Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Thoughts on the business model?!
I just hope there's no in-game shop, that kinda destroys the game immersion.
I would a thousand times p2p, than having a f2p game with the in-game shop. In the other hand i wont be able to play the game if they make it p2p. What i mean is i would prefer a p2p system, because everyone would have the same rights in-game, over a f2p game, where you buy your rights and with money you have boosts/items that the others cant afford... And if they do the in-game shop one thing i know they will do for sure is to sell house items.
I think it would be much more interesting to have the people craft the house items and/or go around the world to get rare house items or even have some sellers from some specific place selling some specific house items. And being that a thing( housing system) i have been waiting for a long time to appear in the mmo's, i dont want it to be spoiled by some system like the in-game shop. That is the biggest reason i want to be in the beta, so i can try the housing system.
Anyway, i don't expect the game to be 100% f2p because they made the engine from scratch( and worked on it for quite some time), just that is already a big deal, then they have a good plot, they seem to have their minds in the right place and they are going for , what i think, the crazies things that the mmo-rpg's had and have ,and still... they are inovating!
I would totally play it ,if it were to have a b2p system, but still i think thats not enough... so i expect the in-game shop.
In the best of the cases b2p and an in-game shop will be their business model, in the worst case they will make it a p2p. This if you cant afford the subscription because if you can the things would reverse with p2p to be the ideal and b2p with the in-game shop the worst case scenario.
Taking away from the options f2p and p2w, because these dont seem to fit.
Comments
You voiced some great concerns. My only experience with MMOs cones from WoW. I know I live a sheltered life. That being said I take it that f2p and in-game shops where upgrades are bought with real currency is lame as all get out. Power should be earned not handed to the highest bidder. That's why I think the traditional subscription model is perfect. What players fail to realize I think is that entertainment in the gaming industry takes exorbitant amounts of resources: tech, staff, advertising, distribution, and all the rest that allow a game to hit the market . I don't know about you guys but when I mowed the lawn I expected my rents to pay up for my effort. Don't we owe it to these great Devs and producers compensation for their awesomeness.
I understand people are broke and can't afford a measly 15-30 dollar subscription fee. If you have a decent computer, home to operate it in, Internet to connect to the server, and still buy sodas and garbage 30 bucks can be budgeted to play the game.
Maybe this means SOME players need to consider getting a job. The game is unrated at this point but I guarantee it will be mature by release date, and correct me if I'm wrong but aren't M games 17+. IDK
Just saying
If you are old enough to purchase this awesome title(and it does look awesome )
You are old enough to work. Sorry I am just an underpaid overworked tyrant so it gets frustrating when people want savory content but don't want to support the teams that produce such amazing content
Nuff said
I think a subscription is perfect for this game and allow people to buy cosmetic items that don't grant a buff if they want to waste their parents money. Power should never be bought. Didn't we Learn anything from the Bush administration on this!!
1) We already know that the model is a hybrid. Thus logic dictates that we know a subscription will exist as one option.
2) We also know they feel strongly about selling us a box.
3) We know the game is a hybrid model, and the game will includes mounts, pets, and housing. Therefore, a cash shop is highly probable.
4) We know they don't like the Pay to win model. Thus, the cash shop (assuming it exists) will only sell cosmetic items.
We add this all together, and this is my prediction based on the current info.
Buy Box
Cash shop selling cosmetic items
F2P or Subscription (Subs get some perks such as cash shop currency each month)
Except you're ignoring the fact that
A. There is a lot of competition out there, decent MMOs that are F2P or B2P that can provide as much enjoyment. That is not counting future titles like EQN which any idiot knows will have a massive initial gathering.
B. F2P has been proven to be high succcessful and in fact it can be argued that it is more profitable than P2P models of the game. Wouldn't suprise me that games that later turn F2P always had that in their planning since any idiot knows that MMO gamers are full of impulsive buyers and are quick to buy up the new shiney. Might as well as use that to the companies advantage.
C. Many as in the vast majority can easily pay the subs, people are instead only buy things that warrent to cost. Myself don't play any P2P games, not because I can't afford it but because I see it as throwing money away when there are a lot more cheaper entertainment around that yield the same amount of entertainment.
Only Flaw in your logic is #1. Hybrid does not exclusively = Subscription options, it very much could be a GW2 Model.
Check out Pause your Game - Gaming Podcast (Under construction)
That is a possibility, except when you look from business perspective you have to rule that possibility out.
There are 3 possibilities,
Sub + Buy box
Buy Box + F2P + (Maybe item store)
F2P + item store
3 possible hybrid combinations
Sub + Buy box or Buy Box +F2P + item store
Sub + Buy Box or F2P + item store
F2P + item store or Buy Box + F2P
The third option is nonsensical. If the game is free to play, then why buy the box? It would have to give some kind of perk. But what perk could possibly exist to make people spend a lump sum for the box? Even if we pretended some people bought it, they have to sell millions of boxes to hope to break even from dev cost, and they plan on making content for years to come afterwards with continual updates. Where is this revenue coming from? It makes no sense whatsoever, thus it has to be sub based.
1)
GW2 had no end game content, as it was not cost effective to make said content.
On the other hand, 50-70% of the developers for WS are working on end game content.
2)
Wildstar is planning content updates a whole year in advance with continual end game content. That means they need a steady flow of revenue to develop all this new content.
3)
Triple A MMOs cost hundreds of millions of dollars to develop. Box sales and a cash shop just aren't sufficient to meet the initial cost and the cost of future development.
If the game is good enough, any buiseness system works..
if the best MMo in the world would be released tomorrow and it had a $70 box price, $20 sub, an item shop, DLC for about $15 a month and 6 monthly expansion packs for $40, it would still sell in record numbers.. and people would even pay $120 for a real world action figure of their main character in its epic armor..
Changing buisness plans is only neccesary if your game is not so much better then the rest....
Best MMO experiences : EQ(PvE), DAoC(PvP), WoW(total package) LOTRO (worldfeel) GW2 (Artstyle and animations and worlddesign) SWTOR (Story immersion) TSW (story) ESO (character advancement)
This man speaks the truth. Hopefully more people will understand so we get less of these threads.
They see me lurkin' they hatin...