Cash Shop Woes
We gamers love free to play MMOs and MMORPGs, but we’re not always willing to accept the compromise that comes along with them. Whether you call them cash shops, premium stores, or item malls, they all serve the same purpose — to bring in cash. ‘Free’ games are not run as charities. There is a whole business model built around optional micro-transactions within these virtual worlds. In fact, that market is quite large and still growing rapidly. In 2009, the global virtual goods market clocked in at $5.5 billion. Most of that spending took place in Asia, but companies from all over the world have started expanding into the potentially lucrative North American and Europeans markets.
As foreign companies expand into new territories, they often encounter unforeseen cultural and practical problems. Two shining examples of this were brought to light this past week. The first concerned Allods, a new free to play MMORPG published on Gala-Net’s gPotato gaming portal.
Allods Online has been causing quite a stir since it entered open beta about two weeks ago. First came the awe. With high production value, (mostly) fluid gameplay, and a richly detailed game world, Allods Online quickly proved that it wasn’t just another Asian grinder. Even though it was chided for being yet another ‘WoW clone’, Allods actually offered a very different experience than Blizzard’s premier MMORPG. Within a week, that sense of awe quickly turned to frustration when the game’s cash shop was opened. A player revolt took on the official forums over the high prices. One of the more striking prices included 6 additional bag slots for $20.
Speaking as both an Allods player and veteran gamer with extensive experience in the genre, I feel the gaming media has overblown this whole affair. Who cares if a new bag is expensive? Do you really need 6 extra bag slots? Don’t forget, Nexon’s MapleStory has been charging cash for extra inventory space for some time now. Seeing big ticket items in cash shops is nothing new. It costs around $20 to change your default starting gun in Combat Arms, a 90 days ‘Warriors Package’ in Atlantica Online will set you back nearly $40. Maybe I’m just desensitized to these high prices. Maybe this Allods fiasco will herald a new era of more moderately priced cash shop items that don’t imbalance gameplay. In any case, the publishers issued what seemed like sincere apologies for their failure to collect community feedback before opening the item store. What ever the outcome, Allods is still a great MMORPG with a lot of potential.
The second cash shop story of the week involved a yet unreleased Chinese game by Perfect World Entertainment. Battle of the Immortals was all but ready to enter closed beta testing until the publishers, PWE, sent it back to the developers in Shangai for touch ups. Perfect World learned a lot while operating their Asian MMORPGs in North America for the past few years. Besides their flagship product, they released two other games: Ether Saga Online and Jade Dynasty. All of these games, Battle of the Immortals included, were originally designed for a Chinese audience. The lesson PWE learned through trial and error in America is that Western players are less likely to tolerate premium items that cause unbalanced gameplay. Apparently, this isn’t a major concern in China or Russia where Allods first appeared.
To be fair, Battle of the Immortals needed several other design revisions as well, including added support for Windows 7 and higher resolutions. As they gain experience, Asian developer will start catering to Western play styles. They could learn a lot from Turbine’s Dungeons and Dragons Online which this week surpassed 1 million new player since its relaunch as a free to play game. What’s D&D Online’s secret? Everything in the premium store can be unlocked for free, but only with significant effort. Under this system, the item mall only offers ‘shortcuts’, rather than unbeatable advantages. Runes of Magic, which is published by a European company, employs a similar method. To summarize, cash shops should offer shortcuts and cosmetic items. If powerful weapons or equipment are to be offered, at least give us alternative methods of obtaining them.
Have you played Allods this month? If so, please share your thoughts on the recent item shop debacle. If you have any other examples of overpriced items in a free MMORPG, please share them below.
February 27, 2010
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[quote]Apparently, this isn’t a major concern in China or Russia where Allods first appeared.[/quote]
It is major concern for Russian players too.
[quote]Have you played Allods this month? If so, please share your thoughts on the recent item shop debacle.[/quote]
Are you don’t seen patch 1.0.07.07? It is epic fail!!!
