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Future Eve online: Free to play

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Revman Zim
Infinite Point
Pandemic Horde
#81 - 2013-09-17 19:08:02 UTC  |  Edited by: Revman Zim
"Talking about EVE Online, that is still the example of how to do things in the post - WoW era. While CCP thought they were becoming the dinosaur of the industry, and therefore had to implement a cash shop with micro transactions. They realized their mistakes in time ( after their customers reminded them where their loyalty must lie Riots-in-eve-against-microtransactions ). And turned around and got back on track making EVE Online a better game.

CCP is being rewarded now, with a PCU ( peak concurrent users ) of over 65.000 and over 500.000 monthly playing subscribers and a continued growth every year since release, now more than 10 years ago.

At this moment EVE Online is the second biggest subscription based MMORPG in the west, and the only subscription based MMORPG that is still growing in the west and probably in the world.

If you make a game for gamers, with good features, it will sell and people will pay a monthly fee."


The entire article can be found here:

http://mmodata.blogspot.com/

Along with graphs of MMO subscriptions.


*emphasis mine
Josef Djugashvilis
#82 - 2013-09-17 21:14:07 UTC
ExcalibursTemplar wrote:
Considering I've just spent £180 subbing two accounts for the next 12 months id be extremely pissed of if eve turned free to play anytime soon.



Same here.

Even more so as I would not be able to rage quit, well, not for almost twelve monthsSad

This is not a signature.
Harry Forever
SpaceJunkys
#83 - 2013-09-17 21:34:08 UTC
Sex Slave Girl wrote:
Let's talk about the good and bad stuff that comes with it.

For starters, I think the active eve population will go up, by a lot. Possible reaching 200.000 players on a normal day.

I also think, we will have 4~7 cloaky neutrals in every null sec system, that afk all day.

Jita will stil be limited to roughly 2000 players, but instead. The entire constellation will be nearly full. Reaching Jita would be impossible.

Suicide freighter ganks are more easily attained. As 1 guy could get 150 free to play accounts and use rifters to suicide on 1 Freighter.

The bittervets and other old carebear people will quit the game. But instead for every one of them, eve online gets 30 free to play players (who would probably never pay or barely go for microtransactions).

Time Dilation is a natural thing, as it will affect everyone, for the whole time. Fleet op Fights will probably resulting in a lot of server crashes.

But there are some good things too that come with it. We will have more people to play with! I, believe that eve online currently is a stable game, and due to this, will attract a lot of new players if it were to become free to play.

However the game will be changed so much, it won't be eve as we know it.


it is already free to play

Harry Forever vs. Goonswarm
Uncle Traveling Matt
Sapphire Dragon Industries
#84 - 2013-09-17 21:37:37 UTC
The golden age (or should I call it the copper age) of F2P MMO's is nearing an end.

A couple years ago it was all the rage, but I think the end result of games like SW:TOR and LOTRO is that they are complete and utter failures. New and Upcoming MMO's are rethinking that plan and opting for subscription models again. (EQ-N, Elder Scrolls...) Rest in peace, free-to-play.

Matt
Jonah Gravenstein
Machiavellian Space Bastards
#85 - 2013-09-17 21:50:51 UTC  |  Edited by: Jonah Gravenstein
Harry Forever wrote:

it is already free to play

So PLEX magically appears from nowhere? This is the least of your misconceptions about Eve, which says a lot about the rest of them.

It might appear to be free to play, however extending game time with PLEX still involves somebody giving CCP real life cash, more so than a subscription.

In the beginning there was nothing, which exploded.

New Player FAQ

Feyd's Survival Pack
Murk Paradox
Ministry of War
Amarr Empire
#86 - 2013-09-17 21:53:06 UTC
Jonah Gravenstein wrote:
Harry Forever wrote:

it is already free to play

So PLEX magically appears from nowhere?
It might appear to be free to play, however extending game time with PLEX still involves somebody giving CCP real life cash, more so than a subscription.



Well, until you get paid in game cash by second just for being logged in... "free" is relative.

And technically, plex is not a manufactured product.

