Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!

"Free to play" really just means "we're not going to tell you how much we intend to make you pay or

1246713

Comments

  • FalstaffFalstaff Member UncommonPosts: 78

    free to play is what is says it is..   i have played many free to play games without spending a dime.   im not ocd, adhd.  i dont need to dominiate pvp. i dont need to sit in town to show off my uber armor/weps/mounts.   

     

    if everyone would wake up and realize mmo companies are not non-profit organizations.  they are only making these games for one reason,  and its not to make the player base happy

  • AlberelAlberel Member Posts: 1,121

    The issue I have is that F2P games ultimately end up more expensive than a P2P game if you do choose to start spending money. Everyone has heard of players throwing hundreds of dollars at F2P games, especially on those horrible random lockboxes so many seem to have. There is an inherently underhanded marketing tactic there; luring players in with the word 'free' then tempting them to actually spend more money than a subscription would cost. I'll never fall for it, but it still bothers me... it's precisely that marketing strategy that makes so many people suspicious of F2P games.

    Having said that the likes of Aion and Tera have very good F2P models. There really isn't much pressure to spend and almost everything is cosmetic or inconsequential convenience. Hopefully more will choose to follow that route.

    In an ideal world I'd like to see a F2P game offer a subscription that gives you unlimited access to everything in the cash shop. That would be the perfect hybrid.

  • ShakyMoShakyMo Member CommonPosts: 7,207
    Generally speaking

    Yeah f2p means we are going to pick your pockets later.

    But recently we've seen some fairer free play models like gw2 and ps2.

    So where,as once I was vehemently anti f2p, now I recognise there are a handful of games that do f2p right.
  • Four0SixFour0Six Member UncommonPosts: 1,175
    Originally posted by Quizzical
    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?

    "F2P" will never become a derogatory term, because peeps love "free".

    Here is a tip from a skeptic, me, "Nothing is free".

    Take for example this: I am heading back to college, and recently went through an oreintation. During a campus tour we were told a list of "free" services we get. Including, "Free tickest to sporting events.", "Free access to the fitness center". Now I am an avid capitalist and have an accountant for a wife, so I inspect every bill I get and keep recipts for everything. Sooooo, I know that those tickes and access arent "Free" at all. In fact there is even an "athletic fee" right on the bill. But here we are on a tour hearing about all the freebies. HA.

    The reality is it cost money to do stuff, like develope, publish, and operate a game. As consumers it is our responsibility to understand ALL the costs and be aware. Yes I know some marketing is designed to "sucker" many, with a focus on youth. But, I also am aware that "youths" are not adults and even the law doesnt grant them full sets of rights. So I put that on their parents.

     

  • pmilespmiles Member Posts: 383

    The game is free to play... all you waste by trying/playing it is time... time that you clearly have or you wouldn't have bothered to download it in the first place.  

     

    I think you are more concerned with competiveness than with the business model... cash shops that offer players an advantage over those that acquire things the slow way.  Or the fact that you built up your character only to be left in a desolate wasteland that offers you little or no challenge once you get there.

     

    People will pay for fun.  People will pay for competiveness.  The two aren't mutually intertwined.  People seem to think competive games are fun... and yet, they typically become old the quickest.  You start a new game and are having fun... you're not in dungeons or doing dailies grinding rep or gear, you're just out there exploring and learning about your character.  Then you hit max level and all of a sudden it's about gear and rep and gold.  It's like work.  When you started the game, it was a vacation, by the end, it's a job.  Does F2P make a game any less of a job?  Any more of a vacation?  No.  The players turn it into one or the other.  The developers merely gave you the tools... you ultimately turned it into what it becomes... for good or bad.

     

    You might claim otherwise... but remember this, it was the players that turned leveling into a swarm of locusts.  You chose to find the easiest direct route to max level.  That's player choice, not game design.  I think the only ones concerned about cash shops are the locusts.... the ones who have to be top dog right this instant.  They are who the cash shops are for.  That's a player choice... not a business model.

  • evilastroevilastro Member Posts: 4,270
    Originally posted by Fangrim

    I play eq2 for free.No new xpacs you need to pay for will be released anymore.We just today got a whole new zone with dungeons and raid zone in it.All 100% free full game,you just need to know how to make plat and buy krono.I will play forever for free.

    Oh so you can play those new zones without Velious? Or level to 85 without Chains of Eternity? Which you cant buy with Station Cash (so plat farming wont help you).

    Also they nerfed plat farming in the latest patch. So you wont be doing that efficiently as a solo player either (1p at a time will take a while).

