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ArchLord: New Server
Szark
News ManagerMember Posts: 4,420
Codemasters Online has announced that they have added a new server, dubbed Evengarda, to their free to play MMO, ArchLord. They have also announced that they will be holding an in-game treasure hunt to kick off the new server.
ArchLord Expands with a New World!
Codemasters Online is pleased to announce the opening of a new server for the hugely popular free-to-play MMORPG ArchLord. The new world, Evengarda is set to expand the world of Chantra to unprecedented levels allowing players to create new characters on a fresh new world all from the same starting level.
To celebrate the launch of Evengarda, Codemasters Online have announced a one month treasure hunt taking place on the new world to reward new players. During this event hundreds of Silver, Gold and Platinum chests will be spread far and wide across the new world, as players come in search of these hidden treasures.
For more information visit http://www.archlordgame.com.
Comments
Alright! Who wants @#$%$^^&; for free?!!?!??
Well imagine that, they go free to play and suddenly they are making money and opening a new server.
I know free to play isn't popular here on this site but this is where the market is going. Look at the top played MMO's on xfire (the only stat keeping mechanism there is) its mostly free to plays in the top 10 mmos.
Read all the developer conference interviews posted on this site lately, all the western dev companies are throwing in with the micro transaction market. Heck, the guys from maple story (who reported a revenue of 16 million a month) gave a seminar to western devs at the AGDC on how to run it correctly. You can bet your arse games like Vanguard, EQII or any other western game aside from WoW are not pulling numbers like that. Western devs have dollar $igns in their eyes...
I'm not advocating it but the writing is on the wall.
The "market" will not go to F2P games, it just won't happen. F2P games don't make nearly as much money as P2P games, the quality is always pretty poor, the community is mostly made of annoying players that would rather spam for free gold in a free game then pay to spam and patches are always less then should be expected. I mean I would rather pay for a game thats %75 what I'm looking for as most mainstream MMO's are then play a free game that's %25 immersive, with an extremely boring grind , and you have to pull out the credit card to get that special sword or something. I mean you get what you pay for. The only exception is the Guild Wars series of course, as it's highly successful, but you pay for it outright. The "asian grinder" gang likes playing the F2P market, because it's all a grindfest nomatter what skin you slap on it, in the western world it's not so easy, you need to diversify to be successful. This is coming from someone who plays Archlord. I play the game because it's F2P, and I know it's crap, I'm just waiting until the end of the week until TR comes out. I always come back to a F2P game as a transition to another game, it gives a good comparison between something good... and something free.
The "market" will not go to F2P games, it just won't happen. F2P games don't make nearly as much money as P2P games, the quality is always pretty poor, the community is mostly made of annoying players that would rather spam for free gold in a free game then pay to spam and patches are always less then should be expected. I mean I would rather pay for a game thats %75 what I'm looking for as most mainstream MMO's are then play a free game that's %25 immersive, with an extremely boring grind , and you have to pull out the credit card to get that special sword or something. I mean you get what you pay for. The only exception is the Guild Wars series of course, as it's highly successful, but you pay for it outright. The "asian grinder" gang likes playing the F2P market, because it's all a grindfest nomatter what skin you slap on it, in the western world it's not so easy, you need to diversify to be successful. This is coming from someone who plays Archlord. I play the game because it's F2P, and I know it's crap, I'm just waiting until the end of the week until TR comes out. I always come back to a F2P game as a transition to another game, it gives a good comparison between something good... and something free.
Well first of all your statement is completely incorrect. F2P games, or rather Micro transaction models, DO make as much money as P2P games. There is a very good reason why there are so many MMORPG's switching to the free to play model.
Saying you need "diversity" in the western world is absolutely laughable. If you're talking about concept, considering that the two most successfull mmorpg's, World of Warcraft and Lotro are little more than clones with a casual coat slapped on it, that statement is rediculous. Or perhaps you were refering to the thousands of "Go kill XX' quests?
