I have noticed throughout my time spent reading this sites sponsored articles, that they seem to be evangelizing the "certain" future of MMOG's. That future being a game genre destined for the "far more accesible" F2P system.

Personally, I do not think that P2P's are dying out and it's my subjective opinion that they shouldn't.

So, I'm just curious if others also noticed that MMORPG.com seems to be operating under the principle that if you repeat somethihng often enough it will become true.

Same writers post one view while others post other views. And it is pretty upfront and honest about it.

Originally posted by Belarion

I have noticed throughout my time spent reading this sites sponsored articles, that they seem to be evangelizing the "certain" future of MMOG's. That future being a game genre destined for the "far more accesible" F2P system.

 

Personally, I do not think that P2P's are dying out and it's my subjective opinion that they shouldn't.

 

So, I'm just curious if others also noticed that MMORPG.com seems to be operating under the principle that if you repeat somethihng often enough it will become true.

NEws sites have to be on the forefront of news. Like it or not hte sub model is dying.  It's not a viable source of income for a new IP.  

Originally posted by dontadow

Originally posted by Belarion

I have noticed throughout my time spent reading this sites sponsored articles, that they seem to be evangelizing the "certain" future of MMOG's. That future being a game genre destined for the "far more accesible" F2P system.

 

Personally, I do not think that P2P's are dying out and it's my subjective opinion that they shouldn't.

 

So, I'm just curious if others also noticed that MMORPG.com seems to be operating under the principle that if you repeat somethihng often enough it will become true.

NEws sites have to be on the forefront of news. Like it or not hte sub model is dying.  It's not a viable source of income for a new IP.  

I think you mean the sub model is not viable for bad MMOs.

Penny Arcade (I believe) recorded the statements of more than one developer out there that 'monetization' IS the future.  FTP is the best model so far for this activity.  Beats all other models out there.  Honestly, I believe PtP/subs is one of the worst.  I'm a fan of BtP, this model has worked for 99.9% of the games out there.  But that's me!  I'm not sure there is 'proseletyzing' going on by MMORPG.com, however, this is the currently the 'easy path' for devs to hike in the name of monetization.

free 2 play is the future there is no reason why a MMO should be subscription based any longer. its going to be one of those things you look back on and say "damn remember when we had to pay 15 bucks a month for this service?"

and then one old "veteran" "know it all" will be like ... "these instant gratification casuals ruined this genre when they forced the genre to stop making us pay monthly for the games"

Originally posted by Belarion

I have noticed throughout my time spent reading this sites sponsored articles, that they seem to be evangelizing the "certain" future of MMOG's. That future being a game genre destined for the "far more accesible" F2P system.

 

Personally, I do not think that P2P's are dying out and it's my subjective opinion that they shouldn't.

 

So, I'm just curious if others also noticed that MMORPG.com seems to be operating under the principle that if you repeat somethihng often enough it will become true.

No MMORP.com is not stuffing F2P down our throats, the market has simply changed.

Open your eyes.... Sub to play is dying out, free 2 play (well microtransactions) & buy 2 play are where current releases are heading. If youve been paying attention to gaming markets as a whole 2 things should be failry obvious.

1) A lot more casual gamers are playing games accross a lot more formats, many of which are handheld oriented.

2) A lot of mobile titles (of all genres) on the most popular molbile gaming devices (a crown which has been mobile phones for quite a while now) are now free to play with microtransactions similar to what was already happening in the PC MMO space.

The face of gaming is changing rapidly and the payment model for MMO's is changing so they dont become extinct. Fear not publishers will cling to monthly subscriptions as long as they can even if its just as an optional thing (like D&DO, LOTRO, crime craft, APB and others offer)  but the number of paying subscribers is never going to be near the percentage it was during the "Golden Years" of the MMO genre.

Originally posted by Roybe

Penny Arcade (I believe) recorded the statements of more than one developer out there that 'monetization' IS the future.  FTP is the best model so far for this activity.  Beats all other models out there.  Honestly, I believe PtP/subs is one of the worst.  I'm a fan of BtP, this model has worked for 99.9% of the games out there.  But that's me!  I'm not sure there is 'proseletyzing' going on by MMORPG.com, however, this is the currently the 'easy path' for devs to hike in the name of monetization.

The problem with the true B2P model of the single player games is that it doesn't seem to be viable.  GW 1 tried it, and eventually weren't pulling in enough income and added a cash shop.  When you add a cash shop B2P ends up using the same model as F2P only with a hefty up-front cost.

