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What is your ideal F2P system?
Phortex
Member Posts: 9
There are loads of threads out there (on this site and others) comparing, denouncing and generally moaning about F2P games, mainly arising i can only assume from the growing dissatisfaction with current P2P games causing more and more people to turn to the dark side...
So i was wondering, how would you desgin a viable F2P game? (focusing on the money making side not the game itself here)
The way i see it there are two main types of F2P game, the ones with a "Premium" feature or the Cash Shop, discussed below. I am ignoring the much craved actual FREE F2P, where no money is required for anything as anyone with half a brain cell and who have reached the age when you realise that food doesnt magically appear in your fridge will know that any half decent game will need to make money at some point if it wants to last.
Next bit i breifly discribe what i mean by these systems, if you already feel you are happy with the options out there in the F2P world jump the bottom of the post.
The Premium feature is a simple one, most of the game is free and open to everyone however to get/unlock all the little extra bits a player pays a optional subscription. Tibia (a massivly under rated game) is a good example of this, where for a comparitvly cheap subscription you can visit other islands, exposing yourself to new creatures, learn a few more spells (although nothing so powerful as to undermine the free acc.) and buy houses. This advantages of this are simple, whilst you do get a sort of a two teir playing system (those who pay and those who dont) it is only two tier, once you have paid for your subscription you have everythig unlocked - and in the cas eof tibia you cans ell most new things to free acc anyway. This means u dont get the massive devides bewteen players who seem to have hundreds to spend on items and those who dont.
The real disadvantage is that it is a subscription. If money is tight then you can't really get away just the odd micro payment here and there.
Cash shop games fall into three groups. Firstly you have those that try to sell you superfical items, to make your character unique, This is great as it doesn't really impact on the game play too much. You are still able to use all the features, level well and get good items...you just might look a tad Fugly doing it... I have to be honest these dont really make sense to me. I am luckly enough that i am in a position that if i choose to i can spend in the cash shop however, i dont think i would spend on somthing that just made me look different, at least i wouldnt more than once or twice. And i suspect i am not the only one who thinks like that because if i ever play these sorts of games i find advertising for the CS is rammed down my thoat, to the point it interferes with my game play!
The second type is the one where you need to use the cash shop to enchance items, not suffer badly form death penaltys etc. (an example here is the new Allods CS system). I feel these systems are effective, for the company at least, in that you are forced to use the CS to get anywhere in the game, however it quickly makes the game a contest of who can spend the most rather than who has the most skill, and i quickly find myself leaving such games, especially as i feel any game that you can't play without using the CS should just stop pretending and go P2P.
Finally who have the games that give exp boosts (eg iSRO). Here for a small price you are able to buy a nice scroll or buff or whatever that means you dont have to grind. Usually these are found in games where the grind is massive, and it often means you only get a small high level player base.
Anyway... back to my question; How would you go about designing a F2P game?
- What would you make free? and what would you charge for?
- Would you have a CS or a premium system?
- How big of an advantage do you feel paying should give a player? and how would you control this?
Comments
I like the premium option the best when games offer them. It gives bonus' for money without being a game changer. It begs you to ask, "How much is my time worth?" It eliminates the "Play2Win" mentaility but still generates revenue. I'd complement the premium service with a vanity CS with the usual xp pots and junk. Objects that only make things faster, not easier or game breaking. Skill resets and things like that could be in there but only if offered in-game, no matter how pricey it is with in-game currency, as long as its doable.
I think that would be my ideal CS/Premium for a F2P game. Of course, if you could swing something like Guild Wars did, then by all means, go that path though. But, even with that model, I still think a vanity shop would be good just to let people be different if they so chose.
Answering your title:
Free.
I am thinking something along the lines of a 99 cent store, true micro in microtransactions. Let's say, for example, levels 1-10 are free. Then levels 11-20 are a dollar. Maybe 3-4 classes are free but to open up other classes a dollar, same with races. Maybe a handful of zones are free but to open up other zones, you guessed it, another dollar. Nothing pay to win of course, just opening up more content. Maybe you can earn a certain mount in game, but if you want say a black stallion or a paint horse instead of a tan horse, a dollar. It's the price point I don't like about F2P, this attempt to get people to pay 20 dollars for mounts, 60 dollars, 3 dollars a month for character slots. I think a steady stream of small transactions is what F2P implies and that's exactly how it should be set up.
parrotpholk-Because we all know the miracle patch fairy shows up the night before release and sprinkles magic dust on the server to make it allllll better.
