Do you guys think SE should implement a model that's free to play on top of the subscription model? Something that allows people to, say, get to level 25 for free. There could be other restrictions, of course like gil cap, unable to sell things in the market ward, can't get retainers, limited inventory slots, etc. Those are just examples.
Hell, they could even let players play till max level, but throw a ton of restrictions for F2P players. A cash shop can be something only for F2P players to remove some of these restrictions for a limited time - weekly and bi-weekly.
I'm curious to see what you guys think about this.
-
11-23-2012, 06:27 AMKamikazeManDo you think SE should have a free to play AND a subscription model for ARR?
-
11-23-2012, 06:31 AMvax
It will have anytime soon, not at the start but in a few years pretty sure it will be something like this. FFXI got it, i don't see why XIV shouldn't.
-
11-23-2012, 06:36 AMMjollnir
I think limited-time trial accounts area good idea and should be available from launch, with the restrictions mentioned in place to prevent abuse. It would make things a lot easier for me to get my friends to play and, if the game is as good as I'm hoping, it won't be any trouble to get them to stay around and buy a copy of the full game.
-
11-23-2012, 06:37 AMRau
Capped at level 15 all classes would be cool for complete free to play.
-
11-23-2012, 06:47 AMFated
This is why most new MMORPGs come with buddy passes...
-
11-23-2012, 06:52 AMKamikazeManYeah, but not everybody who wants to try out ARR will have access to one. I think they should just open the gate and let everybody who is interested in ARR at least try it out. With all of the improvements they are making, I can't imagine it would end badly. At worse, they will have to open up another server or two.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fated
-
11-23-2012, 06:53 AMTwiddle
No... next!
-
11-23-2012, 06:59 AMCedri
The only free to play option I would support is a 15 day trial.
-
11-23-2012, 07:05 AMRuisu
What is it with all of these terrible fucking threads advocating free to play, or cash shops?
-
11-23-2012, 07:18 AMRustyhagun
There silly suggestions.. not weighing in 5 star quality mmo genres to the 2-3 star rubbish that never sees past the 4 months.
People take FFXI as a reflection of SE thought on this.. that game is still pay to play and its on 10years now. Has a strong following(myself included) and a healty subscription base. That game will never go free to play unless the subs start going down because of 2.0 success.. which we won't know really till 2-3 years from now.
But FFXI is getting an exp. next year with two new job classes coming out. So yah... make that 3-4 years. -
11-23-2012, 07:20 AMKallera
Free to play, no. I don't see how one would be free of the gilsellers if that were in.
Cash shops? Maybe. I'm not a fan of things that give a permanent edge, but it could spice up play for those that cant be on as much.
I'd say dungeon fighter online is the closest I've enjoyed the feature. And smt:Imagine is the worst I've seen and still played. -
11-23-2012, 07:22 AMElexiaFuture of MMORPGs etc etc.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ruisu
-
11-23-2012, 07:30 AMA_Hortensia
I think people are confusing free to play and a limited time trial.
XI had a free downloadable client with a 7-14 day trial with restrictions.
XIV already offers the first month of play for free. Just need to buy your copy.
Doesn't seem too ridiculous for them to offer a trial period as a free download from PSN.
(Eventually off of their website for PC.)
Strongly against all ideas that are along the lines of free-to-play, though. -
11-23-2012, 07:33 AMTwiddleIf by future, you mean the lack there of... you got my vote. Until such a time comes in to play were bill's no longer come in the mail like clock work. Any AAA or 5Star service will be pay to use.Quote:
Originally Posted by Elexia
-
11-23-2012, 07:34 AMGreyJorildyn
Yes i think there should be. Every game inevitably implements this and it brings bad press. Generate the opposite and excite some buzz by putting it in at launch.
Of course you need the usual restrictions. No trade, auction, sending stuff in delivery, etc. rmt problem solved. -
11-23-2012, 07:41 AMDelsus
I don't think they should go f2p, all it ends up with is companies trying to get as much money as possible, I have been playing SWTOR recently and their f2p model is kind of harsh, f2p characters get less exp than subs, which has left me under leveled and I am having a hard time doing missions due to this (this is doing most side missions as well, on the planet I am currently on I have about 4 more to do, possibly one extra level, I'm at level 16, tackling lvl 19-20 missions atm) f2p cannot get rested exp, they have inventory limitations, can't use purple quality items, can't customize companions, can't get a personal speeder until level 25, the list goes on.
Most f2p games end up pay to win, or subscribe, some games communities have things against f2p players as well, when I was playing SWTOR I saw people in general chat saying how "f2p just can't afford to sub" or calling the gypsies (no idea where that came from) the reasons for not going f2p are endless.
I would be fine with trial periods as well, a downloadable client with trial account, then you subscribe to play the whole game if you think it's worth it, f2p is just misleading in most cases because the games are pay to win.