Originally posted by TheCrow2k

Originally posted by Belarion

I have noticed throughout my time spent reading this sites sponsored articles, that they seem to be evangelizing the "certain" future of MMOG's. That future being a game genre destined for the "far more accesible" F2P system.

 

Personally, I do not think that P2P's are dying out and it's my subjective opinion that they shouldn't.

 

So, I'm just curious if others also noticed that MMORPG.com seems to be operating under the principle that if you repeat somethihng often enough it will become true.

 

No MMORP.com is not stuffing F2P down our throats, the market has simply changed.

Open your eyes.... Sub to play is dying out, free 2 play (well microtransactions) & buy 2 play are where current releases are heading. If youve been paying attention to gaming markets as a whole 2 things should be failry obvious.

 

1) A lot more casual gamers are playing games accross a lot more formats, many of which are handheld oriented.

2) A lot of mobile titles (of all genres) on the most popular molbile gaming devices (a crown which has been mobile phones for quite a while now) are now free to play with microtransactions similar to what was already happening in the PC MMO space.

 

The face of gaming is changing rapidly and the payment model for MMO's is changing so they dont become extinct. Fear not publishers will cling to monthly subscriptions as long as they can even if its just as an optional thing (like D&DO, LOTRO, crime craft, APB and others offer)  but the number of paying subscribers is never going to be near the percentage it was during the "Golden Years" of the MMO genre.

Says you.  I will agree over the next couple of years the number of F2Ps will rise but first I believe it's nothing more then a fad and even if it isn't the number of F2P will overwhelm the market and just crash it in a few a year leaving sub MMO and MT niche games the only ones still alive.  But thats just what I say.

Originally posted by Drakxii

Originally posted by TheCrow2k

Originally posted by Belarion

I have noticed throughout my time spent reading this sites sponsored articles, that they seem to be evangelizing the "certain" future of MMOG's. That future being a game genre destined for the "far more accesible" F2P system.

 

Personally, I do not think that P2P's are dying out and it's my subjective opinion that they shouldn't.

 

So, I'm just curious if others also noticed that MMORPG.com seems to be operating under the principle that if you repeat somethihng often enough it will become true.

 

No MMORP.com is not stuffing F2P down our throats, the market has simply changed.

Open your eyes.... Sub to play is dying out, free 2 play (well microtransactions) & buy 2 play are where current releases are heading. If youve been paying attention to gaming markets as a whole 2 things should be failry obvious.

 

1) A lot more casual gamers are playing games accross a lot more formats, many of which are handheld oriented.

2) A lot of mobile titles (of all genres) on the most popular molbile gaming devices (a crown which has been mobile phones for quite a while now) are now free to play with microtransactions similar to what was already happening in the PC MMO space.

 

The face of gaming is changing rapidly and the payment model for MMO's is changing so they dont become extinct. Fear not publishers will cling to monthly subscriptions as long as they can even if its just as an optional thing (like D&DO, LOTRO, crime craft, APB and others offer)  but the number of paying subscribers is never going to be near the percentage it was during the "Golden Years" of the MMO genre.

Says you.  I will agree over the next couple of years the number of F2Ps will rise but first I believe it's nothing more then a fad and even if it isn't the number of F2P will overwhelm the market and just crash it in a few a year leaving sub MMO and MT niche games the only ones still alive.  But thats just what I say.

Fads can generally only be recognized in hindsight.

The difference between B2P and F2P in the case of ANet is that it isn't this massive P2W scam.  As for whether this site is "forcing" anything, no not really, since many of the quality games have gone F2P.  There are a few that hold onto their subscription scam for all they're worth, but why not advertise games that are out there whatever their payment model?

Originally posted by Drakxii

Originally posted by TheCrow2k

Originally posted by Belarion

I have noticed throughout my time spent reading this sites sponsored articles, that they seem to be evangelizing the "certain" future of MMOG's. That future being a game genre destined for the "far more accesible" F2P system.

 

Personally, I do not think that P2P's are dying out and it's my subjective opinion that they shouldn't.

 

So, I'm just curious if others also noticed that MMORPG.com seems to be operating under the principle that if you repeat somethihng often enough it will become true.

 

No MMORP.com is not stuffing F2P down our throats, the market has simply changed.

Open your eyes.... Sub to play is dying out, free 2 play (well microtransactions) & buy 2 play are where current releases are heading. If youve been paying attention to gaming markets as a whole 2 things should be failry obvious.