This post has been signed by Murk Paradox and no other accounts, alternate or otherwise. Any other post claiming to be this holder's is subject to being banned at the discretion of the GM Team as it would violate the TOS in regards to impersonation. Signed, Murk Paradox. In triplicate.
M1k3y Koontz
Speaker for the Dead
Stay Feral
#87 - 2013-09-17 22:16:20 UTC
F2P would kill EVE.

EVE players are religiously anti-microtransaction, and $15/10 pounds a month for a game that doesn't require you to P2Win sounds like a damn good deal.


TL;DR, EVE will remain subscription based or I, and a large chunk of EVE's current player base, will quit and EVE will die with a whimper in a whirlwind of microtransactions.

How much herp could a herp derp derp if a herp derp could herp derp.
James Akachi
Perkone
Caldari State
#88 - 2013-09-17 23:08:15 UTC  |  Edited by: James Akachi
Lots of people have kneejerk negative reactions to the concept of Free To Play. Indeed upon the announcement of Rift transitioning to F2P there was as expected many threats of unsubbing, etc. And the response? "OK, have fun, and if you feel like playing again you can do that without giving us a cent." And since the transition there have never been more active players.

Games tanking after they go F2P is not from the business model, it's from implementing the business model in a way that is incompatible with your game or player base. This can happen whether it was originally designed to be F2P or not. The "microtransactions" in Rift could most easily be compared with if Eve started selling T1 modules and subcaps and boosters additionally for real money, but not T2s and capital ships. Of course they can already be purchased for real money in a way due to PLEX, so it's a very different proposition in more than one way.

I do not think free-to-play would work for Eve but that is not because free-to-play is bad, but because it would not benefit the game. On the other hand, if handled properly, I don't think it would be terrible either. The primary consideration would be handling the influx of players no longer restricted by the initial wall of subscription payment. In gameplay terms, I am sure there are many who would enjoy "handling" such players. In hardware/software terms, that is where the difficulty lies.

EDIT: I would be interested to know though, in the same vein of what has generally been offered for microtransactions in Rift, would Eve players be willing to pay for different models (slight variation)/textures/colors of ships? Combined with PLEX remaining as it is, this could easily be a replacement income source for CCP and have no bearing on ship effectiveness.
Solstice Project
Sebiestor Tribe
Minmatar Republic
#89 - 2013-09-18 00:20:31 UTC
Wow, so many fell for it...
Ivan Krividus
No Time Needed No Rush
The-Expanse
#90 - 2013-09-18 00:39:13 UTC
EVE is free. Its called PLEX. If it were FTP from the start then EVE will lose some of its ability to filter out ex-WoW players. FTP game communities are always bad.

In addition i like EVE as a tight, cozy, mature community. EVE is my refuge from the crap communities of LoL, CoD (Disclaimer: i dont play CoD), other games, and the entire internet in general. Of all the things i enjoy in eve, that is the most special to me.
Janna Sway
Imperial Shipment
Amarr Empire
#91 - 2013-09-18 01:16:01 UTC
It's really not that hard to earn a PLEX a month, and if you cannot afford 15 EUR/month, then you should maybe not play at all but find a second job.
Tysinger
Shoulda Checked Local
Break-A-Wish Foundation
#92 - 2013-09-18 01:19:26 UTC
EVE is already "free to play"

Pretty damn easy to make 500m in a month and buy a plex...Jus sayin.

I have, umm a few accounts and I have not payed for years, and I am NOT a miner or mission runner.

lrn2play kk
Alavaria Fera
GoonWaffe
#93 - 2013-09-18 01:19:40 UTC
Uncle Traveling Matt wrote:
The golden age (or should I call it the copper age) of F2P MMO's is nearing an end.

A couple years ago it was all the rage, but I think the end result of games like SW:TOR and LOTRO is that they are complete and utter failures.

