All f2p games sell advantage , just in various forms.
Lotro for example sell things like : stat tomes (almost impossible to get in game) , store-only bough legendary weapon relics, very powerful store-only potions , xp buffs + alot of convenience. There is more incoming like buying skill for creeps , fear / cc immunity for pvpm and more with Isengard.
Sure you don't NEED those things you can complete things without them , but they DO give advantage.
Cash shop games just earn money that way , they just differ in a certain advantages they do offer. Some games offer more direct advantages , some offer advantage that are not as direct but all do offer them.
With increasing number of f2p games and thus with increasing cometition for layer's money, that p2w / advantage items will be more common. Maybe they will be bit cheaper but there will be more of them.
Haha, I must say the topic has gotten de-railed *but* not nearly as much as I expected on these forums, so that's to be thankful for!
In any case it seems the general answer to my question is simply, "There is no f2p MMO currently available that is not 'p2w' or at least that does not sell in-game advantages in their store." Which is what I thought but I just wanted to check here in case I missed one, since there are hundreds of f2p mmo's constantly coming out it seems and I haven't personally looked into most of them. *IF* there is one out there though someone do please drop a quick reply to let me know.
/rambling start
To respond to a few of the specific posters, I did try Guild Wars and it seemed like a very excellent game and a fantastic value for the money. The only reason I'm not playing it right now is because 1) I didn't know they had a rated arena system until very recently, which I would have loved and 2) I don't want to really get into GW1 with GW2 coming out in the near future, since I'm 99% sure I'll be picking up GW2 and playing it Soon (TM) :-)
Dragon Nest I enjoyed alot at first, it has a very fun combat system that makes you feel like you are actually involved. However, it has not much content at the moment (it is many months or even years behind its asian counterpart in patches) and I got to level 24 and cleared all the dungeons and the 1 nest in 1-2 weeks of fairly casual playing. I might have stayed with it to wait for more content patches, but *my personal preferred* playstyle is I like to enjoy all an MMO has to offer and with Dragon Nest (and every other "free" to play MMO I've tried) that style of play costs hundreds or even thousands of dollars. To take Dragon Nest as an example, and as best as I can remember the prices for permenant items, for a year of play one might: buy a pair of wings for faster movement ($15), buy a costume for the stat bonuses ($30), buy some inventory/bank space ($30), buy some rez scrolls ($10), buy a skill reset once every few months ($100), buy some stamps so you can unbind things ($20), buy some birds so you can talk in chat ($20), and buy jelly so you can make the best items in the game ($100-$500). All that, and you still wouldn't have gotten every useful thing you might need from the cash shop!
So, Dragon Nest I can 100% recommend for anyone who just wants some fun combat a few hours a week casually, or someone who has lots of money to spend, or even someone who just doesn't care about any advantages or stats or any of that stuff and doesn't mind some limitations. There is nothing wrong with that, it just wasn't for me personally.
Ok, I know the title is just a silly dream, but I'm hoping someone can point me towards a F2P MMO that has a reasonable population, has some PvP in it, and most importantly, has a cash shop that doesn't give any in-game advantages - in other words its 100% pay2win/pay4advantage free.
So this means the cash shop can't have anything in it besides cosmetic items, and perhaps very minor convenience items like XP potions. No weapons/armor, no stat potions, no skill reset stones, no purchasable high level content, no gear upgrade tokens, etc.
Some f2p games I've already tied that don't fit this requirement:
Hellgate: Global
Dragon Nest
Runes of Magic
Eden Eternal
Dungeons and Dragons Online
Lord of the Rings Online
Champions Online
Atlantica Online
Sadly, APB: Reloaded is probably the closest to a f2p, non-p2w "MMO" I've tried, the problem is its hard to really call it an "MMO" (even though I like the game). So is there one out there I missed? Thanks!
APB cash shop weapons are not really superior btw!
Haven and Hearth is a game with NO cashshop, only a donate button and even when you donate i do not believe you get a reward for doing so.
HOWEVER the game is 2d and is not a themepark like most games you will have played. It is a total sandbox where EVERYTHING is player made (no NPC towns or even characters outside the charachter creation room) The game is basically a game where you have to survive and thrive. You build your settlement, build a farm, hunt local animals for food (otherwise you starve to death)
Now the feature that turns alot of people off though it is not as bad as they may think - PERMADEATH - when you char is dead he ain't coming back but your next character will have 50 - 75% of the stats your last hearthling had. I played for over a year and had only died once.
