The Twitch streamer Asmongold is known for his livestreams of World of Warcraft, but he also has experience with many other MMORPGs. Recently, he expressed negative views about the planned shop in New World. He is bothered by the convenience items, which in his eyes are only necessary because the developers intentionally make their game worse.
What’s up with the shop in New World? The trigger for the current discussion was a leak about the shop in New World. It was said that boosts for experience points and crafting were planned, which could then be purchased for real money.
Some already see this as a form of Pay2Win. Others refer to the boosters as Pay2Convenience. You pay to make things easier in the game, but therefore do not become stronger in the long run than players who do not spend money.
Even the Twitch streamer Asmongold sees the boosters as Pay2Convenience, which he finds less severe than Pay2Win. Nevertheless, he is strongly bothered by it. Because in his opinion, the developers intentionally make things in the game worse so that players leave money in the shop. And this applies not only to New World.
Improve leveling experience instead of skipping it
In a detailed post to his followers (via TwitLonger), the Twitch streamer explains what bothers him about many MMORPGs. It is mainly about the shop, but also general design philosophies.
What does he say about shops? Asmongold is generally not enthusiastic about real-money shops, but there are contents that are less bad than others. Cosmetics are at the top of the list, convenience items in the middle, and Pay2Win at the bottom.
However, the Twitch streamer is also not very excited about Pay2Convenience content. These are only needed because the developers intentionally make their MMORPG worse:
To put it simply: “Pay2Convenience” creates an incentive to make the game uncomfortable. It creates a paradigm that encourages developers to create problems in the game so that they can sell the solutions. […].
They intentionally make the game worse to motivate you to give them more money. The same money for which you have worked hours of your life should be given to them in addition to the costs of the game to solve a problem they created. All of this happens under the guise of making the game “more convenient” for you, the consumers.
He is even bothered by the fact that many players still defend the developers for their behavior. They should rather boycott and ignore new MMORPGs with such practices instead of protecting the companies. They only care about money, not about what would be best for the game and the players.
On what basis does Asmongold identify intentional flaws? Regarding boosters, Asmongold specifically explains why they are even necessary. Because many MMORPGs only really unfold and motivate players in the endgame, instead of doing so from the beginning.
The fact that players do not necessarily want this is also shown by the success of WoW Classic:
If it’s a problem that leveling takes so long that it has to be bypassed with a microtransaction, why not make leveling shorter or more fun? […].
I’m fed up with MMOs that only start at max level, and the success of Classic WoW shows that I’m not alone.
In New World, he is particularly disappointed about the practice because it hasn’t even been released yet, and there’s no reason to start with a booster right away:
If they want to add some of these features in the future, perhaps when an expansion is coming, that’s probably fine with me. But they should not be anywhere NEAR the release or within 6 months after release.
Asmongold is not only bothered by New World and new MMORPGs, but also by decisions surrounding WoW:
Cosmetics in the shop also negatively impact the game
What does the streamer say about cosmetic content? Asmongold does not think much of cosmetic content either. He fondly remembers times when players saw cool skins or mounts and wanted to farm them themselves. That motivated them to play.
Now the coolest skins often end up in the shop, and players buy them anyway. The streamer explains this with an example from the real world:
Everyone wants a Lamborghini, not so they can go 200 miles per hour, but so they can park it in front of a restaurant and show others that they can afford it. It’s a kind of real-world cosmetic mount, and people work their whole lives for it. […].
Almost every person in the world is looking for something that signals status, and it is naive to assume that this simply stops when you play a video game. In fact, I think it is even more powerful there.
He wishes for the times when players earned cool items instead of buying them with real money. While he acknowledges that cosmetic content does not play an important role for everyone, for him, special skins are a motivation that is lost through the shop.
Asmongold wants to play New World if it’s well executed
What does Asmongold think about New World? Already at the preview event in August 2020, Asmongold streamed New World. He even reached 1st place on Twitch together with streamers like Sodapoppin. But currently, he sees the game critically.
At the end of his post, he writes:
If you release a game that is intentionally designed at launch to make a lot of profit with minimal effort, I won’t play it. I’ve been waiting for years for a game that’s worth wasting my life on, and that’s exactly why I say this. I will not do a disservice to the remnants of our neglected community by playing and promoting a piece of shit.
Make the game good, and the neckbeards [a somewhat pejorative term for unkempt people with beards who lack social skills; used ironically here] will return.
How do you see the development of MMORPGs and their shops? Do you feel that contents are intentionally made worse to earn more money? Let us know in the comments.
Regarding the shop of New World, Steven Sharif, the head of the MMORPG competitor Ashes of Creation, has also commented. However, he went a bit too far: Director of Ashes of Creation mocks New World, now backtracks.