 

1) A lot more casual gamers are playing games accross a lot more formats, many of which are handheld oriented.

2) A lot of mobile titles (of all genres) on the most popular molbile gaming devices (a crown which has been mobile phones for quite a while now) are now free to play with microtransactions similar to what was already happening in the PC MMO space.

 

The face of gaming is changing rapidly and the payment model for MMO's is changing so they dont become extinct. Fear not publishers will cling to monthly subscriptions as long as they can even if its just as an optional thing (like D&DO, LOTRO, crime craft, APB and others offer)  but the number of paying subscribers is never going to be near the percentage it was during the "Golden Years" of the MMO genre.

Says you.  I will agree over the next couple of years the number of F2Ps will rise but first I believe it's nothing more then a fad and even if it isn't the number of F2P will overwhelm the market and just crash it in a few a year leaving sub MMO and MT niche games the only ones still alive.  But thats just what I say.

Says me ? No . Says Industry leaders who know what is actually going on, you know those people who actually sink money into game development and in the case of MMO's they are the ones who make successfull titles or make changes to keep titles viable. When the people making the games are saying F2P is the future it is possibly a good idea to listen.

As for crashing or not crashing ? each title stands on its own merits as it always did. There plenty of niche games around now that are charging a monthly sub to play & even more that dont charge anything. Viability in either case comes down to having enough players who want to play your title. F2P (which I usually call Microtransaction because thats what it is) like it or not is not a fad & it is definitely here to stay so you best get used to it and stop trying to pretend it is nothing.

Personally I prefer the buy to play model (even if its only $10 for the client) simply because it makes players more accountable since if they get banned it hurts financially and they cant just go and roll another free account and continue being cretins, cheating, exploiting and the like.

It is what it is, but the move to F2P is certainly more than just something people are saying or theorizing.

It's a bit much to ask the editors to put forth front page articles that cast their paying advertisers in a bad light.  Not every commentary can be Zero Punctuation.

No, I can't say I'm bothered in the slightest.

The only influx of P2P and F2P titles are the flood of cheesy Asian grinders and new trend to go with pay to win once your game looses X amount of subs, instead of closing it.

The real change is the Freegamers who make up goofey "insider information from industry leaders" to cover the fact that they don't have the coin to throw down in support of a game no matter how good it is.

The same Freegamers bleet like dying ovine when the rich kids out spend them in these lost titles and ruinz teh pvp.

Cheep and Trend are not the same things, games with good performance are not suddenly gona dump the subscription base and there are plenty of games in developement right now that will be using the $15 a month standard.

Originally posted by TheCrow2k

Originally posted by Drakxii

Originally posted by TheCrow2k

Originally posted by Belarion

I have noticed throughout my time spent reading this sites sponsored articles, that they seem to be evangelizing the "certain" future of MMOG's. That future being a game genre destined for the "far more accesible" F2P system.

 

Personally, I do not think that P2P's are dying out and it's my subjective opinion that they shouldn't.

 

So, I'm just curious if others also noticed that MMORPG.com seems to be operating under the principle that if you repeat somethihng often enough it will become true.

 

No MMORP.com is not stuffing F2P down our throats, the market has simply changed.

Open your eyes.... Sub to play is dying out, free 2 play (well microtransactions) & buy 2 play are where current releases are heading. If youve been paying attention to gaming markets as a whole 2 things should be failry obvious.

 

1) A lot more casual gamers are playing games accross a lot more formats, many of which are handheld oriented.

2) A lot of mobile titles (of all genres) on the most popular molbile gaming devices (a crown which has been mobile phones for quite a while now) are now free to play with microtransactions similar to what was already happening in the PC MMO space.

 

The face of gaming is changing rapidly and the payment model for MMO's is changing so they dont become extinct. Fear not publishers will cling to monthly subscriptions as long as they can even if its just as an optional thing (like D&DO, LOTRO, crime craft, APB and others offer)  but the number of paying subscribers is never going to be near the percentage it was during the "Golden Years" of the MMO genre.

Says you.  I will agree over the next couple of years the number of F2Ps will rise but first I believe it's nothing more then a fad and even if it isn't the number of F2P will overwhelm the market and just crash it in a few a year leaving sub MMO and MT niche games the only ones still alive.  But thats just what I say.

 

Says me ? No . Says Industry leaders who know what is actually going on, you know those people who actually sink money into game development and in the case of MMO's they are the ones who make successfull titles or make changes to keep titles viable. When the people making the games are saying F2P is the future it is possibly a good idea to listen.

