Turbine hiring for Microtransaction Manager
by Krystalle Voecks 
Jan 1st 2009 at 12:00PM
Filed under: Asheron's Call, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Lord of the Rings Online, Business models, Economy, MMO industry, News items
We've seen a steady growth in the arena of microtransactions over the last several years, with more and more Western companies noticing the lucrative practices Eastern MMO companies have; offering item malls to their players. After all, you really can't ignore the growth of companies like Nexon who are raking in more and more money each year with their free-to-play microtransaction model games. Recently, we've seen Sony Online Entertainment testing the waters in EverQuest and EverQuest II by including a small number of items available for players in their pilot in-game item malls, with promises to add more in the future. Now, it appears that we're starting 2009 with another Western company heading in the direction of adding microtransactions to their in-game landscape. Turbine, despite recent job cuts, has added several job postings in other departments. The one that caught our eye, however, was a recent posting for a "microtransaction/e-commerce manager" who will be in charge of "delivering and maximizing the revenue derived from Turbine's micro-transaction-based in-game store." They've kicked around the idea of adding microtransactions in interviews before, but this posting seems to support a definitive move in that direction.
Will we see item malls popping up in Turbine's games in 2009? What kinds of things are they seeking to add, we wonder. Will they be purely cosmetic items, like non-stat vanity clothing or allowing players to pay a monthly fee to keep their in-game housing? Or will this be more towards the Eastern model where you can get powerful armor and weapons from item malls? What this means for the future of Turbine's games Lord of the Rings Online, Dungeons and Dragons Online, and Asheron's Call is pretty much anyone's guess at this point. In any event, it's certainly going to be interesting to see how the shifts going on with companies like Turbine and SOE will impact the overall Western MMO industry.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Skypp said on 3:27PM 1-01-2009
I'll leave lotro so fast it'll make your head spin.
Total bull.
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VaultTecCEO said on 8:27AM 1-03-2009
It could be good for your little black book and your complexion. RTM could set a ton of people free from their time sink. :)
Tony said on 4:05PM 1-01-2009
I think it's extremely unlikely that they'd work this in to any existing game. They do have other things going on and honestly I wouldn't be surprised if this happened for anything they do in the console space.
Either way, I think it would be smart for most any MMORPG-centric company to have an employee that understands this system and can keep track of it for them.
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mikejl said on 8:21PM 1-01-2009
Actually with all the RP outlets in LOTRO (houses, music, outfits) makes sense for RMT items.
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Lateris said on 9:20PM 1-01-2009
Umm...no/ does everyone in America have be so damn greedy, stupid, and trendy?
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torak said on 12:29AM 1-02-2009
This site ran an interview with Jeff Steefle (CEO of Turbine) a few months ago where he was quoted saying that he wanted to do away with LotRs monthly sub.
New fiscal year....
Surprise, get ready for the Visa based loot.
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Tom said on 9:03AM 1-02-2009
I always love to see the "Chicken Littles" come out whenever microtransactions are mentioned.
If Steefle really wants to eliminate the subscriptions via MTs, I say it's worth considering. If LotRO offered special armors, mounts, etc., for a price in an MT transaction, I see no harm in that.
People who play in families are looking for ways to play games concurrently (i.e., via multiple accounts). Subscription-based games are just too pricey to do that. MT-based games, however, allow players to pick and choose what they pay for.
Ideal MTs are "add-ons" that they game should be perfectly playable without purchasing, an example might be paying $5 to allow your characters to do the mount quests at level 30 instead of 35 or the purchase of extra character slots or additional vault space, etc.
I don't see MTs coming to LotRO any time soon, but I do not fear them -- as long as they are handled in the right way.
Lateris said on 11:54AM 1-04-2009
If this happens the game will loose half its population and never recover. The LOTRO customer is not the same as the mere consumer market. They are making a huge mistake.
I now see Turbine taking the same route of SOE if it is true. And their sense of integrity will be damaged. This market is more trendy and frail than the music industry.
