Blizzard interview: Microtransactions, ads bad for fantasy MMOs
by Zack Stern 
{ Dec 14th 2006 at 5:45PM }
The Hollywood Reporter interviews Rob Pardo, Blizzard's VP of game design, about World of Warcraft. Recently named to Time's list of the 100 most influential people because of the MMO, Pardo talks about the games successes and failures, South Park, and payment models.On microtransactions, Pardo says they would work for a game like Guitar Hero, where you just pay for more songs. He's wary of applying microtransactions to a game like WoW because they cheapen the experience; people show off the armor and weapons they win in the game, and being able to buy those items would ruin the game. Pardo also thinks that ad-supported games primarily work for subjects where players already expect ads, like car racing.
Will gamers play titles that cross Pardo's clear distinctions? Acclaim is considering an ad-supported fantasy MMO that would tell gamers that Coke just sponsored their armor upgrade. Would you play that kind of title or rather pay for a game without banners or pop-up ads?
[Via GameDaily]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
pete @ Dec 14th 2006 6:12PM
do you really have to ask that last question, unless you are paying significantly less for and ad supported fantasy mmo then maybe, just maybe ill let coke or pepsi or gm upgrade my sword, but if i am paying $60 dollars for a title and i get bombarded with ads that no way in hell relate to the game i am playing, i would totally be like wtf thrown that game out the window and never support that developer again. again i am only talking about fantasy mmo's here
pete @ Dec 14th 2006 5:56PM
on a side note i am glad rob understand what microtransactions where made for. these are the same examples rob used but they are great, look i would buy and additional song for guitar hero in a heartbeat but would i buy the horse armor in oblivium, hell no.
j holt @ Dec 14th 2006 6:08PM
If you are paying for something monthly you shouldn't have to deal with commercials. Like HBO. If it is a free MMO and the ads could be integrated seamlessly then it might be passable, but fantasy games just don't seem like they could support ads for RL products.
WOW has been able to get buy in items through the card game, you buy their RL cards, get loot that translates into the game world, and becomes a status booster for your character.
playclever @ Dec 14th 2006 6:08PM
I think the key to understanding microtransactions is to figure out what it is you're paying for. For me, this is a certain amount of game-time: if the dollar you lay down gives you an hour or two of game-time, then it's decent value. If you just get a slightly different item that doesn't buy you any actual time... then you're being screwed.
Looks different vs. plays different.
Fhaze @ Dec 14th 2006 6:14PM
Great, my armor upgrade was sponsored by Coke. Yet everyone knows the armor upgrade by Pepsi, while not widely available is far superior. While Coke does have a larger install base, the Pepsi can with its "Blue Wave" technology will eventually win.
Kazi @ Dec 14th 2006 6:18PM
I think ads could go in pretty much any game. A few ads during the first load time won't really hurt the experience of any game. A short unskippable opening with a plug wouldn't hurt either. And there's already successful MMOs in Korea that use the Buy the more powerful item scheme.
JCollum @ Dec 14th 2006 6:45PM
Um, you want to show me ads on something that I'm paying by the month for? Hell no. Ask HBO how they think that would go.
jt @ Dec 14th 2006 7:31PM
Kazi, if its going to be ad supported. It better be free, and damn worth sitting through mandatory plugged intros. I think sports games, and racing games are really the only titles they belong in, if any. EA is exploiting mircotransactions. Nuff said.
rokobungi @ Dec 14th 2006 7:56PM
how to make this work in a mmorpg? maybe have different safe points that you can leave the game from without geting killed available with the points that way you could still play the whole game but you would have to travel all the way to your starting 'residence' in order to keep all your gear on you.
or.. a 'tax' on all your properties levied every month you give them .1% in real money or pay 30% of your in game items this kind of thing if done right may even be able to be part of the storyline.
Rod Oracheski @ Dec 14th 2006 7:58PM
They don't believe in microtransactions? Isn't that what, in a far more noxious form, their trading card deal with Upper Deck is? Hell, at least with microtransactions I don't have to spend hundreds of dollars to get a single item.
mateo @ Dec 14th 2006 8:33PM
If I'm paying a monthly fee for a game then I don't think I should be forced to look at ads. WoW is fun to play but if I started seeing Coke billboards in Stormwind I would drop the game right then and there. In-game ads would take away from the overall feel of a fantasy MMO and ruin the entire experience.
Scopique @ Dec 14th 2006 9:59PM
Ads in SOME MMOs work beyond racing and sports titles. I can see them in CoH/CoV and MxO, which take place in cities. AO, which has ad-supported free basic gameplay is a little jarring, seeing ads for Intel and Mountain Dew in a setting some 8000 years in the future. However, what EA is doing with BF 2142 -- ads with no benefit for the consumer -- is total BS.
And BTW..."people show off the armor and weapons they win in the game, and being able to buy those items would ruin the game." Nevermind that everyone in WoW will eventually be wearing the same thing as everyone who came before them if they play long enough. LOL.
DeejayKnight @ Dec 14th 2006 9:43PM
I respect Rob's opinion on this. If i'm in a fantasy MMO that i'm paying for and is supposed to be based in the 1300s, i definitely don't want to be bugged about a modern company sponsoring my in-game item.
I also agree with him that pay-content shouldn't be a part of MMOs unless said MMO is free, and even then it's a delicate line to start crossing. I'd think that the game would have to be based in current times for that to work properly - and we see how The Sims Online played out...