Does this ring any alarm bells for anyone? Does anyone care about whats coming down the road as long as they have something to play today?
What I think is that you will find hybrids coming down the line.
I don't really worry about video games so I can't jump on that train of thought.
As long as the game is fun the I'm cool. If the game actually offers "buy to win" and I mean "real" buy to win items especially or more to the point, if it is a pvp game, then I wouldn't play it.
Pretty much this.. I prefer skill to trump how much money you sink into a game.. regardless of the genre
I just find that a majority of F2P games atm are geared towards pay to win. Not that a workable hybrid couldn't emerge.
This topic is quite useless, because its main subject is clearly YOUR opinion on the future of MMO's, and since it's an opinion, we can't change it or disagree...
Yes, I quite clearly said it was opinion... you don't consider opinions worth discussing? Your opinion is never changed through talking to others?
Thing is, and i don't know about you, but most people only let people they respect sway their opinion. How do you expect anyone to respect you when you assume a "I know better" attitude and throw thinly veiled insults to the other side of the fence?
Mudslinging never got anything done, especially not changing the oppositions viewpoint to your side.
OP is assuming that everything will continue like it have for the last 3 years, and while that surely is a possibility it is rather impossible to predict the future.
Saying that GW2 instead will trigger a wave of B2P games is about as likely. We might also see a reviving of the P2P method. or some other way to pay for your games like by watching adds or something.
OP is asking us to step out of now but he himself also seems to be set exactly how the future will be and that is frankly impossible.
But if all future unanonced games will be classic F2P games or freemium games then I guess I will play Guildwars 2 instead or another B2P game. If no good B2P games exists then I guess I will move back to single player games and play more pen and paper RPGs instead.
But as long as some people willingly want to pay a certain way for their games there will at least be some games with that method left. I am sure there will be a few P2P games around for a long time.
I don't like games where players actually buy good stuff with real money, the whole idea feels wrong to me. People should get rich in games because they are good, not because they have a better job IRL.
If some how, some way there were no Sub based MMOs and everything was F2P, id probably play on a private server of a game i enjoyed(gasps!!!)
I know, im a bad guy. But you get more bang for your buck out of a private server than you do a cash shop on a F2P. Guess im lucky i dont have to resort to this now though. And probably never will. F2P has been the answer for failing sub based MMOs who thought they had gold when really it was just rocks painted like gold. The people who say this is a trend and that all MMOs are going to end up free 2 play are the same people telling you the worlds going to end next year.......
F2P isnt the future of mmorpgs, its an alternate business model that works for a select target audience and mainly for those in Asia who visit PC cafe's (purchase time to use PCs). The western world is more at home with home PCs and gaming, thus purchasing game copies and subs becomes a more stable and normalized model for that age range.
Both will exist, but good luck finding F2P being the only model. Its has more cons than pros when it comes to western AAA gaming.
Well either way I still don't see a end to p2p mmog's the market is already getting too full of f2p and alot of them even shut down,.A AAA mmog developer is gonna want guaranteed money rather than the I hope they will spend enough in our cash shop for us to profit why I think if anything a hybrid model like DDO and lotro will have a better chance than a strictly f2p game.And if by some chance I am wrong and all games end up becoming f2p I will play something else while I enjoy mmog's I am not getting sucked into a cash shop game where I end up spending more than what a monthly fee is period.
Personally I'm anti-f2p. I prefer to pay my sub and then have the whole game that everyone else has and not have to think about RL stuff again while I'm playing.
That being said I'm willing to try any game with a free trial with an open mind.
As far as what I'll do, I'm not currently subbed to any MMO's. So unless something changes I'll probably not be participating in the future of the MMO genre.
Personally I'm anti-f2p. I prefer to pay my sub and then have the whole game that everyone else has and not have to think about RL stuff again while I'm playing.
Yes, because P2P games have no cash shops or collectors editions....
I will keep playing or find another game that has a fun world to splore. If it all goes facebook like Ill just play my console JRPG's or at worst case find a new hobby. But I dont think it will come to that untill i can barely move^_^
Personally I'm anti-f2p. I prefer to pay my sub and then have the whole game that everyone else has and not have to think about RL stuff again while I'm playing.
Yes, because P2P games have no cash shops or collectors editions....
Both the recruit and the recruiter gain triple experience points (up to level 80;[1] was 60) while partied and within 100 yards of each other.
Actually it's worse than a cash shop.
"Worse than a cash shop"? Not in the least. I have personal experience of their system. I have five level 85's on the US servers, and now a level 84 warrior and a level 66 death knight on one of the european realms. That extra EXP was very much part of my being willing to start over again, so I could play with a friend in europe. It has its limits... You both have to be on at the same time, and it only runs to level 80. It makes good business sense for Blizzard, and also for someone who has been through this many times before.
