Rumor: Star Trek Online Might Boldly Become Free

[vansau]

Rumor: Star Trek Online Might Boldly Become Free

Cryptic Studios isn't planning to make its latest MMOG free-to-play any time soon, but the developer is considering it for the eventual future.

Free-to-play MMOGs have proven to be financially viable, based on examples like browser-based titles like Farmville and the more hardcore games like Dungeons & Dragons Online. Star Trek Online might be the next big MMOG to (eventually) adopt a similar payment plan, based on a comment from the game's developer.

Daniel Stahl, Star Trek Online's executive producer, addressed a forum question about the game eventually becoming free-to-play. "I could easily see STO going into a hybrid model similar to what LOTRO is doing," he stated. "In that model, subscriptions stay as is - but you allow people to play for free but heavily limit what they can do - which in essence creates a robust way to demo the game and then if you want to keep playing, you either pay for every little thing you are interested in, or you subscribe and don't have to worry about it.

"Turbine seems to have some interesting plans and looking at how DDO has turned around, its worth taking note."

Creating a demo-like version of the game certainly makes a lot of sense, since it would allow players to explore the title at their leisure &mdash at no cost to them &mdash and figure out if they want to take up a career with the Federation. While Stahl's statement is far from an official business announcement, it's interesting to hear that a recently-released game like Star Trek Online could potentially adopt a form of the free-to-play system in the future.

Source: Massively

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[chstens]

Fascinating, hell, I would be happy if they just allowed goddamn trial accounts.

 

[sephiroth1991]

I might consider it then.

 

[Jack and Calumon]

Yes, that sounds nice. Next let's have it for APB and then we can party all night!

Calumon: Of course, in front of glowy boxes! ^^

 

[subtlefuge]

Just the fact that they are considering this makes me inclined to try it right now. I love companies that attempt to build community by offering some services for free.

 

[Spawn_Of_Kyuss]

The drop off in subscriptions hit that hard, huh?

 

[Jared]

If it did o free, I would play it...until then, Ill just watch how it develops!

 

[Gildan Bladeborn]

I might actually check that out if they ever implement such a system, I've always been slightly curious how Star Trek Online actually turned out (just not enough to actually pay for it).

 

[Danpascooch]

From what I've seen, going free to play means "shit we're going out of business, PLEASE play our game PLEASE!"

Little soon for that.

 

[Alar]

I'm sure that's going to piss the hell off of all the people who paid a lot of money for the Lifetime Subscription.

 

[Fensfield]

Of course, in 'standard model' MMO games, this is a recipe for bot-player swarms. Still, DDO and LOtRO aren't standard model, and to my knowledge neither is STO, so hopefully it'll work.

The only time I've seen a standard form MMORPG, like Mabinogi or Everquest, pull off a similar setup with some modest degree of success is Ragnarok Online's Valkyrie concept.

They removed their endlessly abused free tial in favour of a free server, Valkyrie, while the subscription servers got +50% rates and cheaper access to the game's limited cash shop, as well as more events and better support. This meant that while Valkyrie was spammed to all hell by botters and RMT spammers, Chaos and Loki, the important, subscription servers, are now all-but bot and spammer free (with anyone foolish enough to commit either soon dealt with) because you have to pay to get at them, no if's or buts about it.

In a way, this is a really, really nice move - it's one of the few instances in an MMO that doesn't need you to attach personal identification details like Insurance or Social Security numbers to your account where the bot/spam problem has been seriously limited.

Unfortunately, curious new players are also confronted with the hell that is Valkyrie as their first experience of RO. Though I suppose its not much worse than any other big, Free to Play, standard model MMO. Or even a subscription-based one with a free trial.

EDIT: That said, all these 'May eventually go Free to Play' news posts are getting dull. After all, most MMO's will eventually go this way, one day, in one form or another when they feel they've entered a subscription slump from which they'll likely not recover. It's just.. obvious and an unspoken rule of the industry. Only a few, like EVE Online, likely wouldn't - and only then because the shift would likely break the game causing them to die anyway.

 

[reg42]

Well Star Trek doesn't have the same nostalgia value for me as it does with others, so I'll give this a miss.

That being said, I'm really liking that MMORPG's are becoming free to play, it gives me hope for the industry.

 

[Gildan Bladeborn]

I'm sure that's going to piss the hell off of all the people who paid a lot of money for the Lifetime Subscription.

I don't see why it would - just make sure the individual prices for all the various bits you don't give people for free work out to be at least as much as the lifetime subscription cost, and they'd have no reason to complain about being screwed over.

 

[Raithnor]

Disclosure: I am a lifetime subscriber to STO.

So long as the game survives 17 months, I really don't care what happens to the pricing structure of STO. Anything that makes the game more accessible is a good thing in my opinion. Although, I'm probably in the minority of most STO forum-goers though.

I will say this: Season 2 is going to bring some good changes the game. My opinion is that Cryptic seriously dropped the ball at launch by concentrating on the grind-fest. Sure, they had some interesting missions here and there, but as soon as you figured out the repeatable content consisted of Click 5 Glowies and Defeat 5 Mobs and the terrible Zone PVP content the game died for most people.

STO needs to realize the game lies more in interactivity not: "Read Block of Text and go grind mobs". I ran one of the new diplomacy missions and I'll tell you I'm more interested in following the text when it has more bearing on what I'm doing than "Kill all enemies".

 

[derelict]

The drop off in subscriptions hit that hard, huh?

It should, I tried the game and it's seriously not worth paying for, it is quite literally half-done.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

I just hope that 'severely limiting free to play player's content' doesn't end up like Runescapes insultingly limited free to play content.

 

[Russ Pitts]

Profitability ... the final frontier ...

 

[Faulty Turmoil]

Let's hope they follow through with it. This game is sounding better and better by the second.
Let's just hope they can deliver.

 

[Supernova2000]

Charming, they only start considering this after I wasted £154 on a lifetime subscription to this vacuous, pretentious tripe that I now only ever play to bore myself to sleep at night occasionally!! Considering the money they've accumulated, you'd think they'd use that to fix everything wrong with their game: for a start, deleting the instancing that seals off every single mission, star system and bridge inside their own little pocket dimensions that have no effect on the game universe as a whole? But no, more likely they've spent it on ice-cream and hookers or whatever.

Well done Cryptic, you got me, you bastards!

 

[Trebort]

I'm lucky I only bought a 12 month sub to this pile of shit. I really feel sorry for the people who signed up for life.

The game is really bad. The worst game I have ever played in fact.

The people at cryptic are natural liars and always come up with some mad scheme to make as much money as possible, while pissing off the most players they can.

This game deserves to be free. It's terrible. I wish I'd never touched it.

There are other games online that are much better, and they are free. Ikariam for example.