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F2P -> B2P
Ikeda
Member RarePosts: 2,751
In an interesting turn of events, funcom has announced the Lego MFO is going from F2P to B2P with it's recent upgrades.
Will it work out for them? Or will it go back to F2P in a couple of months?
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"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
As I said in the other thread - they are ripping people off.
Last Christmas they sold a lifetime sub for 100$. The sub included monthly cash for the cash shop similar to what TSW did.
Now let's have a look at the faq:
Q: When will unlimited memberships no longer be available?
A: Unlimited memberships will be phased out close to the launch of the buy-to-play version.
The lifetime benefits end after merely 6 months...
That says they won't be offering them any more to new people, not that the benefits disappear for those that bought them.
I don't know about that.
Q: What about Diamonds?
A: Diamonds will also be removed. Existing diamonds will be converted to stars.
It depends now on what the new value of stars will become, however stars are regular drops from monsters simply used to upgrade your characters at this point.
So it's unlikely that they can be used to anything cash shop related in the future.
That seems a rather odd interpretation of the question and answer.
Historically, lifetime memberships got transferred over to VIP or some other plan when a game changed business models. The FAQ also says that players who spent any money in the current version will be automatically upgraded to the full purchased version, so it would be odd to hook up the $5 customer and not the $100 customer, no?
EDIT: I just looked back through my records, and my sons' Unlimited Memberships were $24.99. Do you have a link to this $100 thing?
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
No, I don't. It was an email sent to me introducing the Christmas dungeon and this "limited time offer"
No. If you take that position you may as well say that a subscription based game is simply f2p with a mandatory monthly cash shop purchase.
There are two criteria at work that can be considered when deciding what tag to place on a game: the game play element and the business element involved.
The game play element is key but the business element is the most obvious. There is the upfront cost and the continuing cost. And we tag games accordingly. The payment criteria a company opts for - often - drives the game play design: In crude terms:
You tell him he is wrong and then create a lengthy explanation of why he is correct.
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
impossible.
I still got my lifetime sub benefits (monthly points) after TSW went buy2play
TSW lifetime sub was another amazing deal that really paid off and will continue to do so for quite some time
And that is why I ponder over the faq where they clearly say that all the cash currency is being converted into stars which is a normal drop item used for character builds.
Not at all. Kyleran wrote a general comment about b2p games being f2p with an upfront cost.
Nominally "B2P" e.g. Destiny, South Park, Dark Souls are all about creating a compelling experience that the creators hope will attract enough people to buy the game. The typical complaint about such games is that they only last so many hours.
A f2p game - historically - relies on being free to try rather than good reviews and then aims to get people to buy "in game help". The fundamental design of a b2p game is not the same as a f2p game. And there are numerous interviews and articles out there about this. And its complicated because of hybrid models.
Which is why Turbine simply adding an upfront cost won't change the type of game that LMO is. And Kyleran can - rightly - regard LMO specifically as f2p with an upfront cost. Different from all b2p games being f2p though.
Not a suited comparison, TSW simply dropped the mandatory sub, while Minifigs will add a mandatory box purchase... and yep, TSW's GM is a cool offer indeed
I'm just a bystander on this however, I don't play Minifigs (even if I like FC, occasionally they release games which are not for me
), and since I never spent a dime on it, I think after the re-launch my acc will gone - not that I planned to go back anyways.
I only follow this change out of curiousity, an f2p -> b2p change is pretty odd... but if it will be a successful one, I think the voices of "switch AoC to b2p like TSW" will rise again, pointing back at this Minifigs switch.
...but we're talking about MMOs. A standalone, non-persistent title is a whole other topic, and there's plenty of horse armor to go around among those titles, as well.
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
Very different market. Minifigs is going for a far younger audience than AoC and TSW are. This is just my speculation as someone who works in marketing in the industry, but it looks like we've got a younger target audience with parents paying. Parents prefer subscriptions for kids.
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