CoH Going F2P

[Dr. kitteny berk]

http://www.cityofheroes.com/news/freedo ... m_faq.html

Appeals to me.

[FatherJack]

I hear Aids of Colon is going free, too, which I care somewhat less about.

All aboard the man train!

[Joose]

Im 5particus!

[Anery]

Seems to be quite fashionable these days. Aids, chimps, coh, fallen earth apparently soon. I wonder if we are seeing the end of subscription based models.

[Dog Pants]

I'm not sure it'll be quite the end, there are still some big games on the horizon with subs, but with even Warcraft offering a sort of free version it's obviously making huge waves among publishers. I'm still struggling to get into the mindset to be able to trust them though, which is strange because I have no problem with spending £8/month on a subscription, but buying an in game item for 80p feels like a waste of money because I'll inevitably stop playing at some point.

[Thompy]

I'm surprised no one is trying a "pay as you play" model, a la play as you go mobiles. At a certain threshold of play time per month, above it it's cheaper to sub and below it it's cheaper to pay as you play. The publisher still gets little increments of money from people who still don't want to play much, and everyone is still paying for time rather than items. I've always thought it a bit wrong that two people who play every day but one only a couple of hours and the other many hours have to pay the same monthly sub. I guess they'd still stick micro transactions on top that though, the age of digital distribution has brought the worst out in companies /cynical hat.

[Dog Pants]

APB used that model, paying for game time or for an unlimited monthly sub. I liked the sound of it, but with APB crashing before it really started it didn't get a good run to test the model. Maybe its reboot will demonstrate it.

[Joose]

APB used that model, paying for game time or for an unlimited monthly sub. I liked the sound of it, but with APB crashing before it really started it didn't get a good run to test the model. Maybe its reboot will demonstrate it.

My worry with that model is that it would have the opposite of a monthly subs "I must play!" effect. When Im paying for a normal MMO, I feel this wierd compulsion to play it more than I otherwise might, in order to somehow get my monies worth. If ive effectively got a little timer pissing away my hard earned cash whenever im logged in, I cant help think that I will save up my time for when I know I can have a good long play session. I'll also be a lot less inclined to hang about being sociable. Would stuff like the 5particus thing have happened if we knew that sitting about like that was costing us money? Waiting around for things like dungeons are frustrating enough as it is, can you imagine how much more frustrating it would be if your prepaid time was being used standing about shouting "LFG"?

I'm not saying its a bad idea as such, just that it doesnt fit well with all games models. Something like APB, where there isnt an awfull lot of reason to hang about not doing much it would totally work. A more traditional MMO, which is less all action, all the time, I think it would be a terrible idea.

[Dog Pants]

Very good point, I hadn't thought about it like that.

[Thompy]

I'm not saying its a bad idea as such, just that it doesnt fit well with all games models. Something like APB, where there isnt an awfull lot of reason to hang about not doing much it would totally work. A more traditional MMO, which is less all action, all the time, I think it would be a terrible idea.

Very good point, I hadn't thought about it like that.

It is a good point, but it is a psychological effect, albeit a strong one. It's like sub vs pay-to-win or pay for content models. For instance, two versions of the same game, one you get everything for an £8 sub (WoW), and the other you need to buy content and gear at 50p each (AoE Online). Now let's say if you buy everything at 50p each month and it comes to £7, I'd still perfer the £8 model because it gives peace of mind that everyone is on the same footing from the get go and you feel like you're not being "forced" to pay more to play the game.

To bring that back to the pay-to-play model, as long as you accept that standing around doing nothing is part of the game, and that you're still paying less than a sub, it's not so bad. But granted, feeling like you're wasting money while nothing happens will never be a good mind set. Suggestion withdrawn

[buzzmong]

Subs aren't going away. What we're seeing is the big publishers picking up on the MT route that's getting a foothold in the industry in the somewhat mistaken view it'll lead to long term mega £££ because a few games are successful with the system.

There's a problem however that's intrinsic to the MT system. Sold items have to be perishable in order to make a sustained income source for the developer/publisher, but by doing that, people are less inclined to buy them or only buy them on occasion.

Then you also have other issues with with game design. F2P games requre constant additions to their stores in order to keep money flowing in if they've got non-perishable items, otherwise people buy stuff once and are done. The games themselves are also designed around the MT system, some even boarding on Pay-to-Win (P2W), which puts a limit on player retention even if it does bring in a decent amount of money for the short term.

