Anarchy Online, my original MMO, incorporated a similar feature a couple of years back. You can buy Service Points from FunCom to convert into in game
"Paid Points" which you can use at certain shops in the game to buy special vehicles, nanos (AO's spells), and social clothing. You could use the
Service Points to purchase the old pre-reg specials for the AO expansions, such as the Luxury Apartment from the Shadowlands expansion, the Leet Pet from the
Alien Invasion expansion, and the Scout Mech from the Lost Eden expansion.
To be honest the ability to purchase the pre-reg stuff had mixed reviews. The people who missed said pre-reges were thrilled, but those that had them felt
gypped. Also, the Social clothing that could be purchased was the same stuff you could make by doing a complicated quest at any level, so those that had done
the quest (and thus had the cool clothing) were a little pissed that people could "throw money at Funcom" and copy their hard won style.
In Funcom's defense, though. The items that could be purchased via Paid Points were largely luxury items and didn't alter game play balance that much.
The worst one was the Phasefront Vehicles, and all that did was save people from having to save up 5-6 million credits to buy a Yalmaha. Everything else was
social or RP related.
"Paid Points" which you can use at certain shops in the game to buy special vehicles, nanos (AO's spells), and social clothing. You could use the
Service Points to purchase the old pre-reg specials for the AO expansions, such as the Luxury Apartment from the Shadowlands expansion, the Leet Pet from the
Alien Invasion expansion, and the Scout Mech from the Lost Eden expansion.
To be honest the ability to purchase the pre-reg stuff had mixed reviews. The people who missed said pre-reges were thrilled, but those that had them felt
gypped. Also, the Social clothing that could be purchased was the same stuff you could make by doing a complicated quest at any level, so those that had done
the quest (and thus had the cool clothing) were a little pissed that people could "throw money at Funcom" and copy their hard won style.
In Funcom's defense, though. The items that could be purchased via Paid Points were largely luxury items and didn't alter game play balance that much.
The worst one was the Phasefront Vehicles, and all that did was save people from having to save up 5-6 million credits to buy a Yalmaha. Everything else was
social or RP related.