“Turbine is also very serious that the Free to Play model is not a Pay to Win model. They sell no gear in the game shop and nothing that can disrupt the balance of the game.”
If you can buy pvp ranks and stat increases how is this not pay to win? There are no other ranks in Lotro.
This was an interview? Does anyone at MMORPG even look at the content of these "articles"?
It reads more like a Turbine press release.
I am not sure what to call this piece, but an interview it certainly is not. Interviews generally show the questions and the answers, and usually have actual information in them, information that the questions are designed to obtain. There is no new information in this short piece either. I question why it was even published here at all.
parrotpholk-Because we all know the miracle patch fairy shows up the night before release and sprinkles magic dust on the server to make it allllll better.
“Turbine is also very serious that the Free to Play model is not a Pay to Win model. They sell no gear in the game shop and nothing that can disrupt the balance of the game.”
If you can buy pvp ranks and stat increases how is this not pay to win? There are no other ranks in Lotro.
Virtue ranks.
If WoW = The Beatles and WAR = Led Zeppelin Then LotrO = Pink Floyd
This was an interview? Does anyone at MMORPG even look at the content of these "articles"?
It reads more like a Turbine press release.
I am not sure what to call this piece, but an interview it certainly is not. Interviews generally show the questions and the answers, and usually have actual information in them, information that the questions are designed to obtain. There is no new information in this short piece either. I question why it was even published here at all.
I find it intereresting that on this site it is worth a news when there is a new mount in a item mall but the opening of a raid-instance in WoW (even if you don't like it, it's the biggest game) is not worth mentioning.
This just in from Warner Bros. - LOTRO is going FTP! We will not do anything bad. We will do everything good. We will not lie. We will work for you the players. Oh did I mention LOTRO is going FTP?
F2P LOTRO is nothing more than a glorified trial version.
That may be true...But it's a heck of a glorified trial...
Having the ability to level a Character though all the worlds of the Original "Shadows Of Angmar" plus Forochel and Evendim all the way to CL 50 with little to no restrictions on content in those areas is pretty darn good and mostly free (I think you'll have to purchase some Quest Packs, but that's about it as far as I can tell)...I gladly paid a Subscription Fee every Month for the past 3 years to do the same thing...So minimizing the value is a bit ridiculous...It's a great Game with a good Community that someone can come in and have a blast playing for nothing, or next to nothing, while they are making their decision if it's the right Game for them...It's a darn good deal if you ask me...
First off, LOTRO is not truly going Free to Play. Free-to-play refers to any game that has an option of allowing its players to play without paying. With LOTRO, you're going to have to eventually pay sometime by either buying Turbine Points (which they would love for you to do), or by becoming a VIP which, if they follow the DDO model, will be raised back up to $14.99 a month when the F2P option goes live.
LOTRO works differently because it is a game based on an epic story line. There are not modules that you could sell because players want to experience the story.
No, but instead of selling modules, they sell quest lines. Pretty much the same difference.
Lord of the Rings Online will offer the epic storyline for free up to the Mines of Moria expansion.
Sure, if you're really into grinding. Turbine Points are given out sparingly in-game, so...you're going to have to buy them in order to advance. And, this also proves that it's not truly F2P because...look, you have to buy Moria!
Turbine is also very serious that the Free to Play model is not a Pay to Win model. They sell no gear in the game shop and nothing that can disrupt the balance of the game.
Right. That's why the Producer, Kate Paiz, has already mentioned that they are probably going to have gear for lower level characters to help them out. Also, there are already items in the store that change the balance of the game.
They also do not want the new model to disrupt the community they have already built.
It already has. Been to the LOTRO forums lately?
Two of the areas in the game store that Turbine feels will be popular are the Deed Excelerator and the Rank increases.
A deed accelerator (might want to learn how to spell) I can see, but being able to buy your Virtues? Nah...that's not going to change the balance of the game, you'll just see level 10 characters running around with all of their Virtues at 2 or 3 already without having to do anything. They'll be invincible at that level.