Oh and this is about the 15th post on the subject, just stating that. -
11-23-2012, 08:12 AMGinTama
no..........
-
11-23-2012, 08:31 AMJillyBean^ THIS!Quote:
Originally Posted by Ruisu
The mere discussion of it makes me sick. This is what ruins games. -
11-23-2012, 08:32 AMZumi
Yes they need some kind of free to play option. Even if its only until a certain level or something. Its pretty standard with every mmo these days. New players they are trying to attract aren't going to be the types to buy it and see if I like it or not.
If they don't have this it really won't do much better then 1.0. -
11-23-2012, 08:37 AMKamikazeManIt also keeps otherwise dying MMO games alive. I'm not saying ARR will be DoA or anything like that. Just that XIV already has a bad rep and it would be nice for people to experience just how much it has changed. A trial would be great, but honestly, a week or two won't do the game any justice.Quote:
Originally Posted by JillyBean
Maybe people can try it out via trial then go on to purchasing the game, but not subbing. Then they can get their free month in. After that they can continue playing without paying and paying just for the stuff they want weekly or bi-weekly access to. Like I mentioned in the OP: cash shop would only be for people not subscribed. I may have used the term F2P a little loosely. I suppose I meant buy to play with no subs. -
11-23-2012, 08:41 AMDelsusPeople are still willing to pay subscriptions, and companies make money off it, WoW is still, for reasons unknown to anyone, the biggest MMO in the world, SWTOR was going strong with subs, the reason people stopped playing wasn't because of the subs it was because it got boring after awhile (or so everyone I have spoken to has said) it's still going strong on subs, and that can be shown in how they can get away with an extremely harsh f2p model.Quote:
Originally Posted by Zumi
People still play with subs, companies just go to a "freemium" model to attract new players, if they enjoy the games I imagine a lot will subscribe just to experience more of the game, whether its gear or new areas. Subs still make money, the key is making a game that you can justify subs, like FFXI and WoW have done. -
11-23-2012, 08:43 AMDuelleSome feel the subscription model is dying.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ruisu
I don't buy into it because content provided and game quality are directly linked to whether the game is worth paying a monthly subscription for. If the game is good and can get people hooked in, sub works. If the game doesn't hook people in due to gameplay-disrupting bugs, lack of balance in PvP/PvE, little to no content past a certain point, and so on, then you go F2P to squeeze as much cash as you can out of the game before folding.
If you actually develop the game with care and enough content, you're fine. If you want to be cheap about things and rush the game out to door to meet a deadline, you get XIV 1.0 and TOR. -
11-23-2012, 08:44 AMAirget
Well, free to play i a way to increase the community through a mix of players who subscribe and those who don't The thing to keep in mind is that the general idea is you create an addiction for those who play f2p to want to play more while at the same time providing those who subscribe with more fresh blood to play with then just those who are subscribed.
So say with just sub you have 2k on server. With both you have 5k per server, so with F2P you have all these extra players to play with making it easier to do events and make parties and sure those 3k aren't paying 10 dollars a month to play however because they are there and provide the other 2k players with people to play with then they will continue to pay 10 a month to play.
Of course with f2p you have to put restrictions on it, which would be the following:
-Can't Create a Free Company
-May join Free Company but only obtains 50% of the benefits from it
-Unable to own land but may visit houses but they can't been part owner of a house
-Players that go from sub to F2P are unable to interact with their house but they can still enter it
-Cooldowns on all content is increased 3x
-Death Penalty is doubled
-Anime recharges 4x slower
-Guild Leves recharge 1 every 4 days
-Can only hold up to 4 leves
-Can only have 4 active quest
-Can not use a retainer
-1 character, 1 server
-Can only level up 1 DOL(may get first 10 levels on all 3 but at that point player must choose to lock in one in order to continue leveling)
-Can only level up 1 DOH(may obtain first 10 levels but then must lock in which class they wish to proceed with)
-Unable to do bulk synths
-gathering fatigue happens 3 times faster
-Queue for cross-server grouping is set to lowest priority
-Unable to sell items unless they obtain a permit (basically buy with gill allowing for 5 items to be up for x amount of time)
-can only hold up to 1mil gil (but can increase this in game through NPC)
etc etc and with the above while it would allow those who want to play for free to play they would of course be limited by how much they could do and how much their inventory could hold. But basically it would encourage people to actually sub to play but at the same time at least give them a taste to entice them to want to play. perhaps there are some who don't mind these limitation and play on. Maybe they just enjoy leveling DOH/DOL and such and don't care about the other content and don't mind that they can't bulk synth or they hit fatigue quicker.
