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General : Even the Wall St. Journal Notices F2P Shift
Posted Jul 30, 2010 by Suzie Ford
Even the venerated Wall Street Journal is sitting up to take notice of of the fact that some of the West's biggest gaming companies are taking games into the realm of 'free to play'. In an article in the newspaper's 'Tech' section, writer Nick Wingfield talks about both Sony Online Entertainment and Time-Warner shifting popular titles Everquest and Lord of the Rings Online to a new monetary paradigm.
The shift, which game companies in Asia figured out years ago, underscores how broadly a once foreign-seeming approach to business is coming to permeate the games industry. U.S. games companies are far more dependent on retail sales of software in stores than their counterparts in Korea and China, where rampant software piracy forced local companies to be more inventive about making money through methods like virtual goods sales.
While the article doesn't share any earth shattering news, it's an interesting read. Check it out at The Wall Street Journal: Tech page.
In my opinion all this article does is back up most of the anti ftp arguements on this site and others and proves that ftp is nothing more then a money grab by the devs and that players who do use the item shops will be spending more per month then if they went with a standard sub game.
I like to use the old saying to sum it up "a fool and his money are soon parted"
Straight F2P will always look to me like a shoddy way to run an MMO to me. I have yet to experience one that didn't have poor support/crappy item shops or absolutely no real interaction with players. I think Tiered subscriptions is the only logical way to go from pure P2P.
You have consistant income, you don't need game changing item shops like in F2P and you have people less likely to outright abandon your game like in P2P for the reasons they usually do. I guess now it's a wait and see with Everquest 2 if it will have the same effect it did on LOTR, if anything it might fair better considering how much content is in EQ2.
DDO is now one of the most popular MMO games ever. Wake up, it's that way for strong and good reasons. Just check it out with some parties.
Care to back that statement up? Yes it did have an amazing comeback, but from what? It was in the sh*tter before it went FTP.
A 400% gain from nothing is nothing.
free to play industry is spewing out some things that most gamers wouldn't touch even if they were free...problem is they're not. Maybe 1-2 games hold true to their title. but the vast majority does not. The only F2P game i played (used to be here, now it's gone because it wasnt really a mmorpg at all) was Travian. Everything is in game. Every item, every opportunity. Some players can buy things that make them produce things faster. That's basically it. It's a game that's been around for 6-7 years and is having many servers relevant for countries, languages, timezones as well as a couple "world" servers.
greedy F2P games can not and should not be allowed to plague the industry. Also by definition a F2P game should never cost the player more than a P2P game. Ever.
Sotfware piracy is irrelevant, you buy a key to unlock the account, it's not a reason that would wash.
I do agree with this. After playing just about all MMOs out there is has to be the, at least, 3rd most populated in the Western market. Maybe even more than EVE, maybe not. Groups are very easy to get together, unlike every MMO out there except WoW.
DDO playstyle and its hybrid payment model work well. F2P eastern games are pure garbage. It has more to do with gamplay that DDO has seen a resurrgence. I know the hybrid model has brought in a lot of people, but ultimately its the gameplay that makes people stick around. A lot of F2P games don't have that.
DDO has two communities; f2p and p2p. P2P is much larger than it used to be, and f2p are generally ignored and shunned.
I'm interested to see how this plays out in LOTRO. I doubt it increases its p2p crowd much, and the f2p players are just worthless to other players(mostly kids) and the company. Then, again, LOTRO is an extremely easy game to grasp, so there may not be such a gap like in DDO(where it takes skill and dedication).
OH well if this is the way gaming is going, I got a feeling that a lot of folks are not going to be gaming. I think were in fro an mmo crash.
We are only at the beginning of F2P for western MMO's, the actual proof of their success in the MMORPG genre will be if they can last over time, or if as i suspect, they become P2W and drive players away. For so many companies to leap on the bandwagon so early may be something they come to regret, as their reputations depend on what they do in the future with this.
I too am interested to see how LOTRO turns out. For the reasons you mentioned, and the fact that unlike DDO was before the switch, LOTRO is currently healthy (pre-F2P).
Sitting up and taking notice of something doesn't mean it's good.
The problem is really a difference in eastern and western cultures.
Marketting F2P in America is akin to starting a Save the Whales campaign in Japan, it's just not gonna work until society changes their perception of the subject. And I don't see westerners giving up their $15/month.
I don't believe that will be the case at all.
How significant are traditional, old school mmo players in comparison to a newer generation of online players?
More and more people are playing these games and more and more people are playing them without expectations as to what business model is "the best".
If they deem the price right they will pay it.
In some ways I think the upcoming LOTRO f2p release will be very telling as it is a game that falls into the more traditional, wider world mmo convention. If their numbers sky rocket, other game companies will be assured that it is a new future for a different pricing model.
Lightning can strike once but can it strike twice?
Another thing to consider is that people have been paying additional money outside of the normal subscriptions to secondary parties selling gold and items and power leveling.
