Mobile is the future of all gaming, whether on devices like tablets on any tv by way of integration or small devices. It's about 8 years away but 5G and faster land BB will provide this. Cross play will happen because MMOs will be nearly hosted by servers and if there are proorietary devices still it may simply be this next generation of XboxXand PS 5 streaming the same games, no need for ports.
MMOs are the perfect platform for such huge interconnection without all the work to port and it makes sense studios wont want to be limited so they will run it from their servers to everything with a screen.
Mobile gaming and PC/console gaming are two entirely different markets that both exist for reasons of their own. Neither are going away anytime soon, at least apart from some cataclysm in which the end of gaming is the least of our problems.
Mobile gaming used to be restricted by processing power and bandwidth, but those aren't really the case anymore, at least outside of some relatively minor things. But it's still restricted by the form factor, and that's never going away. Attach a keyboard and a big screen and it's not mobile anymore. Even if PC cases and game consoles were to someday shrink to the size of cell phones, they'd still be a different market from actual mobile devices because of the enormous differences in input devices and display sizes.
I'm going to say the worst moment of the past decade in gaming for me was finding out City of Heroes was shutting down. It felt like a gut-punch. Something died in me when it ended that only started being reborn with Homecoming.
I used to hate f2p, but have enjoyed a couple very much, that I would not have tried otherwise; Destiny 2 and Warframe. Cash shops are annoying, but nothing a little will power cant ignore completely. I support the devs when I am enjoying a game and not before. That suits me perfectly, and also ensures the developers do the work up front, to be good enough to warrant support.
By contrast, preorder exclusives have basically given publishers license to put out whatever crap they want as long as the marketing team can drive up enough hype. I hate that shit with a passion. Crowd funding is just an extension of this. They are using players’ desperation and good will to rob them, imo
Vault-Tec analysts have concluded that the odds of worldwide nuclear armaggeddon this decade are 17,143,762... to 1.
As someone that played SW:TOR from the betas, and as a Founder that preordered the collector's edition, I can say that it's F2P version is among the worst in the industry, or at least was. Not sure they've changed anything over the years since I stopped playing.
If you leave the game and come back as F2P you can't even wear gear, or use items, that you previously earned in the game, unless you pay.....you know AGAIN.....after you earned it while PAYING a sub previously.
In my personal opinion nothing good has ever come from a F2P version of any mmo. I've been against F2P versions for mmos since people started whining about wanting them 15 years ago. They should be nothing but extended trials. Let people try the game for a month or so, with restrictions, and if they like what they see then they can pay the sub fee. Don't want to pay a sub, then go play something that'll nickle and dime you until you actually realize you're paying more to play than if you were to just pay a sub.
Well, here we are now in 2020 and can't play anything without seeing damned cash shops in everything, cuz people would rather NOT pay a sub for a game, that would actually give all the stuff that's in that stupid shop as content in the game they don't want to pay for. So because people falsely cry "it's pay to win" when they can't get what they want as a F2P player things get thrown in a cash shop so "everyone can have it." Thanks for moving content to cash shops.........NOT.
F2P is the absolute worst thing to ever happen to mmos. Name one F2P mmo that has done anywhere near as well as WoW or FFXIV.
Glad to see so many opinions on the best and worst of the last decade! I know a lot of people consider Free to Play games as one of the worst transitions in the genre, and as a player, I agree to some extent.
But looking at it in an unbiased way, I think many of us don't know what life would be like without Free 2 Play. Think of the MMO's that are still around due to a version of Free 2 Play. Lord of the Rings Online, DC Universe Online, RIFT, Champions Online, Secret World Legends, the list goes on and on. What would the MMO landscape look like if we didn't have the influx of players and the cash shops to sustain these games over the years?
In fact, had the Free to Play craze started earlier, who knows? Maybe we would still have Tabula Rasa, Warhammer Age of Reckoning, The Matrix Online or maybe even Star Wars Galaxies?
