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'The market has spoken very loudly that [F2P] is the model they like'
Loktofeit
Member RarePosts: 14,247
Title is quote from an EA exec on the free to play model.
Full article: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2013-04-02-ea-mobile-boss-freemium-haters-a-vocal-minority
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
Comments
Please amend your title to something like; "Nick Earl says market has spoken in favor of free-to-play, no premium mobile games"
As it stands it gives the impression that he is talking about MMORPGs.
But, have to say, what EA say or think has zero zilch value to me.
He never spoke to me?! I disagree F2P just breeds the 'Oliver complex' "Please sir i want some more" and by more I mean paid day-1 DLC, P2W and microtransactions.
F2P has it's place in some genres but I hope it don't creep into the top end MMO's.
Sub is just fine.
B2P is evil. Anything with a 60$ upfront fee is evil.
Free is to intrusive.
"There's a vocal contingent of gamers online who don't appreciate free-to-play business models, but their complaints are being drowned out by customers speaking with their wallets..." - Nick Earl
Don't you find it ironic that both 'free-to-play' and 'speaking with their wallets' are both used in the same sentence; especially when you consider that 'speaking with their wallets' suggests people are buying here. So, basically, people are buying free-to-play games. Honestly, 'free-to-play' is a marketing term that does not accurately describe these games. Here's a few that describe these games better:
- Demo, With the Option to Buy More Content
- Partial Game With Endless Developer Hands Dipping Into Your Pockets For Money
- Free To Download, Expensive To Get The Whole Game
- Whale Hunting
- Endless Nickel & Diming For Complete Experience
- Half The Value At Double Or More The Price of Premium Games
I remember when companies first started the whole 'free-to-play' is the future. Not many people actually wanted it. However, once they did (or rather, once the younger 'entitlement' crowd came) you started seeing the trolling increase; the immaturity of gamers increase; and the general decline of gaming. Suddenly, planting crops in a game that asked you to spam your friends every 10 seconds or sign-up for this or that credit card became popular.
FACT: There are very few 'true' free-to-play games -if any- that are not partial games in comparison to premium games. There are no exceptions. League of Legends? (which actually is a very well done 'free-to-play' game) Nope. You have to unlock heroes with money. You don't get them all so you don't have the full game. The same even goes for freemium games such as LoTRO. Sure, you can earn stuff through in-game means, but you cannot unlock the entire game without a subscription.
I agree with all this BC.
Free client, 1-2 week full access trial, then sub (with no cash shop) is my ideal.
If EA had done that with SWTOR people wouldn't need a subscription. They'd be done with the game after two weeks.
And, yes, I prefer that as well. Unfortunately, the 'majority' (which consists of mainly people that are going to play for free without spending a dime anyways) says otherwise.
People don't realize that EA is misrepresenting numbers here.
+1
Exactly. What that corporate maggot says means nothing to me.
My gaming blog
"Hope it doesn't creep into the top end MMO's"
It's allready here. Every MMO on the market has a cs of some kind. There are very very very few MMO's left that do not have multiple levels of models, f2p, or subscription left.
Hmm which top end MMO's other than WoW have no other methods of paying other than sub?
I think it says something when the F2P campaigners have to use quotes from someone like EA to support their point... and EA and their shareholders liking a revenue model is meant to be encouraging to me how?
The numbers are being misrepresented here. It can be simplified and understood this way:
Game A (Premium):
10,000 people who bought it
Game B (Free-To-Play):
50,000 people play it
5,000 people pay for the nickel & dime scheme (10% conversation, VERY VERY HIGH)
Of course, 50,000 is a bigger number than 10,000 so -for marketing/pr purposes- you twist this around.
Now, Game B may make more money than Game A, but that's because Game B 'whales' have to PAY FAR MORE MONEY to get the same experience as Game A. Therefore, in the end, to get the same experience as those in Game A the 'whales' in Game B have to pay a HIGHER PREMIUM.
QFT
I wonder if this is a substainable business model in the long run. Just consider your freemium example (LOTRO). A smart player can unlock most of the game by a combination of paying to unlock content and earning Turbine points to unlock content as well. The bottom line is that you might spend significantly less money than with a sub. With those options a sub becomes the company's unloved foster child.
On the other hand the company will be forced to add more and more features that are not related to the gameplay. Instead it's intended to tempt (gullible?) players to spend more. Just take the "Daily Dice" feature from LOTRO's sibling DDO.
Early bird catches the worm. Quite fitting phrase for this case
My gaming blog
So are you saying 1-2 week full access as in zero limitations, no level caps? If so, then +1
I would love your model, but I don't really have any issue with the F2P models that are out there either. People bitch and moan about about the cash shops of PC MMOs, but has anyone ever played any sort of game on tablet or mobile that includes microtransactions? I'm sorry, SWTOR is nothing compared to those. I feel like the F2P options of any PC game out there aren't that bad when put in perspective.
Crazkanuk
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Ditto, but EA is a company that can tell people that in order to buy their next game they need to cut off their own finger, and millions of people will ask where to send the money and which finger.
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
He's right.
Database markets show free models are more popular.
Not more profitable but more popular.
It's good to know the CEO's of these companies are really that shallow and stupid. It just proves they got there by being yes men and knowing the right people.
Going beyond what an earlier poster said - there is no such thing as a true free-to-play mmo. Every one of those games is pay to win. Sure many, if not most of them, do not let you buy better weapons and armor but they offer instead othere goodies such xp packages. Faster xp means you level faster - thus paying to be better - paying to win. Of course there is so much more involved (player skill, time in game, etc.) but the bottom line is that you can spend money and get ahead of those that do not.
I know of no game that offers ONLY cosmetic items. Contrary to what the posters on this site avow - most players won't buy something unless it gives them some sort of advantage. And it works. True p2w works even better (in the sense that people will spend more money).
I loath f2p. Yet, here I am, back in SWTOR, and what did I do? I re-subbed so that I could get all the goodies and the faster xp. That is what I hate about f2p - it is so seductive - like the Dark Side
Really? The Market decided that? What would Blizzard and CCP have to say about that?
The market did not decide FTP for MMOs.....the market decided FTP for poorly made, no content "multiyplayer games".