Freemium is a popular concept in games these days, and has been for quite a while now. And that's fine, as long as paying users have no competitive advantage over non-paying users. Once that happens, it's a game of who is the biggest cash cow, and the game immediately becomes boring. Both for the cash cows, and the non-paying users! Because what's the game in it, really? If in-game advantages can be bought for money, the game is not fun for anyone! The game mechanic becomes putting in the most dough. Just meh.
But I've come upon an exception to this rule. Upland is a game where in-game currency can be bought for real world fiat currency. Paying users will get a significant advantage in their progress, and the more they pay, the bigger the advantage. The typical dystopical scenario of absolute boredom, if not for one key difference. In-game properties, which are bought for in-game currency, can be sold for fiat currency! Or well, not quite. At the time I'm writing this, Upland is still in beta mode, and flipping in-game assets for real fiat currency is not yet available to the userbase. But regardless, that changes the stakes completely!
How? Well, suddenly, it becomes a game of balance. A paying user will of course have an advantage against a non-paying user in acquiring assets, and a high-paying user over a low-paying user. But the more a user pays, the higher he has to ensure that the value of his assets is, in order not to make a loss. The non-paying or less-paying user may not have a fair chance at acquiring nearly as much assets as the high-paying user can, but they can compete for who's got the better profit margin. The cost of paying is no longer external to the game, and thus, the game doesn't become silly.
If the in-game assets will ever be worth the investment remains to be seen, but until it has been proven not to be the case, there's a game to be played here, and it's not a game of who's the biggest cash cow!