It is almost as if instead of paying for Power Leveling, you are paying the game company to allow you to achieve things faster.
So, items that you can buy in the store that give you PERMANENT boosts to morale, power, vitality, will, fate, etc. allows you to achieve things faster? Well, yeah, I guess they do, but then there's that whole balance thing again.
Also Turbine made it clear that there is only one price for ranks.
Really? Looked like there were more than one to me.
LOTRO now looks to make the leap this fall; the question is will it have the success that DDO had.
Are you making a statement or asking a question? Generally questions end with a question mark. But, to answer your statement, I believe that once a lot of players see what LOTRO has become, they will not like it at all.
With Warner Brothers now on board it will be interesting to see what becomes of these games.
Well, I'll put it to you this way, WBIE is only interested in its bottom line and keeping its shareholders happy. Look at what happened when Microsoft got involved with Asheron's Call.
Also if Turbine has any other games up its sleeve in the coming months.
Incomplete sentence, anyone? But, yes, they do, a console game. The annoucement should be coming out soon.
For now the game shop in LOTRO looks to be a good move for Turbine. How the community will react no one can tell, but being able to join the game and try it for free is never a bad thing.
More like Turbine probably realized it could make more money off of players if it nickled and dimed them. Even the VIP players. I wont be there.
I feel that LOTRO has lost touch with what it once was. I think it will now become a community of haves and have-nots, and those with more money will be the haves, and Turbine will love them for it.
Sure, you may not see end-game gear in the store, because they want you to buy your way TO it (there's actually more money in it for them that way anyway), but - mark my words - you WILL see the store eventually phase in to more and more items that give players an advantage. Why? Because they know they will sell.
They've already stated that because you can earn Turbine points in game that, transitively (as they put it), items that are ONLY available in the store are technically in-game, which tells you that they can put whatever they want in the store, no matter what it is, even if it DOES give someone an advantage.
OK, OK, that's a lot of discontent there for one post. I read a specific portion of this and have to ask - how would a lvl 10 with 3rd-rank virtues be "invincible"? Rank 3 virtues are roughly 2- or 3-times the stat bonus of rank 1. But this multiplier doesn't extend to all benefits of all virtues. Discipline for example has a +3 might, +203 disease resist, and +200 melee defense rating at rank 1. Rank 3 is exactly the same - but with a +9 might. See lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Virtues
That's only one example, but I don't see how virtues will be better than good, class-based gear at the lower levels. Acceleration still means there's a time element, and from the sound of the article, I'm thinking we'll see some balance to it when it goes live. With all the efforts Turbine is putting into keeping the game balanced and the community intact, I just don't see how they would let a glaring loophole like rank 3+ virtues for low level chars.
F2P LOTRO is nothing more than a glorified trial version.
That may be true...But it's a heck of a glorified trial...
Having the ability to level a Character though all the worlds of the Original "Shadows Of Angmar" plus Forochel and Evendim all the way to CL 50 with little to no restrictions on content in those areas is pretty darn good and mostly free (I think you'll have to purchase some Quest Packs, but that's about it as far as I can tell)...I gladly paid a Subscription Fee every Month for the past 3 years to do the same thing...So minimizing the value is a bit ridiculous...It's a great Game with a good Community that someone can come in and have a blast playing for nothing, or next to nothing, while they are making their decision if it's the right Game for them...It's a darn good deal if you ask me...
Sorry, only quests in the starter areas (Bree-Land, Ered Luin, and the Shire) are unlocked. No more quests after that unless you pay for them. You'll get to around level 22-23 before you run out of quests.
F2P LOTRO is nothing more than a glorified trial version.
That may be true...But it's a heck of a glorified trial...
