Question of the Day, July 13, 2010

[The Escapist Staff]

Question of the Day, July 13, 2010



Star Trek Online might be the next MMOG to switch from a subscription-based system to free-to-play. Players will get to play for free, but will be severely limited in what they can do in-game unless they pay up. What do you think of this trend?

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[Banana Phone Man]

Playing League of Legends right now which is free (not quite a MMO but it's the closest thing I got) and it's great. They make profit buy selling in game stuff like skins for characters and even I have got some. Buy selling items at low cost they sell a lot of them making enough profit to keep going. If it was a fee to play I would probably not have even tried the game.

 

[Jaebird]

As long as the micro-transaction content is done correctly, I see no problem with making free-to-play MMO's.

 

[Kanda]

I've played both free-to-play and subscription based MMORPGs and I prefer subscription based one.

The problem with free-to-play is that the in game community suffers from a higher newbie and troll population compared to paying MMORPG.

 

[Nivag the Owl]

It's great that some MMOGs are free-to-play but I'm worried that it becoming common practice would result in less MMOGs at worse quality in the long run.

 

[Eric the Orange]

I don't really see how this is much different than a free trial then pay afterward. The only real difference is in a trial you are limited by how long you can play and in a these new "demos" you are limited in what you can do.

 

[Trebort]

I hate free to play MMO's.

At least a subscription free keeps some of the riff raff out. ^_^

Games like Star Trek Online however, that make you pay, while giving you a free to play experience by keeping the premium content locked away until you buy it is wrong, and I wish slow painful death on that game and Cryptic Studios.

 

[Le_Lisra]

Like so many polls before this one lacks a "I really don't care" option.

 

[Keava]

It all depends what kind of free-to-play we are talking.

Majority of eastern MMOs are supposedly Free2Play but actually to even be able to play on par with others or to have a smooth game play experience you have to pay much more than a monthly subscription is worth. Sure for the most basic style what you get for free is enough, you can grind your eyes off till they fall out, but thats pretty much it. Its bad.

Now the style DDO picked was much better. You could play the game actually and expierience big part of it without any issues, further more the more you played the more points you could earn that let you buy the stuff from cash shop for free and there was an option of just paying a subscription to get lal the goodies right away + additional points for boosts. And that i can live with.

Third thing is Pay2Buy MMOs. Like GuildWars, or recently Global Agenda. Wish more of 'average' production would go that way, not trying to rip off customers. Sadly its not too common trend, and publishers, for obvious reasons, are more keen on getting money fast.

 

[AceDefective]

I am currently playing lotro free
Im trying and its not to bad

 

[Captain Pancake]

I'm not so keen on the divide. They'll make it free for anybody but make you pay for some of the key features, it's better in like WoW when everybody pays but everybody has access to everything.

 

[Dioxide20]

Hate it.

Subscription based is the way to go, as long as the game is as constatnly updated as WOW. You just end up paying more for less with the Free-to-play approach.

 

[Jared]

Its mixed. I like being able to play it, and the core gameplay is there...but to get most out of it, still need to take part on the micro-transactions.

Its really, I tink, how dedicated you would wajnt to be for it, and, if they would come under what you would pay anyway for a monthy subsciprtion

 

[Assassin Xaero]

I know I will not ever pay every month to play a game, so it is semi good news. Too bad Fallen Earth was the only MMO that was came close to sparking my interest, but the controls on it were horrible...

 

[tehroc]

Mixed. I like the fact that you you own the content like in DDO. If you plan on playing a long time buying your content is better, but you do get better value out of using the subscription if you don't plan on as long of a stay. I dont care for the buying of items with real money though. Content is one thing...

 

[yankeefan19]

I'm fine with either free to play or sub based, but i hate games that are advertised as free, but you only get 10% of the game.

 

[uppitycracker]

some should stay subscription based, and those that do should be the ones that excel in the field by constantly bringing new content updates, new zones, dungeons, ect. paying for a MMO and getting anything less is kind of a joke.

 

[Nemu]

I don't mind paying for games, as I believe that TRUE free-to-play games aren't worth the time to even think about signing up for. Games that people actually have to pay for are (almost) constantly updated and maintained in order to keep that cash cow going.

All-in-all, I think if there was free content made available for folks who don't want to/can't pay, with "better" and more in-depth content available to paying customers, that more people might give games a chance instead of writing them off so quickly.

Plus, maybe some of the whiners who complain/rant about how "MMOs should be free" would shut up for once.

 

[MrPatience]

Surely a F2P system is a good thing. Like a try before you buy kind of thing. Like the game enough; subscribe.
The only problem I could forsee is the newbie-geddon which would ensue, but this can be regulated.