It's already proven that people are willing to pay additional money on top of their subscription. This is just a game company's way of making sure they get some of that money. Not to say that the secondary market will go away but if a person can buy xp potions to speed up leveling or Items to make them more effective like buff potions, then the need to buy power leveling and gold might go down a bit.
The original old school mmo players are not calling the shots on this thing. Online gaming has been found by non-gamers and I don't believe they are going away any time soon.
Well, I've played DDO very casually and I play lotro (though I haven't been in game for a bit as I have no time at the moment) and it is possible to play without paying anything. I think I did pay about 10 dollars total in DDO.
One will go slower but it can be done. And it seems one earns turbine points at certain points in the game so one could feasibly save those up and use them to unlock content.
So, if a person was happy with that type of progression they could play to their heart's content without spending a dime.
Of course, Turbine is betting that people will want to spend money on some things and that some people won't mind spending a lot of money.
I haven't looked closely at the EQ 2 system to make an constructive comments.
We will never see the real results, we will get the propaganda. We will be told that it is the greatest thing since ice cream!! Turbine recently posted the Beta Feedback for the new store and they posted only the fanboi responses. The forum response has been incredibly negatiive, but rest assured - The store is selling everything, pay2win, not pay2play. Faction reputation will be worthless, considering all the reputation, enhancement, class skills, etc. will be available in the store.
The store reeks of money grab. Turbine is setting themselves up as the goldseller, no need to buy gold when everything can be purchased from the store.
Convienience over Advantage - such BS.
It's not quite that bad but it does seem like there are a few things in the store that will raise eye brows. But I wouldn't say that the entire store is "pay to win". Especially when quite a few things in the store can be gotten in game by spending destiny points.
Of course, the other thing is what will the store look like a year from launch?
as far as seeing the propaganda, that's par for the course. What company doesn't tout its products and downplay its failures?
Or they bring their failures to the forefront but use it as a marketing tool to build good will. There's always an angle (as my grandfather would say).
Here is my take on the F2P market. From a gamer's standpoint, it is a mixed bag of decent games and games I wouldn't come near with a two meter cattle prod. From a business man's standpoint, the F2P market is absolutely a wonderful place to be for some companies, depending on the exposure you can get for your game. If you can interface a game, even one that is quite boring (aka Farmville) with an extremely popular social networking site such as Facebook, you are going to get a massive amount of exposure, which leads to sales.
I used to be a huge fan of subscriptions, keeping out the cheaters, spammers and bots. Now, I tend to be able to ignore them. I will still play subscription based games, FFXIV being one of the games I will be playing, but I tend to prefer games that are Buy 2 Play such as Guild Wars.
I really think that Buy2Play + Cash Shop (Cosmetic items only, nothing that can actually provide stat buffs) would be ideal. The up-front box costs will help keep alot of the spammers, cheaters, and bots from flooding the game. People would really have no reason to "quit" the game considering there is no monthly sub to worry about, and the sale of cosmetic items from the cash shop would provide a steady cash flow to help with content development and game management. The removal of monthly fees would most likely help with population retention also, which in itself will act as population retention. After all, who wants to play an empty game?
But the first thing that needs to be done is this: Make sure the game is FUN!
I think anyone who says that "F2P just plain sucks" is just an elitist snob who can't deal with the fact that their P2P MMOs are being phased out by the more useful F2P model.
I beg of you, all you P2P elitists. Just go try DDO. It's a great game and guess what? Everyone who's not blind can see that their payment model is the greatest idea the industry has had.
And stop making the "official goldseller" argument. All good F2P games DO NOT ALLOW YOU TO BUY THE BEST GEAR. The closest thing is getting 40% bonus exp potions.
If you think that leveling with a 40% boost is a gamebreaker... go play WoW and have fun with your time and money sink. You're an idiot if you think that microtransactions mean you pay more for less. $15/month for WoW is the real scam. If you have a bad month at home, and maybe you don't have as much money to spend on games... do you really think that being demanded $15/month is what you're after? No. Guess what? You can't cut back on your subscription fee w/o cancelling it.
At which point you're no longer playing, and your whole "P2P is better" argument goes out the window. At least with F2P games, you can actually play if you can no longer afford your microtransaction purchases. You just stop buying them for the time being, but you can still enjoy all your past purchases with no guilt fee, with no expectation, with no obligation. I'm not saying i should be proud of being poor, but i'm a college student. I don't have $15 to spare every month just for one game. Luckily, since i'm not a slave to the P2P image, I understand that you don't have to be subscribe to get a good game.
I'm not trying to change your mind. If WoW makes you happy, go for it. But don't shit on our parade because you can't deal with the changing times.
Well, I'm only interested in a single upcoming F2P game, or, as someone else stated, B2P - buy to play, and that is GW2. This game will shine in the F2P market
It probably will. But it's important to note that the original GW has a store and it sells things like skill packs among other things. I'm sure there are people who think that is bypassing the playing of the game.
