Just curious, who has actually played a F2P mmo on an at least semi-committed schedule? I've played a couple sub-based MMO's that went FTP, and they actually improved a lot over their prior sub-based models (regular content additions, smaller but more productive community, etc.), which is why I have trouble understanding all the F2P bashing.

Maybe I just got lucky in my choices, but how did F2P leave such bad taste in your mouths?

Just curious, who has actually played a F2P mmo on an at least semi-committed schedule?

*Raises hand* I have. For starters, the in game community does change a bit. With thousands, if not millions, of "throw away" accounts that get made naming conventions get shot. By this I mean expect to see "1337 5p34k" style names every where. With the unique name limitation, this tends to be the first casualty of converting to F2P.

First point five, the in game chat does start to suffer. If done right, it won't be too bad. But you will see more crass in-game chat.

Next, if the game doesn't start F2P (especially if it is not announced to go F2P at launch), a switch to F2P "mid-stride" is an acknowledge of failure. Name any game you want that switched to F2P, and you have to admit prior to they were failing pretty hard. (Some more so than others.)

Finally, for me at least, the "feel" of the game changes. I almost never see further content in regards to the parts of the game I liked. Probably because the parts I like aren't easily monetized, or are considered "un-sellable" by someone in charge.

In my experience, the switch to F2P never endears me to the game. It might allow me to keep playing some small part of it for free (thus keeping player numbers up)... But in the end I never spend any money on it after wards.

I played and betad both the pay version and F2P version of LOTRO and DDO. DDO was bad to begin with and F2P made it worse. LOTRO was good to begin with and F2P made it worse.

I love this game but F2P launch day is my last day here.

M

I play a small mmo that has weekly releases (most of the time just some new gear or updates to combat) and you can access the primary storyline and most of the secondary storylines for free. However, subscribers gain access to the main storyline releases a week earlier than non-subscribers, access to an exclusive storyline, and roughly half of the items in the game.

You can also buy special currency with real money in that game too, mostly to use to buy extra inventory and bank space, but also to buy special event gear.

Works pretty well for them, all things considered.

Though that may be because it costs less for a year's subscription in that game than it does for a half year subscription in this one. And they are only running 19 servers.

Just curious, who has actually played a F2P mmo on an at least semi-committed schedule? I've played a couple sub-based MMO's that went FTP, and they actually improved a lot over their prior sub-based models (regular content additions, smaller but more productive community, etc.), which is why I have trouble understanding all the F2P bashing.

 

Maybe I just got lucky in my choices, but how did F2P leave such bad taste in your mouths?

I do not call attracting a sub par player base and releasing sub par content that is glitchy bug ridden messes as improved. I watched a game I LOVED playing, while making more money, absolutely eviscerated at its core.

F2P games always end up offering up items for sale that make the game better for those who pay real money to play it. Fluff items bother me but I can live with them, but gear, content, rep/level ups, etc being only available with cash are why I hate Pay to Win games. This one will go there if they havent already (i havent read about it because I dont care, Im out when it goes free).

M

The only way i might feel better about F2P would be if they announced that F2P where going to have their own server and the current servers are for those that are current subscribers or future subscribers

This is when paid transfers will kick in, so that those that has characters on a subscription server but have chosen to go F2P will have to pay for their characters to be transferred.

The only way i might feel better about F2P would be if they announced that F2P where going to have their own server and the current servers are for those that are current subscribers or future subscribers

 

This is when paid transfers will kick in, so that those that has characters on a subscription server but have chosen to go F2P will have to pay for their characters to be transferred.

I like the idea of having dedicated servers for subscribers.

just curious, who has actually played a f2p mmo on an at least semi-committed schedule? I've played a couple sub-based mmo's that went ftp, and they actually improved a lot over their prior sub-based models (regular content additions, smaller but more productive community, etc.), which is why i have trouble understanding all the f2p bashing.

 

Maybe i just got lucky in my choices, but how did f2p leave such bad taste in your mouths?

server lag will be intolerable when f2p hits

server lag will be intolerable when f2p hits

That is why i think they have locked servers and not deleted them as these will be opened for F2P

I like the idea of having dedicated servers for subscribers.

I don't, because it doesn't allow for players to switch between F2P and Sub models if their situation changes.

I like the idea of having dedicated servers for subscribers.

I don't, because it doesn't allow for players to switch between F2P and Sub models if their situation changes.

It does allow for for players to switch between F2P and Sub models if their situation changes, through paid server transfers. All it would take to switch is a moments consideration, and a small fee. I suppose it will truly break down to how comfortable any one person will feel about paying for consistent content, like expanded inventory, FP access, better WZ access, versus paying for cosmetic items, travel buffs, queue-ing buffs or not paying for anything at all for a scaled-down experience.

