Relax and take a deep breath. RMT doesn’t have to be about buying gear.

Over at Massively, Colin Brennan discussed the stigma associated with Free-2-Play games and Real-Money Transactions, which linked to my post.  After I realized it was linked on Massively, I started following the track-backs from my site to others, where players were discussing my post.  Invariably, the player who started their own post linking to mine understood where I was coming from, even if they had their own reservations and wouldn't personally participate in RMT.  Unfortunately, on Massively and these other sites, not all of the readers bothered to wade through the text before replying – some vehemently negative and full of ignorance on the subject.

Real Money Transactions (RMT) does not have to be about buying gear!  For the love all that’s holy, please stop assuming that everyone who plays is a gear whore.  PLEASE stop assuming what motivates you to play and what you deem as important or an achievement, are the only paths.  Sure, there are many players for whom the purples are all that matter.  However, there are many who could care less about those items.  We’ll take them when we can get them but wearing epics isn’t the sum total of the gaming experience we seek.

To set the record straight without a wall of text, you can’t buy gear (armor or weapons) using RMT in Runes of Magic.    If you want nice gear you have to quest for it or have it crafted.  You can’t purchase crafting materials using RMT.  You must harvest the items or buy them off the AH from another player, just like every-other-flippin-MMO.  Take a deep breath; no one is trying to wear your purples without having “earned” them.  I’ve seen some very nice gear on people in ROM.  I inspect them and then do research to see where the set comes from.  If it’s something I can achieve with reasonable effort, I jot it down for future reference.  If not, I shrug and let the idea go because to me while having it would be cool, it’s not important enough for me to expend the effort.  I go back to messing with my house (creating crafting shop/tavern - upcoming post), casually questing, galloping around taking pictures and having adventures.

RMT in Runes of Magic is similar to Sony’s new cash shop – conveniences that mostly provide temporary/timed benefits.  You can also twink using RMT items – think WOW enchants and inscriptions.  However, you need the good gear for it to make sense to use those “enhancements” in the first place.  You could waste it on green gear but I certainly wouldn’t.  If someone else did, oh well, that’s there money in the toilet not mine.  I don’t care.  Why would I care?

There is no distinction between paying $15.00 in real-money via a subscription versus paying $15.00 in game using RMT, unless you’re saying that as an adult you lack self-control.  It’s ALL REAL MONEY.  Please drop the holier than thou comments.  You’re paying to access virtual content – “not real” stuff using real money.  Using RMT someone is paying for virtual content or items – “not real” stuff using real money.  It’s fine if RMT isn’t for you and/or you have well-founded concerns.  It’s like anything in gaming.  If a feature is poorly designed it will have a negative impact.  If a feature is well designed things are fine.  It’s not that RMT is inherently good or bad, it’s how it’s applied.  Similarly, I don’t think that all farming or grinding is bad.  It’s how it’s applied – level and frequency.  Let’s all calm down and allow each other to enjoy games as we see fit.

Comments

[Tipa]

I actually prefer RMT over subscription. If I stop playing for awhile, like with DOMO, I automatically stop paying. If I stop playing Lord of the Rings for awhile, I still keep getting charged.

[Alysianah aka Saylah]

That's another very valid point. I don't like subscribing and unsubscribing myself. If I know that I won't be playing for several weeks I have to make the keep/drop decision. Once I unsubscribe if a little time frees up to play where I would have played, I don't because I'm not going to subscribe again just for a small window of time.

I'd be willing something else - buying a block of time for those games or some other pay as I go. However, I think that concept is even scarier to people than F2P w/RMT. F2P w/RMT is the closest thing we have now for not having to pay when you're not playing.

On the Massively thread, this is what Beau Turkey calls out as the advantage for players who like to play many games but aren't actively playing them all within a given month.

ROM will get their $15 a month from me when I'm playing because I'm able to live out some of the things I couldn't achieve in EQ2. BTW Tipa - when they add more fluff non-RMT furniture, I need you to play ROM long enough to design my little crafting shoppe / Tavern. :-)

[Tesh]

Microtransaction games work around the simple but brilliant concept that you pay for what you play with. It's a model that has worked for restaurants for scores of years, despite them also embracing the buffet (subscription) model.

Beyond that, I think that F2P games earn their keep a bit more honestly. They get money after you decide their game is worth it (a bill after a lovely meal), rather than charging up front for something that may turn out unappetizing or unfilling (buffet price at the door). It's definitely something that requires a bit more shopper savvy and attention to the wallet, but really, America could use that anyway.

[Alysianah aka Saylah]

@Tesh - I've done the pay at the door several times in recent years for game where I didn't even last the 30 day subscription of top of having purchased the box. On some level people don't like change and I think this model is new/change for Western gamers.

I like the RMT I've run into so far but that doesn't mean that every F2P/RMT game is wonderful or would appeal to me. Right now I'm enjoying the options and having a voice in where my money is applied and what I value doing with my time versus preset restrictions, conditions and walls.

[Tesh]

Well, MT/RMT games are not more assured of quality than a sub game is. It's always going to be a mixed bag. The key is just that a F2P game lets you decide to pay because you like how the game plays, not because you hope it will play a certain way. ;)

[Nef]

If I could get refunded for every MMO I've bought and disliked a couple weeks into play... Well, it's good that these days there tends to be some form of free trial available. (though, usually some time after the game has been released, and short enough to lack the meat of the games)

I use to dislike the idea of RMT, but I've warmed up to it, for the various reasons mentioned. Now I just wait to see how this business model will be furthered in western gaming.

[Alysianah aka Saylah]

@Scott - Sorry you got caught in the spsm filter. I actually thought that myself until I started trying them.