SE consider a free to play option

[PotatoSalad]

GW2 is going downhill because they're pretty much going pay2win along with stabbing their fans in the back by bringing in the gear treadmill, DESPITE SAYING HOW DIFFERENT GW2 WAS FROM OTHER MMOs, etc.

Pay to play is not what makes a game fail, being a shitty game is what makes a game fail.

GW2 isn't anything near or remotely close to a P2W model. You buy the game, that's it. You want stuff from Black Market cash shop?(95% of it is fluff. The consumables that aren't aren't anything better than craftable items) Then save up your ingame currency and exchange it for gems(real world currency converted to ingame currency to buy cash shop items. Think of it as Nexon points) to buy everything you'd need. Don't spend a penny. Voila. Gold is not hard at all to make in GW2 past level 50s anyways. :P

Just had to point out your blatant error.

*Now I'm wondering if you've EVER played any of the games you were berating... most don't it seems. Incase you are, don't bandwagon the whambulance. That's just shameful..*

[fusional]

*Now I'm wondering if you've EVER played any of the games you were berating... most don't it seems. Incase you are, don't bandwagon the whambulance. That's just shameful..*

GW2 fanboys/girls have absolutely no room to talk about bandwagoneering considering the vast majority of hype surrounding the game was complete marketing-induced bandwagon hysteria.

and no it's not really a P2W model because there's no meaningful content you'd need and edge to win in the first place. but the point still stands- they promised it wouldn't be quest-based leveling and that's 90% of it. they promised it wouldn't be grindy and it's one of the grindiest games i've played in recent memory. and they promised the gear treadmill wouldn't exist, and yet...

you get the picture.

gw2 is all flash, no bang. promises undelivered. even without a subscription model people are still quitting the game at about the same rate as people did with SWTOR, which was seen as a colossal failure. the game is empty and without soul. it's something you log in to play for a couple hours once a month and run around doing nothing important before you realize your time would be better spent wanking off or punching yourself in the face. or both.

tl;dr anyone using gw2 as an example of why xiv should be f2p needs to get their heads checked. the point is to make a game that not only succeeds, but has longevity- not to make a bunch of empty promises then essentially fail in alllllllll the same ways everyone else did before.

[Riv]

I thought all the whiney freeloaders were gone when SE restricted the forums to people who had active paying acounts.

Sigh.

[Tonkra]

GW2 isn't anything near or remotely close to a P2W model. You buy the game, that's it. You want stuff from Black Market cash shop?(95% of it is fluff. The consumables that aren't aren't anything better than craftable items) Then save up your ingame currency and exchange it for gems(real world currency converted to ingame currency to buy cash shop items. Think of it as Nexon points) to buy everything you'd need. Don't spend a penny. Voila. Gold is not hard at all to make in GW2 past level 50s anyways. :P

Just had to point out your blatant error.

Well and what kind of players play GW2? (oh i play it for 1 hour or so... maybe i play it for 2-3 weeks and then i am done)
i cant define it, but GW2 didnt catch me for too long.

[Kewitt]

I would quit if it went Free to Play.

no free to play MMO has held my interest for more then about 1 months.

If you want free to play... go play one of the 100 free to play games if you want a quality game pay to play is the way to go.

DnD was the only free to play game model I ever liked.
oo wait it had free to play very limits. Pay to play full content.

[Ruisu]

GW2 isn't anything near or remotely close to a P2W model. You buy the game, that's it. You want stuff from Black Market cash shop?(95% of it is fluff. The consumables that aren't aren't anything better than craftable items) Then save up your ingame currency and exchange it for gems(real world currency converted to ingame currency to buy cash shop items. Think of it as Nexon points) to buy everything you'd need. Don't spend a penny. Voila. Gold is not hard at all to make in GW2 past level 50s anyways. :P

*Now I'm wondering if you've EVER played any of the games you were berating... most don't it seems. Incase you are, don't bandwagon the whambulance. That's just shameful..*

Buying currency in game is still giving you an advantage over others. It's pay to win. Gil isn't hard to make in FFXIV either, so does that justify an in game cash shop for gil?

I did play SWTOR and TERA, actually. I played the open weekend betas for SWTOR and it was a fucking atrocity. I enjoyed TERA's combat to some extent, but everything else about the game was incredibly dull. I'm well aware of what I'm talking about.

[DemonFury]

I am asking you SE to consider a free to play option in addition to subscription model. In today's PC market the majority of MMOs and other action RPG type games are free to play. Take a look at Guild Wars 2, Star Wars the Old Republic, Aion, Everquest 2, Lotro, Diablo 3, League Of Legends, Phantasy Star Online 2, DC Univerise online, the list goes on.

The market today really won't support a paid only MMO. With so many free to play MMOs out there some where devs spent millions on like Star Wars. Why would someone pick up FFXIV when they have to buy it and pay a sub fee?

With free to play + micro transaction model some people will be inclined to buy funny hats, unique looking armor, weapons, mounts, exp boosts they will actually end up spending more money then like 10 subscribers.

A much larger playerbase will be attracted due to not having such a high barrier to entry which would be the monthly fee which in today's economy many people would not even consider paying.

A majority of games who may be Final Fantasy fans would skip FFXIV:ARR just because there is a monthly fee tided to it. However if they feel like they are not being forced to pay monthly and only buy stuff on the game store if they feel like it you can actually get more people to try the game and buy stuff. If you check out comments on gaming sites like Gamestop, IGN, Kotaku the biggest complaint you see about FFXIV when it comes up is that there is a monthly fee.

I keep a lot of F2P games installed on my hard drive and play them every so often. Same can't be said for MMOs that require a fee.

I would consider at least taking a look into the free to play model and what it can do for you.

All of these games that you listed or at least most of them are f2p only due to the fact that they started as p2p and bombed at launch and by doing so lost nearly 90% of their initial player base which is why they are all now f2p games. make sure that you do your research before listing a bunch of games that were un-successful in the beginning

NOne of the above games are multi platformed which FFXIV ARR will be on ps3

[Thunderz]

All of these games that you listed or at least most of them are f2p only due to the fact that they started as p2p and bombed at launch and by doing so lost nearly 90% of their initial player base which is why they are all now f2p games. make sure that you do your research before listing a bunch of games that were un-successful in the beginning

NOne of the above games are multi platformed which FFXIV ARR will be on ps3

Think that situation applies to 1.0 which is why he stated them

[Kallera]

Think that situation applies to 1.0 which is why he stated them

There is already a subscription plan in place for new member and old. Making the game f2p would send signs of no confidence in the games future, and undo all of Yoshida's efforts.

[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.