When game goes F2P, servers are always hammered on first days. Then first weeks there is an infux of a new players. It is normal and expected.
To call it success or not, you have to wait months at least. To see how many of "it is free I will check it out" crowd stays, and especially how many of them stays AND pays.
All game owners / publishers spin hype at beggining, throwing numbers from first weeks/months to buff hype even more. Advertisement !
Almost every f2p transition cost money. Sometimes quite a bit. That's why many p2p->f2p transitions are done after developer is bought by some other company (Turbine by Warner, FE Dev by G1).
You have to code f2p changes in a game, buy new hardware & bandwidtch, hire additional GM / Devs, develop and add some content to show to new & returning players, frequently code or update item shop, change / update your webpage, add new payment options, etc Not to mention that if game developer change it's owner, new owner want his investment money back. (like WB payed 400 mln $ for Turbine). If developer don't change it's owner, then frequently transition expenses have to be financed back from loans, so game has to pay loans and interest rates.
F2P requires marketting offensive, this also is not for free. Banners, series of sponsored articles, interviews and contests all of these are not for free. It is not exception to hire a new person responsible for market and PR.
So it is alot of money to get back. Not to mention, that goal is not to 'get money back' only, but to earn money as well. Success or not from financial standpoint can be decided propably not earlier than after first year.
Game success from a long-time player standpoint propably at least after few months.
they want to keep the global chat free from gold(chip)-selling spammers but it never worked before and wont ever work. i know no p2p game without gold-selling spam.
seperating the community is the worse thing in a mmo-game.
they want to keep the global chat free from gold(chip)-selling spammers but it never worked before and wont ever work. i know no p2p game without gold-selling spam.
seperating the community is the worse thing in a mmo-game.
Agreed. It killed every wish for me to play EQ2, or COH (they fixed it in mean time)
But in FE they gave one global channel : Help
And everyone is using it. So all good there.
Now only thing is to put more servers, because the one they have is about to meltdown
I know one thing this game feels a lot better now that there are people around, logged in last night had a blast, not many MMO's have the old-school feeling that this one does. I hope the population doesn't die off too soon. Perfect game to play while I await the new releases coming up.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
Well okay, if for you a compagny that can't manage to have working server because there's a little amount of player, but a little more than before it's a succes, great for you, have fun.
Well okay, if for you a compagny that can't manage to have working server because there's a little amount of player, but a little more than before it's a succes, great for you, have fun.
But the game still isn't a succes.
Servers crap out all the time regardless of the quality of game, a server crash is hardly a sign of a failed game.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
Played at launch and tried it again today, no problems at all, I even resubbed at Wastelander level. Can't remember why I left it just feels so good to be back. Lots of people everywhere too!
edit: Shouldn't have said that, I just crashed and can't get back on, server trouble?
I might come back to see how it looks. I enjoyed my time in FE, but when I got up to the upper 20's I found the wasteland was really a wasteland in terms of players around. Every established guild I tried to join was dying on the vine and playing alone was just no fun.
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
I might come back to see how it looks. I enjoyed my time in FE, but when I got up to the upper 20's I found the wasteland was really a wasteland in terms of players around. Every established guild I tried to join was dying on the vine and playing alone was just no fun.
Did they keep the original customer service crew? Or did they replace them with boiler-plate quoting clones?
"I used to think the worst thing in life was to be all alone. It's not. The worst thing in life is to end up with people who make you feel all alone." Robin Williams
At launch i had a problem that was sorted in a matter of hours, and under G1 ive had a problem with no reply (except automated 1st time response that i was in a queue) for 4 days now. That tells me everything i need to know.
Other than the server crashes I'm having fun. (Even if it crashes I just go play RIFT or AOC). I noticed all the "classes" are gone..and it's just based on what skills you place your AP. I noticed all my combat knowledges were gone . I discovered they really trimmed them down(I mean seriously cut the fat) and the injector to respec had expired out of my account. It took a bit of time but a GM put another in my pack. Turns out it only gave me 3 new combat skills to use based on my respec. lol..but still. I need to travel around and buy some more training manuals I guess.
Again..it's not $30 sub for previous players...it's $20....an that's only if you want all the extra percentages /buffs and slots. For $15 you get more than you had before...for $9 you get about the same and for free I get about as much as I got from the game for $15. I craft..sporadically. If even I need more crafting time (or slots) i guess I'll subscribe to one level. For now ..I'm fine piece-mealing my crafting projects. It's a pretty good structure I think. I glad to have a few free games I can play until SWTOR comes out and likely takes my RIFT sub for a while. Or ,who knows, I'll just jump back and forth as I see fit.
