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General: Nickel and Dime: Designing Games in a Free to Play Market
MikeB
Community ManagerAdministrator RarePosts: 6,555
MMORPG.com's Garrett Fuller gives us a peek at what the future world of MMOs will look like as a result of the recent trend towards the Free-to-Play business model.
I am not sure when the trend started or how we got to the Free to Play world we now live in. It all started with gold farmers in my book. Across the Pacific Ocean games were being designed around item shops long before they ever came here. While that was going on, Western games were being played to sell currency and items for real world money. Why spend the time when you can spend the cash? These two trends met and made friends really quickly and started a new club called Free to Play. What does it do to our original MMO hardcore fan base? We started this virtual universe and now it has been turned into a shopping mall.
My issue with F2P is not as much with the name, but the trend we are now seeing in games. Games are being designed simply as market places to sell virtual goods. This may work for the casual player who has to keep their Petville house clean and with nice furniture, but it does not work for MMO players. At least not for me, I play games for gameplay more than anything else. Sure, I like my characters to look cool and all, but that is never the true driving force. If there was a cute and fuzzy bunny MMO with insane PvP and cool boss fights and the bunnies could rip themselves to shreds, well then I would like to play it. Damn, my childhood memories of Watership Down just passed through my head. If the gameplay is good the players will come. However, when an entire game is being designed around selling virtual items, is anyone on the team thinking about gameplay?
Read Nickel and Dime: Designing Games in a Free to Play Market.
Comments
I'm really glad to see someone from the site do an article on this rather burning issue. I personally can't stand the direction that the P2P portion of the genre is heading, and it's nice to that some people at mmorpg.com feel the same way and have the balls to say so.
From the article:
"The old MMOs remain, the ones still popular are opening their mall doors, but the ones to come is where my fear really begins. That may be the time I get back together with my old D&D group and sit down at a table to play a game, instead of just going shopping."
That about sums it up if you ask me.
Thanks for a great and very relevant article.
"Mr. Rothstein, your people never will understand... the way it works out here. You're all just our guests. But you act like you're at home. Let me tell you something, partner. You ain't home. But that's where we're gonna send you if it harelips the governor." - Pat Webb
Not a fan of F2P MMOs and can't see myself ever playing one. TBH I'm more bothered by companies like Cryptic that make sub based MMOs AND have extensive cash shops. Pick a model and go with it.
F2P has a stigma attached to it that if its F2P its going to suck in quality. if NCSOFT can do it with GW and upcoming GW2? why not the rest? also people need to stop crying CRYPTIC everytime since other companies does it. too. SOE, Blizzard..don't forget to mentiong these two.
We could say it was "fine" while the malls remained within the F2P games - each to their own, the line was very clear between F2P and P2P. We had the black market running in our P2P MMOs, but it was based on people playing to sell what they acquired through playing (not taking into account the sweat shops, the hacking, phishing, credit card fraud and all other harm involved), instead of developers setting up a magical switch that generates items as you pay the money, items that can't be acquired by normal gameplay, a real monopoly.
But the trend I see rising is that why make your game F2P if you can have a subscription AND charge for virtual items, especially when the pricing is nowhere close to that of a "microtransaction" - $10 for a pet, really? A whole game costs $50. $25 for a mount? Every two mounts sold will be the equivalent to a whole retail game, and does anyone really want to even attempt a comparison between the work involved in making one mount and making a whole game?
Cash shops in any P2P MMO are BS, but IMO Cryptic is the worst because of the fact they didn't even wait until their games were fleshed out before nickel and diming their customers. Cryptic was adding stuff to the cash shop from the get-go. How long were some of their competitors' MMOs out before they added a cash shop? Trust me, I have no love for SOE. Never played WoW, so I'm not a fanbot or a hater, but I thought what they did was outrageous also.
You know I can't help but think it was the problem that this entertainment was such a low amount to begin with. I mean take other things for example.
You want to play D&D you need to either find someone with the books and the know-how or go buy them and that can easily run $100+ just to start your first game depending on how much you want to get into it. Same can go for card games where you need to purchase boosters to increase your card count. Both these already cost more than an MMO monthly.