I remember when MapleStory had only cosmetic cash shop. god i loved that game back in the good ol' days but later they did stat items xp boosts and even in game money.. so yeah ruined the game completetly
a cash shop that you don't have to spend any money to play other than cosmetic items
no high level content in cash shop
One question, how are they going to earn ANY money, when 90% of the people can just play the game for free without any hinderance to use the cash shop?
I can only suggest Angry Birds Free trial.
How much WoW could a WoWhater hate, if a WoWhater could hate WoW? As much WoW as a WoWhater would, if a WoWhater could hate WoW.
a cash shop that you don't have to spend any money to play other than cosmetic items
no high level content in cash shop
One question, how are they going to earn ANY money, when 90% of the people can just play the game for free without any hinderance to use the cash shop?
I can only suggest Angry Birds Free trial.
You do know that ~90% of the people in a F2P MMO already do play without spending a dime, right?
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
a cash shop that you don't have to spend any money to play other than cosmetic items
no high level content in cash shop
One question, how are they going to earn ANY money, when 90% of the people can just play the game for free without any hinderance to use the cash shop?
I can only suggest Angry Birds Free trial.
You do know that ~90% of the people in a F2P MMO already do play without spending a dime, right?
Sorry, I think I should specific "when 90% of the people can and will just play till ENDgame for free without any hinderance to use the cash shop?"
If playing an mmo till level 10 is what you call a 'player', then I got nothing else to say other than, aren't they just trying the game?
How much WoW could a WoWhater hate, if a WoWhater could hate WoW? As much WoW as a WoWhater would, if a WoWhater could hate WoW.
Just to clarify, what I *want* is a new, good p2p or b2p MMO. But while I wait for Guild Wars 2 or Darkfall 2.0 or whatever that might be, what I'm looking for right now is a certain kind of f2p MMO, and determining if there was that kind of f2p MMO out there is the point of this thread.
Thanks @ firespike for the recommendation, I'll check out that Haven and Hearth game after work today, sounds interesting from your description.
@Slowdoves I actually kinda agree, and APB:R Is the main game I'm playing atm. Depending on what gun and playstyle you personally prefer, in some cases there is no reason you'd want a cash shop gun. Although in other cases there is, as some of the cash-shop guns have mods on them that are unobtainable in game. In any case, I still think APB is the best of the "f2p" games I've tried so far in terms of not being p2w. The hundreds of hackers on each server however, is a different problem :-/
Comments
Get Guild Wars Trilogy and you're set for a looong time. 30E on Steam (you might find better deals in other retail stores).
Better to be crazy, provided you know what sane is...
No F2P game like that.
All f2p games sell advantage , just in various forms.
Lotro for example sell things like : stat tomes (almost impossible to get in game) , store-only bough legendary weapon relics, very powerful store-only potions , xp buffs + alot of convenience. There is more incoming like buying skill for creeps , fear / cc immunity for pvpm and more with Isengard.
Sure you don't NEED those things you can complete things without them , but they DO give advantage.
Cash shop games just earn money that way , they just differ in a certain advantages they do offer. Some games offer more direct advantages , some offer advantage that are not as direct but all do offer them.
With increasing number of f2p games and thus with increasing cometition for layer's money, that p2w / advantage items will be more common. Maybe they will be bit cheaper but there will be more of them.
Haha, I must say the topic has gotten de-railed *but* not nearly as much as I expected on these forums, so that's to be thankful for!
In any case it seems the general answer to my question is simply, "There is no f2p MMO currently available that is not 'p2w' or at least that does not sell in-game advantages in their store." Which is what I thought but I just wanted to check here in case I missed one, since there are hundreds of f2p mmo's constantly coming out it seems and I haven't personally looked into most of them. *IF* there is one out there though someone do please drop a quick reply to let me know.
