p2p vs f2p

[GalacticKegger]

I think everyone knows buy to play and free to play don't really mean...free. It's like saying

 

"FREE MCDONALDS BIG MAC!!!"

with purchase of large fry and large drink and desert.

Hehe ... this. F2P isn't free. Unless a player is satisfied with a low level cap, one or two character slots, no epic quest chains, no dungeon/flashpoint privileges, no expandable inventory & bank space, minimal crafting recipes and no end game access ... microtransactions in a F2P system will easily add up to cost more than a monthly sub does. Edited April 27, 2012 by GalacticKegger

[marseluswallace]

DCUO and STO are prime examples of why F2P sucks. Actually STO is better than DCUO. Their content is actually worth while...DCUO...not even. It wasn't worth playing when it was P2P. The Green Lantern Content that came out(fight for the light or whatever) just before F2P went live was TERRIBLE.

 

No. I like P2P. You get better content.

[Gruug]

So-called "free to play" is a huge scam. Is it truly "free"? NO!

 

There are two misunderstood things about P2P MMO's and F2P MMO's.

 

A) P2P MMO in which you pay a sub.....nothing is free...you paid for it with your subsrciption.

 

B) F2P MMO which tauts the FREE part really isn't....how do you think they pay the devs or add new content? Moreover, who PAYS for that content? And, if someone pays for content.....how does that make it "free"?

 

So, to answer the question: IF SWTOR were to ever go the scamming F2P route....I would no longer play it.

[K_Schrimer]

no /5char

[unseenmaji]

Would you play this game if it wasn't pay to play and it was free to play with a cash shop with microtransactions?

 

IF it truely was free to play yes if it microtransactions not really. Honestly mmos are the worse thing to ever come to gaming. For simple fact it costs consumers to much money.

Edited April 27, 2012 by unseenmaji

[celebrei]

If F2P will solve the low population problem, then by all means yes, its not unheard of that big titles like

LOTRO AION and DCUO have all gone free to play in order to bolster their playerbase population and in extension their earnings so its not farfetched that SWTOR will follow the footsteps of these P2P to F2P mmos

[Darth_Moonshadow]

If F2P will solve the low population problem, then by all means yes, its not unheard of that big titles like

LOTRO AION and DCUO have all gone free to play in order to bolster their playerbase population and in extension their earnings so its not farfetched that SWTOR will follow the footsteps of these P2P to F2P mmos

 

It fixes the "population problem" by adding more people, yet those people can't actually play with you because they did not purchase the same content as you.

 

"Hey, dude, want to run the new dungeons with us?"

 

"Can't, bro. I don't have the cash to access it."

 

What's the point in bringing people to the game when they can't even play with you? You may as well just ask for a dozen NPC's be placed all over the fleet.

[Teknophile]

F2P and micro transactions is the most horrible way to run an mmo, if this game ever goes f2p with micropayments I will quit in a heartbeat.

[nissanmaxima]

Not this game, no. However, I will be leaving for GW2 soon, and its F2P, but then so was GW1 and it was good. The new cash shop "micro trans" in GW2 will be limited to strictly asthetics, like I could care less about asthetics. Going to be a great game, cant wait for beta in 10 hours

[nissanmaxima]

Besides, P2P is really outdated anyways. P2P and the whole sub model was useful when it acutally cost a lot for server up keep...those days are over, and with developers releasing xpac's and charging you another 39 to 50 bucks on top of your 15 dollar sub, is it worth it? No, that model worked for WoW, thats it. They are going to profit off of us either way, the 15 dollars adds up to 180 bucks a year, and add an expansion to that we are over 200. Not worth it, xpac should be free then.

[Devlonir]

Not this game, no. However, I will be leaving for GW2 soon, and its F2P, but then so was GW1 and it was good. The new cash shop "micro trans" in GW2 will be limited to strictly asthetics, like I could care less about asthetics. Going to be a great game, cant wait for beta in 10 hours

 

Any game where you have to pay up front to get the game itself is NOT F2P. It is simply a game with no subscriptions and a cash shop for cool stuff.

F2P means literally that: You can play the basics of the game without having to spend a single dollar (or other currency) on it.

 

Also, for an outdated model, P2P still sure has a lot of customers.. Especially considering how many F2P games actually run on their Top-tier subscribers who often pay a monthly fee to always have access to all content, which comes down to exactpy the same as P2P.

