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Community Discussion: Pay to Play VS Free to Play
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Community Discussion: Pay to Play VS Free to PlayPosted:
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Joined: Jun 14, 200914Year Member
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Status: Offline
Joined: Jun 14, 200914Year Member
Posts: 3,871
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It's no secret that microtransactions are a huge money maker in the video game industry, and developers are starting to see the merit of using them. The way of monthly subscriptions seems all but a distant memory, but for some games and companies the line isn't so obvious.
Concluding question: is free to play with microtransactions the future of video games or do monthly subscriptions still have a place in the video game industry?
Last edited by theartftw ; edited 1 time in total
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#2. Posted:
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Joined: Nov 14, 201013Year Member
Posts: 3,058
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Status: Offline
Joined: Nov 14, 201013Year Member
Posts: 3,058
Reputation Power: 162
I have played a good few online games whether it be console or Pc and I have to admit I have bought DLC or weapons or boost packs (although I do not really pay for vanity items). I think that when new games are made they should at least try to be honest and tell us we will be spending money on extras or even better up the RRP by 50-60% and have no surprises.
As for free to play games well you buy the game (or try it out for a certain period) then you see things you would like an you wonder how to get them and for example Guild Wars 2 have a system that if you buy gems you can them use the gems to buy from the Trade screen for example back-packs or weapon skins or tools that are infinite or make-over packs etc or you can exchange those Gems for in game gold which has a goddam exchange rate (obviously set by the game) and then proceed to buy weapons etc for mind-blowing amounts of gold, so either way you are gonna be hooked and you will end up spending your hard earned money on virtual crap, which most can be achieved in game without spending a penny.
Games Developers/Publisher know exactly what they are doing and will continue to take our money and we will blindly carry on buying virtual stuff we do not need just so we can brag to our friends, it is a circle of mistrust and bad judgement on our behalves but do they care....the answer to that is no.
As for free to play games well you buy the game (or try it out for a certain period) then you see things you would like an you wonder how to get them and for example Guild Wars 2 have a system that if you buy gems you can them use the gems to buy from the Trade screen for example back-packs or weapon skins or tools that are infinite or make-over packs etc or you can exchange those Gems for in game gold which has a goddam exchange rate (obviously set by the game) and then proceed to buy weapons etc for mind-blowing amounts of gold, so either way you are gonna be hooked and you will end up spending your hard earned money on virtual crap, which most can be achieved in game without spending a penny.
Games Developers/Publisher know exactly what they are doing and will continue to take our money and we will blindly carry on buying virtual stuff we do not need just so we can brag to our friends, it is a circle of mistrust and bad judgement on our behalves but do they care....the answer to that is no.
TDK
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#3. Posted:
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Joined: Oct 02, 201112Year Member
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Concluding question: Is free to play with micro transactions the future of video games or do monthly subscriptions still have a place in the video game industry? I would have to say yes. Not many people are going to want to pay(60$) for a game(ESO) and then have to start paying 15$ a month for just to play it. That is buying the game again every 4 months which is ridiculous. I had a Combat Arms account a couple of years ago and I spent well over $200 on micro transactions and to me, thats more than enough they should get. I believe that pay to play games still have a place in the market but they are not the future to video games.
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#4. Posted:
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Joined: Jun 03, 201211Year Member
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personally i dont mind,
i like micro transactions since these are choices which dont have to be bought but i also dont mind subscriptions since its all in with it and once you have payed there is no need to go out and buy cards or add ons.
i will use either
BJP
i like micro transactions since these are choices which dont have to be bought but i also dont mind subscriptions since its all in with it and once you have payed there is no need to go out and buy cards or add ons.
i will use either
BJP
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#5. Posted:
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Joined: Nov 03, 201310Year Member
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I like games if they are not to hard to play without money investation. If u have to to win or be a good payer i think its not longer a real "game" cause no skill is required
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#6. Posted:
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Joined: Jan 12, 201113Year Member
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Status: Offline
Joined: Jan 12, 201113Year Member
Posts: 11,617
Reputation Power: 654
I think the pay per month thing will slowly fade away over time. People just don't like to have to pay to play something unless it's really worth it. As where F2P games are free, but you can buy things to improve the game or gameplay. I've been playing World of Tanks a lot recently and I think it's great that it's a F2P game otherwise I probably would have never started playing it. And I have purchased a few things from the game and it just makes it that much better.
F2P games FTW.
F2P games FTW.
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#7. Posted:
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Joined: Feb 13, 201014Year Member
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FTP is a great way to go, but games like League are going too far in micro-transactions.