The "market" will not go to F2P games, it just won't happen. F2P games don't make nearly as much money as P2P games, the quality is always pretty poor, the community is mostly made of annoying players that would rather spam for free gold in a free game then pay to spam and patches are always less then should be expected. I mean I would rather pay for a game thats %75 what I'm looking for as most mainstream MMO's are then play a free game that's %25 immersive, with an extremely boring grind , and you have to pull out the credit card to get that special sword or something. I mean you get what you pay for. The only exception is the Guild Wars series of course, as it's highly successful, but you pay for it outright. The "asian grinder" gang likes playing the F2P market, because it's all a grindfest nomatter what skin you slap on it, in the western world it's not so easy, you need to diversify to be successful. This is coming from someone who plays Archlord. I play the game because it's F2P, and I know it's crap, I'm just waiting until the end of the week until TR comes out. I always come back to a F2P game as a transition to another game, it gives a good comparison between something good... and something free.
Well first of all your statement is completely incorrect. F2P games, or rather Micro transaction models, DO make as much money as P2P games. There is a very good reason why there are so many MMORPG's switching to the free to play model.
Saying you need "diversity" in the western world is absolutely laughable. If you're talking about concept, considering that the two most successfull mmorpg's, World of Warcraft and Lotro are little more than clones with a casual coat slapped on it, that statement is rediculous. Or perhaps you were refering to the thousands of "Go kill XX' quests?
FIrst of all, I'd like to see roughly how much a "micro" payment model makes in comparison. I mean granted WoW makes more money then pretty much every F2P game around, lets take it one step under to a game like CoH which still is a much more successful game then most Micro Payment models. 50 dollars up front spread across 15 dollars per month thereafter, multiplied by the number of active subscribers, and that was just for their first year. Even MMO's that don't have a great number of subscribers can still make a decent amount of money. I mean show me the data showing the amount of micro payment modules creating the same kind of revenue and I'll shut my mouth.
Secondly, WoW and LOTRO are much better games then any F2P game out there. They may be a "clone" of one another but it's basically a clone of a good game. There are some other quirks between the both of them that make them different enough to please certain player bases. There are many more things to do in those games then in most of these F2P games, not to mention the graphics are better, the community is much better (even in WoW) and the variety is better. Archlord for instance only has a handful (like 2 or 3) different types of monsters to kill at any given level. I also don't see a big difference in "Kill XX amount of monsters" in any of these other games, it's the standard MMO quest! Show me what other kinds of quests a F2P game has and I'll show you the same kind of quests in a P2P game, just polished and created better then the F2P game.
The "market" will not go to F2P games, it just won't happen. F2P games don't make nearly as much money as P2P games, the quality is always pretty poor, the community is mostly made of annoying players that would rather spam for free gold in a free game then pay to spam and patches are always less then should be expected. I mean I would rather pay for a game thats %75 what I'm looking for as most mainstream MMO's are then play a free game that's %25 immersive, with an extremely boring grind , and you have to pull out the credit card to get that special sword or something. I mean you get what you pay for. The only exception is the Guild Wars series of course, as it's highly successful, but you pay for it outright. The "asian grinder" gang likes playing the F2P market, because it's all a grindfest nomatter what skin you slap on it, in the western world it's not so easy, you need to diversify to be successful. This is coming from someone who plays Archlord. I play the game because it's F2P, and I know it's crap, I'm just waiting until the end of the week until TR comes out. I always come back to a F2P game as a transition to another game, it gives a good comparison between something good... and something free.
Well first of all your statement is completely incorrect. F2P games, or rather Micro transaction models, DO make as much money as P2P games. There is a very good reason why there are so many MMORPG's switching to the free to play model.
Saying you need "diversity" in the western world is absolutely laughable. If you're talking about concept, considering that the two most successfull mmorpg's, World of Warcraft and Lotro are little more than clones with a casual coat slapped on it, that statement is rediculous. Or perhaps you were refering to the thousands of "Go kill XX' quests?
FIrst of all, I'd like to see roughly how much a "micro" payment model makes in comparison. I mean granted WoW makes more money then pretty much every F2P game around, lets take it one step under to a game like CoH which still is a much more successful game then most Micro Payment models. 50 dollars up front spread across 15 dollars per month thereafter, multiplied by the number of active subscribers, and that was just for their first year. Even MMO's that don't have a great number of subscribers can still make a decent amount of money. I mean show me the data showing the amount of micro payment modules creating the same kind of revenue and I'll shut my mouth.
