Poll: I don't like F2P MMOs

[madwarper]

I like Turbine's model for DDO and LotRO; Early content is free. As you play said early content, you earn Turbine Points (currency which can be used to purchase later content). As such, if you're determined enough, you can unlock all content without spending one cent of real world cash. Though IMHO, if you're drawing this much "enjoyment" from the game that you'd grind for TP, you should throw a little cash their way in appreciation for their work.

However, since later content is bought a la carte, it can be difficult to find people to form a group with the exact same content as you. Especially in LotRO, where the majority of the quests are one-and-done, whereas in DDO, most non-raid quests can be completed over and over until the cows come home (with diminishing returns, of course).

Edit: The one big downside to F2P games, now that I think about it, is that it allows anyone to play the early content. While this means there will be new people who want to play and get better at the game, it also means more noobs. Which generally causes me to turn off the general/ooc/trade/etc. filters off when crossing newbie/lowbie content areas.

 

[DeadlyYellow]

Eh, I won't drop a dime into a game I don't have to. Besides, playing a recent EA game has taught me how to ignore all the in-game money begging.

In an odd twist, it was a F2P mmo that I sunk the most time into anyway. You've all heard of it, as it tends to be the butt of many mmo jokes. While it was not the prettiest or the most polished, Runescape offered the most to do.

 

[Paladin Anderson]

It depends really. Generally I like monthly more but only because I tend to get a better game for the money that I and everyone else puts into the game.

Free to play has its place but I dislike free to play models that seperate free players from paying players like City of heros. In that game a lot of your communications options are taken away with other players and you cant join its equivalent of guilds. Its just a bad system IMO

On the other hand League of legends has probably the best free to play model Ive seen even though its not an MMO. The only thing you pay money for that you cant buy with currency earned in game are skins and boosts. You can purchase runes and champions with the currency you earn in game and there's even a "try before you buy" system where champions are rotated every week which eventually gives you the chance to play them all without spending money blindly. So money is just for aesthetics or convienance. IMO this is the way to run a Free to play business model although I do wish I could buy skins with IP since I cant try before I buy those outside of looking at them in a youtube video

Well one of the biggest complaints that CoH customers had when it was announced that they were moving to F2P were the rampant screaming douche bags that were going to flood the game. Developers didn't them driving away loyal customers that are use to the, generally, quiet and ,comparatively, mature atmosphere.

Even if I had staid, I would have pulled my subscription as fast as I can click the second I started seeing tells and broadcasts that looked like someone was transcribing sound bites from a Call of Duty match.

 

[Bad Jim]

In an odd twist, it was a F2P mmo that I sunk the most time into anyway. You've all heard of it, as it tends to be the butt of many mmo jokes. While it was not the prettiest or the most polished, Runescape offered the most to do.

Runescape is really Pay2Play. Like playing WOW up to level 20, you are locked out of most of the content until you cough up a monthly fee. It is distinct from Pay2Win or Pay2WearStupidHats that usually masquerades as free.

 

[JaceArveduin]

As mentioned LOTRO has a pretty good system, it does put a limit on F2P, but they put in one hook that's generally too good to pass up: You can go VIP once, create all of your characters that you can, and all kinds of junk is unlocked for those characters forever. You get your bags, quick travel, traits, gold cap removal, and probably more things that I'm forgetting. If you spread that across the 4 toons you should make, then you just spent 10/15 (not sure, says 15 for a month, but I got it for 10, might be because I'm a founder) to unlock at least 50 worth of material.

 

[Troublesome Lagomorph]

F2P. I can't afford to pay for the game, then pay to be able to play it. That's just bullshit right there.
Plus, the only F2P game I really sunk actual time into was HoN, which you could buy most things for silver coins that you gained from playtime.
And the stuff that you HAD to pay for? Well, pretty much nobody used them. Ever.

 

[Windcaler]

It depends really. Generally I like monthly more but only because I tend to get a better game for the money that I and everyone else puts into the game.

