said by Snakeoil:That is how Dungeons and Dragons online does it. They have a "basic" land that you can wonder around in. Then if you want to to Dungeon crawling, you have to pay. Want to go to a new land area, you have to pay. Want more toon slots, you guessed it.
I hate the "nickel-and-diming" but I also understand that there are people/equipment on the other end that need money to keep working.
I've jumped back into Rift, since it went free to play. They sell boosts in the "money" store, mounts, pets, housing items, and some gear. But there is nothing in the store that would give you an edge over other players that don't pay.
I can't get an accurate list of everything in the store since it appears you need to be logged into the game to see it and I've never played, but any sort of boost (like XP, chances at better gear dropping, actual gear you can buy, amount of money you earn, etc.) give people who are willing to pay a subtle advantage over everyone else. It doesn't seem like a lot, but cumulatively, over time, it will still lead to a significant gap between "haves" and "have nots". Without that store, the only limitation would be in regards to how much time you had to invest to earn things the proper way.
"ARE THERE ANY RESTRICTIONS FOR FREE PLAYERS?
To combat gold farmers, free players are limited to 2,500 platinum and cannot sell items on the Auction house. Both of these restrictions are lifted if the player ever makes a credit pack purchase or if they spend credits purchased through REX. You can find more information on REX below."
Not being able to sell things on the auction house - in any game - is also a *huge* restriction to your ability to earn currency. I don't need to play the game to discern that.
World of Warcraft is adding some kind of in-game store in its next patch, and one of the items in it is going to be some kind of XP boost. It's speculated right now that it's only going to be available in certain places (like Asian countries) but it's still another step down that slippery slope. I have no real issues with a store when it comes to vanity items like mounts and pets or things that are purely cosmetic in nature. But even simple things like inventory or vault space give people willing to pony up money an edge. When you combine that with any kind of game that involves multiplayer situations like raids, it just creates a frustrating experience. Even if some of the things can be obtained in the game, the people who have money still get it all faster, and just leave everyone else behind. I felt like that when I played Star Trek Online, and was frustrated enough with that feeling I ended up paying for one month just to get some of the perks.
It's one thing when it's a single-player game where you exist in a vacuum and you're not exposed to all those people. But when you find yourself competing against people for raid slots and those people have faster access to better gear and the ability to earn money faster, it becomes unbalanced.