League of Legends is more of P2P because EVERYTHING is overpriced and literally unplayable because of the limited characters.
I like how World of Tanks and War Thunder plays it out though in micro transactions.
At least there is a way to earn up to the unlocks you want rather than spending money on a money-hungry-doesn't-care-about-the-community company.
But all in all, FTP is great, but the FTP games offer awful game play.
ESO, for example, should have been FTP because of how poorly it was made from beta to now.
Sorry for my little rant here, but I don't think many companies will switch to the FTP style.
Example:
COD and Battlefield cant go FTP, ever.
The fact that the game would need sooo much DLC and other small addons. There would be no more season passes or premium with a COD or BF game being [ Register or Signin to view external links. ] .
Because it would total up to like $700-2000 for the season pass to cover all the addons/dlc they would have to add to the game to keep it alive.
League of Legends is more of P2P because EVERYTHING is overpriced and literally unplayable because of the limited characters.
I like how World of Tanks and War Thunder plays it out though in micro transactions.
At least there is a way to earn up to the unlocks you want rather than spending money on a money-hungry-doesn't-care-about-the-community company.
But all in all, FTP is great, but the FTP games offer awful game play.
ESO, for example, should have been FTP because of how poorly it was made from beta to now.
Sorry for my little rant here, but I don't think many companies will switch to the FTP style.
Example:
COD and Battlefield cant go FTP, ever.
The fact that the game would need sooo much DLC and other small addons. There would be no more season passes or premium with a COD or BF game being [ Register or Signin to view external links. ] .
Because it would total up to like $700-2000 for the season pass to cover all the addons/dlc they would have to add to the game to keep it alive.
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#8. Posted:
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Not really sure why this should be a sticky, but......
you have to take into consideration the maintenance, graphics, and other components as well... Monthly subscriptions will always be a part of the industry. Everybody here knows that and can't really say why they would remove it. Because there is no reason. If people keep paying, it's obviously going to remain. You don't change something that's generating steady payout. Only when it falls into a slight depression should it be taken into consideration.
I don't care what anyone makes out of this reply. Later.
Last edited by Zigs ; edited 1 time in total
you have to take into consideration the maintenance, graphics, and other components as well... Monthly subscriptions will always be a part of the industry. Everybody here knows that and can't really say why they would remove it. Because there is no reason. If people keep paying, it's obviously going to remain. You don't change something that's generating steady payout. Only when it falls into a slight depression should it be taken into consideration.
I don't care what anyone makes out of this reply. Later.
Last edited by Zigs ; edited 1 time in total
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#9. Posted:
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Joined: Apr 04, 201113Year Member
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Joined: Apr 04, 201113Year Member
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Concluding question: is free to play with micro-transactions the future of video games or do monthly subscriptions still have a place in the video game industry?
There are many valid payment models in gaming right now.
The "pay once" option is still available. Even some MMOs have this payment method (Think Guild Wars 2).
There are "ethical free-to-plays" such as, where every micro-transaction is purely cosmetic, you cannot buy anything that actually affects gameplay (Think Path of Exile).
Many popular free-to-plays use micro-transactions for cosmetics as well as some options to speed up your progress, without locking you out of it as a free player (Think League of Legends).
There are the free-to-plays that I personally don't touch, where paying gives you a significant advantage over other players (by giving you access to things that are unavailable/practically unachievable as a free player), or it isn't worth the time investment without chocking over a ton of money.
There are mobile "games" where people pay to move forward in the game/buy currency etc. (Why you would pay for a game to play itself for you is beyond me).
The monthly subscription model I believe is slowly going to fade away. Many MMOs recently have started out with monthly subs and moved to free-to-play within a short while. I used to enjoy WoW, but it got to the point where I felt like I had to play constantly in order to "get my money's worth" I feel like there are too many options for gaming now that having a sub model is very efficient. There are certainly some games that have the player base to sustain this, but they are dwindling.
Then there are the games that have some ungodly combination of the above payment models. (Think Elderscrolls Online, pay $60 then $15 a month, and has micro-transactions) these games IMO, seem to be a total cashgrab.
TLDR: the monthly model is fading, but still has life. f2p is here to stay (and can be done right, although it often isn't)
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#10. Posted:
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Joined: May 04, 20149Year Member
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I honestly think it may be. Simple free games are some of the best games some even can beat pay to play games. One of my favorite being World of Tanks. This is a 2 way street when it comes to this conversation. But I think Pay2Play will all ways over rule due to them making money and hiring better game designers and better game engines and so on.
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