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General: The Future is Now
Stradden
Managing EditorMember CommonPosts: 6,696
MMORPG.com's Jaime Skelton uses her blog this week to urge both the media and the gaming industry to slow down in their acceptnce of the encroachment of the F2P business model into the Western world.
With all the buzz this past week about Lord of the Rings Online going free to play, I've been excited. LotRO is a personal favorite of mine, so seeing some extra life injected into it (along with the chance to be able to drop in without a subscription) is something I'm looking forward to. As public conversation grew, it branched away from Turbine's decision itself, and more to the “free to play transition” of the market, something most gaming journalists and writers seem to happy to accept.
Sometimes, however, the media needs to turn down the volume on the PR hype, hop off the bandwagon, and ask the same questions the community does. Someone needs to ask, “why?”
“The future is now” is often used to refer to new and favorable trends as being the way the market will adapt; it's saying, “This new thing happening is going to take the world by storm and become the standard.” It's a predictive phrase, implying the current state of affairs is evolving by leaving one idea behind to adapt to another. It's also popular propaganda used by marketers, lobbyists, and others who wish to convince the masses that “this new thing” is the trend of the future. For instance, take Nexon's E3 theme, “The Future of Free,” which not only implies their games are an evolved model of free-to-play, but also that “free” has a place in our future.
Read The Future is Now.
Cheers,
Jon Wood
Managing Editor
MMORPG.com
Comments
I think most of us pay to play customers accept that f2p is here, we just don't want ot be forced into choosing that business model. Great article as always!
I enjoyed the article and fully agree. I don't think that "f2p" is the future as some companies are trying to tell us. The future will have both types of payment methods because there are customers for both of these.
Maybe one day when making a game and continuosly updating will cost no money (donne from robots or something), maybe then the f2p will take over. As long as it costs to keep a mmo running I know that I'll have to pay for my fun. In one way or the other.
As a gamer, I have played p2p mainly, and the f2p I have played I didn't spend even a dime on the cash shop. However, imho this f2p as the future is the natural consequence of a series of trends that the industry has undergone in the last 5 years.
1) Effective market is not as in big in numbers as it is publicize. Besides World of Warcraft, the rest of the effective market in p2p is small enough so most games try to achieve subscriptions in the low 100ks as victory.
2) P2p gamers has turned extremely critical of the new p2p games, without considering their potential and neglecting supporting games the same way you could support your favorite sport team. With highly critical p2p crowd companies have more doubts about games survive so they are less willing to go with traditional p2p approach.
3) Most p2p strong defenders against f2p pays just a monthly subscription and demands all kind of improvements. On the other hand, f2p paying players spends twice or more times the amount of a subscription with a tenth of the complaining. I am not saying that games should not be criticized but last 5 years those critics have been pretty vicious, not sure if it is because of the emotional attachment of some gamers to the genre but it is what it is happening.
4) P2p players are not as loyal as they used to be. One of the advantages of the p2p crowd was their permanence in games contrary to f2p crowd. However, f2p payers are staying more in the game, due to the time and money invested, while p2p are constantly moving looking for their dreamed p2p.
Imo, what it is happening now it was brought by p2p players and their resentment is mainly because the industry is not considering them as important as they used to. From that, the fear of this model changes, that eventually will mean that mmo hardcore territory will be reduced to a few games that are either wow or eve.
Well said Jaime. The ones claiming it is inevitable are truly the ones who have no clue. They can't see past their noses, however, so it's no use it trying to have discourse with them. They usually have no idea why everyone else doesn't adopt their view and because they don't think like them then they're wrong.
"Many nights, my friend... Many nights I've put a blade to your throat while you were sleeping. Glad I never killed you, Steve. You're alright..."
Chavez y Chavez
I'm still not yet convinced that the community will not go into the gutter. However, I am happy as a lifetime subscriber to LOTRO, I get all the benefits of a subscriber without having to pay for it.
I think the single greatest benefit from the player's perspective is that it will keep the game from dying. As the world gets larger with each expansion and the game gets older, we see a very sparse population starting to settle in until it becomes like a ghost town. F2P will definitely prevent that from happening.
Interesting how most game companies/developers and journalist seem to think F2P is the future and all excited about it where as most gamers seems to be against it. Could it be because the former is to gain from the new model where as us the customers will need to pay more to get what we currently are getting for a subscription fee?
Because that is all this F2P sham is about; for companies to charge more for pretty much the same, under the illusion that it is all free. But you are not fooling anyone...
