Well here we are already up to Issue 10, and it’s safe to say that the invention system has been a big success. And now as we all collect our shiny gadgets and gizmos, my thoughts turn to the virtual economy and it’s growth since crafting was introduced only a few months ago.

It’s amazing the differences in the City of Heroes auctions house vs. the City of Villains Black Market, and it really underscores something I’d long suspected but until now hadn’t confirmed. There are more people playing heroes, pure and simple. Yes, there are more rare drops in Heroes (Speed Katie, we’re going to miss you! Sniff) but the fact is I can list the same rare items on both sides, and in Heroes it will disappear fast, while in Villains it will linger on and on. A lack of demand and infamy means that things are cheaper and slower moving on the villains side. There has been a lot of call from the community about combining the two markets, but I’m not sure that this is the answer.

Would it make more sense to allow players to purchase infamy or items with cash? They’ve made a first step in this direction of micropayments with the impending arrival of character transfers from server to server. Testing now, you will soon be able to move from your home server to another one for $10. What other micropayment transactions will they add (or consider adding) in the months ahead? After all, I never thought I would want to purchase influence online but lately it has been on my mind. I tried surfing eBay but apparently they have stopped allowing items of “virtual” objects. So it’s up to new services to fill the gap. And they are springing up, too - like MMOBay which covers multiple games including City of Heroes, WoW (of course), Runescape and others. They pulled together a slick auction-style interface and an easy registration system to build their new trading community where you can buy WoW accounts, gold, and virtual items.

The fact that new systems like MMOBay.net are springing up underscores my point - eBay may not allow virtual item auctions but there is a demand and it will only grow as more people play MMO’s. The real point here is that “virtual” items are becoming more real to us by the day. Blue and I sat and talked about this for hours over dinner. The fact is that in my mind, the “things I buy” online are just as real as the ones I buy at the store. And I would have no problem paying cash for them - hell cash isn’t real any more either just a series of bits transferred electronically from bank to store and back The question is, will NCSoft or Cryptic recognize the growing demand and address it? And what would the community reaction be?

This entry was posted on Monday, July 30th, 2007 at 9:31 am and is filed under Chat. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.