If I like the game I sub to it, it is called supporting it. I just don't understand the concept of playing it for free if you really like the game. Why wouldn't you support it by the sub which is actually cheaper than paying in some store that over prices everything.
Don't care either way. If it's a good game, I'll play it. Though free trials are nice, I don't like buying a game just to try it, but it still happens.
$15/month for hours of entertainment is well worth it to me. I usually switch between Swtor and WoW and I enjoy both.
These f2p babies or it's not free enough are the problem with mmos today. I'm noticing this site gets a lot of them because most don't allow them to post on the games they are complaining about.
There are different things being lumped under "free to play". Some of the former sub-only games have fairly decent free versions with optional sub. Fallen Earth's model isn't too odious because you aren't locked out of things, but having a sub gives you good stuff on top of a solid base instead of being deprived of parts of the game.
There are games like World of Tanks where you can still fully participate, but having the sub is really helpful to play certain parts of the sort-of-endgame at higher tiers. The cash shops in those games are not getting in the way of core game mechanics, and they operate more as 'value added' rather than 'core mechanic required' features. Path of Exile is another good game where the cash shop does not seem to hurt gameplay too much.
Then there are the games like Archeage. Parts of the game may be good, but the cash shop is completely in your face and even when you feed the monster money, you still aren't ever "winning" the gear game. Compare that to the old school sub model where you'd hunt an epic boss and and do the gear hunt completely in the game as was normal back then, no cash shop designed interference. No buying your way into the core game mechanic. The early complaints people had about pay-to-win were waaaay off base weren't they? Oh no, they were never going to actually sell you gear, that would be too easy lol.
Free to play has devolved to the point where they are designing the game's core mechanics AROUND the fucking cash shop. And even then you can't even win that game, you just keep feeding the monster and hoping. This is the worst sort of gear hunt wrapped around the metagame of "beating" other people in the MMO area currently. It's more Free-To-Login and run around, but if you want to actually advance and do anything in the game you really need to spend a lot more than $15 a month. The idea you can make up for lack of money by spending a lot of time and effort in the game is rapidly becoming a myth.
Sub-only games were designed to be games, while "Free to Play" was always, inevitably going to end up the way they are; cash grabs based on the metagame of "beating" other people. MMO was a buzzword for awhile and this attracted the buzzards who want to prey on people. So in a lot of ways the players of Free to Play games are fundamentally different than the type who want to inhabit virtual worlds. They are competitive rather than cooperative. They want to "beat" other people in some metagame as their primary motivation, and this can be exploited. It's a common human trait that has been catered to by clever marketers for a long time. Conspicuous consumption as a virtue vs. The Shaming of the Wallet Warriors. It's a cultural clash between two different groups of people, in some ways.
It's a good sign that these debates are hashing things out now. There is plenty of room for all different types of games in the world, there's no reason to say that the traditional MMO market is too small to make games for. A lot of the hostility on these kinds of boards comes from the Free to Play people chanting their mantra that others should be ignored, their wishes should be silenced, and that they are too old and out of date to matter. It's all bullshit. Sooner rather than later the market will move again and the Free to Players will find themselves on the wrong side of that chant.
A lot of good points. I guess i am different in the aspect i would rather pay a sub and expect new good content in a timely fashion
That's an unrealistic expectation, as there has been no general conformity to that rule.
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 prefer paying once a month and forgetting about it. <snip> Convenience. I'd rather pay and be done rather than worry about budgeting each and every time I log on. I don't play MMORPGs to shop in cash shops.
An attitude, I suggest, that allowed Blizzard to take a 14 month content holiday - broken only by a paid expansion. In fact if you were subscribed to WoW for the duration the cost of patch 6.2 (WoD was a paid expansion and 6.1 ... yeah Blizzard themselves subsequently said that 6.1 wasn't)was something in the region of $30. And now they are taking another 12+ month holiday.
You talk about your phone bill but I would be surprised if you hadn't ensured it wasn't "around the norm". What? You haven't? They are charging you $500 a month? Good job you frequent these forums
Now your last part I "understand" hence my b2p preference - whilst having nothing at all against f2p games.
If Blizzard took a 12/14/or even 60 month holidays, it is not my sub supporting them. If they produce no new content, people stop subscribing. How many subs did they lose over these periods of time? Why do people forget that anyone can cancel a sub at any time?
I apologize beforehand, but I am not making sense of this part. Phone bill. Huh? What do you mean "around the norm?" Monthly cost? Monthly long distance time used? Do YOU pay $500/month for your phone? I pay $25.
