SE consider a free to play option

[Totorixiii]

You know what's real funny?

If someone don't want to pay monthly subscription then why the hell do they want to spend money on in-game items transactions?

Or if they can't afford $10-$13 monthly subscriptions why the hell does in-game item for real world money transaction even be possible for these cheap people?

If you can't afford monthly payment of only $13 a month, i'm sorry...but at least get a minimum wage job that should cover it. Not being mean or anything, it's just logic.

[RoyalSibby]

SECOULDadd trial periods. Like those who own the game could invite their friends to play for free for like 3Days. (Just have a Trial Period where you can play upto lv10. or something.) Other than that no.

[Preypacer]

You know what's real funny?

If someone don't want to pay monthly subscription then why the hell do they want to spend money on in-game items transactions?

Or if they can't afford $10-$13 monthly subscriptions why the hell does in-game item for real world money transaction even be possible for these cheap people?

If you can't afford monthly payment of only $13 a month, i'm sorry...but at least get a minimum wage job that should cover it. Not being mean or anything, it's just logic.

In the event that your first two questions aren't at all rhetorical, I'll answer: Because the goal is to play a game they like without having to pay for it.

What they don't realize, or are completely naive about, is that they think the game they'd be playing as a F2P/Cash Shop MMO, the way they'd be experiencing it, would be the same as the one they're playing now with a sub.

And let's think back to when SE first announced that - as promised - they'd be reinstating subs. Remember all the rage threads, threats to quit, chicken little posts about the game failing and dying a horrible death, that 2.0 would never get made because they wouldn't have the money to do so, etc?

What happened when subs were reinstated? When it mattered, many of those same people shouting doom and gloom paid up and subbed anyway. Why? Because they enjoyed the game enough to pay a sub - they just didn't want to. They liked getting it all for free. As I recall, the ones doing the most shouting tended to be those with the most time in, and the most achieved in the game.

I suspect that's the true reason behind most "make the game F2P" posts.

As has been said, if someone finds something worth paying for, they'll pay it. And, ~$13 a month, or roughly forty-three cents a day - for 24/7 "all you can eat, any time you're hungry" entertainment, is not a huge fee to pay. It's even less if you're a legacy member.. what is it then, $9? $10? Let's say $10... That's about thirty-three cents a day.

And when people say "oh, well, I can't play enough to make it worthwhile, so they should make it cheaper". Wrong. If you can't play enough to make it worth your while, you should just think about it more carefully. Is it worth it enough even with the little bit you do get to play just to keep the sub active? If yes,then keep it going. If not, then don't.

Another way to put it, I'm willing to guess that a number of people here have some other service or product they use that is subscription based. It could be a magazine or website subscription, a music subscription, Cable TV, internet, etc. Something that is paid on a monthly basis - and likely far more expensive than a $10 or $13 game subscrtiption. Are you using those services "all the time"? Do you feel they're worth your while to keep going? Why? Because you're paying for them to be available when you want/need to use them right? If you subscribe to a magazine, do you read every single word on every page of every issue of the magazine? No? Does that mean the magazine isn't worth the subscription rate? Or, does it mean that the parts you enjoy are worth it to you (I say "you" in general here, not anyone in particular).

For some reason - and I have a feeling it's a bit of the "me me me" entitled generation mentality bleeding through - MMO gamers seem to consider MMOs an exception to that.

And, again, my suspicion is it has nothing to do with the cost, or it being "worthwhile". They just want access to something they enjoy without having to pay for it.

[Elexia]

You know what's real funny?

If someone don't want to pay monthly subscription then why the hell do they want to spend money on in-game items transactions?

Or if they can't afford $10-$13 monthly subscriptions why the hell does in-game item for real world money transaction even be possible for these cheap people?

If you can't afford monthly payment of only $13 a month, i'm sorry...but at least get a minimum wage job that should cover it. Not being mean or anything, it's just logic.

What do you expect from a generation that likes and demands handouts?

[yoshikwalla]

The reasons why pay-to-play MMORPGs go free-to-play - especially IP-Based MMORPGs like this one - is because they fail to keep subscribers interested in the long-term. This is due to a lot of things - lack of communication, of innovation, of variation, and much more. When an MMORPG can't hold itself together anymore from lack of subscribers, then it goes F2P.

This game can hold itself together for a long time (unless Realm Reborn fails horribly, in which I can begin to understand F2P as an option) because it has enough players to keep it going. The company's doing fine enough that financial backing isn't a problem, either.

Not only that, but F2P games are garbage in quality 99 percent of the time (Thank you, Korea). Yes, there are exceptions, but do NOT say that Guild Wars 2 is a viable comparison. Guild Wars 2 is developed by ArenaNet as well as produced by NCSoft. Even if the playerbase were to drop, the game would still recieve some sort of funding because of K-AION/Lineage 2/bunch of other games.

Some could say that FFXIV is the same, being funded by the same sort of company - but what matters is that for each game, their model WORKS. Until the time where subscriptions don't work, I don't see why we really need to put in the effort. A game doesn't need a bajillion subscribers to be considered an MMORPG. If a few hundred thousand isn't massive then you need a reality check. Imagine a hundred thousand people in one room? Do you guys even KNOW a hundred thousand people? If yes, then congratulations, Mr. President.

Some could say that F2P is the way of the future - it is instead an adaptation... to crappy F2P MMO clones and washed-out Western P2P MMO releases-gone-wrong. And, as adaptations go, people seem to expect it, in all of its shitty f2p glory.

This game's model works. Until it doesn't work, I don't see the damn point.

Indeed, not sure why Seirra is all bent out of shape over it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FTP_%28disambiguation%29

FTP is used from everything including a function of IMF, a type of cable, a political party in Thailand, a New Deals project, and even a communist French resistance group in WW2!!

It's all about context.

I read it as Fried Twinkie Pancakes. Usually leaves a better taste in my mouth than FTP games, that's for sure.

[Aenarion]

If someone don't want to pay monthly subscription then why the hell do they want to spend money on in-game items transactions?

They don't.

Many of them simply want others to so they can play for free forever.

[Xikeroth]

Free to play is a complete rippoff in the first 2 years of playing. You have to pay for so damn much its insane. That and the amount of content you can do per week in some of the games is limited.

In LOTRO you have to pay literally as much as you would pay for 7-8 months of subscription fees JUST to reach level 50. After that you pay MORE. Its more worth it to just pay the subscription fee.

Free to play is stupid imo... Most of those games went with their current model because of quick profits off of content that gets released every 6-8 months.

They cap how much you can hold and make you pay real-world money for everything

Lets face it, pay to play is a way better value for the casual gamer as well as hardcore. No spending $10-20 for content every time you reach it.