Mitch

I smell a whole batch of cash shop items in the making.

Yeah, beta access to this game seems pretty much guaranteed. I got in just days after submitting an application. It really is Eve on the ground which means you can't just go afk while traveling or mining or fighting or doing pretty much anything like you can in Eve; you have to bore yourself to death while holding W, A, S, and/or D down.

The lore reads like slightly-alterred Eve lore. The character creation and skill system is nearly identical to Eve. The UI: chat, targeting, target info, [insert endless supply of unmanagable little immersion-breaking windows here] all might as well be copied and pasted from Eve. Aside from movement, outfitting and combat work just like Eve. Hangars are just like space stations from Eve. Other than the aesthetics of the world, the only difference I noticed was in mining which was a bit more engaging than Eve's, but that's not a difficult feat.

Fantasy RPG's really have all been basically the same since the beginning of time, so it shouldn't be taboo for sci-fi RPG's to be so similar, but Perpetuum makes one wonder if CCP wouldn't be in the wrong to file a lawsuit.

Well, this giveaway has given me two different keys during my visits, and both of them have said that they've already been redeemed.

"I would have Call of Duty be an online subscription service tomorrow."

Coming from Kotick, I totally believe that--not that he'd give us an incredibly deep and well-supported MMO but that he'd simply slap a subscription fee onto the games people are already playing (without adding anything to them). Knowing that greedy blight on gaming, he'd probably make it a $25/month fee, too ... with microtransactions: pay extra everytime you want to use a certain perk or kill streak reward.

Well, I'm not sure *what* you said that shifted my perspective slightly, but that's neither here nor there. Something in your reply "clicked" such that I realized if I treat your works less like many discrete works and more like one continuous, evolving work of gaming journalism, I can begin to see where you are coming from. Also, please don't think that I was accusing you of being a rabid F2P "fanboi" who doesn't play subscription games or something with my use of the word "defense."

I swear I've read this [basically] same article from Beau before. I used to love your stuff, Beau, but there's only so many times I can read your laundry list of F2P and/or cash shop virtues and how happy you are with your "a la carte" gaming lifestyle. "Why do you keep reading?" you ask me. I keep reading because you're an intelligent gamer and a talented writer; I'm always on the look-out for something that's not a F2P defense or a promotion of casual approaches toward gaming.

Still intelligent and talented though, Beau. You'll always have a thumbs-up for that.

Correction (WTB Massively.com edit buttons):

They should have made better choices. I don't want to imply that their product is the only reason they're not getting my money since, before this news, I was considering resubscribing.

Well, I personally prefer to spend my money where it is earned/deserved instead of giving it charitably to companies because I pity them. Fallen Earth isn't a product that I feel has earned my money, and it is now using a business practice that I do not want to endorse. I really don't care if they're an indie developer in a tough economy; they should have made a better product then.

I'd like to add that I DO like Turbine's approach (and APB's as well iirc). What I'm referring to specifically is that in the case of DDO, future LOTRO, and APB, one can opt to pay ~$15/month as a subscription and be granted access to 100% of the game. They allow players who don't want to commit to a full-blown subscription to tweak what they get and what they pay for it while simultaneously allowing players who want it all all the time to subscribe as usual. This also means that no one should ever spend more than $15/month like some F2P item shop games.

I do believe in alternative business models, but I favor the Turbine style of creating options for those who wish to pay LESS instead of the far more common systems that create options to pay MORE.

As a sidenote to those who are OK with buying virtual items. I simply have to ask you: Is a virtual dog with 4 slots really worth $10 to you (keep in mind that that is almost a month's worth of traditional all-access subscription)? Is a virtual flying horse really worth $25? I think of all the things in the world that I can get for the same amount of money that these virtual items are priced at, and I can't help but feel that these virtual items are no where close to that valuable (and at these prices, the profit margins have to be astronomical, too).

The consequence (other than personal enjoyment) that comes to mind right away is the message sent to game developers that this practice is acceptable. If you feel it IS acceptable, then have at it, but I don't think everyone thinks that far ahead. I personally don't find it acceptable, at least for a subscription game, to have an item shop for two reasons:

1) It lets someone spend real money to gain something in a game. Again, some people are OK with this, but I personally use video games to escape a world where [real] money rules--where everyone can truly feel like they have equal opportunities.

2) When using an item shop and a subscription, the items in the item shop undermine the value of the subscription fee. Even without an item shop, profit margins on subscriptions are such that one can make a case for LOWERING the standard subscription fee on games (or demanding better/faster content delivery). With an item shop, even if it's just cosmetic items, I no longer feel like my subscription money is worthwhile. I want to subscribe to a game and know that my subscription gives me just as much access to everything in that game as any other player (see point 1 above).

Obviously this is all subjective. It's how I feel, and it is what I base my decisions on. I'm not telling anyone else they're wrong for feeling a different way and/or doing something differently, but Massively does love a good discussion, and I love giving it to them.