Microtransactions Hit EQ and EQII, Station Cash Now Available

[Cody Bye]

How much news can we pack into the massively multiplayer online industry in one day? First, we hit you with the Cryptic being acquired by Atari, and then we dropped the bomb that Sony was cutting 8,000 jobs. Whether to counter the 8,000 job cut announcement or not, Sony Online Entertainment added their own bit of news to the mix announcing that they were introducing a microtransaction model to EverQuest and EverQuest II. Players will now be able to purchase items in these two games with currency called “Station Cash” that they can buy with real money.

Read the whole story by clicking here.

This one really deserves some thoughts from the community. Is this the first step in there two games going F2P? Or will SOE be content with this mini microtransaction market?

Feed me your delicious thoughts.

[Savanja]

I gotta say that I was quite surprised. It had been stated a couple of times that RMT would never touch the non-exchange live servers, the most recent statement made when Live Gamer took over Exchange. I suppose things change quickly in the MMOG biz!

I'm dying to see what is offered to buy and would love a statement from Smedley as to why they decided to implement this and what they hope it will bring to the game.

I posted a poll on the our EQ2 forums. I'd like to know how this will effect EQ2 subs for our readers!

[Ralsu]

Certainly won't cause me to renew my sub. If the games go fully F2P supported by microtransactions, I will definitely play EQ2. I am very pleased with the focus on convenience and customization items as the ones you can buy.

[kitsunegirl]

And so the demise of a once great game is now set in stone. SOE really is the harbinger of doom for games. I wont be resubbing again... ever. Even if they bring Erolissi back.

Besides, CoX and Lotro are scratching my gaming itch just fine at the moment.

[Acidbaron]

Funcom has been doing this for a year now with just 'social' items, nothing new unless it's actual usefull items and allowing to trade in real life currency for ingame one.

[lumio]

I hate HATE micro-transactions, for me that damn card game was pushing it.

I fear however if or when the economy goes real bad and people cut back from MMO's (its so cheap though) F2P will be all the rage.

[Savanja]

A link to some stuff that is available to purchase.

Game breaking? I dunno. Since most of their player base is loyal veterans, do they really need this?

[Ralsu]

Hmm. I don't like any items that boost XP gain. That's not cosmetic or convenient. That creates a position of haves and have nots.

[Spare]

Looking at it I dont think this is as bad as everyone thinks. We all shell out RL bucks to buy ig items all the time.

I know in the past I have bought SWG software just for the item. How many have bought advance copies of games based on the IG reward?

We do this all the time without really saying anything. The only time there is a gripe is when there is a clear cut unfair advantage for a reward.

That being said looking at the items SOE is selling there is not much unfairness really. Ok so there is an XP boon item that persists through death however you dont have to buy it and can level a character just like the person with the potion. Its just going to take you longer to hit max level.

Its not like you HAVE to have this potion to level.

[Medeor]

Ok so whether or not this breaks the game I'm undecided, but I'm struggling with the term micro. According to the FAQ, $1 = 100SG

Call me stingy, but the lowest level item is a $1 for a potion that lasts 4.5 hours and gives a 10% xp boost. That doesn't feel micro for something that isn't much of a benefit.

I always thought microtransactions would be nickels, dimes, quarters and occasionally a dollar, but those are real values of money they are looking for in that list of items. Some of those are $5 and that is on the first page of the list.

I could see maybe a dollar for a stack of five potions, but I don't know about this buck a shot - I only did that in college.