Secondly, WoW and LOTRO are much better games then any F2P game out there. They may be a "clone" of one another but it's basically a clone of a good game. There are some other quirks between the both of them that make them different enough to please certain player bases. There are many more things to do in those games then in most of these F2P games, not to mention the graphics are better, the community is much better (even in WoW) and the variety is better. Archlord for instance only has a handful (like 2 or 3) different types of monsters to kill at any given level. I also don't see a big difference in "Kill XX amount of monsters" in any of these other games, it's the standard MMO quest! Show me what other kinds of quests a F2P game has and I'll show you the same kind of quests in a P2P game, just polished and created better then the F2P game.
Sure, no problem.
www.worldsinmotion.biz/2007/09/agdc_nexons_min_kim_on_the_pow.php
And I quote:
"MapleStory, says Kim, is one of most profitable online games globally - $16 million per month, with 210 concurrent users."
210 concurrent users is probably a typo, but that's 16 million dollars per month. also keep in mind this is older, Maple Story has grown incredbly large since then, and it's not even the largest free to play mmo.
www.worldsinmotion.biz/nexon//
"MapleStory has always been free to play, but characters can purchase bonuses and virtual goods for their avatars; revenue from such micropayments is the primary component of Nexon's reported $250 million earnings from game
youtube.com/watch
This news report shows how the business model works, and even has someone reporting of spending 50$ a week on the game.
Also, Lotro and WoW being better is only your opinion. I can agree with WoW being better, but Lotro? No, I disagree. In the past only low budget MMO's used a cash shop but this has changed. Now even big budget games start using the free to play micro transaction model, and it works.
You won't find many quests in free to play MMO's ( Or most asian MMO's in general) because those games aren't aimed at questing. Questing and RPing is something that is popular in western MMO's, but not in eastern.
Well just goes to show there is still life in the old game yet.
And that the current F2P model does seem to work at least for Archlord.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Retired from: Neocron, Everquest, Everquest 2, Guild Wars, RF Online and Final Fantasy VII
Currently Playing : EvE Online.
Gameloading I get pretty tired of your aburd drivel, back up your claims with some facts because I know you can't. Nothing wrong with f2p games, they do make money, but they don't touch the subscription models, not even close.
The majority of f2p are just horrendous grinds that most players just evenutally give up on. Not one of these has even a 1/10 the content of the pay to play games. Hence I find the concept that so many people would waste that much money on contentless games, ridiculous.
As to Archlord, I am glad some people are having fun with the game, I found it to be too much of a grind myself, but the intent of a game is to have fun and I hope those playing are enjoying it.
The "market" will not go to F2P games, it just won't happen. F2P games don't make nearly as much money as P2P games, the quality is always pretty poor, the community is mostly made of annoying players that would rather spam for free gold in a free game then pay to spam and patches are always less then should be expected. I mean I would rather pay for a game thats %75 what I'm looking for as most mainstream MMO's are then play a free game that's %25 immersive, with an extremely boring grind , and you have to pull out the credit card to get that special sword or something. I mean you get what you pay for. The only exception is the Guild Wars series of course, as it's highly successful, but you pay for it outright. The "asian grinder" gang likes playing the F2P market, because it's all a grindfest nomatter what skin you slap on it, in the western world it's not so easy, you need to diversify to be successful. This is coming from someone who plays Archlord. I play the game because it's F2P, and I know it's crap, I'm just waiting until the end of the week until TR comes out. I always come back to a F2P game as a transition to another game, it gives a good comparison between something good... and something free.
Well first of all your statement is completely incorrect. F2P games, or rather Micro transaction models, DO make as much money as P2P games. There is a very good reason why there are so many MMORPG's switching to the free to play model.
Saying you need "diversity" in the western world is absolutely laughable. If you're talking about concept, considering that the two most successfull mmorpg's, World of Warcraft and Lotro are little more than clones with a casual coat slapped on it, that statement is rediculous. Or perhaps you were refering to the thousands of "Go kill XX' quests?
