Age of Conan going F2P

[Tannhauser]

I spend more money on LOTRO now than I did with the $15 per month plan. The "F2P" model is working very well for Turbine I imagine.

[UnSub]

I'm still somewhat surprised by how well free to play models seem to be working.

Getting people to try something is critical to actually getting money out of them. To try most sub MMOs you have to pay out the box cost, which is a pretty hefty investment just to give a title a shot for 30 days.

[Malakili]

I'm still somewhat surprised by how well free to play models seem to be working.

Getting people to try something is critical to actually getting money out of them. To try most sub MMOs you have to pay out the box cost, which is a pretty hefty investment just to give a title a shot for 30 days.

Couldn't they achieve the same thing with a robust free trial?  Personally I just really dislike being posed with real money considerations when I'm playing, that definitely turns me away from the F2P model, even when its relatively well done.  I'd much rather have a once per month choice to make and then be stress free the rest of the month.  Though when the F2P games offer a monthly subscription that gives you pretty much everything you'd want then I think its a reasonable compromise.

[Nebu]

F2P tells me that the game isn't competitive enough to demand a subscription, but the people running it are willing to extort money from teenagers.   F2P ruined D&D online, LOTRO, and EQ2 for me.  Give me an engaging free trial and I'll subscribe for a month. 

[Mrbloodworth]

YAY! I'm a teenager again! Woot!

[DLRiley]

F2P tells me that the game isn't competitive enough to demand a subscription, but the people running it are willing to extort money from teenagers.   F2P ruined D&D online, LOTRO, and EQ2 for me.  Give me an engaging free trial and I'll subscribe for a month. 

 

[Vaiti]

F2P tells me that the game isn't competitive enough to demand a subscription, but the people running it are willing to extort money from teenagers.   F2P ruined D&D online, LOTRO, and EQ2 for me.  Give me an engaging free trial and I'll subscribe for a month. 

It's becoming a prevalent scheme nowdays. I believe subscription based MMO's are likely heading out the door in favor of models like this.

[Draegan]

Free to play made DDO awesome.

[UnSub]

I'm still somewhat surprised by how well free to play models seem to be working.

Getting people to try something is critical to actually getting money out of them. To try most sub MMOs you have to pay out the box cost, which is a pretty hefty investment just to give a title a shot for 30 days.

Couldn't they achieve the same thing with a robust free trial?  Personally I just really dislike being posed with real money considerations when I'm playing, that definitely turns me away from the F2P model, even when its relatively well done.  I'd much rather have a once per month choice to make and then be stress free the rest of the month.  Though when the F2P games offer a monthly subscription that gives you pretty much everything you'd want then I think its a reasonable compromise.

What's a 'robust' free trial? Most put caps over what a player could accomplish that easily stifled the 'true' game, plus they were used as gold farming fodder. When your restrictions on a trial are "can't talk to most players, can't leave certain areas, will hit the level cap before you finish the trial" etc it kills player interest in paying to play the full title.

F2P provides a clearer purpose - treat everyone as if on that 'trial' and then convince them to pay a few dollars a month for something.

It also removes the 'all or nothing' approach players have to take with sub games - pay $15 and earn back that value, or cancel their sub and not be able to play at all.

I know that some people hate the F2P model, but I prefer it. Sub-based games aren't doing as well because not only do players consume all the content at the fast rate they used to, now they no longer hang around for months after waiting for the new content - they cancel and move on to play something else.

[Amaron]

There's a lot of reasons why it works though.   It's not just that it's a really good free trial.   There is also the factor that they're basically forced to keep releasing new stuff that the player base actually wants.   On the business end I'd say in the DDO model it forces them to act in a much more competent manner than is usual for these niche titles.

None of that is true for the pay2win shops though.   Those things are basically scams and as such are never going to lead to a good game really.

[Nija]

Tortage has been available as an unlimited trial for 100% of the classes for at least 2 years.

That's probably the best free trial in any MMO yet. So, it's been there for a long ass time and nothing happened.

[Spiff]

Something happened all right, everyone and their dog played it, then the word got out it was all down hill afterwards and everyone buggered off (and left their dog in the rush to get out).

Which is always a problem with a trial:
- either it's better than the rest of the game (so why would I pay for the worse part?)
- or it's worse (so how would it convince me to pay?)

Unless of course it magically happens to represent the game perfectly (and when do the first 10-20 levels ever do that?).

[Malakili]

F2P provides a clearer purpose - treat everyone as if on that 'trial' and then convince them to pay a few dollars a month for something.

This is actually exactly my problem with it.  It turns me off that the game is constantly trying to convince me to buy things.  I like the separation from the real world in game, I like that I don't have to be considering spending real money while playing, and I like that I can just sort of check out for a while.  Incidentally, this is the same problem I have with the Real Money AH in Diablo 3, even though the game isn't F2P and the AH isn't even Blizzard selling things.  Now, I understand why its there, and frankly I think I'm just going to do my best to ignore it, and I'll still play the game, as I've said in the D3 thread.  But even so, I'd much prefer games that just ask me to pay for access and then leave me alone.  I look at it like my gym membership - I pay my fee up front, then I can go when I want, as often as I want, and use whatever equipment I want for the entire month.