B2P still wants you to shop in their game. Again, I do not play MMOs to shop. Monthly sub games have cash shops now, too, so there is no difference for me. Pay a sub, HAVE to shop to spend that "included cash shop bucks", whether you want anything or not, or lose it.
My "perfect set-up" that will never happen is pay monthly and expansions are free. If my $15/month does not cover a $60 expansion every 9 to 12 months, they need new management. For a good MMORPG I would happily pay $25/month with this set-up. Too many would not, though.
With games that have been designed as subscription game (even if they convert to some form of free to play at a later stage), I get the distinct impression that the aim of the game is to entertain, to allow you to have fun, cooperate with others online, and to steadily provide you with new content.
Games that are designed to let you play for free but which in many cases restrict, hinder or diminish your playing experience if you don't spend cash in the game are designed from a totally different standpoint, and I think by and large (there are of course honorable exeptions), the design builds around two things: create a simple gameplay function that hooks you, and then add stuff that you need at a cost. To me this seems like the wrong way to do game design.
It's been claimed that in any mmo-game that features pay to win functions (which a lot of the free to play games do), all the paying players are actively diminishing the gaming experience for the non-paying players. I would agree with this statement.
In selecting a game I would like to play, the payment model would certainly be a big part of the decision, and odds are I would end up with the subscription game in most cases.
The basic way that subs work is that by providing them with the revenue from the subscription the developer can create new and "of quality" content. Well what happens when they deliver content that you hate? You've already paid them for it. You have officially funded the screw-over that ruins your entertainment. On a positive, you now have the prerogative to complain in the forums forever about how they ruined your favorite game *cough* SWG NGE *cough*
It's a lot like taxes. You keep paying your dues and hope that they are going to do the right things with it. As we all know, misappropriation of funds is not an uncommon term when it comes to governments. As a matter of fact, people tend to expect it. Why would you expect anything different from a corporation?
All of my posts are either intelligent, thought provoking, funny, satirical, sarcastic or intentionally disrespectful. Take your pick.
I get banned in the forums for games I love, so lets see if I do better in the forums for games I hate.
I enjoy the serenity of not caring what your opinion is.
Here we go again with the same old stupid arguments.
The reason P2P has been unsuccessful as a business model is that MMO's are dead. Right? You guys keep saying there is nothing worth playing right?
So any sub game starting up is going to be dead in a few months. As in half the players will have dropped their subs and the other half will drop theirs, once they notice the population drop and the bad word of mouth starts getting around to prevent others from even trying the game. Hence you have a new F2P game after 6 months.
Hello Wildstar!
So all this talk about how sub is better is really just a moot point. The sub games are out there they are just very rare because very few games are good enough to sustain it.
FFA Nonconsentual Full Loot PvP ...You know you want it!!
How much would you be willing to spend on a 'good' subscription based game? Or do you think most new MMO's should use the free to play models and why?
A good F2P game is well worth the sub. A P2P game is just a ripoff trying to trick me out of my money.
How is paying for a game tricking you out of your money in any way? If you don't enjoy the game, than don't subscribe and don't play. If anything, F2P games trick you out of your money with paywalls and cash shop shenanigans. There is nothing positive that comes from F2P models, zero, nada, zilch.
P2P is not paying for a game, it is paying for the chance that you will get a game you may like. It is essentially gambling, driven by advertising and marketing, which is often borderline fraud.
With F2P you dont have to have someone else tell you what the game MAY be like, you get to see it for yourself, and if after playing for a good long time, you decide to spend a little money, you do so with the full knowledge of what you are getting.
If you like P2P so much, I have a bridge to sell you...
LOL, the OP obviously misses the way things work in the real world...
Prices can either go up or the product you get for said price is less than what you used to get.
Sort of like Hulu offering the new *commercial free* option for a little bit more money all the while adding MORE commercials to their standard fee option. You are still paying the same price but instead of just 2 commercials you get about 15... which is on par with normal television.
But wait, you give them $3 more per month and they will remove all the commercials... same thing as raising the price of the subscription IMHO.
How much would you be willing to spend on a 'good' subscription based game? Or do you think most new MMO's should use the free to play models and why?
A good F2P game is well worth the sub. A P2P game is just a ripoff trying to trick me out of my money.