My gaming blog
In the West, i don't feel F2P will become dominant under any circumstances. I do, however, feel that a Hybrid model; free to play with MT AND full sub will become the dominant model. the MMO community wants choice, not to be steam rolled into one option or another.
There is NO miracle patch.
95% of what you see in beta won't change by launch.
Hope is not a stategy.
______________________________
"This kind of topic is like one of those little cartoon boxes held up by a stick on a string, with a piece of meat under it. In other words, bait."
The future is not a particular model but choice of model. The resistance to any kind of change in this market is both good and bad. Bad in that it retards growth and innovation. Good in that it almost forces those looking to institute change to tread carefully and test more thoroughly.
But, again, the future is choice of how one wishes to pay for their entertainment and the ability to pay premium prices for premium features.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
This.
I see it as 'MMO gaming a la carte', where you pick the payment model that comes closest to your gaming style: do you have a couple of months with lots of spare time that you'd like to turn your full attention to 1 MMO, then you opt for going a few months subbed, do you have less time only to play occasionally then you switch back again to F2P.
This system also provides you the opportunity to play several MMO's concurrently without having to worry about a pile of subs draining your account, in the same way as already now I play 1 subbed MMO with GW to the side, as I'm sure others do with GW or a DDO next to their main MMO.
The ACTUAL size of MMORPG worlds: a comparison list between MMO's
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums:
Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
Not every change is growth and innovation and peoples are not making a resistance to any kind of change but to just one in particular which many don't find it to be the personification of growth and innovation but the opposite.
^--- WORD.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
I am not convinced Free to Play is the future of gaming yet, BUT, I do feel it is the best option for older games looking to extend thier life spans. Having played LOTRol up to three months ago I dont think the game needed this move but only time will tell if there is an improvement. One year from now we will know if the experiment worked!
This.
I find amazing how people compare $50 retail game prices and $15 monthly fees to a cash shop - the so called "microtransactions" system that is not so micro - potentially costing you way above the $15 fee, with single items alone costing more than it. And in the end people are paying to avoid playing, experience potions, items that will save you in-game currency, etc. If the experience is not so fun that there is a need to pay for a shortcut, why pay for this shortcut when the developers themselves are the ones making you feel the need for it? Unless you want to progress faster through the game because you're having fun with it, which doesn't really make sense. If the experience is fun, why go faster through it?
I don't understand it, but I don't believe it should cease to exist because of it, P2P games won't disappear because I am not alone in my understanding (or in the case of understanding F2P - the lack of it).
Which is why I had that second sentence in there that you seem to have overlooked.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
Excellent article! Made me go out of the darkness and actually create an account and post, after a few years of only watching.
My thoughts:
As p2p players, why do we "hate" f2p? For me it narrows down to the f2p types of players. Imo there are 3 types of players for f2p's (i'm considering the crowd who plays the game for at least 15h/week):
Type1 - The free rider. The "i'm not gonna pay a dime to play" player type. He has lots of time usually, wants (not necessarily enjoys) and is able to grind for his stuff. His goal is to reach the point where he is able to generate that much of ingame currency that he does not need to use cash shop, and he will be able to buy cash shop items with ingame money.
Type2- The p2p player who wants to f2p (i belong here). He pays somewhere between 1x or 2x the p2p "standard" fee monthly (10-20$/month), buys only neccesities (some must-have-or-you-die buffs, item upgrade enhancers etc.), plans to buy the "extras" like mounts or pets or whatever the game offers from that cathegory with ingame money.
Type3- The Walking God. The hardcore with tons of money, which people suspect to be employed by the company who runs the game to create a "goal" (and i would not be shocked if that is in some cases true). He is logged in almost all day. He seem to have an infinite ammount of cash to spend in the cash shop. He always gets the latest item and the best equipment etc. He and others like him end up dominating the game. They win all pvp competitions, all pve events, everything.
At some moment of playing, the Type2 players realise that they will Never Ever be able to compete with the Walking Gods. The feeling of accomplishment totally dies. While the Type1 will continue to try, the Type2 will say to himself "well, i'm paying here more that i was paying for p2p and still i have less, much less" and will leave for another game where he will be tricked again in the same way.
One day, after usually years, some really skilled and medium equipped Type1's will be able to come close to the Walking Gods (the skill difference will compensate for the kit difference). At that moment, the company, needing to protect their Type3 players who pump tons of money into the game, starts the "nerf droprates of X and Y and Z". The Type1 cannot generate the same ammount of ingame currency to be able to compete with Type 3. Some of them usuall leave in rage, but most of them stay because they feel they have played for a few years and if they leave it would be just wasted. They keep trying. They come close again. Then there comes an "expansion" which for these games just means 2 quests 1 dungeon and *most important* a new tier of equipment and increased level cap. Another era of money pump from Type3. And so on, until it dies.
