EVE General Discussion

Ok, I like to hear what you think of because my ideas on EvE has changed over the years.
I initially started on 2006, dropped after a month due RL issues.
Then started on again at 2008 and kept going ever since.

My idea of "should EvE be F2P or sub based" was simple, let it be sub based. It cleared out most of the immature people and kept the EvE as complex as it was. No pressure from people who could not keep up with the learning curve.

Kept the most mature community i have ever seen from online games since Mud games (text based games, the grandpa of MMOs).

But now i look at this world again and consider how it will do in the future. While i am sure more players are coming each days. I dont know what ratio there is to those who leave the game.

somedays when i log in i see roughly 23K online, where as i used to see close to 50K.

And start to imagine how EvE would be like if it was F2P.

While it can present a ton of opportunities for easy kills from the large influx of people, and people who would return to the game, it also presents CCP with the risk of loosing a lot of revenue. BUT i see news like

SWTOR 100% revenue increase on F2P
http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/05/10/swtors-average-monthly-revenue-has-doubled-since-going-f2p/

DC Uni 700% revenue increase on F2P
http://www.geek.com/games/dc-universe-online-goes-free-to-play-increases-revenue-700-percent-1443307/

I am left to wonder. Is EvEs hesitance to go F2P is out of fear, can the universe handle it ? (server wise).
Because CCPs moves on Dust 514 going PS3 before PS4 coming out and etc attempts to publicity is sad to watch. (Not just because it didnt come to PC). Specially given how badly Dust 514 failed at its "1# F2P game on Console" was outshined by just about everything else that is going on. (Edit: Yes Dust 514 will get ported to PS4, thats not the point :P)

What are your thoughts on this ? ... How do you see EvE or CCP doing for the whats a head. Do you see a need for changes or will New Eden perish or is it going to be alright the way it is currently.



F2P game type :

"Free citizen" ... wouldnt have access to clone, but have access to very premitive T0.1 ships :D .. no pod .. if killed the character would be deleted. Can be continued after 21 day trial or have 21 day trial be started by an offer from player in game. And perhaps cant get out of empire and join a corp.

Eve is dying thread No. 23643

DCUO and SWTOR managed F2P because they are overwhelmingly themepark MMOs. A player can grind through the meaningful stuff in a limited amount of time, spend a little money, and then leave.

I don't think that EVE could ever make a true F2P transition, because the best parts of the game are based around long term goals and activities. Going F2P would require a fundamental change to how the game works as a whole; what came out of the other end would not be the game that has been so popular for so long.

lol, i guess given my uni is finished and started working, my login times has changed :)

I havent playe those so, i would have to take your world for it and you do make sense.
But a F2P transition doesnt have to be in so high scale, one can even consider such change as far as something below the 21 day trials.

Like Free citizen :P ... you cant leave empire, you cant have access to a pod technology. If you die, your character is deleted :D.
Giving players the chance to see workings of eve, even after 21 days or can start the 21 days once they feel they know enough.

Already doing that, i am but the concern was not to my own wallet, it was for the game. But feel free to understand it by how ever you like.

Pretty much this. Logged in numbers have been rising, and have been pretty steady over the years.

So that pretty much shoots your original observation incorrect, hence the need to even consider F2P void.

Your examples suck too. SWTOR and DCUO are pieces of junk in comparison to EVE

If you are not paying for a product, you are the product.

Traditionally when a MMO goes from subscription based to a F2P model it is because the game is doing poorly, subs are down, servers are quiet.

I have yet to see any MMO which is doing well in regards to subs move to a F2P format.

You can pick any number of MMO's which has gone from sub to F2P and they were all doing poorly.

Also, the general rule of thumb is when a MMO does move to a F2P model the game itself is terrible and the devs/publisher milk the in game store for all its worth.

The game is still growing and doing fine.

Making it F2P would overexpose it to the masses, and by and large, the masses are not bright enough or persistent enough to pick up on the game and survive its learning curve. They would dive in, not understand, get frustrated, get ganked, and leave in droves. It might spike the subscriber base briefly, but it would alienate the current loyal base, and everyone would leave.

Eve is a very different MMO because in the long run it is all about the players and their actions - not the dungeons and static PVE content. You can't directly compare it to other MMOs, and especially not to others that have had to go F2P to even survive.