John Funk said:
Well, WoW is probably a bad example for either of us to focus on just because there is *so much to do* in that game, that I don't think anybody would be able to accomplish it all unless they've been playing from the beginning and throwing their life away to Azeroth. But this isn't content in the game, dude, it's the simple way your mount looks or the little non-combat pet you have running around with you at all times. If Blizzard starts locking content to the newest raid to people who have the sparkle-pony, then that's problematic. But... it's purely aesthetic, so I can't agree with you that it's barring you from acquiring anything in the game.
I know it's not content in the sense of being able to play through it, but it's still a cool pet or mount that you can't get without throwing an unreasonable amount of money on top of Blizzard's already ludicrous money Himalayas. You would agree that it would be unquestionably better if the items in question were a reward for some sort of challenging achievement, right?
Also, to be honest, there's probably a lot more in-game prestige in having the mounts/pets from doing the hard achievements, etc, than just shelling out money.
Completely true and completely irrelevant.
I would ALSO argue - and have in the past - that a good subscription-based MMO, whether WoW, TOR or Tera is actually a pretty damn good value for your buck, so the idea that it's "sucking hundreds of dollars out of people" doesn't ring true with me. You get dozens of hours of playtime out of your $15 a month, which is a lot more than you get in other games - but that's kind of a flaw of the genre, so we won't get into it.
I'd argue that the amount of time you spend in the game isn't the sole determinant of what price you should pay for the game. But yeah, topic for another time.
A move can be a good idea and warrant praise AND still be what some would perceive as "greedy." For instance, I've never been as against the in-game real-money auction house in D3 because I think it's a great way to beat the third-party RMT black market at its own game. I thought it was a great idea when CCP introduced PLEX and undercut the black market that way, and I think it's a smart idea here, too. People would be buying and selling in-game items for real money no matter what (they certainly did in D2), and rather than having the cash go to some international company which pays a Chinese college student to farm all night while he crams, it goes to someone else playing the game.
Do I understand why some people are opposed to the RMT Auctions? Of course I do. Do I see why some people think it's greedy? Of course I do that, too. That doesn't mean that I don't - or can't - think that it's a good idea on its own merits.
I think you missed the point of my last paragraph, because I'm not disagreeing too much here. I wasn't arguing that a move can't be greedy and good at the same time. That's the reason I included the word literally in the post. Because people actually praise Blizzard for being greedy at this point.
Not for the perceived positive effects of the business moves in particular. Now, those people are, I hope, not as numerous as the people simply giving them slack for the whole slew of reasons in addition to these, but it's still indicative of how far the termites have spread.
