[...] Microtransactions Getting a Bad Name [...]

[...] November I made a post with a link from Raph’s blog about Microtransactions. Microtransactions getting a bad name I’d suggest you take the time to read through the comments as well, since Raph responded there a [...]

[...] Roph Koster’s blog, where people are talking about how much they HATE micropayments.  Here’s the link: Hmm…. 3 replies – reply   « All Entries » « Blog Archive » [...]

iTunes works because consumers had to choose between a “bundled” album with around 10 songs or purchase individual songs. The value is immediately compelling.

This is what i am talking about, why this was so successful is that , as most of us know, the most popular and downloaded songs are the “Hits”, the songs that are taken from an album and then marketed as the flagship song of the album.

The majority of the pop culture , really, really do not care about the other 9 tracks, they are not the ones in the trend, they are not part of the pop, they are the unheard. Before itunes and the like, people made compilations of the best songs from the albums they had to buy. This was really just and out for people to buy the pop song of the day, with out all the other “Un-cool” songs.

So, the value here is. “I can get all the songs that me, and my friends are exposed to, that are in the trend, and pop, with out all the crap and price tag of a full CD”.

And at every level of music, there is its own “pop”. So no, im not just talking about one genre.

So, if you still wish to use this association with gaming and micro transactions, you would need to have a ton of “crap” in your game, and
a bunch of good “Singles” that are all the rage.

lol.

Truce.

I didn’t not blanket them a being childish, I said they are viewed as being childish. Maybe I did not explain that well enough. Weather you like it or not, this will happen. I just don’t associate that style with being “Mass market” or “accessible”. As the anime is a relatively new style to become popular in western culture, but do keep in mind, allot of anime is preteen bodies in there 20′s with over the top “equipment”. So, this association will most likely persist, (that representation in its self is an art form born of the culture it came from, and if there equivalent of “Sunday morning cartoons”)

Accessibility to me is user experience, not necessarily look, but having a questionable or, non-PC setting and look does affect Accessibility… But only in the fact you will be Nitch-ing yourself, but I believe that’s more penetration than accessibility, as accessibility of the game can be strong, such as game play, rules, and UI navigation, despite subject matter.

As for Furcadia, and habbo, what is it that leads the two companies to seek Venture capital? In fact, I do believe I read on your own website that Habbo was going under, or at least, not being profitable.And i read quite a few postings from the furcadia staff talking about how they were not turning a profit, and that the game had been basically kept a float by some ones inheritance. I was unaware that the deals you speak of were made, but they still owe someone money, and what were once self sufficient games, now require outside funding.

I do not know anyone in the industry who doesn’t consider some these “micro transactions.”

I think the key part to that statement is “in the industry”, outside of it, I do not think this is the case, and I feel this is the disconnect.

Again, we run into the issue of defining “serious games” here. What about the #1 game in Korea, which is basically a Counterstrike clone, but with micro transactions to buy ammo? Yes, it’s lopsided. Yes, it’s unfair. Yes, it’s #1.

I don’t think it’s a definition we are running into there, I think its a huge difference in cultural taste. You your self just said that would never fly in western culture. But, counter strike is hugely successful here, but it was bought as a full game, with a one time fee (not including the expansions and mods, which to themselves, were “whole” in the design)

All in all, i think that microtransaction have some good point, and some bad implmentations, and atleast in the western culture, it wont work.

And as far as ring tones, im sorry, but to me, that association is invalid as a support argument for micro transaction as they pertain to games. There are to many variables there, most of the ring tone market is pop culture songs, and “Celebrity Factor”, i do not think that games, or gaming has hit that apex yet, so you may be hard pressed to get the majority of that 100% of ring tone users to download your theme song for your F2P game to there phone, some, but not the majority, that domain belongs to the manufactured pop stars of our day.

But, then again, i guess everything hangs on a few things.

Your game design.
Your games popularity.
And they way you implement the micro transactions.

