Funcom has sent word that they have launched the virtual item sales in Anarchy Online. Gamers will now be able to purchase sets of points which can be used to acquire virtual items inside the game.
Funcom has stated that they have made sure that the virtual items do not affect gameplay balance. The initial items come with the program come packed inside a new mini-expansion. Players of Anarchy Online will also be able to get hover-bikes, hover-boards, social clothing, pets and a luxury apartment.
Craig Morrison is the game director on Anarchy Online. He quotes, “This kind of system puts the choice in the hands of the players by allowing them to take as little or as much of the new content as they like. It really adds an extra dimension to what we can provide in terms of fun social items, designed to look cool while being something players don’t feel forced into. That extra element of choice has allowed us to add a much broader range of items than we might if we were simply targeting it into a self-contained expansion.”
Here are the details of the prices for items on Anarchy Online:
The points are available in three different packages which can be purchased for 10, 20 or 40 USD / EUR, where 100 points is the equivalent of 1 USD / EUR. A new hover-board starts as low as 300 points, but the players can also purchase an entire range. As an introductory offer the players can purchase the entire new collection of boards and bikes for 2000 points.
Players who are paying subscribers of Anarchy Online will get a set of monthly points included in the subscription price, and longer pricing plans like 6 and 12 months give extra points. Funcom would also like to point out that the points are given in full to each character the player has in the game. They are thus able to freely test different virtual items on different characters.
It is becoming a trend these days to sell virtual products. In fact, some time ago, a new FPS called as Kwari launched. It had a special free-to-play/pay-to-play model whereby Kwari sells the gamer ammunition in place of flat rate charges or monthly subscriptions.