Hello everyone! We are two students from Linköpings University in Sweden. We are currently in our last semester and are doing our final thesis. Our subject is the Free To Play model. As you all know this a highly debated subject in the gaming world, so we decided to further investigate this. We want to see how gamers are influenced and affected by the Free To Play model. We are performing interviews with gamers and a gaming company to gather information. Additional to these interviews, we want to do a short survey and that's where you come in! This is a short survey that will take about 2 minutes to complete. We appreciate every answer we can get from you. Link to the survey: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/163BxKNsbK0Fi5XI0QU_5bwpzk7aZYHxiCaHjWkLcol8/viewform But we also want to engcourage you to discuss this topic in the thread! Has your game behaviour been affect by the increasing numbers of Free To Play games? And how does income methods in the Free To Play model, i. e. micro transactions - subscription models - advertising, influence your game experience? Thank you in advance!
The only time free has ever meant better, by any stretch, is when you compare Path of Exile to Diablo 3. And the fact that PoE is free isn't the real reason it's better than D3. It's just a better game. If PoE was available on steam for $60, it'd still be better than D3.
F2P = Pay 2 win... horrible games and not worth the time. You end up spending more money than you would if you just paid $60 for a new game. They make it so you HAVE to pay if you want to have a chance.
There are two types of F2P models, one works but the other usually means the game is half assed and not worth any classy gamer's time. A F2P game like GW2 that still requires a single purchase of it works, imo. Any game that does not even require a single purchase is a half assed POS imo, there's so many of them too it's just like a messy jungle or dung heap of F2P mmo's, a massive wasteland of garbage gaming out there.
Keep it classy, support above average gaming, say no to F2P!
Extremely biased and innaccurate post but that is exactly how I feel about it.
The only way free to play works is if the amount of content that you pay to unlock does not exceed the equivalent retail price of the game with that same content available at the onset. And... that rarely ever happens.
I like the idea of it and the fact that yeah if its a crap game then no harm no foul, but if its a good game then your more inclined to play it again and again and if you like it that much you spend money on it. Yes I realize I just described microtransactions in a nutshell but they work and power to the people that actually make a good game!
There are several reasons why I think the F2P business model is a bad idea to integrate into other genres: -First off, in order to monetize your F2P game, the design has to be built around that model in the first place. That means compromising other design aims to facilitate the model. Think of it this way, in order for a TV show to be successful, it has to have hooks that encourage the viewer to tune in the following week, so the "twist" at the end of the show is not an artistic choice but a method which will invest viewers. In the same fashion, the grinding, difficulty in purchasing upgrades, and all of the other barriers to progression native to F2P games is designed to have players monetize convenience and pay to save time. The MMO genre has been successful adopting the F2P model because subscription models are their cousins, so the game design "hooks" are already in the game. -Second, I believe F2P games are the antithesis of artistic games. Using the above example of a TV show, compare that with a film. A film is more akin to the purchased retail copy of a game: the sale is complete and the filmmaker doesn't have to worry about hooking viewers to the next episode, because the entire experience was included in that sale. Much in the same way, a "full" game experience is freed from the shackles of needing to monetize a player's time, and the designer can focus on other aims, like great narrative, art, etc. My personal experience with F2P games is one of frustration. The fact that I am pummeled with advertisements and admonishments to "pay in" when trying to play one of these games with my wife makes me yell at my tablet saying "Let me give you $10 so you will leave me the hell alone!" But I know that is not nearly as profitable as the current model, where compulsive people will often shell out far more than a retail cost of a game in in-app purchases.
I think that every gamer has his own experiences and it is fact that some people prefer free to play games because they either prefer small game content or simply don't have enough money to afford a p2p game. For example , i played Metin2 and World of Warcraft that are both online games . There is a HUGE difference between the games ofcourse because one is free to play and the other one is p2p. (And also the fact that in WoW there are about 9 million players i think while in metin2 there are only 10 thousand in all servers :P) I really enjoyed World of Warcraft , big worlds , great graphics and features but the fact that it has a big world will make you quit the game if you are impatient and don't have a "mentor" throughout the game . I mean i was so lost in game , i didn't know where to go and what to do until i found a group of people after 1-2 weeks of gameplay and had a really good time together. Then i played Metin2 , very bad graphics and bugs in dungeons that were improved the last time i played (dungeon bugs , not graphics) but the community was small and made it easier for players to make groups and go to dungeon together farming and collecting loot and it was alot easier that in WoW. Of course this is my experience and my opinion . If you are patient and can handle this big map that most P2P games have then you should pay for it or else you can go to free to play games. Of course i am now at the P2P games category but i really enjoyed free to play too.
It depends what you want to get put of the game. If you're looking for an in depth experience that will leave you foaming at the mouth then you are in the wrong area of the market. If you're just looking for a game that can provide you with a few laughs while you travel from A to B then I would say downloading a free knock-off of your favorite games would be better.
The F2P model changes initial monetary investment into a huge time investment to be even able to slightly progress without having to grinds for hours and hours. Being "free" is simply bait to enable extortion from the player if they wish to proceed at any reasonable pace. And paying constantly to proceed robs any feeling of accomplishment that makes games so fun.EA's F2P game Real Racing 3 has a downloadable car for $100. One car. Sure it can be grinded for, but the game is intentionally designed around F2P and it would require dozens of hours to do so. F2P needs to die, because initially it may be free but in the long run is far too much of an investment to truly enjoy, be it time or money spent (unless someone enjoys grinding over and over).
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