Having the ability to level a Character though all the worlds of the Original "Shadows Of Angmar" plus Forochel and Evendim all the way to CL 50 with little to no restrictions on content in those areas is pretty darn good and mostly free (I think you'll have to purchase some Quest Packs, but that's about it as far as I can tell)...I gladly paid a Subscription Fee every Month for the past 3 years to do the same thing...So minimizing the value is a bit ridiculous...It's a great Game with a good Community that someone can come in and have a blast playing for nothing, or next to nothing, while they are making their decision if it's the right Game for them...It's a darn good deal if you ask me...
Sorry, only quests in the starter areas (Bree-Land, Ered Luin, and the Shire) are unlocked. No more quests after that unless you pay for them. You'll get to around level 22-23 before you run out of quests.
While the free quests run out after the starter areas (unless you buy another zone, which is how I think they said it'll work, vice buying quest lines), it's my understanding you can still travel to every other zone and kill MOB's all you want. So yes you can level in all the zones.
Now quest XP might get you there faster, but killing MOB's will do the same and will be nothing different than in the P2p version of going to the Trollshaws as a lvl 25-30 and killing trolls along that river where they hang out at for the xp.
Also the book quests are totally free up to MoM so there's more xp right there.
F2P LOTRO is nothing more than a glorified trial version.
That may be true...But it's a heck of a glorified trial...
Having the ability to level a Character though all the worlds of the Original "Shadows Of Angmar" plus Forochel and Evendim all the way to CL 50 with little to no restrictions on content in those areas is pretty darn good and mostly free (I think you'll have to purchase some Quest Packs, but that's about it as far as I can tell)...I gladly paid a Subscription Fee every Month for the past 3 years to do the same thing...So minimizing the value is a bit ridiculous...It's a great Game with a good Community that someone can come in and have a blast playing for nothing, or next to nothing, while they are making their decision if it's the right Game for them...It's a darn good deal if you ask me...
Sorry, only quests in the starter areas (Bree-Land, Ered Luin, and the Shire) are unlocked. No more quests after that unless you pay for them. You'll get to around level 22-23 before you run out of quests.
While the free quests run out after the starter areas (unless you buy another zone, which is how I think they said it'll work, vice buying quest lines), it's my understanding you can still travel to every other zone and kill MOB's all you want. So yes you can level in all the zones.
Now quest XP might get you there faster, but killing MOB's will do the same and will be nothing different than in the P2p version of going to the Trollshaws as a lvl 25-30 and killing trolls along that river where they hang out at for the xp.
Also the book quests are totally free up to MoM so there's more xp right there.
Right, but he said "little to no restrictions on content in those areas". I don't really consider grinding mobs "content", but maybe some people do.
Originally posted by Evile F2P is a big LIE. It is MICROTRANSACTION!!!!
Here, let me fix this for you:
F2P is a big LIE. It is a MONTHLY FEE!!!!
The reality is that ALL F2P games charge for stuff, this is how they make money, and that is why we call this a business model. F2P is not about how they make money off of you once you are in the game.... it is about how they got you in the game for free, so that they could make money off of you.
Allowing someone to pay money to progress faster than others, comes awfully close to selling an "I win" button.
Only if there's something to win. Since LotRO isn't a competition, there's nothing to win.
As to the first part of your comment; if we take out the 'to pay money' part, how is this different than someone running a macro to level overnight? Sounds like that would be an "I win" button in your mind too.
I know I plan on playing again when it goes F2p as I didn't find it worth a full months sub before. With that in mind I found the comments in the OP to mirror my thoughts.
There is always something "to win" because it's a game. Games are about competition on various levels, it doesn't have to always be an obvious medal or ribbon awarded. Giving potions or whatever to decrease deed grinding time is the same as selling an I win button and granting an advantage over players who don'y buy the "potions". The deeds grant an increase to stats and better stats equals stronger character. Stronger character equals more group invites over weaker characters. Thus, they "win".
So do you believe the High School kid that has a 280Z "wins" because another kid only has an old ratty pickup? Or when playing COD MP you "win" because you got more kills than your partner? It's only a competition if both sides are playing that it is.
