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Post by caios on Jun 21, 2011 10:43:36 GMT -5
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Post by Warp Factor on Jun 21, 2011 10:48:07 GMT -5
I dunno, going F2P seems to have done CO a world of good. Granted, CO are a bit overly aggressive with their microtransaction adverts, but it's not necessarily a given that NCSoft will be as obnoxious as Cryptic/Atari.
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Post by ghostveil on Jun 21, 2011 10:48:50 GMT -5
It's a smart business decision. The competition is all going free to play, and it's a huge advantage in the currently flooded MMO landscape.
Most players are unwilling to pay for multiple MMO subscriptions, and there's an 800 lb gorilla in the room that people are subscribed to. This means that other games are left unplayed by this large group of subscribers. An easy way to draw those subscribers away into your game is to get them playing your game for free, and offer them options to upgrade what they're playing by paying money or a subscription.
Players are more eager to pay for a new subscription to a game they're already playing for free than they are to switch subscriptions from an MMO they are currently playing to an MMO they are not playing.
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Post by caios on Jun 21, 2011 11:16:05 GMT -5
Oh I totally understand the business implications, and I'm not at all surprised that they finally decided to go this route. I've just never personally been a big fan of the free to play mechanic.
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Post by Hollowpoint Heroism on Jun 21, 2011 11:52:18 GMT -5
While I'm not freaking out yet, I'm just hoping that Virtue doesn't become a sea of derp-filled idiots thanks to the free-to-play model. Unfortunately, the subscription model tends to 'sort out the men from the boys' so to speak. Namely, it filters out a lot of immature gamers, griefers and idiots who tend to appear after an MMO goes free to play.
Though if worst comes to worst...I guess there's always the VIP server.
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Post by gothicshark on Jun 21, 2011 14:52:49 GMT -5
Well on one side I wouldn't have to choose which MMO to pay for, on second thought, I doubt I would want to play any FTP game ever.
The game looses its fun when you have to buy everything, granted I have everything besides steam punk. but I didn't mind those transactions but now it'll be necessary to do Mircro transactions to enjoy the game.
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Post by ghostveil on Jun 21, 2011 14:58:18 GMT -5
Well on one side I wouldn't have to choose which MMO to pay for, on second thought, I doubt I would want to play any FTP game ever. The game looses its fun when you have to buy everything, granted I have everything besides steam punk. but I didn't mind those transactions but now it'll be necessary to do Mircro transactions to enjoy the game. Not necessarily. F2P games have changed a lot ever since Turbine started making its MMOs F2P. The Turbine model tends to be what other publishers copy: It gives the F2P players the base game for free, and you pay for extras like character slots, cosmetic options, more inventory slots, or minor temporary buffs to character stats. The model follows one of paying for convenience, while letting skill and time investment still be the most important parts of playing the game. In LOTRO, you can't outright buy the best gear in the game with real money, you still have to earn it in game. Additionally, you can still keep your subscription running the same as before, and nothing changes except you'll probably be getting more stuff than you used to get. City of Heroes is a perfect game for this sort of model. |
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Post by Warp Factor on Jun 21, 2011 16:23:57 GMT -5
CO works similarly, if you have a subscription you don't need to worry about buying anything (though since they give you free points to spend in the microtransaction store you might as well spend those, at least). CO is a bit more aggressive with pushing out paid costume packs than CoH is, and they have a bunch of vanity and goof-off items that cost money, but provided you're a subscriber you don't need to spend a dime on microtransactions. Presumably CoH will do it similarly, though hopefully without making quite so many costume parts paid only.
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drjackwolfe
SG Members 
On ur forumz, stereotypin ur wifez
Posts: 236
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Post by drjackwolfe on Jun 21, 2011 19:27:38 GMT -5
I want a refund
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Post by shadewing on Jun 22, 2011 16:35:20 GMT -5
TBH it doesn't change that much for the people who already pay for the game, or for the people like me who have been paying but stopped cause the game was getting stale. When I decide to go back I'll just resub for a month and get all the benefits.
But yeah...I've seen the communities in F2P games (not to mention I have to deal with a huge community of people who only play F2P games on a daily basis, so maybe my view is jaded) and I'm kinda concerned how this'll play out. Freedumb and Virtue are the two highest population servers, so the inevitable influx of players will gravitate to those servers. It's entirely possible the servers will go to hell because of it, community wise and most likely lag wise. We've all seen the server wide events where you can barely move thanks to all the lag; now lets add tons more people into the mix.
But on the positive side me, Warp, Mantid and Dedlok were talking about this earlier. While I'd rather not get too into the details needless to say we're hoping that a lot of the not so friendly types move themselves into the VIP only server.
It might not be a bad idea to check out the VIP server when this all goes into play, though. A fresh start might be good for people, and unless it turns into a new unofficial RP server it would be a change of pace, as well. But on the downside it means people would have to keep a subscription to stay in it.
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Post by gothicshark on Jun 22, 2011 16:38:13 GMT -5
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Post by evilbenfranklin on Jun 30, 2011 14:29:08 GMT -5
Overall, I think it will be good for the game, and hey, if it helps them keep going, I'm all for that. Yes, it may let some morons in, but there have been and always will be morons.
And, as stated, there's the VIP server. If it does turn into the new unofficial RP server, I will likely start using my one free transfer per month to move there. Not to mention the fact that by the time this launches, any current subscribers/VIPs will have 1200 PPs in the bank, which will grant you the ability to move at least four characters within the first two months of COHF going live (400 PPs free per month, 1 transfer token per month, transfer tokens will reportedly cost 800 PPs).
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