But ya, F2P all comes down to how they set it up compared to sub fee. If setup right then the system encourages people to want to pay a monthly fee to enjoy everything, but basically F2P can be considered a drug, you give them a dose and then from that point if they get hooked then of course they'll come back and pay to keep playing so that they can enjoy all the of what the game has to offer. -
11-23-2012, 08:51 AMDelsusThat's not f2p... That's buy to win and if I must say an extremely harsh model.Quote:
Originally Posted by Airget
-
11-23-2012, 09:03 AMQuesseIts the me too bandwagon. Mindless sheep posting about any off the wall idea that some other MMO has and why FFXIV should have it to.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ruisu
Original idea - can I have it? -
11-23-2012, 09:05 AMDuelleWeird part is that TOR's F2P model is like this. You get the class story with limited inventory, no access to epics, limits on currency and less exp gained. You can't even toggle display head on/off without having to pay cartel coins or subscribing. >.>;;;Quote:
Originally Posted by Delsus
-
11-23-2012, 09:10 AMShougun
Trials are cool - Blizzard does those as well. Have to make sure trial accounts cant trade however - otherwise RMT will go to town.
I prefer 100% only sub. based system. Each system has its pro's and con's and my favorite pro with the sub system is its very straight forward and clean ( each system has its place, but I dont care to make those types of systems my long term "go to game"). -
11-23-2012, 09:14 AMDelsusIt's why I don't like it, as I said earlier I'm getting behind on levels really fast just because of the nerfed exp for f2p I might die and have to return to medcenter and quickly run back to the mission area before repops, last night I must have had to return at least 10 times because of my level, and in that game just one level works wonders.Quote:
Originally Posted by Duelle
-
11-23-2012, 09:19 AMDuelleSame here. As a consumer I look at it and am tempted to sub, which is the intent. I know what awaits later (I did most of the jedi knight story back when I was beta testing the game), which I think is what's keeping me from giving Bioware money at this point.Quote:
Originally Posted by Delsus
It's an underhanded way to get people to pay money for the game, but that's business for you. I just hope XIV never has to go through that. -
11-23-2012, 09:37 AMDelsusIt does just show you that subs are the way to go, it seems these days f2p is just a way to get customers to try the game then sub, I would hate to know how much you would spend on exp boosts in the cartel market just to get enough levels to enjoy the story, you could easily spend £30 per week on them (they are 1hr boosts).Quote:
Originally Posted by Duelle
-
11-23-2012, 09:41 AMShougunOr that devs have to start thinking about making content and content that makes money, and when to take content and divide it into two contents so you can make money (dlcs). (Have to think like a bushiness person rather then a game developer).Quote:
Originally Posted by Delsus
With subs you just tell the dev, I'm paying you are making. -
11-23-2012, 09:49 AMAerenvel
Nope they put alot of hardwork into the game and with the amount of time they put into it I believe they should be paid for their work.
Cant really use a past failure undersomeone else to not give someone benefit of the doubt.
I mean as long as it is not something like 30 dollars a month but 10-15 bucks is fair imo.
With the amount of content they are adding and with continue to add No complaints here. -
11-23-2012, 09:55 AMDelsusSubs mean enough players think the devs are doing a good job, where as f2p just means they just want to make money off every little thing, you want exp pay for it, you want inv space pay, auction slots guess what you have to pay, expansions is content that makes money on top of subs, f2p don't do them though they make you pay for the things you need to enjoy the game.Quote:
Originally Posted by Shougun
-
11-23-2012, 09:59 AMYucieXI offers the month free as well when you buy it new.Quote:
Originally Posted by A_Hortensia
1) XI copies on steam are like.. 10-15$, which is pretty economical these days. I paid 40$ for WotG when it came out back in the day.
2) Why would one not simply buy the game for cheap, play for a month with no restrictions, and keep playing if they like, or quit if they don't? -
11-23-2012, 10:09 AMA_Hortensia
The future of SE and FFXIV is not as desperate as haters/biased e-journalists make it seem.
If you're posting here, you must have played the game recently. (I think) It got awesome.
ARR is apparently going to be so much ridiculously better than what you've been paying for.
All SE needs to do is market it. There's absolutely no need for gimmicky payment plans.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Yucie
Quote:
Originally Posted by Yucie
Quote:
Originally Posted by Yucie
Simple, and more importantly: Proven.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yucie
-
11-23-2012, 11:56 AMXatsh
I have no problem with a F2P option as long as it more or less forces people to sub to get the most out of the game.
P2P bonus
1) Double xp
2) Double drop rate
3) Increases item rarity when mining
4) Increased HQ rate when crafting
5) Increase Materia Meld Success rate
6) Priority when using dungeon finder
F2P should have the following restrictions which can be unlocked by paying money.
1) Massive surplus, like at XIV launch but it come in about 1hr of constant playing .Takes 24hrs to reset. starts at 50% reduced xp and increases by ~10% per 1hr of activity.
