Microtransactions

Microtransactions are becoming a popular way to monetize online games. Talk about a game that, in your opinion uses microtransactions well. Then, talk about a game that doesn’t use microtransactions well and suggests ways the game could improve its methods.

A game that uses microtransactions very well is World of Warcraft. World of Warcraft allows plenty of different options to pay for your game time, the higher payments having leeway in terms of monthly payments. Blizzard allows you to pay monthly for $15, so you can unsubscribe at any time, but they also allow you to pay for 3 months at $14 dollars per month, or even pay for 6 months for $13 dollars. They also have physical games cards which can be bought for $30, which grants 2 months play time when applied. This gives plenty of options in payment, depending on whether you like knowing what you buy before you do or don't like to deal with the hassle of remembering to pay for your game every 2 months with game cards.

Recently they added the ability to receive a free copy of Diablo 3 on release if players agree to a year long commitment. This commitment basically means that you agree to pay for your World of Warcraft account for 12 months before you can get your copy of Diablo 3. However, this 12 month commitment locks you into paying for the game for the entire time. The 12 month commitment says that you plan to pay for 12 months concurrently. The player has the option to choose their payment types still, so they can choose monthly payments, quarterly payments, or semi-annual payments. Additionally, Blizzard allows for game cards to be used in the 12 months.

A few games that don't fair so well in terms of microtransactions would be a lot of games that are bought with Xbox live currency. I say this because I don't like the idea of having a virtual wallet that I have to remember to fill with appropriate cash value to buy an expansion to an existing game. Also a lot of times, with Microsoft points you can only buy a certain amount per money put into the account, and this frustrates me. For example, I bought Sonic Adventure with Xbox Live points, and they didn't have the option to get the exact amount of points I needed, so I bought extra and had to spend it on something else, which annoyed me. While a lot of games are going with this route, including Blizzard which is also adding a virtual wallet along with allowing for subscription payments as mentioned above, I feel that being able to pay directly for all of your games and expansions really allows me to have the freedom to pay exactly for what I have, not need to buy virtual currency to then buy software.