Random Shots: Sticker Shock

• For as much as I love hearing his podcast, Shut Up, We're Talking, Darren from Common Sense Gamer posts the strangest things on his personal blog. The last couple of days, though, he's gone completely off his rocker and it's all over a horse. A rather expensive horse.


• The game in question is Runes of Magic and the horse is ten dollars.


• Does that shock you too? Would you balk at paying that much for jumble of electrons and light in your computer? Would it help if it was seven dollars or maybe five? Would it change your decision if you knew that all normal mounts expired after a certain duration but a $10 mount is permanent? Or how about if I told you that you could create a character, shop at the in-game store, and ride your horse right into the tutorial area? What if I told you that you could play the entire game for free but only had to pay real money for convenience like this horse?


• Tobold has the right of it when he says that money has differing values for different people. So for Darren, ten dollars maybe more than he's willing to stomach. For myself, considering I think nothing of paying fifty dollars to purchase a game then spend fifteen dollars a month to subscribe, ten dollars as a one-time purchase sounds like a good deal. Of course, the horse is tied to a specific character so players with many alts might think twice about purchasing mounts for each.


• Just as there is a decision to make about RMT vs. Subscriptions, there are a multitude of variations between RMT models. This is the reason why Dungeons & Dragons Online is allowing both RMT and subscriptions. There is no reason to drive away the audience just because they don't like your pricing model. Giving multiple ways to pay might help alleviate that sticker shock.

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© 2009 Marty Runyon. All rights reserved.
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