Kehakoul, please ... with all due respect I feel like you and a couple others on these boards have no idea what your talking about, and it's really frustrating when I have to deal with this type of BS when we're trying to hype up something we like.
Microtransactions are HERE. They are the way things are, now. If you'd been online playing ANYTHING in the last 5 years, you'd know this. I keep my finger to the pulse of the industry for several different reasons. I'm damned GLAD AoC isn't going totally F2P, as well as damned glad ST:O isn't going F2P, because F2P MEANS a CASH STORE.
And one other thing my friends.... if you truly believe that any game you play online with other people doesn't involve some type of commerce, your ... unobservant ?
Prestige, BPV, Atari-Coins, Cryptic Points, Funcom Points, they are ALL the same thing!!! Those people who have the time but not the money - your solution is here. Those people without the time but with money? Your solution is here. Now we can all get together and game.
One last thing (I watched Sucker Punch tonight and couldn't help it) - ANY GAME WITH A LEVELING SYSTEM IS INHERENTLY UNFAIR AND FAVORS THE PLAYERS WILLING TO PUT THE TIME IN. There is no "equal playing field" , except in the ENVIRONMENT... RIGHT ??? Everyone has the opportunity to level 24 / 7 because the content / grind is there, regardless if it's AoC, DDO, or Champions Online. Age of Conan's environment is much much more balanced now, and much more skill based than even before.
Why, one would say that perhaps it's the individual's responsibility as to how fast he or she levels, but that's ridiculous, and we all know it
Anyone who expects more than rock , paper, scissors for FREE in an online medium is nuts.
You pay for the game's continued existance, and it's not my fault (the player that can afford to play it, like ... what... several other million people in the US alone) that you liked the game, decided to play it, didn't read the fine manual, and then got rightfully indignent because you feel like you got scammed when in fact you scammed yourself. You didn't investigate, you didn't look into things, you just rushed blindly ahead and then got pissed because it didn't turn out like you wished.
Sense of entitlement ruins one's enjoyment of life is Frey's lesson for the millenium. Or should I say MOOOOOOlennium.
Regards,