They should not do this with this game. This is what an investment of 40 million does. It screws over your customers.
Well done... let the Visa loot begin.
ReijMan said on 3:35AM 1-02-2009
If its more then RP-stuff, I'm out of there, lifetime subscription or not..... But on the other hand, I kinda trust them with LOTRO, they've been doing nothing but good.. imagine:
- 10hour full-account buddy code for €1
- uploaded textures (clothing paintings in house)
- uploaded music (music system² or in house)
- guild-forum / website
- phone chat-interaction with kinship-channel
Let's wait and see...
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Mimglow said on 9:50AM 1-02-2009
I got a survey by email from Turbine recently, and it focused pretty heavily on my reactions to adding micro-transactions to LOTRO. I made my thoughts pretty clear to them, but I don't know. Kinda looks like they're going full-steam ahead with this terrible capitalist idea.
Greed. For shame.
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Bam! said on 6:29PM 1-02-2009
This makes 100% sense for DDO and Asheron's Call. Lotro I dunno.
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Skipjack said on 9:35PM 1-02-2009
Oh please, no!
I think that buying ingame items for real money would be like buying gold from a goldfarmer -> something that I dont do! Now if this is required to advance in the game, then how is that playing a game anymore?
It is more of a "the one with the most money wins". Thats not fun to play and I will go elsewhere (not sure where right now because right now there is not much, I heard Age of Conan is kinda OK meanwhile though).
I dont have to play MMOs though, there are other ways to waste my time with.
I also think it would come close to betrayal over their lifetimes subscriptions, since the actual value of the subscription would be signifficantly reduced that way. That is just my personal opinion though.
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VaultTecCEO said on 8:25AM 1-03-2009
WoW does RMT but they do it with a Real Life Card game. They don't add any weapons or buff items in the sets of course. I am sure those who pull out LOTRO will live life better for not having to waste their time in an MMO they wouldn't enjoy because someone has the money to get something better then themselves. I mean after all why try to inject a way for a live experiment on social and economic values be placed in a game that is fantasy, Right, Right. You can go back to your D&D games if all else fails, or if that doesn't work, after all you know the Sun and friends are waiting for ya, you know, outside. Don't worry so much about RMT, in the long run you could get a nice tan and get back to the mall and spend money on real life buff items or clothing that makes your rump look smaller ladies or for you guys enlarge your weapon, if ya know what I mean :P. When you look at the possibilities, and believe me they are endless, go head, go outside, don't worry the radiation from the sun is much better for ya then the indoor pollution from your computer and dust partials that randomly fly about.
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Tronia said on 10:05PM 1-04-2009
Of course WoW doesn't sell armor and weapons using an RMT model. Why would they? You can AFK in battlegrounds and arenas and magically get epics. That f'ing game is so ezmode it's ridiculous. Yes, I played it for 4 years before leaving in disgust.
Sarr said on 9:39AM 1-03-2009
No worries. Read it from Developer:
http://community.codemasters.com/forum/showthread.php?t=328058
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Lateris said on 12:39PM 1-04-2009
Lesson learned for me. Here is is his thread- thanks man.
For what it is worth, one of the LoTRO devs frequents the EU forums and had this to say about it.
http://community.codemasters.com/fo...r.php?u=2944962
I think everyone in this thread that is distraught / angry / confused just needs to take a step back, and relax. Different transaction models are sometimes looked at to provide an alternative to the different type of gamers out there. I think our lifetime subscription was actually quite popular in Europe and in North America, but that sort of model would never work over in a place like Asia, where micro-transactions are the standard.
When people look at articles like this, you would think doomsday is coming and everyone should pack their bags and run.
Seriously people, we are not going to be selling the [sword of a thousand truths] for $50 that allows you to one shot all our or raid bosses, even if we decided to go with micro-transaction in the first place.
Wildcat84 said on 10:13AM 1-05-2009
Western players of MMORPG's are not going to accept "Macrotranscams" and a $14.99 sub fee.
And with SOE doing this at least they will do it badly and fail.
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