 

The only thing that's going to be dead soon is a full only-micro transactions or only-P2P model. Most games use a hybrid these days and name it whichever side of the fence they want to sit on. Example: Even WoW is a hybrid model these days, with paid char transfers and recustomizations as well as a pet store. Guild Wars 2 is a hybrid model as well, as you need to first pay for the box and then get micro transactions afterwards, which is actually a lot like how single player games now have DLCs. You don't HAVE to download them, but many people will to get the full experience. DDO and (i think) Lotro are games you can start playing for free, but have the option of a monthly 'premium customer' payment so basicly becoming a subscription game for those who spend much time in it.

 

So actually, SWTOR is the only true P2P AAA title out there, where with a box and monthly cost you get everything you need right now. I wonder how long that's last, but for now, that's the simple fact of the matter.

Edited April 27, 2012 by Devlonir

[Darth_Moonshadow]

Besides, P2P is really outdated anyways. P2P and the whole sub model was useful when it acutally cost a lot for server up keep...those days are over, and with developers releasing xpac's and charging you another 39 to 50 bucks on top of your 15 dollar sub, is it worth it? No, that model worked for WoW, thats it. They are going to profit off of us either way, the 15 dollars adds up to 180 bucks a year, and add an expansion to that we are over 200. Not worth it, xpac should be free then.

 

By that logic, since I already payed 60 bucks for Halo Reach and 30 bucks for Xbox LIVE, I should get Halo 4 for free then.

Edited April 27, 2012 by Darth_Moonshadow

[Sarfux]

Besides, P2P is really outdated anyways. P2P and the whole sub model was useful when it acutally cost a lot for server up keep...those days are over, and with developers releasing xpac's and charging you another 39 to 50 bucks on top of your 15 dollar sub, is it worth it? No, that model worked for WoW, thats it. They are going to profit off of us either way, the 15 dollars adds up to 180 bucks a year, and add an expansion to that we are over 200. Not worth it, xpac should be free then.

 

We are getting free regular content updates and James Ohlen has said, "we know that players are already paying 15 dollars a month for the game, so we might not even charge for expansion packs. We haven't decided that yet. But probably the sub fee, that's all there is every going to be."

 

In your "free2play" game

 

You want more room in your inventory? Give us 3 bucks

You want more content? Give us 8 bucks

You want more areas to explore ? Give us 5 bucks

 

things like that. Companies are VERY sneaky with the f2p model. It actually costs YOU, the customer, more money in the long run. I think THAT is crappier than charging us 50 cents a day for UNLIMITED CONTENT!

[Darth_Moonshadow]

We are getting free regular content updates and James Ohlen has said, "we know that players are already paying 15 dollars a month for the game, so we might not even charge for expansion packs. We haven't decided that yet. But probably the sub fee, that's all there is every going to be."

 

In your "free2play" game

 

You want more room in your inventory? Give us 3 bucks

You want more content? Give us 8 bucks

You want more areas to explore ? Give us 5 bucks

 

things like that. Companies are VERY sneaky with the f2p model. It actually costs YOU, the customer, more money in the long run. I think THAT is crappier than charging us 50 cents a day for UNLIMITED CONTENT!

 

It's the word "free" that tricks the customer. It's a consumer buzzword like Madden and their "new" games every year. Madden fans don't realize this, but they pay $60 twice a year for the same game. It's rare to see a Madden game with a new feature. EA Sports just says words like "Hitstick", "Turn Action" and "Play Tweak System" to make the buyer think he is getting a brand new game.

[wezzlan]

Would you play this game if it wasn't pay to play and it was free to play with a cash shop with microtransactions?

 

No, F2P with cash shops always suck and fails, its not that they dont have players but the games tend to get BAD BAD BAD when they are f2p community gets unplesent, ppl get rude, thegame company tend to not care as much about it = less bug fixes, lower support, less updates. games that goes from p2p to F2p almost ALWAYS end up with 1 server and 1 player on each faction being emo about no players.

[djlowballer]

Cosmetic only cash shop sure. Anything else? Nope. 15$ per month is nothing for the amount of stuff to do in the game.

[DigitalPrime]

If BW bring in items which help statistics for cash. Ill be gone and im sure most of my guild will move on. If its cosmetic, and if BW save all the best looking stuff for a microtransaction shop. Ill be gone and im sure most of my guild will leave.

 

If we pay a sub, which we do. We should be entitiled to everything BW create for this game.

 

To many companies have started this MT thing and now save all the best stuff for the MT shops. In my opinion in an MMO were people pay a sub, this is wrong.

Edited April 27, 2012 by DigitalPrime

[terminova]

We are getting free regular content updates and James Ohlen has said, "we know that players are already paying 15 dollars a month for the game, so we might not even charge for expansion packs. We haven't decided that yet. But probably the sub fee, that's all there is every going to be."