PS sorry for my bad english.
February 28, 2010
#1
i think cash shops are just worthless
February 28, 2010
#2
You skipped over one of the biggest issue we the Allods community is having with the cash shop. I don’t know if this was intentional or if you forgot. Since, you claim to play Allods I believe it was the former.
One of the biggest issues is FoD (Fear of Death) and the perfumes required to remove this death penalty. Basically if you die either through pvp or pve you will be penalized with FoD. FoD is a debuff that will last about 2 hours at level 40 and the only other way to get rid of FoD and be immune to it for 30 mins is the perfumes that are in the cash shop for $13.50. You’ll get 20 of these perfumes which will equal 10 hours of game play without FoD.
Just so you understand. In Allods, you have to PAY $13.50 for 10 hours of play.
What other game currently on the market requires players to pay $13.50 per 10 hours of play? This is the knife in the back from gPotato. Add this to the $7,000.00 level 10 item and the fact that they are charging everyone 10x more then the Russian community. If you can see this issue from the eyes of a true gamer, then you’ll begin to understand why we the Allods gaming community is so outraged.
If not, you’re just another guy writing an article on an MMO site kissing up to the developers.
February 28, 2010
#3
Suneke,
I do play Allods but haven’t yet gotten far enough to experience FoD myself. From what I’ve read, the timer on it starts off low and only hits 50+ minutes at level 40.
Is it harsh? Yes. Is it as harsh as losing a whole night’s worth of grinding like you did when you died in EverQuest back in 1999? Nope.
The fact that you can pay to bypass the wait is definitely cheesy, but gPotato does sound sincere when they say they’ll rethink the cash shop. If they don’t, we’ll report on it. It’s not our aim to pull any punches. This was an opinion piece and I thought the situation was being overblown. There are plenty of alternative free MMORPGs to play while you wait for a fix.
In fact, a short boycott may be the best way to get the changes you desire. Think about it!
February 28, 2010
#4
well ive been playing allods since the start of the open beta, and ever since the cash shop opened up, ive noticed as ive been talking to people that almost no one is buying anything. i mean there is a bag you can unlock for a quest that takes people like a week to do and can try get to like lvl 13-15 to do it decently faster, but everyone has been complaining about a new patch that is gonna take away mana regeneration for classes that need mana and make so u have to buy mana pots in the shop or something like that, thats what everyone is saying. But i have seen this happen before, in Mabinogi Tarlach server where it hit the hardest, Nexon took away a premium package that offered mana potions and dyes and nao support highly useful and profitable items and now the player run econmy has collapsed over this issue due to rarity of those items and some other items. And now over half of the server has actually quit playing the game because they cant afford the upkeep of the ingame stuff and are going broke. and trust being broke in mabinogi is like being broke in real life, it TAKE ALOT OF TIME TO GET BACK UP TO WHERE U WERE. unless some guys just gives you like 1mill or something which NOW is highly unlikely.
February 28, 2010
#5
I was really excited about Mabinogi when it first came out, but then I realized everything in that game involved the cash shop.
If Allods players think gPotato is unreasonable, they should see the Cash Shop in Mabinogi! Eesh… even I couldn’t put up with that one. ;-0
February 28, 2010
#6
being a follower of the allod fiasco i can say i agree whit “One of the biggest issues is FoD (Fear of Death) and the perfumes required to remove this death penalty. Basically if you die either through pvp or pve you will be penalized with FoD. FoD is a debuff that will last about 2 hours at level 40 and the only other way to get rid of FoD and be immune to it for 30 mins is the perfumes that are in the cash shop for $13.50. You’ll get 20 of these perfumes which will equal 10 hours of game play without FoD.”..its outrageous to any pvper/even for pver..”"I do play Allods but haven’t yet gotten far enough to experience FoD myself. From what I’ve read, the timer on it starts off low and only hits 50+ minutes at level 40.
