View Full Version : Hold on, what? Microtransactions in D3?
Apparently yesterday Jay Wilson stated when asked about a subscription model for D3 that there were not plans for a subscription model, but that,
"We are going to monetize features so that we get to make them," said Wilson. "We kind of have to."
Does this imply a microtransaction model?
I saw this linked to Shacknews from the Penny Arcade Forums (I'm unsure what I'm allowed to link here so I'll link nothing) and immediately headed here, expecting to see it on the front page. Has anyone else heard about this, hopefully from a direct source?
SoulSpectrum
11-10-2008, 20:25
I think we'll actually have to pay something for Battle.net. Hopefully it'll be a one time charge or something simple, like 10 bucks for 3 monthes... if not, then I'm going single player until someone decides to upload a private server (which we don't know if it's againts the ToA because it's not released yet><, but it probably will be!)
Sein Schatten
11-10-2008, 21:52
That will be a dealbreaker for me...
voraginous
11-10-2008, 22:46
The idea of microtransactions is deeply frightening. Combined with their recent splitting of SC2 into 3, I'm beginning to think Blizzard has lost it.
If they wanted to make D3 an mmo, they just should have done it. Now they are seeing how much money WoW makes and they regret not making everything on that model. Well, it's too late to juryrig mmo pricing structure on it now; people are just going to be pissed. They should never have announced D3 and SC2. Just keep on making WoW over and over again Blizz. You'll get your money, and us non-WoW players can avoid having out hopes dashed.
I know I'm overreacting, and this is premature; everything could still work out awesome. But right now THIS is what it looks like we're dealing with.
Mad Mantis
11-10-2008, 22:59
What kind of micro transactions and what does this mean for single players?
nasarius
11-10-2008, 23:10
The quote is from here (http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/55271). Unfortunately they provide little context, so it's not remotely clear what he's talking about. I'm hoping it won't be some kind of ill-conceived disaster like HGL, where non-subscribers are second class citizens.
Sein Schatten
11-10-2008, 23:11
What kind of micro transactions and what does this mean for single players?
For SP? Nothing. I guess the MP crowd gets more features, more convenient things. ;)
Mad Mantis
11-10-2008, 23:13
I hate feeling like a second class citizen because I refuse to play with others. I'm hoping that they give the "features" that must be "monetized" to SP-ers as well.
I hate feeling like a second class citizen because I refuse to play with others. I'm hoping that they give the "features" that must be "monetized" to SP-ers as well.
Well you can play alone in battle.net.. Those who pay get better service. Thats how it works :=
its the same thing they've been saying all along. they're looking into various ways to monetize the online gaming aspect of d3, but they don't want to do a real subscription, and they don't want to do something that pisses the fans off. what they'll do, they're not yet saying.
Omikron8
11-10-2008, 23:48
hellgate 2.0 here we go
Chukcharcoales
12-10-2008, 01:37
Except that D3 will not (hopefully) be bugged to hell and be less than half finished at release.
Robobaby
12-10-2008, 03:52
hellgate 2.0 here we go
I doubt it will be like Hellgate because that was a commercial failure and you can call Blizzard and its parent company any number of expletives but when it comes to making money, they aren't stupid enough to follow a business model that doesn't work for bringing in the $$$ wonga.
I'm not flipping out just yet, I'm actually hoping for some kind of cool microtransaction scheme where you pay to play in tourneys with an actual reward, or a small administrative fee at the start of a ladder season to participate, with actual prizes for ladder success. Ideally, anyone who doesn't pay should still get full functionality from the system, but those willing to set up a Bnet charge account can participate in some neat coop or competitive events.
That said, I don't anticipate anything nearly that interesting, and Blizz and it's fans seem to have a serious fetish for useless vanity items, so that would my first guess for the first MT items; pets, tabards, haircuts, and character transfers.
Well whatever the case is, I think I will save some money since quitting wow and the 12euro monthly fee :) I doubt d3 will be that expensive.
It'll most likely just be armour colour changes, hair styles etc.
stillman
13-10-2008, 07:29
What the hell Sein? You have a picture of white nothingness in your post. Does that mean you will pay "nothingness"...?
Drytchnath
13-10-2008, 08:18
After hearing about all this Korean MMO-style microtransaction BS that could potentially happen, I've pretty much lost all enthusiasm for D3. Shame really, I don't have the income to pay for services that (imho) should be free with online PC games.
Oh well, I still have TF2 and my PS3.
PlasmaTorture
13-10-2008, 08:48
its the same thing they've been saying all along. they're looking into various ways to monetize the online gaming aspect of d3, but they don't want to do a real subscription, and they don't want to do something that pisses the fans off. what they'll do, they're not yet saying.
It's one or the other. Not sure how they don't realize it.
Either you have microtransactions, or you don't piss your fans off.
You can't have the best of the both worlds, not here.
Niyougegema
13-10-2008, 09:58
Yeh I'm pretty sure that Plasma's comment is a fair summing up of the situation.
D2 and Starcraft players have seen the arrival of many games that are P2P... and I'm quite sure that I'm not in the minority in saying that we feel quite happy that even though we have old games, at least we don't have the new purchasing systems. It's something that has been ingrained into us in the years of playing over the 8-10 years. Many people in the Starcraft or D2 communities are players that happily play with very little updating and support, and this sudden proposed change, towards a system that ties updating and bonus features with additional payment, completely upturns the history of the two games.
Activision have newly gained influence over Vivendi... and with this comes change that disrupts the traditional system that many D2 and Starcraft player have come to feel comfortable with. I personally am not fond of any microtransaction model, or even any subscription model. It is not what I am used to in the past with my not incredibly intense gaming style, and is somehing I hope does not force me out of playing future Blizzard titles.
What the hell Sein? You have a picture of white nothingness in your post. Does that mean you will pay "nothingness"...?
It means these forums do not allow or support embedding anything animated except gifs.
Mad Mantis
13-10-2008, 10:38
It means these forums do not allow or support embedding anything animated except gifs.
Actually they do, but you need to do it right. You don't put the whole url between the youtube-tags. The only thing you need from the url is everything after "watch?v=".
Apocalypse
13-10-2008, 14:27
i think bliz should take a credit card from everyone who plays online, charge 5 cents every time anyone needs to get ressed, they will make a fortune
seriously though, i wonder what extras we will get for a fee? bigger stash? shared account stash? better drops? as many here should know i am not against paying a monthly but i do not really like micro transactions if they can cause an inbalance between players on the same server
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