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P2P going Extended Trial?
StoneRoses
Member RarePosts: 1,779
Is this the new trend for games going from P2P to Extended trial? Games like EQ2, DDO, CO, CoH, AoC, and LOTRO.
Age of Empire didn't even bothering going to P2P, but even that even feels like an extended trail. I saw that they even removed the Season Pass, assuming that was scaring people away.
I finally downloaded AoC only to see that there are only 4 playable classes. I wanted to try out the Necromancer, I guess not.
I have Runes of Magic opened up and all the classes and content are available for me to play. Granted I have not touch the game since 2009, they seem to added a lot.
Keep in mind I am not suggest people not playing these games.
MMORPGs aren't easy, You're just too PRO!
Comments
It depends on how you look at it really. Some say they are extended trials and for a few I would agree. EQ2 and AOC limit classes and races but pretty much all the content is open (really the meat of an MMO anyway)
LOTRO has all races, all but 2 classes, and only limits content after level 30 but considering you can earn points to purchase quest packs and such ingame, you should be able to extend that easily.
I would say really its a hyprid model depending on the game. Most games limit content but you still get a large chunk of it.
I dunno, previously you would have had to pay a sub just to play it, now you get four classes free. My issue arrises when you pay a sub on a supposed F2P yet still have to buy classes or anything else that would otherwise be fee with a sub.
I'm not sure exactly what you mean with your post. "Free to play" and "extended trial" are still considered two different things in the MMO community and the phrasing of those two terms should make it clear why.
A "Free to play" (F2P) MMO such as LoTRO, DDO, AoC, and City of Heroes amongst others usually offer a very basic version of the full game for free while also offering a monthly subcription option for access to all of the content (as most P2P MMO's operate) or letting people purchase individual pieces of content from in-game cash shops.
Extended trials such as the kind Warhammer Online or World of Warcraft offer allow you to try out a P2P MMO for free while imposing certain restrictions such as a level cap, currency cap, etc. These trials used to have a time limit of a week or seven days or somesuch but lately they've been extended to last indefinitly, allowing a potential customer to take their time when deciding if they'd want to pay a monthly sub for the game.
Often one of the restrictions a F2P MMO will impose on free players is denied access to certain classes or races unless they subscribe or purchase them individually. LoTRO, DDO, AoC, and EQII just to name a couple. From your post I gather Runes of Magic is not one such F2P MMO but I'm sure they find other ways to make money.
I understand that F2P models need to make money. If you take a look at your typical F2P games like RoM, Allods, Perfect World, Forsaken World, Ether Sage Odyssey, Battle of Immortals they don't restrict classes or content, even expansion from you.
The difference is this. A subscription is quite honest in that we need X times this many people to cover our overheads. A cash shop needs to cover its costs but draws you in subtly, usually ramping up costs as you level. And if the money does not come in the service falls away. I like the model myself.