The F2P joke

[Rivenart]

I haven't read the whole thing because frankly I don't care that much, but really that last line only proves my issue with the models the game uses to make money.
Isn't that something rather important and beneficial to advertising, something that should be listed at the top of the differences for the subscriptions, not relegated to a seperate page in an asterisk at the bottom. It throws up a completely unnessarcary barrier into the game down to bad advertising and a system that doesn't work with itself.

 

[Maze1125]

I think of City's 'F2P' as more of an extended trial.

It gives you the entire original game for free, bar controllers. How is that just an "extended trial"?

Yeah, the game has improved huge amounts since then, but people used to pay $15 a month just for what they're giving away entirely for free now.

Yes, I'm one of those who did.

My point is that City's F2P omits some important gameplay mechanics - IOs and Incarnates being the big ones - as well as two archetypes and virtually all of the new content. I'm not saying it's bad, but what I am saying is that compared to other F2P MMOs it's not very good. It's the difference between a F2P where you want to spend some money and a F2P where you have to.

How exactly is that a case of "having" to spend money?
IOs and incarnates are nothing but optional extras, and yeah, the newest content you have to pay for, but there's still 7 years worth of old content you get for free, and so what if two ATs are locked? The other eight are open to everyone with all their old power-sets completely free.

Not to mention, pretty much all reviews of CoH:Freedom have stated that it's an example for F2P done right, and that's coming from people who've played most of the other F2P game, and so know what to compare it to.

 

[Sandytimeman]

I have no problems with the model of say TF2. My biggest complaint on these scenes is that your stuff can vanish in a heartbeat. For instance years ago I used to play this game called "Pangya" I got up to the rank of Amateur D (which is a really high rank) and I dropped over a grand on store items, clothes, clubs, caddies, and etc.

I reinstalled the game, my account still existed but had been wiped of all rank and items. I asked the customer support what had happened and the company had changed hands and they wiped all the accounts that didn't respond to like a small window of item transfer.

I feel robbed and tricked and now I can't even bring myself to enjoy the PSP version of the game, and I refuse to buy into the scam again. So my warning to you is prepare to have all your items taken away.

 

[Sixcess]

Not to mention, pretty much all reviews of CoH:Freedom have stated that it's an example for F2P done right, and that's coming from people who've played most of the other F2P game, and so know what to compare it to.

I'll stick with my own opinion, which is informed by my comparison of CoH (a game I played for 2 years as a subscriber) to Lord of the Rings Online and Fallen Earth - neither of which push me toward the cash shop like CoH does.

 

[Maze1125]

Not to mention, pretty much all reviews of CoH:Freedom have stated that it's an example for F2P done right, and that's coming from people who've played most of the other F2P game, and so know what to compare it to.

I'll stick with my own opinion, which is informed by my comparison of CoH (a game I played for 2 years as a subscriber) to Lord of the Rings Online and Fallen Earth - neither of which push me toward the cash shop like CoH does.

That probably because you played CoH for 2 years before, and so you know what you were missing.

A completely new player wouldn't have to touch the store for months, and the game is completely balanced without IOs. They wouldn't think "Oh I've lost inventions and masterminds, that's awful." because they never had those things, what they would have instead was 7 years of content given away for free.

 

[michael87cn]

So I'm very much into the F2P idea. I love the concept, it shuts down piracy completely and more often than not most people will by some things while other will buy most things.

But this bandwagon has got to stop.

I recently DLed Magic The Gathering - Tactics. Dubious from the outset since Wizards are about on par with Apple when it comes to scamming people for money, but I figured what could I lose since it was F2P right?

Within 30 seconds of logging in, I quit and un-installed. Virtual boosters, only 1 chapter available free. Points earned can only be spent on the AH, basically on stuff people have already bought.

Thats not free to play. Its not even buying power. To actually have any meaningful experience in the game you have to shell out and it starts making this obviously clear to you from the outset shoving stuff in your face in an attempt to make you buy things.

I dont mind you simply making you game a pay to play model, it still has its place in the market but I object to being lied to, at best this "game" could be described as a demo with DLC. Jesus Wizards, go find some dignity and respect. Its bad enough that you force us to re-buy our entire deck every 3 cycles now your lying to us and scamming us online to. Its just not on.

Dont call it F2P if its not. Charge a fee to play, release a reasonable amount of content with the game, not like MTG 2012 and dont start selling DLC in massive quantities, that take no effort to make in less than a week. Its a joke. Just release a demo and launch a normal game.

But it is free to play. Just not free to accomplish everything you could if you were to pay. That's the point. A lifetime demo that lets you try the game before you buy. Or lets you be satisfied with a lesser quality game if you're willing to play it as such.

No point in hating a business for being a business. Are you willing to offer your internet service free, to your neighbors, and sustain the economic drain that might come with such (if you have a bandwidth limited service)? Of course not. But your neighbors might want to have that internet access, so if you offer it to them for a while, they might just be willing to support you with some $$$, and then everyone is happy. (in case you didn't get my point, it costs money to offer online play of games, so stop expecting something for nothing).