# Gamehackery: Microtransactions for RPGs



## Nagol (May 25, 2013)

Pathfinder is effectively a micro-transaction model now.

The game rules are effectively free.    Grab the PFSRD and start playing!


You can buy a pretty formatted copy or PDF if it's convenient and it comes with more colour text and a lot of pictures.

You can buy gazetteers/maps (with various levels of purchase choice) if you don't want to build the world yourself. 

You can buy (with various levels of purchase choice) adventures/AP to run if you don't want to build it yourself.

Paizo is following the guidelines pretty well.


Paizo doesn't treat its players as the enemy as the testament of it many ardent fans would indicate.  IT tries to keep transparent and constant communication with the player base and include that base in a whole bunch of free-to-participate activities.
You can't buy in-game currencies -- so this has been taken to the logical extreme and is arguably the only way to approach a RPG since it is run by agents outside your control anyway.
GMs by the nature of the role can't buy power.  Players could be buying power through crunchy splat books, but look! Those rules are free in the PFSRD.
The subscription model, the PFSRD model, and the focus on convenience items like APs were the original business plan.
The community is split by its nature (individual tables run by non-hive mind DMs), but the default rule base is the same and any table has access to any area at the whims of the members.


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## delericho (May 25, 2013)

Yep. Fortune Cards are essentially the start of this. I can also see them trying to do some microtransaction-based approach to adding supplements to the next version of the Character Builder - whether they do that on a per-book or per-item basis I'm not sure.

It's probably an approach that would make them considerable revenue. Like the subscription model of the DDI, I suspect it's the future of D&D. It's also something that I want no part of.


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## ColonelHardisson (May 25, 2013)

I imagine it would have to be something that wouldn't alienate old school players, many of whom have shown more interest in Next because of WotC's willingness to listen, the old school nature of much of what we've seen with Next, and the back catalog being released as pdfs on DnDClassics. WotC has shown an awareness of just how alienating their past decisions have been, and seems determined to not make the same mistakes. So that's why I agree it won't be anything fundamental to the game itself. So, yeah, convenience products sound more plausible. 

It struck me that perhaps they would offer individual parts of rulebooks for sale - that is, a player could buy the details of the class they want to play, rather than a whole Players Handbook. This could work for new players who want to try out the game without making the investment in a book, and for those players who simply refuse to buy books in the first place, and borrow those of others to create characters or refer to rules. It would also serve as a good lure to the buying of the entire books; a lot of players would likely want the whole book after an initial taste. Now, I don't think it's very likely at all for this to be one of the types of microtransactions WotC wants to do; I'm just tossing out an idea.


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## Mike Eagling (May 25, 2013)

Isn't there a DnD iPad app coming soon? The micro-transaction Czar might have been employed in relation to that.

Still, M-Ts and subscriptions are likely to be things a company the size of WotC will try out elsewhere. I'm not sure they'll work--other than in relation to the ways they're currently used (i.e. DDI and "the Paizo model" described by [MENTION=23935]Nagol[/MENTION]) but I can't really blame them for trying.


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## Mike Eagling (May 25, 2013)

ColonelHardisson said:


> It struck me that perhaps they would offer individual parts of rulebooks for sale ... Now, I don't think it's very likely at all for this to be one of the types of microtransactions WotC wants to do; I'm just tossing out an idea.




You snuck in whilst I was writing my comment but I very nearly made a joke about releasing the Monster Manual as individual pages/cards, Pokemon-stylee!


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## ColonelHardisson (May 25, 2013)

Mike Eagling said:


> You snuck in whilst I was writing my comment but I very nearly made a joke about releasing the Monster Manual as individual pages/cards, Pokemon-stylee!




Even as a joke, that makes me cringe. 

I think releasing player material as microtransactions could work, and could even help sell PHs. Of course, this is assuming that they don't go OGL with Next, and no freely-available SRD is available.


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## Funkmaster Rick (May 26, 2013)

Somehow, I have the sneaking suspicion that in an office somewhere, there's a Wizards executive saying "I think players should pay us a dollar every time they play a campaign.  And two dollars if they want to be a wizard!"

Heh.  4e kinda ruined WotC for me.  That being said, I will be very interested to learn how this plays out.

My guess is a mixture of selling convenience online (like the character builder tools of 4e) and mini-books.  PF has some books talking about individual classes and options for a handful of dollars each.  I just we don't end up seeing important, necessary options locked behind additional pay-walls (on top of buying the books!).


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## Radiating Gnome (May 26, 2013)

I'm not sure that any of the models I posed are particularly likely.  If we really wanted something that was Free-to-play MMO-like, it would have to be tied to a living campaign -- which isn't beyond the realms of possibility, but it would mean reversing their trends in that area. 

