 months that I paid, just for a mount and a few other bits I forgot about. That's £5 ..for 3 months...not bad compared to most pay per month MMO's..and I didn't even NEED the mount but it made levelling a little faster

If TOR is transaction based, but still able to get things through ingame methods as well (even if it takes ages) then I don't see the problem. The people who don't want to pay will still get thier stuff, it'll just take longer.
I don't like the idea of better weapons/armour only available to people that pay though, that just leads to a two tier game, which puts some people at a major disadvantage.

[Istik]

Having actually now played a microtransaction based MMO ( Runes of magic incidentally) I don't think it's as bad as people make out, providing it's done right.
The way RoM works is, you pay money to get things like mounts, extra bag space, bugger house etc. However you can get all those things through ingame methods too, it's just easier and faster to pay cash. It wasn't expensive either..I payed £5 in the space of the 3 months that I paid, just for a mount and a few other bits I forgot about. That's £5 ..for 3 months...not bad compared to most pay per month MMO's..and I didn't even NEED the mount but it made levelling a little faster

If TOR is transaction based, but still able to get things through ingame methods as well (even if it takes ages) then I don't see the problem. The people who don't want to pay will still get thier stuff, it'll just take longer.
I don't like the idea of better weapons/armour only available to people that pay though, that just leads to a two tier game, which puts some people at a major disadvantage.

If SOE allowed to get TCG items through in-game means, then I wouldnt have a problem with it. It would cut into their profits though.

[asharin]

Having actually now played a microtransaction based MMO ( Runes of magic incidentally) I don't think it's as bad as people make out, providing it's done right.
The way RoM works is, you pay money to get things like mounts, extra bag space, bugger house etc. However you can get all those things through ingame methods too, it's just easier and faster to pay cash. It wasn't expensive either..I payed £5 in the space of the 3 months that I paid, just for a mount and a few other bits I forgot about. That's £5 ..for 3 months...not bad compared to most pay per month MMO's..and I didn't even NEED the mount but it made levelling a little faster

If TOR is transaction based, but still able to get things through ingame methods as well (even if it takes ages) then I don't see the problem. The people who don't want to pay will still get thier stuff, it'll just take longer.
I don't like the idea of better weapons/armour only available to people that pay though, that just leads to a two tier game, which puts some people at a major disadvantage.

If SOE allowed to get TCG items through in-game means, then I wouldnt have a problem with it. It would cut into their profits though.

Technically you can. You get free cards every month, so you have a chance to get the stuff..and you can trade ingame creds..ergo, you can get items without spending any real life cash.