I have no reason to believe that GW 2 won't follow the same type of items in their store.
There's always going to be somethign that will seem wrong for some people. No way around it.
Do you ever get the feeling mmorpg.com has a vested intrest in the F2P market? Seems like every other story they put out here of late is about how great F2P is... while I have still yet to see a F2P game worth the price. (Ok, maybe DDO)
While I'm happy that they managed to turn things around for DDO by going F2P, I'd not call it one of "the most popular MMO's ever". That would be World of Warcraft by a rather large margin. But DDO has demonstrated that if done right, that a F2P game can be quite a sucess in the western markets.
I just wish they would fix their BSOD error 116 problem. For more than a year and a half now(no matter what driver I use) I get a BSOD error 116 error within a minute or two of starting. I have the same problem with Lord of the Ring Online(so I suspect its the same issue). Those two are the only games that have ever caused this problem. Its too bad, as I quite enjoyed both games when I played them at launch (I didn't have the error then).
Does the WSJ not have a spell check function?
Honestly who cares. The Wall Street journal is a rag, and when it comes to its relevance to gaming it is an even bigger joke.
Investors are ruining gaming though, this is not news. They are determined to burst this bubble (video gaming, and MMO's in particular that is) just like they ruined the web bubble over a decade ago.
The "free to play" craze is no different from the thousands of dancing hamster websites and other similiarly useless websites that caused the .com bubble to burst so spectacularly.
It eventually recovered, as will video games, but likely not before all those on wall street have a turn at her in the gang rape of all that is artistic and halfway decent in this industry that is.... publicly traded game design houses.
Guess i need to explain this one again as i have many times before:
Cheat - To violate rules deliberately, as in a game
See, thing is YOU do not make the rules of these games, the devs do. When it comes to a particular MMO, the devs are our god, our government, our judicial system, etc and they make and enforce the rules, not you. If you want to impose rules on yourself, go right ahead, but do not try to impose your made up rules on others. If the rules of the game say it is ok to spend $ for something in game, then it is no longer cheating. You may not like it, but it's the truth. As for respecting the game and the effort of the players... have you ever even played an F2P game before? Do you not realize that the majority of people spending the highest amount of money ar ethe most dedicated and hardcore players who are not only putting in way more time and effort into the game, but also more money. Should they not receive comparable rewards/advantages? Wouldnt not giving advantages to those players over those who put in little time and no money be an insult to those people's efforts?
As for the devs "stealing" money.... Steal - To take (the property of another) without right or permission.
Do you just whip out your credit card and punch in your info as a reflex to every single ad you see on the internet? Did you send in your CC info to the devs and start seeing a bunch of mysterious charges that you were unaware of and did not give permission for? No? Then what's being "stolen"?
Like i tell everyone, learn some self control. Learn to analyze things and make rational decisions wether or not something is worth spending $ on. You feel that special item is worth $10 and have the extra money to spend? Go right ahead, and be happy with the informed purchase you made of your own free will. Don't feel something is worth the $10 but you buy it anyway, and then bitch bitch bitch about how they "stole" your money... sounds more like someone needs to get a grip on reality than any form of deceipt or stealing.
The majority of us are intelligent enough to make these rational decisions wether or not we should spend any money and wether or not what we are buying is worth it. If you and others are not capable of such things, and you actually need someone to hold your hand and tell you "you should only be spending X amount per month", then thats a personal problem, not the problem of the devs.
I understand I don't make the rules, and if the devs allow it then by definination you are correct. The question I ask then is if you decriminialize something is it still wrong? If the government made drugs or murder legal I wouldn't partake because it feels wrong. To pay extra so I don't have to work/play or to pay extra to win in pvp feels wrong to me even if it is allowed by the devs.
As far as stealing, you are correct we are not being stolen from if we signed up and agreed to the charges. Stealing is an incorrect word to have used, I should have said I am disappointed there are some in the industry that are following a trend toward micro transactions that can make players feel they have to pay more to remain competitive.
TY for understanding the error of your ways :-P sorry for the rant. Its become kind of a habit when it comes to certain types of posts, like those similar to yours.
Anyway, when it comes to the decriminalizing of drugs, murder, etc... I understand your point of view, but at the same time, that is again your own set of rules / morals/beliefs, and not everyone (or every country/society) has those same beliefs (obviously or we wouldnt have drugs & murder to begin with). Not to mention more often than not such morals tend to stem not from a truly personal core belief of something being wrong, but more from said beliefs being pushed onto you by your parents/family, teachers, the government, and society in general. If they were to suddenly change the laws, then yes you would probably feel the way you say because you have had those beliefs instille din you by others, however if those laws had never existed in the first place and it had not become the norm that "killing is wrong", would you say the same? If we were more of a barbaric society in which killing, raping, drug usage etc was the norm and perfectly acceptable, many of us who claim to feel strongly against those things would probably become the complete opposite and would oppose any who tried to bring about laws stopping those things.