Is it harsh? Yes. Is it as harsh as losing a whole night’s worth of grinding like you did when you died in EverQuest back in 1999? Nope.”"..excuse me to interrupt again here..in fact whit patch 07 the next one comming..its not only 50m downtime..its 2H’s down time..whit 25% stat debuff that stack..and what worse its that u cant remove it anymore in pve if ur raiding..u cant get ress cuz u get FOD to..(see what i did there?)..and in pvp is worse..perfume is mandatory both in pvp and pve(if u dont wana wait 2h’s.)..but if one or 2 of my mates dont have perfume in the raid…i think i already wasted my nigt…[see what i did there again?]
March 1, 2010
#7
I’m all for cash shops, personally. But, using the previous comment’s mentioning of “FoD” as an example, it is precisely the reasons why I don’t engage in very many games that emphasize the importance of them. And, usually not the kind of importance that you’d like. I’ve only encountered a very small (child’s) handful of games that even have cash shops for, what I’d deem, appropriate reasons.
Cash Shops should be a means of providing your favorite game with the support it whole-heartedly deserves. Unfortunately, the kind of “Thank you” players often receive is massively overpowered items. On one hand, I can understand that paying any amount of real money should provide some kind of reward. You’re part of the cause why this game will fundamentally remain in business, should you continue to partake in this aforementioned support. I simply fail to see the reasons behind why your paying real money should cause you to become so unbearably powerful, other players are dealt a hand of “pay up, or shut up.”
Sadly, the idea of “support” even being mentioned here is a sick toy of phrasing. Most players don’t wind up purchasing items from a shop because they want to support the game company, and thank them for allowing entertainment. They want the overpowered sword of +2000 damage so they can go out into the field and make mince meat out of every other player/mob that exists with no struggle. An item that, of course, you cannot receive through natural means. Which only brings us back to the original statement of, “Pay up, or shut up.”
While I understand people’s arguments of, “Nothing’s stopping you from paying to have this item too,” the real question begs to be asked, “Why should we?” Why should we unbalance the enjoyment of the game, all because the company almost requires the playerbase to purchase unbearably crazy items just to keep up in any online experience?
To a lesser degree, convenience purchases like the bag slots, or the changing of a character’s customization appearance following creation, shouldn’t find itself on the table. There’s no massive fault in game play that would otherwise cause the player to ultimately require these purchases just to get by. They’re almost a perfect example of things a cash shop should be about.
What’s reasonable, then? That’s a good question. And perhaps that’s why the end result is why we’re stuck with these usually powerful items for the paying customer. Nothing else is remotely exciting to a player besides an item that will provide them with a hefty advantage over whom they may come against. Cosmetic changes, unique clothing, or exciting holiday items that a player can keep to show they’ve offered support simply has no match, most of the time. Sadly.
(Note: The amazing +2000 Sword of Earth-shattering is a broad, exaggerated example. I realize very few games pump a player with this much power.)
December 25, 2011
#8
“Nothing else is remotely exciting to a player besides an item that will provide them with a hefty advantage over whom they may come against.”
False.
This is the mindset that is currently bottling up the potential of this industry model. Games that follow this mindset fail miserably, or eke by greatly below potential. They don’t realize this, because the numbers they get in any given month look better than what they’d get if they went P2P.
What people want in an MMO is a challenge, and a challenge is only meaningful if the playing field is even. The player that buys a +2000 damage sword quickly grows bored and leaves the game for two reasons.
1. No one is impressed with him. His power is consequently meaningless. He cannot claim to be “pro” because of his power, because his power was simply purchased. No one bows, no one scrapes, and when he kills someone, instead of “wow, you’re good,” he hears “$%^& RMT players…”
2. The power he has decreases the challenge of the game to the point where even NPC challenges do not return a feeling of self-worth. With no challenges remaining, the player immediately “burns out” and quits. Exceptions are extremely rare.
I’m not opposed to paying for games. I have paid Everquest, WoW, Vanguard (wasted potential), AoC, and EVE subscriptions continuously for a decade, though never more than one at a time. That’s 120 months of subs, or approximately 1800 dollars.
