Originally posted by Elsabolts

Originally posted by lizardbones

 

---

Originally posted by Elsabolts
Humm, I wonder if CCP folks might be getting abit nervous.

 

 

 

---

AoC has 50k players or less, and is in an entirely different genre of game from Eve. Why would CCP be nervous?

 

All of the game company's deciding to go F2P.

 Well i would not say a lot of successfull games have gone F2P, The majority of the main or bigger MMO's are still sub base, the biggest being Wolrd of warcraft.

 When you see the biggest MMO's offer F2P it will be because they are not making the money they were, subs are down and its how they make a last effort to prolong the death of their game.

I think the whole F2P transition idea for a model that was released as Subscription-Based is kinda silly. If the game was fun, I'd pay $14.95 a month to play it. Why would I play a game that's not very fun just because they made it free and less enjoyable?  

It's a catch-22. If it was fun, it would have succeeded as a subscription-based game... but even as a free game, why would I play it?  

Still 2 character slots for f2p accounts according to http://www.ageofconan.com/playfree/ which has been updated with the recent changes.

Heh, see the AoC launcher has finally stopped advertising pre-order for TSW.

Originally posted by umcorian

I think the whole F2P transition idea for a model that was released as Subscription-Based is kinda silly. If the game was fun, I'd pay $14.95 a month to play it. Why would I play a game that's not very fun just because they made it free and less enjoyable?  

It's a catch-22. If it was fun, it would have succeeded as a subscription-based game... but even as a free game, why would I play it?  

my main f2p problem:

once they start making it cheaper, i know they stopped trying to make it better. So that's the model games go to die into.

It's a catch-22. If it was fun, it would have succeeded as a subscription-based game... but even as a free game, why would I play it?  

I think that's no longer true. If a game is fun, it's no guarantee that it will succeed as a subscription-based game, simply because there are a lot of games which are free (or free to a large enough extent), and they are also fun. A game must be superb to succeed with subs these days, and I don't think it's really possible for a new game to have the level of content and polish required to compete with the F2P competition.

Originally posted by Robokapp

once they start making it cheaper, i know they stopped trying to make it better. So that's the model games go to die into.

It's the other way round most of the time. Most subscription games which moved to (hybrid) F2P have had quite a bit of development.

I also did not like the Khitai was always gated by the sub.  I myself purchased the expac and dropped my sub at some point.  In the context of f2p or whatever, I did purchase the "content" so I should be able to access it... no different than any bells and whistles like vanity gear you purchase from the cash shop.

This is one of the reasons why I have yet to return to AoC (that and the account I used for AoC was shutdown due to inactivity and reactivating it seemed like too much of a headache)

Originally posted by umcorian

I think the whole F2P transition idea for a model that was released as Subscription-Based is kinda silly. If the game was fun, I'd pay $14.95 a month to play it. Why would I play a game that's not very fun just because they made it free and less enjoyable?  

It's a catch-22. If it was fun, it would have succeeded as a subscription-based game... but even as a free game, why would I play it?  

It may be a catch 22 for you, but not for all.  You don't find the game fun, but many do.  It's still my favorite MMO; it's just a matter of taste.  I don't blame you for not wanting to play it if you don't find it fun, even if it is free. 

There are so many MMO's on the market and many more in developement;  I think the subscription model is going to die out soon.  FtP & BtP are the model of future and I welcome it.  AoC will be BtP before the end of 2013; Funcom is thesting the model with TSW and it seems to be working.  I bought and subbed to TSW earlier in the fall, fun game but it had population issues at that time.  I lost my job and had to unsub; I went back went they went BtP and there are people everywhere.

Be patient people, AoC will be BtP soon; if not I will sub again when I get my financial situation fixed, I love the game!

Originally posted by WillyMac67

Originally posted by umcorian

I think the whole F2P transition idea for a model that was released as Subscription-Based is kinda silly. If the game was fun, I'd pay $14.95 a month to play it. Why would I play a game that's not very fun just because they made it free and less enjoyable?  

It's a catch-22. If it was fun, it would have succeeded as a subscription-based game... but even as a free game, why would I play it?  

It may be a catch 22 for you, but not for all.  You don't find the game fun, but many do.  It's still my favorite MMO; it's just a matter of taste.  I don't blame you for not wanting to play it if you don't find it fun, even if it is free. 

There are so many MMO's on the market and many more in developement;  I think the subscription model is going to die out soon.  FtP & BtP are the model of future and I welcome it.  AoC will be BtP before the end of 2013; Funcom is thesting the model with TSW and it seems to be working.  I bought and subbed to TSW earlier in the fall, fun game but it had population issues at that time.  I lost my job and had to unsub; I went back went they went BtP and there are people everywhere.

Be patient people, AoC will be BtP soon; if not I will sub again when I get my financial situation fixed, I love the game!

 B2P is only working with TSW because it is still fairly new.......Not many would drop 30 bucks to play AoC.....Also TSw will be f2p at some point you can bank on that.

Originally posted by dancingstar

 

Heh, see the AoC launcher has finally stopped advertising pre-order for TSW.

I chuckled at that last I saw it.  I figured the patcher was broken and showing old ads.

These changes are very welcome.  End game is just made up of 3 classes.

Also while you're leveling even if you purchase a dungeon pass... no one does dungeons because no one else has a dungeon pass.

Great changes, might level a toon up again.

Hmmm, i bought this but stopped playing after the initial 1st month (might have subbed for a 2nd month, carnt remember), the game had not gone F2P back then but there was hardly any players in game, you was told to skip group missions and bypass dungeons as you would not get grouped for them, i did try a PvP server but there was teams of gankers hanging round the portal area's and camping so you could not do anything.

After weighing up all that i figured at least 80-85% of the game was lost just there, nobody i knew stayed, people i happened to meet (3 players) all stopped playing i guess i just simply stopped too and have never looked back at it.

My question is what is the community like thesedays, ok so its F2P, but is there a monthly subscription option (like a hybrid game) using that gives everything (no need for item shop use but you do get free coins too) or is it item shop only?

Originally posted by Manestream

Hmmm, i bought this but stopped playing after the initial 1st month (might have subbed for a 2nd month, carnt remember), the game had not gone F2P back then but there was hardly any players in game, you was told to skip group missions and bypass dungeons as you would not get grouped for them, i did try a PvP server but there was teams of gankers hanging round the portal area's and camping so you could not do anything.

After weighing up all that i figured at least 80-85% of the game was lost just there, nobody i knew stayed, people i happened to meet (3 players) all stopped playing i guess i just simply stopped too and have never looked back at it.

My question is what is the community like thesedays, ok so its F2P, but is there a monthly subscription option (like a hybrid game) using that gives everything (no need for item shop use but you do get free coins too) or is it item shop only?

 

Even before this change you received a free mount that was useable in all mount riding locations.  Most of the item's shop things are very aesthetic... although there are some XP boosts in there.

Premium membership makes it easier to level, you get offline levels.  Premium membership gets you access to dungeon content, you have to buy expansions to access them in the first place.  Even without premium membership you can also specifically get a dungeon pass.