If GW2 is a huge hit, buy to play will be the next big thing in high quality games.
If GW2 does okay but not fantastic, games will continue to release with a ridiculously expensive box price and a sub tacked on but will go freemium more and more rapidly. Eventually there may be a slow widening of our payment options, including buy to play and yes, more games launching free to play with cash shop.
If GW2 is an utter failure, the buy to play option will be rare or go extinct.
Thus saith my crystal ball. But it's got a huge crack all down one side, so you can't really trust it.
I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by an educational system which would be oriented toward social goals.
A business model is about finance. P2P won't be gone from the market as long as developers will want to make large budget projects and F2P is not a viable option in this case as it would not be able to pay off for development or at least it would be risky and uncertain. P2P/B2P is much better route for this.
Will be F2P games, converted or not, more focused on game affecting items? It is realistic to expect so because that is what people like to spend money for, there is a demand for cash shops and game affecting items thus why they are implemented now and will be in the future.
The future of MMO's will have a variety of payment model choices, and yes, game design will be influenced by them from the start.
I recall reading the recent EVE memo for their new title World of Darkness and it was clear they were considering design options around a cash shop with potentially even including items of power since there was a player demand for them.
I doubt P2P will ever die out completely, though it will be reserved for a few top shelf titles and even they'll likely include other RMT options such as cash shops.
Hybrid models are the way of the future I'm afraid, and will graviate towards the model that proves to be acceptable to the largest number of customers.
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
The question is a simple one, but reuires stepping outside of the 'now' and looking forward to answer,which is something gamer's are usually not that good at.
This is the semi opinion, semi fact bit;
What I am asking is; once the current crrop of AAA MMORPGs that have been converted to a 'Freemium' model have gotten too old for you to want to play and all that are made are cheap real 'F2P' games, what will that mean for games and gamers?
Is the AAA sub quality MMORPG dead man walking?
Will you happily swtich to the 'real' F2P games once they are gone or are unappealing to play anymore due to age?
This is the all out opinion bit;
The current crop of converted games, that so many love, would never have been made the way they are, from basic game design philosophy through to everything else, under a true F2P model.
The converted AAA games are repeatedly falsely used as poster boys for all 'F2P' games, but we all know they do not represent games that are built from the ground up to exploit and push a cash shop.
We will probably never see their like again once they have gone in all honesty. The next generation of games (anything entering development from this point onwards) will not be the same animal at all as those converted AAA ones around today.
By then though they will have served as a bridge to all out cash shop domination (as per the REAL type of cash shop domination that the REAL'F2P' games use) and it will be too late to expect anything else because yet another generation of gamers won't expect anything better.
Does this ring any alarm bells for anyone? Does anyone care about whats coming down the road as long as they have something to play today?
What the hell is wrong with you? Those are only stupid video games, for Christ sakes. Why should we be worried about current and future crops (wtf is wrong with you) of video games?
What should we do now? Go to congress and give a speech about "F2P games threat"? Dig a bunker and seal for 30 years? Go to EA and beg not to publish f2p games? Why anyone on this planet (other than publishers and devs) should be alarmed or afraid? Its just a damn game, its not religion, its not politics. Millions of people dont have any influence on politics of their country so what will your forum post achieve?
All I want to say is that you have to chill, dont take neither current nor future crops (makes me laugh in real life of video games too seriously. Just chill and enjoy the games you play. Thats it.
If no good quality games come out well then it's time to leave, really simple as that. But their will be a demand for them and I don't see it happening.
I do not play games with cash shop, that sell in game items or xp potions. I do not mind things like paying for a server transfer, something outside the game.
I prefer to pay a monthly subscription, and will not pay a monthly subscription for a game that has a cash shop selling items or xp potions in the game.
If a company makes a good P2P game with no cash shop, they will get my money. If not such game exists, no one gets my money.
If companies decide there are enough players like me, they will make a P2P game to get my money.
If they decide that's not enough money to go after, then they will stick with F2P games.
IMO, WoW indicates that is enough money to go after. I do not believe that every WoW player wold be satisfied playing a F2P game.
Hell, the WoW players could all cancel their subs and play F2P games and not pay a monthly fee right now, but I don't see that happening.
Sure, WoW has some fluff items, but I think those have a negilble impact on the game.
IMO, one of the reasons so many players enjoy WoW is that it is a P2P game that doesn't have a cash shop.
When WoW dies, something will more than likely replace it.
If the industry entirely changes to F2P.. freemium or any variation that is based around a cash shop..