As for crashing or not crashing ? each title stands on its own merits as it always did. There plenty of niche games around now that are charging a monthly sub to play & even more that dont charge anything. Viability in either case comes down to having enough players who want to play your title. F2P (which I usually call Microtransaction because thats what it is) like it or not is not a fad & it is definitely here to stay so you best get used to it and stop trying to pretend it is nothing.

Personally I prefer the buy to play model (even if its only $10 for the client) simply because it makes players more accountable since if they get banned it hurts financially and they cant just go and roll another free account and continue being cretins, cheating, exploiting and the like.

It is what it is, but the move to F2P is certainly more than just something people are saying or theorizing.

There are quite a few  F2P games around, i've even tried a few of them, but without exception, i would have to say that there arent any F2P games currently that are worth my time. In fact, i'd go one step further and say that the only games that i have played for any length of time, or currently, are in fact the P2P ones, whether a game is p2p f2p or even b2p to me doesnt matter quite so much, the one thing that matters most of all is whether the game is any good, and in those terms at least, the p2p games have the advantage, that may change in the future, but for the moment at least, i don't see any F2P game as having the quality of gaming i would expect from an MMO - its rare enough finding that kind of thing in P2P MMO's, as for trends, at the moment the current trend is for smartphone apps that use the microtransaction model.  F2P games seem to have only one goal, and thats to generate a certain amount of revenue, after which the developers are often already in process of turning out the next game.

industry leaders btw, i would imagine that the only ones that have 'earned' that title, are the ones with successful companies that their in charge of, not so many of those these days. Any 'industry leader' of a failing company is probably better off being ignored, and usually is.

Originally posted by Phry

Originally posted by TheCrow2k

Originally posted by Drakxii

Originally posted by TheCrow2k

Originally posted by Belarion

I have noticed throughout my time spent reading this sites sponsored articles, that they seem to be evangelizing the "certain" future of MMOG's. That future being a game genre destined for the "far more accesible" F2P system.

 

Personally, I do not think that P2P's are dying out and it's my subjective opinion that they shouldn't.

 

So, I'm just curious if others also noticed that MMORPG.com seems to be operating under the principle that if you repeat somethihng often enough it will become true.

 

No MMORP.com is not stuffing F2P down our throats, the market has simply changed.

Open your eyes.... Sub to play is dying out, free 2 play (well microtransactions) & buy 2 play are where current releases are heading. If youve been paying attention to gaming markets as a whole 2 things should be failry obvious.

 

1) A lot more casual gamers are playing games accross a lot more formats, many of which are handheld oriented.

2) A lot of mobile titles (of all genres) on the most popular molbile gaming devices (a crown which has been mobile phones for quite a while now) are now free to play with microtransactions similar to what was already happening in the PC MMO space.

 

The face of gaming is changing rapidly and the payment model for MMO's is changing so they dont become extinct. Fear not publishers will cling to monthly subscriptions as long as they can even if its just as an optional thing (like D&DO, LOTRO, crime craft, APB and others offer)  but the number of paying subscribers is never going to be near the percentage it was during the "Golden Years" of the MMO genre.

Says you.  I will agree over the next couple of years the number of F2Ps will rise but first I believe it's nothing more then a fad and even if it isn't the number of F2P will overwhelm the market and just crash it in a few a year leaving sub MMO and MT niche games the only ones still alive.  But thats just what I say.

 

Says me ? No . Says Industry leaders who know what is actually going on, you know those people who actually sink money into game development and in the case of MMO's they are the ones who make successfull titles or make changes to keep titles viable. When the people making the games are saying F2P is the future it is possibly a good idea to listen.

As for crashing or not crashing ? each title stands on its own merits as it always did. There plenty of niche games around now that are charging a monthly sub to play & even more that dont charge anything. Viability in either case comes down to having enough players who want to play your title. F2P (which I usually call Microtransaction because thats what it is) like it or not is not a fad & it is definitely here to stay so you best get used to it and stop trying to pretend it is nothing.

Personally I prefer the buy to play model (even if its only $10 for the client) simply because it makes players more accountable since if they get banned it hurts financially and they cant just go and roll another free account and continue being cretins, cheating, exploiting and the like.

It is what it is, but the move to F2P is certainly more than just something people are saying or theorizing.

