Will Blizzard Break The Balance Of Gaming?
August 7th 2008 03:48
Blizzard have shaken up the World Of Warcraft and gaming in general by introducing a scheme to allow players to gain in-game benefits by recruiting extra members to their subscription service.
Some of these are fairly innocuous, such as linking players to allow them to play together more easily, but others will allow players to progress faster, earn more experience and receive unique items.
The potential for these 'incentives' to entice new players to a game should be pretty disturbing to the average gamer. In the fiercly competitive MMO space the battle for subscriptions could tempt developers to take even more extreme steps. Characters becoming more powerful per player they sign up can only upset the balance of the game, making the contest not about spell casting or melee ability, but about how well you can network and sell the game to others. In fact, the more you consider this tactic to gain subscribers, the more it sounds like one of those presentations you sat through from one of your friends who had this “amazing new way to make easy cash”...
In a time where gaming is becoming more mainstream, we as the gaming community need to be aware of the changing landscape of our hobby. In game advertisements are the beginning. New game modes based around promotions (thanks Vegas 2) take it a step further. Free games with purchasable DLC that allow players to gain advantage by spending more money swings the game away to succeed by investing time, but rather cash.
Let's hope that the commercialisation of gaming does not create a divide between gamers and payers.
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