    I have 3 more years of sub paid for from plat made by raiding in EQ2 last year, but yeah, the game isnt free, especially if you arent an established player.

  • FalstaffFalstaff Member UncommonPosts: 78

    this is the kind of guy that free to play games want.  totally crazy.  most ppl arent that dumb

    http://boston.cbslocal.com/2013/04/29/nh-man-loses-life-savings-on-carnival-game/

     

  • LoktofeitLoktofeit Member RarePosts: 14,247
    Originally posted by Alberel

    The issue I have is that F2P games ultimately end up more expensive than a P2P game if you do choose to start spending money.

    That goes against all the data that is currently available. Could you share the source for that? I get the feeling you are interpretting ARPPU as median return per user, which, due to the skew of the top end, is an inaccurate number.

    There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
    "Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre

  • The user and all related content has been deleted.

    image

    Somebody, somewhere has better skills as you have, more experience as you have, is smarter than you, has more friends as you do and can stay online longer. Just pray he's not out to get you.
  • The user and all related content has been deleted.

    image

    Somebody, somewhere has better skills as you have, more experience as you have, is smarter than you, has more friends as you do and can stay online longer. Just pray he's not out to get you.
  • QuizzicalQuizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,347
    Originally posted by Disdena

    I used to love playing Mega Man. Then I found out you could buy a thing called Game Genie to get infinite lives. Now I hate Mega Man; I don't want to pay money for a Game Genie, so my version of the game is "crippled" because I only have 3 lives.

     

    Judge the game sans cash shop on its own merits. Don't worry about what other people are doing, and don't worry about how much easier the game would be if you paid for help. The idea that the normal mode of a game can be crippled by the mere existence of an optional alternate way of playing is ludicrous.

    For a single-player game in which you don't interact with anyone else, you can do that.  If someone else can come by and easily kill you because he's bought a bunch of item mall stuff, then it's kind of hard to ignore that.  Ditto if you get kicked from groups or guilds because you aren't loaded up with item mall stuff.

    Now, you can say, not all "free to play" games will be like that.  But some are, and that's part of the problem:  it's not trivial to tell which ones are.  Even if you can see that a sword in the item mall offers 100 attack power, you don't know if that far better than anything that you can get apart from the item mall, or if you'll commonly get stuff much better in the normal course of playing the game.  With a subscription game, you don't have to worry about that.

  • mmoguy43mmoguy43 Member UncommonPosts: 2,770
    Originally posted by Disdena

    I used to love playing Mega Man. Then I found out you could buy a thing called Game Genie to get infinite lives. Now I hate Mega Man; I don't want to pay money for a Game Genie, so my version of the game is "crippled" because I only have 3 lives.

     

    Judge the game sans cash shop on its own merits. Don't worry about what other people are doing, and don't worry about how much easier the game would be if you paid for help. The idea that the normal mode of a game can be crippled by the mere existence of an optional alternate way of playing is ludicrous.

    Is it? (It is a bit different when talking about MMOs where you/your character is compared to others.)

    Just wait til the alternate way becomes the norm. How many people that play EVE have two or more accounts so they can run more profitable operations solo? Well, most people I know do. So if I don't then I am crippled and unable to make enough credits so effortlessly to buy PLEX. My income gets crippled for not paying more.

    No F2P but still an advantage can be bought.

  • KuviskiKuviski Member UncommonPosts: 215
    Originally posted by Quizzical
    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?

    I kind of hope it will, because in games where the Free-to-Play and Pay-to-Play players are not kept on, say, separate servers so that they don't compete in the game directly, the term F2P tends to always mean nothing but "free trial".

     

    I'm expecting people will learn what the term really stands for soon enough, after all the F2P boom is quite a new phenomena, and when that happens, marketeers will understand they have to change their strategy and quit using the word.

  • The user and all related content has been deleted.

    image

    Somebody, somewhere has better skills as you have, more experience as you have, is smarter than you, has more friends as you do and can stay online longer. Just pray he's not out to get you.
  • The user and all related content has been deleted.

    image

    Somebody, somewhere has better skills as you have, more experience as you have, is smarter than you, has more friends as you do and can stay online longer. Just pray he's not out to get you.
  • nariusseldonnariusseldon Member EpicPosts: 27,775
    Originally posted by Four0Six
     

    "F2P" will never become a derogatory term, because peeps love "free".

    Here is a tip from a skeptic, me, "Nothing is free".

     

    Fun is free if you have self-control. I do. Play lots of F2P games for free for a while already.

  • FdzzaiglFdzzaigl Member UncommonPosts: 2,433

    It is indeed often pretty unclear how much you actually need to pay to be competitive in a game.

