If Vanguard goes F2P then its not Vanguard anymore. Its whole design doesnt support MT on a larger scale.

Even F2P I'm not sure VG would do very well today. For me the glitchly graphics and bugs was enough to turn me off of the game. With the little time I have to play a MMO I don't want to be forced to deal with bugs...espiecally if its P2P. If its a buggy F2P MMO I can deal with it more but over time it starts getting to me. 

Generally I don't think VG will ever do very well simply because its a game of the past and gamers tend to look to the future...I don't blame them. Todays MMOs are mostly failsauce and I can't wait to see what the future brings.  As the younger crowd of gamers gets older they'll realize that buggy MMOs arnt worth the time anymore. You'll want to play a game you enjoy, not a game that forces you to deal with issues (low pop and bugs in VGs case). 

Originally posted by najob75

Anybody seen this?

 Smedley  on Massively regarding Vanguard:

 "And Smedley agreed. "You know what, they were absolutely right. We assigned more development resources to it, even though that game is smaller. We're seeing such a huge interest in that game -- it's really been renewed -- that we're taking another close look at it. Vanguard players and people who have never tried might be in for some... interesting news in the near future."

 http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/09/28/free-for-all-smedley-helps-us-understand-free-to-play/

"And yes, I asked for more information, but he's dodged better interviewers than me."

Ha ha ha. Giving ahint but not tellinga freaking thing. I like that, leaving us hanging in the dark :D

And thanks for pointing it out. This converms that VG ia 'back in business' again @ SOE offices...

About the poll... I'm devided about going F2P. As said before, VG doesn't really support a lot of F2P options as EQ2 goes. but I can imagine that mounts, cosmetical costumes and stuff like that can be dropped in the shop. Perhaps even drop some basic mats (non rare) in the shop for the lazy crafters out there who dislike harvesting (I know from other MMOs that most players dislike harvesting because it's so time consuming...). There's no way to add 'quest packs' IMO, or they should redo the whole game from scratch and label every quest some way. Map is also a problem since where's no instancing. Would mean if you limit players to part of the map, they'd bump in invisible walls..?

Anyhow, I hope if SOE makes VG F2P, they won't ruin the game in it's basics, or drop gear in the shop (like with the start of the EQ2X server).

Originally posted by Boreil

Originally posted by CasualMaker

"Actually free to play , just free , stop charging,  absolutly no cash shop ever"

Yeah, that would be it's death, all right. No income = pfft! Guild Wars does by getting a big pay up front.

They have enough income from other places to cover it , specialy considering they do almost nothing for the game as is .  Good day , /ignore thread 

This is a bizarre idea really... that it should become some kind of charity.  If this were the case, that SoE would somehow bleed money off of other businesses that allegedly *do* make money, just to support the few people left that want to be isolated in a dead game that does *not*, then i would say *shut the thing down*.  As a continuing EQ and EQ2 player, *why* should resources and $$$$ be stripped away from healty games to help some dead private playground?

This idea of "gaming welfare" really is a first and makes no sense.

Its also funny to see people on this thread say 'well I dont play, but if it went F2P then I would NEVER PLAY!"  newsflash... You DONT PLAY and therefore DONT SUPPORT IT.  Your opinion is just ridiculously irrelevant.  Just think about how stupid that is:

"well I dont pay to play it... but I like looking at it and opining on it... but if it were FREE??? then HELL NO I wouldnt play!  then Id PROTEST IT b/c cash shops SUCK!" 

yeah, really useful. 

Of course they should make it F2P.  If they did, I'd pick it up again.  But 100% agree that the EQ2 F2P model is total BS.  Its a fake F2P.  I continue to station sub, but will be canceling it soon for $ reasons.  If they actually made these games *real* F2P, meaning you just no longer have to pay a sub, like EVERY OTHER F2P CONVERSION, then it would be good.

The minority loons who feel F2P players "pollute" their pristine environment, and rail against "cash shops" like they were fighting the civil rights revolution, had better be willing to pay like 5x/mth what they do now, b/c the p2P model is dying.  No one wants it.  SoE implemented F2P in the *worst* way possible though, in an attempt to have it both ways.  My guess is that over time they will continue to lose the p2P folks and they *wont* migrate to the F2P side.  No way id start over on an F2P server after years and years of building a char.

Err ... they shouldnt make it F2P. Or if they do, they should make new servers for that. I certainly dont want to play with the typical F2P crowd.

I kinda like the idea of it going f2p. While I do enjoy playing VG sometimes, it doesn't hold the same appeal for me as other games and so I find myself constantly resubbing, playing for a week or two and and then cancelling again. I end up paying for a lot of game time that I never use. At least if it went f2p I would be able to play if I wanted to without having to mess with a subscription.

