Nothing gets you famous as quickly on the internet as a well-made chart . This one shows the ships of EVE online, with a circle around them whose area represents the cost of the ship when it gets shot down from under you.

Imagine a world with an infinite number of MMORPGs (and ignore the tricky infinity math telling you that each of them would have zero players). For every possible preference of play style and feature list there would be lots of games to choose from (actually infinite games to choose from, but didn’t I tell you to ignore the tricky math?). So as you could find very similar games with different business models, your best strategy in such a world would be to choose the game with the business model that works out cheapest for you.

Any moderate opinion risks getting misrepresented by those who have extreme views on the same issue. That is why some people believe I am a proponent of the Free2Play and micropayment business model, when in fact I’m broadly neutral on it, and have repeatedly stated that are both good and bad microtransactions, and that I don’t play Free Realms any more because I found their microtransaction system to be bad for gameplay.

As I’ve mentioned in the past, one of the ways that I keep in touch with my 10 year old godson is by playing Wizard101 with him on a weekly basis.

If you consider what the most likely business model for future MMORPGs is, you might be surprised to realize that the most likely scenario is that you will pay for that future MMORPG three times: Once for buying the game, a second time in the form of a monthly subscription fee, and a third time in the form of microtransactions, buying virtual items for cash.

In a short (but not necessarily sweet) announcement, Zarhym announced on the official forums that the recently opened Blizzard pet store are now regional. This means that pets purchased from, say, the European store can only be redeemed on European World of Warcraft accounts

One of the hottest topics in the past week was Blizzard’s foray into the microtransactions game. By announcing the Blizzard pet store, World of Warcraft had officially come on par with other MMOs and online games that sold in-game items for real world money. Our informal survey showed that views on the move were officially split..

In among all of the “omg fake pets for real money” drama from this week’s announcement , we may have missed something big: the Pandaren are now live in the World of Warcraft . The Pandaren are my favorite Azerothian race, even though they’re essentially a joke — Samwise Didier just loves pandas, and he made art for an April Fool’s joke that Chris Metzen loved so much they decided to include the bears as real characters in Warcraft III .

MMORPG (blog) ‘ World of Warcraft ‘ Pet Store Opens MTV.com The newly opened ” World of Warcraft ” Pet Store accepts real money for critters and even includes a charitable angle tied to its $10 price tags. … Uh-Oh: World of Warcraft Introduces Microtransactions Wired News Blizzard now selling World of Warcraft pets Neoseeker World of Warcraft Seems Interested in Microtransactions Softpedia Examiner.com ?- GamerCrave.com ?- Escapist Magazine all 35 news articles??

MMORPG (blog) Uh-Oh: World of Warcraft Introduces Microtransactions Wired News On Wednesday, World of Warcraft began offering two virtual pets — the first in-game items sold for real- world money in Blizzard’s MMO. …

I’m not buying either of the two pets on offer.

Gamasutra World of Warcraft Seems Interested in Microtransactions Softpedia Blizzard has announced that World of Warcraft , the biggest subscription MMO in the world , is getting a Pet Store that … Blizzard now selling World of Warcraft pets Neoseeker World of Warcraft : Pet Store! Examiner.com Gasp! World of Warcraft Pets Demand Microtransactions GamerCrave.com Escapist Magazine ?- IGN ?- Destructoid all 32 news articles??

So much rage over such an inconsequential little thing. You can now buy vanity pets for real cash. Big whoop.

MMORPG (blog) Blizzard now selling World of Warcraft pets Neoseeker As such, World of Warcraft now has new pets that will cost real money to acquire. The official Blizzard Store already has a Lil’ KT (Kel’Thuzad) listed at … World of Warcraft : Pet Store! Examiner.com Gasp! World of Warcraft Pets Demand Microtransactions GamerCrave.com World of Warcraft Gets Microtransaction Pets, Players Freak Out Escapist Magazine IGN ?- Destructoid ?- Fragland.net all 30 news articles??

IGN World of Warcraft Virtual Store IGN Today the company is taking steps to make World of Warcraft even more profitable with the addition of an online pet store.

Cherry Hill Courier Post World of Warcraft : Pet Store! Examiner.com Non-Combat pets have been a nice way for players to add a personal touch to their gaming experience for years, starting way back during the old Vanilla WoW … Gasp! World of Warcraft Pets Demand Microtransactions GamerCrave.com World of Warcraft Gets Microtransaction Pets, Players Freak Out Escapist Magazine Premium World of Warcraft pets now exist, are adorable Destructoid WorthPlaying.com ?- GameFocus ?- Cinema Blend all 27 news articles??

Cherry Hill Courier Post World of Warcraft : Pet Store! Examiner.com Non-Combat pets have been a nice way for players to add a personal touch to their gaming experience for years, starting way back during the old Vanilla WoW … Gasp! World of Warcraft Pets Demand Microtransactions GamerCrave.com World of Warcraft Gets Microtransaction Pets, Players Freak Out Escapist Magazine Premium World of Warcraft pets now exist, are adorable Destructoid WorthPlaying.com ?- GameFocus ?- Cinema Blend all 27 news articles??

Cherry Hill Courier Post Gasp! World of Warcraft Pets Demand Microtransactions GamerCrave.com World of Warcraft players that only like to pay once a month for The One Game are up in arms that Blizzard wants to collect a little more … World of Warcraft Pandaren Monk pet to benefit Make-a-Wish Foundation Examiner.com World of Warcraft Gets Microtransaction Pets, Players Freak Out Escapist Magazine Premium World of Warcraft pets now exist, are adorable Destructoid WorthPlaying.com ?- GameFocus ?- Cinema Blend all 26 news articles??

Well Blizzard has finally done it. After charging only for out-of-game services like faction changes and character customization , with the release of in-game pets on the Blizzard store , they’ve finally moved on to selling virtual items for real money. And there’s a word, dirty in the mouths of some, that’s floating around that some of you may not have heard or understood before: microtransactions.

Cherry Hill Courier Post World of Warcraft Gets Microtransaction Pets, Players Freak Out Escapist Magazine Yesterday evening, Blizzard announced the opening of the World of Warcraft Pet Store, a place where players could acquire special in-game pets if they were … World of Warcraft Pandaren Monk pet to benefit Make-a-Wish Foundation Examiner.com Premium World of Warcraft pets now exist, are adorable Destructoid ‘ World of Warcraft ‘ Launches Pet Store WorthPlaying.com Cinema Blend ?- GameFocus ?- Kotaku Australia all 24 news articles??