I hope you are being facetious, because how is a game going to last if it's purely a charity for your sake?
In the real world: it costs money to run/improve, and unless the owners are eccentric billionaires - you are *never* going to see this.
As for the OP, I'm glad you asked. I've been designing game concepts for a long, long time, and one of the aspects I love to deep out on is the financial methods. Here is a couple things I've come up with for my F2P models.
1. Cosmetic Certificates.
Instead of having any kind of CS gear in a couple of my games, I instead go for a certificate that applies to any of the found/crafted gear in the game that would allow it to be shown on the avatar. Everyone chooses a look at startup, but only by sticking this on a piece of gear would it actually show on you. I reckon $.90 per, or even less when bought in bulk is a sufficient cost per item.
2. Travel Passes.
When new content opens up you'd buy a permanent passport to enter the zones for roughly 5$. There would also be instant travel passes (taxis or bus passes) that last 30 days for 2$. Otherwise you just hoof it on foot.
3. Subs that give a stipend of CS points.
On top of giving automatic entry to new content that would usually require a travel pass, this would put an equal amount of the cash used monthly to pay the sub, and convert it into CS points.
4. Seasonal boutiques.
In the games where I do apply CS gear, it's purely cosmetic clothing, and tons of it. They would range between $.80 and $2 per piece, and would cycle on and off in-game stores (no windows) seasonally, in order to suit the real world season going on. They would return the next following year, at the appropriate time, along with new additions - though some would be phased out to allow the existing sets to rise in value. Then players can trade these pieces once the various style's "stock" goes up, in a sense.
5. Static housing vs instanced.
While I am sure many would disagree with this, prolly saying "that's not faaaair" or something, Ibut figure this kind of thing for the kind of players that have something to prove, or guilds that can throw in together. In some of my games I approach atypical housing through apartment-based instances, but a good amount of static ones exist out in the map where everyone can coexist. These are bought and leased by players and guilds in order to provide a hangout that doesn't require having a private instance, and are purely luxury. I reckon that the price range could go from 15-50$ a month (maybe more depending on initial tests) based on size and location, but of course, chances are they would be hard to come by should they get eaten up quickly. So they would have to be released quite often with new areas, and seed back to some kind of real estate auction once one opens up from a player defaulting on it. This is more of an experiment I would like to see in action, to see if it works. I already know some people are going to hate it and scream that everyone deserves one, or nobody does. Fact is, there's just not enough room for everyone, and I'd like to see devoted players have a place that becomes a bit of a celebrity in itself.
6. Emote books.
A 4$ emote that 'evolves' into other ones if you use it X times per day, eventually opening up into a wide range of animations and sound effects based on the type of book (happy, sad, angry, etc). More would get released over time, and I think the progression behind it could be addictive, in a way.
7. Attraction Licenses.
Basically a 2$ for a 30-day license to do side-activities that have nothing to do with the actual game. Stuff like fishing/hunting licenses and whatnot, usually real-world activities like that. Nothing gained from it is needed, but it will allow the acquisition of trophies that will fit in the housing mentioned above. There would be daily quotas of course, and said trophies spaced out to where you can't get them all too quickly.
8. Environmental advertising in a contemporary or sci-fi setting.
Should be self-explanitory, but if not, then what I mean is both scrolling/statics ads on billboards, with very few featuring audio. It totally works if the setting is correct, and it's not in your face like if it was on a loading screen or something. It's still not enough to fully fund development, but might be a nice bit of bumper funding.
Other things too, but I'd have to dredge up notes. Now, go ahead and flame me, but "someone" has to pay the bills for any online game hosted in the real world. Maybe someday they will run off of happy thoughts alone, but until then, I try to just make the F2P methodology more palatable.
