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Could EVE 'work' as a F2P game?
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Herr Hammer Draken
#21 - 2012-08-02 07:05:22 UTC
No

In fact EVE is going the opposite way of free to play with plex.

I know many will say but plex allows me to play for free.
Yes you, but someone else paid real $ for that plex.
Most likely ontop of a sub fee.
Then how much plex gets destroyed in game?
Plex is not free to play.

Herr Hammer Draken "The Amarr Prophet"
Baneken
Arctic Light Inc.
Arctic Light
#22 - 2012-08-02 07:27:01 UTC
Plex is free for someone so if you only use plex then yes it's free to play from a certain point of view (the buyer) though not from a sellers point of view.
Mallak Azaria
Caldari Provisions
Caldari State
#23 - 2012-08-02 07:29:26 UTC
No.

This post was lovingly crafted by a member of the Goonwaffe Posting Cabal, proud member of the popular gay hookup site somethingawful.com, Spelling Bee, Grammar Gestapo & #1 Official Gevlon Goblin Fanclub member.
pussnheels
Viziam
#24 - 2012-08-02 07:48:33 UTC
lets hope never so we can keep the WoW crowds out of this great game
no disrespect for those WoW players on here but you know who i mean those 14 year olds that can't even find their own ass with both hands

I think we also have a relative nifty system with plexes why replace that

I do not agree with what you are saying , but i will defend to the death your right to say it...... Voltaire
Ms Kat
Brutor Tribe
Minmatar Republic
#25 - 2012-08-02 07:56:32 UTC
a couple of ways instantly spring to mind....

Limit SP gained per hour - then have uncapped with "premium accounts"

Limit trading

Limit mineing

Limit missioning

Limit standing gains..

Offer SP in a cash shop, ship skins, standings resets, name changes, clothes, title, Limited ships, maybe even sell faction standins


Just all ideas which popped into head as writing not though given, but any game can support F2P
Dave stark
#26 - 2012-08-02 07:58:47 UTC
let's look at some examples of games that have gone/are going f2p.

ddo (dungeons and dragons online)
swtor (starwars something or other)

common factor; they're terrible.
Ms Kat
Brutor Tribe
Minmatar Republic
#27 - 2012-08-02 08:02:17 UTC
Dave stark wrote:
let's look at some examples of games that have gone/are going f2p.

ddo (dungeons and dragons online)
swtor (starwars something or other)

common factor; they're terrible.



Hate to let you in on a secret... EVE isnt doing so well at the moment
Phill Esteen
Federal Navy Academy
Gallente Federation
#28 - 2012-08-02 08:09:17 UTC
Ms Kat wrote:
hate to let you in on a secret... EVE isnt doing so well at the moment

in fact, EVE's subscriber base is now limited to a small subset of GD shiptoasters

– postum faex est – 

never forget
Xinlisupreme
HALFAXA
#29 - 2012-08-02 08:10:01 UTC  |  Edited by: Xinlisupreme
What are you talking about? EVE is doing just fine.

F2P is a bad idea though. brb, making 500 market, research and manufacturing alts.
Jint Hikaru
OffWorld Exploration Inc
#30 - 2012-08-02 08:11:26 UTC
Ms Kat wrote:
a couple of ways instantly spring to mind....

Limit SP gained per hour - then have uncapped with "premium accounts"

Limit trading

Limit mineing

Limit missioning

Limit standing gains..

Offer SP in a cash shop, ship skins, standings resets, name changes, clothes, title, Limited ships, maybe even sell faction standins


Just all ideas which popped into head as writing not though given, but any game can support F2P


4 year old, faceless, forum alt.... Obvious troll is too obvious!

Ms Kat wrote:
not though given

That is very evident.

Jint Hikaru - Miner / Salvager / Explorer / SpaceBum In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.
Otrebla Utrigas
Iberians
#31 - 2012-08-02 08:12:18 UTC
Ms Kat wrote:
Dave stark wrote:
let's look at some examples of games that have gone/are going f2p.

ddo (dungeons and dragons online)
swtor (starwars something or other)

common factor; they're terrible.



Hate to let you in on a secret... EVE isnt doing so well at the moment

For what I know, is the only MMO which player base is increasing even if it is a sub game. Even WoW has lost a lot of players lately (although they will gain a lot more when the pandas will be out)

F2P won't attract WoW players, since WoW is the anthitesis to f2p. In fact, in EVE you can play for free considering you know what you are doing and you farm your sub.

WoW is the only MMO which you must pay to play. And will keep being so.
Ms Kat
Brutor Tribe
Minmatar Republic
#32 - 2012-08-02 08:13:31 UTC
Xinlisupreme wrote:
What are you talking about? EVE is doing just fine.

F2P is a bad idea though. brb, making 500 market, research and manufacturing alts.





I remember the days when you would see 50-55k people online, now 20-35 whats a large chunk gone. Before you say "summer" etc etc that reasoning has already been tossed about alot, and yet ccp are still trying to push the game harder then a smak dealer on a shaded corner. cheep plex's dropping sub fee's etc
Polly Oxford
Deep Core Mining Inc.
Caldari State
#33 - 2012-08-02 08:17:23 UTC
I guess you played another game when you saw those numbers, because Eve definitely never had those.
teh ubernesstrader
Hedion University
Amarr Empire
#34 - 2012-08-02 08:25:50 UTC
lets be honest eve has done just fine all these years, its one of the big games that is still going unlike many others that have flopped or died to death.

for those people who cant pay the subs normally have time to play and so u can buy a plex with in game cash, i mean normally the people outa work.

its not alot to pay per month if u think about it, a new game costs £40 or more these days and tbh ive been playing eve on my main since 2007 i have never played a game so long so its done me proud.

i could easily go through a new game every month or so Pirate

on the upside, whilst CCP are getting cash they will keep updating and working on the game, improving the graphics, implimenting new things to do and giving up new shiney ships or mods to play with, with no funding ( F2P ) why on earth would they bother, would you work for free ?

its a community at the end of the day and we all play a part in making eve what it is and keeping it fun and interesting.

besides if u introduced pay to win stuff what good would it be ..... eve is essentially a team game i dont care how bling bling ur ship is ..... if u got 10 normal guys attacking you, you will go boom.

thats my thoughts anyways Twisted
Draugo Rana
Masuat'aa Matari
Ushra'Khan
#35 - 2012-08-02 08:55:04 UTC  |  Edited by: Draugo Rana
The term F2P is very misleading because it is just a trending name for various different business models. Very few things in life are free, and MMO entertainment is not one of them.