An example to illustrate:
I love the idea behind Atlantica Online. New, special ideas, turn based combat, there's nothing like it on the market. But at the top, the people fighting in the top 10 spots have some form of "ultimate" upgraded equipment, the upgrading till that level being doable only with cash shop items which would cost thousands up to tens of thousands of dollars (no i am not exaggerating). The top players are now 90% Walking Gods and 10% Type1's, so there's an expansion and increased lvl cap to "kill" the remaining Type1's and let the Gods duel on the model "whoever pumps more money wins". A regular MMO player cannot compete with that, no matter what skills he has what and how long he farms or how much time he spends ingame etc. but only if he invests a Ton of his RL money into the game.
On the other hand, in WoW (game which tricked lots of people into the instance farming since beta till now and lots ended up hating and leaving it for this reason, people are not stupid and they get bored of the same idea) all you need to be competitive is 3 months to farm the pvp equipment, if you got the skills, if you are good enough. Actually that's what WoW managed to do, they keep the high mass of population happy while offering the pvp for those who really need the "i am the best" feeling. Ok, so they're gonna make the hardcore players (and the ones which need to achieve something unique) angry. That's what, 0,01% of the population in the game?
We like to lose if we are not good enough, not if we do not have the will to invest the money for a car or a house into a videogame.
Thats why the western educated public doesnt really accept f2p grinders imo. Thats why i actually welcome premium titles going f2p. This might send the asian games to the part of the world which they belong to, and give us more populated premium games, even if they follow a totally revamped f2p model.
F2P - "If you spend enough, we will make you a god!" - that's the motto of the actual asian grinders that we have experience with and assimilate f2p to. LOTRO is not like that, and hopefully it will never be, as it started on a p2p business model. That's what matters to me and i bet that it matters to others also, to be able to be competitive in the endgame without having to sell our cars.
The sad part is that there are some really really nice ideas in some of today's f2p's (see Atlantica, or the PWI games) which will go to the trash bin because of the economic concept on which these games are based.
Thank you for the extremely relevant article, it sums up my feelings and concerns quite well.
I have no problem with F2P games existing, they're simply just not for me. The concept of RMT is just a huge turn off to me as it invalidates a game's enjoyment for me.
I'm greatly concerned with the growing movement towards "F2P" style, particularly through forced RMT into games that already have a solid revenue stream -- subscriptions. In a F2P game RMT makes sense, because the developer needs to make money soemhow. For subscriptions on the other hand, I'm already paying them, so why should I have to pay them again for extra bits? If I'm going to pay a subscription I want access to the whole game, not bits of it.
Claiming that RMT and F2P is the future is a fallacy. The industry does not dictate what the market adopts, the consumers do. The industry can only offer us choices, but ultimately, we the consumers make the choice of what we do and do not want to put our money into.
If this trend continues, I can see myself moving away from MMO gaming. I would rather play no MMO than one riddled with RMT, because such an MMO isn't enjoyable for me.
I agree. People are worrying about F2P where true F2P isn't even the case, while RMT on top of a sub is far more worrying, even more ironic is that some who are so much against the so called F2P itemshop excesses have no qualms at all to pay for additional things on top of their sub, whether it be mounts or a remote AH or other items and services.
I think the whole F2P thing is a lot less of a problem in MMO's where PvE is the predominant factor, not PvP. I wouldn't care if I don't have the top gear or skills of the best 20 players on a server, I play to enjoy the game and hang with friends. So any need to buy an edge doesn't bother me.
Besides that, there is a difference how F2P features are integrated, F2P as it is in some F2P Asian games is very different from what you can see in a DDO.
I'm gonna rename the 'hybrid F2P' to C2P, because that's what it looks like, the emerging payment model as we slowly start to see with MMO's like DDO and LotrO soon: not the pure F2P where itemshop is dominant, also not the Pay-to-play where there's a monthly fee (and sometimes paid services or an itemshop on top of that), but Choose to Play or Choose to Pay, where you decide if and how you pay for your gaming experience.
Arena's B2P sounds even better as a payment model, but C2P will be a close second to me.
The ACTUAL size of MMORPG worlds: a comparison list between MMO's
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums:
Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
Hmm. But are you sure you understand the Turbine's model correctly?
There's no forcing to RMT. You can have a subscription exactly like before, well, you get even more because of the additional "re-launch development".
