With the recent announcement of 25-dollar mounts in EverQuest II, gamers drew lines in the sand. "Step past this line, developers," said some, "and we'll teach you a lesson." Understandably, many thought that 25 dollars was too much to ask for a single in-game item. Meanwhile, hundreds, if not many thousands, bought the item and further blurred those lines. Some think that this is sending a dangerous message to developers, one that will only encourage further lazy development and lackluster efforts on the part of the world-makers.

I think the more dangerous message is sent when you avoid the purchase of the mount, or avoid the use of any cash shop in any form. We can look at established and successful free-to-play games for our evidence, proof that content should be measured on a case-by-case basis. Players have shown that they are comfortable with buying their content a bit at a time, and developers have shown that they can be trusted to put out good content.

But, what are these dangerous messages that the standard subscription model and box prices send to developers?

Continue reading Free for All: How much content does 25 dollars buy?

Free for All: How much content does 25 dollars buy? originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 25 May 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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