As long as they don't dumb down the game, I'm OK with it going F2P and/or using Cash Shops. VG is one of few remaining challenging MMO's out there today and I hope it continues to expand on this. 

Originally posted by Loktofeit

I'm a Station Pass subscriber and Vanguard player. While a price change doesn't affect me, having it go F2P will open the door for a lot more people to try out vanguard and see how much there really is to that beast of an MMO.

 

Well, it does affect you.   More people in game, even if they aren't paying, eliminates "there aren't enough people to play with" as a raeson for subscribers to stop paying....

I wouldn't mind of the game went free to play. I don't play anymore, but would pop in to see how the F2P system worked.  The biggest problem with free to play is the looky loo.  The ones who'll pop in, see what it is, and leave. Basically, just non-commital people.

 It'd like to see it sort of like the f2p anarchy online model.  Full basic content access. All classes, proffessions, and diplomacy open.  Catch? have vanguard release an expansion.  Expansion requires subscriptions, and payment.  You can choose not to play the expansion, and play for free.   Sure.. have item shops for flying special mounts, or cosmetic changes, but don't provide any other benefits.

I don't like the idea of a f2p server and a p2p server.  the f2p servers don't have anything to look forward to, while the p2p server still dwindles.

Originally posted by najob75

Anybody seen this?

 

Smedley  on Massively regarding Vanguard:

 

 

"And Smedley agreed. "You know what, they were absolutely right. We assigned more development resources to it, even though that game is smaller. We're seeing such a huge interest in that game -- it's really been renewed -- that we're taking another close look at it. Vanguard players and people who have never tried might be in for some... interesting news in the near future."

 

http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/09/28/free-for-all-smedley-helps-us-understand-free-to-play/

I wouldn't believe a word that comes out of that  guys mouth.

Imagine all the people playing f2p, I dont know if you can, a massive amount of diplomats, a brotherhood of man, Imagine all the People whoooo hooooo , You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one, I hope one day you will join us and the Vanguard universe will be as one.

Originally posted by eddieg50

Imagine all the people playing f2p, I dont know if you can, a massive amount of diplomats, a brotherhood of man, Imagine all the People whoooo hooooo , You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one, I hope one day you will join us and the Vanguard universe will be as one.

I agree, this game needs f2p or a lot more marketing. I have tried this game out a few times and it's really good and has the potential to be great, but every time I give it a shot and see how empty the world is, it's quite sad.

Originally posted by Kyleran

 

Smedley is now a fan of the F2P model, pretty sure the EQ2 Extended server is bringing in cash hand over fist and he was never one to overlook a good opportunity to make a buck.

 

Of course he won't overlook an opportunity to make a buck. That's his job. SOE is a real company, and everything. With employees, facilities, and even shareholders. The whole idea is that they can drive customers to "pay them a buck".

Originally posted by shinkan

Its still a SOE game so no.

This ^^

Fool me once, twice...etc.. same goes with Cryptic

I don't play anymore and doubt I would if it was a cash shop f2p type. I wouldn't mind an alternative limited subscription f2pish type though. Maybe $5 a month and pay for level caps, like $5 every 10 levels. Start off free to level 10 on IoD, then if you want to be able to level to 20, $5, level 30 another $5 and so on. People might be more inclined to stick with the game if they just had to pay $5 a month with a few fees. Could work since you can't really charge for sections of the game.

AO does something similar. Think the game is free for a lot of levels, but to go further you have to pay. I can see something like that working with Vanguard. There are a couple older games I would have stuck with or pop in periodically if they dropped down to even $10 a month. it is not that the extra $5 is so much more, just the games aren't really worth it.

Originally posted by eugam

If Vanguard goes F2P then its not Vanguard anymore. Its whole design doesnt support MT on a larger scale.

Agreed.

I would definetly consider playing this game if it had a bigger population, which would automaticly come if it turned F2P, so I vote yes PLEASE for that to happen :)

John Smedly on question: "how about making vanguard saga of Heroes ftp... If not just kill the game already"

Answer: "STAY TUNED..."

http://twitter.com/#!/j_smedley

Originally posted by najob75

John Smedly on question: "how about making vanguard saga of Heroes ftp... If not just kill the game already"

Answer: "STAY TUNED..."

http://twitter.com/#!/j_smedley 

So its going F2P? w00t!

They'll never do anything for VG.

Regardless of what J$ says.

It's in direct competition with EQ2, hell, it has as much content AND a decent engine so in some key elements it's superior.