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F2P gains ground on P2P ...
nariusseldon
Member EpicPosts: 27,775
http://www.newzoo.com/ENG/1570-MMO_Market_Report.html
2010 MMO market numbers. In the US, 74% of MMO players play F2P MMOs ONLY. That is compared to 17% .. more than a factor of 4 difference, who only play P2P MMOs.
Similar numbers are in the MMO data for other countries.
Out of those who play F2P MMO only, only a minority pays. Thus, it debunks the misconception that F2P MMOs are not free .. they are at least for a MAJORITY of players.
Comments
There are 4 times as many f2p mmo's as p2p mmos. OMG!!!!
See you in the dream..
The Fires from heaven, now as cold as ice. A rapid ascension tolls a heavy price.
Only in accounts made, not on going subs. Pay 2 Win is just sad.
I've slowly over the past year been playing more f2p games than p2p games as I'm finding the quality better than most p2p games looking at you AOC, Rift, WAR, Vanguard, SWG etc.. if p2p games want to keep on charginging a sub they'll will definitely have to get there act together as f2p is catching up with the better p2p games fast. LONG LIVE FREE
Cal.
This doom and gloom thread was brought to you by Chin Up the new ultra high caffeine soft drink for gamers who just need that boost of happiness after a long forum session.
The subscription game market has grown over the last five years, the free to play game market has also grown over the last five years, only much much faster.
Subscription games aren't any smaller than they were last year, just there are millions more people playing free to play games who weren't playing any MMOs before.
FarmVille is MMO. The size can't be fairly compared when F2P MMOs include also MMO social platforms which aren't really games from the viewpoint of a gamer.
Main the reason F2p has more players is probley most P2P mmorpgs want you to buy the game and then pay a subscription of around 15 dollers a month
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Time for a stupid real world analogy.
Think of it like going to the movies. You could pay to go to a movie, and watch it on a huge screen with awesome sound, or... you could wait until it shows up on television where you could watch it for free, though likely it will be on a inferior projection device and have some key stuff missing. (typical F2P game). They'll even be undesireable elements tossed into it like advertisements which liken to the cash shops of free to play games, because in the end someone has to pay for a product or there is no reason to make it available to others.
Yet I'm sure more people watch movies every day on a TV than at the movie theatres. So yeah, for the most part, F2P is sort of like that. Might be more popular, but so far I haven't seen a F2P game yet that wasn't an inferior playing experience in some way. (cash shops, buying modules to access the entire game etc)
Heck, in my TV example not everyone purchases the adverstised products which help pay for it, but enough do to keep the system afloat.
Heck, maybe not such as stupid real world analogy after all.
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Silence Kyleran, you're making sense!
Would this analogy do?
The fast food chain of McDonalds is undoubtedly the world's most successful. But is that the preferred place to eat? Millions served can't be wrong, right? I've eaten there numerous times but it's definitely not my preferred choice.
Would that do?
"I have only two out of my company and 20 out of some other company. We need support, but it is almost suicide to try to get it here as we are swept by machine gun fire and a constant barrage is on us. I have no one on my left and only a few on my right. I will hold." (First Lieutenant Clifton B. Cates, US Marine Corps, Soissons, 19 July 1918)
How about this.....
When mobile phones first came out you paid per minute (like AOL NWN) and then the market grew and companies started to offer monthly pre paid packages (like sub fees) that were better value than paying per minute. But the market kept on growing and many other companies started to emerge offering much competition to the traditional companies, so they looked to now offer more widespread payment options (Like free to play & hybrid systems) so you have many different payment plans for different users, like loads of texts but low minutes, high minutes low texts, pay as you go, just by a sim card and use it in any phone, special discount on phoning friends, the list goes on....... now apply that to where the MMO payment models are going and you might see my point or not because analogies are really all about perspective are they not?
Cal.
This doom and gloom thread was brought to you by Chin Up the new ultra high caffeine soft drink for gamers who just need that boost of happiness after a long forum session.
No. Obviously it is the preferred choice because of price. Otherwise, it won't be beating all the other places.
Many prefer a place, not because of the food, but the price.