Keeping that in mind, it likely works pretty similar in the gaming industry. We are used to a certain standard/norm/rule of the subscription MMORPG, and with F2P models being something that breaks that norm it becoms controversial and everyone claims to hold a certain opinion as a hardcore and unchanging belief. But think if things had been the opposite way. What if F2P/RMT games had become the norm over a decade ago? What if games like EQ had used that model from the start, and we had all gotten used to it and accepted it as the norm and how MMORPGs are simply done. Then several years later,a few companies come along and say "instead of that, we're going to require you to pay a monthly subscription to even play our game at all". There would likely be the same backlash against the change from F2P to P2P as we have now with P2P to F2P, and i wouldnt be surprised if the same exact people who view F2P as inherently wrong were on the opposite side of the argument in that situation.
No. F2P doesn't equal cheating. Cheating is a violation of the established rules. The Dev's establish the rules, thus anything within those defined rules are by definition not cheating. "Stealing"? Again, no. No one is forced to purchase things from the item shop (such as that silly looking My Little Pony mount in WoW). People do it because that is their choice. There is obviously a market for those mounts, or Blizzard wouldn't haver sold so many. F2P is simply a different business model. Those who do not like it, shouldn't play F2P games, its really that simple.
You just noticed?
I agree. Once the suits smell money you can figure on problems. You mention the dot com bubble. In the 80s investors made a run at the stamp collecting hobby and things are just now recovering. They bought up all the high end stuff, drove up the price and dumped it. Ruined the market. Now Gorden Gecko has discovered the amount of money that changes hands in the gaming industry. I think in perhaps 5 years, give or take, we will see the bottom fall out and perhaps something decent will rise from the ashes. In the meantime the "non gamers", as one above described them, can foot the bill.
Not that i care much about LOTRO (That game was way too boring and unpolished when i tried it while it was still sub-based, why would i want to play it with an item mall???)...
But screw F2P, screw WSJ (yeah, that's a REALY good source o gaming, right) and screw MMORPG.COM for spreading their propaganda.
F2P is a way to financially salvage a shitty game that would fail horibly (or is failing horibly) as sub based. No realy good and popular game would go that way, ever!
F2P is a scam.
I will NEVER support or play a MMO with this format.
Take your pro F2P propaganda and shove it.
Holy shit how many F2P fanboys around who still tryed to excuse this most stupid movements in MMO history. There is no such a thing as free lunch! Somehow revenue must come. And even IF game don't introduce soon P2Win items (which they all do and that 90% brainless playerbase welcomes as the one and only way they can too obtain that ybah items and ybah skills and can pw0wn) or like TV forces ya to look casino-pr0n-washingpowder etc advs after every 10 min playtime.
And IF this is future and fate of MMOs, let it be - i quit and play with friends PnP tabletops, but never I give my money to greedy Co.-s. Go to hell, Turbine, SOE etc :) And fry there til eternity.....
That is not exactly true. Compared to eastern F2P games it has nothing to put up. Only the gods know how many players games like Perfect world have.
It did really boost DDOs numbers and finally put it in competition with Guildwars but GW had a lot of more players a few years ago and I think it still aces which one that had most players online at a certain time.
Turbine did a great job converting DDO, no one can take that from them but I am not so sure that the tactics will work so well with LOTRO. Locking up more instances is one thing but I am not sure locking up quest chains will work, the asian F2P games don't do that, they live on the item shops instead.
Personally do I think that GW2 will win the battle between F2P and P2P. GW2 costs to buy and you can buy expansions and mini expansions in the shop but not items (or at least not items with stats, appearance items might be in).
DDO is not bad at all, but just because it did great converting to F2P doesn't mean that all games will do as well if they convert too. So far have the competition been pretty low, most F2P games still suck. It is possible that things will change but I still think GW2s in between together with a olid game is what will bring in the players next year.
But it is of course impossible to predict the future even if Wall street tried that for a long time.
My take is that if you like the F2P games you keep playing it. It is fun but to get to end content y you need to pay to play. When you get to end game content, if you have not spent real money to get items and armor you are in a disadvantage to others that have spent hard earned dollars. I have been playing Runes of Magic from the the beta (ROM is a great game) but now that I have a high lev mage it seems hard to advance without spending real money. To sum it up if you are dedicated to a game be prepared to pay to get to end game dungeons. Here is the rule,,,,,FREE TO LEVEL...PAY TO PLAY
Funny, everyone holds up DDO as some great, golden example that every F2A should aspire to. I tried it for a little while and thought it really was not a good game at all. Despite it being 'free', I'm not playing it. I doubt that LotRO becoming 'free' will attract me back to it either.
If a person doesn't like a game, repackaging it as F2A won't make that game any better for them, in fact it could stand to make it a lot worse with the addition of immersion-breaking things such as big gold coins above NPCs' heads or a big red button on your screen saying 'visit store now!'. The danger too is that repackaging a P2P as an F2A will drive off players who liked the game originally because of immersion breaking or finding obstacles put in their path as they try to evolve in their gameworld due to the nickle and diming of content, gear, etc.