    Personally, I'd prefer F2P games just saying up front that you can play this far and that content XYZ (like raids / endgame PvP zones / new content) is paid for.

    Feel free to use my referral link for SW:TOR if you want to test out the game. You'll get some special unlocks!

  • nariusseldonnariusseldon Member EpicPosts: 27,775
    Originally posted by Onomas

    F2P games are not free, people are blind.

    Do you honestly think someone would come up with an idea, produce it, and advertize it only to give it away free?

    You are either going to be gimped or pay out the butt in the cash shop. Either of those choices just suxx

    Yes. They already give a large part away for free. How is playing a free part of a free game sux? Given where the market is going, a lot of players obviously do not agree with you.

  • The user and all related content has been deleted.

    image

    Somebody, somewhere has better skills as you have, more experience as you have, is smarter than you, has more friends as you do and can stay online longer. Just pray he's not out to get you.
  • mmoguy43mmoguy43 Member UncommonPosts: 2,770
    Originally posted by Mtibbs1989
    Originally posted by mmoguy43
    Originally posted by Disdena

    I used to love playing Mega Man. Then I found out you could buy a thing called Game Genie to get infinite lives. Now I hate Mega Man; I don't want to pay money for a Game Genie, so my version of the game is "crippled" because I only have 3 lives.

     

    Judge the game sans cash shop on its own merits. Don't worry about what other people are doing, and don't worry about how much easier the game would be if you paid for help. The idea that the normal mode of a game can be crippled by the mere existence of an optional alternate way of playing is ludicrous.

    Is it? (It is a bit different when talking about MMOs where you/your character is compared to others.)

    Just wait til the alternate way becomes the norm. How many people that play EVE have two or more accounts so they can run more profitable operations solo? Well, most people I know do. So if I don't then I am crippled and unable to make enough credits so effortlessly to buy PLEX. My income gets crippled for not paying more.

    No F2P but still an advantage can be bought.

     You will never be able to win with this happening (and it happens in every game Subrscription and Free-to-Play) however, this does not stop people from still enjoying the game. So in your mind you're crippled however in someone elses they're playing the game to their advantage and there's nothing you can do to stop it.

    You are completely avoiding that if it is the norm, ie. nearly everyone but not you has the advantage, then you are at a disadvantage most of the time.

    Not talking about "winning".

    Not talking about "enjoying".

  • nariusseldonnariusseldon Member EpicPosts: 27,775
    Originally posted by ShakyMo
    Generally speaking

    Yeah f2p means we are going to pick your pockets later.

    But recently we've seen some fairer free play models like gw2 and ps2.

    So where,as once I was vehemently anti f2p, now I recognise there are a handful of games that do f2p right.

    I think that is because of competition. This is the internet age. If you are going to pick players pocket, people will find out and go to your competition.

     

  • The user and all related content has been deleted.

    image

    Somebody, somewhere has better skills as you have, more experience as you have, is smarter than you, has more friends as you do and can stay online longer. Just pray he's not out to get you.
  • KuviskiKuviski Member UncommonPosts: 215
    Originally posted by Mtibbs1989
    Originally posted by Kuviski
    Originally posted by Quizzical
    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?

    I kind of hope it will, because in games where the Free-to-Play and Pay-to-Play players are not kept on, say, separate servers so that they don't compete in the game directly, the term F2P tends to always mean nothing but "free trial".

     

    I'm expecting people will learn what the term really stands for soon enough, after all the F2P boom is quite a new phenomena, and when that happens, marketeers will understand they have to change their strategy and quit using the word.

     A new phenomena? Are you kidding? Have you been living under a rock? Free-to-play has existed for almost as long as the MMO genre has. What are you talking about? It's only until now that the western companies have realised how much they've hindered their success by using subscription vs. free-to-play.

    I said the F2P boom is a new phenomena (in the West, obviously), not that F2P itself is new. Also, I don't think sub fees hinder success if the game type is right. Subscriptions work better than F2P, even for profit, in some games I am sure. Games such as Darkfall.

    It also depends on what type of a game the developer wants to make. Because making the change from P2P to F2P in most cases completely changes the feel of a game (take LOTRO for example). There's a game I personally stopped playing when it became F2P.

  • The user and all related content has been deleted.

    image

    Somebody, somewhere has better skills as you have, more experience as you have, is smarter than you, has more friends as you do and can stay online longer. Just pray he's not out to get you.
  • The user and all related content has been deleted.

    image

    Somebody, somewhere has better skills as you have, more experience as you have, is smarter than you, has more friends as you do and can stay online longer. Just pray he's not out to get you.
Sign In or Register to comment.