Originally posted by OBK1 edit: Shouldn't have said that, I just crashed and can't get back on, server trouble?
Yes, there are server issues ATM due to very high player volume. It's annoying, but there are worse problems to have.
As mentioned upthread, though, it's going to take some time to evaluate whether f2p FE is a "roaring success" or not. There are a number of games that have done very well on that model, but the FE implementation is for one thing a bit different than other examples, and it's also a less polished game than, say, LotRO or CoH. We'll see how it works out - I'm rooting for it.
I am not sure how that was supposed to be fixed last year when they only remodelled boneclaw completely in the last 2 months.
Believe it or not, the destruction of the Old Boneclaw was around Hallowe'en last year, and the new version has been in-game since December.
That's far more than 2 months.
And I'm bringing that up for another reason, the live event for Alec Masters nuking Boneclaw had about 500 players online, around Boneclaw, and the server had terrible trouble with it. And that was before the hardware moved to being under G1's purview.
Performance for a lot of players degraded after the move, myself included.
I would dearly love for FE to have more players, the ideas behind it are so much better than many other games that are doing a lot better in terms of numbers.
What made me walk away was the fact that G1 seemed to have no concerns about fixing buggy stuff, and the fact that they took down the PTS so they didn't even have players test the content (we did get to test the terrain) of Alpha County. Then it comes out, this new area that players have been waiting a long time for...and guess what? It's bugtastic. And with the size of the FE team, fixing bugs has always taken a long time, understandably.
Much as I will always love FE, I just lost the will to log in at that point, and I left before that cozy feeling faded because I know I might want to go back there some day.
Other than the server crashes I'm having fun. (Even if it crashes I just go play RIFT or AOC). I noticed all the "classes" are gone..and it's just based on what skills you place your AP.
My stars and garters, that rocks I have to hop back in and check that out.
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
There are vehicles and respec injectors in the cash shop, plus appearance slot unlocks and vanity wear. And extra character and vehicle slots. That's about it. It's about as little "pay to win" as I've seen in any cash shop.
Comments
Bah, this is getting old.
When game goes F2P, servers are always hammered on first days. Then first weeks there is an infux of a new players. It is normal and expected.
To call it success or not, you have to wait months at least. To see how many of "it is free I will check it out" crowd stays, and especially how many of them stays AND pays.
All game owners / publishers spin hype at beggining, throwing numbers from first weeks/months to buff hype even more. Advertisement !
Almost every f2p transition cost money. Sometimes quite a bit. That's why many p2p->f2p transitions are done after developer is bought by some other company (Turbine by Warner, FE Dev by G1).
You have to code f2p changes in a game, buy new hardware & bandwidtch, hire additional GM / Devs, develop and add some content to show to new & returning players, frequently code or update item shop, change / update your webpage, add new payment options, etc Not to mention that if game developer change it's owner, new owner want his investment money back. (like WB payed 400 mln $ for Turbine). If developer don't change it's owner, then frequently transition expenses have to be financed back from loans, so game has to pay loans and interest rates.
F2P requires marketting offensive, this also is not for free. Banners, series of sponsored articles, interviews and contests all of these are not for free. It is not exception to hire a new person responsible for market and PR.
So it is alot of money to get back. Not to mention, that goal is not to 'get money back' only, but to earn money as well. Success or not from financial standpoint can be decided propably not earlier than after first year.
Game success from a long-time player standpoint propably at least after few months.
the f2p will fail.
a limited chat is the end of every p2p/f2p game.
they want to keep the global chat free from gold(chip)-selling spammers but it never worked before and wont ever work. i know no p2p game without gold-selling spam.
seperating the community is the worse thing in a mmo-game.
Yes, the move to F2P has certainly drawn the crowds...
The rush of players was so great that the servers collapsed completely.
The game is currently offline for "quick maintenance", with no estimate on when the servers will be up again.
Agreed. It killed every wish for me to play EQ2, or COH (they fixed it in mean time)
But in FE they gave one global channel : Help
And everyone is using it. So all good there.
Now only thing is to put more servers, because the one they have is about to meltdown
I know one thing this game feels a lot better now that there are people around, logged in last night had a blast, not many MMO's have the old-school feeling that this one does. I hope the population doesn't die off too soon. Perfect game to play while I await the new releases coming up.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
Fallen Eearth is a roaring succes because the server collapsed...