How is paying for a game tricking you out of your money in any way? If you don't enjoy the game, than don't subscribe and don't play. If anything, F2P games trick you out of your money with paywalls and cash shop shenanigans. There is nothing positive that comes from F2P models, zero, nada, zilch.
P2P is not paying for a game, it is paying for the chance that you will get a game you may like. It is essentially gambling, driven by advertising and marketing, which is often borderline fraud.
With F2P you dont have to have someone else tell you what the game MAY be like, you get to see it for yourself, and if after playing for a good long time, you decide to spend a little money, you do so with the full knowledge of what you are getting.
If you like P2P so much, I have a bridge to sell you...
What? Because free trials/free weekends don't exist? Buddy keys? Because people can't watch a twitch stream, videos on YouTube, read reviews and so on? Pretty much all P2P games offer a trial or some sort of key.
This, for me, just further solidifies the idea that players play a major part in the problems MMOs face these days.
How much would you be willing to spend on a 'good' subscription based game? Or do you think most new MMO's should use the free to play models and why?
A good F2P game is well worth the sub. A P2P game is just a ripoff trying to trick me out of my money.
How is paying for a game tricking you out of your money in any way? If you don't enjoy the game, than don't subscribe and don't play. If anything, F2P games trick you out of your money with paywalls and cash shop shenanigans. There is nothing positive that comes from F2P models, zero, nada, zilch.
P2P is not paying for a game, it is paying for the chance that you will get a game you may like. It is essentially gambling, driven by advertising and marketing, which is often borderline fraud.
With F2P you dont have to have someone else tell you what the game MAY be like, you get to see it for yourself, and if after playing for a good long time, you decide to spend a little money, you do so with the full knowledge of what you are getting.
If you like P2P so much, I have a bridge to sell you...
What? Because free trials/free weekends don't exist? Buddy keys? Because people can't watch a twitch stream, videos on YouTube, read reviews and so on? Pretty much all P2P games offer a trial or some sort of key.
You left out "eventually." Most of them do not offer buddy keys, trials or other free play until the game settles in and client sales start dropping below a certain level.
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 just wish companies would stop calling it F2P. There is nothing free about these games. You will always spend less money on these games if you just pay the sub. SWTOR had made 7 million one year (not sure what year but I read it). F2P is a big business and no matter how many people say they never pay when they play these games are clearly lying or don't play it after a few levels. To keep playing these games YOU will spend cash.
Here we go again with the same old stupid arguments.
The reason P2P has been unsuccessful as a business model is that MMO's are dead. Right? You guys keep saying there is nothing worth playing right?
So any sub game starting up is going to be dead in a few months. As in half the players will have dropped their subs and the other half will drop theirs, once they notice the population drop and the bad word of mouth starts getting around to prevent others from even trying the game. Hence you have a new F2P game after 6 months.
Hello Wildstar!
So all this talk about how sub is better is really just a moot point. The sub games are out there they are just very rare because very few games are good enough to sustain it.
You bring up a great point. Subs do not work anymore and there is a reason. MMOs created these days are all trying to appease the largest population possible instead of targeting a smaller audience and doing that well.
Even within those old MMOs there were separate servers for different playstyles (RP, PvP, PvE, a Mix). Focused is what they were. This is what made them worth paying a sub for. Recent MMOs? Too much unwanted (for me) to be any good for any length of time.
Subs do not make an MMO good or bad. Nor does F2P. MMOs that could charge subs successfully do not fit the current trend of "be everything to everyone." So any that try go F2P just to survive.
It's not that hard to figure out. There are no more distinct MMOs anymore like DAoC, AoC, EQ, UO, SW:G, and the other old MMOs that survived for years on a sub based model. Right now, if you play one MMO, you pretty much have played them all. Some exceptions exist of course, but this used to be the norm, not the exception.
How much would you be willing to spend on a 'good' subscription based game? Or do you think most new MMO's should use the free to play models and why?
A good F2P game is well worth the sub. A P2P game is just a ripoff trying to trick me out of my money.
How is paying for a game tricking you out of your money in any way? If you don't enjoy the game, than don't subscribe and don't play. If anything, F2P games trick you out of your money with paywalls and cash shop shenanigans. There is nothing positive that comes from F2P models, zero, nada, zilch.
P2P is not paying for a game, it is paying for the chance that you will get a game you may like. It is essentially gambling, driven by advertising and marketing, which is often borderline fraud.
With F2P you dont have to have someone else tell you what the game MAY be like, you get to see it for yourself, and if after playing for a good long time, you decide to spend a little money, you do so with the full knowledge of what you are getting.