FIrst of all, I'd like to see roughly how much a "micro" payment model makes in comparison. I mean granted WoW makes more money then pretty much every F2P game around, lets take it one step under to a game like CoH which still is a much more successful game then most Micro Payment models. 50 dollars up front spread across 15 dollars per month thereafter, multiplied by the number of active subscribers, and that was just for their first year. Even MMO's that don't have a great number of subscribers can still make a decent amount of money. I mean show me the data showing the amount of micro payment modules creating the same kind of revenue and I'll shut my mouth.
Secondly, WoW and LOTRO are much better games then any F2P game out there. They may be a "clone" of one another but it's basically a clone of a good game. There are some other quirks between the both of them that make them different enough to please certain player bases. There are many more things to do in those games then in most of these F2P games, not to mention the graphics are better, the community is much better (even in WoW) and the variety is better. Archlord for instance only has a handful (like 2 or 3) different types of monsters to kill at any given level. I also don't see a big difference in "Kill XX amount of monsters" in any of these other games, it's the standard MMO quest! Show me what other kinds of quests a F2P game has and I'll show you the same kind of quests in a P2P game, just polished and created better then the F2P game.
Sure, no problem.
www.worldsinmotion.biz/2007/09/agdc_nexons_min_kim_on_the_pow.php
And I quote:
"MapleStory, says Kim, is one of most profitable online games globally - $16 million per month, with 210 concurrent users."
210 concurrent users is probably a typo, but that's 16 million dollars per month. also keep in mind this is older, Maple Story has grown incredbly large since then, and it's not even the largest free to play mmo.
www.worldsinmotion.biz/nexon//
"MapleStory has always been free to play, but characters can purchase bonuses and virtual goods for their avatars; revenue from such micropayments is the primary component of Nexon's reported $250 million earnings from game
youtube.com/watch
This news report shows how the business model works, and even has someone reporting of spending 50$ a week on the game.
Also, Lotro and WoW being better is only your opinion. I can agree with WoW being better, but Lotro? No, I disagree. In the past only low budget MMO's used a cash shop but this has changed. Now even big budget games start using the free to play micro transaction model, and it works.
You won't find many quests in free to play MMO's ( Or most asian MMO's in general) because those games aren't aimed at questing. Questing and RPing is something that is popular in western MMO's, but not in eastern.
Thats ridiculous. You're comparing to a strictly South Korean MMO market. First of all, it's maplestory, I've played it, and it isn't nearly as much fun, or is nearly as exciting as they're trying to make it out to be, but that doesn't matter with what you're pointing out. What I would like to point out to you though are the numbers strictly for the P2P games, not from 2005 but recently for lineage 2, also a mainstream korean based game. They have over 1.9 million subs at a 15 dollar a month sub fee. Thats over 16 mil, thats not even counting lineage 1 which still has a sub fee and is still currently being played. FFXI also has an enormous playerbase with a sub fee. And these are current statistics www.mmogdata.com . Now take into consideration that those games you have to actually pay to have the game, so if someone only pays for one month and never plays again, and 1.9 million people buy a 30 dollar game, you're looking at just in software sales alone, a revenue figure that would make Maple Story blush like a little school girl.
Now take a game like WoW, which is a western MMO and take 9 million subs at this current time, multiply that by 20 dollars just for the software and another 15 dollars for recurring accounts and you have a constant recurring billing cycle that encompasses over 100 million dollars a month.
I do thank you for showing me that yes, in 2005 a large part of the korean population played a boring game and spent way too much money on it, but there is a problem with the business model altogether.
In order for the game to be successful for extended periods of time, you have to add loads of content continuously so players have a need to purchase items, if at all. Most F2P games don't update nearly enough for it to become profitable. Perhaps because I'm a "westerner" and get bored with grinds that take way too long for a poor end game, or poor class choices and a horrid community, encompassed by a ridiculous pvp experience, I guess I wouldn't know anything about what makes a good game.
I find it funny that alot of people who play games like this automatically think that anyone who is interested or enjoys western style MMO's automatically doesn't know thing 1 about the way they're supposed to work, or what the appeal is to these types of games. The asian grind is simple, it's about the grind, I get it, they like monotonous hardship work. The harder the grind the more rewarding, thats fine for some people, but I think it's boring, and so do 9 million subscribers in WoW.