So... FTP for eve online, then

Triggered by: Wars of Sovless Agression, Bending the Knee, Twisting the Knife, Eating Sov Wheaties, Bombless Bombers, Fizzlesov, Interceptor Fleets, Running Away, GhostTime Vuln, Renters, Bombs, Bubbles ?
Alavaria Fera
GoonWaffe
#94 - 2013-09-18 01:20:06 UTC
the joke is that eve is dying like an alliance trying to survive in Curse after losing its sov

Triggered by: Wars of Sovless Agression, Bending the Knee, Twisting the Knife, Eating Sov Wheaties, Bombless Bombers, Fizzlesov, Interceptor Fleets, Running Away, GhostTime Vuln, Renters, Bombs, Bubbles ?
Freakdevil
Aliastra
Gallente Federation
#95 - 2013-09-18 01:34:32 UTC
EVE F2P: your FREE TO PLAY another game
Uncle Traveling Matt
Sapphire Dragon Industries
#96 - 2013-09-22 13:15:15 UTC
Tysinger wrote:
EVE is already "free to play"

Pretty damn easy to make 500m in a month and buy a plex...Jus sayin.

I have, umm a few accounts and I have not payed for years, and I am NOT a miner or mission runner.

lrn2play kk



600m now....just sayin. Big smile

Matt
Johan Civire
Caldari Provisions
Caldari State
#97 - 2013-09-22 13:17:35 UTC  |  Edited by: Johan Civire
Josef Djugashvilis wrote:
ExcalibursTemplar wrote:
Considering I've just spent £180 subbing two accounts for the next 12 months id be extremely pissed of if eve turned free to play anytime soon.



Same here.

Even more so as I would not be able to rage quit, well, not for almost twelve monthsSad


Why are you upset by it ? it is already free to play pal. The only differed about it you need to do something for it that's the defriend against other free to play games.

Well for me its already more then 1 year free to play I have give zero money. I just farm my plexs on time and the game is free.

There is no Future about free to play it is already more then 1 year free to play. You people are so outdate and raging about something that's already a old thing........ end of topic.
Dave Stark
#98 - 2013-09-22 13:26:58 UTC
i'd be interested to see eve go free to log in, but still require plex to train things.
Freako X
Doom Inc
#99 - 2013-09-22 16:28:19 UTC
I don't understand why it has to be sub vs. F2P.

I'd like to see an increase in services: name change, ship skins, outfits, station skins, Captain Quarter furniture and deco options, sp increase services, racial change services, respec services, etc.

I recently revisited RIFT and that store is amazing. I spent too much money there (on test and live) ..... The bonuses to subscribe are also pretty darned nice too. ie. EVE could give a sp increase bonus to people that subscribe. I would continue my sub.

Anyway, why can't we have both sub's and F2P?

$14.95 / month = SP bonus say 10%, Store Credit, 15% savings in store.
$7.50 / month = Store Credit, 7% savings in store.
F2P = F2P with Store at full retail.

Just a thought .....
Tippia
Sunshine and Lollipops
#100 - 2013-09-22 16:48:34 UTC  |  Edited by: Tippia
Freako X wrote:
I don't understand why it has to be sub vs. F2P.
Largely because they're vastly different and almost completely incompatible business models. One relies on providing a solid game full of content; the other relies on withholding all the game content. The progression you have to design for these different schemes is itself so different that it is pretty much impossible to not make one vastly better than the other, thereby making at least one model completely pointless. Most likely, both will be awful and the game will just tank.

Remember, they're not just payment schemes — they're different models for teasing money out of your customers: either offering everything to everyone at equal cost, or offering something to some people at varying cost (with the implicit, or occasionally ven explicit promise that if you spend more, you'll be better off than those who pay less).

A F2P+sub game would actually only be a F2P game, only you can buy a season pass or one of the higher payment reward tiers.

The problem in EVE, specifically, is that being able to pay for only the parts you want would be so ridiculously open to abuse as to make the whole thing unplayable. Alts are already something of an issue, but imagine if they were free. The fact that you have to subscribe to access even the most simplistic market or cyno alt keeps their numbers in check and ensures that people will actually build more coherent characters over a longer period of time, rather than just distribute the tasks over 120 different characters.



…and as a side-note, it's always fun to see how these threads always draw out the people who think that PLEX are somehow F2P even though there's nothing free about them and you still have to maintain your subscription to play.