Senior Staff Writer Christopher "Pwyff" Tom sat down with Advisory Board member Gordon Walton to talk about GDC Online's Virtual Items Summit and how the market has changed for online gaming.

ZAM: "Selling power" is always a phrase that never fails to rouse the hardcore gamers against a company. These days, "we're not selling power" has become the catch phrase of any MMORPG that makes the transition from subscription to free-to-play. Do you think there's actually anything inherently evil with selling power? 

Gordon: Not at all. I think it's just one of the ground rules going in. While I do still think it's a religious war, I think most of the pain we've seen around this is that a game that used to have one set of rules can really alienate its audience when it changes those rules on the fly. If you know, going into a game, that this is a game where you buy power, then what the hell are you complaining about, don't get into that game! And it seems like there are people who enjoy games where you can do that. So the whole sense of "fairness" is really set up by how you start the game, and what ground rules there are with the community you establish. And, yes, if you try to change those rules in any way, then you're cruising for a bruising, because you're changing your brand image. Do this, and the repercussions will always - maybe 90% of the time - range from immensely painful to fatal. It can be done, but it's so anomalous, you might as well say it can't be.

ZAM: Do you ever draw the line at virtual goods? You've mentioned it's just what the customer wants or needs, but do you have any hard lines in terms of what you'd never try to sell, or - and I don't mean this in a negative tone - is it all on the customer as to what you can "get away with?"

Gordon: Flippantly, I'd sell them anything. But not to be flippant, in the big scheme of things, it's all about the context. Which game are we talking about? How is it being set up? I don't think there are any hard and fast rules where I'd say "I'd never sell something like that." It's the context of the game. The balance of the game creator is really what the consumers will spend money on in terms of pursuing their entertainment.

ZAM: Has the game development industry been fairly receptive of this view you hold, or do you think there's some resistance? You've mentioned a 'religious war' against certain monetization methods; is that a prevalent mindset?

Gordon: I say religious war, but it's probably more generational. If your formative experience has been to always buy subscription entertainment, then you'll adhere to that. A bunch of people who said they'd never do subscriptions are now happily playing World of Warcraft. I think that, in the end, it's all about the value proposition. If people see the value, they'll spend the money. I think that all of us have positions on things that we end up modifying as we get context or experience. I'm not sitting around saying I've got the one true way of doing something, I'm just saying that a lot of people today are holding onto ideas that might change as the world changes.

ZAM: You've mentioned that we're still in a transition period, where everyone is still scrambling to find that one good model. Why do you think that video games are in such a huge fluctuation in terms of their transaction models and monetization methods?

Gordon: I don't think it's anything new, per say. I think we see more changes than most industries because we sit on the intersection of high technology and entertainment, together. So we're constantly getting change rolled into us all the time. As well, the world itself is changing at a more rapid pace; the introduction of the internet changed everything not just once, but many times. So I'd say we happen to be in a period of accelerated change. We also happen to be in a medium that changes at an above average rate, which compounds everything. It's pretty scary if you like stability, but if like change and progression, it's a great place to be.

ZAM: OK! That about wraps up my questions! Thank you so much for taking the time to sit down for this chat!

Gordon: My pleasure.

Christopher "Pwyff" Tom, Senior Staff Writer

For more GDC Online details, check out Pwyff's recent interview with Tom Abernathy about video game writing and the upcoming Game Narrative Summit.