@Robokapp
Honestly, I don't know, but you have to assume that the cost of producing clothing and other merchandise is going to eat up the profits as much as the game development would. You'd have to overprice it all heavily to cover both sides, and then nobody would buy any.
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4
Waiting On: GW2, TSW, Archeage, The Rapture
@ GTwander
a couple of your points too have given thgouth to in the past;
Environmental adds. I think this potentially could work, however it potentially ruin the RP element of the game i know a lot fo players enjoy (i feel the Golden Arches don't really have a place in medieval theamed castle warfare..). Despte this i suspect the biggest problem would be attracting a company to advertise, as any company is unlikely to want to throw their money away unless you (the game) can promise to deliver a certain size player base, and it is very unlikely you can generate a large player base unless you already have a system in place to keep the game a float.
Housing: This is somthing i kinda agree with, and i wonder if you are familar with the housing system in Tibia (although i havent played this game for a few years now the housing system is somthign i remember well, and worked well). It basically worked by having a fixed number of houses (and guild halls) these were Auctioned, for in game money. However only those who paid a subscription could partake in the Auction and thus actually own a house or guild halls. These players then had to pya s et amount each month (of in game money) to pay the rent. None of these places were instanced, but rather locked "rooms" tibias 2D design worked well with this, and it mean they basically became areas where u could safley show off your items and treasures to the world, as wlel as a few other features they offered.
But having an open auction worked well.
Guild Wars is pretty much free to play. You buy the code and the expansions, but there is no monthly fee and there was no cash shop or RMT when I played (although players could buy a max lvl toon to PvP with I think). When I think of F2P, I think of games like Guild Wars and Diablo. If I have to pay for anything else, or even if there is that option, it isn't F2P to me.
Vault-Tec analysts have concluded that the odds of worldwide nuclear armaggeddon this decade are 17,143,762... to 1.
Still costs X moneys to get in the door though.
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4
Waiting On: GW2, TSW, Archeage, The Rapture
my ideal system:
- no xp potions or xp boosters of any kind
- no crafting failure reducers of any kind
- no death penalty reducers of any kind
- no consumable stat buffing items like strength scrolls or speedup potions (all temp buff consumables obtainable in-game only)
- all items you buy for your character stay in your inventory and remain usable for as long as your character exists on your account or until you decide to delete the item in other words no item rentals or item subscriptions there should only be item buying buying buying
- lots of cosmetic items
- lots of utility and gimmick items
- lots of stated gear as well (equal to what can be obtained in-game stat-wise, payers just get it faster and easier)
- no single items (aside from outright new characters or player classes) are to cost more than 15 dollars
- im all for inequality but im just particular about how the inequality is executed out
Guild Wars 2 is my religion
That's pretty fair all around, but I have a personal belief that "less is more" when it comes to base cost per item. If nothing was over 5$, and the average item was under 1$, you'd see a *lot* more people willing to actually spend money on it in general. That would add up far more than the usual few that spend an ungodly amount on it, even though they would *still* do so regardless of the costs. You just need cheaper items, and waaaaay more of them. Instead of paying 25$ to outfit a character, that 25$ should fill up a small wardrobe.
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4
Waiting On: GW2, TSW, Archeage, The Rapture
Well, most of them are hosted by players themselves, which saves the owners of the game buku money. Very few games have dedicated servers anymorre because of the costs, and even when they did, the game usually sold *millions* of copies in the first place. GW sold millions as well, and no new game is going to be able to do the same without selling millions of box copies like they did. It's an aspiring method that requires a company to have clout in the first place, expect no-namers to go nowhere with it.
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4
Waiting On: GW2, TSW, Archeage, The Rapture
I would like to see a free to play game with a cash shop cap spending at around $20 a month per account (with an enforced one account per person rule). The cap would limit the wallet wars to something most people can afford while allowing the following people to pay less than the cap each month:
People who are willing to camp the same mob over and over four hundred times for that rare drop that also happens to be available in the cash shop.
People who aren't interested in leveling faster.
People who don't care about having the absolute shiniest, prettiest, most custom colored items.
