Bohemia Interactive, producers of 'Arma 3' and 'DayZ,' are now allowing DayZ servers to be monetized with certain limitations, similar to those of 'Arma 3.' The main limitation is that server owners cannot turn servers into pay-to-win scenarios by providing an unfair advantage to donators.
Monetizing servers means that server owners can charge money for the public to use their server, or in some cases, provide benefits to people who donate money. According to Bohemia's website and athe FAQ regarding this policy, "Monetization happens when players, unlike with donations, receive some kind of reward or perk for their money. This requires our approval." The purpose behind this it to prevent servers from becoming a pay-to-win scenario where some players will pay money to gain an unfair advantage over other players.
And Bohemia is now allowing DayZ servers to be monetized, and the policy is a good thing.
First, it can allow server owners to provide incentives for people to donate. Keeping a server up and running isn't cheap, especially when some of the groups run multiple servers, such as Gaming Asylum.
Second, Bohemia's policy allows them to "police" servers to some degree, making sure that they don't all go to a wallets-open play style. According to Cinema Blend, "It's a fine line between balancing on selling goods that increase a player's enjoyment of the game without turning the server into a pay-to-win scheme." One of the ways this is enforced is that when a server is in violation of the monetization agreement, Bohemia's anti-cheat system gets turned off. And normal people really don't like playing on unprotected servers.
Finally, this is a test run. Arma 3's ends in January 2016, and DayZ's ends in May 2016. Bohemia Interactive will be seeing how this policy affects the community and will determine the future of it from there.
So what are your thoughts on the monetization of private servers? Good? Bad? Ugly? Tell us in the comments section below!
