Oh I like it, though it is a mixed bag as stated in the polls, it may be free to play but often they're handing piles of advantages to those willing to pay some money, the only free to play i find bearable is Runescape and thats only slightly, unless Guildwars is counted?
Question of the Day, July 13, 2010
- Thread starter The Escapist Staff
- Start date
I'd be putting great, but there's far too many low quality, unsupported MMOGs out there for that. If there was a consistent level of quality, no matter where it was set, I might be more impressed. Mixed bag it is.
I agree. I think they should go by the "almost free" non-subscription model.Kanda said:
That would attract people like me who refuse to pay any sort of regular fee but deter people who don't really want to play the game.
Take for example Old Republic. What I think they should do is come out with a packaged game that's faction (or even class) based: choose the dark side or light side; or choose between jedi, sith lord, smuggler, bounty hunter, etc when you go to buy the game). If you want to try a different kind of character, you would have to buy that version of the game so they're sure to make a lot of money of those who "gotta get them all" plus they can have the microtransactions which seem to stimulate the bottom line.
I think that MMOG's that use F2P systems aren't all bad, like in the poll its just a mixed bag when it comes to these. I've been playing DDO since last october and i'm really liking the way they implemented their micro-transaction system. Sure you can pay to unlock things in the game but that doesn't make you get any unfair advantage. Everyone has access to everything in the game, all it takes is more time if you don't want to pay.
Mixed bag. First, there's a large number of primarily Korean MMOs that use the FtP system, and its clear that there design choices were based around sucking up money, not making the ame worth playing. Those are not good. A lot of MMOs these days, like Star Trek, are low quality games, and FtP makes them worth giving a shot, not to mention give the developers a little money. There still not very good games, but the FtP is a good aspect of them. Lastly, there is not so much a category as a single game: DDO. DDO is what all FtP games should aspire to be. It is a complete, enjoyable game that offers actual content (Instead of purely aestetic options) for an additional cost, without granting an unfair advantage to people with deep pockets. A Drow Favored Soul (Which would require purchasing Drow race and Favored Soul class) is not necessarily more powerful then a human Cleric, but it is different enough that the cost actually gives you something interesting to do, without marginalizing the Human Cleric player. And also, simply playing the game will grant you some points that you would normally have to buy, giving an even greater sense of accomplishment. On average, subscriptions are better for a serious player, FtP better for the casual player who can exhibit self control, but FtP has the potential to be a superior system.
I have yet to play a free-to-play MMOG that was actually free. Sure, they say you can play for free, and that the paid portions are just a bonus, but the reality is that anything interesting is locked behind a pay wall. You could play the same three games over and over for free, but I'm not about to spend cash on the good parts if I don't even know what they like. Games that set a daily limit and let you pay for more, those make sense. But I won't pay just to see what the rest of the game is like -- it's the same reason I don't buy AAA titles without downloading them first.
If they can truly make a MMO free, that's great, but what we normally get are just demos. I'd rather the game offer ten free days of the full game unlocked like a few of them do, and then charge for the client and a subscription fee. The freemium model just hasn't produced anything worthwhile that I've seen yet.
Considering I currently have an Allods Online and DDO character I'm going to have to go with it being pretty good. So long as they don't make it practically mandatory to use the microtransaction system it's fine. If all the items can be bought or found in game as well as through paying money, maybe with a few paid specials that aren't unfairly powerful in comparison to non-paid items then the games will work fine and I'll keep playing.
It's awesome when done right.
Like DDO. It's free to play through and through.
You can reach max level and end-game content without ever paying a cent.
You can even get free turbine points, although that requires grinding, to actually buy premium content for free.
There is quite a bit of content you can buy though.
Such as conveniences like more character slots, account-wide banks to transfer items to your characters more easily than through mail.
And high-reward adventures, gold hirelings (NPC characters you can summon in place of an party with actual people.)
Normally, with the silver contracts you buy for in-game money, you can only summon one at a time, while you can summon up to a whole party with gold contracts.
There's also XP boosting potions and such.
And then there's a couple of classes and two races you need to buy to play.
These can also be bought with TP you've ground in adventures.
Of course, you could just pay monthly for a VIP account to get all past and future content for free, and 500 TP/month to use for helpful items.
Well, "free".
Basically like a normal pay per month MMO, only better since you get TP to use in the in-game store.
All in all, it's a great system.
It doesn't cripple f2p players and it doesn't give paying players too much of an edge.
Some f2p games are just ridiculous though.
Free players are basically being bullied by paying players because there's such a ridiculous power difference.
Like DDO. It's free to play through and through.
You can reach max level and end-game content without ever paying a cent.
You can even get free turbine points, although that requires grinding, to actually buy premium content for free.
There is quite a bit of content you can buy though.
Such as conveniences like more character slots, account-wide banks to transfer items to your characters more easily than through mail.
And high-reward adventures, gold hirelings (NPC characters you can summon in place of an party with actual people.)
Normally, with the silver contracts you buy for in-game money, you can only summon one at a time, while you can summon up to a whole party with gold contracts.
There's also XP boosting potions and such.
And then there's a couple of classes and two races you need to buy to play.
These can also be bought with TP you've ground in adventures.
Of course, you could just pay monthly for a VIP account to get all past and future content for free, and 500 TP/month to use for helpful items.
Well, "free".
Basically like a normal pay per month MMO, only better since you get TP to use in the in-game store.
All in all, it's a great system.
It doesn't cripple f2p players and it doesn't give paying players too much of an edge.
Some f2p games are just ridiculous though.
Free players are basically being bullied by paying players because there's such a ridiculous power difference.
Well since Subscription fees are one of my biggest turn offs towards MMOs, I think it's great. Now if only they could do something about all the other players.