The Agency is a game that’s been on my radar for quite a while and that I’ve been pretty excited about. As a fan of Alias, James Bond, and any number of other espionage series, I definitely have been hooked by the notion of a game that touts a full MMORPG spy experience. After Sony Online Entertainment’s announcement yesterday, however, my hype for the game has come crashing down for a kick-in-the-face reality check. See, Sony wants players to use real money to buy their gear, clothes, vehicles, and weapons in the game, rather than actually play to earn the goodies. I, for one, am vehemently opposed to this microtransaction gaming model that defranchises anybody who just wants to pay a monthly fee to play and build their characters. Here’s a snippet of the official release from SOE:
Live Gamer, the premier operator of a publisher-supported marketplace for real money trading of virtual items, has announced it has entered into an agreement with Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) to offer real money trading (RMT) in the upcoming titles published by SOE – The AgencyTM and Free RealmsTM. The two companies are leading the evolution of the gaming industry into transaction-based business models that open emergent game play styles for gamers and opportunities for publishers.
Live Gamer’s service, called Live Gamer ExchangeTM, will provide the SOE gaming community within these new games with a trusted way to conduct real-money transactions. Earlier this year, Live Gamer incorporated SOE’s proven Station Exchange technology, the first publisher-developed and sanctioned RMT marketplace, into its own e-commerce platform. The Live Gamer Exchange is currently operating within EverQuest® II, SOE’s popular MMORPG (www.livegamer.com)
The next genre of SOE MMOGs to incorporate the Live Gamer Exchange will include:
* The Agency, a fast-paced online action shooter, will let players experience the life of an elite espionage agent with a “you are what you wear” level of customization. As they travel to exotic locales, infiltrate enemy organizations, and seek global domination for their own agency, gamers will be able to customize their characters through attire, weaponry, gadgets, vehicles, gear and aliases that tailor their game play.
There’s a mention of the possibility of The Agency being a free-to-play game that just requires money whenever players want to buy stuff for their characters, but even that seems pretty sketchy to me. The pay-for-loot business model might appeal to casual gamers who want to be able to log in and play for a couple of hours a week and might not have the time or attention span to work for the high-end content, but I can’t see how this RMT model will do anything but wreck any sense of accomplishment in the game for players who want the full gaming experience.
Source: Kotaku
