Did you know that the price of video games has actually come down over the years despite cost in production going up? If you’re like me, you will very clearly remember paying fifty dollars retail for new games all the way back even before the days of the Nintendo 64. Fifty dollars was the choice retail price for new games for years before the current generation (Playstation 3 and Xbox360) raised the prices to $60. But has the price really raised? Of course I have an answer for that.
Factoring inflation since 1995, $50 USD then would cost $73.52 now, meaning that while the numerical sum of the money has gone up, the value of the money being spent has gone down around 32% for new PC games.
1. There Because Someone Is Willing To Pay For It…
EA Games is my new hero, especially after their presentation earlier this year pointing out that those that complained the most about Battlefield Heroes carrying permanent weapons in the cash shop happened to spend, on average, ten times more than those that didn’t post on the forums at all, because it proves the odd discrepancy between the amount of people complaining about cash shops, and the success of the business model.
The market is decided based on what people want to pay for, and it appears those with the biggest voices also seem to have the most wide open wallets. Earlier this year, CCP said that they would be looking at what players did, rather than what they said, and the fact that the $70 monocle is still $70 says that enough people are willing to buy one, regardless of if you can see it or not.
2. TERA To Utilize PLEX-Like System
En Masse is taking the fight to the bots and gold farmers, much like CCP did with the Pilot License Extension. In TERA, players will be able to purchase items called Chronoscrolls, that are in-game representations of one month of subscription. Those scrolls can be traded with other players for currency, items, or whatever you please.
When accounts are used to “farm” gold, those accounts are doing harm to the game. This type of activity adds more gold to the game than normal play would produce, which leads to unwanted inflation. Gold farmers can also make it hard for regular players to find the creatures they need to complete quests or build reputation—an organized gold farming operation can clear areas as fast as the monsters respawn. And gold farmers aren’t really playing the game. They’re not interacting with other players and building a community. They’re not forming parties and guilds. They’re adding nothing at all to the shared experience of the game
Rather than try to pretend that they can stamp out gold farming, TERA has admitted its limitations and gone with the better plan: An alternative to potential identity thieves.
3. How Does Huttball Not Fit Into Star Wars?
I read a forum post by a player who was genuinely “personally offended” that Bioware would include what he referred to as “space football.” Taking a closer look at the preview video, Huttball can be easily summed up as such: In order to gain favor with Giradda the Hutt, players must indulge not only his thirst for violence but satiate his income by participating in the spectator sport that is Huttball. Players on two teams fight over a neutral ball, with the goal of getting it into enemy territory. As the announcer points out, not only is murder/name-calling/cheating/gratuitous violence legal, it is a recommended tactic. Huttball is a far more ruthless game than the critics are portraying it. The field itself is a death trap, with fire pits and acid traps and more littering the field.
And to the lore purists, the game does fit in. The two teams (Frog-Dogs and Rockworms) were formed following the very shaky Treaty of Coruscant between the Republic and Sith Empire that The Old Republic stands on.
4. When Does Microtransaction Become Macrotransaction?
Paypal defines microtransaction as anything under $12 USD, so for the sake of future MMO Fallout articles, that is the definition we will use. Anything above that is considered either an expansion pack or a Macrotransaction, if the developer refuses to label it an expansion. For instance, the $4 act 3 ticket for Hellgate Global? Microtransaction. The $70 monocle for Eve Online? Ridiculous. The $20 premium civilization for Age of Empires Online? Macrotransaction. Having to pay to remove the debuffs on Allods Online (outdated reference)? Microtransaction.
There’s no real difference between the two, but I consider it akin to a person who asks for a sip of your drink and then chugs the whole can down. Yes, food references.
5. Who Else Is Cutting Back On Their MMOs Because of School?
Tomorrow starts my two year set for a Bachelor’s degree in Communication. Will I be gaming less? Probably. I will make sure to keep this website updated as much as possible with the important news, and I do still plan on going forward with more features: videos, additions to the Why Aren’t You Playing” series, and more. Stay tuned.
MMO Fallout 
I agree with you about having to look at people’s actions rather than the complainers. As we know, even if the haters are the minority, they will raise their voice and shout as loud as possible. This is often the case in official game forums.
Frankly, as CCP said with EVE, if you don’t like it, don’t buy it. Those who do want it, will buy it. This is true of anything. I would never buy a boutique pre-built PC or Apple product, because I feel they are over-priced. But many, many people do buy them because they feel it’s worth it.
As for Huttball, you are right on, again. It could easily fit into the story line, BioWare just needs to right it, if they haven’t already. If they could fit in pod racing, they can fit in “space football”.
Sucks that you have to go back to school just as all the SWTOR hype is probably leading to actual playing.