Your whole reasoning doesn't really hold water. I don't remember any "MyDDO" or WoW's GearCount (whatever it's called) feature in LotRO that allows players to look at the other toon's stat's / gear. So the only 'stronger' you could see would be a lvl 25 over a lvl 5 and since you can't see what the other player has a group invite to two lvl 25's, you have no clue which has what deeds / traits / virtures.
Deeds are just a grind feature and in the past most didn't do them until they level capped and just needed something to do, so they'd come back and do the deeds which makes it sound like they aren't that special or needed for your leveling up.
So now we have two authors here who insist on saying it's F2P, while completely ignoring the option of Subscriptions, nor even mentioning that it's a Hybrid model, not a pure F2P.
I'm not the conspiratorial type, but reading stuff like this - from authors who have access to all the information us "joe schmoe" readers do and, I'm sure, more info than we do - I can understand why some people would get the idea that there are certain agendas at work on this site... certainly by some of its writers.
Go to Google, do a search for Turbine F2P, or for Turbine Hybrid. Tell me how many times you see one mentioned without the other in the course of an interview with them. Tell me how many times you see where F2P is described as the entirety of their new model, and not merely *half* of it. I've done that, and I can tell you that Turbine is very specific in describing it as Hybrid, because, again, they acknowledge that pure F2P is not well received here in the West. They understand there are still many people who would prefer to pay a flat-fee, and do not like the whole "pay as you go" setup.
I took Aioshi to task on this for one of his articles almost 2 weeks ago. He insisted that Turbine called it "F2P", when all evidence - again, easily googled - shows the contrary.
Now we have another author doing the same thing... insisting on calling it F2P when Turbine's been very specific in calling it a hybrid payment model, with F2P being only *part* of it.
Now, I'm no "professional journalist", but it would seem to me that if I was going to write an article discussing something a company is doing, I would want to represent it as accurately as possible.
Why are at least those two MMORPG.com authors so insistant on characterizing Turbine's move as "F2P", when that's not what Turbine have been calling it?
Perhaps the answer to that lies in the fact that the author also indicates that the community hasn't really made its reaction to this change clear.... Umm... hello? Are we reading the same forum posts? The community has made their reactions *very* clear...on either side of the fence. Ya just have to *read*.
"If you just step away for a sec you will clearly see all the pot holes in the road, and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
The email I recieved from Turbine stated " LOTRO is going F2P". Maybe that has confused people a bit?
If that's the case, then someone in their marketing department might need a talking to because, yes that could send a mixed message.
They've been doing all these interviews, all these discussions and giving all these details, emphasizing it as hybrid, not as purely F2P... and now their marketing says otherwise...
Yeah... definitely confusing.
Does the email at least mention the option to continue subscribing as well?
"If you just step away for a sec you will clearly see all the pot holes in the road, and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
The email I recieved from Turbine stated " LOTRO is going F2P". Maybe that has confused people a bit?
If that's the case, then someone in their marketing department might need a talking to because, yes that could send a mixed message.
They've been doing all these interviews, all these discussions and giving all these details, emphasizing it as hybrid, not as purely F2P... and now their marketing says otherwise...
Yeah... definitely confusing.
Does the email at least mention the option to continue subscribing as well?
Yes, it goes on say how nothing is really changinng and all I have to do is keep paying my sub and they will take care of the rest. (that statement was to me the first red flag) Anyone who had a sub to the game around this time last month got the email and I would guess anyone who has ever had an account as well.
WOW isnt great because it has 12 million players. WOW has 12 million players because its great.
The email I recieved from Turbine stated " LOTRO is going F2P". Maybe that has confused people a bit?
If that's the case, then someone in their marketing department might need a talking to because, yes that could send a mixed message.
They've been doing all these interviews, all these discussions and giving all these details, emphasizing it as hybrid, not as purely F2P... and now their marketing says otherwise...
Yeah... definitely confusing.