That is why i think they have locked servers and not deleted them as these will be opened for F2P

If the f2p turns out to be a big success and lots of people flood in they will have to open acouple more servers, most of the 12 US servers don't look like they can take too much more. On the other hand that won't look good to new members if they are placed in a newly opened empty server.

If the f2p turns out to be a big success and lots of people flood in they will have to open acouple more servers, most of the 12 US servers don't look like they can take too much more. On the other hand that won't look good to new members if they are placed in a newly opened empty server.

Free to play doesn't turn games into successes. Companies turn to this option when the game fails at being a decent mmo and have problems retaining subs. Companies slim down, lay people off, reduce updates, and add in cash shops to bring in revenue. You people need to stop kidding yourselves. Lotro, EQ2 changed to this option because the games where sinking.

Swtor has failed at being a mainstream mmo and this is the result. The game will continue to survive yes but it wont turn out to be the game that everyone hoped it would be from the start.

I did.

I bought the collector's edition of a MMO when it launched.

Was part of the initial rush when the servers where clugged full of people logging in and spent over an hour waiting to get in game.

I was there when the server populations dwindled, and we were put onto other servers.

I was there when you had to sit through a queue to log in, once again.

I was there when it went from P2P to F2P.

Then I left it for SW:TOR because the developers thought it was okay to limit everything you can (see cash cap=you can't fully repair your gear).

Only to repeat the above process.

Bought the collector's edition.

Sat through login queues.

Went through server mergers.

Went through a login queue again.

Now here for another P2P to F2P transition.

Thanks but no thanks. I have watched how this plays out, and I don't want to be part of it.

Oh, and for the record: $149.99 for 1000 Cartel Coins is a poor conversion rate, and if I had known this ahead of time, I would have saved my money and not spent it on this. 1600 MS points for $19.99 so I can get the new ME3 Leviathan DLC when it comes out sounds a lot better than this. At least there I know what I am getting prior to having spent my money.

Free to play doesn't turn games into successes. Companies turn to this option when the game fails at being a decent mmo and have problems retaining subs. Companies slim down, lay people off, reduce updates, and add in cash shops to bring in revenue. You people need to stop kidding yourselves. Lotro, EQ2 changed to this option because the games where sinking.

 

Swtor has failed at being a mainstream mmo and this is the result. The game will continue to survive yes but it wont turn out to be the game that everyone hoped it would be from the start.

Just because it doesnt have 10 million subs and 8+ years worth of content doesn't make an mmo a failure. Actually, the ones who were really kidding themselves were the ones who expected SWTOR to be some kind of mmo messiah. F2P or not, those who were looking to quit are going to quit no matter what because they plain and simply cannot afford to have 2 gaming subs.

Free to play doesn't turn games into successes. Companies turn to this option when the game fails at being a decent mmo and have problems retaining subs. Companies slim down, lay people off, reduce updates, and add in cash shops to bring in revenue. You people need to stop kidding yourselves. Lotro, EQ2 changed to this option because the games where sinking.

 

Swtor has failed at being a mainstream mmo and this is the result. The game will continue to survive yes but it wont turn out to be the game that everyone hoped it would be from the start.

Just because it doesnt have 10 million subs and 8+ years worth of content doesn't make an mmo a failure. Actually, the ones who were really kidding themselves were the ones who expected SWTOR to be some kind of mmo messiah. F2P or not, those who were looking to quit are going to quit no matter what.

I played and betad both the pay version and F2P version of LOTRO and DDO. DDO was bad to begin with and F2P made it worse. LOTRO was good to begin with and F2P made it worse.

 

I love this game but F2P launch day is my last day here.

 

M

Why what made it worse? Was there something that was added that you didn't like? Was there some kind of intense change in the gameplay? I'd really appreciate some explanation other than "made it worse," "it was bad," or "I don't like this." Otherwise, I just presume that you say it's worse because everyone else told you that that's how you should feel. I really see no reasons on the horizon that would make TOR instantly worse on the day the free-to-play option is added to the game.

Just because it doesnt have 10 million subs and 8+ years worth of content doesn't make an mmo a failure. Actually, the ones who were really kidding themselves were the ones who expected SWTOR to be some kind of mmo messiah. F2P or not, those who were looking to quit are going to quit no matter what because they plain and simply cannot afford to have 2 gaming subs.

