Cash shop gripe

anushk
anushk Posts: 4 Arc User
edited October 2008 in Cash Shop Huddle
I just spent some time reading through some of the issues people have with PWI and the cash shop and I wanted to add my own. First of all, I played WoW before this just for 40 days and so only spent $20 on the original game plus the trial account. I have played this game for 2 weeks appr. and have spent $80 Lol...why? because I am impulsive...but no biggy..but those PWI business guys do know what they are doing dont they? Anyways............

my only real gripe is the clothing dye process. I actually wrote a ticket about this and received no response. Here is an edited copy of what I sent with some additional comments at the end:

"After spending close to $6 USD just trying to dye a pair of pants the color I wanted so it would match the jacket I wear, and failing to achieve the proper color, I am starting to get frustrated. This amounts to gambling in my view, and you should be ashamed to take advantage of people in this way. There is no reason that you should not be able to buy specific colors in game, and furthermore to have the dying process be random and to have the clothes you buy be random colored is ridiculous.

According to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, section Section 5262 defines a bet:

*

as the staking or risking of property in order to win something of value based on the outcome of:
o

a contest of others
o

a sporting event, or
o

a game subject to chance
*

the purchase of a chance to win a lottery or other prize the award of which is predominantly subject to chance
*

the making of a wager prohibited under the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, or
*

as including "any instructions or information pertaining to the establishment or movement of funds by the bettor or customer in, to, or from an account with the business of betting or wagering."

Under these definitions, the fact that the clothing you buy in Perfect World is a random color, and that the pigment/dye process results in random colors, it is therefore a game subject to chance (i.e. what color clothing item you will end up with). Furthermore, being that most people will be spending real money (as in not virtual) on said items, with no guarantee that they will win the desired prize (i.e. Matching shirt and pants, or simply a piece of clothing of the desired color), and that people may end up spending different amounts of money to get the desired color, this would indeed be considered a bet by these definitions.

The Act goes on to specify that:

Excluded from the definition of "bet" are:

*

various business transactions like securities and commodities trading and insurance policies
*

participation in online games with no pay-to-play aspect and where the prizes are limited to free play of various games and
*

certain fantasy sports contests

I doubt that the above pigment process would be excluded from a definition of a bet, because it would have to be limited to free play of a game. In this case, there is an item of value being received (the right color clothing).

Basically you are running an in-game internet gambling site, however subtle, and given that many of your players are under the age of 18 years old, this is illegal for more than just being an online internet gambling site, which must have government authorization.

I highly suggest you change this aspect of your game, to avoid operating as an illegal internet gambling situation, and furthermore involving minors in it. Otherwise your website may become banned in many places. I am sorry to be so hard on your game, as I enjoy, but I will not allow myself and my fellow gamers be taken advantage of in this way. I am telling you this so you may design a more enjoyable, fair and honorable system for your gamers.

Please see: http://www.gambling-law-us.com/Federal-Laws/internet-gambling-ban.htm to view the page I received my information from."

That was my ticket, written more as a vent than actually expecting them to take me seriously.....I actually spent even more money than $6 dying clothes since that ticket..probably totalling $18 or so and I still didnt get the black pants I wanted! I got a shade pretty close though and I am calling it quits on buying pigment anymore...

but interestingly I did some more research on the company, and I did find that Perfect World Entertainment is directly involved in Online gambling! see http://www.canadianbusiness.com/markets/market_news/article.jsp?content=D92KOVL00

so they have discretely hidden a little bit of gambling in this game which is marketed to minors, IMO....

not a big deal....you can always just choose not to wear cool clothes in the game, or take the time to buy/find the pigment of your choice in the game...I just think it is lame is all. People should have more honor than that.....
Post edited by anushk on

Comments

  • Kingofhearts - Heavens Tear
    Kingofhearts - Heavens Tear Posts: 89 Arc User
    edited October 2008
    It's a growing trend with MMO's, the gambling thing. At least it's not as in-your-face and in the open like it is in some.......a lot of information about the current state of MMOs and gambling is here...http://webpages.acs.ttu.edu/mmetheni/Internet%20Gambling%20and%20the%20MMORPG.htm#_Toc121217230

    But in reality every time you kill a mob or boss you are gambling, playing with random odds and drop rates.
    Every time you use a celestial stone you are gambling, on whether it will be a success.
    Every time you craft a weapon or armor you are gambling.

    But I see your point. Spending real money for random dyes is like pulling the handle on a slot machine. Gets real expensive real quick.

    This is a grey area in mmos. I wouldn't be surprised to see some sort of future legislation that is more clear on the matter.
    "there is still much to be done"
  • gattsuru
    gattsuru Posts: 3,184 Arc User
    edited October 2008
    Not quite covered by the law. The prohibited wagers have to involve funds or goods with an actual, real-world value. You do not own anything within Perfect World, and you can never take ownership of these items. PWI allows you the use of items tied to your account, within the terms of the EULA, but you can't exchange them back into real money or claim to control them.

    That's settled and well-known law, which is pretty much the only saving grace here to protect the matter. It may actually not protect the Chinese version, due to a recent court case in China, but the United States allow slightly more ugly contracts.

    The random dye stuff is stupid, though. Making legal threats about it isn't quite the best response, but the development team really should just drop in the colors by themselves.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • anushk
    anushk Posts: 4 Arc User
    edited October 2008
    Its really just the fact that its a silly, inane system simply in place to generate profits for the company, showing little care for me as a player...I actually just read that whole 78 page thread that was closed and have come to the decision that I had alot more fun playing Wow (in retrospect), simply because it didnt feel like they were trying to rip me off...so I'd be happy to pay $15/month and know that it was a fair exchange in which I knew what I was getting vs. a system full of sneaky little ways that the company tried to suck extra money from me with. I am fairly new at this MMPORG thing in general and was kind of just sampling the waters. This game has way better graphics than the other games I played....but now every time I play there is this nasty feeling of having been used which has left me permanently soured on it. I am definitely spending no more money in their Zen store that is for sure.....
  • biggumboots
    biggumboots Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited October 2008
    gattsuru wrote: »
    Not quite covered by the law. The prohibited wagers have to involve funds or goods with an actual, real-world value. You do not own anything within Perfect World, and you can never take ownership of these items. PWI allows you the use of items tied to your account, within the terms of the EULA, but you can't exchange them back into real money or claim to control them.

    I was going to write the same thing but I see you covered it
  • anushk
    anushk Posts: 4 Arc User
    edited October 2008
    Yeah...I have decided to leave the game....there is just way more of a sense of community and support in a game that doesn't try to sneakily rip a person off in petty, underhanded ways...I have started to think that the developers dont really care about trying to attract community, instead they are simply riding on people's initial excitement when first starting the game to lead them to spend all this money to get things just right, which is why they haven't really lowered prices. They are not about creating a fair system in which people want to stay long term because they feel it is community driven and and honest system, instead they prey on people's desires and excitement and need to personalize their character to not just be a clone. They may have gotten $80 from me, but that is it. I am sure they know just what they are doing....motivation backed by greed, not gamer friendly = people not staying...I'll be sure to write the gaming reviews and forums elsewhere telling everyone not to waste time here.

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