I'm sure there are enough people who will play.. that the industry will be more than happy if this happens. Personally I would just find other things to do.
This question has far to many variables to reliably answer truthfully. For example, if you said every FTP at that point is exactly like playing R.O.S.E online, then I would never play ever again. But if the FTPs at that point are more like LOTRO then I'll still play. You see, it's the quality of the game that still matters.
Come to think of it, I see a few FTPs coming out of the east that, so far, look phenomenal. Look at Age of Wulin. That game looks fantastic. Maybe FTPs of the kind we have seen before are starting to change and transition as well and getting, dare I say it, better?
Comments
Pretty much this.. I prefer skill to trump how much money you sink into a game.. regardless of the genre
I just find that a majority of F2P games atm are geared towards pay to win. Not that a workable hybrid couldn't emerge.
Thing is, and i don't know about you, but most people only let people they respect sway their opinion. How do you expect anyone to respect you when you assume a "I know better" attitude and throw thinly veiled insults to the other side of the fence?
Mudslinging never got anything done, especially not changing the oppositions viewpoint to your side.
Im waiting for SoE to convert EQ1 to freemium. But then again Smedly is too busy playing Eve online to care about and SoE game atm.
OP is assuming that everything will continue like it have for the last 3 years, and while that surely is a possibility it is rather impossible to predict the future.
Saying that GW2 instead will trigger a wave of B2P games is about as likely. We might also see a reviving of the P2P method. or some other way to pay for your games like by watching adds or something.
OP is asking us to step out of now but he himself also seems to be set exactly how the future will be and that is frankly impossible.
But if all future unanonced games will be classic F2P games or freemium games then I guess I will play Guildwars 2 instead or another B2P game. If no good B2P games exists then I guess I will move back to single player games and play more pen and paper RPGs instead.
But as long as some people willingly want to pay a certain way for their games there will at least be some games with that method left. I am sure there will be a few P2P games around for a long time.
I don't like games where players actually buy good stuff with real money, the whole idea feels wrong to me. People should get rich in games because they are good, not because they have a better job IRL.
If some how, some way there were no Sub based MMOs and everything was F2P, id probably play on a private server of a game i enjoyed(gasps!!!)
I know, im a bad guy. But you get more bang for your buck out of a private server than you do a cash shop on a F2P. Guess im lucky i dont have to resort to this now though. And probably never will. F2P has been the answer for failing sub based MMOs who thought they had gold when really it was just rocks painted like gold. The people who say this is a trend and that all MMOs are going to end up free 2 play are the same people telling you the worlds going to end next year.......
But this is just speculation on my part.... o.o
F2P isnt the future of mmorpgs, its an alternate business model that works for a select target audience and mainly for those in Asia who visit PC cafe's (purchase time to use PCs). The western world is more at home with home PCs and gaming, thus purchasing game copies and subs becomes a more stable and normalized model for that age range.
Both will exist, but good luck finding F2P being the only model. Its has more cons than pros when it comes to western AAA gaming.
Well either way I still don't see a end to p2p mmog's the market is already getting too full of f2p and alot of them even shut down,.A AAA mmog developer is gonna want guaranteed money rather than the I hope they will spend enough in our cash shop for us to profit why I think if anything a hybrid model like DDO and lotro will have a better chance than a strictly f2p game.And if by some chance I am wrong and all games end up becoming f2p I will play something else while I enjoy mmog's I am not getting sucked into a cash shop game where I end up spending more than what a monthly fee is period.
Personally I'm anti-f2p. I prefer to pay my sub and then have the whole game that everyone else has and not have to think about RL stuff again while I'm playing.
That being said I'm willing to try any game with a free trial with an open mind.
As far as what I'll do, I'm not currently subbed to any MMO's. So unless something changes I'll probably not be participating in the future of the MMO genre.
Yes, because P2P games have no cash shops or collectors editions....
Hidden cash shop: http://www.wow-europe.com/en/info/faq/recruitafriend.html
Both the recruit and the recruiter gain triple experience points (up to level 80;[1] was 60) while partied and within 100 yards of each other.
Actually it's worse than a cash shop.
I will keep playing or find another game that has a fun world to splore. If it all goes facebook like Ill just play my console JRPG's or at worst case find a new hobby. But I dont think it will come to that untill i can barely move^_^
"Worse than a cash shop"? Not in the least. I have personal experience of their system. I have five level 85's on the US servers, and now a level 84 warrior and a level 66 death knight on one of the european realms. That extra EXP was very much part of my being willing to start over again, so I could play with a friend in europe. It has its limits... You both have to be on at the same time, and it only runs to level 80. It makes good business sense for Blizzard, and also for someone who has been through this many times before.
ill do what i have been doing for 5 years now. I play them all till i get bored then play all my single players games and repeat.
