The concept of "paying for good work" is pretty straightforward, but it wavers in the face of the "get something for nothing" culture in which we now live.

The microtransaction has long since been a sticking point in the video game community, so when it was revealed that the upcoming Uncharted 4: A Thief's End would include multiplayer microtransactions, gamers were a little miffed. But one former Naughty Dog employee has come to the developer's defense.

Eric Monacelli, who worked as Naughty Dog's community strategist and is now with Infinity Ward, told MCV that it's really quite simple:

"If it's good enough content and you want to pay for it, why not pay for it? That's what it comes down to."

Monacelli further challenged the conspiracy theory that studios cut content from a game to sell later as premium DLC, an idea we at PSXE have often said is absurd. Monacelli simply said, "No, often it's not," and he used The Last Of Us as an example:

"A clear-cut example of that is the burst rifle in The Last of Us. A lot of people thought. 'Why are they charging for guns?' We did the research and noticed that a lot of players were having trouble jumping into the game for the first time, so we wanted to give people a weapon that was easily accessible and would give them a bit of a leg-up. There were other weapons if they were a more experienced player that they could buy–it's up to them. If you're already kicking ass, you probably don't need these, but if you want 'em, have 'em. It's just a matter of personal preference."

Monacelli also added that when it comes to downloadable content and microtransactions, the cost should reflect the amount of effort put into the creation of that content:

"For me, the more thought that's put into DLC, the more you should be able to charge for it, because it's one of those things where you're creating another game unto itself. The Last of Us: Left Behind was another game. It's essentially the second Last of Us game, right?

It's work, and you should pay for good work."

No there's an idea.

Related Game(s): Uncharted 3