Some of you may have heard of NCcoin - it's our brand new* company-based micropayment transaction system. Micropayment systems certainly aren't new to gaming, and the truth is we were long overdue for something like this. But it doesn't mean it WILL be used for every game. I think that's an easy assumption to make, but I don't think it is an accurate one. I'd be truly surprised if that ever happens. Regardless, I won't say never. I just think that's highly unlikely.
But I do know what it does mean...at least one more game will *eventually* accept NCcoin. It could be a game that's already out there or it could be a game that hasn't been released yet. It may be a combination of the two. We shall see.
There's a lot of flexibility here with NCcoin - not just for us, but for our customers. You can buy as much or as little as you want. Flat fees are very simple, very clear cut, but they don't consider how much game time you may actually use that month.
Several have expressed their concerns over NCcoin ...if people can buy their way out of actually 'gaming' you run the risk of souring the whole 'work hard for what you want' experience. I think City of Heroes players in particular were worried about that (despite the fact I haven't heard a thing about COH accepting NCcoin). Either way, no matter what the game may be it HAS to be carefully balanced in order for it to work.
Right now you can only use NCcoin to buy items in Exteel, but what if you could purchase time with it in other games? Think of it as a parking meter...you don't need that parking spot for a whole month, so you just pay for the time you actually do use.
It may or may not work. I honestly don't know. Assuming you have the same amount of customers as before it could possibly bring in LESS revenue. It also could be abused by botters, social engineers, and other bad boys and girls who should know better. But on the other hand, the business model may attract additional players who may not have otherwise bothered to play at all.
Speaking of time, as of today you can use game time cards to purchase NCcoin:
Exteel Announcement
NCcoins expire a year after their purchase date, but that's a good thing. You don't ever have to worry about spending it all right away. You can if you want, but there is no pressure.
*'New' was when we launched Exteel (months ago)
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There's always the concern for "oh that's not fair!", especially when you look at how most other online companies handle their microtransaction-based MMO's. I think the trick is to find a way to use the NCCoins in a way that's appropriate for the game. For an example, selling rare Invention recipes/salvage would not be acceptable for COx. Lighthouse asked us COx players what we thought, and for me I think NCCoins would make an excellent additional payment option for us.
There are more than a few players out there who use NCSoft's timecards instead of credit/debit cards. Maybe they're ineligible to get one, don't want one, are afraid of identity theft, whatever. Because of that they could not buy anything for City of Heroes they may have wanted; transfers/renames, costume packs, and soon character slots. If all those items had a real-dollar amount plus a NCCoin amount, they could use the timecards for NCCoins, get what they want and everyone's happy.
This also helps with another issue concerning the items and services COx sells; gifting. If everything could be paid directly with money or NCCoin, I could buy a NCSoft Timecard, email/pm/tell them the number, and tell them "happy birthday" or whatever. Likewise, it would be a means for me as a SG leader to give out a real reward, prize, whatever to the people in my SG. Heck; in typical COH fashion I could just go up to some new player who's all in awe of something from the Wedding or GVE costume packs and say, "Well, here, why don't you get one for yourself?"
There's a lot of potential for good to come out of this, I think. On top of that, having multiple games for NCCoins to be used makes them a lot more worthwhile to players. Someone with a few extra coins might well decide to take a look at Exteel and spend the coins there, or buy more coins with that in mind. That benefits NCSoft (coin purchase) and Exteel (coin usage); given Exteel's hybrid revenue model (ads and microtrans) the more spent the better. We want a healthy, thriving game, yeah?
Oh, I'm Chikahiro on Exteel's boards, and Psyte on COH's boards. You guys (and I mean that as NCSoft in general) are doing a great job and I'm very happy with all my NCSoft experiences :)
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