[Sky]

I also have a total aversion to ingame RMT. "Doesn't this castle look interesting? $15 bucks to open the door!" I can ignore stuff like xp potions (unless the game is balanced for them to boost sales, of course), but so far the f2p offerings have just seemed crappy to me. I'd rather pay the monthly sub and have full access to the uncrippled game.

It's good that it's helping some older games, but at the same time, those games are over for me now with no attraction to return. EQ2 being a slightly different scenario with the f2p walled off in its own garden.

[shiznitz]

F2P provides a clearer purpose - treat everyone as if on that 'trial' and then convince them to pay a few dollars a month for something.

This is actually exactly my problem with it.  It turns me off that the game is constantly trying to convince me to buy things. 

I can understand the annoyance factor, but you don't even have to buy a box to try it. You have $30-40 of "credit" right there.  I think the model brings good discipline to game design.  It becomes quickly evident what players don't want to do and vice versa.  Also, as a player, every time the game asks you to buy something, it is effectively asking "are you still having fun?" 

[Malakili]

I can understand the annoyance factor, but you don't even have to buy a box to try it. You have $30-40 of "credit" right there.  I think the model brings good discipline to game design.  It becomes quickly evident what players don't want to do and vice versa.  Also, as a player, every time the game asks you to buy something, it is effectively asking "are you still having fun?" 

Its not about the dollar value, its about bringing real world decisions into what were decisions entirely contained within the game world previously.  I might be just more averse to this sort of thing than the average person, I dunno.  Its not a mere annoyance to me, it literally makes me feel anxious to the point where I have trouble enjoying the games.

[Nebu]

I think the model brings good discipline to game design.  It becomes quickly evident what players don't want to do and vice versa.  Also, as a player, every time the game asks you to buy something, it is effectively asking "are you still having fun?" 

I'd buy this if these games were designed from the start with a F2P model in mind.  They weren't.  F2P has been tacked on much like their PvP.  The whole F2P thing is a last gasp effort to extract cash from a title before new additions to the MMO marketplace render them dead.

On the other hand, I would be quite interested in seeing how a AAA title releases out of the gate with F2P.  That has the potential to be more akin to what you suggest in terms of business plan and strategy.   

[Sky]

Is GW2 following the subscription-less model of GW1? That seemed ballsy at the time, and yet they're in a position to release a (pretty nice-looking) sequel...

[Mrbloodworth]

To be fair, with full price expansions.

[Sky]

To be fair, with full price expansions.

Imo, better than death by a thousand cuts. Diff'rent strokes and whatnot, Willis. But I agree with Malikili's further expounding on it not being about the dollar value, per se.

[caladein]

I can sort of understand the appeal of retail box expansions and flat-rate subscriptions, but I don't share that view at all.  Smaller transactions means I can have much finer control over where I spend my money, and just as importantly in an MMO, what messages I'm sending to a developer.

[shiznitz]

I think the model brings good discipline to game design.  It becomes quickly evident what players don't want to do and vice versa.  Also, as a player, every time the game asks you to buy something, it is effectively asking "are you still having fun?" 

I'd buy this if these games were designed from the start with a F2P model in mind.  They weren't.  F2P has been tacked on much like their PvP.  The whole F2P thing is a last gasp effort to extract cash from a title before new additions to the MMO marketplace render them dead.

On the other hand, I would be quite interested in seeing how a AAA title releases out of the gate with F2P.  That has the potential to be more akin to what you suggest in terms of business plan and strategy.   

You have a point, but I have a hard time seeing how an F2P format would differ that much from what we get with transitions from sub to F2P. 

[Lantyssa]

Is GW2 following the subscription-less model of GW1? That seemed ballsy at the time, and yet they're in a position to release a (pretty nice-looking) sequel...

Yes.  I think there will be more vanity item stuff in their store this go 'round, but they've been very good about only making their store about optional stuff.

[Ingmar]

The PVP unlock packages are only semi-optional if you want to PVP really. You *could* grind out all the skills via pvp, but in practice that is kind of ludicrous.

[Threash]

The PVP unlock packages are only semi-optional if you want to PVP really. You *could* grind out all the skills via pvp, but in practice that is kind of ludicrous.

You only need to grind out... eight? or whatever it is this time around.

[Ingmar]

The PVP unlock packages are only semi-optional if you want to PVP really. You *could* grind out all the skills via pvp, but in practice that is kind of ludicrous.

You only need to grind out... eight? or whatever it is this time around.

If you find some magical build for one class that you will want to play for all time and won't ever get nerfed or end up in a bad meta, maybe. In practice you need a big pile of stuff open to you.

