The Shameful & Sordid World Of MMO Economies

A lot of people of my generation and older can't wrap their head around the emerging market model for most MMOs. When I start telling friends that I am playing an MMORPG their first or second question is often, “you haven’t spent any real money in the game, have you?” This is said in a mildly indignant, somewhat judgemental tone, as though they are gearing up for a good lecture or rant. The implied judgement, of course, is that it is okay to play an online game as long as you don’t spend any money on it, and that if you do, you have somehow been had or taken advantage of.

Meanwhile, many of these same friends grew up playing console games and arcade games. They understood those market models, and were perfectly willing to crank out quarter after quarter to feed Mrs. Pac Man, or drop $50.00 at Gamestop for the latest title in their favorite series. Why then is paying a subscription fee or buying items at a cash shop for your online game of choice so “dirty” and “shameful?”

                                                           Bar hopper's night out? What do I do with this??

An overly-simplified look at the MMORPG Market model

For the sake of argument, let’s say my 12-year-old son (mine is actually 8, but we’re imagining here) loves the Call of Duty games. In order to play the games in this series that have come out in the last 3 years, we would be paying a minimum of $160.00 dollars (that’s on sale at $40.00 a pop), plus at least one hardware upgrade (the most recent titles require the most recent generation of consoles). Let say we had an Xbox 360. We would now need an Xbox One, which, conservatively, would set us back about $390.00. That’s a total of $550.00 USD.

Now, let’s say you start playing a free-to-play MMORPG. Chances are, if you take the minimum requirements and run it light, you can install it to your existing PC. So, you have no up-front software or hardware costs (no designated machine). You will probably enjoy the game a lot at no cost for about 15-20 levels. I’m assuming if you play that long that you are enjoying it. At this point new content is available to you as a higher-level character, but you likely need to pay a fee to continue, or perhaps buy some stuff from the cash shop to stay competitive/alive. Chances are, unless you devote yourself heavily to this game it will be awhile before you end up spending $550.00. In the games I’ve played to this point (and I’m pretty new to this), one usually spends about $50.00 to stay well equipped and competitive until reaching around level 30. In the grand scheme of things, that is not very bad at all from a consumer cost standpoint.

                                                                   The Hongmoon Store in Blade and Soul.

The Problem: It’s not simple at all

Unfortunately, one cannot go to the cash shop of most MMO’s and buy $50.00 worth of equipment and be done. The cash shop typically sells some stuff you need in game, but you likely have no idea what to do with said stuff, until you spend time, in-game, getting to know the game. The rest of the stuff for sale is mostly cosmetic, corrective (helps you reset crap you messed up), or provides other bonuses. You can use that stuff, or you can sell it in the in-game auction house and then buy the gear you actually need. Also, most cash shops have some weird currency exchange, so paying dollars will get you Aeria Points or Hongmoon Coins. Some cash shops, like the one in the Blade & Soul release for Europe and North America, take two different types of currency, and it may be unclear to a novice how the money they spent on the game translates into either type of currency, or how it could get them anything useful at all. I recently participated in three closed beta test weekends in BnS, and I still don’t understand the cash shop.

                                Umm... Did I mention the growing tendency toward cosmetic items in cash shops? 

Expanding your player-base and discouraging abuse

My advice to the companies in the MMO market, take a hint from mobile games and expand your player base. This seems like a ridiculously simple idea, but If you want to make more money, make it easier for your customers to buy what they want. What’s wrong with ease of entry? Not every gamer is an achiever. Not every gamer gets a thrill out of working out what the heck a Hongmoon coin is and how to make one out of materials available that cost something else, and how that translates from the money they spent on a Founder’s pack. This just frustrates some people and causes them to give up on your game. Then your player-base takes a hit and you end up with a dying game. If you’re not going to make it more simple, at least make an infographic so people can figure out how to translate their cash into actual gear they want / need in-game.

My 8-year-old plays Samurai Siege, a mobile strategy game reminiscent of Clash of Clans. It has it’s own cash currency, called Onyx, but beyond that the market is so simple that my 8-year-old understands it. He can clearly look inside and find items that would immediately benefit him in-game.

                                 The cash shop in Samurai Siege for iOS makes sense. You buy what you need.

Another frequent issue is that this creates an environment that is ripe for abuse. When your cash economy is confusing, and players can’t easily figure out how to translate their money into what they want by official means, you quickly end up with a black market. In my game of choice, Scarlet Blade (don’t judge), gold sellers are rampant. Not only are gold sellers exploiting their “workers,” but they’re also likely breaking the in-game economy and undermining the company’s market model. This ends up being bad for everyone. Of course, if my friend wants a +12 suit, and it costs 50,000 in-game gold, she has two choices. On one hand, she can take the high road and play the market by buying some cash shop items that may or may not sell, wait for them to clear the in-game auction house at the price she needs, and then hope that by this point (usually a few days), the +12 suit hasn’t already been sold. On the other hand, she can answer one of the numerous in-game shouts from a gold seller, buy the gold, and go get the suit she needs 10 minutes later. She’s happy, a sweat-shop has likely been supported, and the publisher wonders why their game is not profitable.