Marr 1 Zachery Marr Professor Jeannie Levy English 1102 10 February 2014 Inflated Perception in MMORPGs Video games

are to the early second millennium what television was to the late fifties: a new, highly interactive form of entertainment. Video games have come a long way since their early years of Atari and arcade machines. Modern video games often feature stunningly realistic graphics, engrossing story campaigns and highly addictive, timeconsuming gameplay. Out of all the genres of modern video games, one particular genre has outclassed all other genres in terms of its capacity to devour a players spare time and induce addictive behavior; that genre is the MMORPG, or Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game. Players of this genre of video game are infamous for spending large amounts of money and time on these games or even outright killing themselves to preserve their virtual honor. If life, financial security and free time are things that you value, avoid playing an MMORPG at all costs. Case in point number one: micro transactions. A micro transaction is a small, seemingly insignificant purchase of a virtual or in game item (PCGamer.com, Microtransactions: the good, the bad and the ugly). Micro transactions are the
Figure 1: Horse Armor; Image obtained from <http://www.joystiq.com/2009/02/01/bethesda-ranksoblivion-dlc-horse-armor-still-selling/>

business models of many MMO games that present themselves as being free to play, that

Marr 2 is, they require no subscription, but certain game features are gated behind a pay wall (McKinney, The 10 Most Insulting Things Video Games Charged Money For). Micro transactions are often enough to sustain a free to play MMO for its entire lifetime. Players who encounter a major obstacle, for example, will spend a meager two to three dollars on an item that gives them the power to overcome the obstacle. The problem with micro transactions comes when a single player spends the equivalent of that months mortgage on a video game. A good example of how, lets say viable, micro transactions are as a business model is the recent space battle that took place in the popular EVE Online MMO. Because a single player forgot to pay his subscription fee and went offline briefly, a large, virtual battle ensued which was valued
Figure 2: "Titanomachy"; Image obtained from <http://community.eveonline.com/news/dev-blogs/thebloodbath-of-b-r5rb/>

at anywhere from three-hundred to five-hundred thousand dollars in micro transactions (Elise, 'EVE Online' Battle Cost: Virtual War Damages Valued At $500,000). Case in point number two: suicide. It is not the least bit unheard of for a player, though not specifically an MMO player, to kill themself over something that transpired in a video game. Seriously. Some players consider a video game as being worth more than their own life. Shawn Woolley was one such player (Kohn, Addicted: Suicide Over Everquest?) (picture). Granted, he did have a history of mental illness. Woolley was found dead in his apartment. He had apparently shot himself over a game of Everquest.

Marr 3 Video games have evolved, and with them, so have the ways in which the video games can devour the players wallets. Other video game genres are following suit, employing downloadable content (DLC) as a means of getting on the microtransactions train. Regardless of how gamers intend to spend their money, however, special caution should be taken around MMORPGs. Their leech-like ability to siphon cash from players wallets is likely on a level that will turn stories of their ploys into cautionary tales in the days to come.

Marr 4 Works Cited CCP Dolan. Titanomachy. Image. The Bloodbath of B-R5RB, Gamings Most Destructive Battle Ever. EVE Online Developer Blog, 1 February 2014. Web. 20 February 2014. Elise, Abigail. 'EVE Online' Battle Cost: Virtual War Damages Valued At $500,000. International Business Times, 30 January 2014. Web. 10 February 2014. Kohn, David. Addicted: Suicide Over Everquest. CBS News. 17 October 2002. Web. 10 February 2014. McElroy, Griffin. Horse Armor. Image. Bethesda Ranks Oblivion DLC, Horse Armor Still Selling. Joystiq, 1 February 2009. Web. 20 February 2014. McKinney, Luke. The 10 Most Insulting Things Video Games Charged Money For. Cracked. Demand Media. 14 November 2011. Web. 18 February 2014. PCGamer. Microtransactions: the good, the bad, and the ugly. PCGamer. Future plc. 03 November 2013. Web. 18 February 2014.