Bear with me.

Imagine that Vanguard was going free to play. Just imagine it. Picture it in your mind. Now tell me how you feel...

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/

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/

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.

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/

This is really interesting :)

I've never buried the possibility to play vanguard again some day.

Is this really a possibility ? Wow ! This could revive Vanguard.

It might be a good thing... i recently had a go at resubbing to vanguard but starter area was totally dead adn i could not get myself motivated to play..

So having lots of people there would be good :)

Voted Other.

I'm not a Vanguard player, but I'm feeling excited about Vanguard as long as it's NOT free to play. 

This has gotten me some ants in my pants now and I am thinking of moseying down to SOE and getting myself a Vanguard sub. Damnit ! I already have three MMORPGs on my computer right now.

Has anyone given any thought as to how the f2p will be designed for Vanguard ? Shizz I am so hyped about the prospect of this game getting the attention it deserves finally.

Hmmmm, Vanguard, Free to Play...

Not sure what difference it would make.  Part of the challenge is to imagine how the cash shop would work.  What would players be buying?  Chunks?  Rares?  Experience bonuses?  Dungeons?  The only fee I see really working and acquiring wealth would be the "Leave the IoD" charge.  After that it's an open world and I don't see the what the product would be.

In some ways it is alread "Free" as part of the Station Subscription.

Maybe the cash shop needs to sell bug fixes?  I'd pay twenty bucks to fix dual-wield graphics.

Originally posted by kitarad

Is this really a possibility ? Wow ! This could revive Vanguard.

It will only revive Vanguard if they follow LOTRO FTP model,going the EQ2X way will do nothing for Vanguard. Smed thinks he is smart and many EQ2 players are pissed off because of the way that they now promote EQ2X.

They want to direct new players to the FTP model because thats where the money will be spent. Vanguard would still be the sad and under populated games it is today. FTP system for Vanguad need to allow FTP players to play on one of the current servers or at least both servers.

Without this system it makes not one bit of differance if Vanguard goes FTP to any of the current player base. The people who have stuck with it will get nothing but xp bonus weekends lol.

55 Dread Knight

55 Bard

55 Disciple

50 Tuurgin Shaman

What's keeping me from getting into this game is the threat of it going F2P. If they could guarantee that the game was going to get additional development like it's started to get, and that it would remain P2P without a cash shop, I would re-sub to it.

Originally posted by Ceridith

What's keeping me from getting into this game is the threat of it going F2P. If they could guarantee that the game was going to get additional development like it's started to get, and that it would remain P2P without a cash shop, I would re-sub to it.

   I agree. Hopefully there is a new server for the f2per's

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.

I dont think it will help anything now anymore.

Really, Vanguard is the perfect PvE MMO and nobody is playing ... so meh, whatever.

I like the idea of F2P because my biggest problem with VG is the low population. I think VG would work as an F2P because it would fit nicely with Vanguard's "appearance tab", which would make it easy to implement a lot of purely cosmetic items (that would be sold in the item shop). Flying mounts would also be a strong item in VG's item shop. They could also require cash shop items to warp to higher level rift stones but that might piss people off too much... I think it could be a source of revenue if the pricing is cheap enough to buy a lot of them in bulk... The world/quests/content should be completely open and f2p though...

I don't see Vanguard going free to play.  If it did, I would have no trouble installing it again and playing it.  Now that Sony has gotten Galaxies taken away from them, maybe they will fix Vanguard.  Yeah, I know, no chance of that really.

Voted other as i'm a "former" Vanguard player that would be excited to come back if it went FTP. Quit playing as I think it's pretty close to criminal to charge for a game with zero support. I don't think VG will EVER get FULL support so would only support some form of FTP where I decide how much i'm willing to pay.

Originally posted by Aquazen

Originally posted by Ceridith

What's keeping me from getting into this game is the threat of it going F2P. If they could guarantee that the game was going to get additional development like it's started to get, and that it would remain P2P without a cash shop, I would re-sub to it.

   I agree. Hopefully there is a new server for the f2per's

I think that is a great idea, and would also be a nice experiment.

Would the ftp server have a higher pop? (I would think so)

Would the ftp server have a buch of ass clowns? (I don't get that vibe on EQ2X)

Which server would generate more $$ for SOE?

Would some on the paying server leave for the ftp if the pop was higher?

I know the current server has a great community, but there are lots of people that just simply need a fuller server to enjoy the game for any length of time. With a FTP server, I imagine for the first time EVER, (I played in beta and release) Telon could have the numbers it was designed for.

So I just resubbed myself and I have to say that if it went free to play it would absolutely keep my business.  The game is one of the best on the market.  It has a huge expansive world, three different spheres of play, interesting and unique character classes and races.  Sure it has a few bugs still, and its character models could use a little work but the biggest turn off for me regaurding this game has always been the lack of a player base.  Having seen the population effect that going F2P has had on other games, I honestly think its in the interest of SOE to do this.  More active players whether free or not lead to more subscriptions which leads to higher income for companies involved.  All I can say is why wouldn't they go there?

Originally posted by Ceridith

What's keeping me from getting into this game is the threat of it going F2P. If they could guarantee that the game was going to get additional development like it's started to get, and that it would remain P2P without a cash shop, I would re-sub to it.

Err ?

They are guaranteeing that.

These threads "plz make Vanguard f2p" are from users of this site. SOE never agreed to that.

Personally I would only tolerate f2p if it would be on a new server. I dont want my current game polluted by the usual f2p people. I got enough of those on IoD already.