Huh... no ? If the server collapsed it's not a good sign, it's a bad sign.
It most likely mean that people just came back seeing the change and the server failed them so they'll just play something else.
Ammount of players that manages to kill server.
I am sure owners are not complaining.
If there is one thing i learned in my MMO playing days : players flock to crowded MMOs.
So all in all - sucess
Well okay, if for you a compagny that can't manage to have working server because there's a little amount of player, but a little more than before it's a succes, great for you, have fun.
But the game still isn't a succes.
Servers crap out all the time regardless of the quality of game, a server crash is hardly a sign of a failed game.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
Played at launch and tried it again today, no problems at all, I even resubbed at Wastelander level. Can't remember why I left it just feels so good to be back. Lots of people everywhere too!
edit: Shouldn't have said that, I just crashed and can't get back on, server trouble?
I might come back to see how it looks. I enjoyed my time in FE, but when I got up to the upper 20's I found the wasteland was really a wasteland in terms of players around. Every established guild I tried to join was dying on the vine and playing alone was just no fun.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
Dont think it will be problem no more
Did they keep the original customer service crew? Or did they replace them with boiler-plate quoting clones?
At launch i had a problem that was sorted in a matter of hours, and under G1 ive had a problem with no reply (except automated 1st time response that i was in a queue) for 4 days now. That tells me everything i need to know.
Other than the server crashes I'm having fun. (Even if it crashes I just go play RIFT or AOC). I noticed all the "classes" are gone..and it's just based on what skills you place your AP. I noticed all my combat knowledges were gone . I discovered they really trimmed them down(I mean seriously cut the fat) and the injector to respec had expired out of my account. It took a bit of time but a GM put another in my pack. Turns out it only gave me 3 new combat skills to use based on my respec. lol..but still. I need to travel around and buy some more training manuals I guess.
Again..it's not $30 sub for previous players...it's $20....an that's only if you want all the extra percentages /buffs and slots. For $15 you get more than you had before...for $9 you get about the same and for free I get about as much as I got from the game for $15. I craft..sporadically. If even I need more crafting time (or slots) i guess I'll subscribe to one level. For now ..I'm fine piece-mealing my crafting projects. It's a pretty good structure I think. I glad to have a few free games I can play until SWTOR comes out and likely takes my RIFT sub for a while. Or ,who knows, I'll just jump back and forth as I see fit.
I played a bit over the weekend, I will need to get my reset injectors sorted out soon I guess to fix up my characters to the new system.
Overall the game is still fun IMHO.
Yes, there are server issues ATM due to very high player volume. It's annoying, but there are worse problems to have.
As mentioned upthread, though, it's going to take some time to evaluate whether f2p FE is a "roaring success" or not. There are a number of games that have done very well on that model, but the FE implementation is for one thing a bit different than other examples, and it's also a less polished game than, say, LotRO or CoH. We'll see how it works out - I'm rooting for it.
Ardwulf's Lair | Ardwulf's YouTube Channel | Ardwulf on Twitter
Is the cash shop Pay to win like APB?
Believe it or not, the destruction of the Old Boneclaw was around Hallowe'en last year, and the new version has been in-game since December.
That's far more than 2 months.
And I'm bringing that up for another reason, the live event for Alec Masters nuking Boneclaw had about 500 players online, around Boneclaw, and the server had terrible trouble with it. And that was before the hardware moved to being under G1's purview.
Performance for a lot of players degraded after the move, myself included.
I would dearly love for FE to have more players, the ideas behind it are so much better than many other games that are doing a lot better in terms of numbers.
What made me walk away was the fact that G1 seemed to have no concerns about fixing buggy stuff, and the fact that they took down the PTS so they didn't even have players test the content (we did get to test the terrain) of Alpha County. Then it comes out, this new area that players have been waiting a long time for...and guess what? It's bugtastic. And with the size of the FE team, fixing bugs has always taken a long time, understandably.
Much as I will always love FE, I just lost the will to log in at that point, and I left before that cozy feeling faded because I know I might want to go back there some day.
My stars and garters, that rocks
I have to hop back in and check that out.
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
There are vehicles and respec injectors in the cash shop, plus appearance slot unlocks and vanity wear. And extra character and vehicle slots. That's about it. It's about as little "pay to win" as I've seen in any cash shop.
Ardwulf's Lair | Ardwulf's YouTube Channel | Ardwulf on Twitter