Mike O’Brien on Microtransactions in Guild Wars 2

[JohnnyV]

In this month’s closed beta event, we’ll do some early testing of the Guild Wars 2 microtransactions system. Our microtransaction content isn’t nailed down yet, but we have a good framework in place to support it. So, I’d like to take a moment to explain our goals and the system we have developed to meet them.

We believe in microtransactions because they fund ongoing development of the game in a very straightforward and open way. You, the customer, get to decide how much money you spend on the game after launch, based on how compelling it is to you. You get a complete and playable game no matter what, but we think we can provide additional content and services that you’d be happy to pay for. And when you pay for them, you help fund our support of Guild Wars 2 in a way that benefits all players of the game.

Here’s our philosophy on microtransactions: We think players should have the opportunity to spend money on items that provide visual distinction and offer more ways to express themselves. They should also be able to spend money on account services and on time-saving convenience items. But it’s never OK for players to buy a game and not be able to enjoy what they paid for without additional purchases, and it’s never OK for players who spend money to have an unfair advantage over players who don’t.

I know none of this is new; the original Guild Wars also had microtransactions. But microtransactions were an afterthought in Guild Wars, whereas with Guild Wars 2, we had an opportunity to integrate the microtransaction system from the ground up, giving players more options and more convenience without sacrificing our design principles. So, here’s what we’re doing differently this time.

In Guild Wars 2 we have three currencies: gold, karma, and gems. Gold is the common in-game currency. Karma, which players earn in-game but cannot trade, is used for unique rewards. And gems are the currency that’s bought and used to purchase micro transactions.

We have a new player-driven market that allows players to trade gold for gems and gems for gold. If you want something, whether it’s an in-game item or a microtransaction, you ultimately have two ways to get it: you can play to earn gold or you can use money to buy gems. We think that’s important, because it lets more players participate on a level playing field, whether they use their free time or their disposable income to do it.

MMO veterans will note the similarities of our system to EVE Online’s PLEX system. As in that case, our system takes gold trading out of the hands of real-money trading (RMT) companies and puts it directly in the hands of players.

We think that’s a great thing.

From a player’s perspective, RMT companies have all the wrong motivations: the more money they make from selling gold, the more they spam ads in the game, run bot networks to farm gold, and hack accounts to loot them for gold. Conversely, under our system, players have all the right motivations. If a player buys gold from another player, he gets the gold he wants, the selling player gets gems she can use for microtransactions, and ArenaNet generates revenue from the sale of gems that we can use to keep supporting and updating the game. Everyone wins.

We also like the tradability of gems and gold because it makes the rest of the game’s economy more compelling. We’ll have a player-to-player Trading Post in the game—it’s like an auction house but better—which we’ll discuss in an upcoming blog post. Because gems can be traded for gold and vice versa, we don’t need two different trading systems, one for gold and one for gems. In Guild Wars 2, everything on the Trading Post is traded for gold, but of course, somebody who wants to earn gems can just sell items for gold, and then convert the gold to gems.

We have always taken our responsibility to players seriously with the original Guild Wars, and we will continue to do so with Guild Wars 2. We believe the foundation I’ve described here is the right foundation for us to build upon, and we look forward to sharing more details with you in the future as we nail down our microtransaction content.

http://www.arena.net/blog/mike-obrie...n-guild-wars-2

An interesting idea, creating an in-game economy based on the idea of gold farmers...but making it legitimate. A-Net, still breaking down the walls...

[Genocide]

As i read it they are pretty sure it will work.

Personally i think people selling gems are higher way then people buying gems for money.

But will see how it works out.

[JohnnyV]

I think a lot of it depends on how enticing the micro transactions are. What I do like is they're putting the aspect of money-making fully in the hands of the players, or attempting to do so anyway. Anything to help grow a player-driven economy is a good thing; it really just comes down to effectiveness after that.

[jaemaz]

"it’s never OK for players who spend money to have an unfair advantage over players who don’t".