2) Cannot Equip or Lot any gear that is above common drop
3) Cannot join a free company, but you can join ls (if you drop out of the P2P model you get insta kicked from the FC)
4) Meds and Foods have reduced effects
5) All crafts cap at level 20, if you are above 20 it is temp. reduced to 20.
6) All gathering jobs cap at level 20, if you are above 20 it is temp. reduced to 20.
7) You cannot use Jobs only Classes
8) You can only join partys 3 people or less.
9) All dungeons/raids/endgame content have a 24hr cooldown.
10) Unable to use Retainers and cannot Trade at all (Cannot be removed, this will prevent rmt manipulating F2P)
F2P people can pay $0.25 to remove any 1 restriction above for 1 RL day.
Honestly the F2P should only be used for people to see if they like the game, it SHOULD NOT BE A CHOICE TO ENJOY THE GAME LONG TERM.
All the talk of the Sub model dying is laughable, I see crap like SWToR failed because it was p2p. I say it failed because it was crap and looks like it was developed on a 2mill budget, still say the executives pocketed the other several hundred million it cost. XIV 1.0 didn't fail because of p2p it was crap. EQ2 didn't fail due to p2p it failed because it was crap. Lotro didn't fail because it was p2p it failed because it was a WoW clone which was no where near as good as WoW. WoW has subs and people are still happily paying it.
People will gladly pay to play a mmo if it is worth paying for. IF ffxiv:arr fails THEN it should be f2p, because it will be in the game boat as the other crap mmos that were forced to go F2P. So Should the this game go f2p... no one knows yet until we see FFXIV:ARR ourselves and judge with our pocket books. -
11-23-2012, 12:23 PMAntanias
How about free to play until level 15 on up to one DoW/DoM and one of each DoH and DoL from your starting city? The catch? You can't travel outside of that region (eg. in Ul'dah, you can't go outside of Thanalan) and ya can't use anything that can upset the impact of paid players. Also, include the initial first 30 day free trial once you go paid and have that be the end of that :D
-
11-23-2012, 12:39 PMNakiamiie
I, too, much prefer the pay to play model. Everyone playing have access to the same stuff and have the same chance.
Add to that the free month SE gives to new accounts, it works like a charm.
(I understand the predicament of buying the box and only using it for a month if you are dissatisfied, but that's where digital downloads come in, refund policies and such)
The only thing that I am greatly against is cash shops.
I value companies that have integrity and give their players an equal and fair chance.
Cash shops are pure greed and would make me seriously reconsider giving money to SE.
Yes, SE is a company and companies are made to make money. However, you can make money with integrity and make the world a better place. Or, you can try to simply deepen your pockets and not give a damn. Nobody is a white Saint, but I'd much prefer SE to try to stick closer to the former than the latter.
That said, making a lower tier account for people not willing to pay would simply add frustration and destroy the fun of the game -- as it is a game. 15$ a month is not a lot and if you can't afford it, you most likely can't afford playing altogether and need to get out there fix your life. -
11-23-2012, 01:51 PMPreypacerThe ability to play a MMO up to a certain level, or for a certain amount of time is what is, and always has been known as a Free Trial.Quote:
Originally Posted by Zumi
I find it curious/odd/amusing how for years, people simply called a Free Trial a "Free Trial". Now all of a sudden, a free trial is "It's free to play!". It's exactly the same thing that has been available in other games for years... play for free for a set amount of time, or up to a certain point of the game, and it's always been a "free trial".
It's amazing how the introduction of one new term to the gaming landscape results in people retroactively re-defining entire well-established terms.
For crying out loud, people are still calling GW2 "free to play".. and you have to buy it in order to play it at all! They don't even have a free trial yet.
Words have meanings. Established terms and phrases have meaning. It's amazing to me how people just toss aside and disregard them in favor of something new that "sounds better to them".
I can't help but think that it's some kind of round-about way to try and get people more accepting of the "free to play" model, since it's been and continues to be treated as something of a pariah (and justifiably so) in the MMO scene. They say that any major change in a society begins with language - using certain terms over and over again to get it as ingrained in people's minds as possible 'tilt hey just accept it as "fact". This whole Free To Play thing certainly echoes that. -
11-23-2012, 02:02 PMLucke
I dunno why some people are acting like paying for this game is breaking their bank. Really? Just don't go to Starbucks a couple times a month and there you go -- sub is paid.
Think of it this way: You pay 15 bucks for an hour and a half movie. For that same $15, you get a month's access to the game and potentially hundreds of hours of entertainment.
'sides, Free to Play just opens to door for RMT. and it alienates the legit players by reducing so many things like markets and stuff.
When this gets released for PS3, I'm sure you'll be able to pay through your PSN wallet. Some people might want free to play so they don't need their parent's credit card or whatever.