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Player Perspectives (Archived) : Not In My Nature
Posted Jul 30, 2010 by Suzie Ford
In this week's Player Perspectives column, MMORPG.com's Jaime Skelton takes on the issue of the free-to-play market and the contention made by some that it's in a player's nature to want to purchase items from in-game shops. Jaime tackles the microtransaction issue with compelling arguments against that thought. See if you agree.
In an interview last week with GamesIndustry.biz, Todd Eckert, the North America operations director for Eutechnyx, was questioned about the company's pursuit of a microtransaction driven game. In staying confident of the course, Eckert claimed that the microtransaction model is “human nature.” Said Eckert, “It's not artificially inflated, it's just the way people think.” Before this statement, Eckert had explained that players were apt to buy things that reflected status, such as a Ferrari in a racing game, in a culture that reflects an “I want to own” mentality – in the same way that music lovers may wish to purchase single tracks instead of a full album.
Read Player Perspectives: Not In My Nature and tell us what you think.
Interesting article, and all I can say is I've played only 2 F2P games with any seriousness, and in both cases I spent money on in game items, so I guess its in my nature to do so.
But I do so because at this point in my life I can, in earlier and less prosperous times I don't think I would have bothered, I still prefer the monthly access model.
Probably the best critique of the F2P payment method I've read on this forum. I guess what it all boils down to is the personal perception of value for your money spent on a game no matter the payment plan.
Good article and I definitely agree. It's not human nature at all, but if I like the company and the item they are offering for a reasonable price, then I'll give em my money in the same way I will pay for a subscription if I like what the P2P MMO is offering. Realistically those virtual items that people pay for will probably last longer then many of the things we spend money on day-to-day. It's just business as usual, and just like in the real world I think some merchandise is a total ripoff! Yeah, all MMOs charging $25+ for a single mount, I am talking about you!
p.s. Hey, is that gold-armored horse mount for sale somewhere? lol
p.s.s. Nevermind, that's from Oblivion. :(
Yes it is such a fact that human nature wants microtransactions that no other major services use subscriptions........ oh wait.
Telephone service/cell phone service/cable and satellite TV/Internet/Magazines/Netflix/Radio/Xbox Live/insurance/ etc. etc. etc.
With how successful those services are, and how many of them are tied in directly to daily life, it would seem that a monthly subscription is the thing that is part of human nature, not microtransactions. Although it is nice to see how greedy developers that want to milk their players dry like to spin things.
Those are terrible examples. Telephone services are notorious for charging additional fees for various extras. Cable and satellite charges extra for pay-per-view specials. We subscribe to the internet, but then have to pay extra for so many online services. Magazines have special issues that they either offer as a bonus to subscribers or charge additional for them. TV/Radio/Internet is arguably just an advertising medium these days for more products (a LOT worse then cash shop advertising). Insurance lets you subscribe then asks you for a deductible payment every time you need it.
So really, you're just hurting the argument against RMTs. If anything, MMO developers are slowly following suit with the way the rest of the world already works. Charge consumers for everything that can be sold. I don't like it, but I think your examples have kinda highlighted why they are moving that direction.
Nice writeup Jaime. Now I just wonder if anyone else in addition to your choir/congregation here will take your words with any measure of seriousness.
@risenbones hit the nail on the head. The success of any transaction system will sit firmly in the value perceived from its consumer base.
@SnarlingWolf and @ZenNature also open the discussion to an interesting comparison. I wouldn't be surprised if micro-transactions and subscription systems became some tiered, bundled feature system.
Imagine a space opera game where you could play the space combat and some planet missions for free, but the really cool sectors of space and the majority of the planet missions required a subscription. Throw in pay-to-play special events and a few other paid services and you get a game that's similar to your phone/cable/insurance/periodical subscription services.
I cant see where F2P games take away items from a player beside some pvp games with player loot option but then its taken away by a player.
And yes, i think either flatrate and microtransaction are human nature.
When i played Perfect World, i bought a nice outift, and a few of these Guardianamulets that refresh Health an Mana if below 50% with a cooldown about ten seconds slowly consumed up that way.
I think that is a great way to have a "pay per activity" option as any hour or minute based modell will anytime set stress on you to use your "expensive" bought game time as effective as possible.
The pay per activity model let you settle down for socializing, exploring, whatever else beside fighting you want to do without stressing your feeling about to care for effective use of your gaming time.
Most people fear the F2P games are crap and some are but also p2p games are crap the evidence is mmorpgs games list^^
PvP-Players fear they have to spend money to stay on top while they in a flat rate game only need to be first in the game and play more time then others.
So called competetive style Players always want be on top and its the same as with the PvPers.
Its true in a F2P game without self-control and self-responsibility your fare not as good as in a flatrate-game.
Does that mean F2P is bad therefore? I say no!
A good F2P is more convenient, more flexible, catches more players and the fluctuation is nowhere higher than in the hyped p2p games with a soon monthly shrinking subscriberbase and the comunity is as good or bad as in any other MMO.
