Seems like alot of people want this game to become Free 2 Play. >.>

[Starlord]

So it seems we're all in agreement. We want XIV to go buy to play with no sub fees!

Not sure if serious....

[Sephrick]

Not sure if serious....

I'm so serious Hearh Ledger called to inquire about my current level of seriousness.


On topic, though, I just hope they don't go the XI route with expansions. That left a sour taste for me.

I don't mind a monthly sub. I don't even mind having to pay for an expansion box. But so help me, the expansion better be complete and in the box this time around. It was robbery in XI selling us a box then taking two years to complete the development of even the storyline of the expansion.

F2P usually is meh. B2P can be great if budgeted properly. But P2P does have a bar set pretty high these days.

The reality is, MMOs have to compete with all games now. And ontop of that they have to prove that they have about $150 worth of value each year. It may not be much to most of us, but it's still enough to change the way people judge a game.

There are so many cheaper alternatives out there to compete and cooperate with friends and strangers across the globe.

These modern MMOs are essentially failing to answer one fundamental question; why is your game worth so much more?

And it's not that consumers have to play these games. But it's the companies making them that decide to try and pull in more than the typical MMO crowd.

I think that's why these games tend to fall flat on their face. They're going too big too soon. If anything I think XIV may prove that P2P is viable with a different style of development.

The genre is in desperate need of innovation, but they're all trying to compete with AAA shooters and action games while trying to appease a hardcore crowd that wants things to remain as archaic as possible all while being judged on a different set of standards.

tl;dr: If MMO makers want more than the typical MMO crowd, then they're going to have to innovate in some way. Whether that innovation is through the cost of playing or gameplay, only time will tell.