So now the companies are starting to realize, "Movie tickets are like $7-9 and that's in one day and for only 2-3hrs of entertainment!" MMOs has always been a low entertainment cost, now they are just trying to make up for the years they basically handed it to us free. You can't really blame them.
At some point in the last few years the cost of the average MMO sub should have gone up in my opinion. Problem is many of the big players would have had to agree to do this at the time because one company isn't going to risk it on their own.
If they had found a way to work this out, or a studio had actually taken the chance and found success, maybe we could have avoided all of this cash shop crap encroaching on the P2P games that are now being tainted.
"Mr. Rothstein, your people never will understand... the way it works out here. You're all just our guests. But you act like you're at home. Let me tell you something, partner. You ain't home. But that's where we're gonna send you if it harelips the governor." - Pat Webb
Actually Garret t you hit the nail on the head for all the online games.
Let's say you go all out and have subscriptions, cash shops, and levelling services all run by devs - personally I don't see why the devs don't do that - at least then the money is going to someone who can do something about the state of the game.
The real issue is the state of the game. In my opinion very few of the publishers are taking the long view. If a game isn't fun people won't stick around for long. While a game might get a shot in the arm from early adopters, the numbers can quickly dwindle away once folks get bored and move on. This is an industry where word of mouth can bring an early end.
Here's a suggestion for the devs - come up with a different subscription model and throw that into the mix. For example - the game has housing but the only way you can have a house is to add that option to your subscription (Istaria does this) . Now lets say you want an extra chracter slot - several games have done this in a cash shop basis - I would argue that this option belongs in a create your own subscription plan as it increases resource usage significantly. Hmmm you could even add in a subscription that opens up land and then also offer the lands at higher amounts for permanent unlocking in the cash shop (DDO, Wizards 101 do this).
The only problem with create your own subscription is that it adds a layer of complication to billing, throw in any cash shop purchases you made in the month and folks will soon need to hire a game planner to find the best bang for their buck. Oh and where would stuff like Station Pass fit into the mix?
I actually think this is where we're headed -- lots more paying options and a lot less playing options.
"Lots more paying options and a lot less playing options"
DAMN THAT IS A GOOD CATCH PHRASE....I wish I used it.
P&P RPGs are the best way to roleplay, simply because in that format ,you can literally choose to do anything you think of if your character has the ability to do so. Even the most customizable MMO only allows you to do a limited number of things.
The problem with getting together a group is that it requires you all be in the same location, whereas, in MMOs you can all play from home.
The real difference in this respect is that traditional RPGs consist of a genuinely social interraction, and MMOs have in place the true anonymity electronic social media.
Take your pick, but I have been tired of MMO's for a while now, whereas I am loving the D&D group I recently joined.
I don't even believe in Jeebus.
Nice pun on hoard
Was writing a reply to this but it turned into diatribe/novella combined.
Maybe its time to pick the games that dont nickel and dime and play those, or not play at all in the mmorpg genre. Send a message, if you want our money you have to give us fun/a virtuality/reasons to play. If the game you are playing turns into a nickel and dimer, stop playing it, explore something else.
Otherwise thats all that mmorpg's will become, virtual goods retail points with a veneer of game.
If it has a subscription and an item shop, its a nickel and dimer, or heading that way.
If its Free 2 P(l)ay, the good ones have vanity items, the nickel and dimers put necessities in the shop.
If all a company is selling is time in its game and RL promotional items, then i would say thats a good one.
F2P/P2P excellent thread.
http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/282517/F2P-An-Engineers-perspective.html
Let me start off by saying that in part I agree with Delvie - a highly optioned subscription model has its perks.
The issues that I have with MMO's that are F2P with Item Malls are simple:
1 - When the item malls contain armor, weapons or content (that cannot be aquired elsewhere) I feel this is game breaking - especially when it stands to level the playing field.
If I play a game 30 hours a week and have only be able to aquire 2 purple items, which affect my PVP damage and resistance; no NEW player should be able to come in and drop some $$$ on a full suit of purples and now destroy those that didnt pay for it.
