Originally posted by Ysharros Online games cost money to run and maintain, let alone expand - servers & bandwidth aren't free in any sense of the word, let alone development teams, artists, coders and the rest. Basically you get what you pay for and personally I've found that free games are like free advice - worth what you paid for them. ;-)
As others have said, for the price of a movie ticket & popcorn I can get a whole month's worth of entertainment - $15 isn't hard to come by for anyone, even those under 18. I'd say if anything the greatest difficulty is finding a method of payment rather than the money itself, but many games are offering means of payment other than just credit cards these days.
These free games that are around are still making the same amount of money or more than monthly cost games.
Let's take Habbo Hotel, that's a free game and they made $30million in 3 years. And that's their 1st 3 years when they just opened.
MapleStory is a free game and has been making enough money to open new servers all over the world.
You can play these games and not pay a penny but they still get enough money to expand
Basically what Ysharros said sums up why these MMOs have a monthly fee. Bailyes, you said Habbo Hotel and MapleStory is making money to be able to create new servers and such. These servers don't cost enormous amounts of money just to contain. Games like World of Warcraft, City of Heroes & Eve are HUGE, therefore costing a monthly fee. If you've ever played MapleStory, buying the cash items are a ripoff, you spend maybe $20-30 to buy a outfit that will only last for 90 days. Whilst, you could be spending $20-40 on a monthly/two-months game subscription. The game you spend $20-40 on has 10x more content, better community, frequent patches, more variety in game and way more fun.
Now I ask you, which do you choose?
P.S. Disregard my Xfire gameplay hours, I just haven't found a better MMO at the moment. Quit WoW. Quit CoH. Have nothing! :P
Originally posted by daenrr Basically what Ysharros said sums up why these MMOs have a monthly fee. Bailyes, you said Habbo Hotel and MapleStory is making money to be able to create new servers and such. These servers don't cost enormous amounts of money just to contain. Games like World of Warcraft, City of Heroes & Eve are HUGE, therefore costing a monthly fee. If you've ever played MapleStory, buying the cash items are a ripoff, you spend maybe $20-30 to buy a outfit that will only last for 90 days. Whilst, you could be spending $20-40 on a monthly/two-months game subscription. The game you spend $20-40 on has 10x more content, better community, frequent patches, more variety in game and way more fun.
Now I ask you, which do you choose?
P.S. Disregard my Xfire gameplay hours, I just haven't found a better MMO at the moment. Quit WoW. Quit CoH. Have nothing! :P
Yeah but the thing about MapleStory is that they have their own way of making money, some games charge monthly and some games charge like Maple. btw. It cost me $10 to get my outfit that lasted 90 days. There are loads of people that are over-spending on Maple which makes them money. The community in Maple is really nice. I have made 100s of friends there.
You have a point, bailyes, and I think in the end we're talking about 2 different business models. Some of the newer online games charge RL money for ingame stuff and finance themselves that way - the older ones (and I suppose therefore the ones fogeys like me refer to & play ;-)) are exactly the opposite, for the most part: you pay a monthly subscription fee and nothing in-game costs you anything but in-game money. The latter is still the more common model for online games at the moment, as far as I know.
Granted that's now something of a simplification, with games like EQ2 where you can choose to buy in-game stuff with real money, though you still have to pay a monthly sub - but even in that case, most of the game-bay item money goes to the players who sell their stuff and not to Sony, who "merely" take a cut off the top.
Personally I'm highly uncomfortable with the idea of a game charging me RL money for ingame stuff, not just because I'm not used to it. You also have issues of fairness with systems like that: if UberSword+8 costs 100 real-life bucks, many people will never have access to it because they can't afford it. Whether that's realistic or not (and indeed RL is full of things I can't afford), it's not something most gamers I know like to be confronted with, so we're happier with a system where we all pay $15 a month and have a (more or less) equal chance at the brass ring.
Which raises issues of play time, gold farming, and all the other worms in the MMO can, but they're not the subject of your post.
You have a brill point there and I agree with the point of not being able to buying in-game items with RL bucks. On MapleStory you can buy a 'Store Permit' which allows you to open a shop and keep it open for as long as you're logged in for and that only costs $1.80 and it lasts 3 months. There is nothing in this game that you pay for in RL bucks that can make you stronger or richer.
Either business model works fine but as of right now, I'm noticing that the F2P MMOs are much more generic than the P2P games. Other than AO (which is only semi-F2P), all the others MMOs are the same and even worse - they never seem to get updated. Look at SRO. They haven't added one bit of new content since the game went "live" about a year ago. It's the same for all the other F2P games. I would be willing to spend money in an item shop to support a game if only they weren't so bland and bleak.
So until a F2P game can match the quality of a P2P game or at least provide an occasional content upgrade then I have no reason to play them.
