6 Video Games Guilty Of Ripping Off Their Player Bases

MMORPGs like Perfect World require real time investment. And time is the most valuable resource of all (possibly excluding that $635,000 space resort).

But with time, once prestigious challenges become easier as better gear becomes available, and characters gradually fall behind without continued investment. Most players appreciate that these are the unavoidable side-effects of new content. What players appreciate less is when some space prince from Entropia Universe can show up and buy their way ahead.

Games like Perfect World start off fair – and then they let the space princes splash out on stronger gear. Suddenly your work is devalued and your accomplished character is out-geared by a relative novice.

Perfect World is emblematic of a sub-genre of MMORPG that lures in players with a reasonable model, only to then quietly adopt a pay-to-win system. For Perfect World's new system, levelling slows to a near halt without experience boosts and gear upgrades determine who succeeds in PVP – and if you want the vitally important boosts and upgrades, you need to pay real money.

Every other game on this list had a horrible cash shop from the get-go, but Perfect World's willingness to sneak one into the game over time is a real disservice to players.