Final Fantasy XIV article in MCV

[Zumi]

SE should really embrace the F2P model. I don't really believe 2.0 can attract many new players at all with it being pay to play when theres so many F2P MMOs out there on the market at the moment. FFXIV still left a bad impression on the majority of PC gamers. Even EA with SWTOR couldn't pull off P2P and they had about 1m subs and are still going F2P.

Free to play done right can be really good. Like you can get all the content without paying but the stuff sold in the store would be exp boosts, and vanity items (shirts, hats, bows, new hairstyles, tabards underwear), mounts, pets ect. While keeping most progression gear obtainable from actually playing the game. Add new slots so players can wear vanity items over their real gear. That guy who wants a full set of slightly different color chocobos with different armor buys them each for $25 a pop probably would be paying for the equivalent of 10 peoples subs under P2P.

[Maxthunder]

SE should really embrace the F2P model. I don't really believe 2.0 can attract many new players at all with it being pay to play when theres so many F2P MMOs out there on the market at the moment. FFXIV still left a bad impression on the majority of PC gamers. Even EA with SWTOR couldn't pull off P2P and they had about 1m subs and are still going F2P.

Free to play done right can be really good. Like you can get all the content without paying but the stuff sold in the store would be exp boosts, and vanity items (shirts, hats, bows, new hairstyles, tabards underwear), mounts, pets ect. While keeping most progression gear obtainable from actually playing the game. Add new slots so players can wear vanity items over their real gear. That guy who wants a full set of slightly different color chocobos with different armor buys them each for $25 a pop probably would be paying for the equivalent of 10 peoples subs under P2P.

Why the hell would you want to pay more just for stuff that you can earn in game by effort and time? Seriously F2P NO THANKS!! F2P isnt free and will end up costing more than P2P, if its F2P than its basicly lazy mans way of doing things, because instead of earning it by putting effort and time into it you just throw money at whatever it is you want. F2P NO and a lot of players will abandon the game, if I wanted a F2P I would be playing 1 now.

[Zumi]

Why the hell would you want to pay more just for stuff that you can earn in game by effort and time? Seriously F2P NO THANKS!! F2P isnt free and will end up costing more than P2P, if its F2P than its basicly lazy mans way of doing things, because instead of earning it by putting effort and time into it you just throw money at whatever it is you want. F2P NO and a lot of players will abandon the game, if I wanted a F2P I would be playing 1 now.

It's cheaper in the long run if you don't plan on buying anything from the cash shop. Let the people who want to buy a bunch of vanity items pay for the game for me.

[Jennestia]

SWTOR's problems wasn't the P2P plan as proven by how popular it was -- It was a mediocre game and once you did most of what it had to offer..you're left with "now what?" F2P done right can be good however there hasn't really been a F2P MMO that has done it correctly. Usually it lacks in one area and fully fleshed out in another -- for example Maplestory lacks in tangible content but my god can you pimp yourself out on cosmetic cashshop items including pets.

[Antipika]

Some games does it right, you aren't aware of them that's it.

Dofus is free to play (freemium more precisely, you can play for free, but have to pay to access all features/zones) and perform really well. 500K paid subscribers for France alone, that's as most as XI during most of its lifetime, but with a single country that's twice less populated than Japan alone, with a game from a "small" company (Ankama is far from being SE) and without a big license such as FF.

And the subscribtion itself is cheap (48 euros for 12 months, which is less than the price of a "normal" game per year). The game targets a very young audience (12~18 years old), hence why freemium was the way to go. Same for the low membership fee, which parents aren't reluctant to pay for their child.

There isn't any cash shop. You only receive vanity rewards for subscribing (lot of P2P games do that like Rift). You can also pay for extra services such as World Transfer, Character Rename etc. (then again lot of P2P do that, even XI).

Note that the "sequel", Wakfu, is being published by Square Enix in North America. (No idea how it performs there, but the billing model is the same with an item shop however).

[Jennestia]

Some games does it right, you aren't aware of them that's it.

