So, before i start discussing why they should be F2P i would first like to talk about P2P games.

I played WoW for a good 3-4 years, so i am going to use this as an example.

A play to play game, by my standards, is an acceptable way to run a game, but you have to stop it there.

Paid character transfers? Full priced expansions?

That is utterly rediculous in my opinion.

Especially when they are allowing some countries to play for much less than America.

Although it would be out of place in Fantasy MMO's,

in Modern/Sci-Fi MMO's companies could easily integrate in-game advertising,

that could pay for the upkeep of the game. I'm talking non-intrusive real life ad's on the billboards, signs posted throughout the game, posters on walls. Everything.

Maybe a Box-cost, but that should be about it.

MMO developers at the moment, all see us as sheep, or consumers. Gullible people who are just waiting to throw our money at them.  But we are not sheep.

The game they make should be made for us. Because in the end, it is just a product. And the only thing that matters is the customers experience. Why not once, make a game, that not only the developers enjoy, but one in which the audience which they are trying to appeal to will absolutely love also.

Although some companies have been successful just seeing us as ship, think of how much money you could make with 2 million people viewing hundreds of in-game adds each day.  People who love the experience they had in your game so much, they keep coming back, again and again.

So a one time box fee, + the thousands they make each day from advertising.

Sounds like a win-win situation to me.

I thought this post was more blog material than it was thread material, so i decided to put it up in my blog!

So this was brought up in another post, and i am glad that there are others like me who have been noticing this alot. It is present in the real world, and likewise in many of the gaming worlds in which we like to indulge in.

The first thing i am going to talk about is the idea behind Fantasy. Because this is the setting in which most of the MMO's we play are set in. What is fantasy? A "Fantasy World" is one in which magic can exist. Usually portrayed by the bending, and use of natures elements. In all fantasy there is some type of evil, some form of struggle that is going on between the world's inhabitants.

Fantasy worlds have different societies.

Things within them should not be identical to the world as we know it.

And we put ourselves into these different "Worlds" and "Societies" for different reasons. But, for the most part we all enjoy being in an alternate world from our own.

That being said....

How can fantasy exist, when you do not let reality cease to exist......

Fantasy, can only be truly perceived and enjoyed when you let go of all things as you know them. Even if you don't like role playing, how can you enjoy a world when you are too busy complaining that you can't make your avatar black (no racism intended)? Or that all the people look the same?

What if in that world, there is no such thing as black people?

What if in that world, there is no such thing as individuality?

How would that change things as we know them? If you could only begin to project what life would be like without individuality, then you are truly opening yourself to fantasy.

Now....

A lot of you may be wondering, "What does this have to do with common sense?"

Before you can place yourself into a different world, and be able to comprehend and rationally understand society within the world, and how it works. You must first be able to understand things in reality. If you do not have the "common sense" or "common knowledge" of society, then how would you possibly be able to recreate that under different circumstances in a different world?

You can't.

The world (or at least what i get to see of it) is beginning to forget the most basic of things which we all should know and understand. And this, is flowing over into the fantasy worlds, the escapes, in which we enjoy.

This is where it ceases to be an escape,

but becomes no more than our society in a different setting.

A line needs to be drawn........

Although we may not all like to role play, we must try to grasp the way the lore, and the way the world works.

This in and of itself can make your experiences much more enjoyable in games of all sorts.