Your argument suggests a sub with a micro tran that offers shinies is the way to go. That is not what MMOs are doing. They're creating psuedo F2P game with severely limited content and attempting to force anyone who actually wants to play the game as intended to buy buy buy.
I have zero extra fees on my cell phone plan, none at all. Unlimited text messaging is included in my plan.
I've had many magazine subscriptions in my life and never once had an extra fee for any kind of bonus issue/feature.
I do far more with my internet then look at advertising. I use it to game, shop, get news etc. Some sites may choose to advertise but it is not an advertising medium. The providers don't get any of that advertising money.
If you subscribe to different internet radio services the subscription cuts out the ads, if you don't subscribe you have the ads. So once again not a paid for advertising medium.
You can choose no deductible on Insurance plans.
You didn't have any statements for Xbox Live or netflix so I don't have to explain how you're wrong on those.
I'm not sure what world you're living in, or how you manage to get ripped off. But when I have subscription services I pay for the subscription and that is it. So my examples stand as correct examples for how subscription is more human nature then micro transactions. But I could make up completely false information to shoot down other posters arguments too.
Oddly, this F2P article is better than the local F2P writer.
It still remains that a sale is entirely based on the perceived value of the purchase from the customer. If the customer percieves it a good value, then they will lean toward a purchase. Some may need encouragement. But for others, they lean agaisnt it being a good value and need a lot of encouragement or will never buy it.
I play WoW. I would never buy the sparkle pony. Why? I dont think the pony is worth ~50 days playtime. Its not a valueable purchase. Just like I don't see buying 10k gold for $38 is a good buy. Thats 75 days playtime. I can, and am on track to, make more than 10k gold in 75 days.
Thats a more objective approach to it, but it is still founded by the purchase being a good value or not.
Yeah, wanting to pay for status is human nature, and the rest of us who just want to have fun playing a game have to suffer for it.
that how you write something for make people think the way you want , at the best !
that was seriously ... almost funny .
f2p = more cash , and all f2p game are make so you NEED to buy the item anyway at some point if you like the game .
who are you kidding anyway ?
The cash model can be likened to "keeping up with the Joneses". Thats why the sprakle pony sells, not many people will be satisfied with not having something everyone else has. Very often it is not a matter of needing to spend money in a game to enjoy it, its a matter of spending money to "keep up" or to not lose. The P2W is what most people against microtransactions fear. I have played some F2P games and ahve done fine without spending any money as long as what I am spending on is centered on my content. Wizards101 is like this you can subscribe or you can pay to open new areas. Opening new areas can be done at your pace and is not directly P2W. I dont play that particualr game anymore as the farther in you go, the more often the pay areas appear. Each subsequent area and time to play is less than the previous.
Good article, nice write-up.
I think you did a pretty darn good job summarizing how I feel about the concept of micro vs. subscription.
I don't play my MMO's just to collect items or for 'looks/appearances'. I play to interact with other gamers of the same interest and have some fun.
Subscriptions are, for the most part, a level playing field where so long as the player can afford the monthly fee.. they get access to pretty much all the necessary parts of the game to participate with others on a more-or-less equal footing. The investment is 'time'.. which is still dollars in the end.. however that 'time' is invested playing the game (or grinding something).
I am not after items just to have items.. sure I like the looks of certain things.. but I don't want to spend my own money just for looks alone. I think most MMO players are not here for a 'fashion show' concept.. but here to have fun playing/interacting.
I'd rather pay for time/access than items/fashon any day. I know I am not alone in this.. and while micro transaction-based games will keep enticing players to try them out.. sooner or later they discover the old addage: "Ain't no such thing as a free lunch"
Sooner or later, the fun 'stops' and you need to break out your credit card to keep up with the Jonses. Free is only free for a short time.
Subscription, at the very least.. is a preset investment that I can manage and budget into my lifestyle.
Transactions.. just how much will this cost me to keep having fun. Thats that question I keep asking myself before installing the next 'best' FTP MMO game. I am not about to 'invest' my interest in something that will cost me too much in the end to fully enjoy.
Tell me up front how much you want... per month/year... to play XXX game. I'll buy into that if I think its worth it. Micro-transactions scare me.. because its a variable I am not in control of.. someone else is.
I look at microtransactions like tips, not impulse buys. In times when money is flowing freely, I don't mind giving a little extra to reward an enjoyable service. When my budget is tight, I have to politely stop. When it comes to how this affects my choice of games, the key factor to me is "how am going to feel during the hard times". If the game is going to hold out its hand and gently cough when my budget is locked down, my attitude becomes hostile very fast.
Which is why what EQ2 is worth noting. Eq2's content is NOT 'severely' limited. You can access just about all of it for free (though some of the high level stuff will be real challenging without spending 10 bucks, but a lot of it doable). And if you want to play the game as intended, you just pay like you did before (granted to stay on the extended servers you have to put up a full year which is a bit offsetting, but you could always go to the live servers)Unfortunately people wanting more than they can reasonably obtain does seem to be human nature, be it money, power, respect, sexual satisfaction, what have you.