If you recall, way back in the late 2000s, it didn't even matter if games were subscription, buy to play, or what, cash shops were still being added. Most players attempted to fight against the idea that games should add cash shops altogether, but we couldn't stop them. It seemed that cash shops were coming whether we wanted it or not, but at least with the inclusion of F2P, you didn't have to pay for box prices, or subscriptions, at least not if you didn't want to.
It's something to think about. We have a lot of MMOs to choose from today because of the shift to a Free to Play model. No, it's not ideal, it's not even what I want to see, but it's what needed to happen to keep games going. So far, it's worked. Love it or hate it, you have to at least acknowledge that.
Most innovative and unique goes to Darkfall online hands down. Anyone that played it will tell you. It was just plagued with a terrible development team(that took over from the original one that did all the work) and mechanics that solely promoted pvp and not a whole lot else. Its the only true mmorpg that had fps combat, not like mmorpg posers ala New World survival game.
The only reason why it was different was because it started development in 2001-02 before WoW killed progress in the genre.
The worst of the genre is WoW model copies SWTOR, RIFT ect Cash shops and the clusterfyck tjhat is crowdfunding.
In my personal opinion? We'd have better games. The competition to bring in players to their games would force companies to bring new and innovative things to the table.
Instead what we have now are companies releasing mostly re-skinned, non-innovative, and unfinished games with high emphasis on their cash shops in order to get the most money they can out of players in the shortest amount of time.
Mmos should have subs.....much like Netflix has a sub, or cable has a "sub," and if the game turns out to not be good then it fails. It's that simple.
Starting off the article saying F2P is best was pretty bold.
If anything, F2P usually ends up locking content behind paywalls or adding unnecessary grind to things. Or adding monetization in ways that no one wants like lootboxes or paying for inventory slots (they almost all do this, even Warframe). The things that you noted still exist.
In my personal opinion? We'd have better games. The competition to bring in players to their games would force companies to bring new and innovative things to the table.
Instead what we have now are companies releasing mostly re-skinned, non-innovative, and unfinished games with high emphasis on their cash shops in order to get the most money they can out of players in the shortest amount of time.
Mmos should have subs.....much like Netflix has a sub, or cable has a "sub," and if the game turns out to not be good then it fails. It's that simple.
P.S. - this quote system on here is confusing AF
You get used to the quoting system.
I guess it's just something we may never know. If games just failed instead of changing to f2p, we would have fewer games. I don't know if that's bad or good. I like that we have more games to choose from, even if I don't play most of them, I guess some people play them.
Netflix is the worst way to do business. They cut a lot of their biggest shows because the metrics just don't add up on the backend, according to them. Now they're moving more shows to weekly releases, whereas before you could get a whole season up front.
I find I want to watch things on netflix less and less, as they remove or cancel shows I actually like.. there's maybe 3 titles left on the service I'm waiting for, and truthfully I'll probably just cancel until they release anyway.
Netflix is about as close to NCSoft as you can get, at least NCSoft back when they would launch and cancel games almost immediately instead of trying to fix them. Same thing Netflix does, they straight up get rid of series that are good, and have a following, simply because the numbers don't add up, they don't even give them a chance anymore.
So I guess in that way, I have to disagree with you, f2p was a good thing. Just like if shows on netflix were considered MMOs, if they could have transitioned MST3K's Return to f2p and kept it, I would still be watching it.
This one became the worst MMORPG in the decade (or more like ever) with their obsolete slow engine, outdated graphics - and even worse F2P transition where EA/BioWare used their own game as a ransomware by locking character's bank and equipment and demanding $15 to unlock it (after I've paid $60 for the game during release). In the end it saved me couple hundreds $$$ (and a lot of nerves!): I never buy BioWare/EA games without 50%-90% discounts since 2013, mitigated Mass Effect Andromeda, Anthem, Star Warss Battlefront 2 launch fiascos.
$15 to unlock? Took me 40k credits to unlock the bank cap and dependent on everything else. I didn't have to spend real life money to unlock any of that stuff.