There are quite a few  F2P games around, i've even tried a few of them, but without exception, i would have to say that there arent any F2P games currently that are worth my time. In fact, i'd go one step further and say that the only games that i have played for any length of time, or currently, are in fact the P2P ones, whether a game is p2p f2p or even b2p to me doesnt matter quite so much, the one thing that matters most of all is whether the game is any good, and in those terms at least, the p2p games have the advantage, that may change in the future, but for the moment at least, i don't see any F2P game as having the quality of gaming i would expect from an MMO - its rare enough finding that kind of thing in P2P MMO's, as for trends, at the moment the current trend is for smartphone apps that use the microtransaction model.  F2P games seem to have only one goal, and thats to generate a certain amount of revenue, after which the developers are often already in process of turning out the next game.

industry leaders btw, i would imagine that the only ones that have 'earned' that title, are the ones with successful companies that their in charge of, not so many of those these days. Any 'industry leader' of a failing company is probably better off being ignored, and usually is.

Well each to their own, my point was that the model is being adopted rapidly. Even Bioware eluded to a different subscription model for SWTOR 2 years ago, who knows ? maybe if they had gone with B2P their population would not be suffering so greatly now. Im not particularly enamoured with any particular F2P title however Fallen Earth (which was original sub to play) is quite good and caters to explorer type MMO'ers which are not catered to very well in the P2P market atm.

Runes of Magic (provided your interested in PvE primarily) is quite a good offering as a F2P title (geared at being a free alternative to wow) and has had extensive growth & quite a lot of development & expansions, its probably the closest to being a AAA title of any game that launched as F2P that I have tried (again stay away from PvP due to the seemingly Pay2Win cash shop).

Admittedly most of the better F2P titles around now actually began life as P2P titles but that is definitely changing as more MMO's launch as F2P or with a F2P option. Certainly anyone complaining about the lack of innovation in new MMO's should be supporting the F2P movement because F2P developers seem to be the only ones willing to take any risks as the big publishers who provide the funding for AAA titles turn their noses up at anything even slightly risky and so we get yet more WoW clones.... which I am not sure anyone really wants long term ?

As I said before I think Buy2Play is the better model, even if the game client only costs $10-$30.

Not really sure you could pin this on MMORPG.com, however nobody can ever be trusted these days everyone has their own agenda in everything they say or do.

IMO it all goes back to china, organized crime, corporate greed, and at the base the gold sellers.

Gold sellers proved most gamers are lazy worthless pathetic morons incapable of doing anything for ourselves, and that as a rule if we have a problem, need, or desire, our answer is to throw money at it.

Once countries, criminal organizations, and later corporations realized we were actually stupid enough to give them real money for virtual merchandise, it was inevitable that eventually every game out there would turn to a Free to Play business model.

Hmmm when you think about it we ourselves may be the real people to blame. I mean if you ever bought anything virtual, from a game download rather than a hard copy, to a music or movie download rather than a CD or DVD, to an outfit for an avatar in a game. Once you showed them you were willing to give real money for unreal products you opened the door and invited the vampires in.

Originally posted by Sorrow

Not really sure you could pin this on MMORPG.com, however nobody can ever be trusted these days everyone has their own agenda in everything they say or do.

 

IMO it all goes back to china, organized crime, corporate greed, and at the base the gold sellers.

 

Gold sellers proved most gamers are lazy worthless pathetic morons incapable of doing anything for ourselves, and that as a rule if we have a problem, need, or desire, our answer is to throw money at it.

Once countries, criminal organizations, and later corporations realized we were actually stupid enough to give them real money for virtual merchandise, it was inevitable that eventually every game out there would turn to a Free to Play business model.

Hmmm when you think about it we ourselves may be the real people to blame. I mean if you ever bought anything virtual, from a game download rather than a hard copy, to a music or movie download rather than a CD or DVD, to an outfit for an avatar in a game. Once you showed them you were willing to give real money for unreal products you opened the door and invited the vampires in.

I like alot of what you said. Logical and interesting.

Personally, I believe that MMORPG.com supports any company/product that pays to advertise here, through multiple favorable articles/features/"news items"/reviews/re-reviews. And they have trouble telling the difference, often being very arbitrary about which section these various bits go in.

As time goes on, it is clear that very little actual "journalism" takes place here, as that requires things like "journalistic standards and ethics", which according to generally accepted norms, are not followed here. So, it is not so much a news site anymore as an "opinion site".

So I think MMORPG.com shovels for whomever pays them, be it a F2P or P2P company.