But I digress, the business model can work, to that you've showed me, in a western MMO.... doubtful, it would have to be one heck of a game. So whereas this might be the track for most asian games, I don't see any western made games being transformed any time soon.
I have backed up my arguements with facts, if you actually open your eyes.and read what I posted in this thread you will see that I HAVE backed up my arguements.
In fact, you're the one who has never posted anything to back up your arguements, not once.
This isn't the first time I see you acting like a hypocrit. You ignore the actual evidence posted, you dismiss any arguements to go against your view and you keep posting your own assumptions, without posting anything to back it up.
I can ask the same for you. Many mmorpg's are switching from a p2p model to a micro transaction model, and many MMO's don't even bother with p2p anymore to begin with. at start it was just asian MMO's, but now western MMO's are starting to do this as well (The Agency and Free Realms are both going to use a micro transaction model) Yet you still keep claiming that micro transaction are apparently not as profitable as monthly fee. So now it's your turn, no more hiding by your pointless assumptions. Either bring something to back up your claims, or don't go into debate with me.
The "market" will not go to F2P games, it just won't happen. F2P games don't make nearly as much money as P2P games, the quality is always pretty poor, the community is mostly made of annoying players that would rather spam for free gold in a free game then pay to spam and patches are always less then should be expected. I mean I would rather pay for a game thats %75 what I'm looking for as most mainstream MMO's are then play a free game that's %25 immersive, with an extremely boring grind , and you have to pull out the credit card to get that special sword or something. I mean you get what you pay for. The only exception is the Guild Wars series of course, as it's highly successful, but you pay for it outright. The "asian grinder" gang likes playing the F2P market, because it's all a grindfest nomatter what skin you slap on it, in the western world it's not so easy, you need to diversify to be successful. This is coming from someone who plays Archlord. I play the game because it's F2P, and I know it's crap, I'm just waiting until the end of the week until TR comes out. I always come back to a F2P game as a transition to another game, it gives a good comparison between something good... and something free.
Well first of all your statement is completely incorrect. F2P games, or rather Micro transaction models, DO make as much money as P2P games. There is a very good reason why there are so many MMORPG's switching to the free to play model.
Saying you need "diversity" in the western world is absolutely laughable. If you're talking about concept, considering that the two most successfull mmorpg's, World of Warcraft and Lotro are little more than clones with a casual coat slapped on it, that statement is rediculous. Or perhaps you were refering to the thousands of "Go kill XX' quests?
FIrst of all, I'd like to see roughly how much a "micro" payment model makes in comparison. I mean granted WoW makes more money then pretty much every F2P game around, lets take it one step under to a game like CoH which still is a much more successful game then most Micro Payment models. 50 dollars up front spread across 15 dollars per month thereafter, multiplied by the number of active subscribers, and that was just for their first year. Even MMO's that don't have a great number of subscribers can still make a decent amount of money. I mean show me the data showing the amount of micro payment modules creating the same kind of revenue and I'll shut my mouth.
Secondly, WoW and LOTRO are much better games then any F2P game out there. They may be a "clone" of one another but it's basically a clone of a good game. There are some other quirks between the both of them that make them different enough to please certain player bases. There are many more things to do in those games then in most of these F2P games, not to mention the graphics are better, the community is much better (even in WoW) and the variety is better. Archlord for instance only has a handful (like 2 or 3) different types of monsters to kill at any given level. I also don't see a big difference in "Kill XX amount of monsters" in any of these other games, it's the standard MMO quest! Show me what other kinds of quests a F2P game has and I'll show you the same kind of quests in a P2P game, just polished and created better then the F2P game.
Sure, no problem.
www.worldsinmotion.biz/2007/09/agdc_nexons_min_kim_on_the_pow.php
And I quote:
"MapleStory, says Kim, is one of most profitable online games globally - $16 million per month, with 210 concurrent users."
210 concurrent users is probably a typo, but that's 16 million dollars per month. also keep in mind this is older, Maple Story has grown incredbly large since then, and it's not even the largest free to play mmo.
www.worldsinmotion.biz/nexon//
"MapleStory has always been free to play, but characters can purchase bonuses and virtual goods for their avatars; revenue from such micropayments is the primary component of Nexon's reported $250 million earnings from game
youtube.com/watch
This news report shows how the business model works, and even has someone reporting of spending 50$ a week on the game.
