F2P Discussion and Buying Value

[Dagron]

Originally Posted by Otleaz

Abso-fucking-lutely

The game would be off my hard drive before you could even fucking blink.

Same here.

Originally Posted by Sifer2

Because in the end if other stuff in the shop are not selling that's what they will do.

There are two reasons i can think of why the stuff in the shop wouldn't be selling: either they overpriced everything or people felt they shouldn't spend 50¢ in a texture because "textures don't take any effort". One is the company's fault, the other is the customer's.

- If they overpriced it, i'd feel the company was taking advantage of our will to support them and i'd leave, excessive greed shouldn't be encouraged.
- If i'm one of the customers who spent money on the shop because their prices were fair, i'd feel betrayed by the community and would also leave, a rotten community deserves empty servers (i'm sure they wouldn't really get empty, and i'd still rather not play with them, but i'm just being a little dramatic).


Edit: apparently in the video posted earlier, what forced those guys to sell power in the end was the sencond reason, people were too cheap to support the game by buying stuff that didn't give them an advantage. I guess most people have that self centered feeling of "yeah they gave me the game for free, but i wouldn't buy that 10kb texture just because it's awesome, it only took 15 min of effort!", so we end up having to buy double barreled ninja-raptor-rocket launchers just to get by (i did see the end of the video when they say the power difference was barely significant, i'm just being dramatic again).

[ParisTeta]

I just don`t want, that this game needs to sell power to survive, that is the reason why i´m search for value to buy in the shop, as a customer and not feel robbed. I just fear, that the same thing happend
to battlefield heroes can happen here (i didn`t know of this example till the video, but it really fits to the problem, thx for sharing!), and i don`t want that, i`ll stop playing if i feel the difference is to big. And before anyone say the BF Heroes said too, i still don`t own Mass Effect 3 because of the DLC debacle and i love Mass Effect.

I want this game to play, i want this game to succeed, but i want to get treated fairley and not feel ripped, sold for dump, or the only money they make out of me is because i use bad thinking (the 1-5 $ skins). That is the reason i invite you all to this discussion, i hope together we get attention, and help to build something, long lasting, because the Planetside Community is not perfect, but we are passionated and together we can make this great game greater.

[Nemises]

I just want the cool blue reflex sight...if it's less than 1£ I'll buy it without thinking about it (the itunes effect)...if it's around 5£ , that's too much for a cosmetic for me..

if they go the 99c/69p route, I'll probably end up buying everything I think "looks cool" on my weapons / armor ..
if it's at the $5/£2.99 level, I'd probably buy nothing and just stick with the stock.

As with the OP, I'm happy to support the concept of the game financially, but will need to feel like I'm getting value to do it (contradictory, considering I'd probably pay a £30 "box" price if it wasn't F2P)
..but this is the new world man

[Dougnifico]

When it comes to sights, get as stupid and goofy as you want SOE. No one else can see it so its not immersion breaking. You can have like 50 different patterns for probably 5 different sights, in 15 colors. Charge $0.99 - $0.59 and you can make good money from just that. Sell them in packages that come out to like $0.25 a piece. Even $100 for every fancy sight in game. (Please note, I keep saying sight because idk how to spell "reticule" and Google Chrome isn't helping. Dictionary too much work.)

[Dagron]

Originally Posted by Nemises

if it's less than 1£ I'll buy it without thinking about it (the itunes effect)

(...)

if they go the 99c/69p route, I'll probably end up buying everything I think "looks cool" on my weapons / armor

^This. Though of course if some particularly badass things were a little more expensive i might buy them without thinking too.

Originally Posted by Dougnifico

When it comes to sights, get as stupid and goofy as you want SOE. No one else can see it so its not immersion breaking. You can have like 50 different patterns for probably 5 different sights, in 15 colors. Charge $0.99 - $0.59 and you can make good money from just that. Sell them in packages that come out to like $0.25 a piece. Even $100 for every fancy sight in game. (Please note, I keep saying sight because idk how to spell "reticule" and Google Chrome isn't helping. Dictionary too much work.)

Just say "scope" then.

I think you have a point though.

[Vydofnir]

Let's not forget that many people wouldn't play the game at all if it wasn't F2P. I for one purchase about two games a year, never buy DLC, and dry heave at the very thought of paying a subscription fee. It's not that there aren't many fantastic games out there that I would love to play, it's just that I work extremely hard to be broke, I can't eat games, and $60 is more than my monthly grocery budget.

Not only do I want to play PS2, I want PS2 to succeed. I want the development team to be rewarded for the effort they put into what is sure to be a truly amazing game. I'm willing to pay money here and there for things that I find aesthetically pleasing or even mildly amusing. Hell, I would gladly pay $5 bucks for Matt Higby to leave me a friendly 15 second voice-mail, even if it meant not eating for a day. If I come up with a few of bucks every month to spend on virtual doodads, they could easily make $60 bucks over the course of a year that they wouldn't have made otherwise.

I did not play PS1, but I'm moved by the fact that people have been playing for almost a decade, and I could see myself doing the same with PS2. If I play for five years, buying things here and there, they could easily make $300 or so when I likely wouldn't have been able to buy it at $60 (or even considered buying it if I had to pay a subscription fee). I'm no economist, but making a few hundred dollars instead of no dollars seems like a pretty effective business model to me.

[xnorb]

Originally Posted by PhoenixDog

Think about it...How committed and dedicated a community as the Planetside community is...Do you really think SoE would fuck with us?

EA/DICE fucked the BF community hard.

Although i don't think a F2P game would make SoE to do that, but in general i
wouldn't trust big companies anymore that they really care about their core
community if they see a chance to make more money with casuals who only
play this game for a short period of time.
PS2 being PC-exclusive is already the first step to keep my faith up.


I'm playing an F2P MMORPG and i've also already invested money, because
i felt it was worth it (enjoying me now since 4.5 years ...)
If the game is good and the stuff you can buy is worth it - it will sell.
In the beginning i can imagine some guys paying over 100€ for boosters.