LOTRO goes FTP

jackolantern · **Joined:** Tue Dec 09, 2008 5:39 am **Posts:** 2132

My problem with F2P games is that the communities tend to be quite a bit worse. I don't know what it is, but there just tends to be more immature, rude, loud people on F2P games than most P2P games. Maybe it has to do with people feeling less bound to their account (no credit card = even more anonymous), not caring too much if they get suspended because they have multiple game accounts open at any one time, a younger players base who has no access to credit cards, etc.

I don't worry like some other players do about other players buying extra inventory space or characters slots, exp potions, etc. Unlike what that group seems to think, there are very, very few players spending hundreds of dollars a month on their characters, and most modern F2P games minimize the advantage any one player can buy in any kind of player vs. player situations.

Gillvane · **Joined:** Tue Mar 15, 2005 12:00 am **Posts:** 4442

J.C. Smith wrote:

Two things.

First I think a lot of people are just so against the idea of F2P, that they immediately reject the idea before giving it a chance. In the case of LOTRO for example, some players are prejiduced by preconceived notions, no different than 5 years ago when a large majority were completely against any game that had PVP in it due to bad experiences in UO. If LoTRO is anything like DDO, the only advantages people paying large sums of money will have are those of convenience, or exp potions. Now when you consider that pretty much every game gives a form of rest experience already to players who do not have as often to play, what is the difference? On one hand you get 50% more experience to not play, and on the other you get 25% more exprience for buying the potions?

Now, regarding EQ 2's approach. I do like the idea of separating F2P and P2P, mainly because of those preconceived notions. However, when you look at their announcement what do you see? If you can't find a suitable shield then you'll be able to purchase one. That is exactly what people fear in free to play games, and what few games allow you to actually do. If you look at the DDO/LOTRO (or just about any other F2P game) the only items you can buy are convenience items (exp potions, exp debt reducers, portable smithing hammers, etc) and cosmetic items, Sony apparently is going to be selling you real items. I am not exactly against that either, since its on a separate server, who cares? But the reality is that it HAD to be on a separate server in their case, or some players would in fact have an unfair advantage. That isn't the case in most F2P games, but it continues to be the perception of many players that it is.

And I'm not sure many people read this:

Quote:

What does “free-to-play” mean? It means that you can download the game and play all of it (except the most recent expansion) all the way up to level 80. Your character is restricted in a bunch of different ways (limited class selection, limited races, limited coin, etc.) and to unlock those features fully, you’ll need to subscribe to Gold level membership. Which, coincidentally, is $15/month. Sound familiar?

Sound familiar? It means that if you want to play the full game you basically pay the $15 a month. All these new servers really allow you to do is to buy your way to power.

I don't want to see real life money inside the game used for anything whatsoever. It's an immersion breaker for me, to the point I don't enjoy the game. In fact the biggest way you can break immersion in the game for me, is have a cash shop with xp potions for real life currency. I definitely won't play if xp potions can be purchased in a cash shop.

What's the difference in having a cash shop with XP potions, and a rest period for not playing? Well, it's a HUGE difference for me. One has no real life currency used inside the game, and the other does.

If you spend money on things outside the game, I don't mind. Like server transfers, or the subscription itself. Has no effect on my character inside the game.

Inside the game, I want the only currency, items, and XP, to exist, to be those that are earned in the game, by playing the game.

Then, it's a fantasy world. If real life currency can be used inside the game to buy items, xp, or in game currency, then I don't want to play. The game is no fun for me anymore and all immersion is lost.

Whether that notion is conceived, or pre-conceived, I don't know. I only know that I enjoy playing games with no cash shop, and don't enjoy playing games with a cash shop. When i play an MMORPG one of the things I want to forget about, is real life money. That's not really possible if you can buy items in the game with real life money.

So what for you is a mere "convenience" is for me an immersion breaker that makes the game not worth playing.

That's why what EQII is doing is such a great idea. It doesn't matter that you want a convenience, and I think that convenience that ruins my game play. We can both play the game and enjoy it, and the devs can make money off of both of us, assuming of course you buy xp potions or items.

J.C. Smith · **Joined:** Sun Jan 04, 2009 3:05 pm **Posts:** 356

jackolantern wrote:

My problem with F2P games is that the communities tend to be quite a bit worse.

I do think that this is a legitimate concern. It's a lot easier to ban accounts (gold farmers or griefers) in a subscription based game. Sure they can buy another subscription, but its a lot easier in F2P.