The desire to own far more than could a person could financially afford was at the core of both the credit crunch and the housing crisis. I know people love to blame crooked banks and/or governments which I agree did not help matters, but the reality is that too many people feel the need to be in debt up to their eyeballs so they can surround themselves with what is essentially cargo cultist junk.
And now thanks to @$$holes like Mr Eckert it looks like this mentality is going to start seeping like a broken septic tank into our day to day MMO entertainment.
Turbine's (now Warner Bros.) DDO is also a bit of a hybrid model where literarally all content / classes / races can be accessed without paying a dime. It's not as quick or easy as buying it, but there is no restriction. I believe character transfers and one other non-content item may require real money, neither qualifies as 'must'.
I would say you are both partially correct.
Netflix = Subscription, Redbox = Microtransaction
Cell - 2 year contract = subscription; Prepaid, $.05 texting, pay-per-minute = Microtrans
Telephone (traditionally) Flat subscription for local, Pay-per-minute Long distance
Cable / Satelite - Basic / Premium (i.e. HBO) - subscription, OnDemand / PPV (Fights / special events etc) - Microtransaction
iTunes = Microtransaction, Rhapsody = Subscription / Hybrid [iirc]
While there are some pure subscription services, many services are a hybrid of subscriptions with one-time-buys sprinkled in. Note that two of the biggest players (Sony / WB) are not choosing one way or the other, but planning to accept you in whichever combination you choose to purchase.
Personally, I'm a fan of retail because I like infinity play on my time, however, I'm also enjoying the microtransaction model that lets me spend as little or as much as I like. The subscription model works great for my Netflix because I can always still permanently by my own copy if they shut down. I stayed away from several games where that was the only option. i.e. Diablo / Diablo II [Retail - only] - Purchased, played local and on line. Netflix [Subscription-based] - subscribed. World of Warcraft [Subscription-based] - Never played. DDO [Suscription / Free / Microtransaction] - I'll Play.
Agreeing with the writer, I won't pay for something I don't enjoy regardless of the model.
Achivevements.
I call it "virtual power". Whatever we call it, its the same.
If people can buy it using real money legally from the game item mall, its wrong, globally, no exceptions.
Noone can make an argument against virtual power being bought with real money being acceptable. Thats imoral and in the future it will be against the law.
Any item that affects XP gain is not aesthetical. It doesnt matter if there is a level cap and bought eventually will reach it. Its a falacy. What matters is that there is a frame of time in wich there is a difference in virtual power caused by real money used in the cash shop.
I offen hear people saying "they dont have time", therefore "they cant compete". They try to justify buying virtual power with real money. Its a falacy as well. Its a losing excuse like any other, and no excuses justify real money as a solution.
Another falacy, "Buying virtual power with real money through RMT is ok, because people can buy in the blackmarket as well".
In one, if people get caught, they are banned. In the other, nothing happens. in fact, in games where people can buy virtual power in cash shops, you notice wide game changes with the objective of forcing people to spend more money.
Falacy from the Developers after adding virtual power to the item malls/cash shops: "We have to pay the server costs".
Nothing justify such a change. Or they do it from the get go, informing everyone and people who play do it knowing how it works: "to compete I will have to spend real money, ok, I understand and accept it". Or they are breaking the goodwill of the contract, causing damage to the consumer, wich is not acceptable. If they do that, they have to indemnize, wich will hinder the ability to pay server costs even more.
Its part of the risk of the business principle that companies known from the start what are their servers costs and if they will be able to pay it under the rules of the contract. In this case, the contract say: WE WILL NOT HAVE IN OUR CASH SHOP ANY ITEM THAT AFFECTS DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY THE VIRTUAL POWER OF CHARACTERS SINCE WE ARE ONLY OFFERING AESTHETIC/COSMETHICAL ITEMS.
Once defined, it cant be changed, neither justified. And if changed, they can be sued for it.
Stating your Prejudice against "Pay to win" RMT models is one of the ways to educate and evolve the communitys of mmo player, it is one of the ways to force changes.
If we started labeling such rmt models and filtering them on the big communities along with all the following prejudice, soon enough game companies would stop this ridiculous way of forcing people into giving them money.
I propose this new FILTER for all "MMO"s:
Subscription, pay per month
Free to play, pay to win <- so we can trolling it right away or just ignore it altogether.
Free to play, aesthetical items
Add "pay to win" to all MMOs that have any item that affects virtual power, directly or indirectly. And soon companies would start making changes just so they would be one of the "aestheticla items" free to play games, just so they can enjoy the fairness reputation it comes with and the popularity, because people would certainly start considering if they want to play "pay to win" or "aesthetical items" free to play games.