By far the best value for money over the long term are P2P's with free trials. They're also the most transparent form of payment. I can't justify the F2A model to myself because it seems like it's designed to screw you over financially, especially if you're a hardcore player who likes achieving. F2A LotRO will end up costing a hardcore player a lot more than if he subscribes.
Kate Paiz (Exec Prod. for lotro, formerly for DDO) states that since the changeover to their f2p/sub hybrid they have had 2 million NEW players join and that their revenue has increased 5-fold above DDO's highest point prior to the switch.
I liked the article. I felt it did a good job of tracing the causes and effects of the F2P market as it began and where it has lead. It didn't help me like the idea of it any more though lol I just hope companies like Blizzard & SOE retain their current subscription models. I don't have a problem with EQ2X yet because in theory, I see how it can help EQ2. But I'm going back to single player games if they both buckle and start opening up full item shops in MMOs.
I'm a big fan of DDO's hybrid model, but it was also designed specifically for DDO, which, like the pnp game, works pretty well with the base game being free to keep playing, but having modules you can buy. I tend to subscribe 1-3 months a year and spend the points granted by the sub to unlock a whatsit here or there that I'll play with repeatedly in the future.
I'm looking forward to LotRO going F2P, liked the game, just my group and I drifted away from it. Hope to see a few other decent to good games go with a hybrid or F2P in the coming years. I think it's a good idea for aging games, and also for games that are designed with that type of functionality in mind, just doesn't seem like that's much considered with some of them.
Seams like once again theres lots of reactionary comments about f2p . Each game will have a different free to play model some will be fair like DDO and some wont . Its pretty obvious now this is here to stay . I'm ok with it when its well implimented as with the hybrid model . I'll enjoy being able to try different mmos on a casual play basis .
F2P is nothing more than a way for devs to cash in more money. It does nothing to enhance game play for players (unless ofcourse the devs use the said money to invest more into the game, which I doubt very much).
The MMOG market is now in the hands of the pure capitalists which are constantly trying to find new ways to make more money and F2P is just a result of that.
His statement still stands. 400% gain from almost nothing is still almost nothing.
DDO was dead in the water and, for some reason, F2P jump started it. Those 2 million new players means NOTHING unless they actually play AND pay. If you look at XFire it has only a ranking of 59 which is quite low considering that you dont need to pay to play the game.
Ok I Never understood where ppl think Gold Farmers don't buy the game. When a MMO come's out these day u don't get Invite a Friend Codes inside like u use to. So They have to buy a 3-6 Boxes a Day for there Post. Of corse if u Had GM working in every Major City, every starting zone for the 1st month There cost would be Great. Of corse as long as u got Google and ppl with more Money then Gamer Skill u will have Gold Farmers Power Levelin ppl's toons. But I would still like to see GMs Shutting these ppl done after there 1st post in the said before zones. Sadly The Co. Make's BIG MONEY off Gold Farmers they get alot of Box sale's from them. Aion for one that would give Gold Farmers around 2 to 6 hr's of Posting. For all the ppl who think just banning anyone with the name zzzyyhbdhdj Would just make u lose the chance to use a real name because u would have them usin reg. names. As for F2P being the answer to Gold Farmers is True but why would I want to get rid of one Gold Farmer for another. NO GOLD FARMER MEANS NONE not the ppl who made it or a 3rd Party. P2P has great service because there selling a Product. What u get in a F2P is spending more money for Less. F2P is Broken more then up and with no Power to ask for Service because u are not a Sub. U might have Paid 45 dollars that month for Bag's,Bank slot's, and quests but that don't give u to no rights to next month or the next day for that.
People thought the dotcom boom was a good idea too.
Many gold farmers do buy the game, with stolen credit cards and hacked accounts.
I Agree 1,000,000% it is Cheating. Just because it is legel to beat your wife in some Country or to marry a 10 YO does it make it Right. No A 40 YO shouldn't marry a 10 YO,No one should they are to young to understand life yet. So because it is allowed is it Cool! No it is still Wrong in F2P MMO's with the P2W set-up it is the Rich win and the Middle Class loses. I know that it is this way in most Real Life thing also,Like Taxes but our MMO fun shouldn't be this way. Then u got ppl like STO who tried making a MMO that was Sub and plus u had to pay xtra to get ship's, Race's and the list goes on. Needless to say they want from have a mill+ sub's to around 100 Thousand die hard ST Fanboz.
Commercial MMO's have always been about making money. It takes YEARS and millions upon millions (of other peoples) money to create the major titles. Most of these investor types do not really care about games, what they are interested in is ROI(Return On Investment). Since the rise of Blizzards World of Warcraft, the mystic phrase that makes investors eyes fill with dollar signs, and results in them throwing truck loads of money at you is; "Its just like World of Warcraft!".