2 - The "Grind" is increased dramatically - there is simply no incentive for the Dev Team to get you to the End Game; the longer you take to get there the more likely you are to buy from the item mall.
I would rather pay for the game box/download and have an item mall that is more or less cosmetic (a new appearance for your item slots, or a pet, etc), hell I'd pay $10 to look like a ninja...the issue comes in when game makers are banking on the item mall as their sole source of income - then we get these crazy priced items that are also required (more or less) to get through the game (allods)
...my 2 cents
Your remarks are ill advised Templar.
No one will jack their rates until Blizzard does it, and then they all will. If WoW wasn't in the picture, we'd probably have been paying $20 per month for a couple years already.
However, I don't buy that they NEED to raise their rates. You can play LotRO for $10 a month if you sign up for three months...not that much of a commitment. I wonder how much a month on average Turbine gets from the people playing the "free" version of DDO...
What you guys don't realize is that this idea was also taken from the Asian market.
What do I mean? Well the article talks about how the F2P idea grew in the Asian market and then was brought over here. The same idea is going on here, except in the Asian market, the Cash Shop is actually useful.
I've been playing a Japanese game called Monster Hunter Frontier for a little over half a year now. You don't actually buy the game itself, but you do have to Pay to Play. A subscription is 1400 yen a month (about $15 USD, give or take a couple of dollars). That's the basic service. They also have something called EX, Extra Course, which is another 600 yen a month. It allows extra quests, special shops and services, and extra storage space, as well as a few extra nice things that makes everyone's life easier. Add to this a Cash Shop. This isn't your traditional Cash Shop either, because the majority of things in a normal F2P Cash Shop are typically useless, or you can easily play without. An example is this steed everyone is talking about in WoW. If I read the description right, the steed simply mimics your best steed, and as such is essenitally a looks item. In Frontier, the Cash Shop gives you weapons and armor that you may or may not normally be able to obtain elsewhere. Sometimes these weapons and armor mimic other equipment, or other sets made by players to create a good set, and sometimes these are unique.
Now I'm in no way saying this system is needed, but it provides a much more useful use out of your money than the things you get in some of these P2P games.
What I'm saying here is that this kind of thing has been long coming. MHF has been out in Japan for almost 3 years now, and it has run this system since the start. It's only now that US developers have started to see how much money it rakes in, but the difference is that these Cash Shops in our community seem to be useless, and give nothing of value!
Also, don't be surprised if the next move WoW or some other big name MMO does is encorperating this Extra system as well, as many Japanese MMOs do already. It's only the next step. I know in MHF I make a lot of good use out of my EX subscription, and I would be screwed without it (As a lot of good comes out of it), and I'm not trying to say that these systems are terrible, but how the US developers are using it is. They are trying to make a quick buck by making things that just look nice, and it's working. They are taking the Asian idea to the next level, by making them not only cost a lot, but be completely worthless.
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This is but a brief parting.
Your remarks are ill advised Templar.
Excellent article Garrett. One thing Blizzard showed us with the neon flying mount was that many players will happily pay a monthly fee and still purchase items from a cash shop. I find this idea nauseating but I sadly see it as the future of AAA title pricing schemes.
"Gypsies, tramps, and thieves, we were called by the Admin of the site . . . "
I've been thinking for a year or so now that my gaming is soon to be at an end, and I'm not too happy about it.
I won't pay extra for the game I play, and then when I see people that are I am done with that game. I know I live in America where people can get everywhere and everything they want with the right amount of cash, but that's what entertainment is for. It is there to seperate you from the real world. And now that real world has invaded gaming and is spreading fast.
I don't buy console games anymore because I know there will always be DLC. It is even worse when that DLC comes out within a month of release since clearly it should of been included in the game. What is worse though is that companies (Bungie) are MAKING you buy the DLC in order to keep playing multiplayer. It's not like you can just opt out, you literally can't connect to multiplayer games until you buy it. In Bungie's case all of the DLC maps were so terrible they were all phased out of the multiplayer matches very quickly, so you basically just kept paying an extra 10-15 bucks to keep playing what you already paid for.