Dont be naive. They dont announce their real plans, because that would prevent people from getting hooked. Once people are hooked, you will start to see more and more stuff in the item mall that are certain to affect the balance of power between players. No F2P lives without the "pay to win" factor. What do you think is the % of income that comes from aesthetic sells and the % of income that comes from "power". PEOPLE WILL BUY POWER. If 100% of the power available in the cash shop costs $10, people who have $!0, will spend $10. If 100% of the power available in the cash shop costs $300, people will spend the maximum they can to reach that power, some will be able to spend only $10 still, but some will spend $50, some will spend $300.
We are starting to see Micro Transactions / Cash Shop / Item Malls whose 100% of the power benefits require more than a thousand dollars spent on items malls. They purposefully make it so the more money is spent the higher the overall effect in competition. One thing is a % of the total benefits you can get from the shop. Another thing is the % of the total power you get with cash shop and without it. So, besides seeing games where to get all the possible benefits from the cash shop would require more money than they are willing to spend or what they think is fair, or justified for such type of game, WE ARE SEEING GAMES WHERE A BIG CHUNK OF YOUR TOTAL POWER IS DEPENDENT ON THE CASH SHOP.
Example: One guy without spending on cash shop, but playing all day long 12+ hours a day after three months get lets say 75% of the TOTAL POWER ACHIEVABLE FOR A CHARACTER. (with everything accounted, from levels, skills, items, etc) And lets say that the only way for that character to go past that 75% is start spending money on the cash shop. And then, we have another guy, who bought 100% of all the power available in the cash shop (through all the stuff that gives you more power, directly or indirectly, like itens that makes you get more xp, more/better drops/rewards, higher chances of upgrades, or items that prevent failures or permanent loses of equipment, all kinds of gambles/lottery mall schemes) That guy, play only 6 hours every day, for one month. He achieved 75% of the TOTAL POWER ACHIEVABLE, except that 50% of it, he got playing 6 hours every day for one month, and 25% he got BUYING STRAIGHT FROM THE ITEM SHOP. Both are balanced. Is it the type of game you want to play? To be the special hero, legendary guy on that game, not only spending 12+hours a day for three months, but buying the 100% of all the power available in the cash shop. Those who do that will be the ones who will "own".
Thats what you get in f2p games. Aesthetical MT is how they introduce/justify its existant in the game while trying to prevent an outbreak in the community so you actually get the people to play your game. Normally, three months or so after, they start introducing "POWER" in the Cash shop. And then, what are you going to do? Get a refund for all the time and spent on the game? Put them on court because they significantly changed the core game mechanics breaking the good will of the contract? All the marketting was a lie and you want a indemnization? Dont be naive.
They will sell power in the cash shop, down your throat and use stupid excuses: "We have to maintain the servers" Dont be a fool. Untill we have laws preventing them from changing how the power is achieved without damaging old players, or without changing the cash shop afterwards, you are signing an empty contract. Did you read the CONTRACT? It says: "We own your account, your character and everything on it." "We can change everything we want any time we want." "We make the rules and change them without your approval." "We can ban you based on our own criteries."
MMORPGs are not products. MMORPGs are services. Still they didnt got enough attention on the court rooms and in the laws and juridic cases. We have no rights. Dont believe stupid things like the Champions Online "We will have only asthetic stuff". Hey you developer. If 6 months later you decide to change anything, will you commit sepuku? Can I go and kill you because you broke your promisse? How do I get revenge? Can I sue your ass for big bugs because you made me spent over a hundred hours of my life pursuing virtual power that now, because of your change, is now worth just a fraction? My time and effort spent was shrinked, thrown out of the window, will you compensate me how I think you should? I laugh at the faces of ignorant youngsters who doesnt know how things works. Im a lawyer and a player and let me tell you... "Players rights" will exist in the future, you will own your character and your time and effort spent on the game will be your propriety and significant game changes will be seen as a break in the contract, but not now, it is still on its infancy. There is a lot of theory to be written and analogies to consumerists rights start to apply and popularization/awakening of the people with real power so we get our "rights".
if you dont like it.
Rant about it, lets make an uproar.
Lets flood the internet with our opinions, convince others, influence people, make the community evolve
Force companies into our view.
Not "dont like, dont play it". Dont tell us what to do. If we dont like it we flood the internet walls with our opinions untill everyone is zombified and brainwashed that no opposition survives!
Subscription is human nature? I also doubt that "perhaps thousands […] of lists of how to run a successful business […] fail to include the customer" (Jaime Skelton). What does this even mean? I don't like the pseudo-science tone mixed with ideology at all (human nature = X). Purchasing is not human nature. How could it be? People lived without capitalism for quite some time. And no, sharing, exchange and purchase is not the same.
Buy the sofa, then for a couple years you're satisfied that no matter what goes wrong, at least you've got your sofa issue handled. Then the right set of dishes. Then the perfect bed. The drapes. The rug. Then you're trapped in your lovely nest, and the things you used to own, now they own you. — Tyler Durden
In digital. The End.