People who don't need to ride the sparkliest ponies.
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'm sure it's not the same everywhere, but haven't bandwidth costs actually gone down? If so, I think the reason companies don't want to include dedicated servers, is because they can make money off of it, such as Modern Warfare 2 and Games for Windows Live, or the Xbox subscription fees. The companies want the players to have less control over modifying thier IP so they can sell the extra stuff later on, in my opinion.
Vault-Tec analysts have concluded that the odds of worldwide nuclear armaggeddon this decade are 17,143,762... to 1.
My ideal F2P system is one that sells only one item in the cash shop. It being a magic scroll that buffs you for 30 days of bandwith for the game. Priced at $10 to $15. The scroll will be destroyed upon use and have to be replaced every 30 days to maintain the magical properties of the spell.
WOW isnt great because it has 12 million players. WOW has 12 million players because its great.
Not sure, but when it comes to games like MW2, you need to keep in mind the sheer volume of players on at one time... scratch that, *all* the time.
Also, there is no making money from ditching dedicated servers, there is only saving it (xbox live fees do not go to anyone else but microsoft as well) - and if they wanted to keep players from mucking with the IP, or however you put it, they would'nt have relegated it to privately held ones where hacks abound. I think Valve has a smart model going on, because they are both secured *and* allow for awesome mods like the gravity surfing maps (or w/e it was called). Though, this is only possible based on how much they make off their service through the online store and whatnot, they can afford to host their pet projects. Activision is as bad as EA when it comes to cutting corners wherever they can, they are publishers, not developers. Unlike Valve, which is both.
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4
Waiting On: GW2, TSW, Archeage, The Rapture
The game in its entirety should be free to play... Ergo F2P.
Donations would be a nice addition for the developer, though in all probability it probably won't garner much income, unless the community is idiosyncratically generous.
I'm not too big into the whole pay money to get more idea, that means the morons with the most money will get all the premium stuff. Whether it be extra content, or item shops, etc.
If I were to create any online game, I would definitely make it F2P, because it would be my first venture into that area, and I would want to attract as many players as I could.
Donations, as I said, seem like an honest way to make an extra buck, but for a AAA company, I can definitely see why the big name titles use the subbies.
Donations do not work, games like Haven and Hearth try for it... and needless to say, it's doesn't make anything at all. People are more willing to hand off a donation to a game in development than a completed one. As in "maybe if you give us money you'll see something released in the future". It's very unlikely to see people hand money off with a product actually staring them in the face, and in most cases where it was handed off without something to have a hands-on with, they would probably regret doing so once seeing what the money went towards. People are that frugal.
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4
Waiting On: GW2, TSW, Archeage, The Rapture
He pretty much stated everything that I wanted to say. I really wouldnt mind so much things like in game fluff items like clothing and such but my biggest downfall with F2P games is there disadvantage that most of them have for people who dont want to spend a ton of money so they can keep up for the people that do. I play P2P games just because I can do everything that everyone else can and I dont have to worry about it.
Personally, I like EVE-Online's model.
You can pay their monthly subscription fee (discounts for multiple months at a time, as usual), or you can purchase PLEX, which are in-game items that act as game time codes. They seem to nicely solve two problems at once. Those who have more cash than time can buy these PLEX items and put them up for sale in the in-game market, thus effectively buying gold. Those with more time than money can spend in-game currancy to buy PLEX from other players over the market, thus making the game free-to-play.
It works well, because the developers get their money regardless, and no real currancy is added to the game economy, since it only changes hands between players.
True, EVE is pretty smart in that regard, but there are still a couple issues that keep it from the same realm as real (though I should say 'supposed') Free to Play games.
1. The 20$ download of the full client.
2. The time it takes, while subbed, to get far enough in the game to actually earn the kind of money it takes to buy Plex.
The system really only helps old-timers play for free, but still nothing to complain about, I think it's generally smart.
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4
Waiting On: GW2, TSW, Archeage, The Rapture
the way i see free to play is:
no holds (level cap is what everyone gets, no lost content)
the shops have the same wepons but ones that possibly look cooler (can be utlra rare to drop)
cosmeticas in the shops (but can be rare finds)
cash shops add quick level items that boost exp rates
possibly revive on stop items, for PVE only.
everytihng else is free. all this are things people would buy, but you are not losing out on the experience if you dont buy them.