Free to play has its place but I dislike free to play models that seperate free players from paying players like City of heros. In that game a lot of your communications options are taken away with other players and you cant join its equivalent of guilds. Its just a bad system IMO

On the other hand League of legends has probably the best free to play model Ive seen even though its not an MMO. The only thing you pay money for that you cant buy with currency earned in game are skins and boosts. You can purchase runes and champions with the currency you earn in game and there's even a "try before you buy" system where champions are rotated every week which eventually gives you the chance to play them all without spending money blindly. So money is just for aesthetics or convienance. IMO this is the way to run a Free to play business model although I do wish I could buy skins with IP since I cant try before I buy those outside of looking at them in a youtube video

Well one of the biggest complaints that CoH customers had when it was announced that they were moving to F2P were the rampant screaming douche bags that were going to flood the game. Developers didn't them driving away loyal customers that are use to the, generally, quiet and ,comparatively, mature atmosphere.

Even if I had staid, I would have pulled my subscription as fast as I can click the second I started seeing tells and broadcasts that looked like someone was transcribing sound bites from a Call of Duty match.

Im sorry but I heavily disagree, people were always massively immature and screaming lunatics. I ran into this especially when I got into the highest levels as a member of Stryke force (which I think was the largest "guild" in the game at the time). Even back in the pay to play version it was pretty awful. Having recently tried the new format due to an interest in seeing what has changed but also due to my account having been deleted by NC soft I like it a lot less and I see about the same amount of immaturity as I remember from the old days.

Besides in an MMORPG where youre supposed to be able to play with other people as a social experience taking away communication options that are needed to make the game function in a social aspect is kind of a dick move IMO. Its like the idea of "You have to buy X DLC to progress in X game". I understand that they did it for the veteran players but they could have done it a lot better so it wouldnt have hurt the Free to play players experience

 

[Digitaldreamer7]

World of Warcraft has gone F2P up to level 20. They get their hooks into new players and then the wallets open up.

World of Warcraft is NOT a F2P model. It's a demo->monthly model

Pay to play provides better quality content delivered at a lower price then F2P. For the price of a single movie ticket, I can get unlimited hours of playtime, extended game support, customer support, bug fixes, multiplayer, new content, etc.

With that being said, I feel every MMO right out of the gate should have a demo/trial period.

 

[Paladin Anderson]

It depends really. Generally I like monthly more but only because I tend to get a better game for the money that I and everyone else puts into the game.

Free to play has its place but I dislike free to play models that seperate free players from paying players like City of heros. In that game a lot of your communications options are taken away with other players and you cant join its equivalent of guilds. Its just a bad system IMO

On the other hand League of legends has probably the best free to play model Ive seen even though its not an MMO. The only thing you pay money for that you cant buy with currency earned in game are skins and boosts. You can purchase runes and champions with the currency you earn in game and there's even a "try before you buy" system where champions are rotated every week which eventually gives you the chance to play them all without spending money blindly. So money is just for aesthetics or convienance. IMO this is the way to run a Free to play business model although I do wish I could buy skins with IP since I cant try before I buy those outside of looking at them in a youtube video

Well one of the biggest complaints that CoH customers had when it was announced that they were moving to F2P were the rampant screaming douche bags that were going to flood the game. Developers didn't them driving away loyal customers that are use to the, generally, quiet and ,comparatively, mature atmosphere.

Even if I had staid, I would have pulled my subscription as fast as I can click the second I started seeing tells and broadcasts that looked like someone was transcribing sound bites from a Call of Duty match.

Im sorry but I heavily disagree, people were always massively immature and screaming lunatics. I ran into this especially when I got into the highest levels as a member of Stryke force (which I think was the largest "guild" in the game at the time). Even back in the pay to play version it was pretty awful. Having recently tried the new format due to an interest in seeing what has changed but also due to my account having been deleted by NC soft I like it a lot less and I see about the same amount of immaturity as I remember from the old days.

