Alternative payment systems

I left Puzzle Pirates some time ago. That is a game which is fun for a while, but not something to play every day. And if you don't play a MMORPG often enough, paying a monthly subscription is a bit stupid. Enter alternative payment methods, recently introduced into Puzzle Pirates in the form of Doubloons. Doubloons are basically credits which you buy from Three Rings, the game company. And for some purchases in game, like new clothing, new weapons, or a ship, you have to spend these Doubloons in parallel with the normal game currency, Pieces of Eight. You also need Doubloons to pay for 30-day "badges" which enable you to play certain puzzles at any time, while many of these puzzles are free on certain days. Thus the more active you are in the game, and the more you want to do in the game, the more Doubloons you pay, and the more dollars it costs you. On the other hand, if you only want to do the occasional puzzle, and not start a big pirate career, you don't spend many Doubloons, there is no monthly fee, and your total monthly cost is lower than usual.

Of course critics will say that this is just a disguised form of RMT. And in fact you can exchange Doubloons for Pieces of Eight at a special exchange with other players, thus paying dollars for virtual currency. But in Puzzle Pirates there are no levels, and your clothing just looks good, and doesn't give any bonuses to the game. Your success in Puzzle Pirates is based on your personal skill in the different puzzles, and if you suck at the Tetris-like swordfighting puzzle, no amount of money can make you win, whatever you paid for your shiny sword. In a way Puzzle Pirates is a lot fairer than other MMORPG, because it really measures skill, not just time or money spent.

Well, I created a character on the "Sage" Ocean, bought 90 Doubloons for $20, and expect them to last me for quite some time. As an alternative payment system, "micro-payment" for MMORPG, I find the Doubloons system well done. Recommended.

Of course that made me think about my only other current MMORPG subscription, for WoW. I'm still paying, but I play a lot less than usual. I found a favorite spot for doing a bit of farming with my level 60, killing water elementals for essence of water, then using my alchemy skills to transmute them into essence of air, which sell for around 15 gold. And sometimes I log on my level 39 priest, and do quests with him, but only as long as his rest xp bonus lasts. I'm not playing WoW every day. So I was thinking about a hypothetical alternative WoW payment system, where you buy a number of credits, at lets say $1 per credit, and every day you play (no matter how long) costs you 1 credit. If you play every day, that system would cost twice as much as the current one, and the monthly subscription would be a better alternative. But if you only play once in a while, it would be fair to let you pay less for playing less, and you wouldn't be tempted to unsubscribe while waiting for the expansion set or anything.
- posted by Tobold @ 8:00 AM Permanent Link