BioWare Considers Free-to-Play For The Old Republic
- Thread starter Andy Chalk
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To be honest I prefer the subscription fee that everyone pays and an even keel. The bottom line is developers need to make money off of these games. A FTP model, which is designed to get you to pay piecemeal, typically winds up being far more expensive than $15 per month. As much as MMOs promise to only sell vanity items, the bottom line is that they aren't going to sell enough of them to cover expenses and make the huge profits they demand, so it inevitably turns into selling things with an in game effect, like area access, inventory slots, removal of annoying blocks that limit your enjoyment,fees to respect a character, fees to guarantee not destroying expensive components when you craft, xps potions, advanced character classes, mounts, and even high end items for whatever level you happen to be... I've seen all of these things.
Most people who play a FTP game seriously wind up paying $25 to $50 a month if they have income (I've talked to plenty of them, and even fallen into that trap myself). They just don't notice it as much when it's piecemeal, and ultimatly tend to justify it as "well, I now own the content until I'm done with the game", not realizing all of that being included in a subscription for $15 a month would have been cheaper up until they got bored with it. This is the real reason most games are going FTP.
When I look at TOR I have to question whether EA's numbers are accurate, or if they are just that bloody greedy. They are reporting 1.4 million subs or something like that, but even if they dropped to a million I can't see a game making 15 million dollars a month not being sufficient to justify the existance of. The FTP model however allows them to claim more per head, and they can keep selling piecemeal content an "unnoticable" chunk at a time at an increasing rate as the player base dwindles and the remaining players are by definition the fanatics.
Most people who play a FTP game seriously wind up paying $25 to $50 a month if they have income (I've talked to plenty of them, and even fallen into that trap myself). They just don't notice it as much when it's piecemeal, and ultimatly tend to justify it as "well, I now own the content until I'm done with the game", not realizing all of that being included in a subscription for $15 a month would have been cheaper up until they got bored with it. This is the real reason most games are going FTP.
When I look at TOR I have to question whether EA's numbers are accurate, or if they are just that bloody greedy. They are reporting 1.4 million subs or something like that, but even if they dropped to a million I can't see a game making 15 million dollars a month not being sufficient to justify the existance of. The FTP model however allows them to claim more per head, and they can keep selling piecemeal content an "unnoticable" chunk at a time at an increasing rate as the player base dwindles and the remaining players are by definition the fanatics.
Hm... I rather wait for Guild wars 2. I'm already busy playing another MMO and i don't think i'm able to play more than 2 at once.
This is absolutely misleading for the talk was about making it free-to-play like WOW does with up to level 20.... That is why it was also pulled... You should update the facts or take this off for it is false statements...Andy Chalk said:BioWare Considers Free-to-Play For The Old Republic
BioWare Lead Designer Emmanuel Lusinchi says The Old Republic studio needs to be "flexible and adapt to what's going on."
Things have been going perhaps not quite as smoothly for BioWare's layoffs [http://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-The-Old-Republic-Pc/dp/B001CWXAP2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1339788461&sr=8-1&keywords=star+wars+the+old+republic] followed.
BioWare had previously insisted that subscriber numbers weren't falling but with the cat out of the bag, it now appears ready to take drastic action to turn things around, including, possibly, a switch to free-to-play. A number of other big-name MMOs have made the transition and Lusinchi suggested that they, as much as World of Warcraft, are putting the pressure on The Old Republic.
"If it was just free-to-play games and they weren't very good it wouldn't even be a question but there are definitely good games out there and good games coming out, so of course all of this competition impacts your plan with what you want to do," he told GamesTM [http://www.gamestm.co.uk/discuss/star-wars-the-old-republic-we-are-looking-at-free-to-play-says-lead-designer/].
"The MMO market is very dynamic and we need to be dynamic as well. Unless people are happy with what they have, they are constantly demanding updates, new modes and situations," he continued. "So we are looking at free-to-play but I can't tell you in much detail. We have to be flexible and adapt to what is going on."
Free-to-play is a perfectly valid and viable approach for MMOs to take, as evidenced by the post-F2P success of games like Dungeons & Dragons Online, Age of Conan and Lord of the Rings Online, not to mention the growing number of games that are built on the free-to-play model from the ground up. Even so, it'd be hard to see a changeover of a marquee game like The Old Republic, especially so soon after launch, as anything but a huge defeat and climbdown for EA.
For some reason, the original interview with Lusinchi has been pulled, but fortunately here [http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/06/15/bioware-considering-free-to-play-for-star-wars-the-old-republic/].
Source: Gamasutra [http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/172482/BioWare_looking_at_freetoplay_for_Star_Wars_The_Old_Republic.php]
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If it went F2P, I will certainly try it at least. Been looking for a decent free MMO for a while, at Star Trek Online isn't cutting it.
Two non-mmo games that do it well are LoL and Tribes Ascend. While I like Tribes a hell of a lot more, LoL does it a bit better.Capitano Segnaposto said:
They are not considering F2P, they are thinking about considering, maybe one day, perhaps, possibly, considering, thinking about going F2P. If they get absolutely smashed by GW2 then they might really consider it but most people will probably play both.
What I don't get is why do MMOs jump straight from $15 to F2P. If people think the game is not worth $15, why don't they just lower the sub cost? Maybe add a cash shop as well to supplement that if need be.
What I don't get is why do MMOs jump straight from $15 to F2P. If people think the game is not worth $15, why don't they just lower the sub cost? Maybe add a cash shop as well to supplement that if need be.
why do you doubt that? what is so special about WoW? Its not the fucking holy grail of gaming. Like all games, the test of time will bring it down. Thats just how people feel. Cataclysm didnt do much good for it, and Pandaria, the way its going, is going worser. They are just prolonguing its weezing existence like a old man on life support, with the pokemon gameplay and the soon free to play payment plan.Zachary Amaranth said:
I came in to say that i would finally give the game a shot if it actually went FTP.
Then I saw the hideous aesthetic in the OP screenshot.
Bioware should not have spent what it spent on this.
Then I saw the hideous aesthetic in the OP screenshot.
Bioware should not have spent what it spent on this.