There is NO such thing as free-to-play, you always pay, one way or the other. Game publishers are not there to entertain you, they are there to make money and someone needs to pay the bills. So they realized that for some gamer demographics, it is very intimidating to commit to paying X amount of $$$ per period of subscription and may be a big barrier to entry. So they came up with few alternative business models, all under the general term of "Free 2 Play". Why? Because F2P sounds great, it makes you think you are getting something for nothing, great value!

But this is also why F2P is so annoying, because it is basically just mostly false advertising. You still pay, the only question you can ask as an individual player is whether you pay more or less for the value you expect to receive with the alternative business model (aka F2P). If this is better than shelling out $15 per month, then it may work for you.

Some business models make you pay with your time and attention, like by watching ads. Others make you provide them with your personal details and preferences, which they can turn to profit (like many browser and casual games).

Some give you a free limited game and make you buy game addons and in game items to really be able to enjoy the game (like LOTRO). This is just a "glorified trial" model and one of the most annoying ones. To really achieve anything in the game you will probably pay more than what you would with traditional model. 20% of paying customers support the 80% who are really getting a crippled game for "free". And everyone gets to be constantly, and usually not very gently, reminded about the "great offers" and sales they are missing.

There are games that carefully calculate the costs of running MMO servers for X period of time and roll them into the initial high price of the game and supplement this by expansions and addons. Like Guild Wars or Diablo. They minimize server costs and free content updates and use the term F2P as a marketing advantage to sell more copies of the game.

Even those players in EVE who think they beat the system by paying the game subscription using in game currency are not really playing for free as they like to think. They just traded one type of labor (using the time for RL job or business) with another ("working" in game for those 450+ mil ISK). Granted, the "work" in game may be more enjoyable for some people and for others, even more profitable (doubtful for most people with semi decent job) but you sill PAY.

Personally, I just prefer to click a checkbox to enable subscription and forget about it. Then use the little time I have left for entertainment for well, you know, being entertained and having fun, not having to worry about ads, micro transactions or paying bills. But that's just me.

Masuat'aa Matari is recruiting Minmatar freedom fighters
Alpheias
Tactical Farmers.
Pandemic Horde
#36 - 2012-08-02 08:56:23 UTC
I read the same article and one and one noteworthy thing about these MMOs is the general design and theme they have in common with WoW, which has already adopted a F2P or a trial that never ends.

EVE already has its version of F2P so I don't see the necessity to introduce another model.

Agent of Chaos, Sower of Discord.

Don't talk to me unless you are IQ verified and certified with three references from non-family members. Please have your certificate of authenticity on hand.
Dave stark
#37 - 2012-08-02 08:57:22 UTC
Ms Kat wrote:
Dave stark wrote:
let's look at some examples of games that have gone/are going f2p.

ddo (dungeons and dragons online)
swtor (starwars something or other)

common factor; they're terrible.



Hate to let you in on a secret... EVE isnt doing so well at the moment


nor is wow, they are below 10m subscribers! the game is dying.

get the **** out of here with your stupidity.
Kryss Darkdust
The Skulls
#38 - 2012-08-02 09:01:07 UTC
Polly Oxford wrote:
I guess you played another game when you saw those numbers, because Eve definitely never had those.


Of course they did. At peek times 50k was common before incursions.

As for some of the other free to play games, Dungeons and Dragons Online is a financial super success, easily one of the most popular games on the internet today if you take World of Warcraft out of the equation and it became a success BECAUSE of F2P, a subscription model it was failing.

F2P with microtransactions is an extremly attractive concept to the average non gamer because it allows them to play the game without paying and when they get into it, choose their own level of purchase. Games like Dungeons and Dragons Online in particular have done well because they keep their content extremly cheap, most people think nothing of spending 2 dollars on some new dungeon content, or 20 bucks for some pack. Games that show up on Steam do even better, look at mega success like Age of Empires Online which made more money in the first week as an online game than any game on Steam in its history.

The evidence of the success of F2P with microtransaction is undeniable.

Despite that, a game has to be setup for it mechanically and Eve is not. It simply can't work in Eve and not just because of the mecahnics and design (though there is no question that this is a major reason we will never see it) but as a comunity Eve players have rejected microtransactions by and large, though even on this forum in this discussion coming from people who oppose Eve as free to play their are people with monicles which proves that even a stupid digital eye piece for their avatar is worth spending money on.

The reality of Eve is that, if you don't love it like it is today, you should probobly go ahead and unsub. 
Lexmana
#39 - 2012-08-02 09:40:52 UTC  |  Edited by: Lexmana
Derp
namron 7
Doomheim
#40 - 2012-08-02 10:31:35 UTC
(Karn Dulake Stand in)



If this game went free to play an army of basement dwellers would converge on CCP headquarters with flaming torches

and even throwing CCP punky covered in peanut butter and honey at them would not stop the slaughter

Thanks for the help