I can avoid "F2P" games just fine. But even regular MMOs (WoW, EQ2, etc) are adding stores. So now count those games out for me as well. My options are slowly dwindling and I'm guessing it won't be long before I'm just done gaming. I guess it's fine because I can always start up another hobby but I will miss this one.
If I'm paying $15 a month then I want the same access to the game everyone else has. I don't want someone to be able to pay another $10 and get something I can never earn. I don't want someone to pay for rapid advancement either. I just want us all to go in game and play and have fun, and let there be a sense of accomplishment when you can show off your level, or your gear, or your items, titles, trophies etc.
My next hobby will be building a time machine so I can go back in time simply to game in the era that has past, where gaming was a fixed cost and the games were quality.
Video games as a pass time are nearly dead. The future of gaming has become commercialized shells of games with no redeeming value but tons of ad-space and opportunity to run up your real life credit card debt. The forseeable future is basically a Hilton or Kardashian view of the world during shopping hours - shopping is the only skill needed. In other words - it's just the shopping channel taking over the gaming world.
For those that actually like gameplay - better stock up on all of the oldies that are still available...they're about to become scarce.
This is only true if you ignore things like ventrillo, teamspeak and skype. I've used vent on occasion to p&p with friends from 6 different states and it was definitely fun. It totally lacks the fun of sitting around one big table but when nothing else is available it works just fine.
As more of these MMO's turn to cash shops I find myself moving back into FPS games. I really loved the time I spent in AOC but when I went to the website to check out the new xpac, I found that without confirming anything and without agreeing to anything, I was going to be charged for the new xpac AND a $59 item shop addon simply by clicking on the selection to see what they were offering. As much I have hated item shops, I guess having funcom roll my one click into an agreement to the tos and confirmation of purchase without actually telling me this was happening was my own fault. All I did was click the item marked as a description page. When I called them to complain they said I had already had use of an item included in the $59 charge, even though I hadn't logged in from that point until I received the email congratulating me on my purchase. The best part was being told that because I had supposedly used this item that was only available to users of the new xpac I had no choice but to buy both. Cancelled my sub and changed the balance of that debit card I use for online games to zero. A month after cancelling my sub I get an angry email telling me I needed to make funds available to complete the transaction or risk having my account closed....
Garret,
The actual reason for the rise of F2P is one of economics and the Bit economy.
As Moore’s law points out, every 9 to 18 months, computer processing power, digital storage, and bandwidth double as the costs half at the same rate. When something halves each year, zero is inevitable. F2P companies are doing what Kevin Kelly calls “anticipating the cheap”. Companies can compete early with free games due to all costs involved getting massively cheaper every year. Eventually this will be the standard model for all games. It will happen faster than you think.
The benefits are obvious. For example, F2P instantly maximizes the amount of players that will try your game and at the same time puts your P2P charging competitors at a disadvantage. F2P companies then monetize F2P games with methods such as advertising, selling user information and user metrics, e-commerce, micropayments and value-added subscriptions.
F2P games usually follow the 5% rule, where 5% of the consumer base support the rest through e-commerce and value added subs and the like. While the game appears to be “free” to the players who don’t pay at all, the costs are elsewhere. For example, the act of playing is user labor that generates metrics and user info which can improve the product but also be sold to marketing companies. Also web-content generated by player-communities attracts visitors which in turn drive ad revenues...
... in fact, it’s happening right here on this website which is “free” as per the example above, games are just following suit. By the way, this is not my observation, it’s just simple economics and inevitable.
Now, getting away from the factual economics, we get to the implementation where games are concerned. Right now, we - as you rightfully say, have many lacking F2P games. As more and more adopt F2P, F2P companies will again have to focus on better game design and player experience. So just give it a bit of time, it won’t take long.
Devros
www.TXcomics.com "Your daily webcomics broadcast"
"That may be the time I get back together with my old D&D group and sit down at a table to play a game, instead of just going shopping."
