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F2P - The Hate Continues for Singleplayer Games Too
JustARandomPanda
Member Posts: 61
Interesting article on IGN about F2P - except as it applies to singleplayer and co-op PC and Console games.
Playing Now: The Secret World, Guild Wars 2, Neverwinter
Playing soon: Landmark beta, Swordman beta
Comments
I hate F2P but I also realize it can be done, so even I can enjoy and accept it.
I would accept a F2P scheme, if I could save money or just cover what the box would have cost and still get the experience I want
What I won't accept is F2P schemes, that will cause me to spend more money, than a box would have cost me, to get the experience I want
Obviously this would vary from game to game, depending on the goal of said game. If the goal is gear progression, then I don't want a continuous cost associated with advancing, regardless if I'm in competition with other players or not. Locked loot boxes, increased loot drop chances, RMT auction houses and penalty restrictions falls into that category.
What I can accept is cost associated with things that may or may not interest me, which usually covers one time purchases IE character slots, bag space, PvP etc.
I like the idea that I would be able to tailor a game to my needs through a flexible payment system, so I don't pay for features I have no interest in. Kind of like only paying for TV channels you watch. That would be ideal. Unfortunately that's not how F2P works in its current form
Favorite MMO: Vanilla WoW
Currently playing: GW2, EVE
Excited for: Wildstar, maybe?
Yeah, I didn't include LoL for a reason. LoL is not as bad as some other F2P games, but it is still bad due to the heavy limitations on champions and due to the runes, both of which affect gameplay and the learning process. It's essentially Pay to Win but in a more thinly veiled way, after you play a Dota-like with all heroes unlocked you see how much you have been cheated before.
Favorite MMO: Vanilla WoW
Currently playing: GW2, EVE
Excited for: Wildstar, maybe?
Playing Now: The Secret World, Guild Wars 2, Neverwinter
Playing soon: Landmark beta, Swordman beta
Favorite MMO: Vanilla WoW
Currently playing: GW2, EVE
Excited for: Wildstar, maybe?
F@P cannot be done well,not even some what good.EQ2 is a good f2p game however even that you cannot enjopy the game as intended without cash shop or spending ,so not really f2p.Even so the game was not designed to be f2p,that is why it is a robust game.
If a developer sees that it is not getting any more sales,then yes f2p is good,but if the game fails after a few months or is developed to run as a f2p game,it won't be good no matter how you slice the pay options.A Flat tire is useless,it doesn't matter if you try to sell it to me for 50 bucks or free.Well i guess i could use it as a flower pot,or a swing over the water.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
I'm not at all sure it make sense to use the F2P model in a single player game. I just don't think the developers would collect more money for those games without a hard pay wall. I can definitely see them having expansion packs and other additional content in a cash shop though.
I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.
Agree. League did a excellent job with it. GW2 also have a great system even though it's B2p
There are plenty of F2P (freemium) games on mobile.
I don't think that cash shop based games will always be crap, but anytime developers use supremacy goods it usually doesn't turn out correctly.
I really enjoyed this article.
Personally, I feel exactly how he explained. Real money being brought in to gameplay ruins the 'escape from reality' effect.
I prefer to buy a game up front, and upon launching it, that's the last I have to hear about credit cards or paying for something.
That being said, I don't think F2P is something that shouldn't exist. I've been rubbed wrong by countless bad F2P models, and I thought I was going to give up on them until I finally tried League of Legends. The game that, as far as I'm concerned, has the best f2p model and least restrictive. After playing that game for about a year and willingly shelling out plenty of my own money for aesthetic goodness, I decided there really can be good f2p experiences.
I think what I don't like is microtransactions in MMORPGs. LoL is a MOBA, not an MMORPG. I don't have a unique character with unique history, experiences and stories to tell. I don't have the potential for years of customization and adjustments on my character in LoL. In an MMORPG, I do, and I don't like the feeling of my pocketbook getting involved whenever I want to make a certain decision while playing the game.
That being said, I don't mind f2p in an mmorpg as much if I have the option to just BUY it, or pay a monthly fee, or something like that from the get go, so I don't have to be interrupted by "you must purchase this if you want to be that badass" in my gameplay. A good example of this imho is Firefall.
Very good game, (with it's faults of course) and a very good f2p system, admittedly very expensive, but not required in at all. All things in their store can be unlocked free in the game (if you wanna grind for it) - but otherwise, you can just buy what you want from the beginning and then just play. There are other f2p that do similar to this, but most of them seem to break up too much of the game to monetize it in their store.
This is another good point, and one that I personally understand.
Not everyone can afford to up and buy every game they want to play. Some people have to pick their titles wisely. There has been a pattern of really bad games launching over the last year or two, and I can understand anyone'e position on saying "screw this. F2p ONLY for me until I find something worth spending money for."
This is actually important to the industry. What we spend money on and what we don't spend money on really dictates what games we get tomorrow.
