Free to Play in the western market is nothing more than a last ditch effort for MMOs late in their lifestyle to get a revenue bump.
Most of the games that have gone F2P wouldn't have been developed to the level they were had they not been box sale plus subscription at release, as a F2P model simply does not make money back anywhere near as fast. As such, there will be very few if any MMOs that are AAA quality and F2P at release... in fact, can anyone even name a single western MMO that's AAA quality that actually released with a F2P payment structure?
I find it funny that some people herald free to play as the future. So far it's proven to be the future... for MMOs that have burnt out their subscriber base's interest in the game and are thrashing around trying to get a late life cycle adoption bump.
Allods Online. But that lasted a grand total of 6 months before they ruined it. Some would say Runes of Magic too, but that's not AAA quality at all in my book, not even close.
If you are not gonna buy P2W items, what are you gonna buy to pay for your game? If you don't intend to pay for your play, don't complain about get spanked by paying players.
Pardon any spelling errors
Konfess your cyns and some maybe forgiven Boy: Why can't I talk to Him? Mom: We don't talk to Priests. As if it could exist, without being payed for. F2P means you get what you paid for. Pay nothing, get nothing. Even telemarketers wouldn't think that. It costs money to play. Therefore P2W.
Pay to win is really just a state of mind. Every MMO is going to have winners and top elite players. Chances are you are not going to be one of them. What does it really matter how that top player achieved his elite status and what is cost to do it? This question can actually be answered if broken down logically.
First Winning means status over others whether it is: a faster mount, more powerful weapons and armor, flashier or nicer looking costumes, or maybe it is a chance to slay the big bad dragon. But whatever it is it is something only a few people will get to have. It is not winning if everyone can do it.
Secondly winning isn't free. A paid developer has to create all those winning prizes and elite content. The question then becomes who is going to pay for it all.
In a pay to win game the Winner has to pay for all that stuff. It is a simple concept. Nobody else is going to pay the cost of producing those winnings except the winners themselves. The Losers don't pay as they play for free for the most part.
In a pay to play game everyone pays the same rate but they don't get the same result. The one winner who got to slay the dragon and loot the ultimate sword and helmet didn't pay for that content. All the losers who paid their subs for losing paid for it and subsidized the winner. Pay to play in essence is really Pay to Lose because that is what most end up doing.
So far the best F2P game I've played is Dungeons & Dragons Online. I can spend when I want rather than have to spend, the community is good, I can level up to max, have full access to chat channels and I have fun playing my class in an instance. The game has its limits but is still growing, And I hope other games going F2P will learn from DDO's example.
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Allods Online. But that lasted a grand total of 6 months before they ruined it. Some would say Runes of Magic too, but that's not AAA quality at all in my book, not even close.
If you are not gonna buy P2W items, what are you gonna buy to pay for your game? If you don't intend to pay for your play, don't complain about get spanked by paying players.
Boy: Why can't I talk to Him?
Mom: We don't talk to Priests.
As if it could exist, without being payed for.
F2P means you get what you paid for. Pay nothing, get nothing.
Even telemarketers wouldn't think that.
It costs money to play. Therefore P2W.
Pay to win is really just a state of mind. Every MMO is going to have winners and top elite players. Chances are you are not going to be one of them. What does it really matter how that top player achieved his elite status and what is cost to do it? This question can actually be answered if broken down logically.
First Winning means status over others whether it is: a faster mount, more powerful weapons and armor, flashier or nicer looking costumes, or maybe it is a chance to slay the big bad dragon. But whatever it is it is something only a few people will get to have. It is not winning if everyone can do it.
Secondly winning isn't free. A paid developer has to create all those winning prizes and elite content. The question then becomes who is going to pay for it all.
In a pay to win game the Winner has to pay for all that stuff. It is a simple concept. Nobody else is going to pay the cost of producing those winnings except the winners themselves. The Losers don't pay as they play for free for the most part.
In a pay to play game everyone pays the same rate but they don't get the same result. The one winner who got to slay the dragon and loot the ultimate sword and helmet didn't pay for that content. All the losers who paid their subs for losing paid for it and subsidized the winner. Pay to play in essence is really Pay to Lose because that is what most end up doing.
So far the best F2P game I've played is Dungeons & Dragons Online. I can spend when I want rather than have to spend, the community is good, I can level up to max, have full access to chat channels and I have fun playing my class in an instance. The game has its limits but is still growing, And I hope other games going F2P will learn from DDO's example.