jontyld Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 I've had very good experiences with free to play games in the past, but never long term. I haven't ever liked one enough to buy into their "premium packages" (ie where you un-f2p the game), but I've always eventually gotten frustrated by the amount and frequency of micro-transactions and restrictions they impose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asuka Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 P2P are always far better in quality and content and the ones that go hybrid tend to do so when they know they can make far more moolah that way and go total f2p cash shop only when they are sunk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jandi Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 F2P is a gimmick that abuses stupidity. In many cases, you end up paying more if you want to stay competitive in any sense. If you just want to mess about and not do anything worth doing in a game then yeah, sure, it's great. If, however, you're like me who likes to make lots of alts and collect stuff, you either shell out a lot of money or simply avoid F2P games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaelshi Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 F2P encourage people who dont have a debit/credit card = eg young players. Most 'adults' would prefer a pay monthly game rather than a supposedly free to play game as the f2p becomes pay to win and ends up being much more expensive. However more casual players probably prefer the f2p games as it allows much more casual play, you dont feel obligated to play because you are paying for it. I can only speak for myself but as a casual player I despise F2P games. There is almost no upside to spending the money to compete or be a viable addition to end-game content - it always ends up costing far more than the few hundred bucks a year it costs to play games like WoW or tor. Most of us truly casual players always come across chunks of time where we can ramp up our playtime. In WoW for instance I would sometimes have enough time in a week to max out my vp or jp(maybe every few weeks). Rarely more I could do it 2-3 weeks in a row. I then have a chance to participate in the higher end content since I was able to slowly build up my ilevel. In a F2P game if I do that I am still unable to participate and then I either I have to drop rl cash into something I might only get to use once every few months or I have to pay for content I MIGHT get to participate in if I managed to get/pay for the right eq etc. The only viable F2P games imo are LOTRO and, funny enough, a game like TOR. The reason is the storyline content. Tor is lightyears ahead of LOTRO in story content but I love middle-earth and enjoyed playing the quests. I would play TOR if it were F2P just for the quests and then move on once I got to end-game content which would not be worth my money(not because of issues but because I will never pay f2p prices for end-game content) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianDavion Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 The catch is that payment models affect game design decisions. One only needs to look at STO for an example. That game had a specific direction pre-F2P that changed considerably post-F2P. It might as well be a different game and a completely different team behind it. Whether that's good or bad is up to individual players to decide for themselves. I've enjoyed P2P games just as much as I've enjoyed F2P games. even before the decision to go F2P STO was focusing almost entirely on microtransation sales items. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leggomy Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 Ya the day this goes F2P I am out of here. Sorry but F2P games always give advantage to people who buy from the in game store. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaelshi Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 Do you consider Buy to Play MMO the same as Free to Play MMO? Reason I am asking is because Guild Wars 2 will have no sub, and it is definetly a Triple A game. Also, LOTRO was still being profitable for Turbine, it didn't need to be Free to play to save the game. DDO did, but not LOTRO. But when Warner Brothers bought Turbine, they saw what the FTP model did for DDO and knew they could get even more profit with LOTRO. the guy you are responding to is just simply pulling random numbers he knows nothing about - on average 1.50 a player is just not based in fact. F2P is a viable way to run mmo's and several of them, lotro prominent among them atm, are doing fairly well. The WoW effect is why people like this seem to have this automatic attitude of an mmo being a failure if its f2p. I personally always thought it would make more sense for a mmo wishing to somehow compete against WoW to release F2P and transition into monthly subs or a combination of both. Imagine how many people would have given TOR a try if it was F2P and it was guaranteed to be that way for a year or 6 months or whatever instead of the 30 days. Still - my point is the guy you're responding to has no clue what he's talking about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaelshi Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 Ya the day this goes F2P I am out of here. Sorry but F2P games always give advantage to people who buy from the in game store. uh....duh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfeisberg Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 F2P is a gimmick that abuses stupidity. In many cases, you end up paying more if you want to stay competitive in any sense. If you just want to mess about and not do anything worth doing in a game then yeah, sure, it's great. If, however, you're like me who likes to make lots of alts and collect stuff, you either shell out a lot of money or simply avoid F2P games. LOTRO is ripe for you. You can easily spend less then $15 a month in that game and still stay "Competitive". Heck, you can