If I understood the article, you can go from $$$->gems->gold->gear. That contradicts the principle that is supposed to define microtransactions. It would be OK if the only thing you could do is convert gold->gems using an in-game vendor; then you wouldn't HAVE to spend real money to get the MT items (which presumably don't affect game balance).

Of course it won't be creating a new problem since people already buy gold from gold farmers in every game I can think of. Guess we'll see how it goes. An interesting idea.

[LordJax]

I love this idea.

People without time can get cash shop items
People without time can get large gold sink items
Creates a gold sink to keep in game currency relevant.

I am no master of economics, but this sounds fantastic... I am sure someone will find some issues with it... but I currently don't...

[JohnnyV]

Well, the issue is people with deep pocket books will still be able to have a distinct in-game advantage over other players in terms of building wealth. Which is dependent on how valuable gems will be considered in-game. Now, a lot of the advantage will come down to how important gold is in determining player strength. Will the most powerful items be purchasable/crafted, or earned through gameplay? If it's the prior, then this system sets a precedent, that having more real-life money will help you build strength quicker than others.

I'm simply playing devil's advocate to your statement. Personally, there's still too many questions left to come down one way or the other on the topic. With most of the answers determined by how the economy shakes out, once the game starts. If gems become so sought after that they start going for a crap-ton of gold, then the fault rests on the players & the economy. The aspect of taking power out of gold farmers' hands is a huge plus though, no matter how you look at it.

Unless you happen to be a gold farmer; then really no one gives a shit about your opinion.

[Centaur]

I'll be honest... I'm actually disappointed with what was said here.

it’s never OK for players who spend money to have an unfair advantage over players who don’t.

I would have preferred if that sentence didn't use the word 'unfair', as that makes it very subjective. He's not saying they will never sell gameplay advantages (in fact, "time-saving convenience items" sounds like they do play to sell gameplay advantages), he's just saying they don't intend to sell unfair gameplay advantages... who determines what's fair and what not?

The way Mike describes it right now, this sounds a lot like the gem system that exists in Runes of Magic... players who spend money, can gain a lot of stuff a lot faster than those who spend long days grinding in-game to get those items. Plus, those spending money can get their hands on some stuff that's simply not available to those who play the game.

We'll see how this turns out, but the way he phrased it, I am definitely not impressed with his stance.

[LordJax]

I agree with you, that we still can not pass final judgment for sure.

One counter point however, is that it was said a while ago, that top stat armor will be available well before you even hit 80, which gives me the impression of the price not being the issue. Kind of like the 75K armor of GW1 where it shared the same stats, but just looked different. I feel like that is where the difference is.


I also like this idea, because in GW1 there were some items only available through cash that I wouldn't have minded, but am not willing to part with money for. So if I try hard enough I can still get these items through gold farming...

This should, at the very least, put some of the "Buy to win" cynics on their heels for a bit.

[JohnnyV]

I agree with you, that we still can not pass final judgment for sure.

One counter point however, is that it was said a while ago, that top stat armor will be available well before you even hit 80, which gives me the impression of the price not being the issue. Kind of like the 75K armor of GW1 where it shared the same stats, but just looked different. I feel like that is where the difference is.


I also like this idea, because in GW1 there were some items only available through cash that I wouldn't have minded, but am not willing to part with money for. So if I try hard enough I can still get these items through gold farming...

This should, at the very least, put some of the "Buy to win" cynics on their heels for a bit.

Which is another reason I'm not so worried about this micro-transaction system as much. GW, and much of what they've said about GW2, goes completely against the idea of gear dependence. People can spend all the money they want, along as I can still kick their ass with the gear I earned for "real life money free". As for the time saving items; if it's for the prospects of level boosting then I don't really care about that either. Of course, I'm one of those few gamers who's not in a rush to max level. And if people want to hit 80 faster than everyone else, and wants to spend the money to do so...then have at er'.

[Mantose]

I am almost positive runes of magic has the exact same or very close to the same system where you can buy gems or sell gems.