I have another 100 dollars invested in cosmetic skins in LoL, where the playing field is even and therefore meaningful.
I played allods until I ran into the cash shop. The model isn’t even the worst of them, to be fair. I’m not opposed to harsh death penalties (I play EVE in a null-sec alliance ffs) but FoD is not evenly distributed. Players may opt out of it through money. It’s not something the whole raid has to put up with, which puts social pressure on players to invest ridiculous amounts of cash or “fail their friends.” It is, in short, a disrespectful, exploitative system. My thoughts were “well, annoying, but I wasn’t really looking for raiding in this game anyway.
When I then discovered that combat was balanced on the assumption I was using “incense” to double my stats, I was annoyed, but my thoughts were “well, that makes this a subscription game, but I can still only pay the subscription when I feel like it or have the money, that’s not a terrible system…
But then I ran into the “cursed item” thing. Here’s where I threw up my hands and quit. Seriously? If you’re not wearing crappy gear, on death there’s a chance an item’s stats will reverse (become negative) until a cash shop item is used to fix it.
pfff.
Treat your customers well, and they’ll treat you well. LoL has 11 million players and their dev, RIOT, is making *bank* from the *cosmetic only* cash shop, selling “skins” that change the appearance of characters for as much as 15 dollars for premium skins with their own animations.
So don’t tell me that model won’t work. It obviously works. It works *fantastically* and *retains players.*
I mean seriously. LoL’s content is 3 maps. 3 MAPS! The out-of-match interface is a clunky piece of ksou. But they’re making millions by not milking their customers for every dime. People know when they’re being milked, and they don’t like it. They don’t like it at all.
March 1, 2010
#9
i remember playing Perfect World a while back when the new expansion came out and hearing about a 70$ mount the released hahaha i havent heard of a cash shop item being that expensive and who would even pay for that
March 8, 2010
#10
I hate Cash shops so much i meen like rom why would u have a f2p mmo if u still have to pay for some of the coolest content!
March 16, 2010
#11
70$ for a mount in Perfect World International? I’ve seen comments that range from accusing gPotato to many other gaming companies, but I have another one to add too.
I’ve played Secret of the Solstice (f2p Outspark game) for the past oh… a good 5+ months. Since I started I can tell over half the gaming population in this game lives to use the SparkCash (Cash shop) items. The fact is; once you’re past around… 2nd job change (lv66) -> lv80ish, you can’t seem to AoE or even grind adequately without SC items. It’s ridiculous, and the Censor item, which was released around a month ago, has just recently sold out. There was only 50 items, for 100$ USD each. Doesn’t that beat the 70$ mount now? xD It has horrible stats, a horrible look (a black strip of pixeled line) and to be honest, the ingame community has satire’d the item so much that those who HAVE paid, are now avoiding wearing it.
Cash shop items are unavoidable, but this imbalance denies the F2P gaming experience that will convince players to buy Cash Shop items to support the game they enjoy playing. Having a gaming experience getting seriously hindered due to not paying optional items, that is no longer additionals but required to level, is ridiculous. Also, having cash shop items available to be sold ingame to other players, seriously imbalances the server economy; I’ve seen this in many games and I wish it was so that cash shop items are untradeable under ANY circumstances due to the way that they ruin the economy so much…
March 16, 2010
#12
You make an excellent point that I never thought of. Cash shops items should not be trade-able.
I also dislike it when games place to much emphasis on cash shops. I remember the ‘good ol days’ of MapleStory where the ONLY cash shop items available in the store were clothes. Not ONE item that imbalanced the game. If you pay, you got cool clothes and that’s it. The clothes didn’t do anything other than look cool.