Amen Garrett. If "monetizing" is the wave of the future for these MMO game companies they can count me out. I have plenty of AD&D Second edition sourcebooks and my D&D gaming group of over 14 years that I can go to. I also have a really healthy table-top wargaming community close by.
As I said in an earlier post today for the latest Turbine employee interview, they aren't making game worlds for the players anymore. They are dropping bare bones and putting all the other things that used to be packaged in the game into an item mall after breaking them down even further.
"Many nights, my friend... Many nights I've put a blade to your throat while you were sleeping. Glad I never killed you, Steve. You're alright..."
Chavez y Chavez
It seems to me like this was inevitable. But the question does come to mind, why do you care that a game is F2P and has a cash-shop?
You either spend $15 on a subscription, or you spend that money in the cash shop. Either way, you're spending money to play the game. F2P actually sounds better, because it lets you see the game for yourself before paying anything.
I think the problem comes when the developers start adding things that are essentially double-dipping. Like the WoW steed for example.
But then ask yourself this, would you still be bothered by the WoW steed if the thing was able to be sold in the Auction House?
So instead of someone buying gold online, they'll buy a steed and put it on the AH. The people who dislike the item-shop can just get it in-game with gold, and the people who need gold or just want to get the mount quickly can spend $25. And then that money goes to the developer instead of a gold-farming company, which means better game for everyone in the long run.
It really sounds like a Win/Win situation, and I'm not sure why so many people are that upset over it. It's just the double-dipping that's bad with this, but I don't think it'll stay that way for long.
Because the quality and quantity of gameplay goes down in a F2P game.
Consider this: a game developer wants to add a nifty new sword to his game. In a P2P game, he has to consider how much of a challenge should it be to obtain the sword. Does it drop off a boss? Is it crafted? If it is crafted, what materials are required? Is it a quest reward? If it is a quest reward, what is the quest? What is the story behind the quest? Is it a group quest or solo?
In a F2P game, he just sticks it in the mall. Done.
The P2P model requires that there be gameplay content for the player to play through, which leads up to obtaining the reward, but in F2P you don't need any content at all. You skip the gameplay and let players just buy the reward. Petville is an extreme example of what happens with F2P -- there is hardly any gameplay at all. You just dress up your pet in different costumes that you buy on the mall, and that's basically the whole game. Imagine a fantasy MMO where there are no enemies to fight, no PvP, no raids, no crafting. Instead everyone just stands around in a town dressing up their avatar in different costumes bought on a mall, doing / emotes at each other and chatting about Chuck Norris all day. Sounds stupid, but that could be the future of MMOs.
I have tried a few f2p games ... and it sucks when you get to the place where you need to move to a new territory and woops ... that'll be 15 bucks. I don't like the ones that have items for sale that you almost have to have to play the game either. It is like giving you a free car, then saying o by the way the wheels are 20 bucks each and the steering wheel is 35 and the engine is .... etc. And even if you buy all the parts the car is still a lemon.
ftp looks like "pay more to play" to me.
As to established p2p games opening a cash shop. Sigh ... as long as the stuff has no impact on game balance, and the noodle heads that buy the stuff are happy, and the added income to (like blizzard) keeps the sub rate down .. then I say yay. However I do not believe I will be bying a box kite looking transparent tiny mount for 25 bucks ... or even 5 bucks. But hey thats just me.
If Ya Ain't Dyin, Ya Ain't Tryin
Well see the difference from the traditional and in Frontier is that Armor just made is pure garbage, and it still has to be upgraded. Until the most recent major update, some of these purchase armors were harder to make than the things they mirrored, but used silightly more common materials. For example, instead of needing 1 really rare material, you needed 20 of a more common one (Which unless you've played Monster Hunter before seems easier, but sometimes its not).
In a recent update, though, they made all purchase items easier to max out, but it still takes a considerable amount of time and effort, much more so than you probably originally thought.
Of course in most MMOs that might mirror this idea, it would be an instant armor set that is as good as some ultra rare one, but in Frontier it's not exactly the case.
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This is but a brief parting.