What I want - a beneficial micro-transaction system

[Voodoovaj]

(Discalimer: I retired from the games industry so I have a background in these things)

First off, if GT6 isn't going to have micro-transactions some version in the future will.

The obvious method will be to charge us for cars. Plain and simple. The problem is that even I, a massive GT fan, will not play the game if I have to buy the best cars. I might buy the initial release, but my spending will be limited. I won't spend $1 for every car I want, resulting in hundred of dollars straight to Sony.

What I will do though is pay for community generated content. Sony can sell us the game and keep the updates and new content coming as they have to this point. Just give the community the ability to lock their settings and sell their tuned cars to other members. Sony can take a % of the sale. The lock would be needed to protect the hard work of the person who tuned the car.

Freemium has proven that people will pay primarily for elements that save them time. So, if a player wants to tune a car themselves, have at it. Or, you can pay another player to do it for you. As far as the money goes, simply debit and credit PSN accounts. I would totally sell my tuned cars to earn credit towards other games.

I know someone at Sony reads through the forum from time to time to pass along ideas, so here's hoping that this idea gets through.

 

[mcfizzle]

No way would I ever pay real money for someone's tune or custom livery. Not a chance I would even consider it. However, PD should set up a marketplace and allow purchasing custom cars/items with in-game credits.

 

[Ills1999]

(Discalimer: I retired from the games industry so I have a background in these things)

First off, if GT6 isn't going to have micro-transactions some version in the future will.

The obvious method will be to charge us for cars. Plain and simple. The problem is that even I, a massive GT fan, will not play the game if I have to buy the best cars. I might buy the initial release, but my spending will be limited. I won't spend $1 for every car I want, resulting in hundred of dollars straight to Sony.

What I will do though is pay for community generated content. Sony can sell us the game and keep the updates and new content coming as they have to this point. Just give the community the ability to lock their settings and sell their tuned cars to other members. Sony can take a % of the sale. The lock would be needed to protect the hard work of the person who tuned the car.

Freemium has proven that people will pay primarily for elements that save them time. So, if a player wants to tune a car themselves, have at it. Or, you can pay another player to do it for you. As far as the money goes, simply debit and credit PSN accounts. I would totally sell my tuned cars to earn credit towards other games.

I know someone at Sony reads through the forum from time to time to pass along ideas, so here's hoping that this idea gets through.

I will move along to find free content. This economy has taken away the ability for people who create actual tangible goods from reaping the rewards of such labor. I do not choose to view those who work in software development as some sort of protected class whose labor must be valued above others.

 

[ImaRobot]

Pay real money for a car tune? No thanks. Like someone mentioned a few posts before, a marketplace using in game credits should be implemented. If someone wants to spend extra money on this game, it should only be on obtaining high priced cars. I'm even iffy on that to, though.

 

[Samus]

No thanks.

 

[Tornado]

Nevermind paying real money for something other games do with in game money. How exactly would Sony do this without running afoul of every government in the world in regards to taxation?

 

[eran0004]

Why? I think the sharing of cars and tunes works pretty good in GT5. There's no point in having people pay for it.

 

[MisterWhiskers]

That's creative, but not such a good idea.

 

[Downhill Dino]

Nevermind paying real money for something other games do with in game money. How exactly would Sony do this without running afoul of every government in the world in regards to taxation?

How do free-to-play games do it then?

Although this play for someone else to tune idea is not bad, just don't do it with real money. In-game currency will work just fine. As long as money isn't easy to obtain I suppose.

 

[Tornado]

How do free-to-play games do it then?

Freemium games where you pay the company making the game is easy to work out; since the company who made the game just pays the taxes.


But how many games have you paying other players for new content as an official game feature, to the extent that (having seen how many downloads good liveries and tunes on Forza get) it could be counted as supplemental income? Would putting a livery or tune on a marketplace to be paid real money on be something that would be considered a sale; with Sony's role being like a finder's fee? If so, how would sales tax be calculated?

 

[CayenneGT]

Paying for tuning? That's gonna piss off a lot of people and lower the rep of PD.

 

[ShiftingGears]

Awful.

 

[maxpontiac]

First off, if GT6 isn't going to have micro-transactions some version in the future will.

I agree with you to a degree.

The obvious method will be to charge us for cars. Plain and simple.
What I will do though is pay for community generated content.

I see both of these being offered to users in the long run.

I would totally sell my tuned cars to earn credit towards other games.

However, with great websites such as this, I don't see this happening. For one, it would alienate the community.

I know someone at Sony reads through the forum from time to time to pass along ideas, so here's hoping that this idea gets through.

I personally do not. I don't mind paying for a full game when it releases and in fact, I will even pay for DLC when I feel the developer has earned my support. I believe the model in practice should stay as it is now.

 

[Foxiol]

No, just no.

If the game becomes free to play it can be reasonable. But still no. Sorry.

 

[Downhill Dino]

But how many games have you paying other players for new content as an official game feature, to the extent that (having seen how many downloads good liveries and tunes on Forza get) it could be counted as supplemental income? Would putting a livery or tune on a marketplace to be paid real money on be something that would be considered a sale; with Sony's role being like a finder's fee? If so, how would sales tax be calculated?

Would paying real money for in-game money make a difference?

 

[mcfizzle]

Would paying real money for in-game money make a difference?

Maybe I'm confused what you are getting at but I would say in-game currency that I just used to buy an oil change in GT5 and the $20 in my pocket are about as different as you can get. If you pay me in GT credits I don't think I need to report that as income to any government unless of course PD would like to take the simulation to that level.

 

[Downhill Dino]

That's pretty much what I was getting at.

 

[Suzumiya]

No.

Nononononono. Nooooooo. I'm sorry, but I do not like these micro-transaction things at all. I already payed for the game, why do I have to pay more for an extra ability or whatever it is? I'm sorry, I mean, really sorry, but GT isn't a mobile app. :/

 

[IceMan PJN]

Nevermind paying real money for something other games do with in game money.

Pretty much this.

In Forza I mainly downloaded free tuning setups, vinyls, or liveries ("free" doesn't always mean "bad" since some folks just share their work) but sometimes paid a small amount of in-game credits for them. I would never, ever even give a moment's thought to spending real money on them.

 

[Griffith500]

Deeper monetisation is not something we should be asking for.

 

[psychoazubi]

Online market where you can buy cars, colors, helmets and stuff like that (no setups!) from other users or trade (maybe something like a ferrari for a fiat + 300.000 credits). That would be nice. But everthing with ingame money/credits not real money

 

[GTPorsche]

Only if it's an optional thing.

Mandatory microtransactions hurt the overall experience.

 

[Monatsende]

DLC based games - let`s say games that only make fun if you buy additional DLC - are on my "skip that" list. 100% for sure. Even if it`s GT6.

50-65 Euro for a brandnew game is, well, NOT cheap. It should include a complete game. And speaking of games in general: Nothing against DLC, like a new story, special gears and stuff. But if it ends in: "You payed for 2 hours gaming. You want more? Pay for it!" No, thanks.

I love gaming, companies have to make money to pay the bills and there`s nothing wrong in making profit. Surely I have to pay for good games. But I won`t be a cash cow if it becomes too obvious.

If there should be a trend towards "Buy half a game and we charge you to make it complete." or "We give you 20 cars. You want more? Pay for it!" I´m sure that`s the end of (console) gaming in the long run. There will always be an alternative. At least skipping console gaming and play football outside in real life.

 

[avens]

I actually like the concept behind DLC, because it's an incentive for companies to keep supporting their games just like they did on the late 90s-early2000s on the pc for free.
Perfecting, adding or supporting a product or activity I like = great success.