F2P is just a different business model. Its main focus before now has been in Asia because of various factors. But many Dev's have seen how much money can be made in item shops. Look at WoW's silly looking My Little Pony mount as an example. Obviously there is a market for such, or Blizzard wouldn't have made so much money from it. How this eventually turns out is anyones guess at this point.
I am one of those 2 millions. Played it for a day then uninstalled the next day. Why doesn't Kate show us the numbers of those who actually play it. Creating an account in a f2p game costs only an email and 5 minutes. No wonder 2 million tried it in the beginning.
Although I agree that f2p works best for fail games. Imo if a game sucks it should die. Developers should learn how to make better games not finding ways to keep a fail product still alive.
Yes, very true. Most people don't see it because these same devs use that term "free" to play. Players really think the game is "free" but if the want to experience it ALL they find they must PAY. That is not free anything. Essentially, it is a free extended demo. Want to play the full game, you will end up paying more in the long run then if you had been paying a subscription.
I just love the irony in the fact that "Free to Play" actually makes the game owner MORE money than "Pay to Play" :D
Sadly for us gamers, F2P is the future.
With a traditional western P2P model, no company dares to charge more than $15 per month, that figure is now the established "premium" rate. Any sub increase would be massively resisted.
So how to generate more income ? Remove the $15 "hard cap" by dropping subs and moving entirely to micro-payments. By very carefully manipulating what players can buy and the pricing of those items, companies can boost their revenue massively. Too good to pass up, without a doubt.
Once the microtransaction-model is firmly established in the western market, the cash shop sales can become more aggressive. As long as the shift is gradual, players will slowly get used to it.
I expect that 90% of the premium MMO's will be F2P within 2 years at most.
90% of premium MMO's don't add up to the subscriber numbers of first 9%. (leaving out the overgrown and mutated tumor that's sitting at #1).
if the bottom 90% of premium MMO's die, nobody'll notice.
QFT. On both points.
I wouldn'y be against f2p games if they would just change the name from 'free to play' to 'free to pay' and stop pretending hehe. Also, if all the f2p games I have tried (a lot of them) didn't suck for the most part I wouldn't be so disposed to dislike f2p. Seriously, aside from a ceratin f2p game that I am in the beta for I think evrey f2p game I have ever tried I ended up quitting after a day or two of trying it out becuase I thought, "I wouldn't play this shit even IF it was totally free, which the f2p games never end up being 100% free. DDO might be good now as a f2p, but I only half liked it when it was a p2p game. There are other games which are p2p that I enjoy waaaaaay more. I won't go so far as to say the ENTIRE f2p genre sucks, just most if it hehe
I already mentioned this in the One of the mmorpg reporters articles on why we should embrace F2P (F2A). And as i said there pretty much what are the results F2A games make more money.... and thus cost more to play. So for all the people agrueing otherwise the datat doesn't support it. "Users spent an average of $28 a month buying virtual goods across 145 titles whose commerce system is run by Live Gamer." Almost double the cost of P2P. And still alot of those players do not have FULL ACCESS TO THE GAME. In other words, PAYING MORE FOR LESS. If your happy with your F2A game thats good, if your happy with anygame thats good, however, lets not ignore the truth.
Oh, I fully expect WoW to go F2P as well within the next 2 years. Blizzard are working on their next MMO, and they'll try to take as many of their current subs to the new game as possible. No MMO lasts for ever.
The one "premium" game that I have doubts about with regard to F2P is EVE-Online, because their business model seems to have been highly successful for CCP, and changing it could have unpredictable results.
It's a business model based on coercion rather than than a clear product for cost transaction. WoW profits even if no one buys the my little pony or not. The F2P liars depend on people buying from the shop or the game closes down.
The truth is that in a F2P game u don't have ppl who play for over a 1 yr. Some will play over 1 year but u will nv have a player on it for 5+ years like on Main stream Sub's.15 times 5 yrs =$ 900.00 in a Year a F2P will nv get 900 dollars off any Player . They will get around 125 dollars in the 1st 4 months. So The Truth is that F2P = Fast Return and NO LONG TERM INCOME. F2P means a Fast buck for something that Failed. If u make your MMO a F2P your are auto Posted as a Failed game. Now League of Legends is a Good F2P. This is a Game where u can play Free with out spanding a dime of course like any other F2P the Fx is that of a 1993 3DO game. But u will have to pay if u want Toon's fast because you have to use the Store Pt's for Runes to keep u in the fight. The Rune's can't be bought with Real Money only in Game money.Which for a Game that Pay's u to be the Best it is only right that u don't get to pay a thousand dollars to try in win a 100 dollars. But to get into the Ranked fights before Months of Hardcore Play u will have to buy the Game at the store or On-Line because using in Game IP(money) u wouldn't be able to get runes and new Champs without putting 50+ Dollars into it. But like any F2P this will be a Game I will play ony during Rank Time.Being a Straight PvP game they do understand Rage and understand u are playing for Pride and money sometime. Yet u should be Kind to others for if u had a bad game u wouldn't want someone ripping off your head. But a heads up good to bring 4 other ppl with you so u all known each other and no when u rage u are just being u. But as for RoM, DDO, Allod, and many more there Fx and story is not near as good as a Dragon Warrior on the NES in the late 80's.
