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General: Five Reasons Your MMO Should Go F2P
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
MMORPG.com Managing Editor Bill Murphy has penned The List this week knowing that legions of perpetually offended will storm the discussion thread to create virtual havoc. And he's ready! Check out why Bill thinks your favorite MMO should hit the free to play trail! Then let's get ready to ruuuuuumble!
It's an official trend, folks. More and more MMORPGs not made in the East are going F2P or adopting some sort of hybrid model, and we here at MMORPG.com don't see said trend stopping anytime soon. More and more games will launch from day one with a sort of F2P revenue model, but until then the new thing seems to be all about switching your model mid-stride to one of free play and optional micro-transactions. In a totally serious (not) List this week, we take a look at five reasons any game should think about going F2P after a successful (or not so successful) run as a subscription based title.
Read more of Bill Murphy's The List: Five Reasons Your MMO Should Go F2P.
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Comments
So.....
No comment.....
It's all about the money...............
Big Pile of CRAP!.
I think you fully missed the Trend, you seem to think its more games going free to play when in fact its more released games being mmo's and the sad truth that most of them are so crap in one way or another that their developers know 100% their game would fail badly as a subscription, so they adopt this free to play model.
So its not that free to play is more popular, it just happens to be a cost effective cheep way for all these new mmo's to monatize their games.
The games worth while, the ones you want to play, will still be AAA and will still be subscription.
I agree, times are changing. I dont mind sub games but F2P is the new Era and i gotta say i love 'em. I'd choose a F2P game over a sub game anytime.
yeah a lot of gamers dont mind settling for poorly designed bad infrastructure and dodgy developers. while others hold out for the best, for games they know they will still be playing in 5 years time.
Some gamers are happy to play a f2p mmo for a month and then hop to something else cos there was never any real attatchment to a f2p game while others will hold out for a game that they can really get into, attatch to and invest in like a subscription game.
I actually really hope that the F2P model keeps working, because it will suck all of those players from the real mmo's who really should be playing free to play instead of subscription, leaving those more dedicated of players to the AAA subscription games.
Why would any subscriber want their game to go F2P ? free to play isnt eve nfree they lock most of the game out and you normaly pay for t , so a subscriber having his game go free to play is actualy loosing, not gaining , unless you like locked class's , zones , dungeons and very restricted chat functions .
3.) Because People Love to Pay Extra for Hair
There’s another reason so many games should switch over to F2P: the cosmetic shoppers are an untapped resource for mass riches. You may think I’m kidding (read: I am), but I’m willing to bet there are more people out there dying to shell out their hard earned cash for a Rihanna hair-style than there are for a Rihanna sex-tape. If there’s one thing MMORPGs have taught us, all people really care about is how cool their digital hero looks and whether or not their chainmail greaves make their ass look fat.
id like a Rihanna sex-tape ...
Remember, this was all done as a joke. We all know that going F2P actually costs us more in the end for the same content. I think as long as games continue to keep a 'golden level' or whatever, paying the same amount as before conversion and retaining the same features, it can work just fine. There is the whole quality vs quantity argument to be made over boosting player numbers with free players but to see really how NOT to do a conversion, see EQ2 Extended. They opened a new channel of revenue but did nothing to address the problems that long time loyal players were having with the game (it really needed some mergers, which finally did happen AFTER f2p version launched.) Cutting people off from transferring back and forth and charging already paying customers to transfer SANS items and gold(!) to the free servers in order to pay more for what they already had... all in all another huge fail for SOE, but then again... what else is new? Yes, I slam SOE a lot and still play primarily their games... it's a love/hate relationship, but they get the IPs I care most about. Star Wars and DC... sigh.
Played: Asheron's Call(still the best fantasy MMO!), EQ1, EQ2, Vanguard, DAoC, Horizons, City of Heroes/Villians, WoW (crap), LOTORO, D&D Online, Eve, Anarchy Online, and still playing SWG daily.
In a totally serious (not) "List this week, "
You guys did read the intro right? Does the term tongue in cheek mean anything to you?
SWG (pre-cu) - AoC (pre-f2p) - PotBS (pre-boarder) - DDO - LotRO (pre-f2p) - STO (pre-f2p) - GnH (beta tester) - SWTOR - Neverwinter
Is that all you can talk about on this site? It used to have good articles. Now it's just articles about f2p.
I think you should get back to talking about games and stop trying to stir up the community just so the site gets more hits to impress the advertisers.
"MMORPG.com Managing Editor Bill Murphy has penned The List this week knowing that legions of perpetually offended will storm the discussion thread to create virtual havoc."
RAWR!
As usual, an entertaining article, Bill!
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
WHY you keep trolling us w/ all this (allegedly) free to play propaganda?
"Never met a pack of humans that were any different. Look at the idiots that get elected every couple of years. You really consider those guys more mature than us? The only difference between us and them is, when they gank some noobs and take their stuff, the noobs actually die." - Madimorga
Try to be excellent to everyone you meet. You never know what someone else has seen or endured.
My Review Manifesto
Follow me on Twitter if you dare.
If the lack of quality games doesnt drive me from the genre, the F2P takeover of the payment model will. As bad as some games abuse the cash shop now can you folks imagine what it would be like if F2P were the only option? I see someone on a crusade here.
Really? This game sucks and Im not having fun? Im going to unsub right now. Thanks for the tip.
This little skit from MST3K sums up my view of how the FTP cash shop financial system works.
>CLICKY<
"Gypsies, tramps, and thieves, we were called by the Admin of the site . . . "
I get the feeling most of you didn't even read the article.
Worst. List. EVER. YOu my freind made such a bad list i am out of WORDS. A two year old could do better. OH!
Simpsons reference aside it is a bad list. Blanket list dosen't work too well best to go MMO to MMO breaking their balls with a custom list. Examine the games faults brought by bad coding and the subscription and then nail them with the lsit.
It is best for the industry the MMO throne remains an dusty empty seat never to be filled.
Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
Bill!
Why have you forsaken me? In your heart forsaken me? Whyyyyyaaaaaaiiii?
My brand new bloggity blog.
The number one reason why 'your' MMO shouldn't go F2P... because it costs more per month to get the same complete gameplay experience as when it was a subscription game.
*coughs*
My apologies, Bill. I must admit I didn't read the article properly and F2P angst got the better of me. The article is in fact a masterpiece of satire.
I can only humbly bask in the shadow of your glory.
*grovels*
p.s. Eat that article, mister Aihoshi.
My brand new bloggity blog.
You really should read the article, Trav. Please?
Try to be excellent to everyone you meet. You never know what someone else has seen or endured.
My Review Manifesto
Follow me on Twitter if you dare.
If the smothering of F2P game's advertising on this website wasn't enough, now you actually write multiple articles per week to prove how completely sold out (whored out) this site has become to its F2P masters, even when the vast majority of posters on this site prefer the P2P model.
The community has gone so far downhill it's but a shadow and a whisper of what it was back in 2004 when I began to frequent this website.
Epic, epic fail MMORPG.com
But hey, keep pandering! I'm sure you've got bills to pay and the respectable AAA P2P MMOs don't come here anymore.
*edit*
Satire comprehension fail!
Still, my point still stands. I for one am incredibly tired of looking at cartoons of 12 year old Japanese girls in F2P game advertisements that take up 90% of the screen space.
Yeah, most people comment on the title. Reading is fundamental people!
(this article was a joke....you'd notice if you had actually read it)
Edited...LOL just noticed your edit. My bad
edit: Never mind this post. Seems you got the massage.
My brand new bloggity blog.
What ? He got a massage ? I want same. NOW !
This thread becomes better and better.