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"Free to play" really just means "we're not going to tell you how much we intend to make you pay or
Quizzical
Member LegendaryPosts: 25,351
I prefer to know a game's business model up front before deciding whether to play it. When a company advertises a game as "free to play", they're trying to hide the business model, as they're never going to truly give away everything for free. Do you think "free to play" will eventually become a derogatory term that marketers avoid for that reason?
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I don't think of it like that.
If I know it's f2p, I expect I can play a good portion of the game free, however I also expect that the devs will try and get me to pay something. How much I pay is up to me.
Doesn't seem very hidden to me.
I don't think it will be become derogatory. I think it was derogatory and is becoming more accepted, I expect that to continue.
For a new game, I see this being a slight issue, but most of the major F2P games out have forum posts and boatloads of info out there. It only takes a few minutes to find out if a game makes you pay at the end to remain viable. Nexon games, for example.
A little research beforehand and you can save yourself a LOT of disappointment.
Most games are pretty up front. You can check out the cashshop the moment you first log into the game.
F2P means that i can have some fun without paying a dime, or have any commitment to a game. Sounds great to me.
Which is to say, they won't tell you until after you download the game and start playing. And even then, it takes a while to understand just how strong the things in the item mall are or aren't. And even if you know what's in the item mall today, what's there in a month won't necessarily be all that similar--especially if they're relying heavily on random boxes with constantly changing contents.
P2W is a derogatory term. F2P is not, and will never be. F2P models for MMORPGs are meant to appeal to the short term players that hop from game to game. MMORPG players are kind of notorious for "completing" MMORPGs at a massively faster rate than SRPGs. I can tell you (or someone you know) probably got burned or spent too much money on a single game.
F2P is not targetted at the traditional MMORPG gamers.
I played WoW up until WotLK, played RoM for 2 years and now Rift.
I am F2P player. I support games when I feel they deserve my money and I want the items enough.
I don't troll, and I don't take kindly to trolls.
I agree, most games are pretty up front on what your going to be paying etc. Also, as long as you do proper resreach a game should not surprise you anyway.
Which is to say, they won't tell you until after you download the game and start playing. And even then, it takes a while to understand just how strong the things in the item mall are or aren't. And even if you know what's in the item mall today, what's there in a month won't necessarily be all that similar--especially if they're relying heavily on random boxes with constantly changing contents.
So, what does it matter, as long as youre having fun. As soon as you stop having fun, you are free to stop playing. Noone is forcing you to pay.This is how I think about it.
These games are "free to play" You can play them and not spend a dime.
doesnt' mean the developers/producers aren't going to put things in to tempt you to spend.
And it doesn't mean that you will be immune to this temptation.
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Well, I was doing just fine with the $60 box and $15 a month model. I can afford that and I can justify that, but no more. Now I have to keep track of how much I spend, and total it up monthly. Then I have to figure out if spending that much will get me enough to enjoy the game and have acess to everything, depending on how much time I am willing to invest.
I don't like it. I like the old way, nice and simple and I don't have to look over my shoulder to make sure I'm not getting taken for a ride.
The OP is 100% correct. I'm inclined to think those so adamant about the "F2P" model are in fact paid to spread that propoganda :P.
Luckily, i don't need you to like me to enjoy video games. -nariusseldon.
In F2P I think it's more a case of the game's trying to play the player's. -laserit
In a single player or co-op game then the F2P mentality of paying whatever you feel like to pay for, might work. However in a competetive game it is completely ridicilous to allow for shortcuts, if you open your wallet.
More over, it takes away the value of achievements and rewards if you know that you can just fork out money and get that item or fork out money to make it easier to reach some achievement. It is just flawed way to play a game. You are suppose to play a game, not pay to game. Except the initial box price and a sub fee, but that is the same for everyone playing the game.
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You hit on my least favorite free to play model, gamble boxes. Unfortunately they seem to be becoming more common. They're almost an evolution of the F2P model. Where it was once subs, it was then microtransactions, now its micro-gambling.
I've been lucky enough to cut ties with MMOs as of late, I have no willpower when it comes to impulse buying and decided to avoid the scene altogether.