A hell of a lot more than what we say on some forum.
all this talk about F2P can not be done right, one game you have all not mentioned is Rift , Rift does not tell you to pay for something to beat a boss rift does not every 5 mins blast you with a sub now ad. while your only allowed 2 chars and 3 bag slots and no selling on AH ( so gold farmers cant sell) how ever ive been playing MMO's long enough to know a AH is a fairly new addition to them , in my first ones we did not need it to sell a simple WTS blah blah for x amount is what we did in chat and things sold so a AH block is not a game breaker , plat is not that hard to farm anymore so saving 1k of it to buy a rex isnt that tough.
also to those who would say what about the 4 souls you have to buy, well those 4 souls again are not game breakers they are not supper face melters any more then other soul combos you can make do. your not level capped your not instance raid blocked you can not pay to win ( ie top gear) since all the best gear is still earned. nothing is blocked that is needed to enjoy the game you can own any mount even the dimension's are not blocked and thats not even a major part of the game.
and to just piss off wow fan kids wow is a clone of dark age of camelot , it uses the exact same controls ( as does 85% of mmo's) and the graphics was not all cartoony , oh and wow coppied them for there glowing weapons ( as did many other games have)
trion has a bad habbit with patches ill give you that how ever they keep adding to it and not on a two year cycle
I am a core player and I used to dislike F2P, because the ones I tried alway's hit my progress with the cashshop or else simply couldn't continue or enjoy the rest of the game.
Then came SWtOR F2P version, I did enjoy the game for about 4 months, but then stopped playing, nothing really changed for me ingame, it wasn't because of the cashshop, as it didn't really had anything to enhance my pleasure playing.
Then came Neverwinter, actually the first F2P game I maxed 2 characters, played about 3 nearing 4 months, but me reaching max level with my second character was also the end of me wanting to play more. Did spend 2 months worth of sub, that's 30€ which used for lockbox key's
Rift came along played Beta but it just didn't click. F2P invited me to try the game again and if felt really refreshing after Neverwinter since I was more free to explore. But then.....
Mark Kern happend, his colum had some intresting idea's, the sneaky advertising during his colums did make me intrested in Firefall again. And that's my current game. The game goes deeper then you would think at first. I also see it as a Online Combat/Crafters Game not so much a MMORPG. Just my personal opinion of course.
But really back on topic my view has changed towards F2P games mainly because most are Themepark games.
For a true sandbox game I don't think it should go F2P
For singleplayer games, I don't know mainly because I never really played F2P singleplayer games on PC because I havn't seen any that intrest me.
I do play some f2p games on my Phone and tablet but mainly to pass time while traveling work related
To be honest, the whole pay syndrom is the least concern for that game. It is nothing but a convenience that will never surpass the playtime of non paying players.
Kind of a ridiculous article (it's not really even an article).
It's the akin of asking what if Germany won world war 2. Not to the scale but a speculative and what if question. It's like asking someone how does it feel to be shot if they have never been shot.
It has nothing to do with affordability. Everyone affords to buy a 99 cents or $1.99 cell phone game. But a F2P one got 100x the download. Why?
It is because of the fear of buyer remorse. People don't like to run the risk of "wasting" their money. And if the game is f2p, there is no such risk.
"Hardcore" gamers (the link used this expression) will always be opposed to F2P, but that does not matter to the gaming industry. Unless you had not already noticed F2P is here to stay in MMO's.
Those who put gaming ethos first were the vast majority of players ten years ago. We are now a minority in some games and will be a minority in all games in only a few years. The market they are looking too is social media and many people in this new market have hardly played games, if any at all. These are people who expect a cash shop style experience in what they do online, they are a marketing dream.
Just like roleplayers who were a large faction in MMO's became a minority, so too will hardcore gamers become a minority. Just like issues that concerned roleplayers are no longer a design priority, issues that concern hardcore gamers are going down the priority list.
What is increasingly influencing the design priorities of gaming companies now is the priorities of Angry Birds players. You don't need to be clairvoyant to realise this will not be good for gaming.
I would accept it if.... I knew what I would have to buy. Exp potions did not exist and no new necessary microtrans appeared after I started playing.
Chance items and limited time items are out, I do not accept those.
Keys are out - unacceptable
Pay to win - out - unacceptable
A clear vision of paying for content - acceptable - suprises with respect = unacceptable
Health potions that are detrimental to play - unacceptable
Convenience items such as repair anywhere and fast travel unacceptable
Dumming down loot so the only good looking gear skins are purchased = acceptable but boring and a distraction
This list could go on and on..... If fhe industry wants f2p, there needs to be a baseline so the consumers are not guessing about what they are getting into. And to protect consumers from future changes to the games
Everything else i agree.
But this is neither good nor bad for gaming. It may be bad for you .. or the minority of players whose interests are not being served.
But certainly it is not bad for the devs (the MMO market expands), nor the players who like what is happening.
They are not forced to. The devs have full freedom of what to do. However, if they WANT to become like SP games, then i will treat them as such.
If they provide good SP experiences, i will play them as such.
Nobody in this thread has mentioned Path of Exile.
That is the best F2P model I have seen so far....bascially because I played for like 4 days before I was even aware that it had a cash shop.
I'll never spend money on a F2P game. It's designed to make you spend more money than traditionally, setups up unbalanced play schemes...How would feel if playing chess and the other player could buy back their queen after you take it...not very fun and most people would balk at the idea but that is what F2P caters to...those people who want to buy an advantage or underage kids who dont have thier own money.
I gave PS2 a fair go, it's a nice game, I like it...spent about 75 bucks on it....wont spend another dime and I am way behind the gear curve now, to the point I dont bother to play now. But that is also by design, they want you to spend money on impulse buys in small amounts then down the road realize what you have done and leave to make room for the next sucker.
But I see more and more gamers getting tired of the F2P models, because they are realizing that F2P is a gimmick. I put F2P publishers in the same catergory I put used car salesmen, Rent to Own, Payday Loans, and reverse mortages in...disgusting unethical, morally reprehensible businesses that prey on the unintelligent and gullible.