Does the email at least mention the option to continue subscribing as well?
Yes, it goes on say how nothing is really changinng and all I have to do is keep paying my sub and they will take care of the rest. (that statement was to me the first red flag) Anyone who had a sub to the game around this time last month got the email and I would guess anyone who has ever had an account as well.
Well technically it does go F2P, yes you have the option to keep paying, but thats just that, an option. And whoever said everything has to be Free in order to qualify as a F2P? Every F2P i ever tried had some stuff you only got by paying real $$, sometimes it was item related(RoM, Allods) other times it was the quest/area content itself(DDO).
Imho a game is a F2P if:
a) Theres no box you need to buy in store(or an online digital edition)
b) You can play the game without a subscription
Wether or not the game actually will cost you money sometime down the road has nothing to do with F2P, its a buisness model, not something you should take literally. For example you can play EvE by spending ingame money on GTCs, so not paying any $. But its still a subscription based P2P game, even if you can play it for free.
If you call this a hybrid model than WoW and STO/CO are hybrid models aswell since they have microtransactions via their stores. Personally i feel the subscription option is more of a sideeffect of being a quest/area content based microtransaction game, instead of a item based one. A subscription model would make no sense for item based stores, yet comes naturally for a content/quest store.
Imho currently we have:
1. P2P(EvE)
2. P2P with store(WoW/STO/CO/EQ1&2)
3. F2P with mainly item based store(RoM/Allods)
4. F2P with mainly content based store(DDO)
Always implied is that the store sells gamechanging options. I feel that with 4. one buys access to the ability to farm gear(for example a dungeon or a new higher level landmass ), while with 3. those things come free but the items you farm are crap until you "repair"/"upgrade" them with storebought items. Obviously i rather buy content than item "upgrades" because for one content is per account instead for per character, and for another because the item based model punishes you for finding new gear which should be fun not a "oh shit there goes another 50$, but that xxx i just so much better".
Comments
“Turbine is also very serious that the Free to Play model is not a Pay to Win model. They sell no gear in the game shop and nothing that can disrupt the balance of the game.”
If you can buy pvp ranks and stat increases how is this not pay to win? There are no other ranks in Lotro.
Me and my kinnies will keep playing after the f2p change. We'll see what happens. It's a great game so there isn't a reason at the moment to leave :-)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
waiting for ... nothing..
Why are these articles by MMORGP getting so short with little content?
This was an interview? Does anyone at MMORPG even look at the content of these "articles"?
It reads more like a Turbine press release.
I am not sure what to call this piece, but an interview it certainly is not. Interviews generally show the questions and the answers, and usually have actual information in them, information that the questions are designed to obtain. There is no new information in this short piece either. I question why it was even published here at all.
parrotpholk-Because we all know the miracle patch fairy shows up the night before release and sprinkles magic dust on the server to make it allllll better.
Virtue ranks.
If WoW = The Beatles
and WAR = Led Zeppelin
Then LotrO = Pink Floyd
I find it intereresting that on this site it is worth a news when there is a new mount in a item mall but the opening of a raid-instance in WoW (even if you don't like it, it's the biggest game) is not worth mentioning.
This site is in a bad, bad downward spiral.
This just in from Warner Bros. - LOTRO is going FTP! We will not do anything bad. We will do everything good. We will not lie. We will work for you the players. Oh did I mention LOTRO is going FTP?
lol
Interview?
lol
Get over yourself. Its a mixed model... but you dont have to pay a penny if you do not want to. Thus free.
"The two most abundant elements in the Universe are hydrogen and stupidity." ~Harlan Ellison
Me Tarzan, you Jane.
That may be true...But it's a heck of a glorified trial...
