Reakktor Media has found publisher - Black Prophecy goes F2P

Reizla

As posted todya on the Black Prophecy forum:

Originally Posted by Official gamigo press release

Black Prophecy: gamigo to publish the space action MMOG globally!

Hamburg, March 4, 2010 – gamigo AG and Reakktor Media GmbH have officially announced that they will be working together on the highly-anticipated space action MMOG Black Prophecy. gamigo owns the global distribution and publishing rights for the game. The Hamburg-based publisher thus lays the foundation for a new focus on becoming a global publisher and producer of free-to-play Massively Multiplayer Online Games.

Patrick Streppel, gamigo's CMO, is enthusiastic about the new game: „Reakktor’s Black Prophecy will breathe life back into a genre previously forgotten. The game features graphics of the highest quality, a rich and meaningful story, and strong community features. Since we've begun collaborating with Reakktor, we have expanded greatly upon the concept of the game and thus are able to offer one of the first top-of-the-line free-to-play MMOGs."

A lot has happened in the development of Black Prophecy in the past few weeks. The biggest change has been the new direction as a free-to-play online game, previously unheard of for a game of this quality. Among other things, a crafting system was added and the layout of the game world was opened up. In-game dialogue will be recorded by professional voice actors. The one-and-a-half hour long orchestral soundtrack provides a rich and varied score of background music.

Kirk Lenke, CEO of Reakktor Media GmbH, said "We are excited to have found such a strong partner in gamigo for the publishing and distribution of our space action MMOG Black Prophecy. gamigo has the necessary skills and abilities to turn our product into a global MMOG blockbuster."

Black Prophecy is expected go into closed beta testing in April 2010.

Not sure if this is a good or bad thing. Gamigo has some good games, but I have some bad experiences with them (NeaSteam). But I think I will surely give BP a try...

Drat. Fogot to add the link of the topic...

Rockgod99

Holyshit!!!!!!!!

People we just found a game to play along side EVE that's free!

Yeah... I'm excited.

daarco

hmm, i have always seen F2P as a "slutty" way to make people play your half decent game!

But i guess times change. Maybe it is a good thing nowdays? Anyway.....i cant wait to play BP

Skuz

For me, whether this game become's something I'll play a lot or not will depend upon it's item shop & whether the game design is heavily influenced & dependant upon it. (read: ruined)

I'm tired of F2P games giving you a gimped game that you need the item shop to "ungimp" it.

Rockgod99

Originally posted by Skuz


For me, whether this game become's something I'll play a lot or not will depend upon it's item shop & whether the game design is heavily influenced & dependant upon it. (read: ruined)
I'm tired of F2P games giving you a gimped game that you need the item shop to "ungimp" it.

 

Explain gimping the game through the cash shop?

I mean they need to make money, right?

I prefer the DDO style of F2p where i have to unlock races,classes and zones through the shop. Would that be considered gimping the game to you?

If so then you only want a totally free game without supporting the dev and thats bullshit.

 

Skuz

Originally posted by Rockgod99

Originally posted by Skuz


For me, whether this game become's something I'll play a lot or not will depend upon it's item shop & whether the game design is heavily influenced & dependant upon it. (read: ruined)
I'm tired of F2P games giving you a gimped game that you need the item shop to "ungimp" it.

 

Explain gimping the game through the cash shop?

I mean they need to make money, right?

I prefer the DDO style of F2p where i have to unlock races,classes and zones through the shop. Would that be considered gimping the game to you?

If so then you only want a totally free game without supporting the dev and thats bullshit.

 

 

Unlocking content through the shop isn't the same as fundamentally borking the gameplay, and the item shop being the band-aid to said borked gameplay.

DDO is pretty much the exception to what I'm saying, their gameplay is sound, you open up new areas of the game with the shop, new classes, new races, but the core game is solid & not subject to needing the item shop in order to be enjoyable, that sadly is not the case for most F2P games, hence my initial post being worded that way.

Just for info I spent quite a sum of money on DDO & even in RoM but in RoM is was apparent that unless you sink money (and quite a lot of it)  in you'll hit a "wall" where you can't go any further in the game at a "reasonable pace" unless you want to grind exhorbitantly, because the higher up you go the more the gameplay gets altered to depend on the shop, DDO just doesn't do that, hence it's the exception. RoM's design is your basic Pyramid scheme, other F2P use other types of devices but none besides DDO yet leave the core gameplay untouched.

