'Middle-Earth: Shadow of War' Drops All Microtransactions for Good
"Middle-Earth: Shadow of War" will no longer have loot boxes. Monolith has just announced that the developers of "Shadow of War" is permanently taking out in-game markets for Gold and other items, saying that paid micro-transactions "compromises" the story the players could have been building on their own.
One of the strong points of "Middle-Earth: Shadow of War" is its dynamic open world, an experience where one player's story can turn out very differently from that of another gamer. It's a game where players are encouraged to learn and explore on their own, and are rewarded for their choices with a unique playthrough every time.
It's this same experience that is being compromised by in-game purchases, as Monolith and Warner Bros. noted in their update on the official "Shadow of War" community section.
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"The core promise of the Nemesis System is the ability to build relationships with your personal allies and enemies in a dynamic open world," Monolith's community admin explained.
The in-game market enables purchasing Orcs for real money, and to its credit, the feature lets busy gamers with less free time on their hands more opportunities to explore the game. Even so, Monolith has come to realize that "providing this choice risked undermining the heart of our game, the Nemesis System."
"It allows you to miss out on the awesome player stories you would have otherwise created, and it compromises those same stories even if you don't buy anything," Monolith explained, noting that for the players, simply just being aware that there's a paid option they can turn to anytime tends to take them away from total immersion in the amazing areas and stories the game has to offer.
Thus, Monolith has decided to permanently do away with the ability to buy Gold with real currency. Gold is often bought in the in-game market to buy War Chests, and these in turn will yield a random high-level Orc follower or other rewards.
With the permanent removal of the in-game market, players will now have to earn their Gold and War Chests the way developers have always meant them to do it — through a long and ultimately satisfying trek through the expansive setting of the "Lord of the Rings" series.
"There will be a specific amount of time given for players to utilize their unused Gold. If players have unused Gold by the end of the time allotted to spend it, any remaining Gold will be converted to in-game items," Monolith added.
This move may have been meant for the players to be able to thoroughly enjoy "Middle-Earth: Shadow of War" without the distractions of the in-game market, but there's likely another reason for the move as well, according to Ars Technica.
The continuing community backlash against loot boxes and microtransactions ensure that, at least for the near future, games would be better received by cutting them out permanently.