If you like P2P so much, I have a bridge to sell you...
What? Because free trials/free weekends don't exist? Buddy keys? Because people can't watch a twitch stream, videos on YouTube, read reviews and so on? Pretty much all P2P games offer a trial or some sort of key.
This, for me, just further solidifies the idea that players play a major part in the problems MMOs face these days.
Because promises of one thing, and delivery of another has gone on for centuries. It is one of the oldest scams in existence, and is the basis of marketing.
If a game lives up to the marketing, then it can make money AFTER the customer has seen the game. If it falls short, it has to take the money first, because it cant get it afterwards.
As for how often this happens, just look at the forums a month after any P2P launch. As much as 75% of the people that purchased the game drop it within the first month... and quite a large portion of these people are unhappy with the purchase... many demanding refunds, and sometimes even suing the company the sold the game. This is not the behavior you would see if they were happy with how they spent their money.
P.S. That offer to sell you a bridge is a reference to a classic P2P style scam.
A good game will be good regardless of its payment method. How the game is managed is not a representation of the quality of the game. For instance there are private servers for games that have a greater population than that of the actual game, take Maplestory for example.
Neither F2P nor Sub can dictate a development cycle, WoW has one of the slowest development cycles I know of, on the other end Warframe hasn't added any actual new content since March 19th this year, and the last big content before that was September 10th 2013, everything in between has been tile-set revamps and added frames.
You know what would be lovely though, a sub game that measured your in game time rather than real world time. Nothing like the added stress of a subscription constantly asking you "Hey, why are you even subscribed? You only play this game 15hrs a week."
How much would you be willing to spend on a 'good' subscription based game? Or do you think most new MMO's should use the free to play models and why?
A good F2P game is well worth the sub. A P2P game is just a ripoff trying to trick me out of my money.
How is paying for a game tricking you out of your money in any way? If you don't enjoy the game, than don't subscribe and don't play. If anything, F2P games trick you out of your money with paywalls and cash shop shenanigans. There is nothing positive that comes from F2P models, zero, nada, zilch.
P2P is not paying for a game, it is paying for the chance that you will get a game you may like. It is essentially gambling, driven by advertising and marketing, which is often borderline fraud.
With F2P you dont have to have someone else tell you what the game MAY be like, you get to see it for yourself, and if after playing for a good long time, you decide to spend a little money, you do so with the full knowledge of what you are getting.
If you like P2P so much, I have a bridge to sell you...
What? Because free trials/free weekends don't exist? Buddy keys? Because people can't watch a twitch stream, videos on YouTube, read reviews and so on? Pretty much all P2P games offer a trial or some sort of key.
You left out "eventually." Most of them do not offer buddy keys, trials or other free play until the game settles in and client sales start dropping below a certain level.
A little bit of patience goes a long way as they say...
"Do not be hasty" - Treebeard
"Mr. Rothstein, your people never will understand... the way it works out here. You're all just our guests. But you act like you're at home. Let me tell you something, partner. You ain't home. But that's where we're gonna send you if it harelips the governor." - Pat Webb
A good game will be good regardless of its payment method. How the game is managed is not a representation of the quality of the game. For instance there are private servers for games that have a greater population than that of the actual game, take Maplestory for example.
Neither F2P nor Sub can dictate a development cycle, WoW has one of the slowest development cycles I know of, on the other end Warframe hasn't added any actual new content since March 19th this year, and the last big content before that was September 10th 2013, everything in between has been tile-set revamps and added frames.
You know what would be lovely though, a sub game that measured your in game time rather than real world time. Nothing like the added stress of a subscription constantly asking you "Hey, why are you even subscribed? You only play this game 15hrs a week."
This is what WoW does in the east, time cards. They count it as a sub if you log in during the month, even if you only use one minute.
I don't mind a f2p with a sub option if the cash shop is not needed to play the game. As a pure f2p have a problem when comes to getting money for content unless is a easy small game to build on so not needed much money to be funded for content. Then as for sub takes alot people money and makes tons of it but still make you pay more even for expansion and start giving people less content and start not keep them happy for long cuz of it.
But if people want more content then they got a good deal for you give you little not content but sell you a expansion but if people don't pay up then your gated to play at end game, anyhow welcome to sub modal oh wait I mean f2p modal oh wait both model sound both the same like a fishy money grabbing to get people to spent more money and grind for junk then making game play better.:)
Comments
Star Citizen – The Extinction Level Event
4/13/15 > ELE has been updated look for 16-04-13.
http://www.dereksmart.org/2016/04/star-citizen-the-ele/
Enjoy and know the truth always comes to light!