Also, they can't just give away everything for free if you don't want to subscribe. What is that? Wanting your cake and eating it too? Yeah free 2 play. Is free 2 play. They have to encourage people to want to spend money on the game or it closes. You cant just expect them to keep it open and complety free and release content without making any money. That is like expecting Facebook to not have ads and sell your meta data and provide it all free of charge. And Gmail without in box ads.
Someone eventually has to be paid. Even communism knows this. swtor is not ransomwear. Not even close. Of all the problems you point out about it you chose that which is grabbing at thin air. It started and endgame was terrible because they didn't expect people to level up a gunslinger in a week. Story content was slow. Bugs in classes. Etc. Their Free 2 Play model sort of made it ok for AAA MMOs to go free 2 play.
You want ransomware play anything that Cryptic made or had their hand in.
I love FTP and refuse to play any game that requires a monthly sub. Buy-to-play like GW2 is acceptable as long as the price isn't more than $40 and you don't have to buy a new expansion every year. When I used to subscribe before FTP became common (I've been playing since 1999), I would only subscribe to one game at a time and felt locked into it. If I didn't play a lot, I felt I was wasting my money. With FTP, I can dabble in half a dozen games at once and pick the game to play based on the mood that I'm in.
My favorite FTP is LOTRO, both because of the huge diverse world and that you can earn store credits by completing in-game accomplishments. ST:TOR is my second favorite FTP. ESO and EVE are nice when I want a change of pace. Another requirement for my MMOs is that PvP has to be optional. I dabble in it occasionally but refuse to play any game with open PvP everywhere.
Comments
Mobile gaming and PC/console gaming are two entirely different markets that both exist for reasons of their own. Neither are going away anytime soon, at least apart from some cataclysm in which the end of gaming is the least of our problems.
Mobile gaming used to be restricted by processing power and bandwidth, but those aren't really the case anymore, at least outside of some relatively minor things. But it's still restricted by the form factor, and that's never going away. Attach a keyboard and a big screen and it's not mobile anymore. Even if PC cases and game consoles were to someday shrink to the size of cell phones, they'd still be a different market from actual mobile devices because of the enormous differences in input devices and display sizes.
By contrast, preorder exclusives have basically given publishers license to put out whatever crap they want as long as the marketing team can drive up enough hype. I hate that shit with a passion. Crowd funding is just an extension of this. They are using players’ desperation and good will to rob them, imo
Vault-Tec analysts have concluded that the odds of worldwide nuclear armaggeddon this decade are 17,143,762... to 1.
If you leave the game and come back as F2P you can't even wear gear, or use items, that you previously earned in the game, unless you pay.....you know AGAIN.....after you earned it while PAYING a sub previously.
In my personal opinion nothing good has ever come from a F2P version of any mmo. I've been against F2P versions for mmos since people started whining about wanting them 15 years ago. They should be nothing but extended trials. Let people try the game for a month or so, with restrictions, and if they like what they see then they can pay the sub fee. Don't want to pay a sub, then go play something that'll nickle and dime you until you actually realize you're paying more to play than if you were to just pay a sub.
Well, here we are now in 2020 and can't play anything without seeing damned cash shops in everything, cuz people would rather NOT pay a sub for a game, that would actually give all the stuff that's in that stupid shop as content in the game they don't want to pay for. So because people falsely cry "it's pay to win" when they can't get what they want as a F2P player things get thrown in a cash shop so "everyone can have it." Thanks for moving content to cash shops.........NOT.
F2P is the absolute worst thing to ever happen to mmos. Name one F2P mmo that has done anywhere near as well as WoW or FFXIV.
But looking at it in an unbiased way, I think many of us don't know what life would be like without Free 2 Play. Think of the MMO's that are still around due to a version of Free 2 Play. Lord of the Rings Online, DC Universe Online, RIFT, Champions Online, Secret World Legends, the list goes on and on. What would the MMO landscape look like if we didn't have the influx of players and the cash shops to sustain these games over the years?
