Digital Dave

I’m not typically this vocal about things, but I love MMOs, and I ESPECIALLY love the EverQuest brand.  I mean, it’s MMOs that really, really got me wanting to do game development.  I don’t get to play nearly as much as I’d like these days, but one disturbing trend is rearing its head over the mountain top.

Yesterday, Sony released a new system within EverQuest and EverQuest II which allows players to morph real money to game currency.

This is ridiculous on many levels.

The game is now restricting what we can access, and, more importantly, devaluing our net worth as a character. Now, our gold has to compete with real world currency. Now, we have to compete with Joe Smuckateli and his hoard of cash he makes through his job.

I don’t understand the logic in this beside that it is for Sony to make money (bzzzt. shock).  But they are just not making money off of this, they’re making money off of the $15 monthly fee as well.   It’s business in a hard economy, yes. But it’s also my immersion at stake. RMT has no place in the fantasy realm unless you give an option to keep it off of my server.  I applauded the ban-hammer, but now the hammer is tainted itself.

This game is for the players more so than the company. We provide the life to the business model. Without us, the game wouldn’t exist. Funny how companies seem to forget that and the principles which they begun this adventure on.  Even Smedley said he wouldn’t go RMT… Then likened RMT to the in-game card system (Psst… completely different!), and now poof, we have this.  It’s all a progression.

It’s not what is happening right now that matters (fluff items.. wooptie), it’s the fact that I know this is a prelude to something much more grand (see: prior paragraph). Introduce the concept at a weak level (pots, misc crap), then slowly turn up the heat. This implementation should have stayed away from the game.

Not only this game, but all games.  Give us a choice.  You can make a server RMT based with other servers that are not.

Yesterday, Star Wars: The Old Republic announced that it would be FREE TO PLAY, but MICRO-TRANSACTION based.

We do not know the specific details, but it receives a sigh anyway.  At LEAST the game will start that way.  I can stay away from it much easier now.

Update: “Electronic Arts has responded to Shacknews, reiterating that “no statements have been made about the Star Wars business model,” and attributing Mr. Riccitiello’s comments to a misunderstanding.”

I’m done with EQII.