Wait. It's way more complicated than anyone here, me included, would ever fully understand. It's called microtransactions because of a simple idea: People didn't want to spend large amounts of money on some virtual, non-existing thing for rent. And look closer, they don't even buy the custom Pink Pants of Doom at all. They give their real world money away in exchange for fantasy currency. This is the purchase. The fantasy currency has endogenous value in the fantasy world because it can be exchanged for something else that has meaning inside the fantasy world, something players for some reason like to have. Like they want to have the sofa issue handled in the real world.
Brilliant and well-thought article.
One of the best on the f2p model read on this site.
From the research I've done on various F2A games' item malls, if every MMO became microtransaction only, it would quickly price me out of being able to continue to play MMOs. That's the irony. I was investigating if games like Runes of Magic, or Allods would be good for me to switch to for the time being since I have to go offline periodically due to my career choice, but it looks like they cost too much, even in comparison to EVE, which is one of the more expensive MMO subscriptions out there.
I think F2A is not a wise move for the industry to take considering the financial crisis. This sector has done well because it is one of the cheapest forms of entertainment left. But with the microtransaction model, it's much more expensive. Someone mentioned top-ups for mobile phones being a good comparison, but everyone knows that top-ups only work if you don't use your phone often. If not, it becomes much more expensive than getting a subscription plan for your mobile phone. That's how I see F2A games as well.
I'm going to have to disagree with Jamie on this one.
I think her points at the end of the essay just go hand in hand with the points Eckert related with his chosen quote here.
It is human nature to want to compete. In whatever field the chosen human competes in they will want an edge. If paying for an edge is an option, it will be taken. It's also human nature to want things to be 'fair' desite it being a very unfair world. (Ask a gay couple wanting to marry. Or an Arab wanting a pilot's liscense.)
It's also human nature to not trust something that suddenly appears over the status quo. "Everyone will like Free to Play EverQuest 2." Typical Human Response: "Go screw yerself buddy, I hate it and I ain't even know what it is!"
The market is changing and we'll see all sorts of 'observations' become truisms before all is said and done.
1
someone is always bitchin about free to play, its here to stay there is no saying "farewell" . You might as well get use to it or turn your back on it and play something else, that is what I think anyways. Free to play has to make some money somehow and yes you are looking into it little bit to litteraly in other words. I need to keep my lights on in my house help me keep the lights on <.< and my servers up for my very hard work lol...
I sincerely hope you are wrong. If virtual items are considered property of value and you can increase its value through work, then the government will want your cut of the profit, ie taxes. I don't want to pay taxes because I played a game long enough to max out a toon or got a good drop on a quest.
Aside from that, how will a game ever shut down? Is a company obligated to keep the servers up until the end of time or bankruptcy? Please keep your lawyering away from this hobby before you ruin it like your kind have ruined so many other things in life. Keep in mind that politicians are a bunch of lawyers trying to change the world to the way they think it should be. They're more evil than game devs.
As far as cries of "cheating" through RMT purchases in MMOs, that is completely valid in pvp-centric games; however, most MMOs are primarily PvE. If I have a shinier mount, prettier outfit, xp gain boost, or the abilities to fly and shoot fireballs out of my bum, who cares? Crying about that stuff is just envy. It took me 9 months to get my first MMO toon to max level. I could care less if someone else does it in a week. Did they "beat" me? I'll bet I had more fun and am more attached to/ familiar with my character than them. I like the way EvE has a market for selling toons and game passes. I wish more MMOs were like that. I don't think it's ruined the player economy in that game in the least.
Interesting. I never thought of it that way. F2P's items have a greater need for permanence because you are paying directly for them.
I can forsee a large number of people being even more frusterated with this new F2P movement and how questionable some companies will handle it. Will it mean companies can't shut down future MMOs because of gamer's direct investment or will they still be shutting them down and get more anguish than they bargined for?
WHO CARES??? geesh you need VERY little insight to understand why it matters and who cares.
I wil lspell it out in VERY simple terms.....
EVERYOne in our games wants those shiny items/mounts or better gear.Once you intorduce RMT it makes most of those items ,especially the ones that are bought,offlimits to those who are not using RMT.Under NORMAL circumstances,items/gear can be farmed/purchsed with normal difficulty,but once you take a 50 gold item and turn it into a 1500 gold item,just because you can buy RMT gold,it ruins the game for EVERYONE.
The prices on items WILL rise once more people start using rmt gold,this means the sellers can charge anythign they want,because there is always going to be RMT users waiting to get those items at any cost.
This is why games have a TOS,ALL players have the right to have their game play fairly and the way it was intended to be played,once you bring interference from RMT sellers and buyers,it ruins the entire design of the game.
Do you buy items, or do you buy virtual currency? What happens if you would not buy items, or currency, but you pay for that they open a door (that leads into a room with the sword you want to have). The sword is loot drop, or in a chest or something like in normal game play, just that you would not get to it without paying for the door opener. Is it possible then, that they remove the sword, or change it, just what they could do in a subscription game?
If laws creep into MMOs, everyone involved in making them will have a hard look if its worth the hassle and may decide to stay away from this business.