Nowadays, those who pay get huge advantages. =/
April 4, 2010
#13
I have played many f2p games ranging from Perfect world, flyff, lunia, sun, Rom, runescape… a lot more :/ and all of them have a common theme. For experienced players you will already know this. F2p games hook the player on the pretenses thats its totally free, and when you like the game they will have cash shops that will be required to play properly. like perfect worlds exp boost is a must at high lvls, lunia needs rb books, sun needs better armour so you are not a s squishy + cherry dragon with the abillity to ignore armour? runescape requires membership to acquire most of the games content.
June 17, 2010
#14
“To a lesser degree, convenience purchases like the bag slots, or the changing of a character’s customization appearance following creation, shouldn’t find itself on the table. There’s no massive fault in game play that would otherwise cause the player to ultimately require these purchases just to get by. They’re almost a perfect example of things a cash shop should be about.” I disagree to the bags. The more inventory slots you have, the more you can sell in a shorter amount of time. This also means the more money you get which in turn makes you extremely overpowered in the end. Now tell me you though of that?
Less bag slots = mmorpgs abusing pots/arrow/bullets/ w/e types of items so they can MAKE you or RECOMMEND you to get a bag. This brings balance down just as bad. I mean seriously, play rappelz and look how easily people can trade out lak without getting kicked out of a party just because they can teleport to a seller or put stuff in a bank. Guess how over powered those guys are? Look at their armor and find out.
Bags are the main reason i decide warrior(Or something that can survive decently without pots) versus archer or mage. (And I really love using archers. -.-) Yes of course sometimes u can avoid getting hit by things to prevent pot usage, but then again while your busy kiting or running away, bag users just stand in one spot and damage (Whoch means the people with the most bags with hp pots and mp pots in most of them can just out damage you anyway, I mean think about PvP with bags and enable pots. (This applies to pve as well obviously.)
I agree that working hard to get better items in a good idea, but that also depends, how long are we willing to work? Working 2 years to a get a shorcut item from the cash shop through quests is retarded. (Not going to happen, but maybe something like 2 months or so might just piss a few people off, including myself.) I rather just stick with the customization and thats it, otherwise the game will still lean towards cash users. (Remember, getting items earlier = more money.) Balance = CS: Apparence Customization (if its 90 day crap, why even bother, just make the MMoRPG monthly/weekly fee) Everything else will ruin the game, even mounts…
You want more users? I’ve been in multiple MMoRPGS, I think I know what I am talking about after being in Rappelz, Runescape, Maplestory, Aika, Twelvesky2, DoD Dungeons and Dragons), Everquest II, WoW and Final Fantasy Online. I was also researching Luna Online and Perfect World. If you tell me that I don’t know how the people are feeling, let me tell you something. Many people would RATHER pay for a monthly fee then even lay their hands on a cs (And guess how many people will play)
Once you add a CS with Customization (Just visual) of course less people will come. (Some people like playing with an attractive character like myself, I would pay but 90 days like in maplestory or year is just a waste of money to me)
Once you start adding things that will create unbalance (Mounts, bags, etc) then you lost most of your potential players. This is what MMoRPGS have not figured out and some players (Like myself and others) have noticed make a huge inpact on profit AND the amount of people you attract (More people can mean more money, and remember if you don’t have unbalance, you will attract people who will support your balanced game by donating or customization, or monthly fees) It’s surprising MMoRPGS fail to realize this…
Wanna see games like this? I sure don’t anymore. I hate seeing games that have potential fail. (Rappelz had so much potential but look at the stamina savers ruining the game)
Please delete my last post, it was messy. -.-
July 21, 2010
#15
Unfortunately we have to face the fact that the rich will always have better things in life than the poor. Lots of ppl here say they would donate and support the balance game that they are playing, but in reality, if they can play for free and not spend a dime they would. Some say they would rather pay monthly fee to play, but in theory, there’s no difference in about the cost & real money spent in playing the game.
The problem with MMO is that it require times to lvlup and build up your character, but some ppl does not have that much time, and yet they have $$. I think the existance of cash shop would help these ppl with money and less time, to be at even ground with the other group of ppl where time is all they have.