[MUD-Dev] Buying benefits

[Matt Mihaly]

On Wed, 6 Jun 2001, Neil Brown wrote:
> --- Corey Crawford <myrddin at seventh.net> wrote:

>> Course none of this is in the topic of "buying benefits". So
>> along *that* thread, if Origin had decided that player houses
>> would cost an additional $5/month per house, how many players
>> would do so? Do you think the amount of houses would decrease by
>> any measurable amount? (I know houses are hugely popular on UO).

>> What if Verant offered buyable stat increases?

>> What if AC offered customized armor sets?

>> Honestly, I think one of these days one of the "big guys" is
>> going to do this, and once players get use to the idea of paying
>> extra for extra features, everyone will be doing it. I think it's
>> all a matter of acceptance; once players are use to it, it won't
>> be a big deal. I'm use to paying the high prices for the gas I
>> put in the car now, though I sure b*tched when it first went up
>> ;)

> It's a possible revenue-stream, which the bean-counters always
> like to see, but I think a lot of care needs to be taken when
> implementing an idea like the purchasable stat increase:

> I used to play Magic: The Gathering. I was never very avid, I just
> played for the fun of it.  However, I found myself getting
> trounced time and time again by some players because they had
> spent loads of cash buying all these super-rare and powerful cards
> to put in their uber-decks.I finally stopped playing because the
> game no longer felt like a test of skill on even ground - it felt
> like a test of investment size with a small dash of chance thrown
> in to make me feel better.  It really went against what I look for
> in a game.  It's like letting hockey players buy rocket skates and
> powered-armor and then still letting them play against opponents
> who can't afford it.  While I can certainly afford to buy Magic
> cards, I'm really not interested in buying my way to achievement,
> and I get irked when someone is able to do so and thus unbalance
> the playing field.  Especially if there is no other way to achieve
> the same results without purchasing them.  If, in-game, I could
> also find stat increase items, then the issue would be somewhat
> lessened, but it still wouldn't feel right to pony up $50 and
> suddenly be Braniac the UltraMage.

Let me first point out that Magic's system was, from the point of
the owners of the game, an _indisputable_ success. Magic made and
even continues to make, a ton of money. Magic is a good example of
why to sell things, not a good example of why not to.nod

I'll also point out that sports teams do exactly what you're talking
about. It's no secret that in baseball, for instance, almost all the
championships are made by teams in the top 1/3 of budgets, because
they can afford the best tools (ie players). Granted, sports are
about the people watching, not the people playing (at least in the
case of professional sports).


> Of course, in the MTG case, this applied directly to the variables
> of the contest between myself and my opponents.  Armor with a
> customized look or custom housing in a combat-oriented game
> wouldn't necessarily fall under this definition.  You'd have to be
> careful here in setting the price so that it wasn't so expensive
> that nobody would buy it, but not so cheap that EVERYONE would buy
> it.  I can imagine walking over that last rise before you hit the
> city and suddenly your display goes into epilleptic slideshow mode
> as your machine desperately tries to download the 1500 new houses
> that weren't there last week ;)

Well sell things that directly affect the variables of player
v. player combat, and it works. People argue endlessly about whether
it will work, but it's not really an argument as it's already been
settled. The only question is what venues it will work in. Even in
stat-oriented game like Everquest it would work, given the number of
listings for Everquest items on Ebay.

--matt

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