Please explain the payment methods

[Chug]

Hi,

I'm not an idiot, honest, but would like an explanation of the different business models inolved in these games - F2P, B2P, S2P etc.

How do they make their money, who are they aimed at etc etc

thanks in advance

[Raymac]

I'm no expert, but maybe a few examples could help you research it more.
-S2P = SWTOR, makes money from subscriptions and expansions
-B2P = Guild Wars 2, makes money from box sales only with no subscription cost. So they sell expansions for more content as opposed to giving "free" content if you are on a subscription model.
-F2P = DCUO, You can play the game without ever spending a penny, but the game will offer things that you can pay for like cosmetic items, more inventory slots, more characters per account, etc. One might think that F2P is not sustainable however recent games have shown that since a percentage of the population has no problem spending large amounts of money, those people more than make up for the ones who pay nothing. This is why you see so many games shifting to a F2P model and being successful.

[Chug]

thanks Raymac,

your last 2 sentances answer my question.

[LZachariah]

Nicely said, Raymac. I'm very, very excited to learn what the Cash Shops and Premium Subscription Model will provide is in Planetside 2, because I will be picking the highest level of membership available.

~Zachariah

[SuperMorto]

Nicely said, Raymac. I'm very, very excited to learn what the Cash Shops and Premium Subscription Model will provide is in Planetside 2, because I will be picking the highest level of membership available.

~Zachariah

Me 2, as the only game I can see myself playing for the next few years I may as well play it hard! :)

[CidHighwind]

Me 2, as the only game I can see myself playing for the next few years I may as well play it hard! :)

I certainly will as well. I'm all in on this game, as I'm sure many around these forums are.

[trucido]

I'm sure any veteran planetside 1 player can agree with me when I say; I support "non-I-win" items in the cash shop and would GLADLY pay 10-20+$ monthly JUST to support the game (since itll be "completely free"), not to mention "pimping out" my characters looks and whatever else will be available.

[ThirdCross]

Team Fortress 2 might be a better example of how PS2 will implement a F2P cash shop business model. In TF2 you can buy cosmetic items and weapons from the shop. All weapons are still obtainable in game though without buying them.

[SKYeXile]

Team Fortress 2 might be a better example of how PS2 will implement a F2P cash shop business model. In TF2 you can buy cosmetic items and weapons from the shop. All weapons are still obtainable in game though without buying them.

yea...there servers dont costs hundreds of dollars per hour to run though, its fine when other people pay for the bandwidth.