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Your top 3 F2P implementations
mmoguy43
Member UncommonPosts: 2,770
Of all the F2P implementations out there some good, some bad, some of you dislike anything F2P, what are the ones that do it the best? Feel free to list your 3 least favorite too because I know you want to anyway.
I'm not a huge fan of F2P by any means but I can find enjoyment out of the ones that do it right.
Comments
My Top 3
1. SWTOR
2. World of Tanks
3. World of Warplanes.
A great list of free games (mostly MMORPGs): http://www.mytop10games.com/
Tera
DCUO
POE
I didn't know this about Perfect World. Do they have an economy like in Second Life, where merchants are able to sell items like land, objects, and such?
A great list of free games (mostly MMORPGs): http://www.mytop10games.com/
If it's only about the model and the implemetation, it's easy, Rift is the best. Though I don't play it atm, the model is great, the vision behind it is the exact opposite of the trend of every other game, it's not restricting the heck out of the freeps, it's benefiting the subscribers. /hatsoff for Trion, nice move. If only the game would be a bit better
Still, I did drop 1 month after I went back for checking the new model from both POV, and the benefits are awesome. (but I wrote that already in a Rift thread)
On 2nd and 3rd I'd add the subjective part of the title's "Your top 3..."
So maybe it's not valid for everyone in an average, but for me, those are STO and LotRO.
STO managed to bring in a lot of players after the switch with being mostly free and restriction-less during the whole game, and even beyond that for a bit. True, the endgame fleet grind can be Store-heavy, but here's the place for the imo part: I don't give a [bleep] about endgame
LotRO's implementation were great as well after the folks found the vip -> premium route. For a true free player it's maybe restrictive indeed, but (the imo part goes here) I'm not one
so LotRO's model has a place on my top 3 list.
TSW should be mentioned as well, great model but it's b2p, not f2p. There's maybe Aion as well, as I heard it has a decent model but to be honest, I never was able to play it more than 10-15 min... so I can't say it for certain. Awesomely lame game
Probably sunandshadow ment the in-game Zen exchange which is a common thing in all 3 Cryptic games (though I'm not sure it's in the other PWE games as well, true, I haven't played all of them, just RaiderZ, PWI and FW)
It's a mechanic where you can buy Zen (the shop currency) for money, and then sell that to other players for in-game money. In exchange, those other players can use the shop for free, if grinding enough in-game currency. Essentially you buy their farming time
Ah, right! It's not what I was hoping for, but I certainly appreciate the detailed reply; you know your stuff. I've been a regular on SL for 5 years and I've been looking recently at an MMO with a similar economy. I really enjoy the economics of SL, owning land, selling your items, and so forth. I just wish I could do it in a fun context - either where I'm shooting zombies or slaying dragons. Anyway, thank you!
A great list of free games (mostly MMORPGs): http://www.mytop10games.com/
I only dabbled a bit with Second Life, but I guess your game will be Garriot's SotA, there will be land buying, owning and selling. For the items, maybe SOE's Player Studio / Marketplace is the closest, you can design and create ingame items and then sell them to players.
Rift and Path of Exile - because I can ignore the cash shop.
DDO - Because after paying them a lump sum of money I can ignore the cash shop.
Notice a trend?
Runes of Magic, hands down. Probably the only F2P cash shop out there where you can actually buy a ton of stuff for cheaper then a monthly fee. Atlantica Online WAS great, but this game is only playable to it's full potential if you're a pro sports player doing 2-3 million + $ a year. But I got to admit, I would love to see more MMORPG's being made out of Atlantica Online, it was a very refreshing experience while it lasted. You got Fairy Land and another which I forgot the name.
On a side note, FF14 battle system should of been like Atlantica Online.
Of any forms of F2P, I'm a fan of pay for convenience (xp potions, bank space, faster crafting, faster travel, even easy access to gear as long as it's not hugely superior to loot or reward gear).
If you want to play, it's free and not severely crippled. If you want to play faster, it's available in the item shop.
I consider this as a reasonable form of monetization.
Tera
Guild Wars 2
The Secret World
Buy to Play = free to play?
nothing
nothing
nothing
subcsription all they way
Yes, Perfect World is a themepark, a WoW-clone with Chinese Fantasy flavor. And I really mean it when I say clone. It did not have property ownership last I checked. If it has one particularly cool element, it is the "wings as mount" concept and aerial combat.
If I can ever give you some tips with SL, just let me know. It's really nice of you to point me to those games. Thank you!
A great list of free games (mostly MMORPGs): http://www.mytop10games.com/
Yeah that seems to be the thing about F2P. It's only "done well" when it's totally optional or you get a sub and not have to deal with the cash shop.
1. GW1/GW2
2. LOTRO
3. AION (NA)
Hall of Shame:
1. AION (EU) : stupid Gameforge
2. SWTOR: too restricted.
Nothing.
If the game has a sub and it is fun, I will gladly pay to keep playing. When they stop with adding updates/content and the game becomes stale and not fun, I stop playing and paying. I don't want a shop in my face at all or have to ever look in one to get anything for a game. I want premium entertainment in a nice package where I don't need anything extra and don't mind paying for it, I don't want an item mall that I have to window shop certain things from the game.
I don't want anything for free, I work and don't mind paying for good entertainment. I have played most of the games that started with subs and quit before they went F2P because the actual games were boring or just horrible. I wouldn't even play these games for free because they have nothing to give me so just because they are free means nothing to me.