Originally posted by kaiser3282

think of it this way.... if you won a free car, but then whined that it was just the base stock version without all the upgrades and extras that cost lots more.... does that make the person giving you the car unethical? No, youre still getting it for free, theyre just not giving you everything YOU want added to it unless you spend the money on it yourself.

For a game with PvP and raid centered endgame you gotta add to this metaphor... you'd have to add that you are a professional driver competing against other people that have paid a lot of money for their cars.... Why would you bother racing a stock ford focus against a NOx charged import? (I know nothing about cars but hopefully that works)

Break down what it says (Free to play) and it is completely accurate and ethical. It will cost you no money to play the game. However, to be competitive with other players or in a sense "win the game" yes you will need to possibly make a money purchase.

I have played 3 or 4 of these type of games and they all have been completely accurate in their description and in no way misleading.

 guild wars  has a form of f2p ,so does lotro

Originally posted by RealmLords

 

They don't advertise that they are 100% free to play.  You can buy fruit drink that says "Made with real apple juice", but it's 75% sugar water with some apple juice added.  The same ethical issue applies.

 There is nothing wrong with that label as it does not imply made with only fruit juice.  If the label said " Made from real apple juice " there could be problems, but the word " with " implies it was just a compenent in the product. 

I have a question for the OP.  Do you know why they let you play for free? 

I would disagree with both of your conclusions.  The simple reason that games are f2p is that is the only way they are profitable.

Ken

 

It is not misleading, and it is in no way unethical.  These games are completely "Free to play".  Some may choose to pay for enhancements or bonuses, but it is not a requirement.  And any gamer who doesn't realize that they have to be making money somewhere is probably just too stupid to even matter.

Originally posted by thinktank001

Originally posted by Mizzoufan

i have yet to find this diamond in the ruff as well. ive tried many f2p plays only to find if u want mounts - pay up. if u want good armor to keep up with other paying player - pay up.

i'm interested in the responses as well... maybe someone out there knows of one.

 

 

I'm not really looking for a 100% free to play game, but it just seems odd that all these games advertise " free to play " when they are not 100% free to play.  

Yes,  a person can log in an advance w/o purchasing content, but they do not have access to all of it.

In most case you have access to all the stuff,Most free to play i have played the cash shop just stop how fast you advance.

This my tip for free to play.If 14.99 in cash shop a month does not get  decent amount don't play the game.

My extreme tip for free to play game that you think you will really like put 59.99( the price of most boxes) and 14.99(price of one month) for the first month,Then next month put 14.99.If you are willing to other mmo's i don't see why free to play would be different.The key is if you have to spend more 14.99 then you are probably better off not playing that game or your not willing to spend the 74.98 that you would use if game was pay to play you probably should not play the game.

The biggest mistake with free play games is thinking that fact you are playing for it free entitles you all the stuff in game.Once you realize that have to spend some money then you can figure amount of money you are willing to put in and any time you cross that number you should stop playing that game.

You have to invest 74.99(buy game and first month sub) to play WoW,War,Aion, or Aoc but your unwilling to that for a game when your smart enough realize that no game is actually free.

The imo coolest thing about free to play is that unlike most pay to play game you get to try out the game before paying money in it and if you are smart with your money you never have to pay the that box price in the mmo.If at some point you find yourself liking the gaming then invest the box price of game in the cash shop to see if you will get the full features

Once again Key is having a set amount that you are unwilling to spend it could be 5.99,7.99,14.99 a month,it could 30 dollars every two or three months.it could be 74.99 then 14.99 a month.You have to know your limit because unlike pay to play the limit is not forced on you.Once people hear free to play they turn into cheap bastards that is not case once understand how system works you understand how to work it.

Unethical, yes.

Wrong, nope. No F2P can be financially viable for the developer to be completely free to play, otherwise there will be no pressure on players to spend their money, which on most games start at zero, and then as the player moves closer and closer to the end game he will face a lot of situations in which if he spends money he will be able to reduce challenges significantly (or make it possible to achieve in some extreme cases) and/or reduce time sinks significantly (leveling in these games will be an extremely long process, with a very high, if actually achievable, level cap).

You will either see extreme time sinks or low drop rates if the paid content or item mall can be acquired without spending one cent, and may also involve someone else spending the money to sell for you.

Originally posted by EricDanie

Unethical, yes.

Wrong, nope. No F2P can be financially viable for the developer to be completely free to play, otherwise there will be no pressure on players to spend their money, which on most games start at zero, and then as the player moves closer and closer to the end game he will face a lot of situations in which if he spends money he will be able to reduce challenges significantly (or make it possible to achieve in some extreme cases) and/or reduce time sinks significantly (leveling in these games will be an extremely long process, with a very high, if actually achievable, level cap).

You will either see extreme time sinks or low drop rates if the paid content or item mall can be acquired without spending one cent, and may also involve someone else spending the money to sell for you.

How is it unethical? The game is free but some of features you have to pay for.

Originally posted by madeux

It is not misleading, and it is in no way unethical.  These games are completely "Free to play".  Some may choose to pay for enhancements or bonuses, but it is not a requirement.  And any gamer who doesn't realize that they have to be making money somewhere is probably just too stupid to even matter.

yep i agre

the f2p route=the long way around but it is free

       f2p store=the short way around this cost something

true the long way run around the galaxy is long but it is still f2p

They are free to play.  They don't promise you'll be able to play well or be able to keep up with anyone else or be able to play on the same level as people who pay, but you can indeed play for free.