You are right about the success rate vs sub numbers. But there is something you are forgetting. The amount of money, resources, and people they spent on making this game was way higher than any other game from before. When you compare it to that, it was a total failure.

They should change the name of the term this game will become. Free to play. It's a trick really if you think about it and rather clever. They make you think you are playing the game for free but in fact they are controlling you and forcing you to buy stuff from the cash shop to continue to play the game.

Why what made it worse? Was there something that was added that you didn't like? Was there some kind of intense change in the gameplay? I'd really appreciate some explanation other than "made it worse," "it was bad," or "I don't like this." Otherwise, I just presume that you say it's worse because everyone else told you that that's how you should feel. I really see no reasons on the horizon that would make TOR instantly worse on the day the free-to-play option is added to the game.

When you start having to pay for everything little thing in a game, that's bad. And when that happens to justify a $14.99 charge a month, it's time to move on. In the end, F2P is a scam. It's free to download. Free to login. But pretty much everything after that point you have to pay. Otherwise, you'll be constantly frustrated as you try to progress, in a supposedly "free" game.

Just curious, who has actually played a F2P mmo on an at least semi-committed schedule? I've played a couple sub-based MMO's that went FTP, and they actually improved a lot over their prior sub-based models (regular content additions, smaller but more productive community, etc.), which is why I have trouble understanding all the F2P bashing.

 

Maybe I just got lucky in my choices, but how did F2P leave such bad taste in your mouths?

I also played a Sub based MMO that went F2p late last year, my experience though was less then positive compared to yours. They also had a RMT store but unlike this game, the store existed for a couple years before it went f2p. The store also basically sells fluff items and gives a second way other then the game's webpage to do some account services (like pay for a subscription or one time fees to unlock content, pay for a server transfer, etc). Only items with stats were basically consumable items or temporary items, not counting some mounts that yes had stats, but nothing greater then any stats found on mounts that could be bought from the stables or quested for /dropped from a mob in game. (In fact quested mounts/dropped mounts usually had the best stats).

Anyway, what I personally saw:

1) Developers, although they did still put out "real" content, focus now more on RMT items for development more so then real content.

2) Community has possibly held steady, maybe even gone up in population (I don't have exact numbers) but a much larger percentage of the community has played for six months or less. Otherwise, due to issues like #1 and others, a good percentage of the "old timers" have left. Not saying a community of all newer players is bad per-se, but it does indicate that they will possibly have issues with regards to people continuing to play for more then a few months.

3) A good percentage of people come on to play f2p, then quit when they hit a point where they must either subscribe or start paying one time fees to unlock content to continue. Again, people might get an account, but are less likely to stick with the game in the long term.

4) Maybe not a reason to dislike f2p per-se, but f2p doesn't mean "free" to play the whole game. A LOT of things are locked in the game I am mentioning, such as end game content, item quality (Imagine only being able to wear greeen quality items in SWTOR, the lock is about the same in the other game), total amount of slots one can use, total amount of money one can have, total amount of inventory space in their bank and character sheet one can have, most classes and races are locked, and so forth.

5) This actually didn't happen with the game I saw go f2p, they actually do keep their RTM store mostly fluff items and consumables, along with some account services that cost the same if done via the RTM store as opposed to via their website. But I would be concerned that they start putting items with stats on the RTM store, thus making this game slowly become "play to win" and/or have a huge easymode button for those with the largest wallet.

Mind you, I'm actually FOR having f2p having many, possibly most features crippled or disabled if one never pays to unlock ifeatures or get a subscription. But I think too many people think f2p means never having to pay anything, period.

There's other issues for me, but that's a start.

Now will I just /ragequit the morning this game goes f2p? No. But I will be wary and concerned that the issues that I descibe will happen here. I'm hoping they don't, I'm not truly hating f2p as much as my one experience with it was less then positive.

You are right about the success rate vs sub numbers. But there is something you are forgetting. The amount of money, resources, and people they spent on making this game was way higher than any other game from before. When you compare it to that, it was a total failure.

 

They should change the name of the term this game will become. Free to play. It's a trick really if you think about it and rather clever. They make you think you are playing the game for free but in fact they are controlling you and forcing you to buy stuff from the cash shop to continue to play the game.

You're right about the term F2P, when its actually more like endless trial, or pay as you go.

Even though they spent a ridiculous amount to make this game, i'm sure they were a lot more entities expecting big cuts off the immediate profits than other mmo makers have to deal with. (EA, marketing, Lucas,etc.)

Despite all the naysaying, the fact they are moving to a F2P model shows they have SOME kind of long term plan to keep the game alive. Thats a hell of a lot better than pulling the plug on the SWTOR franchise.