If GW2 is a huge hit, buy to play will be the next big thing in high quality games.
If GW2 does okay but not fantastic, games will continue to release with a ridiculously expensive box price and a sub tacked on but will go freemium more and more rapidly. Eventually there may be a slow widening of our payment options, including buy to play and yes, more games launching free to play with cash shop.
If GW2 is an utter failure, the buy to play option will be rare or go extinct.
Thus saith my crystal ball. But it's got a huge crack all down one side, so you can't really trust it.
I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by an educational system which would be oriented toward social goals.
~Albert Einstein
I am not sure I understand the OP...
A business model is about finance. P2P won't be gone from the market as long as developers will want to make large budget projects and F2P is not a viable option in this case as it would not be able to pay off for development or at least it would be risky and uncertain. P2P/B2P is much better route for this.
Will be F2P games, converted or not, more focused on game affecting items? It is realistic to expect so because that is what people like to spend money for, there is a demand for cash shops and game affecting items thus why they are implemented now and will be in the future.
The future of MMO's will have a variety of payment model choices, and yes, game design will be influenced by them from the start.
I recall reading the recent EVE memo for their new title World of Darkness and it was clear they were considering design options around a cash shop with potentially even including items of power since there was a player demand for them.
I doubt P2P will ever die out completely, though it will be reserved for a few top shelf titles and even they'll likely include other RMT options such as cash shops.
Hybrid models are the way of the future I'm afraid, and will graviate towards the model that proves to be acceptable to the largest number of customers.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
The day an MMO goes F2P is the day I quit playing it. If they're all F2P, then I don't play MMO's anymore. Fact.
start packing
What the hell is wrong with you? Those are only stupid video games, for Christ sakes. Why should we be worried about current and future crops (wtf is wrong with you) of video games?
What should we do now? Go to congress and give a speech about "F2P games threat"? Dig a bunker and seal for 30 years? Go to EA and beg not to publish f2p games? Why anyone on this planet (other than publishers and devs) should be alarmed or afraid? Its just a damn game, its not religion, its not politics. Millions of people dont have any influence on politics of their country so what will your forum post achieve?
All I want to say is that you have to chill, dont take neither current nor future crops (makes me laugh in real life
Golf
I may know the least here,but I am the loudest about what I do know.
A payment method of F2P doesn't mean it is a 'bad' game or a 'pay to win' game.
Team Fortress 2 is a F2P now. Does that mean TF2 is a bad game?
Gdemami -
Informing people about your thoughts and impressions is not a review, it's a blog.
I do not play games with cash shop, that sell in game items or xp potions. I do not mind things like paying for a server transfer, something outside the game.
I prefer to pay a monthly subscription, and will not pay a monthly subscription for a game that has a cash shop selling items or xp potions in the game.
If a company makes a good P2P game with no cash shop, they will get my money. If not such game exists, no one gets my money.
If companies decide there are enough players like me, they will make a P2P game to get my money.
If they decide that's not enough money to go after, then they will stick with F2P games.
IMO, WoW indicates that is enough money to go after. I do not believe that every WoW player wold be satisfied playing a F2P game.
Hell, the WoW players could all cancel their subs and play F2P games and not pay a monthly fee right now, but I don't see that happening.
Sure, WoW has some fluff items, but I think those have a negilble impact on the game.
IMO, one of the reasons so many players enjoy WoW is that it is a P2P game that doesn't have a cash shop.
When WoW dies, something will more than likely replace it.
http://www.heroengine.com/herocloud/
Hero Cloud is just one example.
Do you know about illegal WoW servers that people run on donations, not cash shops?
I think in the near future, there could be legal versions of the same thing.
An MMO designed with the Hero Cloud, and the server is paid for with donations.
that would not be a cash shop or P2P, but something else.
If the industry entirely changes to F2P.. freemium or any variation that is based around a cash shop..
I'm sure there are enough people who will play.. that the industry will be more than happy if this happens. Personally I would just find other things to do.
Play LoTRO.
Better to be crazy, provided you know what sane is...
This question has far to many variables to reliably answer truthfully. For example, if you said every FTP at that point is exactly like playing R.O.S.E online, then I would never play ever again. But if the FTPs at that point are more like LOTRO then I'll still play. You see, it's the quality of the game that still matters.
Come to think of it, I see a few FTPs coming out of the east that, so far, look phenomenal. Look at Age of Wulin. That game looks fantastic. Maybe FTPs of the kind we have seen before are starting to change and transition as well and getting, dare I say it, better?