/rambling start
To respond to a few of the specific posters, I did try Guild Wars and it seemed like a very excellent game and a fantastic value for the money. The only reason I'm not playing it right now is because 1) I didn't know they had a rated arena system until very recently, which I would have loved and 2) I don't want to really get into GW1 with GW2 coming out in the near future, since I'm 99% sure I'll be picking up GW2 and playing it Soon (TM) :-)
Dragon Nest I enjoyed alot at first, it has a very fun combat system that makes you feel like you are actually involved. However, it has not much content at the moment (it is many months or even years behind its asian counterpart in patches) and I got to level 24 and cleared all the dungeons and the 1 nest in 1-2 weeks of fairly casual playing. I might have stayed with it to wait for more content patches, but *my personal preferred* playstyle is I like to enjoy all an MMO has to offer and with Dragon Nest (and every other "free" to play MMO I've tried) that style of play costs hundreds or even thousands of dollars. To take Dragon Nest as an example, and as best as I can remember the prices for permenant items, for a year of play one might: buy a pair of wings for faster movement ($15), buy a costume for the stat bonuses ($30), buy some inventory/bank space ($30), buy some rez scrolls ($10), buy a skill reset once every few months ($100), buy some stamps so you can unbind things ($20), buy some birds so you can talk in chat ($20), and buy jelly so you can make the best items in the game ($100-$500). All that, and you still wouldn't have gotten every useful thing you might need from the cash shop!
So, Dragon Nest I can 100% recommend for anyone who just wants some fun combat a few hours a week casually, or someone who has lots of money to spend, or even someone who just doesn't care about any advantages or stats or any of that stuff and doesn't mind some limitations. There is nothing wrong with that, it just wasn't for me personally.
/rambling end
APB cash shop weapons are not really superior btw!
Haven and Hearth is a game with NO cashshop, only a donate button and even when you donate i do not believe you get a reward for doing so.
HOWEVER the game is 2d and is not a themepark like most games you will have played. It is a total sandbox where EVERYTHING is player made (no NPC towns or even characters outside the charachter creation room) The game is basically a game where you have to survive and thrive. You build your settlement, build a farm, hunt local animals for food (otherwise you starve to death)
Now the feature that turns alot of people off though it is not as bad as they may think - PERMADEATH - when you char is dead he ain't coming back but your next character will have 50 - 75% of the stats your last hearthling had. I played for over a year and had only died once.
www.havenandhearth.com
The game has an ok sized community and loyal developers.
This may be not your sort of game but is possibly the most indepth MMO I have ever played.
The game does fulfill your list afaik.
Hope I have helped.
Playing: Salem
Waiting On: ArcheAge, Darkfall: UW, ESO
I remember when MapleStory had only cosmetic cash shop. god i loved that game back in the good ol' days but later they did stat items xp boosts and even in game money.. so yeah ruined the game completetly
So let me interpret the OP properly
You want an MMO that is
Free to play
a cash shop that you don't have to spend any money to play other than cosmetic items
no high level content in cash shop
One question, how are they going to earn ANY money, when 90% of the people can just play the game for free without any hinderance to use the cash shop?
I can only suggest Angry Birds Free trial.
How much WoW could a WoWhater hate, if a WoWhater could hate WoW?
As much WoW as a WoWhater would, if a WoWhater could hate WoW.
You do know that ~90% of the people in a F2P MMO already do play without spending a dime, right?
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
Sorry, I think I should specific "when 90% of the people can and will just play till ENDgame for free without any hinderance to use the cash shop?"
If playing an mmo till level 10 is what you call a 'player', then I got nothing else to say other than, aren't they just trying the game?
How much WoW could a WoWhater hate, if a WoWhater could hate WoW?
As much WoW as a WoWhater would, if a WoWhater could hate WoW.
Just to clarify, what I *want* is a new, good p2p or b2p MMO. But while I wait for Guild Wars 2 or Darkfall 2.0 or whatever that might be, what I'm looking for right now is a certain kind of f2p MMO, and determining if there was that kind of f2p MMO out there is the point of this thread.
Thanks @ firespike for the recommendation, I'll check out that Haven and Hearth game after work today, sounds interesting from your description.
@Slowdoves I actually kinda agree, and APB:R Is the main game I'm playing atm. Depending on what gun and playstyle you personally prefer, in some cases there is no reason you'd want a cash shop gun. Although in other cases there is, as some of the cash-shop guns have mods on them that are unobtainable in game. In any case, I still think APB is the best of the "f2p" games I've tried so far in terms of not being p2w. The hundreds of hackers on each server however, is a different problem :-/