 

alucard3000

hehe seems the future new age games are hitting the f2p market as well as the p2p the publisher of shaiya and shaiya 2 is also doing a f2p futuristic mmo called berkanix online

alucard3000

Originally posted by Rockgod99

Originally posted by Skuz


For me, whether this game become's something I'll play a lot or not will depend upon it's item shop & whether the game design is heavily influenced & dependant upon it. (read: ruined)
I'm tired of F2P games giving you a gimped game that you need the item shop to "ungimp" it.

 

Explain gimping the game through the cash shop?

I mean they need to make money, right?

I prefer the DDO style of F2p where i have to unlock races,classes and zones through the shop. Would that be considered gimping the game to you?

If so then you only want a totally free game without supporting the dev and thats bullshit.

 

well the game itself isnt usually gimped as much as the player that doesnt have a bottomless wallet

 

AgtSmith

Bah, BP is dead to me now.

 

I wish them luck, but I would never bother with a F2P RMT game.  A guild Wars type model is find, but selling in game advantage for real money is the death of an MMO.

alucard3000

Originally posted by AgtSmith


Bah, BP is dead to me now.
 
I wish them luck, but I would never bother with a F2P RMT game.  A guild Wars type model is find, but selling in game advantage for real money is the death of an MMO.

 

it all depends on what kind of advantages you can buy and if you can still compete with only paying a similar amount if it was a monthley sub and that only in the pvp aspect if you dont pvp f2p is especially nice because me I dont care what others have personally, if i find the game interesting

Reizla

Originally posted by AgtSmith


Bah, BP is dead to me now.
 
I wish them luck, but I would never bother with a F2P RMT game.  A guild Wars type model is find, but selling in game advantage for real money is the death of an MMO.

 

Nice to know this up front, even before beta's and word about what's place in the item shop.

There are's a huge number of F2P games selling only fluff items, and items that raise the success rate of craft/enchant. The few F2P games out there that use the item shop to sell top-grade equipment are the ones you should be aware off.

For now I'll keep BP in mind as a good option. When the item shop will go haywire like in Allods, or you can buy top-equipment from the item shop, then I can make the judgement you made and will leave the game as it is...

AgtSmith

Originally posted by alucard3000

Originally posted by AgtSmith


Bah, BP is dead to me now.
 
I wish them luck, but I would never bother with a F2P RMT game.  A guild Wars type model is find, but selling in game advantage for real money is the death of an MMO.

it all depends on what kind of advantages you can buy and if you can still compete with only paying a similar amount if it was a monthley sub and that only in the pvp aspect if you dont pvp f2p is especially nice because me I dont care what others have personally, if i find the game interesting

 

Perhaps, but I think being pure F2P with RMT there is no way the game can make money if they are not selling in gameplay necessities and selling gameplay necessities or even advantages is a no go for me, period.  If they did a Guild Wars buy the box and free game time thing with sold content expansions or even a DDO type get free basic access with sold content I suppose I might reconsider.  But from what I read and understand this will be an RMT cash shop F2P and that offers no appeal whatsoever to me.

 

It is just not possible to sell gameplay stuff without it affecting development.  Developers, rightfully so, are business people and there is not way for them to not steer development to drive shop sales.  Even in the case of so called fluff items in shops, that drives them to make the non shop items less appealing (i.e. ugly armor you earn verse cool armor you buy RMT, even if they have the same stats).  IMHO that is just not a recipe for a good gaming experience, period.  I can tolerate them selling content in various ways, like Guild Wars or DDO, but once you cross the line of selling useful or necessary, or advantageous items there is no coming back.  We shall see what they details are but it seemed from what I read that this will be a more traditional item shop deal and I think that easily puts the game off my radar in terms of interest.

Ichmen

meh grand fantasia uses the fluff items. with inventory space buffs.

but even that isnt worth it (aeria games are a scam it seems mall = 100% chance for everything ingame... non-mall = -110% chance)

 

still F2P games arent always all bad. many use really stupid mall prices and items... BUT generally you can find some alright f2p games. THO nothing really tops p2p games for content...

GW works as a p2fp game as its has next to nothing for sale outside of game.  that is where f2p games go wrong.. they try to make AAA market game income for mall items that really arnt worth it

i really see no reason to pay 10usd (about 12 bucks for me) for a hat that says noob or @-@ on it. or buying a top that gives me a bra look to my female toon..

but at the same time.. its unfair to offer advantage items.. that give you +1000% to block or 100mill base melee dmg...

i dont fault f2p or p2p games for their payment plans.. i just fault the item malls for the ruination of decent games

nyxium

 I am considering a resub of EVE and despite it having limited RMT because of PLEX, a F2P space game is a no no. Pity, BP looked good for a time.