Also, Lotro and WoW being better is only your opinion. I can agree with WoW being better, but Lotro? No, I disagree. In the past only low budget MMO's used a cash shop but this has changed. Now even big budget games start using the free to play micro transaction model, and it works.
You won't find many quests in free to play MMO's ( Or most asian MMO's in general) because those games aren't aimed at questing. Questing and RPing is something that is popular in western MMO's, but not in eastern.
Thats ridiculous. You're comparing to a strictly South Korean MMO market. First of all, it's maplestory, I've played it, and it isn't nearly as much fun, or is nearly as exciting as they're trying to make it out to be, but that doesn't matter with what you're pointing out. What I would like to point out to you though are the numbers strictly for the P2P games, not from 2005 but recently for lineage 2, also a mainstream korean based game. They have over 1.9 million subs at a 15 dollar a month sub fee. Thats over 16 mil, thats not even counting lineage 1 which still has a sub fee and is still currently being played. FFXI also has an enormous playerbase with a sub fee. And these are current statistics www.mmogdata.com . Now take into consideration that those games you have to actually pay to have the game, so if someone only pays for one month and never plays again, and 1.9 million people buy a 30 dollar game, you're looking at just in software sales alone, a revenue figure that would make Maple Story blush like a little school girl.
Now take a game like WoW, which is a western MMO and take 9 million subs at this current time, multiply that by 20 dollars just for the software and another 15 dollars for recurring accounts and you have a constant recurring billing cycle that encompasses over 100 million dollars a month.
I do thank you for showing me that yes, in 2005 a large part of the korean population played a boring game and spent way too much money on it, but there is a problem with the business model altogether.
In order for the game to be successful for extended periods of time, you have to add loads of content continuously so players have a need to purchase items, if at all. Most F2P games don't update nearly enough for it to become profitable. Perhaps because I'm a "westerner" and get bored with grinds that take way too long for a poor end game, or poor class choices and a horrid community, encompassed by a ridiculous pvp experience, I guess I wouldn't know anything about what makes a good game.
I find it funny that alot of people who play games like this automatically think that anyone who is interested or enjoys western style MMO's automatically doesn't know thing 1 about the way they're supposed to work, or what the appeal is to these types of games. The asian grind is simple, it's about the grind, I get it, they like monotonous hardship work. The harder the grind the more rewarding, thats fine for some people, but I think it's boring, and so do 9 million subscribers in WoW.
But I digress, the business model can work, to that you've showed me, in a western MMO.... doubtful, it would have to be one heck of a game. So whereas this might be the track for most asian games, I don't see any western made games being transformed any time soon.
Well in the end of the day it's not so much the pricing model that makes up for the profits as the popularity of the game. At the end of the day it's still the game that has to draw the players. The difference between a monthly fee and an item shop is that a lot of people are more willing to pay for something they are already playing, that's why an MMO always comes with a free month, or a free trial. Making the game based on micro transactions is simply the next step up, and it makes the game a lot more accesible.
While it's true that more content needs to be added to keep paying for items, this really isn't any different then for monthly fee games. If people run out of content, they will leave. Now ofcourse developers can't create content faster than people can play through, so most MMO's add a sink. For example in games like Lineage 2, or Silkroad, it takes a very long time to reach the endgame, and it takes a long time to level up. This gives developers more time to create additional content. Games like WoW, and Dark age of Camelot, do this a little differently. Instead of making the grind longer, the games try to increase the replay value and often create an end game timesink. Things like Battlegrounds, Arena, and the repetive raids are nothing more than timesinks untill the developers created new content.
So a payment method really doesn't have as much to do with that.
Also, we will have to wait and see how it works in a western MMORPG. Sony is currently developing 2 Item shop/micro transaction MMORPG's, Free Realms and The Agency, and apparently SOE is convinced that Micro transactions are absolutely the way to go.
Minimal payments, micropayments, and F2P are the future my friends.
