Why not B2P like GW2?

http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Category:Updates

Each of those 95 update months contains 2+ updates. There are dozens of major content addition updates that are free.

In fact they only released 3 expansions that you had to pay for and they were full expansions (like wow expansions)

People tend to forget that just because WoW at its prime makes $1 billion/year doesn't mean this is the only possible way to make money. Sure every company would like to have a game that makes $1 billion/year but even $1 million/year of profit is better than $0.

In general I'd argue $15/month sub games are a ripoff. They in no ways provide enough content worth that $15/month, and the reason why people pay that is because there's no better alternatives out there. However with the rise of F2P (which definitely makes less than $15/month, as you don't hear any F2P make WoW's like numbers in profit) people are starting to realize that you could get more for your $15/month or equivalent. With even WoW seem to be falling apart, people are now realizing they have more power than they thought for their $15/month, and the most successful MMORPGs in this new era is either the game that delivers more content for $15/month, or, as unfathomable as this might be to game developers, simply charge less money.

Even a 'failed' MMORPG usually have a revenune comparable to the most successful non subscription games. Now I'm sure some of them ended up as a loss because they ended up mortaging their first born and bought an island in the Caribbeans before the game was out thinking they have a money printing machine on their hand, and was shocked to find this game only makes $5 million dollars an years instead of $1 billion dollars a year. Game makers need to accept your game isn't going to make money as if it's the next WoW. There might not even be a next WoW in terms of revenue in the next decade. You just have to make do on figuring out how to survive on less than $1 billion a year.

This is the way the community has been since I play MMORPGS (started with SWG) and surely before that. That's nothing new in MMORPG world, unfortunately.

I'd rather pay money for a well-designed content update then sit here month after month for nothing, and then get hit with half-assed content dev's rushed to deliver because of subscribers crying and threatening to cancel. just a thought.

Thanks. I was looking for this as well, because ArenaNet does continue to create content. Anything major will be in an expansion obviously, but they have already said they will constantly be adding dynamic events and monthly events. Jon Peters created the BWE3 final beta event "The Hunger Royale" in under 12 hours just to show how they can manipulate the system to put in these kinds of events.

Just because one company chooses to nickel and dime their customers doesn't mean EVERY game is like that. Also a free to play game is totally different than a buy to play game.

Just to paint a picture for you based on your subscription MMOs and Guild Wars. You pay 15$ a month to play a game like SWTOR, and it takes them at least 4-6 months to release a content update that is usually just a new raid, daily hub and sometimes a new warzone with fluff items like "legacy" or pets/mounts. So 60$ of your money has gone to pay for this "update"

Well, in that time Guild Wars released an expansion that you could choose not to buy because every expansion was a stand alone game that wasn't required to purchase because they didn't raise the level cap. In which each expansion gave you an entire content of new missions, new classes, alliance battles, factions etc for the same price.

Do you honestly believe Sub based MMOs are giving you your moneys worth? I just don't understand the logic that people have that they get so insulted that another game coming out might actually be better?

I honestly don't believe that SWTOR was worth 15$ a month, unfortunately I bought a 6 month sub because I didn't think and now I regret it. The only sub based MMO that deserves the sub in my honest opinion based on content updates alone is Rift. They actually put tons of content out there and try really hard to please their player base.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgkLIB0GgaY

This is the kind of fun stuff Arenanet does, and will continue to do after launch. You can't tell me that isn't fun! They made this event in the span of 12 hours also, can't wait to see what they can do when they actually put significant time into one!

So the main thing i have gotten out of all of your responses specifically is that you cant handle somone disagreeing with you. Every comment you make, whether its to a constructive or not, is claiming that the poster is a troll and doesnt know what he is talking about. So i dont think you will actually read my stance with an open mind but hey ill say my piece.
So my stance is that this game should remain Pay to play for now. Here is my reasoning. This game is very content heavy. Yes as of right now content is little i understand that. But bioware and EA need to pay the people creating the content. To do they need income to do that. And i honestly dont think 40$ per game will be able to fund more and more future content. Especially since the game has released already, so the amount of people buying the game will be very low now. Thus we wont get enough income for the content we desire.
You mention having vanity items for sale on the website. Well that isnt reliable or steady enough income to guarentee more content. I can say that my self and afew people i play with have no interest in paying for some outfit or somthing like that.
I applaud GW1 & 2 for being able to create content on low income but i dont think that BioWare would be able to.

So i hope you read this with an open mind and not a one sided biased mindset.

*Raises hand*
What's B2P? I've been trying to find a word that fits for the B but I can't come up with anything.

This is actually a model that a lot of companies including Blizzard Entertainment has taken into account. You figure by now they have so much revenue incoming that a 15 a month subscription is completely unnecessary. You aren't paying for the content they dish out. You are paying 15 bucks a month to fund their servers which they can easily maintain on their own. Guild wars has released 95 plus updates in the time it has been played and over 3 expansions I believe with no P2P model. Guild Wars 1 successfully had a F2P MMO for a good 8 + years I believe it was and they survived very well I may add for a long time. Even now as I log on my account the game is still busy with people doing things. A F2P model brings a lot to the table. You get more people playing because of no worry of paying a fee every month. Wasting money when they can't play because of maintenance and such. (Guild Wars 2 seems to solve the maintenance problem by doing it while you play which is awesome.) Yes the money you lose from it is very minor but it builds up over the months/years.


A F2P is a better model for both sides and a lot of MMO developers are considering it more and more each day. Look at Aion and Rift. (Sure they aren't that great of games but they still have a big playerbase). Also LOTRO is still doing well as far as I know.

Bigsavings2Play