Wish u could edit your Post. the Big Wig at Blizzard has done said they will go to F2P as soon as they see there Sub's drop 25% or so. Giving ToR is coming out in 7 months along with DCU and theres another can't think off. I see WoW going F2P in a year or so. I know u have put 1800 Dollars in sub's into your 10 YO toon but face it WoW is a Dieing BEAST. That has been buying it's time for years. I left 3 years ago and nv looked back.
You obviously don't understand economics :D
Or do you actually believe that WoW will still be going strong 20 years from now ? I know it's hard to imagine a world without WoW, but that day will come. Trust me.
So since WOW, with a bizillion subs is going to go F2P in 2 years, does that mean there upcoming MMO will launch F2P as well? Dont get the idea im a fan because im not, but if half the players they have leave in the next two years they would still be foolish to go F2P.
U miss understand there Statement. The Number isn't there Sub's. It is how many have Paid to play Which like me who put 6 yrs in. I'm not there no more but still part of that Number. Like I posted before . Blizzard already said they will take WoW F2P when they lose 25% of there Current Subs. No they will not bring there new MMO to F2P. They have made out great in the P2P Field.But like anything out a Dieing MMO goes F2P and WoW will also. As for Box Price income that only give's the Co. as Small Return on there Investment. MMO's these day's have Budgets bigger then Top Movies and on like Movies ppl don't go buy more Boxes like Tickets, Other then Gold Farmers they buy 3-6 boxes a day.
"Coercion"? I was quite unaware of any F2P game using intimidation or threats(like governments do) to get people to purchase items from their shops. From what I've seen its a matter of choice on the players part.
Even though I consider the My Little Pony mount to be silly, its obvious there was a market for it, or Blizzard wouldn't have made so much money on it. As I stated F2P is simply another business model. If you don't like it, don't play F2P games.
But I totally agree that if no one used the item shop, the game isn't going to profit, and thus will not last long. Which is why if I enjoy a F2P game that I always use the item shop. The Dev's should benefit from their hard work, and it helps to keep the game around.
Well everquest or Lord of the rings are old games that have a wave of new mmos comming out so im not suprised going them f2p cutting personnel and just leeching there öast scraps , same ddo .
Ddo popular game ? not in europe besides a popular game is by long shot not a good game .
If by any chance in the future the whole Mmo industry goes F2P i stop playing at all :/ i get a wife make some kids read news paper talk with my neighbor while taking out the garbage .. <.<
Itll be so long mmo hello rl im back... Hopefully itll never happen ^^
In the fullness of time no doubt. But how long has the original Everquest been running?... WoW is going to be around a good long while.
At DDO's hight it had over 80,000 active subs, at 400% that translates to $4.8 Million a month at worst $2.4 Million. If you call that nothing, then you wrong. And I mean that in the most vile, obnoxious, and offensive ways.
They can call it whatever they want, i dont see this as a shift, P2P will always remains the strongest games. I have no intention of ever playing a F2P game where your success in game depends on how much money you can spend in it.
At my Max level of play I had 6 Subs, I have reduced that to 1 Sub. If you have never payed for a Sub, then STFU. If some one else pays for your Subs, then STFU.
A F2P / Microtransaction game typically has a lower monthly cost than a P2P equivalent. Only casual players who buy Non-Combat Pets, and Non-Stat Cosmetic Gear (Bunny Rabit Costumes, and Wedding Dresses) pay more than P2P Subs.
Hardcore Gamers that wont pay for Storage, access to Raiding Instances, or PvP gear, the total of which is less than a P2P Sub, should STFU. If you are a hardcore gamer then you don't BS with Alts, so you don't pay for storage of gear for 9 other alts you haven''t leveled past 20. If you are a hardcore gamer and you have reached end game , then you no longer have to pay for an XP buff. If you are a hardcore gamer doing PvP in F2P gear and can't beat a casual non-gamer in P2W gear, maybe you NEVER were a hardcore gamer and should just STFU.
As for Blizzard, and their upcoming new MMO, I can imagine this happening. In the first month they sell 7 Million copies and make $280 Million. The new game key can be added to an active WoW sub at no extra cost. In one years time active Blizzard subs reach 20 Million world wide and they own 100% of the possible MMO subs market. The Bubble has burst and every other MMO now is F2P, and if they are lucky they can get 10,000 players a month to pay for you broke useless hardcore players to play your game for free. At a total cost to casul players of $80,000 per month compared to Blizzards $65 million per month even if it goes F2P.