 

In your "free2play" game

 

You want more room in your inventory? Give us 3 bucks

You want more content? Give us 8 bucks

You want more areas to explore ? Give us 5 bucks

 

things like that. Companies are VERY sneaky with the f2p model. It actually costs YOU, the customer, more money in the long run. I think THAT is crappier than charging us 50 cents a day for UNLIMITED CONTENT!

 

Some aren't sneaky, they are rather blatant....like Evony

[Sarfux]

I believe BioWare will do it newly. They new we are paying 15 dollars a month and that is all we are going to pay. For large content updates AND expansions getting downloaded via launcher. I believe BioWare when they say they may not charge for expansions THAT would be AWESOME!

[Darth_Moonshadow]

Some aren't sneaky, they are rather blatant....like Evony

 

Or City of Heroes.

 

One week before Freedom:

 

"Oh sorry, players we can't have hoverboard powers. The game just doesn't work like that!"

 

Two days into the Paragon Market:

 

"NEW HOVERBOARD TRAVEL POWER! ALL IT COSTS IS 800 PARAGON POINTS OR ROUGHLY TEN DOLLARS! YAY!"

 

-_-

 

I hate City of Heroes.

Edited April 27, 2012 by Darth_Moonshadow

[Kirameki]

Or City of Heroes.

 

One week before Freedom:

 

"Oh sorry, players we can't have hoverboard powers. The game just doesn't work like that!"

 

Two days into the Paragon Market:

 

"NEW HOVERBOARD TRAVEL POWER! ALL IT COSTS IS 800 PARAGON POINTS OR ROUGHLY TEN DOLLARS! YAY!"

 

-_-

 

I hate City of Heroes.

 

 

you mean NCsoft in general.

 

NCsoft : (aion)no we will never have 100% socket items in store

2 weeks later : 100% socket mana stone bundles in ncsoft store

 

Ncsoft : (aion) no we never will have pay to win items in store

next week : buff foods, reset instance time scrolls in store

 

Above was when it was a pay 2 play model : now it went f2p and it's gotten worse.

[Tzeraph]

I alway have the feeling of being cheated on f2p-games. The p2p system actually feel cheaper money-wise (may not be, but feels that way), and being able to acess all functions whenever you want, instead of having to buy them, is a great plus for me.

 

So, no, I like the p2p system better.

[Leonick]

Well that depends on what could be bought with real money. Let's put it like this, my interest in GW2 is a lot lower since I heard about the microtransaction and the "timesavers" you'll be able to buy. Not to mention the fact that f2p games generally keep the development pace for new content a lot slower than p2p games.

[Rayla_Felana]

Pay to win? no thanks.

[Slipfeed]

Nah, BW had the chance to keep me as a customer. They didn't deliver the type of pvp I would like in a game, so I will not look back. PvE they do a great job though. Wouldn't play the game even if it were free though. Once I unsub from a game I usually don't go back. Haven't played WoW in 3 years and don't see myself ever going back. Takes a good two months for me, if I'm not totally absorbed with the game, it's not for me.

 

I don't mind free to play games or pay to play games that have microtransactions though as long as they are pay to win type of microtransactions. Cosmetics, clothing, mounts, pets, etc. I don't see a problem with if people want to buy em.

 

This is where everyone who focus's on PvP ends up in every game, and there is no way to retain them as a customer.

 

Partly because, buying a game marketed on storyline, dialog, and personal choice then expecting a PvP centered environment for PvP is less than wise, and people who are less than wise usually have lower attention spans.

 

But mostly because PvP gets boring fast no matter what you do with it. It all ends up being the same encounters, with the same challenges against the same combinations of character classes after a while, and obviously they get bored and move on.

 

Sorry to derail the thread.

 

I've enjoyed a couple of F2P models, such as STO and DCUO, but I wouldn't sink loads of time or money into them. I've spent money on both games, but only for content. Ok, I bought costumes in STO. Shoot me. And a ship. But the pay to play ships arnt even OP. The free max level ships come out better in alot of ways. I just wanted to look like a bawler.

 

In DCUO i've bought ever expansion. But they have done it right. so far there is very little pay for power short of lockboxes. Even though I still have 4k cash shop ponts (enough for 4 more expansions) and every mini content update paid for, I wont buy keys to lockboxes. Cause that's just lame.

 

It can be done wrong (battle of the immortals) and it can be done right (star trek online still provides free content updates along with its cosmetic cash shop offerings).

 

So... im not really sure.