Truce.

[...] Excellent article on Microtransactions in Korea Raph Koster has an interesting discussion on microtransactions going, but a great place to start is Gamasutra’s excellent summary on the state of microtransctions in Korea from a recent report by Pearl Research. Also, I wrote an article a while back about Killing the Golden Goose of Microtransactions. Some key points from the article: + “selling and buying in-game assets or content for $0.25 to $15″) make up at least 50% of South Korea’s $1 billion online games market in 2006 Note the small size of many of the items. Many US microtransaction system bias towards larger items than in Korea. + “A critical success factor in growing the online games market is having a reliable and inexpensive system to bill, make payments and collect micro-payments. In Korea, the development of a mobile billing system, capable of processing small payments of less than $5 has been instrumental in helping publishers monetize gameplay.” + 58% of South Korean online gaming payments are done through phone bills, with just 27% by credit card, significantly different from the Western market. This is a critical factor. Micro-transactions have a big billing problem. Chargebacks, processing fees, and other expenses have a serious impact on these transactions… e-commerce is broken in the US and getting worse (merchants see this, consumers don’t – so far). Phone and other billing systems have a completely different dispute resolution structure that makes them less expensive. This is a big problem and opportunity!!!!!!!!! + Overall in Korea, 7 out of 10 online games used in Internet cafes are free to play, but with extra payments to advance or master the games. The casual game market is also growing swiftly too, at 30% of the overall online game business, according to Pearl Research. There is also an opportunity, in Asia, to get Internet cafes more actively involved in the game as opposed to simply passively renting time on their PCs. Posted by SecurePlay in Game Industry, Virtual Asset Purchase Games, Virtual Currencies & Micro-Transactions, Korea Online Games at 10:07 | Comments (4) | Trackbacks (0) [...]

Michael Chui wrote:

This is why we speak English: it’s okay to make up words as long as you can convince everyone else that it’s not gibberish.

Language is comprised of imagined words.

Microtransaction is a synonym for micropayment which was a term coined by Theodore “Ted” Nelson for use in e-commerce. If you’ve never heard of Ted Nelson, look him up. Although he also coined the term hypertext, he currently uses deep electronic literature. Nelson selected a different phrase because the meaning of the original word changed.

But I don’t think that’s necessary. The solution for business folk is to simply not use terminology when interfacing with customers, and opt for marketable concepts such as “games as digital service platforms for delivering personalized experiences”.

I need to get back to writing my article now.

In MapleStory global at least; the items offered in their store are all either based on customization or convenience. At this time, there are no items that give you an XP bonus, or any type of advantage. You may find items that make the game a bit more convienient for you (Lower death penalty, auto looting) but there is very little feeling that only the cash users can “win”. And any type of item that has ever been offered that would give this type of advantage were offerend on a very limited basis.

My personal opinion is that the North American mentality is to sell players “What they want” and because North Americans want to be the best at everything, the items sold are geared in that direction.

Somewhere down the road, somebody saw how the asian market was using micro-transactions, and never bothered to read the whole story. They saw the money coming in and through the good ‘ol american spin on it.

Micro-transactions work, but if your only goal is to push it for all it’s worth, then you sinking your own boat. In short the american bastardizing of the system is where the problem lies.

Additionally, I think the reference to “Chibi style” and “Childish” is a bit off base due to the fact that most of these games came from the asian market. 25% of Korea has played or owns an account for Kart Rider.

I think labeling these as “childish” is only a result of the North American idea that games are for kids.

I need more caffiene this morning.

If a game is a service, then a microtransaction is any optional purchase made from the publisher that adds value to the existing service in some way.

People don’t generally consider expansion packs to be microtransactions because the purchase prise is usually high enough that they feel like they’re buying a new game, but the lines there are rapidly becoming blurred because more and more expansions are being released as downloadable content as opposed to a box on a retail shelf. Either way though, they’re an optional purchase that adds value to the original service.