Sub based games differ as devs want people to keep subbing and spend time making content as such, it's also a much more stable source of income, which is off benefit to most businesses not run by idiots or having to answer to shareholders.

I think we'll see a number of "big" F2P games crop up over the next couple of years from the big guys that are trying to be wide ranging in scope and appeal, and they'll last for a couple of years before they fall apart due to their own designs and lack of player retention, in turn they'll get replaced by games from small and medium companies offering more specific sub based games.

There's also the issue of people having finite money. I think when we see a number of "big" F2P games come out, it won't work as well as the publishers are hoping, simply because the market isn't really there. People will play the games, maybe spend a little bit, but ultimately not keep spending. They'll also get a bit bored of the system and the amount of F2P games, and we'll see a Guitar Hero effect where it simply gets abandoned by consumers.

[Sheriff Fatman]

Taking the APB example; the "Pay-To-Play" only counted when you were doing proper stuff. When pootling around in the social/crafting/costume areas, your time wasn't being counted. Still, APB died and was resurrected, so fuck knows if it works or not.

[FatherJack]

I don't know if we're unusual here, by playing lots of different games and flitting between them because we all have ADHD, but when people find out I play games and who have any interest in the subject, a question I'm often asked is "What is your favourite game?" or "What do you play?"

I find it pretty hard to answer, and usually either say "Half-Life" or respond with what I've been mostly playing that week. They, in turn find it extremely easy to answer, as they tend to stick to one game and play it constantly - albeit not always putting quite so many hours in as I might.

Equally, people whose first and last gaming experience is WoW have been astonished to learn that I don't have an army of max-level super raid awesome characters after hearing that I'm a gamer that has played it on and off since launch.

Neither of those profiles fit many 5punkers, but match the majority of game-playing people I talk to outside 5punk. So I guess this is the market the F2P w MT are gunning for. Get them hooked by giving away the game, then have them spend money to improve their game experience. Even though I've reduced the amount of new games I'm buying, if I stuck to a single game (the horror) I could easily fund a subscription-based game, or more pertinently buy out every item in a single game's item store. (except maybe the Sims)

So while people's money is indeed finite, getting them to try another game at no cost, having them like it enough to switch to it exclusively and then transfer what they would have spent on subs/items to add-ons for the new game is a pretty good business plan.

Pay for playtime, as Joose noted, is like having a big £££ countdown timer on the screen, and to a degree subscriptions are like that, except that the £££ timer appears hanging in the air in front of you when you're not playing the game.

Pay to win, I don't know. Everyone says they hate the idea, and certainly I would if it was as clear-cut as that:

- Giving people items for cash that others have spent a lot of time getting does devalue the achievement, but they had fun getting there right? Games are fun aren't they, not some menial, repetitive task you perform for trivial rewards? Maybe cash for those sort of items is a wake-up call to some.

- Some items only being available for cash is more irksome to me, actually irrespective of whether or not they are "better". As a collector I want to have them all - but in some games this can mean shelling out a sizeable sum.

- The acceptability of how Premium (or better) your "premium" items are seems to me tied to how much people are paying, partly for the items, but especially for the vanilla product.
In a completely free game, I'd say almost all bets are off - you should be able to buy level-ups, stat-boosting items and content as much as you want - because you're the one funding the game's development. The only time I'd call foul was for (say) single-use activated power-ups which allowed you to win duels - NSFW has these, but crucially you can obtain them in-game.
In a full-price game (subscription or otherwise) extras or pre-order bonuses are a lot more controversial and if they exist at all shouldn't really be game-changing. Unless it is generally or tacitly agreed that the regular-price-paying customers are getting some sort of discount then it is not unreasonable for them to expect full access to everything the game has to offer as sold on day one.


In all I think the hybrid models are a good idea, reinvigorating flagging games. The best models seem to be the ones which are completely free to play without draconian level caps, but have time-saving items for sale and an optional subscription which as well as giving you automatic bonus content also pays you a monthly allowance of the bonus item currency. People can try for free, pay for a few bits if they are liking it or switch to a sub if they're spending more in the store than it would cost to subscribe. They can take payment holidays, don't feel forced to play (supposed to be fun, remember?) - pretty much get what they want and only what they want to pay for.