But the analogy is not perfect. F2P is winning out not only because it is cheap, but also because there is no commitment. Sub games .. well .. if you pay for a month, you can't really "quit" before the month is up. That is very different than restaurants. You can CHOOSE to change your restaurant tomorrow but if you decide to switch subscription, you are not getting a refund for the rest of the month.
Great analogy. Why?
Because with the invention of the HDTV, Surround Sound, and HD Cable, the quality of the home experience has now SURPASSED the quality of the theatres. So not only (with the right home theatre equipment) is the the video quality higher, the sound better, and the lighting customizable, but you avoid the high cost of movie tickets, the annoying strangers, and the constant interuptions which combine with a lower quality and awful seating arrangements to give you a worse experience.
All for what? The cost of your cable, or in the case of computers and free HD programming or movie files, free with your internet subscription.
Once I owned my own home theatre system, I never again set foot inside a movie theatre to enjoy a movie.
The same is happening with free gaming. The quality is beginning to equal and will eventually even surpass that of the payed experience. Just like being at home, you still have to purchase your own snacks-- however that popcorn is significantly less per month than the cost of the movie popcorn and movie ticket.
Movie Ticket = MMORPG Sub
Movie Popcorn = MMORPG (with sub) + (P2P) Cash Shop
Movie at Home where technology eventually surpasses the quality of the Movie Experience = F2P MMO
Popcorn purchased at the store for Home Movie = F2P Cash Shop
All the analogy in the world won't change the numbers. At best they will help explain why. I think the trend is very clear. And of course developers are seeing the same reports, probably in more details if they pay for it.
Aside from WOW, i predict that more existing MMOs will go F2P and also more of the future ones will go F2P.
That's not a prediction, that's an observation.
Just be sure the company offering the game is an honest one. There are other ways to make money off free players.
See you in the dream..
The Fires from heaven, now as cold as ice. A rapid ascension tolls a heavy price.
Sure. the numbers are not predictions. However, it is my OPINION that there will be more f2p in the market. I, of course, could be wrong.
Servers dont' stay up without paying customers.
IMO, the "free" players are irrelevant, since they don't keep the servers going.
The only thing that matters is comparing paying customers to paying customers.
BS, the free players help keep servers populated, and we all know how much fun it is to play on dead or dying servers.. I guess what I mean is, without a mass of free players the paying ones would probably stop playing(and paying) much sooner, so in that sense 100% F2Pers are just as important.
Hmmm, well, ok i will give them that there are more F2P players than P2P players at the moment.
But thats because there are a hell of alot more F2P games out there than P2P ones. Not only that but most of the players will leave that game when it becomes apparent that they MUST start to buy things from the item shops to carry on playing and in most case's this can cost 3x 4x or more than a monthly subscription, but it lures some into it and is rather sneaky as it takes about 1/3rd of a monthly cost per week so it doesnt look as much but add it all together and then you will see. Alot of the items is time based so runs out rather quickly.
Another thing is that alot of P2P games have moved to the F2P franchise, this is because they had FAILED and its a last ditch attempt at keeping the servers running (apart from Lotro) which would have upset all those lifetime based players. they didnt want to upset those players now did they. Though now they are also havign to purchase from item shops (i believe), i stopped just beforehand.
I would still rather pay a subscription fee on a monthly basis, but only if teh game is good enough (of which sadly most are a pile of wastful tripe). Which is why WoW is still the top dog and probably will be in 2yrs from now unless game companies who want to release a subscription based mmo pulls their finger out and actually does something smart (for once) and not try to copy something else (and fail dramatically trying to do so).
Well thats just my 2p worth
I'm really only concerned with what happens to The Old Republic. It's going to be an AAA subscription game. Will it stay P2P and be successful, or be a flop?
I dont' play cash shop games. They dont' interest me. If developers make a million of them, that's great if people like them. I hope they have fun playing them.
Free players are NOT irrelevant for two reasons.
1) They help attract pay customers since there are there to group, to pvp with .. and so on.
2) They *may* turn into pay customers.
And like it or not .. there are many many "free" players and developers are letting them play part of the game for free.
Don't know about TOR. I hope it is successful too, no matter what business model it uses.
Marvel Universe Online, OTOH, is going F2P. The first AAA budget MMO designed from the ground up with F2P. This further shows the market trend of F2P.