And it's very popular indeed. It said that there's much more... subscriptions (sic!) in DDO than ever.
Turbine's model gives you the choice:
1. Play normally on subscription, just like before.
2. Go into "Premium model" - where you buy content as you progress, and if you hear some adventure/area isn't worth buying, you don't buy it ever.
3. Go into "Free" model, where time and effort you send in game gives you Turbine Points, for which you'd need to pay otherwise.
All those kinds of players coexist in DDO and as of yet - imho most of us benefit from it. Surely, DDO has got a major reinvestment and new revenue from players. Just wait to see Update 5 - quests are nothing short of genius.
PS: Update 5 quests for DDO are really RPG like, at least one of them has multiple endings. We've found 4 different endings (on test/preview server) to date.
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Here is where I have an issue with f2p and that is when they offer things in there cash shops and the only way to get them is through buying said item in the cash shop and it is not available to players to get said item in game either by questing or by purchasing it from a vendor with in game funds. That is my issue.
The only thing I can ever see a game company asking for extra money is for character transfers or resets or maybe extra character slots. Items though, no matter how insignificant or fluffy they may be, should all be able to be gotten in game by some means.
BTW: Great article Jaime! Very well said - because it is time someone said it - loudly!
The addition of RMT takes away as much choice as it gives. There are many gamers who want to play MMOs that are free of any RMT, with access to all content so long as they pay their subscriptions.
Sony get something right, for a short time, when they added exchange servers. Those who wanted to play the game with RMT could play on servers designated for it, and those who didn't want RMT could play on the oens that restricted it. Of course, the RMT enabled servers weren't too popular -- go figure -- so Sony ended up forcing their RMT upon everyone, which ended that idea. Had they stuck to this model, they could have kept the majority of people happy.
The above could work, however I doubt it would last, as the stakeholders of the developers would always push for RMT on everything.
The article was a great read, nicely done.
I'm a pay-to-play enthusiast I guess you could say. I kind of take offense to the fact that companies think I "don't understand" what I want with my money. As gamers we are definitely very vocal about our opinions and companies should expect that, if they want our money they are going to have to deal with us.
The main reason I don't want a free-to-start game is, I have found that when I am immersing myself in a game world I do not want to have to think about spending real money and I don't want the game hounding me for my credit card and money. I would rather just pay a fee once every 30 days and not have to worry about it after that.
I will turn my back on this genre for good if the monthly fee model disappears, I don't care if "it's just business" like I said earlier, if a company wants our money they are going to have to deal with us. Slapping us in the face with insulting remarks like we "don't understand" is not going to help them any and it's not going to cut it.
Personally, I wish that they would implement a Subscription model similar to how Runescape does it. Where players get access to around 5-10% of the game for free(and without Cash-shops) and then if they choose too they can spend $6 a month for the rest.
Yes I have read it, and RMT is RMT is RMT no matter how you try to package it.
The fallacy of the LOTRO scenario is that future content will be designed to 'strongly encourage' players to cough up more money, even if they're already paying a subscription. Notice that paying subscribers get an allotment of turbine points every month to "buy" things from the store? That's still RMT.
Not to mention the overall quality of an MMO drops when it has a free option... but that's just a whole new can of worms.
A good counter-argument to "It's just business" is, "it's just entertainment".
If a MMO isn't enjoyable to play, then there's no reason to pay for it. For many of us, RMT makes a game unenjoyable, so, simply, we will no longer pay for it.
It needs to be made clear to the industry that not all of us want to, or are willing to, play a game with RMT in it.
Well, DDO's quality went up very fast, and as I am previewer of new content before it hits like servers, I know that each and every update seems better, richer and more D&Dish. Example is Update 5 - new guild system and realy Roleplaying-type quests.
Yes, I am roleplayer, I really like quality before quantity and trust me, DDO after re-launch started to give me much better experience, better suited to my needs.
If you not us RMT, you don't need to bother with it. If you subcribe you get Turbine Points "in the pack", and so you really never need to buy more if you'd like to use it.
Really people, play to this 10th - 15th level in DDO and I'm sure you'll be relieved to see that quality only got better and that WE choose what we want to see developed next. Like never before.
Important: Some people like ot complain that DDO gets "dumber", when it just gets more accesible to people who don't know D&D rules at all. Some people like to complain that DDO gets "easier", yet their biggest complain about newest Update 5 is that it nerfs most of the game - so, makes the whole game harder...
Yes, it's really that way. People very often see what they want to see, basing on their emotions. They don't see what there really is, if they don't want to see it.
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