This has been a banner week for the microtransaction business model. If ever there was a doubt publishers are reconsidering the 'traditional' subscription model here in the US, this week has proven it. While SOE's announcement and
rollout of value-added RMT to EverQuest and EverQuest II was the first announcement to hit the airwaves, it wasn't the biggest. EA threw its weight behind the model as well, half-way announcing their plans to
support Star Wars: The Old Republic with microtransactions of some kind. Though the company attempted to retract the statement after the fact, it's hard to see how Mr. Riccitiello's original comment could be misconstrued. And, of course, we can't forget the rollout of Blizzard's character re-customization service. After years of value-added services like server transfers, the company has
fully adopted the realm of cosmetic small-value charges.
Major announcements like this always prompt a strong response from the MMO community. For the strongest of those responses, look no further than the threads at Broken toys
on the SOE and
Star Wars announcements. For
a strongly reactionary look at SOE's RMT decision, Keen and Graev's blog has you covered.
Ryan Schwayder's Nerfbat site has a more considered look at the issue, primarily noting the polarizing nature of the topic. WorldIV talks about
the possibly revolutionary nature of these revenue stream changes, while MMOCrunch notes
the connections to the world of collectible card games. Both
the Greenskin blog and
The Ancient Gaming Noob offer their own opinions as well, and link into their discussions for further exploration. Whatever your own opinion, it's well worth reading into the blogging community's discussion of this eventful week.