No, I haven't seen a plan that I really like. Ultimately, it has to enhance play somehow without being a requirement.  But the hobby is so easily enhance-able by players  and DMs as they play, the idea just breaks down.  

Nope. Still not satisfied with an idea yet.  

-rg


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## Mike Eagling (May 26, 2013)

Radiating Gnome said:


> But the hobby is so easily enhance-able by players  and DMs as they play, the idea just breaks down.




I think this is the crux of the matter. Your posts regarding micro-transactions and subscriptions have prompted me to wonder how they might work in the context of RPGs. Try as I might I've yet to come up with anything that's plausible, mostly because players would either ignore the paywall and do-it-themselves, or turn to a third party who did the same thing in a less money-grabbing way.

I'm heartened by this but also a little disappointed because I can't sell the idea and retire somewhere sunny


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## Funkmaster Rick (May 26, 2013)

Radiating Gnome said:


> But the hobby is so easily enhance-able by players  and DMs as they play, the idea just breaks down.




I'm reminded here of the shift that occurred sometime between 2e and 3.5; 2e accepted that rules would be discarded, utilized, or made up as needed by the DM, and generally gave the DM a lot of freedom - later on, at some unspecified point (I can't put a finger on exactly when), things began to emphasize the rules system as an impartial judge, rather than the DM.

Specifically, I'm sure I've seen some source material that states, more or less, "If the DM doesn't give you this, argue it with him; it's important to the class, and balance."

If they take the latter view, which I expect they will as a matter of course, then they're basically alienating the older crowd of DMs (already done, for the most part =p ) by saying "our way or the highway" while, at the same time, ensuring that they can sell micro-transactions because the DM becomes little more than a breathing Xbox.


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## Mark CMG (May 26, 2013)

I seem to recall when the Virtual Tabletop was still in the offing there was talk of micro-transactions for virtual minis.


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## Mike Eagling (May 26, 2013)

Mark CMG said:


> I seem to recall when the Virtual Tabletop was still in the offing there was talk of micro-transactions for virtual minis.




That actually seems reasonable.


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## Dannyalcatraz (May 26, 2013)

The people who made the video had many excellent points.

Personally, one of the things that pissed me off about DDI was stuff forever hidden behind the paywall.  That certain official material was forever in digital only form- IOW, never to see publication in a physical book- was kind of the final element prompting to me giving DDI the eternal middle digit.

But I can see a lot of sense in micro transactions being a good model for character icons/"minis" in a well-done virtual tabletop.

I'd also like to see that virtual tabletop open to 3rd party visual elements from players or even other companies, perhaps via a Character-maker toolkit program- available in stores near you!!!- so the tabletop can be just as customized as a tabletop homebrew.

I know some well-heeled gamers would pay for a pro to do their PC in the style of Brom or weem...possibly even those artists themselves would be interested in doing that kind of thing.


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## zigmenthotep (May 26, 2013)

Funkmaster Rick said:


> I'm reminded here of the shift that occurred sometime between 2e and 3.5; 2e accepted that rules would be discarded, utilized, or made up as needed by the DM, and generally gave the DM a lot of freedom - later on, at some unspecified point (I can't put a finger on exactly when), things began to emphasize the rules system as an impartial judge, rather than the DM.
> 
> Specifically, I'm sure I've seen some source material that states, more or less, "If the DM doesn't give you this, argue it with him; it's important to the class, and balance."
> 
> If they take the latter view, which I expect they will as a matter of course, then they're basically alienating the older crowd of DMs (already done, for the most part =p ) by saying "our way or the highway" while, at the same time, ensuring that they can sell micro-transactions because the DM becomes little more than a breathing Xbox.



Yes, this a thousand times this. As soon as I heard "Dungeons & Dragons" and "microtransaction" in the same sentence, this was the first thing that popped into my head.

Player: does a 26 hit?
DM: how did you roll a 26? your attack bonus should only be 3.
Player: I bought +5 to attack rolls for 24 hours.
DM: You can't buy attack bonus.
Player: Yes I can, it says so in the player's guide.
DM: I don't even know why we play this hypothetical worst case scenario version of D&D!


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## dd.stevenson (May 27, 2013)

Radiating Gnome said:


> There are other ideas out there -- what comes to YOUR mind when you think about how a potential micro transaction model for D&D might play out?



I think the real answer is in the job description you posted: "Provide strategic and tactical ecommerce and *merchandising *leadership on Dungeons & Dragons to drive revenue using micro and macro-transaction models." That's it, right there: merchandising. D&D board games, D&D card games, D&D CRPGS, D&D toys, D&D movies (preferably of the non-suck variety) all would offer better chances for microtransactions than the TTRPG market.

I know: that's probably not what you meant. So how could they push microtransactions into the TTRPG market? I find this question is a lot easier to answer if I flip it around. How could a game company add value to your games in minor, repeatable ways?