[Threash]

I didn't play GW for very long but the way i remember it was i made ONE build then played that for a while, by the time i was ready for a new one i had more than enough points to unlock what i wanted.  You just don't need to grind out every skill, you grind out one build and after that you are just playing normally.

[DLRiley]

The PVP unlock packages are only semi-optional if you want to PVP really. You *could* grind out all the skills via pvp, but in practice that is kind of ludicrous.

You only need to grind out... eight? or whatever it is this time around.

If you find some magical build for one class that you will want to play for all time and won't ever get nerfed or end up in a bad meta, maybe. In practice you need a big pile of stuff open to you.

Depends on what level of the game you are in.

If your AB / RA player you just need one build.

If you are a HA player 3 builds for truly optimal group finding, but friend groups (groups of friends who need 1 more, or your own friends) may need anywhere from 1 build to every skill unlocked. It also depends on what your actually good at.

GVG generally depends on the guilds mentality, what your good at, and what level of the game your playing on. Some guilds attempt to follow the meta and you generally need at least 6 bars worth of skills spread across at least 3-4 classes to be useful. Some guilds don't change there builds much, meta be damned, and pretty much happy if all you had was 7 skills and you showed up when everyone is on. Some guilds, if your lucky, like to experiment and try shit, so you kinda need everything unlocked, across at least 6 professions. Than you go into what people actually good at, for example prot or infuse monks don't see changes as often as interrupt/dom mesmers or whatever flavor of the month for rits and deverish. Split focused rangers see very few changes and so on and so forth.

Long story short, most people don't play at a high enough level for the game to demand them to change there bar once they figure out how to make one that isn't super tank mending warrior or glph of sacrifice meteor shower ele.

[Gets]

So this hit Steam, but it seems it's regionally locked. Every Steam user gets a special cape because I guess we like to wear our capes when we run to catch our short bus to the Hyborian Petting Zoo. There is also the usual StarterDLCpackBundle on sale for 6.50€:

Kickstart your journey into Hyboria with the "Tortage Survival Pack", powerful collection of items to accelerate your progress. The following will perpetually be made available to all your characters:

A set of of powerful beginner weapons. There is one of every weapon type, and all give a slight increase to both experience gain and fatality chance!
Totem of Origins: Transports your character back to your cultural city of origin. Requires min level 20 to use. Cooldown before reuse.
Enruned Kosalan Ring: A mighty beginner's ring that increase both physical and magical damage output!
Bag of Holding: A huge 20 slot bag to stash all your loot and riches in!
Two different fireworks for you to use in festive celebrations. Cooldown before reuse.
Blue Snow Mammoth: A huge Mammoth from the northern lands. The Snow Mammoth is especially useful in siege battles.
Ten experience potions that will increase XP gain when defeating enemies by 100% for 12 hours. The potions are consumables and shared among your characters, so use wisely!

http://store.steampowered.com/app/217760/

[Gets]

ALSO UNCHAINED IS THE WORD

[Goreschach]

Kickstart your journey into Hyboria with the "Tortage Survival Pack", powerful collection of items to accelerate your progress.

Why would you want to accelerate your progress through the only part of the game that's worth playing?

[Xuri]

Marketing logic.

[WayAbvPar]

So this hit Steam, but it seems it's regionally locked. Every Steam user gets a special cape because I guess we like to wear our capes when we run to catch our short bus to the Hyborian Petting Zoo. There is also the usual StarterDLCpackBundle on sale for 6.50€:

Kickstart your journey into Hyboria with the "Tortage Survival Pack", powerful collection of items to accelerate your progress. The following will perpetually be made available to all your characters:

A set of of powerful beginner weapons. There is one of every weapon type, and all give a slight increase to both experience gain and fatality chance!
Totem of Origins: Transports your character back to your cultural city of origin. Requires min level 20 to use. Cooldown before reuse.
Enruned Kosalan Ring: A mighty beginner's ring that increase both physical and magical damage output!
Bag of Holding: A huge 20 slot bag to stash all your loot and riches in!
Two different fireworks for you to use in festive celebrations. Cooldown before reuse.
Blue Snow Mammoth: A huge Mammoth from the northern lands. The Snow Mammoth is especially useful in siege battles.
Ten experience potions that will increase XP gain when defeating enemies by 100% for 12 hours. The potions are consumables and shared among your characters, so use wisely!

http://store.steampowered.com/app/217760/

Started this downloading before I left for work this morning. I will probably spring for the DLC too (it will cost less than my lunch will today, so why the hell not?). I have been itching for some swords and sorcery stuff, and this will be easy to drop once I realize how terrible it is  If anyone wants to get together, look for me playing on Steam.

[Evildrider]

Free to play made DDO awesome.

Seriously before F2P there were no game updates in DDO for over a year.  How the hell did F2P kill DDO?  Unless you loved running the Shroud 6 times a day or something.