Gillvane wrote:

I definitely won't play if xp potions can be purchased in a cash shop.

It's obviously a personal choice for everyone, but I fail to see the difference between being able to purchase an exp potion, being given one as a veteran reward or bonus for purchasing an expansion, or in obtaining that exp bonus from rest experience. Rest experience can as a way to help those who play less often keep up with those who play more often. In the end though each of those cases gives players free experience. One for playing less, one for being a loyal customer, and one for helping support the game. Considering that players hit the cap soon enough as is (and oftentimes the level grind is just seen as a right of passage to reach the end game), I personally don't understand why players have a problem with this. The exp bonus from potions in games is usually 25%, where rest exp is normally 50-100%.

I do agree though that EQ 2 having P2P and F2P servers is a smart idea. Though I think them selling real items on those servers and then requiring a subscription still to open up extra content really taints the implementation in their case.

Delvie · **Joined:** Thu Feb 18, 2010 10:46 pm **Posts:** 69

I look at the way EQII is doing it and think it's more along the line of reviving their station cash server - at least I think that's what they're doing. What's interesting is that if you subscribe on the FTP server the sub price is higher than the magic $15 dollar amount but you get some station cash in your account for the difference.

Gillvane · **Joined:** Tue Mar 15, 2005 12:00 am **Posts:** 4442

J.C. Smith wrote:

jackolantern wrote:

My problem with F2P games is that the communities tend to be quite a bit worse.

I do think that this is a legitimate concern. It's a lot easier to ban accounts (gold farmers or griefers) in a subscription based game. Sure they can buy another subscription, but its a lot easier in F2P.

Gillvane wrote:

I definitely won't play if xp potions can be purchased in a cash shop.

It's obviously a personal choice for everyone, but I fail to see the difference between being able to purchase an exp potion, being given one as a veteran reward or bonus for purchasing an expansion, or in obtaining that exp bonus from rest experience. Rest experience can as a way to help those who play less often keep up with those who play more often. In the end though each of those cases gives players free experience. One for playing less, one for being a loyal customer, and one for helping support the game. Considering that players hit the cap soon enough as is (and oftentimes the level grind is just seen as a right of passage to reach the end game), I personally don't understand why players have a problem with this. The exp bonus from potions in games is usually 25%, where rest exp is normally 50-100%.

I do agree though that EQ 2 having P2P and F2P servers is a smart idea. Though I think them selling real items on those servers and then requiring a subscription still to open up extra content really taints the implementation in their case.

The difference is money.

1. Real life Money used in the game.
2. No real life money used in the game.

you're looking at the xp, I'm looking at the money. I like games where real life currency stays outside the game world.

All the currency in the game is gold, silver, credits, etc., and not real dollars, Euros, or whatever (unless you buy from a gold seller, which is of course cheating in a game that doesn't have a cash shop).

jackolantern · **Joined:** Tue Dec 09, 2008 5:39 am **Posts:** 2132

Unfortunately today, mainstream MMOs seem to be going this way, Gill. It has been months since a AAA MMORPG has been released (even to store shelves) that did not have some kind of way to use real-money in-game for an advantage. Star Trek, Champions Online, Crimecraft, APB, and most of the big boys except WoW have all changed over as well, such as LOTRO and EQ2. And WoW has been teetering on the edge of allowing people to buy items for years now, where players can buy silly, piece of junk items for high prices that include a code for a highly-collectible or useful in-game item.

I don't care about cash shops as long as you cannot buy over-powered gear from it (I had enough of that from Achaea). It doesn't affect me how slow or fast someone else earns xp. It may make me a little sore if they let players pay $100 for an instant level-up, but double xp for a couple of hours isn't a big boost, and definitely not enough for me to feel any effects from it.

What I do mind, though, are subscription-based games that also have item shops. You can't have it both ways, where you require players to pay $15 a month to play, and also, on the same servers, sell items. But that is the swan song of the subscription based model, as it is bowing to head off the stage. Subscription-based games are dropping like flies, and few more seem planned. Microtransactions just can't seem to lose, and they hedge publisher's bets perfectly it seems. The subscription model is a gigantic risk, and one today's publishers don't seem willing to fully put their money down on.

I am rambling a bit, so I will cut this off, but basically what I am saying is that it appears most MMORPG players are going to have to adapt to microtransactions in some way in their games, because they are taking over faster than the black plague through Europe in the Dark Ages.

LOTRO goes FTP

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