When framed this way, a few ideas come to mind.

*1. A Slick Player Finder*
Although WotC has done this community a huge disservice in the way they've fragmented this already too-small market, this problem does come with an implied need for a solution--one that goes beyond what's available now on EnWorld and Meetup. I'm thinking of a facebook/linkedin hybrid that's built for endorsements and networking. Something that would allow me to easily determine whether a given player would be a great match for the game I'm running, and would afford me a pretty complete list of the active gamers in my area and timezone. It would have to be executed well, of course, to mitigate trolls and other stupidity, but a well done resource along these lines would have the potential to redefine the entire market.

*2. A -Pedia of DM Notes*
Personally my favorite moments of D&D related web browsing have been when I stumble on a freely posted map, along with some great, idea-rich notes about how to run the thing. A site that was just jam-packed with this kind of content would be worth visiting often, at least in my book. I think the main hurdle to creating such a site would be on the technology side: we need a format that's so hopelessly awesome that DMs want to post their notes there rather than just relying on OneNote/Evernote/3-Ring Binders.

I have a couple of other ideas but they'll have to wait--I use the chrome plugin StayFocused to limit my web browsing, and it's telling me that I'm done with EnWorld for today.


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## Mark CMG (May 27, 2013)

I wonder if they will pursue and online board game component like Days of Wonder has.


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## delericho (May 27, 2013)

Mark CMG said:


> I seem to recall when the Virtual Tabletop was still in the offing there was talk of micro-transactions for virtual minis.




I remember that. I also remember them quietly shelving the idea, when it was made pretty clear to them that it wasn't going to fly.

Of course, things may have changed. Amongst other things, if they don't have a VTT platform, there's not a lot of point in having virtual minis to use with it.


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## Mark CMG (May 27, 2013)

delericho said:


> I remember that. I also remember them quietly shelving the idea, when it was made pretty clear to them that it wasn't going to fly.
> 
> Of course, things may have changed. Amongst other things, if they don't have a VTT platform, there's not a lot of point in having virtual minis to use with it.





Probably not, though I suppose they could make virtual minis for other people's virtual tabletops and even virtual counter sets.


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## dd.stevenson (May 28, 2013)

Radiating Gnome said:


> There are other ideas out there -- what comes to YOUR mind when you think about how a potential micro transaction model for D&D might play out?



This is a continuation of my earlier post.


*3. On Demand Cardboard Minis, Game Mats, & Face Cards*
Anything that needs to be printed out on cardstock and requires an art asset would be a great candidate for a Print on Demand micro transaction model. For this to work, the publishing industry really needs to get to a point where most gamers (DMs in particular) have quick, easy access to a printer. Like if I could drive down to the printer in 15 minutes and get $8.99 worth of cardboard stock, I'd probably be willing to do so. I don't live in the states, but last time I checked we weren't there yet. But this strikes me as something to watch for in the future.

*4. Co-Option DMs*
This isn't really a micro-transaction model, so much as a marketing strategy. 

A major problem with TTRPG materials is that they depend on the DM rather than the players to make the purchases. What if there were an easy way for players to purchase merchandise that also allowed to credit a portion of their purchase price to their DM's account? I don't know if I've seen this tried before (though undoubtedly it has; I'm probably just not aware of it). This kind of pricing scheme, if done right, would introduce a very subtle form of peer pressure for all group members to regularly buy products from whatever source the DM purchases his/her game materials. In effect, it would leverage the DM's position within the group to market whatever the company decided to try to sell.

*5. Pizza & Beer*
This isn't a serious suggestion, but I think it bears mentioning that, at the moment, food and beverages are the only micro transactions that most gamers associate with their hobby. If a hobby product could insinuate itself into the market such that it was mentioned in the same breath as "Pizza & Beer" then they'll have made it.

*I'll Say it Again: Merchandising*
I don't think that WotC at any rate will be worrying their little heads about any of these ideas. All indications seem to be that their ten-year strategy calls for merchandising to push the D&D brand into other markets, while relying on new settings to generate fresh trade dress every couple years. Which, while probably not ideal for TTRPG fans, is also far from the worst case scenario.


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## Lalato (May 29, 2013)

When I think of micro-transactions in relation to D&D I think of... 

* purchase individual issues or articles/adventures of Dragon and Dungeon magazines. 
* purchase individual art prints from D&D books and magazines.
* purchase small digital apps and games (remember their failed digital strategy that included online versions of their board games? I would totally pay .99 for unlimited play of Vegas Showdown online).
* give users free WotCBucks for participating in the community. WotCBucks can be redeemed for the above noted as well as WotC branding Merch. You could even allow people to purchase extra WotCBucks. Maybe even allow people to gift WotCBucks to other community members (for example, when a forum member posts a new class or CharOp guide).


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