I have played and still do play many f2p mmos and have never once spent money in them
i have thought about it at times but never went through with it so I can say whole heartedly its not in my nature to buy *shiny* things in the cash shop and honsetly the the comment made by this guy has single handedly ensured that I will never play any game made by this company because they simply see me as some username who cant help but pay for whatever stupid thing they think i need at lest that is what the comment says to me
I disagree with the idea that it is somehow different if a subscription game closes as opposed to a f2p game. People who have invested a significant amount of time into a game never go gently into that good night. There's always a lot of kicking and screaming, regardless of the revenue model.
When I play an item mall game, I am using a service, and when I choose to pay for that service, I get to pick what shiny doodad I get in return, instead of just paying to log in to begin with. I don't care what happens to those items when I stop playing. Why should I? It was a few dollars on conveniences to make my game time less frustrating and more fun.
I feel more cheated when I stop playing a subscription game and walk away from gear I spent a lot of time questing or raiding for, really. I feel like I wasted a ton of time working really hard on something that I can't even take with me. I know I am not the only one; that's the source of so much hate on forums. You know you've seen it: "I just quit this lousy, life-sucking game that I wasted 3 years of my life playing, and you should quit too!" People get just as angry about losing the time as they do about losing items.
You know, I'd be mad if I spent money on a Zynga game, too, whether or not they shut it down. I'd be mad at myself for spending real money on a Facebook app.
For me playing games is like a competition not unlike sports. So if I played a sports, of any kind, and my opponent could buy himself advantages to me I would stop playing that instant. Who wins or loses should be based on skills, be it character or player skills, and those need to be trained, not bought.
So F2P is as much "human nature" as is doping in sports.
Years ago when first item shops where presented i said i would never play such games or i would never buy items and still up to date i never played or buy items.
So not in my nature then buying shiny items, i also dont buy DLC in sologames im agains greed hehe.
as a person in a forum once said "I'm Bulgarian and i don't pay for games." and to me that seemed the most correct thing in a while, maybe for my case ..
wether people pay or not is based on their region
first case: in rich countries, people have lots of money to spend, and part of them they spend ot games, they have been doing it for so long, that it feels to them like "what everyone does"
second case: there are other countries that are not that rich and people are raised to spend things on the most important thing, so they dont pay for games, or use pirate versions of them
i share the second case and i have seen _few_ people around me buying games, but they are few and everyone flames them, maybe we will never learn to pay :D
it's true that people are working hard to make those games and then some crackers make them available for free, but what is a person supposed to do when he cant buy every game just to test it (if he likes it or not)?
and i think that part of those microtransactions is really ridiculous, for instance - WoW - you can buy an "all EPIC penguin companion" that will make you brimming in EPICNESS once you summon it.. thats stupid - to buy something thats actually useless, and in a P2P game, all you have to do is pay monthly and you have everything, unslike some F2P games where buying items from the Web Shop is vital, and you either have to buy them or stop playing
i would just stop playing, i cant afford paying for a game, its a GAME, what will a game help me achieve in life? NOTHING .. so why should i spend money on it, i could spend it on drinking, its more useful :D
i would pay, once i grow old and become a millionaire and have nothing to do all day, then i will pick the best P2P games and play legally, so far i will keep on doing stuff for free :D
Whew, where to start?!
You may not pay extra for many services but these same services were extra untill cometition forced them to the free zone. There are also taxes applied that were, a longgg time ago in the bill
Yes, you can have a no deductable insurance policy but it will be more expensive then a deductable policy ( thats why people often opt for a deductable). Gasp!! major microalert!
TV and Radio make thier living off ads the price of which are dependant on the size of the followers of a particular program. You pay with your time.
Cable ( rofl) you pay for the amount of servises you choose to recieve. Base services used to be free with antenna. MIcro-alert! ^
In short Wolf, people have to earn a living on whatever service they offer. It doesn't make them greedy any more than expecting a paycheck makes you greedy. OH, if you work smarter or harder you expect more in that paycheck. If the place of employment doesn't agree with what you think you are worth they can refuse and either fire or lay you off if this dissagreement interfers with the workplace.. If you don't like the solution or it means not getting your worth you will most likely leave. Look at a game the same way. Its either worth it or not.
Like it or not FTP is here to stay. Some are good and some are horrible and do indeed ask to much for goodies. Some PTP aren't worth the monthly fee. There is a trend for PTP game to have micro shops to. Extra characters, storage, name/server changes etc. Some sell pets! Others sell guides or 'newsletters' that should be part of the info that comes with a game.
Bottom line: If the game is well put together and enjoyable this is a good thing. Check out what it will cost (both ftp and ptp) and decide if the game is worthwhile.
It is beyond silly to reject a game based solely on its pay model. Accept or reject a game on its worth and only on its worth.
You can argue the item mall model only sells access to the items and not the games. Therefore, there is still nothing to take away from the customer if the game is shut down. Using the car analogy; you've rented the car, not bought it. And when the company goes under, its just the expiration of your rental. The car is just being returned. Hope you remebered to fill up the tank....
