I didn't buy Bioshock because of the DRM. I didn't buy Spore...because of the DRM. I will never play either, because of the DRM.

I will not play champions because it is MicroTransaction based. Now if it were free to play and I didn't have to buy it and it was microtransactions, I would play it and buy nothing.

Now here is the hard part, Spore and Bioshock were both games I really wanted to play. TOR is a game I really want to play, but if they have this same model, where I have to pay extra for a new color to my lightsaber or for my guild's custom decal on my armor...I won't buy it. I can soapbox all I want about customer rights, but if no one stands up for themselves there are no customer rights.

So here is my contribution - I won't pay.

From what Cryptic has said though, if it has an in game effect (like a new costume piece) you can still find them in game. They are simply offering people the option to pay for it and get it immediately if folks don't want to grind for that rare drop. To me, this should make folks happy not all pissy.

yeah I've aways thought it was a shitty day post-BBS games where people that had all the time in the world basically surpassed those that don't, mainly in loot but also usually in the content that they got to see. Now there's not much that you can do about the content, that's just the way it goes - content takes time to see. However, the fact that someone could pay 16 hours a day 7 days a week and end up with all the best stuff while people that can only play a few hours a day can't even come close to that before the next expansion comes out is the same problem as some of you think you're seeing here. People whine about consumer rights - they want everyone to grind away and spend time getting that loot.

Well guess what, microtransactions (done right) ARE a consumers rights issue. It allows those of us that actually have jobs or other obligations but still enjoy playing games a chance to pay catch up. The reason microtransactions are so unpopular over here aren't because of how they've been botched up previously, but because there's some shitty sense of entitlement for those people that can play 16 hours a day - an entitlement that since they grind the most time out of a game they should have the best stuff. That's like letting a sports team play on the field when their opponents have to take a break.

BBS games solved the problem - everyone had X turns or X minutes to play per day. Nobody could sit there and play all day while other people were at work. If you want only a subscription model, fine, I say go China's route on that and stop loot and XP gain after X hours so that you can't brute force the game while other players have to take care of ife obligations. THEN it would be fair. Until then, micro-transactions that offer in-game items (whether they affect the game or not) that are ALSO available over time by playing the game do not give an advantage - they BALANCE the game between the poor saps that have nothing else to do but pay all day with those of us that actually don't get to play all day..

whine whine whine... Micro-transactions are coming whether these people like them or not. They may refuse to buy the games but I suspect they'll just be replaced by as many (if not more) people that are willing to pay by the new rules. As long as you can get everything by playing the game as you can by micro-transactions then there should not be any issue whatsoever. Having 16 hours a day to play a game does not entitle you to jack shit, just as having a surplus of cash doesn't entitle those people to jack shit.

I think the best items for micro-transaction purchase are XP boosters. If nothing but XP or Reputation boosters were in these stores then that would be enough by itself to provide a balance between the haves and have-nots (haves being those with time and have-nots being those without time). I really never want to see end-game items in an item store, nor do I want to see end-game items require massive amounts of time to get. They should be had by regular pay or (preferably) skill. It's just getting to the end-game items that usually is not balanced.

I think we're transitioning just as we transitioned away from time-restricted games in the past. This is the future. Some companies will abuse it, others will do it right. I still think time-restrictions by character in an online game are the best way to balance the games, but not too people would really accept that nowadays being spoiled with a play-all-you-can buffet they've been given with the subscription system.

btw, just to caveat.. I just used consumer rights because it was a buzzword someone else used above me.. I don't expect that anyone has any particular right to anything in these games other than being able to play it if you pay for it.

Hmmmers. It seems to me people get way to worked up about this stuff. Almost like they say, "Hey its our game! Why are people makeing us pay money for our game?" Its not our game folks. Its a game made for us by guys that came up with a great idea, and spent lots of money implementing awsome stuff into a game. Also, its a MMO. All good MMO's that get regular coolness updates require monthly fees. Thats normal. Don't wine about how you don't wanna pay monthly fees. Microtransactions don't mean the devs are not gonna give us cool new stuff for free in the future. It just means that some things (that do NOT affect gameplay), things like costume pieces and hairstyles may be added to dload if we wish to. The devs don't 'have' to add them at all, and we certainly don't 'have' to buy them. If its something u reeeeally want for ur toon, then buy it. If your only reason for not playing a game is because MT's are an option, I'm sorry for you. You're missing out.