Besides in an MMORPG where youre supposed to be able to play with other people as a social experience taking away communication options that are needed to make the game function in a social aspect is kind of a dick move IMO. Its like the idea of "You have to buy X DLC to progress in X game". I understand that they did it for the veteran players but they could have done it a lot better so it wouldnt have hurt the Free to play players experience

I saw next to none of that in the four years I played City of Heroes. I didn't go into pvp zones (because the pvp in that game is the worst pvp I have ever seen) and occasionally in Atlas park people would get rowdy. But it's nothing compared to what I've seen in F2P games and I don't blame the player base for not wanting it to become common place in every zone. Apparently the devs agreed because, despite shooting themselves in the foot by limiting communications, they did what the players asked for.

 

[Rad Party God]

Sorry, what was that?, I was busy playing Dungeons & Dragons Online, The Lord of The Rings Online and my newest MMO Wizard101, it's pretty awesome

 

[Lunar Templar]

Recently, the mmo that has consumed my life for more years than I'd like to think about, City of Heroes, has become free to play.

When it made the transition, I took my leave.

The "Free to play" label is quite deceptive. Yes, you can play, but to access higher end content, or to pvp you usually have to dump some cash. And, normally, the people with the most cash to dump perform the best. This sets up a situation where you're constantly being baited to spend money and I HATE it. The last thing I want to be on my mind while I'm playing a video game is how much I wish I had more money. Escaping the sad facts of my dirt poor existence is a big reason WHY I play video games.

Sure, with the monthly subscription, you have to spend 15 bucks a month. But it's ONLY 15 dollars a month. F2P models can bait you into dropping several times that much if you wish to stay competitive. This is why so many MMOs are making the switch to F2P. They make a LOT more money with it.

They milk their player base for FAR more than 15 dollars a month each. The transition to F2P increases an MMO's revenue to three times that of a subscription based.

-.- just wondering, did you even check to see what was really on sale or cut it off?, cause, going F2P in CoH isn't suddenly 'pay2win' or 'pay2doinganything'. yes there's SOME content cut off if your not subbed up, even character slots, but its no nearly as restrictive as you seem to think, also you could always just, ya know, stay subbed an avoid all that.

also, your argument is flawed, so VERY flawed. i play F2P MMOs, and even if i have no intent to buy anything, i check the shops to see whats for sale. by doing this its REALLY easy to tell if its pay2win or not, save one, they have all been pay for convenience, the best HP potions, more inventory space, the kinda stuff you can live with out but makes live a little easier

 

[2xDouble]

Free to play and pay to play are not inherently good or bad. It's the service they provide that makes the difference.

The problem with most monthly fee MMOs is they are designed to keep you playing addicted indefinitely without necessarily providing any real service for the fee other than server access, relying instead on somewhat devious applications of Skinner box [http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/the-skinner-box] techniques. The benefit, of course, is they can afford to pay regular support technicians (not just maintenance crews) with the subscription and tend to provide better customer service. These also recoup the costs of bigger-budget development which often leads to higher-quality product.

The problem with free-to-play is they still have to make money. While server costs aren't nearly as high as certain companies would have you believe , they are still required expenses. Without any other source of revenue, the company has to encourage players to buy microtransactions [http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/microtransactions] (which have their own "good" and "evil" applications, as seen in that video.)

Some companies use the Buy-to-play model, emulating "normal" game sales, and bridging the gaps between subscriptions and reliance on microtransactions. Sage-Like One [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAad350gXYM] explains in further detail (heavy bias toward Guild Wars 2, but he does have valid information). I prefer this payment system, especially when developed as a AAA title. It encourages the company to create content that is actually worth paying for, because if it isn't, we won't.

 

[Cpu46]

I agree that a lot of F2P games, especially the ones that were designed as subscription games in the first place or transitioned from subscription to F2P, kinda suck or are lackluster but that doesn't mean that all F2P games suck.
I love Nexon's F2P MMOs. Mabinogi, Vindictus, Dungeon Fighter Online, and Maple Story are all solid gaming experiences that are Free to play but not pay to win. I have sunk much time into all four and quite a bit of cash into Mabinogi and personally think that they are more enjoyable than most subscription based games.

