"Premium Features" Speculation!

[ThGlump]

btw trading and bigger locker in ps2? I thought that with no proper inventory there wont be room for lockers and exchanging items between players.

[Shogun]

maybe locker slots equal virtual slots in the terminal where you draw or craft your weapons. slots in the menu to choose from or favorite-slots for fast loadout changes.

there are lots of possibilitys for "slots" to be sold and restricted

[Hobitt]

F2P games should never restrict free players from content it will devide the community and for a MMOFPS its a really bad thing. And by content i mean new areas,weapons,vehicles and skills

[LZachariah]

Great post, Ailos. I'm not sure what we would do with "locker space," unless there is "loot" to collect (because we otherwise arm ourselves at terminals, so that's where our stored ammunition comes from). However, the idea of things like faster leveling or an allowance of Station Cash is very appealing. I'd probably go for this :-) And besides, I'm going to form an Outfit (and I want to see all those delicious Skill-Tree options for our Outfit!)

~Zachariah

[Lonehunter]

Originally Posted by Ailos

velociraptor-proof doors

As if some actually existed

Originally Posted by Hobitt

F2P games should never restrict free players from content

Actually I think they do quite frequently. It's why F2P games make so much money. The Free part is only a taste, the real part of the game comes when you give $. Crack dealing 101

[Nobel]

I really dont like the sound of a Premium level subscription and Free level play to have any "barriers" to anything that you can do in game. Convenience is what ill pay for. I also dont want to be able to pay to win.

What I want, and WOULD pay for in a Premium subscription is the following:

Ability to train multiple skills at once. (MOST IMPORTANT)
Special Premium Cosmetic customization
Station Cash Stipend
Early Access to new Station Store Content
Station Store "Package"
Access to Test Server
Forum Privleges
Expanded Customer Support

[Ailos]

Originally Posted by Hobitt

F2P games should never restrict free players from content it will devide the community and for a MMOFPS its a really bad thing. And by content i mean new areas,weapons,vehicles and skills

I guess the exact amount of content limitation is debatable. They could make it feel pretty shitty (like during the PS Reserves), or they could make it like TF2, where you don't really notice it or feel difference. I imagine that would be part of a growing list of things to test during beta. But I'm pretty sure free accounts will have some sort of a limitation to the depth of their skill trees, but not new areas or weapons inasmuch as extra sidegrades. (Skill trees are still related to Cert points - i.e. you basically have cert trees that are based on time spent in-game in addition to XP, and limiting the depth of the skill tree leads to a limit on the number of cert points. That may not be a bad thing if you only want to be tailored to one role, but will probably be quite limiting if you want to be a jack of all trades. As a noob in PS1, you could easily become a sniper in a few minutes. But being a sniper with a med applicator and access to CE took a lot of cert points and consequently, time.)

As far as item trading, I think that would relate more to stolen weapons. I do remember Higby mentioning that we WILL have methods to scavenge weapons and ammo off or dead enemies. What with all the different customizations and sidegrades, having a modified MCG or Lasher in my hands would probably be a pretty sweet thing, although I really am curious how the issue of handling sidegrades I have no chance of learning (because I'm not on VS) will be dealt with. Either way, I want, no NEED, to be able to not only rape a barney with my JH, but to then take his gun and give him a taste of his own medicine.

[LZachariah]

I'm very much in agreement with Nobel: I would rather that this subscription model (or free model) not prevent anyone from any content, but rather, make content more accessible to Premium members (faster leveling, maybe an allowance of resources, etc). This would be the best option, because it doesn't engender any feelings of being walled-off from content. When players see that they've been gated-off from content, it fosters resentment. It would be better to allow players access to everything, but they have to work for it (like in LoL, wherein you can eventually buy any hero you want, with lots of XP as currency). OR you can be a Premium member, and grab armloads of awesome stuff almost immediately (and regularly, such as with an allowance of cash/currency).

I am very pleased that Higby said "We love League of Legends' payment program." This game will flourish under such a system.

~Zachariah

[SKYeXile]

Originally Posted by Hobitt

F2P games should never restrict free players from content it will devide the community and for a MMOFPS its a really bad thing. And by content i mean new areas,weapons,vehicles and skills

Freeplay user says what?


Anyway, theres no surprise about this. But those things you mentioned in Ailos about the bonuses for subbed players are similar to the ones in free realms too, so no doubt PS2 will have the same. But if resources are holdable by players than i forsee premium users collecting and holding more of them, along with leveling faster and jumping ques, with the possibility of accessing restricted classes like perhaps MAX...we will see.

