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[Column] The Secret World: Making Buy-to-Play Worth It
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
Now that the proverbial cat's out of the bag and The Secret World has officially gone "buy to play", we take a look at how Funcom needs to make the purchase worth it for players. See what our ideas are before adding your thoughts in the comments.
One of you did manage to get on my personal nerves by going all “We're gonna sue the pants off of Funcom and take them to hell” in a comment, for lack of a better term, though I let it slide since we were all afraid of dying from a disastrous world-rending cataclysmic event.
Funcom has been looking out for those comments in the community though, and apparently, they did some more post-announcement magic to make it clear that subscribers, whether grandmasters or not, will not be shafted for their loyalty.
Read more of Victor Barreiro Jr.'s The Secret World: Making Buy-to-Play Worth It.
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Comments
There have been a couple of instances where they've behaved as if the dlc will have different prices. For instance, if the dlc is going to cost more than the $10 worth of cash shop coins, then for the lifetime subscribers, it would only cost $10. Funcom doesn't sound as convinced as you about the price of the dlc.
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In any event, I'm having fun with the game. More fun than I did in the beta and the trial. I really do think it's because I don't feel a need to rush through the game to get my money's worth out of it.
I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.
The Ultimate Breakdown
They have pretty much said that the cost of DLC will depend on what they value the content to be. So, a mission pack might be $5 especially if it doesn't bring much new to the table. Each issue will have components of it which will be free, think recticle combat, or item shortcuts.
For new play-zones, you will be paying more than $5 it has been said that if the DLC costs more than the monthly points subs get then those points will be able to buy that content at the reduced price. This is detailed above.
We just have to wait and see what pricing they come up with but for sure its not going to be just a $5 model for DLC
i took a break from the game but decided to go back after it went b2p..i have a lifetime sub.now if this were say cryptic who i think really screwed their lifetimers i would complain.but here's the thing.funcom have went out of their way to inform everyone at every turn has to what is happening..i am more than happy at the way things turned out for me has a lifetimer with this game..and its great to see the game servers are packed with players.
Now for the cost of the DLC.i find it hard to believe anyone could complain at having to pay $5 for some content.not too mention they have adressed the point if a guy who subs fall short of points he will still get the content.i do not see what the problem is that anyone who's playing could have with this game.
Has for the guy who brought up sueing funcom..i very much doubt he even looked at what he was about to receive has a lifetimer..it takes a few mins to go to a website and read a few paragraphs.
If people dont like the idea of paying for games then perhaps they should'nt bother playing them.it costs these companies millions to put these games together..not too mention everything for them is risk.
Long may TSW continue and i say well done to funcom for not only making a brilliant game,but also having the balls to admit they screwed up on the subs as well.not all companies are like this.
Well worth the box price, but subscription...
I'm just not feeling it. A Veteran rewards program that makes you spend points? Not much of a reward if you ask me. Can't really compare that to Rift, as they actually give you rewards not more ways to spend. Price guarantee is nice, but seems a bit too complicated.
If you are buying a subscription you should get more points than the same amount of money can buy you every month. Think of it as a bulk discount. Since they aren't going that way, then really they should be giving away expansion content, because otherwise there doesn't really seem to be any incentive to paying a monthly sub.
we do get more points, as a lifer, we also get tons of "free perks" as well, that cant be purchased with points.
only thing I ever see using my points on is content, so no biggie
Have come back to TSW - was a beta player, and took out a lifetime subby on release. However I played GW2 from launch and have now tired of the puerile nature of that game - come on, I'm a 40 year old man.. Christmas Dolls? and Santa Claus? Christmas Presents and Candy Canes? it does bugger all for me. I'm now coming back to TSW and finding that the 'floaty' combat has been tightened up, the FPS rates have improved and the overall game just works better than before. Better yet, whilst the winter content was a tad disappointing, at least it was a zombie invasion on the 21st, that wasn't insulting to my intelligence and age! (take note Anet).
Now very happy I invested in a Life time subby. Very happy at the idea of new monthly content stream, but I do hope for a very content heavy expansion at some point - If Funcom guys read this - Please can we have new areas, Soloman Island, Egypt and Trans are all brilliant.. but it would be fab to see new areas - I know Tokyo is coming, but how about doing something a bit less obvious? how about Australia? or Hong Kong/Singapore? - an east-meets-west locale would make for some very interesting story lines as well as provide an awesome backdrop of high rise and neon, poverty and wealth side by side providing locations that would be very diverse. Lore encompassing aboriginal ideas and Chinese mythology would be just awesome.
Overall really happy with the transformation to B2P and hope funcom can restore their fortunes now that TSW has matured and (hopefully) have secured a good revenue stream to ensure this games continued presence in the MMOSphere.