As much as I hate to admit, I think folks with mentality like Nariusseldon have the advantage here. (Going solely off the comment of being able to quit the second it isn't fun anymore)
MMOs are quickly going the route of what I can only refer to as player mills. Play with the mentality of 'get in, see whats free, move on' and you'll likely enjoy what F2P offers. More than that, you'll be broke and/or disappointed and resort to browsing the forums at MMORPG.com.
Yes, most on this site know that I'm not against f2p. I'm not really for it either, I am just completely ambivelent.
However I do find the "gamble boxes" are too much, they are the bad parts of f2p. I won't touch them.
Is it akin to gambling in a casino? In some ways however IMO there is a different mentality.
I don't go to casino's very often however when I do it is for entertainment. I fully expect to lose some money, winning is just a bonus. The casino and gambling itself is the entertainment.
In a game, the game is the entertainment. I expect to pay something for the game. I don't expect to pay something that make maybe possibly give give me something that might maybe possible make the game a little better.
If you are forking out money, you don't want to be on par with everyone else do you? Do you think that model will sustain in a competitive environment? IF not, that just leaves the f2p players around in the long run.
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Nope, simply because almost everyone already knows what the term means and most are fine with it. Never confuse the general concensus here with reality of the rest of the world.
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So don't play competitively. It's quite simple really. Stop acting like playing a game is just an excuse to swing your e-peen around. It's not.
There is no objective value in any of that. None of that matters in the real world. I don't give a damn if someone else is paying a million dollars to get things that I can't get, I'm not competing with them so why should I care? I'm playing a game to have fun. I realize that it's nothing more than a time-waster, something to do when I'm bored. That's all games are. If you take them more seriously than that, the issue is with you, not with them.
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Relatively Recently (Re)Played: HL2 (all), Halo (PC, all), Batman:AA; AC, ME, BS, DA, FO3, DS, Doom (all), LFD1&2, KOTOR, Portal 1&2, Blink, Elder Scrolls (all), lots more
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Almost everyone knows what "free to play" means? I certainly don't. Just about everything gets described as "free to play" these days, even with business models that five years ago would have been called a subscription game or buy to play or some such.
So WoW, Rift, AC(big hitter here), and EVE versus 1000 other gimmicky(for the most part) games.
Where did this site even recieve revenue numbers. You'd have to do a fair share of digging and analyzing to even find WoW's revenues as its not a line item on the income statement or mentioned in the 10K(akaik).
Good luck getting Rift, and the other private games revenue numbers.
Just wondering... Who buys 3000$ worth of ingame currency in one go?
Read about an interesting experience in Age of Wushu and decided to give it a try. Got a bit to swamped with quests and kill tasks to really try and figure out the game, but I did notice that I was constantly encouraged to spend cash on something.
It especially annoyed me that I had to become a vip member or spend ingame money if I wanted to try and reach out to someone.. I had ONE conversation that I didnt have to pay for. In 10 hours of playing. Makes it really damn hard to see if there are some people out there that I would like to play with.
I did go and look at what it would cost to become VIP.. about 8$ or 30 Gold.. 3000$ would be 10000 Gold.. so good for about 333 months.. That is quite the commitment.. But when you have to pay to speak in World and Gossip chat and to train faster, I guess you can spend it quickly enough
I prefer box + monthly sub + cosmetic shop with no pay to win items.
Simple.
I won't complain about FTP because you do get to play for free... but the FTP games don't feel as "immersive" to me. Because "the real world" affects the "fantasy world" economy.
I like sub games.
Why are F2P games doing better in the US than elsewhere? I'll tell you why, it's the same reason we're in economic hell: money just seems to burn a hole in our pockets and we spend it poorly. That's my American point of view. I'm not like that personally, but it seems so many people get genuinely scared when they see a F2P game because they fear it's going to open their wallet and force money out.
It's not. You just need self control. Don't blame video games for your poor decisions, that goes for every country in the world, but I've seen Americans complain the most.
As for the subject by the OP, I'll reiterate: DO SOME RESEARCH. Learn what games are cash sinks, and either don't play them or blame yourself. It takes 5 minutes.