These f2p babies or it's not free enough are the problem with mmos today. I'm noticing this site gets a lot of them because most don't allow them to post on the games they are complaining about.
There are games like World of Tanks where you can still fully participate, but having the sub is really helpful to play certain parts of the sort-of-endgame at higher tiers. The cash shops in those games are not getting in the way of core game mechanics, and they operate more as 'value added' rather than 'core mechanic required' features. Path of Exile is another good game where the cash shop does not seem to hurt gameplay too much.
Then there are the games like Archeage. Parts of the game may be good, but the cash shop is completely in your face and even when you feed the monster money, you still aren't ever "winning" the gear game. Compare that to the old school sub model where you'd hunt an epic boss and and do the gear hunt completely in the game as was normal back then, no cash shop designed interference. No buying your way into the core game mechanic. The early complaints people had about pay-to-win were waaaay off base weren't they? Oh no, they were never going to actually sell you gear, that would be too easy lol.
Free to play has devolved to the point where they are designing the game's core mechanics AROUND the fucking cash shop. And even then you can't even win that game, you just keep feeding the monster and hoping. This is the worst sort of gear hunt wrapped around the metagame of "beating" other people in the MMO area currently. It's more Free-To-Login and run around, but if you want to actually advance and do anything in the game you really need to spend a lot more than $15 a month. The idea you can make up for lack of money by spending a lot of time and effort in the game is rapidly becoming a myth.
Sub-only games were designed to be games, while "Free to Play" was always, inevitably going to end up the way they are; cash grabs based on the metagame of "beating" other people. MMO was a buzzword for awhile and this attracted the buzzards who want to prey on people. So in a lot of ways the players of Free to Play games are fundamentally different than the type who want to inhabit virtual worlds. They are competitive rather than cooperative. They want to "beat" other people in some metagame as their primary motivation, and this can be exploited. It's a common human trait that has been catered to by clever marketers for a long time. Conspicuous consumption as a virtue vs. The Shaming of the Wallet Warriors. It's a cultural clash between two different groups of people, in some ways.
It's a good sign that these debates are hashing things out now. There is plenty of room for all different types of games in the world, there's no reason to say that the traditional MMO market is too small to make games for. A lot of the hostility on these kinds of boards comes from the Free to Play people chanting their mantra that others should be ignored, their wishes should be silenced, and that they are too old and out of date to matter. It's all bullshit. Sooner rather than later the market will move again and the Free to Players will find themselves on the wrong side of that chant.
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 apologize beforehand, but I am not making sense of this part. Phone bill. Huh? What do you mean "around the norm?" Monthly cost? Monthly long distance time used? Do YOU pay $500/month for your phone? I pay $25.
B2P still wants you to shop in their game. Again, I do not play MMOs to shop. Monthly sub games have cash shops now, too, so there is no difference for me. Pay a sub, HAVE to shop to spend that "included cash shop bucks", whether you want anything or not, or lose it.
My "perfect set-up" that will never happen is pay monthly and expansions are free. If my $15/month does not cover a $60 expansion every 9 to 12 months, they need new management. For a good MMORPG I would happily pay $25/month with this set-up. Too many would not, though.
VG
Games that are designed to let you play for free but which in many cases restrict, hinder or diminish your playing experience if you don't spend cash in the game are designed from a totally different standpoint, and I think by and large (there are of course honorable exeptions), the design builds around two things: create a simple gameplay function that hooks you, and then add stuff that you need at a cost. To me this seems like the wrong way to do game design.
It's been claimed that in any mmo-game that features pay to win functions (which a lot of the free to play games do), all the paying players are actively diminishing the gaming experience for the non-paying players. I would agree with this statement.
In selecting a game I would like to play, the payment model would certainly be a big part of the decision, and odds are I would end up with the subscription game in most cases.
One more point to throw out there.
The basic way that subs work is that by providing them with the revenue from the subscription the developer can create new and "of quality" content. Well what happens when they deliver content that you hate? You've already paid them for it. You have officially funded the screw-over that ruins your entertainment. On a positive, you now have the prerogative to complain in the forums forever about how they ruined your favorite game *cough* SWG NGE *cough*
It's a lot like taxes. You keep paying your dues and hope that they are going to do the right things with it. As we all know, misappropriation of funds is not an uncommon term when it comes to governments. As a matter of fact, people tend to expect it. Why would you expect anything different from a corporation?
