Bartle is focusing on the wrong thing. He's got the right idea, which he himself uses in the article, but arrives at the wrong conclusion.
F2P does have a limit, and it is in a bubble that will most likely burst at some point. This much is obvious, and is fairly standard when it comes to ANY emerging market. Where he's wrong is that he thinks the entire model will essentially 'die off' from gamers realizing they're being nickle & dimed to death.
Sadly, that's wrong. What Lovell mentions is much more reality. The gaming industry is constantly evolving and business models along with it. The sub model is dying away, and F2P is the new hotness. Eventually something else may come out to outshine that as the predominant business model, but more than likely we will just see a continued diversity amongst payment options. Something that is already happening today. It won't be as black and white as 'sub, or f2p', there will be more varied options and gamers will be able to choose between those that they prefer.
That said, there have been numerous games that have tried to be more than fair to their customers. The problem is, most people frankly aren't that smart. They would rather be tricked (cheap psychological tricks) into 'feeling' like they did something right. Then actually doing something right. Look at Firefall, they're completely honesty w/ their customerss, and feedback, and they're 100% trying to appeal to what their fans want. And yet no one plays that game anymore. Instead we are mostly playing the games that are doing the very thing we despise.
- The difference is in the presentation. When you look at games like GW2, or MOBAs (LoL, Dota2, SMITE) all the payment is 100% optional. They're simply giving you the option to buy more and more 'cool stuff'. And what do most people say? "shut up and take my money!". That is F2P done correctly.
Then you have other games (Like SWTOR) which charge you for basic gameplay elements (like a functional UI). And that is the stuff that is going to die off. That isn't a problem w/ the F2P model itself; It's a problem with certain companies failing to understand how to implement F2P correctly.
I agree with most points, especially that customers aren't that smart.
However, swtor is still very close to still be a sub-based game, while it removed the initial wall you really should sub to the game to enjoy it properly. The dislike for swtor's model is that people really don't want to pay $15 per month for it, but its far from being a nickel and dime model.
Iselin: And the next person who says "but it's a business, they need to make money" can just go fuck yourself.
Originally posted by vgamer I guess we'll find out. Personally, I think f2p is the superior payment method because it allows you to try a game without paying. If you don't like it, you can drop it which ensures developers have to be constantlly updating the game and ensure quality.
This can be acomplished with playable demos and trial periods (e.g. 7 day trial, 14 day trial, etc) too.
How much time does the average person need to come to the conclusion "OK, the game is fun for me and I'm going to play past the welcoming area"? Ideally a game should be made in such a way that you can experience all aspects of a game (e.g. PvP, PvE group content, PvE solo content) from the very point you start.
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I agree with most points, especially that customers aren't that smart.
However, swtor is still very close to still be a sub-based game, while it removed the initial wall you really should sub to the game to enjoy it properly. The dislike for swtor's model is that people really don't want to pay $15 per month for it, but its far from being a nickel and dime model.
This can be acomplished with playable demos and trial periods (e.g. 7 day trial, 14 day trial, etc) too.
How much time does the average person need to come to the conclusion "OK, the game is fun for me and I'm going to play past the welcoming area"? Ideally a game should be made in such a way that you can experience all aspects of a game (e.g. PvP, PvE group content, PvE solo content) from the very point you start.