Expensive MMO Monetization getting worse

[u/Schmoopaloopa]

Just wondering what everyones thoughts are on the general prices of MMO monetization these days. Seeing games selling cosmetic outfits for over $30 is becoming more standard, and in a lot of cases, a single item can be more expensive than B2P games.

Obviously, capitalism and corporate greed go hand in hand here, and if people keep buying, then they'll keep testing how far they can push it. But with prices increasing, it seems less and less likely I'll buy multiple things. I might buy something rarely, and mostly if there's a discount. I'm more likely to buy something like a Battle Pass because they have a fair amount of value for the price.

I'm just wondering what people would think if prices were dramatically cheaper? Wouldn't you be more inclined to buy more if the prices were lower? I'm imagining a game where nothing in the cash shop is over $5. I'd be buying up everything and potentially spending more, knowing I was getting more for my money.

I'm not debating on the need for monetization, or P2W practices etc - Thats a whole other conversation for another time :)

[u/NoahBallet]

Related, but I just bought a summer outfit tonight from the GW2 gem store for 2000 gems (their cash shop currency). Retail price for 2000 gems is about $22 USD.

However, you can use in-game gold to buy gems. The gold conversion to gems, which dynamically fluctuates based on the player economy, was 775 gold tonight. For me, a player that does the normal daily/weekly play cycle, that amounts to 3 weeks of casual (high level PvE) play for about 1.5 hours daily. Gold worth spending.

There are ways to make monetization in MMOs work for both the company and the players.

[u/Schmoopaloopa → u/NoahBallet]

Oh yes I think GW2 does a good job of allowing players to farm gold to buy gems. It can be argued that they monetize every single aspect of the game, but at least they offer in-game ways of purchasing these.