Originally posted by avatar6572 Either business model works fine but as of right now, I'm noticing that the F2P MMOs are much more generic than the P2P games. Other than AO (which is only semi-F2P), all the others MMOs are the same and even worse - they never seem to get updated. Look at SRO. They haven't added one bit of new content since the game went "live" about a year ago. It's the same for all the other F2P games. I would be willing to spend money in an item shop to support a game if only they weren't so bland and bleak.
So until a F2P game can match the quality of a P2P game or at least provide an occasional content upgrade then I have no reason to play them.
Do you agree that if the game is "good" depends on your taste of game. I like the 2D world games so that's why I play MapleStory. I couldn't find any others. I make the most of the F2P games because they have great communities and you can make loads of friends there. As long as you enjoy the game and have some good friends on the game, it makes no difference if its F2P or P2P
You got a point there. If you like a F2P game, there is no reason of going to pay for another game, that's true. But none of the F2P MMO's I played really kept my attention for more then a few days.
But again, that is just a matter of taste. Everybody likes different games. I like 'quality' MMO's, while you (from what I've read) not really care about the quality of the game, as long as you can have fun with other players ingame.
Yep. When I played MapleStory (1 year) I made loads of new friends I played Puzzle Pirates for about a year too and made many friends I played Runescape for a year and a half and made 100s of friends
Not sure what your obsession with online "friends" is.... you make friends in the real world.... online people are just pixels, and unless you meet them one day in person, you'll never really know what they are really like.
But, whatever you enjoy is fine. I prefer good solid gameplay, with lots of support and no hidden extras... I'm not online to make friends though.. (quite the contrary, I'd much rather be hated)
So count me in the camp of P2P... I won't even look at the F2P games....
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
Originally posted by bailyes Originally posted by avatar6572 Either business model works fine but as of right now, I'm noticing that the F2P MMOs are much more generic than the P2P games. Other than AO (which is only semi-F2P), all the others MMOs are the same and even worse - they never seem to get updated. Look at SRO. They haven't added one bit of new content since the game went "live" about a year ago. It's the same for all the other F2P games. I would be willing to spend money in an item shop to support a game if only they weren't so bland and bleak.
So until a F2P game can match the quality of a P2P game or at least provide an occasional content upgrade then I have no reason to play them.
Do you agree that if the game is "good" depends on your taste of game. I like the 2D world games so that's why I play MapleStory. I couldn't find any others. I make the most of the F2P games because they have great communities and you can make loads of friends there. As long as you enjoy the game and have some good friends on the game, it makes no difference if its F2P or P2P I agree that how good a game is is up to the person playing it. I'm not ever going to dock someone for playing a given MMORPG just because of how I feel about it (except DnL). However, Maplestory is fairly rehashed gameplay made only slightly more unique because of the combat system. I really don't consider it near the quality of P2P games but if it's good enough for you then I'm happy for you.
As for friends...you can meet them in any MMORPG, FPS, RTS, or even real world environment you want. Maplestory isn't unique in that aspect by any stretch.
Originally posted by Kyleran Not sure what your obsession with online "friends" is.... you make friends in the real world.... online people are just pixels, and unless you meet them one day in person, you'll never really know what they are really like. But, whatever you enjoy is fine. I prefer good solid gameplay, with lots of support and no hidden extras... I'm not online to make friends though.. (quite the contrary, I'd much rather be hated) So count me in the camp of P2P... I won't even look at the F2P games....
My good friends on the game are friends of real friends
One of my friends came over to the UK from Russia and got me playing a game which I became friends with his friends from Russia. Never know...I might meet up with some of these people in the future.
Originally posted by bailyes One of my friends came over to the UK from Russia and got me playing a game which I became friends with his friends from Russia. Never know...I might meet up with some of these people in the future.
My good friends on the game are friends of real friends
Indeed. Or marry them - I met my husband of several years on an MMO. It does happen Not to mention tons of friends who started of in-game and have become RL friends.
Originally posted by Dookz with technology cost plummeting, you would think that the trend of monthly fee cost would also go down.
The cost of manpower doesn't change, tho. It's still human beings put time in at an office. Then advertisement and all the other costs you incur, besides the initial cost of technology. Most of those things stay the same or go up, regardless if technology costs go down.
Originally posted by Ysharros Originally posted by bailyes One of my friends came over to the UK from Russia and got me playing a game which I became friends with his friends from Russia. Never know...I might meet up with some of these people in the future.
My good friends on the game are friends of real friends
Indeed. Or marry them - I met my husband of several years on an MMO. It does happen Not to mention tons of friends who started of in-game and have become RL friends. Congrats with that These things can happen. Ive seen it happen before
Originally posted by EvilC Paying is optional. You have the option of not paying and thereby not playing.
Best avatar ever.