The "market" will not go to F2P games, it just won't happen. F2P games don't make nearly as much money as P2P games, the quality is always pretty poor, the community is mostly made of annoying players that would rather spam for free gold in a free game then pay to spam and patches are always less then should be expected. I mean I would rather pay for a game thats %75 what I'm looking for as most mainstream MMO's are then play a free game that's %25 immersive, with an extremely boring grind , and you have to pull out the credit card to get that special sword or something. I mean you get what you pay for. The only exception is the Guild Wars series of course, as it's highly successful, but you pay for it outright. The "asian grinder" gang likes playing the F2P market, because it's all a grindfest nomatter what skin you slap on it, in the western world it's not so easy, you need to diversify to be successful. This is coming from someone who plays Archlord. I play the game because it's F2P, and I know it's crap, I'm just waiting until the end of the week until TR comes out. I always come back to a F2P game as a transition to another game, it gives a good comparison between something good... and something free.
Well first of all your statement is completely incorrect. F2P games, or rather Micro transaction models, DO make as much money as P2P games. There is a very good reason why there are so many MMORPG's switching to the free to play model.
Saying you need "diversity" in the western world is absolutely laughable. If you're talking about concept, considering that the two most successfull mmorpg's, World of Warcraft and Lotro are little more than clones with a casual coat slapped on it, that statement is rediculous. Or perhaps you were refering to the thousands of "Go kill XX' quests?
FIrst of all, I'd like to see roughly how much a "micro" payment model makes in comparison. I mean granted WoW makes more money then pretty much every F2P game around, lets take it one step under to a game like CoH which still is a much more successful game then most Micro Payment models. 50 dollars up front spread across 15 dollars per month thereafter, multiplied by the number of active subscribers, and that was just for their first year. Even MMO's that don't have a great number of subscribers can still make a decent amount of money. I mean show me the data showing the amount of micro payment modules creating the same kind of revenue and I'll shut my mouth.
Secondly, WoW and LOTRO are much better games then any F2P game out there. They may be a "clone" of one another but it's basically a clone of a good game. There are some other quirks between the both of them that make them different enough to please certain player bases. There are many more things to do in those games then in most of these F2P games, not to mention the graphics are better, the community is much better (even in WoW) and the variety is better. Archlord for instance only has a handful (like 2 or 3) different types of monsters to kill at any given level. I also don't see a big difference in "Kill XX amount of monsters" in any of these other games, it's the standard MMO quest! Show me what other kinds of quests a F2P game has and I'll show you the same kind of quests in a P2P game, just polished and created better then the F2P game.
Sure, no problem.
www.worldsinmotion.biz/2007/09/agdc_nexons_min_kim_on_the_pow.php
And I quote:
"MapleStory, says Kim, is one of most profitable online games globally - $16 million per month, with 210 concurrent users."
210 concurrent users is probably a typo, but that's 16 million dollars per month. also keep in mind this is older, Maple Story has grown incredbly large since then, and it's not even the largest free to play mmo.
www.worldsinmotion.biz/nexon//
"MapleStory has always been free to play, but characters can purchase bonuses and virtual goods for their avatars; revenue from such micropayments is the primary component of Nexon's reported $250 million earnings from game
youtube.com/watch
This news report shows how the business model works, and even has someone reporting of spending 50$ a week on the game.
Also, Lotro and WoW being better is only your opinion. I can agree with WoW being better, but Lotro? No, I disagree. In the past only low budget MMO's used a cash shop but this has changed. Now even big budget games start using the free to play micro transaction model, and it works.
You won't find many quests in free to play MMO's ( Or most asian MMO's in general) because those games aren't aimed at questing. Questing and RPing is something that is popular in western MMO's, but not in eastern.
Thats ridiculous. You're comparing to a strictly South Korean MMO market. First of all, it's maplestory, I've played it, and it isn't nearly as much fun, or is nearly as exciting as they're trying to make it out to be, but that doesn't matter with what you're pointing out. What I would like to point out to you though are the numbers strictly for the P2P games, not from 2005 but recently for lineage 2, also a mainstream korean based game. They have over 1.9 million subs at a 15 dollar a month sub fee. Thats over 16 mil, thats not even counting lineage 1 which still has a sub fee and is still currently being played. FFXI also has an enormous playerbase with a sub fee. And these are current statistics www.mmogdata.com . Now take into consideration that those games you have to actually pay to have the game, so if someone only pays for one month and never plays again, and 1.9 million people buy a 30 dollar game, you're looking at just in software sales alone, a revenue figure that would make Maple Story blush like a little school girl.
