Unasked F2P Question?? no really unasked

AlexDougherty

There are a number of threads that assume this game is going to become Free to Play, so I thought I would ask the one question none of them have seemed to consider.

What the nerf do they think people will be paying cash for??

Seriously, F2P games need you to spend cash buying stuff, or they become unprofitable, and die. So what do these doomsayers actually think we would splash cash on in this game.

1. There are no buffs, and no experience boosts atm.
2. The potions are hit & miss, and I wouldn't buy them.
3. Recipes is a possibility, but I doubt most of us would want anything bar the purple ones which boost all three stats. so limited sales.
4. Materials are another possibility, but I think that the nerf to mats in the wild would just kill crafting.
5. Gear is another possibility, but I think that to make it work, they would have to remove them from drops, which would kill the game.

In case I haven't made my opinion clear, I think that going free to play would kill this game instantly. Unless there is something for them to sell that I've missed.

So once again, What the nerf do they think people will be paying cash for??

PS. saying that people are buying gold off goldsellers is not an answer, since Zos could not do this and have any vendors since prices would skyrocket ridiculously (won't bore you with a lecture on basic economics)

Lalai

I do not actually want the game to become F2P.. but to answer your question..

Usually when games go F2P they introduce items for the cash shop. The game may not have had experience potions, or potions that boost your PvP currency gain, or increase gold drops.. but they introduce those things for a F2P model (those three seem to be the most consistent). Gear is sometimes sold, how top end the gear is depends. Costumes are usually popular, as are mounts.. and not just the basic kind of mounts. That's one of the problems with the F2P model, in my opinon, is that on top of developing content for the game, they have to do things with the cash shop in mind.. and develop things specifically for the cash shop.. or else they lose their income. With subs, it's just develop things for the players so that they want to keep subbing.

I don't think F2P would kill a game, or rather, I haven't seen it kill a game yet. However it does attract a different crowd altogether. So while I may leave, someone that likes F2P stuff would come, and may even spend more in the cash shop than I would have spent on a subscription. Obviously, I like the game, I want to stay.. so I don't want the F2P thing to happen.

Lodestar

Hypothetically of course, I wonder about convenience stuff. Horses, storage space, and maybe xp boost items?

AlexDougherty

Lalai wrote: »

I do not actually want the game to become F2P.. but to answer your question..

Usually when games go F2P they introduce items for the cash shop. The game may not have had experience potions, or potions that boost your PvP currency gain, or increase gold drops.. but they introduce those things for a F2P model (those three seem to be the most consistent). Gear is sometimes sold, how top end the gear is depends. Costumes are usually popular, as are mounts.. and not just the basic kind of mounts. That's one of the problems with the F2P model, in my opinon, is that on top of developing content for the game, they have to do things with the cash shop in mind.. and develop things specifically for the cash shop.. or else they lose their income. With subs, it's just develop things for the players so that they want to keep subbing.

I don't think F2P would kill a game, or rather, I haven't seen it kill a game yet. However it does attract a different crowd altogether. So while I may leave, someone that likes F2P stuff would come, and may even spend more in the cash shop than I would have spent on a subscription. Obviously, I like the game, I want to stay.. so I don't want the F2P thing to happen.

I know about game shops, I loved the Cartel market in Swtor (shouldn't but did), but this game would require the recoding for most of stuff F2P games sell, and at the minute I don't think it would survive the transition. As gear, possibly, but I think they would probably nerf the amount of gear in Drops, and that would damage the game imo.

As for not seeing F2P kill a game, well I haven't seen it happen yet either, but I strongly suspect this would be the game that happens too.

Lodestar wrote: »

Hypothetically of course, I wonder about convenience stuff. Horses, storage space, and maybe xp boost items?

Storage space is again a limited sell. Horses they are already selling, at fifteen dollars a pop someone said yesterday (think that's £10), which is far too expensive for F2P. And XP Boosts would require recoding the game

AreoHotah

None of wich you mentioned. They would charge for :

pets
costumes
bank slots
inventory slots
character slots
mounts

Stuff like that

AlexDougherty

AreoHotah wrote: »

None of wich you mentioned. They would charge for :

pets
costumes
bank slots
inventory slots
character slots
mounts

Stuff like that

Ok, decent list. I did miss these too.

Mounts they already sell, but at far too high a price for F2P.
Inventory slots are already on sale in game, but they could also sell them for cash too.
The rest, yeah, people would probably buy.

Damn, I so wanted this game to be F2P-proof.

Endolith

I don't think f2p is in the immediate future, so to some extent the speculation is pointless. If it ever goes f2p they'll have to base it on what the game looks like at that time.

AlexDougherty

Endolith wrote: »

I don't think f2p is in the immediate future, so to some extent the speculation is pointless. If it ever goes f2p they'll have to base it on what the game looks like at that time.

Yeah, I was just hoping to start a thread that would kill all the F2P threads, oh well.

Endolith

AlexDougherty wrote: »

Endolith wrote: »

I don't think f2p is in the immediate future, so to some extent the speculation is pointless. If it ever goes f2p they'll have to base it on what the game looks like at that time.

Yeah, I was just hoping to start a thread that would kill all the F2P threads, oh well.

F2p threads are VR20. No one can kill them yet

Cimos

No game is F2P proof. But I still think that the GW2 model is the most likely option for this game in the future.

There is no "nerfing" way that they will allow this game to go completely F2P for console. So buying the game, with no sub fee, and a small cash shop is likely the end game. Consoles are setup for cash shops now anyways.

AlexDougherty

Cimos wrote: »

No game is F2P proof. But I still think that the GW2 model is the most likely option for this game in the future.

There is no "nerfing" way that they will allow this game to go completely F2P for console. So buying the game, with no sub fee, and a small cash shop is likely the end game. Consoles are setup for cash shops now anyways.

Yes, this game does seem to be geared towards consoles, especially the limited number of abilities. So yeah, that's probably the way it will go.