Pay to Win?

Mike Rose's article included a lot of common and new topics regarding the ethics behind pay to play and free to play games.  Throughout the article I kept being reminded of my own spending habits when it comes to the mmo I play, TERA.  I used to feel bad about spending real money on the game, but then I realized that it is worth the money because of the social rewards I gain.  TERA isn't pay to win, however some mounts now come with boosts, so it is definitely starting to lean in that direction.  The way I justify my spending is that if I weren't paying$11 on some fake item, I would be spending it elsewhere like a movie or food.  Since I spend a majority of my time in this game, it's definitely worth it.  However, I don't spend as much as a "whale" as Mike explains.  I spend maybe on average $10 a month on the game, which is actually less than if you pay for the subscription for better perks for $14.

A lot of the issue with the pay to win tactics seems to be that it is a form of gambling.  Companies are always out to get money and the gambling and random chance definitely encourage it.  I don't see it as a bad thing though.  Someone has to pay the company's employees.  Haha.  It takes a certain type of person to become a "whale", and as long as their spending is justified, I don't think it's a problem.  There is always someone who is addicted to something in a poor way, but since games are newer, people worry too much about it.  I can name multiple people who blow thousands on dvds each year.  Games are just being monitored a lot.

One problem though with pay to win types of games, is that it can ruin immersion and also take away from developing other aspects of the game.  My example with TERA is that the company knows we realllly like costumes.  They put out more costumes than other content, which is nice (because I'm a tera player and we love costumes)!  But people have been seeing it as milking the game.  It's starting to become a slightly older game, but it has amazing mechanics.  We just hope there will be more pvp related content soon.

Overall it's really up to the player what they feel is right to spend on a game.  If it becomes too much of a problem, they will realize it.  If they don't seek help then maybe there is another factor causing this.  But like I said, the only real problem is that companies aren't developing other aspects of the game to make it more fun.  Its nice that mmo's lately aren't doing pay to win though.