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General: Two More Business Model Shifts
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
In The Free Zone this week, MMORPG.com columnist Richard Aihoshi takes a look at the recent announcements that both LEGO Universe and City of Heroes were adopting new revenue models. Both will offer portions of the games for free and will offer low-cost subscriptions and possibly institute item malls. Check out Richard's thoughts and then add a few of your own in the comments.
The second game in question is the re-branded City of Heroes Freedom, which will transition over at an unspecified time later this year. I'm not surprised at this development. In Korea, NCsoft has been dipping its proverbial toe in the F2P pool for a while now, albeit seemingly with some growing pains. So, it's not exactly a shock to see a similar approach in this part of the world, especially considering the company probably feels it gained some insights from its unsuccessful experience with Dungeon Runners.
Read more of Richard Aihoshi's The Free Zone: Two More Business Model Shifts.
Comments
I don't see Eve going F2P. Skill learning is a big part of what makes people keep their subs up when they're not in the game much. They'd lose alot of revenue if they allowed people to learn without subbing.
I don't see CCP doing that either, but if they did, they could set it so that you only accumulate skill points while you're logged in and playing if you are playing for free. Anyone with a paying account would accumulate skill points 24/7. Both players would get essentially the same experience, but the paying players would progress much faster, goading the F2P players to get a paid account.
But yeah, I don't think CCP is going to go that route.
I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.
Eve has been a F2P varient with its PLEX system for years. I do not see them abandoning this, and I personally believe that other F2P systems would copy EVE on this, if they could.
EVE is "play to pay" ever since CCP allowed GTC (and later PLEX) to be sold for ISK. i hope EVE never goes "classic" F2P with store. but it should be relatively easy to integrate MT with in-game market. say, MT item that requires in-game item plus ISK plus AUR.
As usual Richard, you continue to get Freemium and f2p confused. Is it that you can't understand the differences?
There is a huge difference. Some of these games might eventually offer freemium versions, but I very much doubt they will ever go f2p.
LoL at the thoughts eve going free to play. You think the protest and the qq that are going on right now are somethng. Let them annouce that and ccp will probably have nobody playing, that is after the protest in jia crash the area.
Well, now I think that I'll actually apologise to the prognosticating portion of my brain. The vision that told me that CoH will fall from grace within this year. The Freemium Plague (like the Black Plague, but nobody dies; they just zombify) has caught up to another MMO.
Now, I might have 7 years into this game, since all others I've tried to escape to within a 5-year span have been disappointing (reskinned easy win/win models, or buggy piles of steaming manure), but this just takes the whole cake, plate, and matching silver.
Yeah, I know. I have VIP status now. I can play how I want, in any zone, and earn their special little points for items in their shop. But I can see it now. They will soon have all the good things, like weapons customization, new costumes and recipes, and special VIP power sets, in their shop. Meanwhile, the rest of the game's objectives, you know, the ones you've actually spent all the time invested to get them, WILL NOW BE JUST A WALLET'S THROW AWAY from achieving.
Sad that the Corporate AssClowns are ruining the 'AAA' MMO genre. It used to be FUN (a dirty 3-letter word 'they' will now TELL you you're having, damnit!) to actually play the game and EARN all those 'special' things. To actually risk your character's demise in a play session, because you want the Rularuu Axe, is now a worthless goal.
Guess those glory days of MMO gaming are over, where the gaming WAS the MMO.
'Welcome to COH-Mart....get your S... and get out!'
There is a percentage who will hate the particular pay plan of a game. Of this crowd, most of them will play the game anyway, either because the game is good or that all the other good games also make you bend over, so it become a choice of playing or not playing.
Maybe there is not many customers lost, but it could be players just weigh pros and cons and play the game anyway, but leave as soon as another company/game offers something less painful for you rear end.
I like honest and simple price plans, so I can see how much I have to pay for what. When I get manipulated I get mad. We have to invest alot of time in a mmorpg (a real mmorpg like the bigger titles), and if the company behind does things to make us distrust them, we will be less likely to invest the time in their game. This is not the defining factor, but it does matter some.
An honest price plan does not necessary mean that all free to play is bad. For example I could imagine free to play as a demo of the game, and to play on you have to buy expansions or the full game - That would be fine. But a free game for everyone, powered by an item shop (P2W type) is dishonest and I hope those price plans will die soon or atleast that this disease will not spread to good games.
I recently played diablo2, and nowdays this game is powered by private itemshops and bots. Unfortunately most players join diablo2, buy a full set of gear, put it on and mess around a bit and get bored and quit - I bet they never enjoyed the game, just the thought of beeing top geared. If you do not earn your gear on equal terms with other players, it will mean nothing to you and you wont stay in that game.. and that is the side effect of item shops. Maybe it is just how things works now, the majority of players are not gamers, just people who think it would be cool to pretend beeing or having been one, but never had the time to enjoy their games.
Hell I am a race driver.. the true story is a bought a 5 min tour on the passanger side in a Ferrari once.
"I am my connectome" https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HA7GwKXfJB0
The City of Heroes community seems to have accepted the move to freemium with little to no complaints.
I doubt EVE will ever go free to play. The number of people who have multiple accounrts because you can only train one character at a time means that they just make too much money with a subscripton model. CCP will lean the hard way that subscription + cash shop is not a business model people are willing to get behind.
with the dust tie in coming for eve I doubt eve will go F2P anytime soon unless this cash shop furore really hurts its subscriber numbers.
Like your sig :P I have a Pulse Rifle sitting on my fireplace mantle :P
If you want a real honest look at MMO pay plans then one really has to look at the root cause of the item shop disease. The root cause is that the standard P2P sub of $15 / month has not gone up in over a decade. It is not the year 2000 anymore but subscrition players are still paying like it is. The P2P sub has to go up if you honestly want to get rid item shops and the price has to increase every year to keep the item shops out. Subscription plans should really start at $30 a month and expect to pay even more in the coming years. You can't buy much for $15 anymore, it is peanuts and everyone knows this but no one wants to acknowlege that elephant in the room. Time to pay up.