Secrets of Dragon?s Spine Trailer.. !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwT9cFVQCMw
Best MMOs ever played: Ultima, EvE, SW Galaxies, Age of Conan, The Secret World
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2X_SbZCHpc&t=21s
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The Return of ELITE !
By your definition, all games are pay to win, including WoW. That's nice that you've created your own definition, but don't expect the world to follow you in using it.
so far i dont really have a problem with how funcom are doing things , i have noticed that some drops ingame have changed a little and crafting isnt really much of an option after a certain point in the game until having to deal with the gate keeper to get into the Nightmare level instances to upgrade your stuff . but buy to play seems ok and after having dealt with F2P like forsaken world and jade dynasty and having my wallet Raped hard and the most horrible customer service that perfectworld gives, funcom is like a day at the beach. Unlike PerfectWorld and thier insane account banning trick .. oh go on holiday log on to get a few hours in just to keep up to date and bang you are banned for logging in from a different IP address , go to customer services whom every step of the way try to ignore you as much as possible or ask you to provide the most crazy information to prove its your account then still deny you. basically forcing you to create a new account and spend all that money again .
Just as long as funcom tries to keep away from pay to win im happy and they have my support , sure the game has a few kinks but its still fun and totally refreshing .
why would you need 30 days of game time on a b2p model..just asking..the content is there til you done it..and you can repeat it all again with different weapons..unless i,m misreading this.
Easy with that 1 month of game time in most games that is considered a month of sub so I would get FC points for that month. But still got the content pack 5 since I joined in Dec so I guess it works out. Its not my main game anyways but a side game for me to go along with my EQ2 sub for when I need a break.
There are people who play games and then there are gamers.
http://alzplz.blogspot.com
I am pleased to say that funcom is doing very well with what it is doing when both DDO and LOTRO went F2P I did not even get my turbine points for my sub and for beta testing which I was promised. People aplauded turbine with the fact you can grind for points but that did not help at all the fact we had several major updates and got free mission pack just forbeing there with TSW I feel I got my moneys worth and I paid $40 a month before it was anounced it was going B2P. In the long run though I hope FC keeps giving out freebies to those that where there from the start because money is tight on my side got a girl to please a tuition to pay and bills of all sorts my biggest problem with mmo's was the endless amounts of cash they sucked out. i still play wow off and on and just facing that 15$ per month is making my wallet hurt so the fact that this class a title is now free of the sub makes me happy plus it is giving ANet a much needed rival to face.
I would like to see a few new factions there are secret societies and legends all over that FC could have some fun with like the reptilian stuff come on lets get some V going on up in here. and how about a faction that actually looks more like heroes Templars are kind of lame and i don't see illuminati as the heroes that save us everyday. i mean you could seriously make one up if you wanted to give the game some original flavor and make us feel that not all the good in the world has died off. Really i think that was what the game was lacking in the first place that one group that just wasn't like the rest just had the good of man really a its core. temlars are by far not that group and we all know the ohers are far from it. for that content I would gladly pay another 20$ tanks would be nice too along with cars lol.
its definetly a move in the right direction.
people get to play the full game including all updates up to december 2012 without any restrictions for a measly price of <30. that alone is countless hours of first class storytelling and gameplay.
if the game itself isnt enough reason to try and play tsw, this is.
money will be made with the item shop, that offers exp- and speed-boosts and cosmetic stuff - the latter being one of the strong points of funcom mmorpgs - but nothing that gives people any advantages in competing gameplay.
and subscribers and lta-owners, like myself, get additional stuff and bonuses for 'free' (of course they actually payed for in a way :P). no reason to complain there.
im confident this new payment model will ensure the longevity of the secret world that it deserves.
Joined 2004 - I can't believe I've been a MMORPG.com member for 20 years! Get off my lawn!
You get 1200 points when you complete 30 quests as a new player, which is the same as getting 1 month subscription. (for the most part)
The MMORPG developers should really learn from other genres and mediums. This VIP-cliub-thing is tried and true by for example BF3: Premium.
For those who never bought premium in bf3, I will explain it.
Imagine paying 50 bucks for the game at release, and a year later, 25 bucks for every annual expansion. Now imagine if instead paying about 25 for each expansion, you pay 50 for premium. Premium gives you cool skins, news earlier, bonus meta-game content, FREE expansions and earlier access to expansion content.
Now scream to me what's great or horrible with this idea.
The sylvari ordered Rice n chicken in a bar. The waiter asked him: "exploded or intact?" He angrily answered: "Intact of course! Do you take me for a fool?"
Those were his last words.
The difference between WOW's cash shop and a cash shop based game is the design of game mechanics. Cash shop based games are designed with the limitations of the cash shop being the focus of revenue, but WOW's cash shop hasn't done this yet.
Your problem is you look at the acronym and think P2W is a label based on someone's perception of fairness, but that isn't what is means. It describes a business model.