TotalBiscuit talks about the PoE microtransactions in todays The Mailbox

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Chancellor wrote:

As someone who enjoys purchasing vanity items in other games (esp LoL), I definitely don't buy them to show off to other players.

I'll go as far as to say that I don't give a rats ass what other players think of how I look, and I imagine that they don't particularly care how I look either.

But I do like to look at my own character and think that they're awesome.

FPSBanana became popular not for the custom maps, but for custom skins for Counter Strike that were only seen by the end-user. You could make the game look better by changing the player skins (maybe give them army camo), the weapon skins (get a gold AK), even make De_dust have grass or make the sky cloudy. Now it's not 1:1 comparable as they were offering this for free, however there is clearly a huge interest in customizing your game, even if others don't see it.

With special spell effects, cool skins, auras, and other character customizations; I am sure LOTS of people will pay to customize their character!

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Chris wrote:

This reply is only about character slots:

Character slot sales are not what our business is about. I don't want people to be arbitrarily limited in their freedom to play the game (and forced to make new accounts) when they hit some number of characters. I would rather that we make money from things that are aligned with making players happy (more visual customisation options).

The limit of 24 is just because there had to be a limit. In many ways I'd rather it were higher than this.

This game is designed so that you play it for ten years. You'll accumulate a lot of characters. People are already buying character slots. I understand you may not need 24 in a Beta that has two main leagues, but you'll see what I mean in a few months!

With character slots, we're competing with people making new free accounts. It's much better for us if we encourage people to play on one account each. It reduces the problem of external account sales, makes people value their accounts more (so they are less likely to risk bans) and helps us track metrics.

Wooh, that's a relief. TB doesn't speak for everyone when he says 2 character slots/server in DDO is reasonable...

I concur -- City of Heroes 'Freedom' was another 2 slot only game, and I knew if I'd gotten sucked into that one (and it's a decent Freemo!) I'd have spent a lot on character slots.

I admire that Chris and the gang feel that fewer accounts is actually a good thing and it is in terms of management, but I do recall that 'unique account total' is something an important statistic for games, and certainly it remains a discussion point whenever people talk about a game's 'success'.

I share some of TB's reservations, yet I'm obviously proof that GGG's current approach can attract indiviual financial support well beyond the RRP of most other games -- let me leave it that.

Regarding TB's comments about boost items...

I think xp boost would be the one boost that I would be fine with. Especially if it is the only boost that is available for purchase.

Being able to speed up the leveling process attracts players with less time. It gives them no edge over any other player, they are just able to enjoy the late/end game content without as much time investment other players can afford to give. (These players are also typically mature community members)

It's actually a slight disadvantage to level this way as long as no other boosts are available. If it takes 1/2 the time to level, that person has half the drops, half the currency as a player that played through it at the normal rate. The boosted player would still need to spend time farming high level content to catch up on currency which equates directly to item quality. (These players also might have a disadvantage in skill in PvP from lack of gameplay experience).

I think it's a win-win for the devs and all players.. even those that don't use it. More players at high level and more income for devs encourages more updates/content. I think a lot of people see it as regular players getting an advantage... but xp boost brings players to the game that would not play otherwise.. and they pay the devs!

If they were to have an xp boost, it would break the Ladder. I would not like to see that.

If there wasn't a ladder I'd be fine with it. The way they're doing MT now is fine with me. It's actually the most ideal in my eyes. I know it's a huge risk, but it pretty much promises 100% community support.

If you wanna see how MT can truly break a game, look at the recently updated RuneScape. Subscription based, PLUS they've added a stupid wheel that can give xp and high level items, and you can buy spins with money.
And this is an MMORPG. It has no place in it.
Just look at the forums on that and see how much backlash they've gotten (and they still have the cajones to back it up :|)

I really hope GGG keeps this MT format. It's perfect in my eyes. If they really need money I wouldn't object to any addition as long as it doesn't break the game.

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Bowser93 wrote:

If they were to have an xp boost, it would break the Ladder. I would not like to see that.

If there wasn't a ladder I'd be fine with it. The way they're doing MT now is fine with me. It's actually the most ideal in my eyes. I know it's a huge risk, but it pretty much promises 100% community support.

If you wanna see how MT can truly break a game, look at the recently updated RuneScape. Subscription based, PLUS they've added a stupid wheel that can give xp and high level items, and you can buy spins with money.
And this is an MMORPG. It has no place in it.
Just look at the forums on that and see how much backlash they've gotten (and they still have the cajones to back it up :|)

I really hope GGG keeps this MT format. It's perfect in my eyes. If they really need money I wouldn't object to any addition as long as it doesn't break the game.

What if the boost only worked on level 58 and below?

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Panda413 wrote:

What if the boost only worked on level 58 and below?

I'm one of those people who hates anything that gives a person an unfair advantage. Even if it does work on 58 and below you're getting to 58 first and you have all that time to get to 60 (Which is the max? Sorry but I just got into the game) while others are trying to get to 58.

Even if it's miniscule, I'd protest.
That is, unless, the majority of the community is ok with it.

That's all I want. A unified community. If GGG can offer deals in which most of the community is ok with it, then I see no reason to backlash.

TB actually introduced me to this game with his Shadow gameplay vid. And while I agree with him for the most part - that this kind of generosity and reliance on cosmetic items in a semi-singleplayer game does seem really risky - it's still kind of refreshing to see a dev atleast go in the opposite direction with the F2P model.
I still have some terrible, terrible memories about Battlefield Heroes and it's "F2P" model, which essentially amounted to "You must pay ~$30 a month to have any hope of being competitive."

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Bowser93 wrote:

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Panda413 wrote:

What if the boost only worked on level 58 and below?

I'm one of those people who hates anything that gives a person an unfair advantage. Even if it does work on 58 and below you're getting to 58 first and you have all that time to get to 60 (Which is the max? Sorry but I just got into the game) while others are trying to get to 58.

Even if it's miniscule, I'd protest.
That is, unless, the majority of the community is ok with it.

That's all I want. A unified community. If GGG can offer deals in which most of the community is ok with it, then I see no reason to backlash.

I see what you mean. I just think you weigh all the pros and cons... and in this case, in my opinion.. the pros outweigh the cons. In the end, the more players the better.

This game is going to be around for a long time. You are going to have 10-20+ characters spread over several different leagues. Some players leveling in a few less hours of gameplay is going to have virtually no direct impact on your gameplay experience.

Thank goodness GGG knows when to listen to the community and when not to... 2 character slots, XP boosts? Yeah, no.