[Zaru]

In recent years, games from this genre (or payment model) have been sprouting everywhere and in numerous amounts.
Just look at this list.

Before around the time of WoW, good MMO games were rare, but mediocre and bad ones hardly even existed since nobody would buy or play such a thing.

Then came the "Free" to play model, and what we have now is a felt 5 new F2P MMO games per month.

For some reason, the developers of these games seem to think that the userbase is infinite and big enough that all these games can have a share of the wealth. Who really plays all these games? Why is this the current "goldmine trend" among game developers?
What's your opinion on the general quality of these?

[Hunted by sister]

Yeah, holy, fuck, I was watching GamesCon coverage and there were so fucking many MMOs, and most of them used the F2P model.

Don't get me wrong, this is a brilliant business model. It works, and the game's quality doesn't really suffer from it all that much.

Many companies are willing to take the risk because of the high reward. But honestly, everyone is going to find something for himself in that sea of F2P MMOs. I'm looking forward to End of Nations and Firefall. The amazing thing is that now MMOs advanced past the hotkey stage of evolution (WoW) and are becoming more and more advanced, allow player to do more stuff.

//HbS

[Solaris]

I remember playing Silkroad a few years back and found it to be enjoyable though it was nowhere near as good as Guild Wars.

Who really plays all these games?

People who don't have money to waste on MMOs. I know that quite a few Asians gamers play them.

Why is this the current "goldmine trend" among game developers?

Developers probably are hoping that the fact that their MMO is "free" will entice players to try it out whereas otherwise they would have probably ignored it in favor of WoW.

[Hatifnatten]

Anything the has "free" in it's title or concept will attract people like flies. And their money eventually. It's F2P but P2W.
You can easily see why so many companies switched onto these babies.

The biggest issue with F2P MMOs is that they're usually P2W (pay to win). That being said, most MMOs, free or otherwise, are bad. And even the ones that are good (WoW) all rely on aged mechanics I'm very tired of.

[Hunted by sister]

Originally Posted by Hatifnatten

Anything the has "free" in it's title or concept will attract people like flies. And their money eventually. It's F2P but P2W.
You can easily see why so many companies switched onto these babies.

Originally Posted by Naruto

The biggest issue with F2P MMOs is that they're usually P2W (pay to win). That being said, most MMOs, free or otherwise, are bad. And even the ones that are good (WoW) all rely on aged mechanics I'm very tired of.

Alot of F2P MMOs introduced at GamesCon managed to avoid being P2W, atleast for now.

//HbS

[Akatora]

some of em can be enjoyable

they still work on much the same fuctions that P2P games do though unequallity between paying and not paying players are expected rather than have it all go into some Black market.(though it still got plenty of that)


In general I find P2P mmorpgs worse since they're more addicting due to you wanting to get the most out of your money.
F2P makes it easier to take a break

5 new F2P games a month is a bit sick I'll admit


well I decided earlier that i wouldn't care for a mmorpg at all till "World Of Darkness online" (P2P) but even that game I might skip entirely like i did FF 11 even though i had followed the news of the game like a year before the release date


6$ a month = max any mmorpg could make me consider

Originally Posted by Akatora

some of em can be enjoyable

they still work on much the same fuctions that P2P games do though unequallity between paying and not paying players are expected rather than have it all go into some Black market.(though it still got plenty of that)


In general I find P2P mmorpgs worse since they're more addicting due to you wanting to get the most out of your money.
F2P makes it easier to take a break

5 new F2P games a month is a bit sick I'll admit


well I decided earlier that i wouldn't care for a mmorpg at all till "World Of Darkness online" (P2P) but even that game I might skip entirely like i did FF 11 even though i had followed the news of the game like a year before the release date


6$ a month = max any mmorpg could make me consider

Oh I'm done with monthly fees. Guild Wars 2 is my next MMO for two major reasons: it truly seems to deviate from the norm when it comes to gameplay, and as the first one, you only pay for it once. And the expansions, of course. Something I'm fine with.

Paid DLC? Fuck that shit. Monthly fees? No. If I could get all the time I sunk into WoW I'd be happy, getting my money back would be icing on the cake.

[Ryan]

Delta and Alpha cultures are into that stuff. Look it up.

[Rios]

I am sure you'll still have to pay for a horse otherwise your grinding will be slowwwwwww

[Gum]

This whole fad started with the Korean grindfest pay to win games that were spreading like a plague, but I do believe that good things are coming from it.

With a lot of the ones that are coming out now, you will receive the same treatment you used to if you sign up for the VIP account.

But that costs money... The same amount you'd be paying for a normal pay to play MMO in most cases. Sometimes less.

In a lot of cases it's saving games that would otherwise be shut down. Lord of the Rings Online and Dungeons, Dragons Online, and soon City of Heroes are good examples.

I would never pay a monthly fee for DDO. But five bucks so I can use a class that could possibly spark a longtime interest in the game? Sure.

I'm never re-subbing to City of, but when it goes free I know plenty of people that are gonna hop back on to try the new content. Since I bought the game initially, I'll get to keep all of my old character slots and I might even get a badge out of it.

[n00bzorz]

I remember playing Silkroad online, i got really into that and spent a lot of time on it....now i think i may go and check it out again :D

[Hunted by sister]

Is it true that DC Universe Online is going F2P?

//HbS

[Blitzomaru]

Ive been still playing CoH religiously for years. Still love the game eve tho it is F2P I still opt for the VIP content. And yeah, DCUO is now F2P.

[kresh]

Just play WoW on a private server. If bliz cared, it would be shut down by now.