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Facebook microtransactions outrage gamers

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Facebook microtransactions outrage gamers

PackRat creators face the wrath of fans as redesign brings with it paid-for perks

The future of Facebook as a viable, and more importantly profitable, platform for gaming has been drawn into question after the developers of one popular title suffered a scathing attack from fans after introducing micropayments.

PackRat sees gamers receive a number of cards, with additional cards being acquired by stealing them from rival players. However, a recent redesign saw the developers Alamofire introduce a micropayment system where players could buy certain cards with real-life cash.

To read the full story, head over to the number one news portal for the casual games business, CasualGaming.biz.

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Hmm

posted by Zildjian Oct 29, 2008 at 5:56 pm
1

I'm inclined to agree with the people that get pissed off with this...

Paying real money for in-game items / money *COUGH* World of Warcraft *COUGH*

Takes it a little too far, only this PackRat is very small scale in comparison.

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good idea, bad implimentation

posted by troggness Oct 30, 2008 at 5:48 pm
2
troggness

Micro-payment is the future (for many reasons)... but you MUST start the property as pay to play when it first releases. WOW's thoughts on selling personalization AFTER paying monthly payments... is doomed to fail. As was EA's suggestion of selling ammo in Battlefield - after people already bought the game = destined to infuriate.

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Vesperia

posted by ADE_1977 Nov 14, 2008 at 11:15 am
3

I seem to remember reading that Tales of Vesperia has, in Japan at least, adopted this idea. Real money can be traded for in-game gold and items. More worrying still is that you can pay real money to level up your character. Now surely this negates the point of playing the game as, for me, levelling up is one of the main gameplay mechanics for an RPG, seeing your hard work rewarded.
I suppose though, that its not overly different to people on e-bay and the like selling completed achievements for 360 games, surely another pointless idea squarely aimed at those who want to impress their friends without doing anything more than emptying their pockets.

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