Post by Morreion on Apr 29, 2010 6:43:23 GMT -5
Justin Webb: My Little Pony
MMORPG.com's Justin Webb dedicates his column this week to the brouhaha surrounding the recent release of the Celestial Steed to the Blizzard Pet Store.
Interesting...it looks like Activision/Blizzard is testing the waters for a cash shop game, or, perhaps more depressingly, both a subscription and a cash shop game. While I understand perfectly the economics involved- if people will pay, companies will charge them- we may be getting into a new MMO era where achievement will be gradually replaced by spending. This will make the MMO genre even less recognizable to us old-timers.
MMORPG.com's Justin Webb dedicates his column this week to the brouhaha surrounding the recent release of the Celestial Steed to the Blizzard Pet Store.
However, in doing so, Blizzard has shifted the social dynamic of their game. Originally, WoW was a game where visual customization was a direct function of achievement. The redeemable TCG cards and the Pandaren were the first fledgling steps toward becoming an active real-money-transaction game. While, in the past, players were “hardcore” or “casual”, now they can be been divided into “money” or “not money”. In addition, this distinction is beginning to affect in-game social mechanics with the introduction of weird equine profiling. For example, some guilds now have a “no-Steed” PUG policy. Now, I’m sure this is a very conscious (and not taken lightly) decision for Blizzard, and that the (old) age of WoW and the current economic climate both played roles in the “readjustment” of their revenue streams. This is also the kind of philosophical shift that drives hardcore players crazy.
Traditionally, this kind of RMT economics is also called “nickel and diming” because it involves small amounts of cash. It’s hard to justify that term at $25 a pop. But here is where the genius of Blizzard kicks in. To divert your attention from the fact that you are about to actually spend $25 on a virtual mount, Blizzard made the while process … fun. Act now! You are 65,476th in the queue. Time remaining: 8 hours. There’s only a hundred thousand left! Once you have been selected, you will have only 15 minutes to complete your order! Genius. Were any of those numbers actually real? It doesn’t matter! Here’s your pony! Any other game would just take your money and email you a code. But Blizzard makes it so … exciting. They make it sound as if the servers really are groaning under the weight of all the awesome. It must be exclusive if I have to do all this, right? Right?
The gaming press seemed to be mesmerized by the sparkly nature of the Steed, and essentially didn’t notice what had just happened – Blizzard got a free pass. In fact, the overall tone was one of patronizing affection: “Look, the silly players got iddy-biddy horseys. That’s so cute”. And herein lies the double standard.
If any other game had done this, they would have been crucified.
Traditionally, this kind of RMT economics is also called “nickel and diming” because it involves small amounts of cash. It’s hard to justify that term at $25 a pop. But here is where the genius of Blizzard kicks in. To divert your attention from the fact that you are about to actually spend $25 on a virtual mount, Blizzard made the while process … fun. Act now! You are 65,476th in the queue. Time remaining: 8 hours. There’s only a hundred thousand left! Once you have been selected, you will have only 15 minutes to complete your order! Genius. Were any of those numbers actually real? It doesn’t matter! Here’s your pony! Any other game would just take your money and email you a code. But Blizzard makes it so … exciting. They make it sound as if the servers really are groaning under the weight of all the awesome. It must be exclusive if I have to do all this, right? Right?
The gaming press seemed to be mesmerized by the sparkly nature of the Steed, and essentially didn’t notice what had just happened – Blizzard got a free pass. In fact, the overall tone was one of patronizing affection: “Look, the silly players got iddy-biddy horseys. That’s so cute”. And herein lies the double standard.
If any other game had done this, they would have been crucified.
Interesting...it looks like Activision/Blizzard is testing the waters for a cash shop game, or, perhaps more depressingly, both a subscription and a cash shop game. While I understand perfectly the economics involved- if people will pay, companies will charge them- we may be getting into a new MMO era where achievement will be gradually replaced by spending. This will make the MMO genre even less recognizable to us old-timers.
