SE consider a free to play option

[Raagnar]

Is this supposed to be clever?

I was wondering that myself.. wonder if they know you dont need a CC to play.

On topic: OP wants p2p benefits while someone else picks up the bill by buying a couple "funny hats". No thanks, its all been said already so I dont need to go into detail why this would ruin the game for the people who atcually like it.

[Endigiont]

I assume all you "Pay to Play" people use American Express and gladly pay it's yearly fee when paying for your MMOs? It clearly superior to Visa and MasterCard right?

lolwut?


No seriously? What?


I don't even get this.

[Preypacer]

However games like GW2 which are ftp but have the in-game store where you can buy whatever you need, do not get any money from me because I dont use the store option...ever. And other games I tried that were ftp got stale fast and had more in-game problems than any ptp I have experienced. Comparing ARR to WoW, XI or any established older game is just a silly arguement. You cant expect 10 years worth of content at release.

I just have to chime in on this, because remarks like the bolded part drive me up the wall.

Guild Wars 2 is not free to play. You (or someone else) had to buy GW2 in order for you (or them) to play it. Without having purchased a copy of the game, you can not create an account of your own, login or play. When you have to spend money to acquire something, it's not free.

The key word here is "Free". It's a very important term when you're categorizing a game as "Free to Play", "Buy To Play" or "Pay To Play".

I understand people say "F2P" as in "no subscription", but that's not what F2P means. A F2P MMO is one like Perfect World, or Allods, or Runes of Magic, where you can download, install, login, create a character and play without having to buy anything. Those are the games that rely entirely on cash shop sales to stay afloat, and those are the ones that really limit the gameplay experience in order to drive more microtransactions.

[Preypacer]

fak no, d3 and gw2 were my first and last mmo's i will ever play that have no monthly to them. totally different mmo. the need to stop using the same genre name for all these mmo's cause they not the same.

Here's another incorrect statement that drives me nuts, so I'd like to clarify it once more...

Diablo 3 is not a MMO. It's an action RPG with optional limited multiplayer. It's no more a MMO than Diablo 1 or 2 were, and they weren't MMOs, either.

I don't understand this penchant people have for taking any new term introduced to gaming and then using it to retro-actively redefine everything else that came before it.

There's a big difference between a game being "multiplayer" and being "massively multiplayer", and it's not just the number of people.

[Endigiont]

It's true you never see normal patches, they'll make some content updates rarely like once a year maybe a "Big" content update but generally all you see on their main sites are "OMFG CASH SHOP SALE!!!! OMFG CASH SHOP TIERED EVENT!!!! OMFG NEW CASH SHOP ITEMS~!!!"

I mean I'd play Allods because it's a decent game but.... Meh.... It really is pay to win at end game...

[Neptune]

Mediocrity Online initial subscribers:

PinkamenaDiane
Zumi

On another note, I think it would be a good idea for them to offer some kind of ongoing trial period, like up to a certain level or perhaps a trial after your subscription has ended for a couple weeks or something. Just to lower the barrier of entry. The barrier of entry to FFXI has always been way too high.

[Preypacer]

lolwut?


No seriously? What?


I don't even get this.

American Express has a yearly fee on certain "tiers" of its credit cards. I believe the Platinum Card has a yearly fee. They also have cards without yearly fees, though. Either way, you're a "member" not a "user", as AMEX's advertising puts it.

Laraul is just trying to draw a relationship between monthly MMO subs and Yearly AMEX membership fees.

It's a ridiculous analogy so, don't worry. You're not missing much.

It's especially funny considering many people who use AMEX do consider it to be superior to Visa and MC... which would probably figure into why they're using AMEX in the first place. Ya'd think.

[Aenarion]

I assume all you "Pay to Play" people use American Express and gladly pay it's yearly fee when paying for your MMOs? It clearly superior to Visa and MasterCard right?

FYI, I do have AMEX, and I very much enjoy the non-existent yearly fee since it's part of my Costco membership. Oh, and I do like the automatic 1 extra year of warranty on almost everything I buy... and that free $25 statement credit they're handing out today.

What were you saying again?

[Preypacer]

Mediocrity Online initial subscribers:

PinkamenaDiane
Zumi

On another note, I think it would be a good idea for them to offer some kind of ongoing trial period, like up to a certain level or perhaps a trial after your subscription has ended for a couple weeks or something. Just to lower the barrier of entry. The barrier of entry to FFXI has always been way too high.

A good 14 day trial that allows players to dive in and get a good feel for the game, the pacing, the types of content and such would be just fine. They could even make it an "endless trial" with the limitation of only being able to, say, do stuff within a couple of the starting areas, like Gridania, Central and Western Shroud or something.

Put restrictions on /tells, sending mail, /shouts and such so RMT can't abuse it.

Allow them to do so without having to enter any credit card information.

Voila, a perfectly good way to test-drive the game without having to make any commitments or investments.

[Preypacer]

Nothx. All the F2P games OP mentioned are free for a reason....they suck.

And really. It's like 10 bucks a month, are you seriously that strapped for cash? Fucking go get a job working less than one hour a week at minimum wage instead of bitching about not having everything handed to your ADD ass.

I also don't like the idea of "disposable" games that you pick up and play like once a week for a few hours. The fact that they are "free" promotes zero dedication, breeds shitty players, loses a large sense of accomplishment and increases RMT.

Those games aren't F2P because they are good. They are F2P because they have failed and it's a last ditch effort to attempt to draw some players back.

lol nice!

Man I wish I possessed the brevity and eloquence of some of y'all in these forums... :-/. Seems I'm cursed to be long-winded and verbose when ever I try to convey my thoughts on certain things XD.