Online Game Development Conference: Payment methods in focus

When gamers choose which MMORPG to play, payment is usually an important factor in making the decision. Payment models affect the success of online games, and recent Online Game Development Conference (OGDC) held in Seattle focused on this.

We all know WoW and its monthly fee. For some, it’s a very reasonable price while others just don’t want to pay so much to play a game. One of the panelists believe that subscription is fine if the game is updated regularly. On the other hand, someone from a Chinese publisher stated that only ten to twelve are subscription games in Korea. According to him, the market there is leaning towards subscription recently but it doesn’t hurt profits without it.

Secondary markets were also brought up during the debate. Some people suggested that this unstoppable plague should just be accepted one way or another, but some also expressed their fear regarding the matter. Apparently, bigger companies suffer when players just pay farmers rather than their service.

While real world trading is generally considered illegal, many believe that a game will be considered successful when secondary markets exist: when players are willing to spend actual money outside the game just for virtual items. As someone said,”all successful games have a secondary market.” In the end, they couldn’t come up with a solid way to approach this issue.

So, what payment method do you prefer? Should selling items and gold for real money be accepted? Tell us what you think.

When gamers choose which MMORPG to play, payment is usually an important factor in making the decision. Payment models affect the success of online games, and recent Online Game Development Conference (OGDC) held in Seattle focused on this.

We all know WoW and its monthly fee. For some, it’s a very reasonable price while others just don’t want to pay so much to play a game. One of the panelists believe that subscription is fine if the game is updated regularly. On the other hand, someone from a Chinese publisher stated that only ten to twelve are subscription games in Korea. According to him, the market there is leaning towards subscription recently but it doesn’t hurt profits without it.

Secondary markets were also brought up during the debate. Some people suggested that this unstoppable plague should just be accepted one way or another, but some also expressed their fear regarding the matter. Apparently, bigger companies suffer when players just pay farmers rather than their service.

While real world trading is generally considered illegal, many believe that a game will be considered successful when secondary markets exist: when players are willing to spend actual money outside the game just for virtual items. As someone said,”all successful games have a secondary market.” In the end, they couldn’t come up with a solid way to approach this issue.

So, what payment method do you prefer? Should selling items and gold for real money be accepted? Tell us what you think.