AgtSmith

The core problem I have with F2P (specifically item shop F2P) games is that the developers are not getting money from my enjoyment of the game (thus willingness to sub, buy content packs, etc) but from their ability to make something I want or need.  Written in a sentence that may not seem like a big difference but in reality is a HUGE difference.  I will watch and see what the details are for BP but it would take a big change in how they are typically implemented to get me to even consider playing if for no other reason than the break in the paying for interest verse paying for items model makes the integrity of the game and its development questionable in my mind.

arcdevil

F2P?

lawl, I've been waiting for this game for over 1 year, and now I wouldnt touch it with a ten foot pole...

AgtSmith

There was an article on Massively that had a comment that I think sums up my dislike of F2P, even though the article itself is in defense of F2P (Massively is very much in favor of RMT games), it was a quote from some developer type.  He said, "We want Alganon to be a service. You pay us a subscription so we can continue to develop and run a game that you enjoy playing. It's not a product where you hand us money and we hand you a vanity pet, or mount, or epic sword and then walk away."  I think that sums it up nicely - I want to play games where the developer is solely motivated to make a good game that earns my attention (and therefore my dollars in a subscription) rather than them being motivated to make good items, areas, or other cash shop-able things that draw my attention and money.

randomt

So.. being as this is a space flight sim style game.. I can't help but wonder what they are going to RMT. I can see there being decals and cool coloring stuff, and fluff models like fancy wings for your ships, but that wouldn't be enough to support a game.

So my assumption is that they will do something idiotic like make you buy the top end ships and ship fittings through a cash shop, unless you want to grind for months. Probably will have something like blueprints for said ships and parts as well, for crafter types

We'll see.. but as much as F2P sounds good on paper from an economical standpoint, F2P also attracts the most douchebags and morons, therefore ruining the community and thus destroying the game.

neonaka

Same with me, I have been waiting for this game to drop since it was announced, and now you couldn't pay ME to play it.

I don't understand, it obviously LOOKS P2P worthy. So why not just slap a 14.99 sub to it and call it a day.

I am so disappointed right now.

TK-229

Wow, been waiting a long time for this game.  Now with F2P comes a bit of concern, but i'll wait and see how it all pans out before i decide.  For now, back to EVE...

AgtSmith

The other issue here is the trouble they had finding a publisher, and then when they finally do they are suddenly F2P.  Hate to read in to things without info but to me that smacks of a low quality game.  Otherwise why the trouble finding a publisher (which is something you really need for retail more than anything else) only to end up F2P?  So considering the F2P thing, cash shop, and the sudden move to F2P after trouble finding a publisher it just doesn't add up to anything to be very excited about at all.

whpsh

F2P makes this game go from a contender for my attention ... to a sideshow.

EricDanie

It's potentially unfortunate they had to go with a F2P publisher.

Why just potentially instead of surely? Because I have a little bit of hope that they can go the Guild Wars or DDO way (I haven't played DDO, but I hear people talking very positively about their way of selling adventure packs and NOT gameplay advantages).

If they go the item mall for in-game benefits (even if they are only "cosmetic" at the beginning), no thank you, a game of this quality with an item mall might be even more expensive than Allods/RoM/Atlantica.

AgtSmith

I agree EricDanie, I will watch to see if it is a Guild Wars (better) or DDO (not so terrible) type F2P or more traditional item shop scheme, the later being of no interest to me whatsoever and the former offering a possibility of interest though diminished interest over a proper subscription model.

solarine

I'm surprised that even an item shop is on the table. Wasn't this supposed to be just a bit more than a plain space combat game - something like a Team Fortress in space? If I've got the right impression, then yeah, charging a monthly sub would be akin to going the way of Hellgate London. (I've gathered MMO players don't like paying subs for simple combat games)

Maybe they should just sell the box and charge nothing after that. 

 

Kost

Originally posted by AgtSmith


The other issue here is the trouble they had finding a publisher, and then when they finally do they are suddenly F2P.  Hate to read in to things without info but to me that smacks of a low quality game.  Otherwise why the trouble finding a publisher (which is something you really need for retail more than anything else) only to end up F2P?  So considering the F2P thing, cash shop, and the sudden move to F2P after trouble finding a publisher it just doesn't add up to anything to be very excited about at all.

 

Agreed, plus the fact that they went with Gamigo really turns me off.

Gamigo produces nothing but low quality, low budget titles that are lacking in content and highly repetitive in design. It's a shame because BP looked like it had the potential to be a great sci-fi space opera mmorpg, but I'm hesitant to go anywhere near it if Gamigo is going to be handing the publishing.

If they had a positive track record I wouldn't be so on the fence, but they don't, so I highly doubt I'll be going anywhere near this particular title.