The F2P model would be acceptable if the prices weren't that ridiculous. 1$ for a permanent mount and not 25$. 0.1$ for an echantment scroll and not 5$.
But still, F2P only has game hoppers or casual players, which will never be as good as commited P2P players.
I just hope SW:Tor will last for years, and i can finally stop hopping from one crappy mmo to the next.
Article is OK... Nothing in it i didn't already know.
I still think monthly subscription is the cheapest way of playing a MMO. You will not play a F2P for extended periods, if you will not buy lots of stuff in the cash shop. Because you will feel you're missing on a lot of things game has to offer.
The best model would be this: have two kinds of servers - F2P with a cash shop and P2P with no cash shop. People would choose what they like. Easy and satisfies all.
Your examples don't quite work.
For Telephone service it used to be that you had a monthy fee and didn't own the phone. All of a sudden the phone company started selling phones with different styles/features and yadda yadda yadda, most people actually own their own phones now. But before it was like a cable box.
Cable was supposed to replace adverstisemetns so you had a monthly fee. Now? not only advertisements but you can purchase "premium" events and movies.
As far as music goes, companies did try (and are probably still trying) the subscription thing. but I-tunes does feed into the idea of people wanting to own what they pay for. I know I do. I dont' want to rent my music only to have it all go "poof" if I stop my subscritpion. Probably why I still buy dvds.
Cell phones used to have a pay as you go or you just would put money into it OR you could have a sub fee. However, the process of adding money was such a pain in the neck I strongly thing that consumers were being steered into paying a sub fee. Now you not only have a sub fee but add ons. Downloadalbe applications, additional fees for smart phones, downloadable games for extra money, etc. Of course there are pay as you go programs or phone cards. But there are downloadable extras people can pay cash for.
Most companies, if they can, would like to put people on recurring payment models. However, they really like recurring payment models and then little sales for services here and there.
with magaizies you own the magazine in the end, it doesn't go "poof" unless you are on some internet site. Insurance is insurance but they do try to get you to add more insurance for a variety of things. Sort of makes sense as who wants to pay a HUGE amount of money up front instead of a monthly manageable fee.
I personally think the desire to own more than what you have is a symptom of the problem which snowballs to larger problems. And I disagree with the writer's idea of human nature.
I think what Skelton thinks as human nature isn't anything more than tricks to milk money out of customers. Lots of people thinks that money = power. Which is quite false. Such ideas have been deeply rooted in the human psyche over such long periods of time because it's good for business. Money only equals power so long as there's people that want your money.
Wither purposeful or accidental, I think the social engineering from companies has a lot to do with why people buy more than they can afford, and why Skelton thinks it's human nature. Example: De Beers Advertising diamonds as THE stone for wedding rings is the ONLY reason diamonds are for wedding rings. Before De Beers, wedding rings were just solid gold, or had other gems in them.
Currently companies are trying to promote a lifestyle that is upper middle class to upper class on all medias so that they can sell goods and make money. Idiots and gullible people spend much more money than they can make thinking such a lifestyle means happiness. Which is easily proven false every time you see rich idiots like Lyndsie Lohan and Paris Hilton on TV.
Add: I thought a bout it a little and the only thing that would be 'human nature' would be wanting items that make you stand out of the crowd. which is actually just animal instinct to try and look better than the rest. Compinsating for lacking in physical or mental prowess is more of a human nature consept.
These companies that are peddling "F2P" are merely trying to get away from what I call the "unsubscribe factor". Most players leave a game at some point no matter what the developer does. For arguments sake let us as 70% leave and 30% stay within a 1 year period. Subscription games are then left with the dedicated players but the money they get from them is set at 30%, thus the new subscriber desperation. BUT that 30% are likely the types of people that are willing to pay extra for benefits so why even worry about the 70%? So some smart CEO cottoned onto this and viola... the F2P system is born!
"F2P" allows them to (1) widen the net to attract players with this "free" nonsense and increase the absolute values of the %s, and (2) enables them to ignore the unsubscribers, because they can milk more than the traditional 30% from those that will continue playing.
I guess I am a 70% type of player.
You sign a TOS everytime you log on or atleast once stating that they can turn off your account and ban you I seriously doubt in the future you seriously own the items. What if god forbids the company goes out of business of the game you play what will happen to your items then? Are you going to sue ??? lmAo need to get out more people ...
Another excellent article Jamie. I do think today's executives are grasping at straws when it comes to revenue. Some, like SOE have a completely distorted view of what makes a f2p work. EQ II f2p is a huge joke on the gaming community the way it is designed. Looks like Smedley's work hands down. Clueless to the extreme.
Never bought a virtual item. I am not into renting some nebulous bits on a computer that may or may not be there tomorrow.
Secondly, where is the sense of accomplishment when you buy something instead of earning it? I just don't understand why some of these people play without any feeling of accomplishment developing their character.
If there was a decent f2p out there with content I might play it. At this point in time such a beast does not exist. Developers are going to have to put out a good game first before they will find me investing in their virtual goods. Mainly because a good game will be around tomorrow.