[Ailos]

Originally Posted by LZachariah

I'm very much in agreement with Nobel: I would rather that this subscription model (or free model) not prevent anyone from any content, but rather, make content more accessible to Premium members (faster leveling, maybe an allowance of resources, etc). This would be the best option, because it doesn't engender any feelings of being walled-off from content. When players see that they've been gated-off from content, it fosters resentment. It would be better to allow players access to everything, but they have to work for it (like in LoL, wherein you can eventually buy any hero you want, with lots of XP as currency). OR you can be a Premium member, and grab armloads of awesome stuff almost immediately (and regularly, such as with an allowance of cash/currency).

I am very pleased that Higby said "We love League of Legends' payment program." This game will flourish under such a system.

~Zachariah

Haven't really given it a thought, but that's not a bad alternative, and I'd be equally happy with that.

I think the only real important aspect of the premium subscription model I want is the ability for subscribers to form outfits restricted to them. Then we'd have less "l33t h4x0rz" outfits and more Knights of the Old Republic, proportionately speaking.

[Bittermen]

Originally Posted by Nobel

I really dont like the sound of a Premium level subscription and Free level play to have any "barriers" to anything that you can do in game. Convenience is what ill pay for. I also dont want to be able to pay to win.

What I want, and WOULD pay for in a Premium subscription is the following:

Ability to train multiple skills at once. (MOST IMPORTANT)
Special Premium Cosmetic customization
Station Cash Stipend
Early Access to new Station Store Content
Station Store "Package"
Access to Test Server
Forum Privleges
Expanded Customer Support

Remember this is speculation. We have no details on what SOE is doing.

[LZachariah]

Yes, Ailos, I would be very comfortable with that feature being restricted to paying players only. And you know, that would ensure more fidelity-over-time of Outfits, because I think that paying players would be more likely to be in the game long-term, rather than someone who tries the game on a lark and leaves a month later.

I think there are lots of players who have this fantasy of immediately setting up some "L33t Outf1t" and becoming respected and feared throughout the game. That is really going to happen to only the top 10%-15% of Outfits. Now, human beings have this unhelpful phenomenon wherein something they really want often looks very accessible to them (which is why so many teenagers believe that they personally will grow up to be wealthy or a star football player). I think this phenomenon I describe would lead many players to just "setting up" their own Outfit at character creation or soon after. Restricting Outfits to only paying players might thin out this situation a little, in a good way.

[Bittermen]

Originally Posted by LZachariah

I'm very much in agreement with Nobel: I would rather that this subscription model (or free model) not prevent anyone from any content, but rather, make content more accessible to Premium members (faster leveling, maybe an allowance of resources, etc). This would be the best option, because it doesn't engender any feelings of being walled-off from content. When players see that they've been gated-off from content, it fosters resentment. It would be better to allow players access to everything, but they have to work for it (like in LoL, wherein you can eventually buy any hero you want, with lots of XP as currency). OR you can be a Premium member, and grab armloads of awesome stuff almost immediately (and regularly, such as with an allowance of cash/currency).

I am very pleased that Higby said "We love League of Legends' payment program." This game will flourish under such a system.

~Zachariah

Tribes Ascend is a another good example of F2P done right. You can can purchase classes via tokens, which is earned from matches, or you can buy gold and unlock them instantly.

It also has the $30 VIP status which gives you access to VIP servers, a set amount of gold, and faster xp gain.

[Ailos]

Originally Posted by LZachariah

Yes, Ailos, I would be very comfortable with that feature being restricted to paying players only. And you know, that would ensure more fidelity-over-time of Outfits, because I think that paying players would be more likely to be in the game long-term, rather than someone who tries the game on a lark and leaves a month later.

I think there are lots of players who have this fantasy of immediately setting up some "L33t Outf1t" and becoming respected and feared throughout the game. That is really going to happen to only the top 10%-15% of Outfits. Now, human beings have this unhelpful phenomenon wherein something they really want often looks very accessible to them (which is why so many teenagers believe that they personally will grow up to be wealthy or a star football player). I think this phenomenon I describe would lead many players to just "setting up" their own Outfit at character creation or soon after. Restricting Outfits to only paying players might thin out this situation a little, in a good way.

Exactly. It would be much more beneficial for new players to join an outfit formed by us, veterans, than to form one of their own, be active for a month and then die off. Part of Planetside's addicting nature is the sense of teamwork and accomplishment one gets while part of an effective outfit with at least a full platoon. I think the game benefits from having 20, large outfits, even when some of those outfits' sole purpose is to help the Zerg to find squads of other Zerg to farm XP around, rather than 200 outfits, only 10 of which do organized operations, and the others are groups no one ever sees except maybe once a month.

And I think the devs' giving ability for outfits to have their own skill trees is their way of encouraging new players of following that route. (I think Matt's been pretty open about that aspect.)

[DviddLeff]

The key thing is that he says that its not pay to win, so anything that follows that is fine by me, mostly.