Finally my prediction of Blizzards new MMO, I have two. First, WoW-2 drops the cartoon graphics for something as good as Crysis, with out the lag and playable on 98% of the rigs out there. Second, World of Starcraft a MMORPG / FPS wih High Def grafics to rival Gears and Halo. As a result the console FPS / TPS market dries up. Blizzard releases its games on every console and every operating system, and All Your Bases Are Belong To Us. (AYBABTU)
Now that is a Huge Fanboy statement. That would be Like me saying with ToR coming out in March 2011 all other MMO will go F2P in March. :-P Which with the Hardcore SW fan's it is going to live Long and with Boiware behind it ,it is going to be a Great Game. But it isn't going to kill all other MMO's. But WoW going Pink or Kiddie is why I lft 3 years ago after 5 years of my Life went into it. There not going to break no new ground with there new MMO,There going to do what they know will get them Big Money and that is making it Kiddie friendly.
How nice for the WSJ.
I am still not going to play the "not" free to play garbage, because a sub fee is not enough for a bunch of greedy game company executives.
Screw 'em
I got a message that someone accessed my wow account. So my account is probably hacked and gone, yey free from the Blizzard slavery at last. I didn't react to the message because I'd probably get sucked back into the addiction anyway.
There is one MMO that is living longer than any other. Yes you know it, it's called Runescape. Although they have made the mistake of changing too much (like PVP) and got freaking greedy aswell (used to be 5$ for a month). I liked the game more when it used the gamemechanics of RS-classic, now people are calling it ruinedscape (lol).
There are LOTs of bogus emails like that making the rounds. Its best not to click any embeded links.
It seems there are a lot of F2P naysayers commenting here. I need to throw out a nod in the direction of being for the F2P model. I'm a husband and a father of two kids, that takes up time. I have a full time job, sometimes 60 hours per week, that takes up time. I have a home mortgage, two car payments, and miscellaneous other bills and I'm going back to school. That leaves me with maybe a 2-4 hours per week to play some games in the evening. How in the world do you propose that a 15$ per month subscription is worth it to me? F2P fits me because I can have fun playing my favorite MMO games and maybe spend a few dollars here and there. Someone up above said that all these players playing F2P are most likely kids and I would venture to guess that's not the case. It's probably more likely people like me who don't play enough to warrant shelling out 15 bucks a month to play a game. It's about priorities. So all of you elite-ist snobs please keep your comments to yourself and go ahead and continue to shell out your monthly subscription fees. Let the rest of us who have real lives keep our models that work for us.
Not trying to be a 'snob' here. but wouldnt all the reasons just stated actually mean the F2P model is not suitable for you.. i've yet to see any F2P that wasnt a huge time sink, or didnt require massive numbers of micro transactions to compensate for the lack of avaialable time.. i would be very interested to know which game your playing that somehow avoids these issues? i've played quite a few myself, and i've yet to find one that really fits the category you seem to be describing.
Simple, it's not the amount of time to progress that concerns me. It's the paying 15$ a month for something I might play for 2-4 hours per week max. Some months I might not get to play at all and then I would have just thrown 15 bucks out the window. The only other model that would fit me that no company is doing right now would be a tiered subscription model. Say 5$ a month for 10-15 hours rather than unlimited would work great. Like I said, no company is doing that model.
For fecks sake some of the inane babble in these posts drives me to distraction!
It's simple if you don't like F2P don't play it, if you like P2P then play it. Some of you guys must have too much time on your hands to whinge over something so bloody minor. It is down to personal choice in the end it reall is as easy as that.
I play a game coz I like it; if I have to pay a sub I will, if its a good game and its F2P then bonus and I'll play that. If some of you guys want to bitch try moaning about something world changing like poverty, equality, war or famine. Its a game make a choice you are an individual.
I see you took internet's superhighway of cool and decided to insult and label people who don't agree with you.
and this, ladies and gentlemen, is the F2P community.
I love these posts, they always give me a laugh. Folks if you're that busy with your "real lives", should you really be wasting your time with video games let alone those of a genre known to be big time investments? Better question would be: should you even be on an internet forum calling other people "elite-ist snobs"? Do you not have more important things to tend to?
Just a heads up; you are not unique among the average adult gamer. Most of us have "real lives", some of us have even busier schedules than you. It sounds like you have difficulty with managing your time, but that's another issue altogether.
I wasn't the first, read through the plethura of posts above from subscription players labling free2play people as whining kiddies whose mommies won't give them money for their subscriptions. That, ladies and gentlemen, is your P2P community.
Most of the comments regarding this article have been entirely negative regarding the F2P model and the players who choose that model. I would venture to guess that a majority of the P2P players are single working adults or kids who's parents pay for their subscriptions or have after school jobs that do that. No married working adult with two or more kids could possibly devote more than 8hrs per week max to a video game and that's pretty much using all of your extra time to play the game. Of course, that's taking into account that you aren't ignoring your kids an playing the game while they are still awake.