To the O.P.: any game worth it's salt, MMORPG that is, is worth a monthly fee. Or else every yahoo with, well, a yahoo account, could play it and spam profanity all day, thus ruining everyone elses experience. Paying helps us avoid that. I think it's worth it.
Basically what everybody else said but I do have an option for you to explore if you truly cannot afford to play MMO's
A lot of EVE online players will sell you game time card codes for ingame currency (130isk/30 day code is about right and 130 isk dosnt take too long to get depending on your skill) and CCP fully condone it (why wouldnt they) A lot of people fund alts this way quite easily so it is possible you can play EVE for free and possibly other games that have GTC's as a method of paying.
Originally posted by jnky Basically what everybody else said but I do have an option for you to explore if you truly cannot afford to play MMO's A lot of EVE online players will sell you game time card codes for ingame currency (130isk/30 day code is about right and 130 isk dosnt take too long to get depending on your skill) and CCP fully condone it (why wouldnt they) A lot of people fund alts this way quite easily so it is possible you can play EVE for free and possibly other games that have GTC's as a method of paying.
well, not to ruin your great idea. but you probably need quit a high level char to get 130isk in a pretty short time. So you will first need to buy the game, pay for it for some months, and then maybe after a time you will be able to get some game cards.
I'll pay a monthly cost if nothing else because having one tend to filter out a large part of the people that I wouldn't want to play with/against in the first place.
"Memories are meant to fade. They're designed that way for a reason."
Originally posted by jnky Basically what everybody else said but I do have an option for you to explore if you truly cannot afford to play MMO's A lot of EVE online players will sell you game time card codes for ingame currency (130isk/30 day code is about right and 130 isk dosnt take too long to get depending on your skill) and CCP fully condone it (why wouldnt they) A lot of people fund alts this way quite easily so it is possible you can play EVE for free and possibly other games that have GTC's as a method of paying.
well, not to ruin your great idea. but you probably need quit a high level char to get 130isk in a pretty short time. So you will first need to buy the game, pay for it for some months, and then maybe after a time you will be able to get some game cards.
Not my idea, it happens everyday, look at the eve-o forums
You can join a 0.0 corp and have the skills to fly an indy which can haul for a mining team (badger2 in about 2 weeks)....A Battlecruiser can rat in 0.0 if carefull (Ferox passive tank ftw) and an Osprey (mining cruiser) with T2 lasers can mine as well as the retreiver (mining barge) and should be doable in no time.
Im know anyone of these setups are reachable during the 30 days free playtime you get from buying the game. Once you hit coveter then exhumers I know people mine 150k + per session (4 hours mining = 30 days free play) Plus your corperation will usually supply all the equipment to do this.
I think P2P also some F2P games should collect beside the money some more data about the real player/payer. Some F2P games have some stuff that you can pay for to help you improve stuff. We all heard about lots of frauds in P2P games and F2P too. Having more data they could not just ban the acc suspected for frauds but they could send a complain at a local police station, in this way maybe we all will live to play MMORPG games without spamers/cheaters and so on...
Just a point of view...
Don't let games to ruin your social life...
"And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years."
Comments
Let's take Habbo Hotel, that's a free game and they made $30million in 3 years. And that's their 1st 3 years when they just opened.
MapleStory is a free game and has been making enough money to open new servers all over the world.
You can play these games and not pay a penny but they still get enough money to expand
Bailyes
Basically what Ysharros said sums up why these MMOs have a monthly fee. Bailyes, you said Habbo Hotel and MapleStory is making money to be able to create new servers and such. These servers don't cost enormous amounts of money just to contain. Games like World of Warcraft, City of Heroes & Eve are HUGE, therefore costing a monthly fee. If you've ever played MapleStory, buying the cash items are a ripoff, you spend maybe $20-30 to buy a outfit that will only last for 90 days. Whilst, you could be spending $20-40 on a monthly/two-months game subscription. The game you spend $20-40 on has 10x more content, better community, frequent patches, more variety in game and way more fun.
Now I ask you, which do you choose?
P.S. Disregard my Xfire gameplay hours, I just haven't found a better MMO at the moment. Quit WoW. Quit CoH. Have nothing! :P
Bailyes
Granted that's now something of a simplification, with games like EQ2 where you can choose to buy in-game stuff with real money, though you still have to pay a monthly sub - but even in that case, most of the game-bay item money goes to the players who sell their stuff and not to Sony, who "merely" take a cut off the top.
Personally I'm highly uncomfortable with the idea of a game charging me RL money for ingame stuff, not just because I'm not used to it. You also have issues of fairness with systems like that: if UberSword+8 costs 100 real-life bucks, many people will never have access to it because they can't afford it. Whether that's realistic or not (and indeed RL is full of things I can't afford), it's not something most gamers I know like to be confronted with, so we're happier with a system where we all pay $15 a month and have a (more or less) equal chance at the brass ring.