Having the ability to level a Character though all the worlds of the Original "Shadows Of Angmar" plus Forochel and Evendim all the way to CL 50 with little to no restrictions on content in those areas is pretty darn good and mostly free (I think you'll have to purchase some Quest Packs, but that's about it as far as I can tell)...I gladly paid a Subscription Fee every Month for the past 3 years to do the same thing...So minimizing the value is a bit ridiculous...It's a great Game with a good Community that someone can come in and have a blast playing for nothing, or next to nothing, while they are making their decision if it's the right Game for them...It's a darn good deal if you ask me...
OK, OK, that's a lot of discontent there for one post. I read a specific portion of this and have to ask - how would a lvl 10 with 3rd-rank virtues be "invincible"? Rank 3 virtues are roughly 2- or 3-times the stat bonus of rank 1. But this multiplier doesn't extend to all benefits of all virtues. Discipline for example has a +3 might, +203 disease resist, and +200 melee defense rating at rank 1. Rank 3 is exactly the same - but with a +9 might. See lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Virtues
That's only one example, but I don't see how virtues will be better than good, class-based gear at the lower levels. Acceleration still means there's a time element, and from the sound of the article, I'm thinking we'll see some balance to it when it goes live. With all the efforts Turbine is putting into keeping the game balanced and the community intact, I just don't see how they would let a glaring loophole like rank 3+ virtues for low level chars.
insanex
Sorry, only quests in the starter areas (Bree-Land, Ered Luin, and the Shire) are unlocked. No more quests after that unless you pay for them. You'll get to around level 22-23 before you run out of quests.
While the free quests run out after the starter areas (unless you buy another zone, which is how I think they said it'll work, vice buying quest lines), it's my understanding you can still travel to every other zone and kill MOB's all you want. So yes you can level in all the zones.
Now quest XP might get you there faster, but killing MOB's will do the same and will be nothing different than in the P2p version of going to the Trollshaws as a lvl 25-30 and killing trolls along that river where they hang out at for the xp.
Also the book quests are totally free up to MoM so there's more xp right there.
SWG (pre-cu) - AoC (pre-f2p) - PotBS (pre-boarder) - DDO - LotRO (pre-f2p) - STO (pre-f2p) - GnH (beta tester) - SWTOR - Neverwinter
Right, but he said "little to no restrictions on content in those areas". I don't really consider grinding mobs "content", but maybe some people do.
Here, let me fix this for you:
F2P is a big LIE.
It is a MONTHLY FEE!!!!
The reality is that ALL F2P games charge for stuff, this is how they make money, and that is why we call this a business model. F2P is not about how they make money off of you once you are in the game.... it is about how they got you in the game for free, so that they could make money off of you.
So do you believe the High School kid that has a 280Z "wins" because another kid only has an old ratty pickup? Or when playing COD MP you "win" because you got more kills than your partner? It's only a competition if both sides are playing that it is.
Your whole reasoning doesn't really hold water. I don't remember any "MyDDO" or WoW's GearCount (whatever it's called) feature in LotRO that allows players to look at the other toon's stat's / gear. So the only 'stronger' you could see would be a lvl 25 over a lvl 5 and since you can't see what the other player has a group invite to two lvl 25's, you have no clue which has what deeds / traits / virtures.
Deeds are just a grind feature and in the past most didn't do them until they level capped and just needed something to do, so they'd come back and do the deeds which makes it sound like they aren't that special or needed for your leveling up.
SWG (pre-cu) - AoC (pre-f2p) - PotBS (pre-boarder) - DDO - LotRO (pre-f2p) - STO (pre-f2p) - GnH (beta tester) - SWTOR - Neverwinter
So now we have two authors here who insist on saying it's F2P, while completely ignoring the option of Subscriptions, nor even mentioning that it's a Hybrid model, not a pure F2P.
I'm not the conspiratorial type, but reading stuff like this - from authors who have access to all the information us "joe schmoe" readers do and, I'm sure, more info than we do - I can understand why some people would get the idea that there are certain agendas at work on this site... certainly by some of its writers.