All of my posts are either intelligent, thought provoking, funny, satirical, sarcastic or intentionally disrespectful. Take your pick.
I get banned in the forums for games I love, so lets see if I do better in the forums for games I hate.
I enjoy the serenity of not caring what your opinion is.
I don't hate much, but I hate Apple© with a passion. If Steve Jobs was alive, I would punch him in the face.
The reason P2P has been unsuccessful as a business model is that MMO's are dead. Right? You guys keep saying there is nothing worth playing right?
So any sub game starting up is going to be dead in a few months. As in half the players will have dropped their subs and the other half will drop theirs, once they notice the population drop and the bad word of mouth starts getting around to prevent others from even trying the game. Hence you have a new F2P game after 6 months.
Hello Wildstar!
So all this talk about how sub is better is really just a moot point. The sub games are out there they are just very rare because very few games are good enough to sustain it.
FFA Nonconsentual Full Loot PvP ...You know you want it!!
With F2P you dont have to have someone else tell you what the game MAY be like, you get to see it for yourself, and if after playing for a good long time, you decide to spend a little money, you do so with the full knowledge of what you are getting.
If you like P2P so much, I have a bridge to sell you...
Prices can either go up or the product you get for said price is less than what you used to get.
Sort of like Hulu offering the new *commercial free* option for a little bit more money all the while adding MORE commercials to their standard fee option. You are still paying the same price but instead of just 2 commercials you get about 15... which is on par with normal television.
But wait, you give them $3 more per month and they will remove all the commercials... same thing as raising the price of the subscription IMHO.
This, for me, just further solidifies the idea that players play a major part in the problems MMOs face these days.
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
Star Citizen – The Extinction Level Event
4/13/15 > ELE has been updated look for 16-04-13.
http://www.dereksmart.org/2016/04/star-citizen-the-ele/
Enjoy and know the truth always comes to light!
I ALWAYS pay my way in life, and that goes for my entertainment as well.
Even within those old MMOs there were separate servers for different playstyles (RP, PvP, PvE, a Mix). Focused is what they were. This is what made them worth paying a sub for. Recent MMOs? Too much unwanted (for me) to be any good for any length of time.
Subs do not make an MMO good or bad. Nor does F2P. MMOs that could charge subs successfully do not fit the current trend of "be everything to everyone." So any that try go F2P just to survive.
It's not that hard to figure out. There are no more distinct MMOs anymore like DAoC, AoC, EQ, UO, SW:G, and the other old MMOs that survived for years on a sub based model. Right now, if you play one MMO, you pretty much have played them all. Some exceptions exist of course, but this used to be the norm, not the exception.
VG
If a game lives up to the marketing, then it can make money AFTER the customer has seen the game. If it falls short, it has to take the money first, because it cant get it afterwards.
As for how often this happens, just look at the forums a month after any P2P launch. As much as 75% of the people that purchased the game drop it within the first month... and quite a large portion of these people are unhappy with the purchase... many demanding refunds, and sometimes even suing the company the sold the game. This is not the behavior you would see if they were happy with how they spent their money.
P.S. That offer to sell you a bridge is a reference to a classic P2P style scam.
http://www.blogtyrant.com/the-man-who-sold-the-brooklyn-bridge-twice-a-week-for-30-years/
Neither F2P nor Sub can dictate a development cycle, WoW has one of the slowest development cycles I know of, on the other end Warframe hasn't added any actual new content since March 19th this year, and the last big content before that was September 10th 2013, everything in between has been tile-set revamps and added frames.
You know what would be lovely though, a sub game that measured your in game time rather than real world time. Nothing like the added stress of a subscription constantly asking you "Hey, why are you even subscribed? You only play this game 15hrs a week."
"Do not be hasty" - Treebeard
"Mr. Rothstein, your people never will understand... the way it works out here. You're all just our guests. But you act like you're at home. Let me tell you something, partner. You ain't home. But that's where we're gonna send you if it harelips the governor." - Pat Webb
But if people want more content then they got a good deal for you give you little not content but sell you a expansion but if people don't pay up then your gated to play at end game, anyhow welcome to sub modal oh wait I mean f2p modal oh wait both model sound both the same like a fishy money grabbing to get people to spent more money and grind for junk then making game play better.:)