D&D online is good too. Though my computer starts crying when I try and play it.

 

[Paladin Anderson]

Recently, the mmo that has consumed my life for more years than I'd like to think about, City of Heroes, has become free to play.

When it made the transition, I took my leave.

The "Free to play" label is quite deceptive. Yes, you can play, but to access higher end content, or to pvp you usually have to dump some cash. And, normally, the people with the most cash to dump perform the best. This sets up a situation where you're constantly being baited to spend money and I HATE it. The last thing I want to be on my mind while I'm playing a video game is how much I wish I had more money. Escaping the sad facts of my dirt poor existence is a big reason WHY I play video games.

Sure, with the monthly subscription, you have to spend 15 bucks a month. But it's ONLY 15 dollars a month. F2P models can bait you into dropping several times that much if you wish to stay competitive. This is why so many MMOs are making the switch to F2P. They make a LOT more money with it.

They milk their player base for FAR more than 15 dollars a month each. The transition to F2P increases an MMO's revenue to three times that of a subscription based.

-.- just wondering, did you even check to see what was really on sale or cut it off?, cause, going F2P in CoH isn't suddenly 'pay2win' or 'pay2doinganything'. yes there's SOME content cut off if your not subbed up, even character slots, but its no nearly as restrictive as you seem to think, also you could always just, ya know, stay subbed an avoid all that.

also, your argument is flawed, so VERY flawed. i play F2P MMOs, and even if i have no intent to buy anything, i check the shops to see whats for sale. by doing this its REALLY easy to tell if its pay2win or not, save one, they have all been pay for convenience, the best HP potions, more inventory space, the kinda stuff you can live with out but makes live a little easier

No, I'm fully aware of what was on sale, what was being withheld and what was being offered. I thought my post had made it entirely clear but I'll say it again because apparently I'm very VERY flawed. I do not like F2P MMOs. I didn't like when they started coming out with Booster Packs but the game was fresh enough to me at the time to put up with it. But over the years I'd grown tired of the game in general. This was just the point when I decided to stop playing. It was a point I was about to reach regardless. The F2P switch merely made it happen sooner.

 

[Drave]

monthly, because I just can't imagine any other way Planetside would work well. (planetside is the best MMO ever, just FYI)

 

[Lunar Templar]

No, I'm fully aware of what was on sale, what was being withheld and what was being offered. I thought my post had made it entirely clear but I'll say it again because apparently I'm very VERY flawed. I do not like F2P MMOs. I didn't like when they started coming out with Booster Packs but the game was fresh enough to me at the time to put up with it. But over the years I'd grown tired of the game in general. This was just the point when I decided to stop playing. It was a point I was about to reach regardless. The F2P switch merely made it happen sooner.

so your problem them is with them making money outside a subscription fee threw the use of non game effecting DLC, and now supporting it self via more DLC? you 'being tired' of the game a side, how dose that even make sense? none of the booster packs really add anything of use a side costume parts, the vast majority of their stock now IS those booster packs just broken down, save a few added power sets (Street Justice was pretty cool btw) but non of it is needed to stay competitive with anything. my Claws/DA scrapper did just fine in that last Incarnate trail I ran and she's 4, maybe 5 years old. which i think is the mistake your making, you think you need to spend money to have the same experiences and that is just not true.

however, being tired of the game is another thing altogether, nothing can fix that besides not playing, and i have to admit i to have more or less left CoH, not because of F2P, because i play other F2P MMOs, but because its a slow hoykey based game, and i desire more and i know where to get it

 

[Vhite]

Im gonna say monthly subscription because Everquest 2 recently showed me how bad can F2P get.

 

[Gaiseric]

F2P.

I started playing DC Universe Online last week and I'm having fun. But mostly I say F2P because I don't care for multiplayer games much so I wouldn't pay to play one and I don't game all that often anymore. That 15 bucks a month adds up and I'd rather spend that money on something else.