spend about a years worth of subscription and get all the content, trait unlocks, classes, bag slots, bank slots and effectively given yourself a lifetime subscription. Then you get Turbine points for just playing the game which you can save and spend on the new content as it is released. DDO and LOTRO are the only Free to Play MMOs that can think of that actually does FTP right, meaning that you can considerably less then a subscription per month and still stay competitive with the people who pay the subscription. Guild Wars 2 will be another one where it will not be Pay to Win, unless of course you consider having to buy the game as Pay to Win Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ojaix Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 EQ2 went f2p and that is why I'm here (not the only reason though). Micro transactions in the end become more expensive and take away from actual development of in game items because it all turns generic unless you want to pay real money for the coolest new thing. On EQ2 all of the best looking gear, mounts, and housing items are purchased through their cash shop, you can buy master spells with real cash (p2w), and soon to be expected actual gear. Not a fan myself and if and when this heads that way I'm out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarfux Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 f2p sucks. End of discussion lol BECAUSE I SAID SO!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DalrisThane Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 (edited) First of all, a concept = There’s almost no concept in the world that can’t be turned against itself. Person that favours P2P vs FTP (PtW) = “Why should the fact that you’re willing to spend money I don’t have, allow you to trump me / win? It’s not my fault you don’t have enough time to get to endgame.” Now, this one is rarely said = Person that favours FTP (PtW) vs P2P = “Why should the fact that you’re willing to spend time I don’t have, allow you to trump me / win? It’s not my fault you don’t have enough money to get to endgame.” I think they are both valid. Yet, most people on boards view the first opinion as totally valid and the second as totally bogus. Considering a lot of RL works as per the second, may be the reason why some love it… and others hate it… but that’s just my take on it. Speaking as a soloer that only plays MMO with a viable path, since that’s currently the only way I can play the SAME character for years, with progression… P2P is probably the best model for MMOs focused on group and / or PvP, like, say, EverQuest (don’t know any of the new ones, sorry). Sure, EQ has some solo options, (especially, if I understand my wife correctly, that there are now mercenaries that are essentially like a TOR companion, without the talking) but, the game is P2P because you HAVE to keep a razor's edge balance for PvP (I'd rather be a lab rat then be in charge of the 1000s of variables to keep a PvP game balance) or for high end challenging raiding. F2P (PtW) is probably the best model for MMOs focused on solo and small groups, like, say, City of Heroes pre-Incarnate focus (that’s the endgame they made… that chased me away). Plus, PvP is hard enough to balance with P2P. There is no such balance with PTW… by design. You can say the same thing for group / raid content. Not a big deal for me, though. Why? Speaking personally, since I don’t PvP, and I group usually only with RL friends, if TOR was F2P, I’d save money on… -Any PvP Content (I’d never buy) -Any Group Content (I’d never buy unless my wife or good friends really wanted to see the content) -Any Customization on character (Yes, I like the CoH character creation, but I wouldn’t pay money for it… In my 2 months of EQ, using my wife’s pity items and hand-me-downs, I looked like I had been doused in tar, rolled in the dirt, then Walt Disney threw up on me… but I didn’t care because I got +2 INT out of it, or whatever the stat was) -New race or class (I do lots of alts, seemingly contradicting my need for 1 char… it’s for those “got 20 minutes… don’t want to risk failing a quest on my main… I’ll do an alt quest… I fail… I fail)… because, again, when I’m serious about playing, I work on the main, and putter on lots of alts when I’m not (or go on the boards when it’s “15 min till supper” type deal) I would spend money on… -The ride. In any game, “the ride” (horse, car, speeder, starship, etc…) is the main vanity item I’d go for. -Single player Story content. -Unlockable levels That’s about it. Now, I don’t demonize F2P (PTW), but I take it for what I personally think it’s for… the solo or small group population. If you want to use an MMO properly (as oppose to someone like me that “misuses” an MMO soloing, because there’s no Single player game with multiple updates that lasts years), I think you’re better off P2P. Edited February 22, 2012 by DalrisThane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aleryan Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 Free to play turns into Payto Win, so no thanks...I will bail any game going to that model. That being said, some are better than others about implementing it, but bottomline, dont expect companion pet and silly mount sales to subsidize your playing time, anything QoL will cost you, and it will get worse from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aleryan Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 Ya the day this goes F2P I am out of here. Sorry but F2P games always give advantage to people who buy from the in game store. ^this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meluna Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 Hello, folks! We ask that discussion on the General Discussion forum be centered around Star Wars™: The Old Republic™. Due to this being more a general debate on the merits of a payment system we will be closing the thread for being off topic. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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