Tuesday 27 March 2012

Micro transactions - When did spending a fiver get so small?

In the last several years we have seen the rise of the "free to play", not that anything in life is ever truly free.


Part of the growing ways to make money from the free to play titles is the "micro-transaction", which has come to include some rather macro prices, prices which I just don't understand at all. Honestly, this post will be short to save myself ranting endlessly about the greed and exploitation of others... *dragged off to the loony bin, kicking and screaming*.


Not quite what it seems...
Just think however, when did spending £5 become a "micro" transaction? I don't remember buying a 4 pint bottle of milk for half that price and thinking that was "micro". 


Maybe 1-50p could be considered micro for some in-game items or xp boosters, whatever it maybe, but when I am being asked to cough up £2 every week for items that I will just use up, well I do a quick calculation in my head and it always seems to be way more than the £8.99 I was paying for a sub.


I guess I just don't like the term as it masks the true price that is being asked for in exchange for that race pack in title a or the rent for bag space in title b.


Keeping it brief
I suppose I wanted to voice my concern for the marketing surrounding free to play games or worse, the hybrid models that have you paying twice. So when you see that nice new title being released with "micro-transactions" actually take a look at the prices of in-game items and ask yourself if it really is micro?




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