Now take a game like WoW, which is a western MMO and take 9 million subs at this current time, multiply that by 20 dollars just for the software and another 15 dollars for recurring accounts and you have a constant recurring billing cycle that encompasses over 100 million dollars a month.
I do thank you for showing me that yes, in 2005 a large part of the korean population played a boring game and spent way too much money on it, but there is a problem with the business model altogether.
In order for the game to be successful for extended periods of time, you have to add loads of content continuously so players have a need to purchase items, if at all. Most F2P games don't update nearly enough for it to become profitable. Perhaps because I'm a "westerner" and get bored with grinds that take way too long for a poor end game, or poor class choices and a horrid community, encompassed by a ridiculous pvp experience, I guess I wouldn't know anything about what makes a good game.
I find it funny that alot of people who play games like this automatically think that anyone who is interested or enjoys western style MMO's automatically doesn't know thing 1 about the way they're supposed to work, or what the appeal is to these types of games. The asian grind is simple, it's about the grind, I get it, they like monotonous hardship work. The harder the grind the more rewarding, thats fine for some people, but I think it's boring, and so do 9 million subscribers in WoW.
But I digress, the business model can work, to that you've showed me, in a western MMO.... doubtful, it would have to be one heck of a game. So whereas this might be the track for most asian games, I don't see any western made games being transformed any time soon.
Well in the end of the day it's not so much the pricing model that makes up for the profits as the popularity of the game. At the end of the day it's still the game that has to draw the players. The difference between a monthly fee and an item shop is that a lot of people are more willing to pay for something they are already playing, that's why an MMO always comes with a free month, or a free trial. Making the game based on micro transactions is simply the next step up, and it makes the game a lot more accesible.
While it's true that more content needs to be added to keep paying for items, this really isn't any different then for monthly fee games. If people run out of content, they will leave. Now ofcourse developers can't create content faster than people can play through, so most MMO's add a sink. For example in games like Lineage 2, or Silkroad, it takes a very long time to reach the endgame, and it takes a long time to level up. This gives developers more time to create additional content. Games like WoW, and Dark age of Camelot, do this a little differently. Instead of making the grind longer, the games try to increase the replay value and often create an end game timesink. Things like Battlegrounds, Arena, and the repetive raids are nothing more than timesinks untill the developers created new content.
So a payment method really doesn't have as much to do with that.
Also, we will have to wait and see how it works in a western MMORPG. Sony is currently developing 2 Item shop/micro transaction MMORPG's, Free Realms and The Agency, and apparently SOE is convinced that Micro transactions are absolutely the way to go.
Personally I'll believe it when I see it. I don't really see F2P games being all the rage in the western world mainly because the gaming populus has a certain expectation of what will come with buying a game. Two SOE games don't exactly qualify as being "the future". So far the most anticipated games are the P2P games, WAR, AoC, Spellborn, TR and the like. The difference is, when you have a micro management model you have to add content, but you add it on a "TBA" payment scale. You have a chance to make a lot of money up front, but it leaves the game on a sliding scale of instead of who can spend the most time playing, it's who can spend the most money on items, areas, and skills. I'm not saying it's a bad idea, and I'm not saying that it can't work, obviously it can in some aspects per the korean gamin society. But on an equality and payment plan process P2P games are overall a better option. SOE is sadly just a few steps behind as far as subs go. Their station pass is liveable to an extent but overall their playerbase is dwindling in everything aside from EQ2. Vanguard may or may not be on the rise again eventually. SWG, well, lets not get into that. But overall I think it's partially an experiment for them moreso then a plan. They see it working in the korean base, and think they can pull some money out over here. I'm not surprised by SOE's stand point on F2P games. Heck, they're running a few of them such as MxO and so on, on their station pass, they really have nothing to lose.
Nothing against you or anything, but I think we've got a long way to go before Micro Management games will become the solid majority in the western gaming community.