Virtual Credit, Virtual Value, Virtual Ripoff?

Galley Cat recently posted this article which discusses lessons from Farmville that can be acclimated to the publishing industry. The main success they are interested in adapting? Virtual commerce. So, as opposed to paying a flat rate for an annual subscription or investing in a one-time purchase, readers would pay for virtual credits that are used up as they read.

After watching the video, it seems that what publishers love about the potential of virtual credit is exactly what consumer watch group would abhor. Virtual credit has one wonderful, magical principle that has many industries licking their chops: it is hard to evaluate the value of vcommerce. What does 33 credit per dollar mean to you? Or 42 credits per dollar if you buy wholesale? Since the time or amount allotted to virtual credit is completely arbitrary, there is no comparison shopping and no competitive edge keeping prices low. There is no standard that a consumer can use to compare and contrast. Virtual credit is hard to wrap your head around. Which is why some publishers are so excited about it.

Something about vcommerce seems underhanded to me. There is something very slippery, completely opaque and potentially dishonest about this sort of purchase. Into the midst of digitization frenzy, the whole publishing industry is scrambling to figure out how to make money. Yet championing a business practice that takes real money in exchange for something that essentially does not exist is not a way to create a good relationship with your potential consumer. In fact, under that term, it is an anti-new media practice because it takes advantage of the personal, familiar interactions of Web 2.0. It underminds the inherent trust. The utter delight at a consumer disadvantage disturbs me. The industry excitement about taking real money and returning a virtual product that defies evaluation, very simply, gives me Enron flashbacks.