Sony Online Entertainment president John Smedley has confirmed players will not be able to purchase performance enhancing items in the upcoming zombie-survival free-to-play MMO H1Z1.
n a post on the game's dedicated subreddit, Smedley revealed the team had come to several conclusions following its first monetization meeting regarding how Station Cash (the game's premium currency) will be applied.
"We will NOT be selling Guns, Ammo, Food, Water... i.e. That's kind of the whole game and it would suck in our opinion if we did that," Smedley wrote. "Nor will we sell boosts that will impact [that point]."
The team will instead sell wearable items in addition to those that can be found and crafted in the game, which they feel will be a "good, fair revenue generator."
In keeping with the survival theme, Sony does plan to allow players to loot items from one another, including those purchased with premium currency. However, the looting player will only receive a copy of the item with limited durability, while the player that purchased the item will keep their original unbreakable version.
"So if a player has a black ski mask and gets killed by another player, that player can wear the ski mask for a few deaths," Smedley said. "This gives the great feeling of whacking some unsuspecting fool who decided to bring a knife to a gun fight."
Also on the table for implementation are additional emote packs, character slots, and crates filled with random items from the premium store. The idea of scattered crates containing premiums items isn't fully fleshed out yet, but Smedley referenced the ability to preview the contents before purchasing the key to unlock it, citing Valve's Dota 2 as an example.
H1Z1 was announced earlier this month as Sony Online Entertainment's take on the grim survival MMO.
http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/04/23/sony-h1z1-would-suck-if-soe-sold-guns-boosts
