SOE today has both announced and pushed live their Station Cash system. Station Cash, while a pretty dumb name, is essentially a microtransactions system in Everquest and Everquest 2 that allows people to purchase items like potions and pets for real-life cash. Of course, the EQ2 community is up in arms about it. My initial thoughts? Kudos to you, SOE.
- No game-breaking items. I’m sorry, but XP potions are practically handed out like candy in that game anyway. Vanity pets for housing? Let people pay money for them if they want to – anything to keep your game up and running.
- Good learning experience for their microtransactions system in Free Realms. Regardless if they’re using the same backend tech (I’d bet they are) SOE haven’t really ventured into this territory too much yet. I’d rather they practice on an established game to give Free Realms’ business model a better chance of success.
- Inevitable – come on guys, all the big dogs are going to do it eventually. I’d rather see more MMOs succeed and less of them crash and burn. Something isn’t working. Call it development schedules and budgets, or call it subscription models – but something has to change, and microtransactions work.
- Avoidable. If you don’t like it, don’t buy it. Simple as that. I fail to understand how Joe Awesome having an extra pet in his house hurts you.
- Probably a much bigger deal than you think it is. EQ2 folks, stick it out – I’m sure you’ll find that it either doesn’t affect you, or is something you end up wanting to participate in. I mean, 10 bucks for the most expensive items on the list. Most of the XP potions cost a buck. That’s the same price as sending a “gift” on Facebook. I could have almost 4 XP potions a day for the cost of my morning Starbucks coffee.
Anyway, good luck with Station Cash SOE. It’s nice to see more North American studios trying new things.