Go to Google, do a search for Turbine F2P, or for Turbine Hybrid. Tell me how many times you see one mentioned without the other in the course of an interview with them. Tell me how many times you see where F2P is described as the entirety of their new model, and not merely *half* of it. I've done that, and I can tell you that Turbine is very specific in describing it as Hybrid, because, again, they acknowledge that pure F2P is not well received here in the West. They understand there are still many people who would prefer to pay a flat-fee, and do not like the whole "pay as you go" setup.
I took Aioshi to task on this for one of his articles almost 2 weeks ago. He insisted that Turbine called it "F2P", when all evidence - again, easily googled - shows the contrary.
Now we have another author doing the same thing... insisting on calling it F2P when Turbine's been very specific in calling it a hybrid payment model, with F2P being only *part* of it.
Now, I'm no "professional journalist", but it would seem to me that if I was going to write an article discussing something a company is doing, I would want to represent it as accurately as possible.
Why are at least those two MMORPG.com authors so insistant on characterizing Turbine's move as "F2P", when that's not what Turbine have been calling it?
Perhaps the answer to that lies in the fact that the author also indicates that the community hasn't really made its reaction to this change clear.... Umm... hello? Are we reading the same forum posts? The community has made their reactions *very* clear...on either side of the fence. Ya just have to *read*.
and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
The email I recieved from Turbine stated " LOTRO is going F2P". Maybe that has confused people a bit?
WOW isnt great because it has 12 million players. WOW has 12 million players because its great.
If that's the case, then someone in their marketing department might need a talking to because, yes that could send a mixed message.
They've been doing all these interviews, all these discussions and giving all these details, emphasizing it as hybrid, not as purely F2P... and now their marketing says otherwise...
Yeah... definitely confusing.
Does the email at least mention the option to continue subscribing as well?
and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
Yes, it goes on say how nothing is really changinng and all I have to do is keep paying my sub and they will take care of the rest. (that statement was to me the first red flag) Anyone who had a sub to the game around this time last month got the email and I would guess anyone who has ever had an account as well.
WOW isnt great because it has 12 million players. WOW has 12 million players because its great.
Well technically it does go F2P, yes you have the option to keep paying, but thats just that, an option. And whoever said everything has to be Free in order to qualify as a F2P? Every F2P i ever tried had some stuff you only got by paying real $$, sometimes it was item related(RoM, Allods) other times it was the quest/area content itself(DDO).
Imho a game is a F2P if:
a) Theres no box you need to buy in store(or an online digital edition)
b) You can play the game without a subscription
Wether or not the game actually will cost you money sometime down the road has nothing to do with F2P, its a buisness model, not something you should take literally. For example you can play EvE by spending ingame money on GTCs, so not paying any $. But its still a subscription based P2P game, even if you can play it for free.
If you call this a hybrid model than WoW and STO/CO are hybrid models aswell since they have microtransactions via their stores. Personally i feel the subscription option is more of a sideeffect of being a quest/area content based microtransaction game, instead of a item based one. A subscription model would make no sense for item based stores, yet comes naturally for a content/quest store.
Imho currently we have:
1. P2P(EvE)
2. P2P with store(WoW/STO/CO/EQ1&2)
3. F2P with mainly item based store(RoM/Allods)
4. F2P with mainly content based store(DDO)
Always implied is that the store sells gamechanging options. I feel that with 4. one buys access to the ability to farm gear(for example a dungeon or a new higher level landmass ), while with 3. those things come free but the items you farm are crap until you "repair"/"upgrade" them with storebought items. Obviously i rather buy content than item "upgrades" because for one content is per account instead for per character, and for another because the item based model punishes you for finding new gear which should be fun not a "oh shit there goes another 50$, but that xxx i just so much better".
rashhero, I think you have just won the Interwebs with this. Hats off to you.
my favorite mmorpg is gonna be free and i goot invited to beta im so so happy
Wow no shit? I mean D&D online has been doing it for how long now? Althought that F2P game is way better then this mess..
"Yea, I've been drinking again.."