Do you think SE should have a free to play AND a subscription model for ARR?

[Shougun]

It 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).

Or 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).

With subs you just tell the dev, I'm paying you are making.

[Aerenvel]

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.

[Delsus]

Or 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).

With subs you just tell the dev, I'm paying you are making.

Subs 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.

[Yucie]

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.

XI offers the month free as well when you buy it new.

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?

[A_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.

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?

buy the game for cheap, play for a month with no restrictions, and keep playing if they like, or quit if they don't?

buy the game, play for a month, keep playing, or quit

buy, play, keep or quit

Simple, and more importantly: Proven.

[Xatsh]

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.

[Antanias]

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

[Nakiamiie]

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.

[Preypacer]

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.

The 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.

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.

[Lucke]

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.