In fact, had the Free to Play craze started earlier, who knows? Maybe we would still have Tabula Rasa, Warhammer Age of Reckoning, The Matrix Online or maybe even Star Wars Galaxies?
If you recall, way back in the late 2000s, it didn't even matter if games were subscription, buy to play, or what, cash shops were still being added. Most players attempted to fight against the idea that games should add cash shops altogether, but we couldn't stop them. It seemed that cash shops were coming whether we wanted it or not, but at least with the inclusion of F2P, you didn't have to pay for box prices, or subscriptions, at least not if you didn't want to.
It's something to think about. We have a lot of MMOs to choose from today because of the shift to a Free to Play model. No, it's not ideal, it's not even what I want to see, but it's what needed to happen to keep games going. So far, it's worked. Love it or hate it, you have to at least acknowledge that.
I stopped reading the article here.
The only reason why it was different was because it started development in 2001-02 before WoW killed progress in the genre.
The worst of the genre is WoW model copies SWTOR, RIFT ect
Cash shops and the clusterfyck tjhat is crowdfunding.
MurderHerd
Instead what we have now are companies releasing mostly re-skinned, non-innovative, and unfinished games with high emphasis on their cash shops in order to get the most money they can out of players in the shortest amount of time.
Mmos should have subs.....much like Netflix has a sub, or cable has a "sub," and if the game turns out to not be good then it fails. It's that simple.
P.S. - this quote system on here is confusing AF
If anything, F2P usually ends up locking content behind paywalls or adding unnecessary grind to things. Or adding monetization in ways that no one wants like lootboxes or paying for inventory slots (they almost all do this, even Warframe). The things that you noted still exist.
I guess it's just something we may never know. If games just failed instead of changing to f2p, we would have fewer games. I don't know if that's bad or good. I like that we have more games to choose from, even if I don't play most of them, I guess some people play them.
Netflix is the worst way to do business. They cut a lot of their biggest shows because the metrics just don't add up on the backend, according to them. Now they're moving more shows to weekly releases, whereas before you could get a whole season up front.
I find I want to watch things on netflix less and less, as they remove or cancel shows I actually like.. there's maybe 3 titles left on the service I'm waiting for, and truthfully I'll probably just cancel until they release anyway.
Netflix is about as close to NCSoft as you can get, at least NCSoft back when they would launch and cancel games almost immediately instead of trying to fix them. Same thing Netflix does, they straight up get rid of series that are good, and have a following, simply because the numbers don't add up, they don't even give them a chance anymore.
So I guess in that way, I have to disagree with you, f2p was a good thing. Just like if shows on netflix were considered MMOs, if they could have transitioned MST3K's Return to f2p and kept it, I would still be watching it.
$15 to unlock? Took me 40k credits to unlock the bank cap and dependent on everything else. I didn't have to spend real life money to unlock any of that stuff.
Also, they can't just give away everything for free if you don't want to subscribe. What is that? Wanting your cake and eating it too? Yeah free 2 play. Is free 2 play. They have to encourage people to want to spend money on the game or it closes. You cant just expect them to keep it open and complety free and release content without making any money. That is like expecting Facebook to not have ads and sell your meta data and provide it all free of charge. And Gmail without in box ads.
Someone eventually has to be paid. Even communism knows this. swtor is not ransomwear. Not even close. Of all the problems you point out about it you chose that which is grabbing at thin air. It started and endgame was terrible because they didn't expect people to level up a gunslinger in a week. Story content was slow. Bugs in classes. Etc. Their Free 2 Play model sort of made it ok for AAA MMOs to go free 2 play.
You want ransomware play anything that Cryptic made or had their hand in.
My favorite FTP is LOTRO, both because of the huge diverse world and that you can earn store credits by completing in-game accomplishments. ST:TOR is my second favorite FTP. ESO and EVE are nice when I want a change of pace. Another requirement for my MMOs is that PvP has to be optional. I dabble in it occasionally but refuse to play any game with open PvP everywhere.