I'm convinced that these companies plan to fail. they hype the game till your bleeding out of your ears from anticipation. They sell a huge amount of boxes. The game turns out to be garbage, and then they switch to F2P. They then move on to the next failed project.
I think that's a bit harsh, really. Do you intentionally do crappy work at your job? I think most gaming companies try to make the best game they can(yes, even Cryptic!) with the resources they have. The resources may not be sufficient, or they may be pressured by influence outside of development, and yes, sometimes they even fail to make the game they wanted. But the idea that they purposefully take a dump in a dvd case and sell it for $60... you can't go far doing business like that.
But I'm sure they plan for obsolescence. An MMO can and should have a longer shelf life than a single player game, but sooner or later, people are gonna stop playing and move on. and yep, seeing that happen is probably what spurred Turbine to give DDO that "one last chance" to bring in revenue. But I don't think that's the only reason, or even the biggest reason so many games do it, today.
I do wonder what will happen as more and more games become F2P. Can't help but wonder if it's gonna be a "race to the bottom", after all.
SPAM has been around for a long time, and I'm pretty sure that's a dump in a can.
"I am not in a server with Gankers...THEY ARE IN A SERVER WITH ME!!!"
I really like STO but F2P usually leads to a game being abandoned or shutdown, which will it be for STO, thoughts ?
I just started STO with a friend because i was SO UNGODLY BORED. I logged into my old character to find HUNDREDS of people, just in my instance alone, running around doing stuff. There isn't a single bit of space that i've found that is dead.
Apparently, STO has come up from death to "meh" with their F2P model. That being said, i don't see it lasting. Their game design is so much more linear that SWTOR that it won't last for more than a year.
The Theory of Conservative Conservation of Ignorant Stupidity: Having a different opinion must mean you're a troll.
I do wonder what will happen as more and more games become F2P. Can't help but wonder if it's gonna be a "race to the bottom", after all.
The thing these companies need to understand is that the more of these AAA F2P games that are released, the harder it will be for a true P2P game to find success..
Even after the launch of SWTOR, EQ2 has had a good stable population.. Lotro still has a good playerbase.. DDO still has a good playerbase.. Now STO grabs a few players..
The question is, how "good" does a game have to be to warrant a subscription to play? Chances are they would have to offer a lot more than the current F2P generation or why should someone stop paying for what they want and start paying simply to play?
Companies that consider F2P have to consider the competition on the market in this genre.. There are many F2P games that have the "WoW" formula, would releasing another that requires a user to pay to play persuade the fans of the already free game to start paying to play another?
The thing these companies need to understand is that the more of these AAA F2P games that are released, the harder it will be for a true P2P game to find success..
Just a nitpick, but I personally would not categorize STO as AAA by any stretch of the imagination.
The thing these companies need to understand is that the more of these AAA F2P games that are released, the harder it will be for a true P2P game to find success..
Just a nitpick, but I personally would not categorize STO as AAA by any stretch of the imagination.
Agreed. STO never even was close to being AAA title.
Which big budget MMORPG that has gone to a Free 2 Play model has been shut down?
Where do you get this idea that "going free to play usually means its about to be shut down"
The only MMORPG that has recently been shut off was Star Wars Galaxies, and that game wasn't F2P.
Where do you guys come up with this shit?
I agree with your sentiment that the logic of it doesn't hold up. However, there is a common belief that the new evolutionary model goes something like this.
Game launches (high box sale, high subscription)
Game begins to lose subscribers, game adds free trial to get subscriptions back up.
Game continues to lose subscriptions, game goes F2P
F2P for as long as possible to milk store sales in preperation for the end.
The fact is, that F2P has not been proven to be an evolutionary part of a games demise. Like CujoSWAoA says, there just aren't the examples out there to base this common view out there. But like many things, perceptions can be a powerful thing, even if there aren't facts to back it up.
Lol,this thread made me laugh Perfect World Entertainment now own Cryptic/ STO i can only see it getting stronger as PE are makeing money by the bucketload and with a very fair F2P system STO will live long and prosper
Comments
SPAM has been around for a long time, and I'm pretty sure that's a dump in a can.
"I am not in a server with Gankers...THEY ARE IN A SERVER WITH ME!!!"
I just started STO with a friend because i was SO UNGODLY BORED. I logged into my old character to find HUNDREDS of people, just in my instance alone, running around doing stuff. There isn't a single bit of space that i've found that is dead.
Apparently, STO has come up from death to "meh" with their F2P model. That being said, i don't see it lasting. Their game design is so much more linear that SWTOR that it won't last for more than a year.
The Theory of Conservative Conservation of Ignorant Stupidity:
Having a different opinion must mean you're a troll.
The thing these companies need to understand is that the more of these AAA F2P games that are released, the harder it will be for a true P2P game to find success..
Even after the launch of SWTOR, EQ2 has had a good stable population.. Lotro still has a good playerbase.. DDO still has a good playerbase.. Now STO grabs a few players..
The question is, how "good" does a game have to be to warrant a subscription to play? Chances are they would have to offer a lot more than the current F2P generation or why should someone stop paying for what they want and start paying simply to play?
Companies that consider F2P have to consider the competition on the market in this genre.. There are many F2P games that have the "WoW" formula, would releasing another that requires a user to pay to play persuade the fans of the already free game to start paying to play another?
Just a nitpick, but I personally would not categorize STO as AAA by any stretch of the imagination.
it is one thing to go free to play, its another to have a good money making revenue model.
you can be f2p but have no appealing way for people to spend money, then it'll kill you.
For what does it profit a man that he gain the whole world, but loseth his soul?
Agreed. STO never even was close to being AAA title.
f2p actually brings new life to games.good examples are DDO,EQ2,LOTRO and DUO.
I agree with your sentiment that the logic of it doesn't hold up. However, there is a common belief that the new evolutionary model goes something like this.
Game launches (high box sale, high subscription)
Game begins to lose subscribers, game adds free trial to get subscriptions back up.
Game continues to lose subscriptions, game goes F2P
F2P for as long as possible to milk store sales in preperation for the end.
The fact is, that F2P has not been proven to be an evolutionary part of a games demise. Like CujoSWAoA says, there just aren't the examples out there to base this common view out there. But like many things, perceptions can be a powerful thing, even if there aren't facts to back it up.
I self identify as a monkey.
Lol,this thread made me laugh Perfect World Entertainment now own Cryptic/ STO i can only see it getting stronger as PE are makeing money by the bucketload and with a very fair F2P system STO will live long and prosper