Very good points. Another example - airllines. Remember (if you are old enough) when luggage was just 'free'? When meals were served on planes for the price of a ticket? Now you get *maybe* a soda, a tiny spoonful of stale nuts, and a fee for your bags on most airlines.
Those of us who are old enough may remember when the phone bill had two parts. Local service, and long distance. Now there may be 20 line items on there. Each little 'value added' costs another monthly fee. I love the scare tactics for things like 'maintenance' fees. "If you call us for a problem with your phone, and we send someone out, and the problem turns out to be in your lines inside the house - without this contract you may end up paying a $90 service call!"
Any business out to make a profit will try to see where and how they can squeeze the consumer just short of driving them off for good. It's called greed, and yes, I believe that's part of human nature.
That being said, I have no problem buying "I want" items (like special costume pieces, etc.). As long as *not* having them does NOT affect gameplay (i.e. - I feel it's wrong if you're gimped unless you fork out cash) I think that is not a bad thing. Many of the things CoH has sold have been special emotes or costumes that players themselves have asked for. It takes time and money to create these things, so why not let people have some non-essential add-ons if they can afford it.
All I hear is blah blah blah you dont make a lick of sense.
I am sorry, but this is all BS.
We live in a world where the majority of people do all possible to try to save money..In fact most of the time a game conjures up a microtransaction system midway through, half the people leave.
Players buy things in order to get by the artificial inflation they set up. Below are possible examples :)
1) Want more EXP? Too bad! A company on conception will say "Lets just set the database EXP variable to 50% and put a double EXP item in an item store. This way a player can choose between spending twice as much time to earn the EXP or buy the in-game item.
The same is done to drops and has been for a very long time.
2) Agitation....Very easy for a company to send 10 - 50 of its employees into an online game with the task of agitating the population. All you do is set them up to have top guilds and items and spread the belief that if one doesn't spend money, they might as well not play. This is a very common marketting tactic in "Free Market Societies" that have an Established monopoly, which is why the law on monopolies were created....
3) Updates... Its very common for a divisor to be increased in a way that a player sees a higher number, but actually loses effectiveness. This is what happened with games like Runes of Magic, They released updates and made their attack and defense variables exceptionally high and when recalculating damage it turned out that players had lost 25 - 33% Effectiveness on their characters and to regain that effectiveness, put more things in their item shops..
Most of the items one buys is not because they "like the game." Its because they want to make progress without playing for 8+ hours a day. Its an addictive culture and companies love to say "time is money."
If companies cared about their games they would focus more on their characters rather than focusing on their pockets. A lot of people who buy tons of items get pissed they spent tons of money on Virtual Items, so they develop a mentality to defend the game further since going against it means losing their investment and having to face how dumb they were at investing a small fortune...
The bottom line is that a time will come when a person will change games, and have to face the fact how much one has spent on a game. All what F2Ps convince people to do is to find top items so they may RMT them. I new people who left a game and RMTed their equipment for over $3000 after spending $1000+ on item stores to get the items.
Who needs IGE when companies are setting up their own games to become RMTs?
It's really very simple...
P2P: The motivation of the Developer is to simply have the user enjoy the service. Why? Because that's how they make thier money. You enjoy the service, you stay subscribed to it. The Developer gets income from you.
F2P: The motivation of the Developer is to have you make a RMT purchase. Why? Because that's how they make thier money. No matter how much you play, if you don't make a purchase, they don't make any money off you... in fact you are COSTING them money (server resources, bandwidth, etc)... not much..but that cost does add up.
I'd much rather have the Developer focus thier efforts on simply making the service enjoyable to me rather then focus it on trying to get me to make a purchase. The act of purchasing is no fun to me (it is for some people, but I'm a gamer not a shopper) it detracts from my fun... the act of playing is fun to me.
It the difference between going to a play/movie and going to a casino. With the play/movie they make thier money off selling you a ticket to the event... what you do once you are in the event as long as you aren't disrupting anyone else is irrelevent to them. They know as long as you had a fun time...you'll come back again in future.
With a Casino, they'll do alot to entice you in and try to keep you in..... but what they REALLY want you to do is gamble and to keep you gambling as long as you can possibly tolerate it. If you are just standing around eating free food and drinking free drinks and not gambling.... you are a waste to them. Everything they do is designed to push you toward gambling...it has to be or they make no money from you.
Now if they are smart and sophisticated....they'll make that attempt to manipulate you into gambling as subtle and unobtrusive as they can... but it's still there. They want you to enjoy yourself....but only if your gambling..... because if you aren't gambling thier loosing money.
F2P games operate on the exact same principles as Casino's..... If anyone tries to tell you anything different...they are feeding you a line.
+ over 9000 for Jamie who actually attempted to write something worthy of reading regarding F2P. They should have you do all the "less popular" topics because you seem to balence them well, and address the real actions/ideas behind something, not why we should all zombie step into whatever the writer is purposing.