My apologies, first time I've heard I wasn't aware of games I've actually played (btw, I have half year sub for Wakfu and played Doofus for quite awhile.)

"Freemium" isn't good because it's going under the disguise of "you can play for free but if you want to actually play the full game, pay:" -- that's not a free MMO and it can cost you more than paying monthly for a game in the long run, especially if it has a cashshop.

Though do tell me, what other MMOs I haven't played since you feel you know what games I have and have not played in my time? Also I'll give you a hint:

My work keeps me stationed in the US, Japan, Korea and China for up to 4 years at a time and since I play MMOs, I'm usually playing MMOs in those countries -- So unless the ones that released last year "does F2P" right, you're correct I'm not aware of it, but for the most part every F2P MMO takes the same route of charging you more than if you just simply played a P2P game.

[Tupsi]

Yeah, Wakfu and Doofus are interesting styles of games and should be noted they're not your typical MMORPG.

[Antipika]

Well players often mention SWTOR by saying it went "free to play". It is freemium, like Aion, AoC etc. Off course freemium is a disguise. It just uses an enhanced trial version as a way to lure people in paying a subscription.

Is it bad? I don't think so, especially if behind, there is no gameplay item cash shop like Dofus does. You cannot pay to be more powerful beside the subscription fee.

[Hyrist]

People are confusing free to play with pay to win.

It's more than possible to create a free to play environment that makes optional purchases that have no impact on gameplay.

Truth of the matter is: the Subscription model is a major barrier to entry - which SE may not be able to afford at this rate. Many players might find FFXIV to be good, but not 'pay every month' good, which would be a problem when we're begging for a healthy population.

If it goes free to play a cash shop for vanity pieces, certain home furnishings, and personal convinced then many more players may flock to the title - and SE may wind up with a larger total income as a result.

You may not like it, but that's the reality of things. The Subscription Market is showing its age, and it's questionable that FFXIV can survive while maintaining it - regardless of how good A Realm Reborn may be.

[Jennestia]

People are confusing free to play with pay to win.

It's more than possible to create a free to play environment that makes optional purchases that have no impact on gameplay.

Truth of the matter is: the Subscription model is a major barrier to entry - which SE may not be able to afford at this rate. Many players might find FFXIV to be good, but not 'pay every month' good, which would be a problem when we're begging for a healthy population.

If it goes free to play a cash shop for vanity pieces, certain home furnishings, and personal convinced then many more players may flock to the title - and SE may wind up with a larger total income as a result.

You may not like it, but that's the reality of things. The Subscription Market is showing its age, and it's questionable that FFXIV can survive while maintaining it - regardless of how good A Realm Reborn may be.

I don't think it's that people are confusing F2P with buy to win, it's the simple fact that those games tend to be lower quality than P2P games -- they aren't obligated to give you good content because you're not paying them outside of cashshop items or you're not 'freemium'. As for this specifically:

Many players might find FFXIV to be good, but not 'pay every month' good,

Most people these days want everything for free as seen by piracy numbers -- this is why companies are annoying us who actually would pay with anti-piracy measures and DRM systems -- so regardless if something is actually worth the money, most gamers would rather have it for free than pay for it, this is why there's a good chance if you know someone who actually buys games they're likely from the older generations, rather than the newer generation. The economy may be bad, but honestly, $9-$14 a month isn't much money at all, even if you're living off of the government you could afford that.

However, we've also seen that gamers are willing to shell out cash for DLC which 99% of the time are stuff you're supposed to get when you pay that $60 price tag -- like characters you used to unlock by beating hard mode with everyone? Or to unlock Lilith in marvel vs capcom 2 you had to navigate the character select a certain way? Or additional tracks that you got by placing first in x,y,z tournaments -- so on and so forth, essentially we're in the generation where P2P isn't showing it's age, but gamers are being nickle and dime for everything, this is why B2W and F2P models are better for the companies, but not the gamers that are expecting a quality game.