I'd go open world nation vs nation vs nation vs nation vs so on and so forth where players have to create the cities and even the mission content.
"I need x number of dragon bones to achieve y goal. Rewards for those helping me."
In which I would allow the host to build the mission. But they would have to pay a one time price for the right to make these missions and gain the benefits. Then every 3 months or so have a team create worthwhile packs of content to sell to add to these missions.
So the idea would be if you didn't want to pay at all you could populate these player made quest hubs which would benefit the nation who created them in unique ways. Probably with supplies to expand cities and influence on the land.
Or you could pay a little and get access to the tools to create the content to bring people there and gain out of game and in game rewards.
Someone steal this! I'm just a graphic designer and I need something to do inbetween jobs. Oh and I'd like to submit my resume to be an artist or web designer. Or at least help make the manual no one will read.
I kill other players because they're smarter than AI, sometimes.
This model has laso led to like 5 mining nerfs ina row, making it not feesable for noobs and pretty much a bots job. Not saying its this system that led to it. Its more the fault of allowing mining bots and the very passive action of mining. But still PLEX has increased the rate or need for these as a community.
That being said i like the concept, but it had a hole no one cared to patch.
"Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one ..." - Thomas Paine
That's unrealistic and you know it. These companies have bills to pay, the servers and maintenance, ISP/bandwidth, employees to add/fix content, etc
Everyone wants to cry about F2P not being one hundred percent free to play, but a majority of the players that cry wouldn't be willing to subscribe to most "F2P" games because the quality isn't up to standards of P2P games. So, they want to bitch and moan about the cash shops offering unfair advantages to others, and that they can't compete without having to put some money into the "F2P" game.
Here's the answer, stop bitching and subscribe to whatever P2P game that you aren't happy with in the first place.
My "F2P" Model would be a hybrid model, similar to what DDO has. The subscription fee would only be 4.99 per month, and would include some free inconsequential items from the item shop, IE Healing potions/stim packs, mana pots/tech paks (/if sci fi), crafting materials, etc. Subscribers would get a certain number of those at the beginning of each billing cycle, and starting with the second month and each month after the subscriber receives bonus items (like Aion) while also getting their monthly sub items.
Subscribers would also have access to a special in game merchant that sells some (not all) cash shop items for in game gold. Included in the monthly subscription rate would be a small number of cash shop points, I'm thinking around 50, as most cash shop items will have a value of anywhere from 10-50 points, 5 points=$1.00
Cash Shop items:
Healing Potions/Stam Paks 5 points for a stack of 10
Mana pots/Tech paks 5 points for a stack of 10
Crafting Materials 5 points for a stack of 25
PVE Weapons and Armors (comparible to minor drops or minor crafted. 10-50 points based on level/stats
Outfits for Aesthetics, IE: Guild Wars, LOTRO 5-30 points
Minor EXP increase scrolls/paks (30% exp increase) 25 points for stack of 5
Major EXP increase scrolls/paks (60% exp increase) 45 points for stack of 5
Expansion Content (New zones, quests)- Subscribers get this free. 25 points
I'm sure I could come up with more but I feel the above basically covers it.
Free to plays usually require you to buy something so that pvp is an even playing field. Cash shop items include potions to boost your stats or worse, the best equipment can be bought with cash.
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I hate that.
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A cash shop with cosmetic items, vanity pets, cosmetic gear, etc would be ideal.
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I hate how DDO makes you pay, or grind like crazy for content. This excludes you from experience content with friends.
Well shave my back and call me an elf! -- Oghren
Well, completely free is possible as long as some people do pay. But preferably not giving them the ultimate advantage by doing so. Take hattrick!
Though, just looking around before you register somewhere also helps tons tbh. Don't just blindly reg on the official website, look around for websites that give you certain stuff for free
Just started playing Warrock and gamecoach.tv got me +20% xp and a free bigass gun. Simply cause I searched.