CSM and Micro Transactions

Dense Veldspar has a short article about the CSM Dev Blog, the blog and then the comments are worth a read.

The Dev Blog talks about the meetings they had with CCP and also some of the processes that occur during the regular meetings that are held between CCP and the CSM.

For those late to the game the CSM is a representative body voted for by the capsule pilots to provide a conduit between us and CCP, the folks who make Eve Online.

The comments section of the Dev Blog post is what has interested me the most as the continuing delusion and stupidity about micro transactions (one word or two?) continues.

It is this simple.

We already have micro transactions (two words looks better).

You can currently, legally, with CCP’s blessing, use real life money, or US dollars which is close enough, and use them to buy a time card, this time card can then be transferred into in game ISK via the PLEX system.  You now have ISK which once was real life money.

Use your new ISK to buy something, I don’t care what you buy, Megathron or even Mizara’s Doll (This doll is old and well-worn. It still smells faintly of brown sugar.)

The only thing that micro transactions will do is simplify the process.  For instance I could login to the Eve Online store, purchase a Megathron, fitted or un-fitted perhaps, pay my $7.95 for an un-fitted and then use that ship when I login to the game after a hard day of <insert your profession here>.

All that can be done now, just not as neatly.

The problem I can see is if these transactions are also allowed for buying of skills, skill remapping, etc etc.

Come Incarna, or whatever it will be called, complete stores like as exists in Second Life could spring up in the stations, Eve Online could become Second Life as it should scale much better (I hope) and will certainly look much nicer.

So by that stage a multi faceted game would exist, the space part much as it is now, Incarna for the Second Life and Sims crowd, and Dust 514 for the console ADHD kiddies.

To me it sounds very interesting, and it could turn out well, but I’m under no illusion that we have plenty of pain between now and then.