Which raises issues of play time, gold farming, and all the other worms in the MMO can, but they're not the subject of your post.
Bailyes
the F2P MMOs are much more generic than the P2P games. Other than AO
(which is only semi-F2P), all the others MMOs are the same and even
worse - they never seem to get updated. Look at SRO. They haven't added
one bit of new content since the game went "live" about a year ago.
It's the same for all the other F2P games. I would be willing to spend
money in an item shop to support a game if only they weren't so bland
and bleak.
So until a F2P game can match the quality of a P2P game or at least
provide an occasional content upgrade then I have no reason to play
them.
Bailyes
But again, that is just a matter of taste. Everybody likes different games. I like 'quality' MMO's, while you (from what I've read) not really care about the quality of the game, as long as you can have fun with other players ingame.
The Illuminati Gaming Society
I played Puzzle Pirates for about a year too and made many friends
I played Runescape for a year and a half and made 100s of friends
And these games didn't cost me a penny
Bailyes
Playing now: Cities: Skyline / Ori and the Blind Forest / Banished
Bailyes
Not sure what your obsession with online "friends" is.... you make friends in the real world.... online people are just pixels, and unless you meet them one day in person, you'll never really know what they are really like.
But, whatever you enjoy is fine. I prefer good solid gameplay, with lots of support and no hidden extras... I'm not online to make friends though.. (quite the contrary, I'd much rather be hated)
So count me in the camp of P2P... I won't even look at the F2P games....
"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
"good" depends on your taste of game. I like the 2D world games so
that's why I play MapleStory. I couldn't find any others. I make the
most of the F2P games because they have great communities and you can
make loads of friends there. As long as you enjoy the game and have
some good friends on the game, it makes no difference if its F2P or P2P
I
agree that how good a game is is up to the person playing it. I'm not
ever going to dock someone for playing a given MMORPG just because of
how I feel about it (except DnL). However, Maplestory is fairly
rehashed gameplay made only slightly more unique because of the combat
system. I really don't consider it near the quality of P2P games but if
it's good enough for you then I'm happy for you.
As for friends...you can meet them in any MMORPG, FPS, RTS, or even
real world environment you want. Maplestory isn't unique in that aspect
by any stretch.
One of my friends came over to the UK from Russia and got me playing a game which I became friends with his friends from Russia. Never know...I might meet up with some of these people in the future.
Bailyes
Indeed. Or marry them - I met my husband of several years on an MMO. It does happen
Indeed. Or marry them - I met my husband of several years on an MMO. It does happen
Congrats with that
These things can happen.
Ive seen it happen before
Bailyes
Best avatar ever.
To the O.P.: any game worth it's salt, MMORPG that is, is worth a monthly fee. Or else every yahoo with, well, a yahoo account, could play it and spam profanity all day, thus ruining everyone elses experience. Paying helps us avoid that. I think it's worth it.
Basically what everybody else said but I do have an option for you to explore if you truly cannot afford to play MMO's
A lot of EVE online players will sell you game time card codes for ingame currency (130isk/30 day code is about right and 130 isk dosnt take too long to get depending on your skill) and CCP fully condone it (why wouldnt they) A lot of people fund alts this way quite easily so it is possible you can play EVE for free and possibly other games that have GTC's as a method of paying.
herb...herb is a plant
The Illuminati Gaming Society
I'll pay a monthly cost if nothing else because having one tend to filter out a large part of the people that I wouldn't want to play with/against in the first place.
"Memories are meant to fade. They're designed that way for a reason."
Bailyes
well, not to ruin your great idea. but you probably need quit a high level char to get 130isk in a pretty short time. So you will first need to buy the game, pay for it for some months, and then maybe after a time you will be able to get some game cards.
Not my idea, it happens everyday, look at the eve-o forums
You can join a 0.0 corp and have the skills to fly an indy which can haul for a mining team (badger2 in about 2 weeks)....A Battlecruiser can rat in 0.0 if carefull (Ferox passive tank ftw) and an Osprey (mining cruiser) with T2 lasers can mine as well as the retreiver (mining barge) and should be doable in no time.
Im know anyone of these setups are reachable during the 30 days free playtime you get from buying the game. Once you hit coveter then exhumers I know people mine 150k + per session (4 hours mining = 30 days free play) Plus your corperation will usually supply all the equipment to do this.
herb...herb is a plant
I think P2P also some F2P games should collect beside the money some more data about the real player/payer. Some F2P games have some stuff that you can pay for to help you improve stuff. We all heard about lots of frauds in P2P games and F2P too. Having more data they could not just ban the acc suspected for frauds but they could send a complain at a local police station, in this way maybe we all will live to play MMORPG games without spamers/cheaters and so on...
Just a point of view...
Don't let games to ruin your social life...
"And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years."
Old Skool Ultima Online Junky
Bring back the OLD UO so I can play again