You get what you pay for, what are you complaining about?

To say that it's in any way misleading is ridiculous. Can you play these games for free? Yes you can. Just because you have to pay for certain optional advantag does not mean that you suddenly can't play for free anymore.

Originally posted by Cephus404

They are free to play.  They don't promise you'll be able to play well or be able to keep up with anyone else or be able to play on the same level as people who pay, but you can indeed play for free.

You get what you pay for, what are you complaining about?

i love this system 

some kids hate it but will spend 100 on aion plus in a month they ll have to spend monthly 

i love the fact that you can buy 3 month worth of game currency like diamond in rom

true some f2p game are very bad but most are about =to p2p and soon game quality in f2p will surpass p2p whenthat happen p2p will die

It is funny when you think about it is like somebody gave you a lexus or a jaguar car for free but they didn't give power windows,power locks,radio,hub cabs, and air condintioner.You can complain about it but you just got a nice car for free,but if you want to make it the real nice car that it is you will have spend some money.

So the question is will drive car as is or will put some money and fix up the car?

A F2P game is the same thing somebody gave a game you did have to pay the box price,you don't have pay to a monthly fee,and if you choose to never have a spent one penny BUT if you want to play a really good game you have to spend some money and get all the nice features that will make life easier.

Originally posted by luckturtz

It is funny when you think about it is like somebody gave you a lexus or a jaguar car for free but they didn't give power windows,power locks,radio,hub cabs, and air condintioner.You can complain about it but you just got a nice car for free,but if you want to make it the real nice car that it is you will have spend some money.

So the question is will drive car as is or will put some money and fix up the car?

A F2P game is the same thing somebody gave a game you did have to pay the box price,you don't have pay to a monthly fee,and if you choose to never have a spent one penny BUT if you want to play a really good game you have to spend some money and get all the nice features that will make life easier.

your right ,i canpicture someone without ac at 110 f complaining 

but i cant understant someone whine about the option system in f2p

Originally posted by uttaus

Originally posted by tro44_1

Originally posted by uttaus

I would say that it is indeed misleading however the MMO comunity continues to call these game Free to play F2P when they are not.

So is it the commnity contuing to mislabel the product or are the companines running these game still calling themselves free to play when they are not?

I have not played any and have not seen or heard of one I want to play so I'm uncertain who continues to mislabel the product.

Is it unethical? slightly at the very least.

 

So what your says is,

RoM and RS are not F2P?

Like I said I'm not very familiar with F2P games so my thoughts on the matter that if you have to pay for any content within the game, be it, items from an item mall or  special access to certain content, then it really isn't free to play. I would say very few if any games are free to play. 

I am not judging free to play as good or bad, I personally feel that calling these games F2P is missleading.

 

Now I  suppose you can break down the discriptors and call them what they are. Item mall games, micro transaction games, selective tiered subscription games.

For ease of terminology and identification it seem the MMO community has gone with calling these games F2P. If it is the community doing it and not the companies then no foul.

If it is the companies calling them sleves F2P then it is miss leading and slightly unethical.

In my opinion anyway.

 

Everyone is entitled to write their own personal moral code of conduct and ethics but you are simply wrong in that again most of these games allow you to access the game world as long as a premium subscriber can and again in lot's of cases you have access to the same places some even access to all the same items albeit at a slower pace

Originally posted by thinktank001

Is there any F2P game that offers all their content free of charge?

This answer may save you a lot of time and effort both here and later in life as well. It's simple, direct and always true.

Nothing in life is free.

Well, when I play Atlantica online, the few people I know who were top of the server never spend a dime on the game.

So the truth is there are f2p games where you can achieve greatness without spending real money.

But another truth is my friend plays like 10 hours a day, everyday... So you get the picture.

all games that i have played are f2p.. and i don't spend even 1 cent to buy their premium items..

because there are players that will sell it in-game.. you just need to play longer to farm for in game

currency.. it just like IRL if you want something and you don't have money you have to work hard

just to have it.. but at least you have it.. and we have to remember that this games need to make

a profit to continue their operation.. so we still need those buyers to keep the server up..  ^_^

Originally posted by LynxJSA

Originally posted by thinktank001

Is there any F2P game that offers all their content free of charge?

 

This answer may save you a lot of time and effort both here and later in life as well. It's simple, direct and always true.

 

Nothing in life is free.

^^^ this

/thread

---

Originally posted by Mizzoufan

---

Originally posted by thinktank001

Is there any F2P game that offers all their content free of charge?
I don't have a problem with the micro transaction model, but out of the F2P games I have tried there isn't a single one that truly offers players a way to obtain all of a games content free of charge.  
 
edit:  changed ethical to unethical

---

 
i have yet to find this diamond in the ruff as well. ive tried many f2p plays only to find if u want mounts - pay up. if u want good armor to keep up with other paying player - pay up.
i'm interested in the responses as well... maybe someone out there knows of one.

---

Welcome to the real world. This can all be summed up in one acronym: TANSTAAFL. There ain't no such thing as a free lunch. Or a completely free MMORPG, either. They cost money to make, and the people who make them have make a living--what makes you think you're entitled to completely unrestricted access to one without paying the cost of it?